A historic trade hub teeming with gorgeous architecture, colorful goods, and vibrant designs.

The tower in this 1,000-year-old mud-brick village seems to vibrate for no apparent reason.

A dreamy mausoleum honors Persia's most famous poet.

These little castles each held thousands of pigeons.

The ancient necropolis houses the immense rock-cut tombs of four Persian kings.

Ancient structures used to make and preserve ice in the deserts of Persia.

Putrefaction plateaus in Iran, where the dead were sent for decontamination before going to their final resting place.

A spectacular rainbow of stained glass makes the "Pink Mosque" one of the most beautiful in Iran.

The palace of the King of Kings, burned by Alexander the Great.

Men and special assistants stand by the road to sell the day's catch in this lakeside village.

Hundreds of intricately carved Armenian stone crosses can be found within this huge cemetery.

Called the "Armenian Stonehenge," this ring of menhirs pierced with holes may be a prehistoric astronomical observatory.

Nestled in a peaceful valley, this Armenian monastery may have been saved from Mongols thanks to the eyes of God.

Centuries before the modern seismograph, Armenian monks measured quakes with this tilting pillar.

This ancient monastery complex was transformed from an island to a peninsula when the lake was partially drained.

The world's longest nonstop reversible cable car soars through spectacular scenery to the medieval Tatev Monastery.

This Armenian monastery was carved out of cliffs and named after the spear used to stab Jesus.

The most visited pilgrimage site in Armenia once held a saint in a pit for 13 years.

A geological oddity topped with a 2,000-year-old pagan temple.

Monks in the empyreal Alazani River valley have preserved their 1,000-year-old winemaking tradition.

The cave holds a spectacular array of stalactites and stalagmites, including one shaped like a giant human heart.

A cluster of historic bathhouses built on the famed hot springs that gave the Georgian capital its name.

You'll find just about anything in this funky Tbilisi flea market.

Despite being tiny and rural this Georgian airport looks like a sci-fi boondoggle.