These abundant, over-the-top monuments are so widely scattered that they define the entire compact capital cityscape, often leading to jokes about whether there are more statues than residents.

One of the most poignant ruins of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the local football team's stadium has been quickly reclaimed by nature.

This attraction was abandoned after the Chernobyl disaster.

The ghost town left by the worst nuclear disaster of all time is being taken over by nature and urban explorers.

This derelict superstructure was a very important warning system for the Soviet military.

A reconstructed medieval gateway that was the magnificent entrance to the capital city dating back to 1037.

Gargantuan home of Russian science.

Museum celebrating the achievements of the Soviet space program.

Moscow's imposing monument to the Space Age.

The gorgeous entrances into the city's underbelly look more like grand halls than subway stops.

This building holds the embalmed remains of the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution.

Last remaining nuclear missile base in Ukraine.

The largest catacomb system in the world.

Featured in one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history.

A monument to Lenin has been transformed into a statue of everyone's favorite black-helmeted, fool-choking Sith Lord.

Seventy-five miles of limestone caves host more than a million bottles of wine beneath a sleepy Moldovan town.

A statue dedicated to the founders of communism.

The largest wine cellar in the world is a 150-mile network of underground caves near the capital of Moldova.

A forgotten remnant of the Soviet Union, Transnistria is an unrecognized country hidden behind a heavily militarized border between Moldova and Ukraine.

This Slovak bridge is known both for its connection to a national uprising and its UFO-shaped eatery.

This Slovakian statue of an emerging sewer worker might just be a bronze peeping tom.

This quiet, unassuming spot in Budapest was the birthplace of the bloody 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

A much-loved sculpture depicting the hero of a 1956 anti-Soviet uprising.

A plaque bearing the names of those who dedicated themselves to protecting Budapest's Jewish population during World War II.