Long before air conditioning, Persian architects found an ingenious way to cool off.

The largest covered bazaar in the world.

This road earned its macabre nickname after hundreds of Iraqi troops died along it in 1991.

This beautiful system of tunnels built into natural rock serves as a centuries old plumbing system.

This vast, water-filled underground labyrinth can only be toured by boat.

The most sacred Jewish shrine in Iran and a fine example of restoration works gone wrong.

A small mountain at the crossroads of Turkey, Iraq, and Syria that some believe was the landing point of Noah's Ark.

Burial site of a Jewish prophet revered in Iran.

An ancient sanctuary that has long been a holy site for the Chaldean Christian Church.

Ancient rock-cut tomb? Definitely. That of a great Median king? Unlikely.

Celebrated as a center of civilization, the remains of the ancient city have been nearly destroyed by greed, egoism, and war.

9th century Abbasid mosque, damaged in modern warfare.

A giant bisected onion dome remembers the Iraqis who died in the Iran-Iraq War.

The home of Iraq's former prime minister now houses historical manuscripts.

This former monument to an invented Iraqi victory was turned into a military camp during the subsequent invasion.

The convergence of two currents makes this a surprisingly pleasant getaway in the Arctic Circle.

Beneath Kraków Old Town's main square lies a hologram-filled medieval market vampire graveyard wonderland.

A museum in the building where Nazi Germany signed its surrender tells the story of World War II from the Soviet perspective.

When German-Iraqi relations broke down, this embassy was vacated post haste.

This little museum is making sure that the art and history of the graffiti sticker is not scraped from history.

A slice of central Asia in the middle of Berlin.

The most visited, and possibly most controversial, museum in Germany.

A fascinating insight into daily life in the Eastern Bloc.

On this Polish road, an optical illusion makes cars seem to roll uphill.