The ruins of a medieval monastery built on a perilous slope.

Nestled in a peaceful valley, this Armenian monastery may have been saved from Mongols thanks to the eyes of God.

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

Giant stone letters dedicated to the founder of Armenia's alphabet.

This ancient monastery complex was transformed from an island to a peninsula when the lake was partially drained.

This series of Armenian caves held the oldest brain, shoe, and winery in the world.

Centuries before the modern seismograph, Armenian monks measured quakes with this tilting pillar.

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

A gigantic collection of teeny, tiny books.

This striking icon of the disputed Republic of Artsakh caused a stir at a Eurovision Song Contest.

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

Tower with a double-helix spiral, adorned with letters of the Georgian alphabet.

A beautiful but deteriorating monument of Soviet architecture.

Ruins of a former government building destroyed during the Georgian-Abkhaz war in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union.

The second largest in the world, this massive underground void has its own subway.

The last standing example of an ancient district's teatime tradition.

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

The secret room where early Bolsheviks cranked out propaganda fliers on a smuggled printing press.

A small but hugely whimsical theater where marionettes play out the "The Battle of Stalingrad."

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

Fortified homes of highland warriors that are still in use today.

The decaying remains of a once-luxurious Soviet spa town.

This neon lit Georgian cave claims to hold the boulder Prometheus was chained to.

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