rbarnes2's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Georgia

Vardzia Cave Monastery

Underground monastery and fortress.
Yeghegnadzor, Armenia

Noravank Monastery

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

Sevanavank

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

Geghard Monastery

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

Khor Virap Monastery

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

Garni Gorge

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

Heydar Aliyev Center

The building's fluid, wavelike walls are a true feat of architectural ingenuity.
Baku, Azerbaijan

The Maiden Tower

This mysterious but iconic tapered tower appears in many Azeri fairytales and legends.
Shaki, Azerbaijan

Palace of the Shaki Khans

Foreign invaders almost left this lovely Caucasus palace alone—almost.
Baku, Azerbaijan

Fire Temple of Baku

A shrine of fire worship built on top of a natural flame.
Baku, Azerbaijan

Yanar Dağ (Fire Mountain)

Mysterious hillside with a continuously burning natural fire.
Kyrgyzstan

Burana Tower

Lonely minaret stump of a destroyed city.
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Bishkek Circus

This retro, UFO-like structure is a remnant of the Soviet-era circus.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Türkmenbaşy Ruhy Mosque

The controversial final resting place of the equally controversial first president of Turkmenistan.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Arch of Neutrality

A dictator's gold statue once rotated to face the sun on a 75-meter high marble tower.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Giant Ruhnama

A huge monument to a bizarre book written by Turkmenistan’s longstanding dictator.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Independence Monument of Turkmenistan

Sumptous memorial to a controversial independence.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Turkmenbashi's Land of Fairy Tales

An eccentric dictator's take on a Turkmen version of Disneyland.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Wedding Palace

If you want to get married in the White Marble City of Ashgabat, you should do it in this surreal disco ball building.
Merv, Turkmenistan

Ancient Merv

This famed Silk Road oasis was one of the largest cities in the world before it was destroyed by a Mongol horde.
Turkmenistan

The Gates of Hell

A fiery crater has been burning in the Karakum Desert since 1971.
Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Kalyan Minaret

This "tower of death" has acted as an observatory, a religious hub, and an executioner's lair.
Xiva, Uzbekistan

Walls of Itchan Kala

Ancient barriers wrap around what was once an important stop along the Silk Road.
Muynak District, Uzbekistan

Moynaq

Once a bustling fishing port, this semi-ghost town is now more than 90 miles away from the shore.