Crushed coral and crystals give the sand its signature coloration.

Pilgrimage site for star-crossed lovers.

Go inside to really appreciate this 500-year-old technological masterpiece.

An Italian hillside ghost town.

The last moments of the ill-fated Pompeiians, frozen forever in plaster.

Thousands of well-dressed mummies below a monastery.

The only "Egyptian" pyramid in Europe and the legendary tomb of Remus.

Stalactites and stalagmites in a beautifully lit cave.

Pompeii's less famous neighbor is still revealing her secrets.

This community on a small Venetian island has taken to painting their houses in bright neon hues.

An Italian crevasse filled with abandoned buildings gives visitors a look at the world without humans.

One of the best-preserved Roman amphitheaters is still used today, but for less brutal events.

A musical instrument played by the sea.

A chain of 16 wondrous lakes formed as a result of the gradual dissolution of soluble layers of bedrock.

The medieval center of the Islamic world was also once the seat of Saladin's sultanate.

Standing atop 2nd-century Roman ruins, this church is one of the oldest and most iconic in Old Cairo.

An ancient instrument used to measure the waters of the Nile so Egyptian farmers would know whether to expect famine or flood.

This ancient Greek place of assembly and marketplace is being revealed layer by layer below the modern Athens cityscape.

Hidden in a secluded Greek cove is a pristine beach marred only by the rusting smuggler's hulk stranded on its shores.

Monasteries on rock pillars, once accessible only by frayed ropes.

This fortress dates back to the 6th century and is also the site of a controversial abandoned restoration project.

Supposedly this Ethiopian chapel holds the Ark of the Covenant, guarded by virgins who cannot leave the building.

An Ethiopian "Jerusalem" featuring a church hewn out of a single rock.

These Nubian pyramids are strange and unique, even by pyramid standards.