This architecturally eclectic fortress witnessed centuries of bloody turmoil, including the massacre of its ruling clan.

A museum glorifying the life of Stalin, located in the city of his birth.

A cylinder monument with a spectacular vista commemorates a friendship that some say never existed.

Take respite inside this jaw-dropping church while climbing the volcano where Georgia's Prometheus was once chained.

Rock-hewn monastery complex with hundreds of cave structures tucked away into the mountainside.

The charmingly disheveled clock tower of Tbilisi's puppet theater.

Underground monastery and fortress.

Called the "Armenian Stonehenge," this ring of menhirs pierced with holes may be a prehistoric astronomical observatory.

This little medieval church hidden in the center of Yerevan was lost and rediscovered—twice.

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

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

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

Foreign invaders almost left this lovely Caucasus palace alone—almost.

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

Sumptous memorial to a controversial independence.

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

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

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

This 17th-century structure is a beautiful testimony to traditional Persian architecture

Marked by the hand of the explorer Henry Morton Stanley.

The fire inside this temple has burned for more than 1,500 years.

A dreamy mausoleum honors Persia's most famous poet.

One of the largest and oldest caravansaries in Persia.

17th century mosque for Shah Abbas' harem.