A solemn, monumental, kitschy palace of worship honoring victory in the Great Patriotic War.

A tea party concludes each visit to this Russian spice cookie sanctum.

For lovers of Soviet cinema, this museum is home to a vast collection of artifacts and costumes.

This burial mound is said to be the final resting place of Russia's first Viking ruler, Oleg of Novogrod.

Thousands of biblical and pagan images are carved into this small 12th-century church.

The Uyghur settlement in the middle of a lake continues to raise questions.

A magnificent, Disneyesque chateau built for 150 lucky kindergarteners.

A self-taught Siberian craftsman creates a fantastical and personal design for his 19th century village house.

A former military outpost of Ivan the Terrible, the 16th-century church contains some of the rarest examples of Eastern Orthodox mural paintings.

300-year-old villagers houses and traditional churches preserve a nearly lost piece of Russian history.

An unusual abandoned church damaged in World War II sits in a small village outside Moscow.

What was once the base for Russia's first nature reserve is now a ghost town, right on the shore of Lake Baikal.

Perhaps the tiniest sculpture in Saint Petersburg is a little bronze finch inspired by a song.

Once frequented by heavyweights of the Russian arts scene, this café is stuck in the 1800s.

This 15th-century cave complex is one of the very few monasteries to stay open throughout World War II and the Soviet regime.

A uniquely authentic display of traditional Russian culture.

An unusual collection of self-made musical instruments and unique noises.

Monastery, army base, and infamous Soviet Gulag in the far Russian north.

One of the world's tallest statues is also one of its most hated.

This remote lake in Siberia supposedly contains a fearsome sea monster.

An abandoned town of skeletal wooden homes.

The "Mystery and Company of Merchant Adventurers" is an Elizabethan-era hangout in Moscow.

Gigantic natural towers in a Russian plateau.

Stalin's march toward a more modern USSR flooded a monastery, leaving a unique and extravagant nautical marker, "The Flooded Belfry."