Gigantic natural towers in a Russian plateau.

Former prison camp dedicated to the victims of political repression.

This cuddly rodent has a place of honor at a Russian institute for genetic research.

Stalin's prisoner-built rail line sits in ruin, never having a single car ride its tracks.

Replica of mosque destroyed by Russia in the 16th century.

This nostalgic Russian museum is full of USSR cultural artifacts from the 1970s and 80s.

No one knows why ancient labyrinths were built on this tiny northern island.

This Russian museum stresses the importance of keeping clean and even holds one of Pavlov's dogs.

One of the largest collections of socialist realist art shows the surprising depth of the official art of the Soviet Union.

The USSR’s Conquest of Nature lead to the domestication of many moose—no squirrel.

A scale model of Russia so big visitors are offered binoculars to rent so they can see the whole thing.

Specimens collected by the author of "Lolita" and self-taught lepidopterist are exhibited in his childhood home.

An ever-growing literary collection housed in the apartment where the Russian author penned his final novel.

A man-made island fort that has housed soldiers, scientists, and ravers.

Stalin's march toward a more modern USSR flooded a monastery, leaving a unique and extravagant nautical marker, "The Flooded Belfry."

A small part of Russia that does not touch any other part of Russia.

Siberian ghost town built by gulag prisoners.

The deepest hole drilled in the name of science, where evidence of Precambrian life was found.

The coldest city in the world.

A Marxist summer camp full of fantastical statues lies tucked away and forgotten in the forests of Moscow.

Some of the world's only freshwater seals live in one very special lake in Russia.

A remote forest of stone pillars along the Lena river.

Abandoned castle was once a grand example of Russian privilege, built exclusively to win a frivolous bet between noblemen.

The past, present, and future of Russia's signature alcohol is remembered in the world's only museum dedicated to the starchy spirit.