This once-booming oil city is now a relic of the region's industrial past.

Hundreds of large Russian nesting dolls decorate this square, and the largest is a functioning hotel.

A gray market run by Burmese Indians offers a portal to a forgotten period in history.

Curious carved stones and bird-like wings are a symbol of Serbian resilience and freedom on the site of a WWII massacre.

This symbol of Yugoslav liberation decorated with 620 carved heads of mythical creatures is now a forlorn relic of another time.

Ride in 1960s style on the private luxury train Marshal Josip Tito used to travel around Yugoslavia.

An abandoned monument remembering the "Pančevo Holocaust" now stands as a shadow of its former self.

Abstract monuments express sorrow and resilience at the site of a horrific massacre in Nazi-occupied Serbia.

A Red Cross memorial museum at the site of the Niš concentration camp that operated for four eventful years during World War II.

A grand Yugoslav memorial to the group of partisans who fought and died resisting western Serbia’s Nazi occupation.

A pair of connected skyscrapers form this symbolic gateway.

This spaceship-like Serbian monument reaches for the stars in celebration of the fallen fighters of fascism.

An unfinished complex built for children from around the world sits abandoned on the Black Sea coastline.

This massive stone and steel monument remembers a century-old battle that cost thousands of lives and nearly destroyed the city.

Eastern Bloc nostalgia, anybody?

This once-grandiose behemoth of a monument from the socialist era now sits quiet and closed up.

The second-largest Jewish temple in Bulgaria was deserted after World War II, seized by the communist government and then abandoned again.

A flamboyant five-story building in Bulgaria resembles a crawling snail.

This massive concrete sculpture is said to be the heaviest communist monument on Earth.

This retro underwater observation tower would make the perfect lair for a sea-loving villain.

One of the largest and oldest caravansaries in Persia.

Cursed swimming pool left abandoned is now a favorite of filmmakers and ghost hunters.

An abandoned stretch of elevated road in the middle of the Brazilian jungle.

The largest traditional Chinese medicine market in the world sells ingredients that may make you squirm.