The bust of Romania’s most notorious ruler, Vlad Dracula aka "Vlad the Impaler," keeps watch over the ruins of his medieval court.

The possible imprisonment of Vlad the Impaler here earned the medieval castle its nickname, "Dracula's Castle."

This elaborately decorated, fairytale-like Romanian royal palace is one of the most striking castles in Europe.

Sofia's legislative center is continuously reinventing itself.

A vast Communist-era exhibition space in the Bulgarian capital.

"Holy Wisdom" overlooks the city that became its namesake.

A striking symbol of the Bulgarian capital.

This bar and museum are devoted to the controversial comic book work of Kája Saudek.

This walkway is so narrow it needs its own light to stop pedestrian traffic jams.

Tucked away in a Prague park, a statue beloved by romantics honors a poet so nice they buried him twice.

Bullet holes in the church wall are a reminder of the violence that followed the assassination of a high-ranking Nazi officer.

An enormous and lavish Gothic church in Czechia.

The slender brass strip in Prague's Old Town Square was used to tell time from 1652 to 1918.

The palace window through which Protestant nobles flung two Catholic regents, thus sparking the Thirty Years' War.

A surreal statue honoring Prague's favorite literary son.

Steadily reminding Czechia of its past.

The soulless eyes of 82 bronze children stare on forever in remembrance of a horrifying World War II massacre.

A turn of the century building boasting some of the most beautiful art nouveau architecture in Prague.

Looming communist pillar with a Czech twist.

Increasingly decayed figures stand as a powerful reminder of the human costs of Czech Communism.

This doorless 20th-century elevator doesn't stop or slow down.

Synagogue built from the stones of Solomon's temple contains the golem of Prague.

Street artists transformed an abandoned air vent into the beloved Star Wars robot.

This automated sculpture of two men peeing will spell out text messages with their micturition.