Leveled by an earthquake, this Italian village is now preserved as a massive concrete art project.

The ancient Greeks abandoned this quarry to escape Hannibal's devastating invasion.

This amazingly preserved Doric temple was abandoned before it was ever completed.

A never-inhabited village that was built as part of Mussolini's agricultural reforms.

An old mining site that is slowly being reclaimed by nature.

The crumbling remains of a 19th-century textile factory.

A lover's walk between hilltop towns, decorated with graffiti love notes.

This amazing medieval fortress stands atop a promontory along the famous Cinque Terre.

On the walking path from Monterosso to Vernazza, a small shrine dedicated to feline friends.

The now-abandoned Fascist summer colony served a dark purpose during World War II.

One of the best-preserved modern fortresses was part of a pivotal moment in the Italian Risorgimento.

A prehistoric route that has claimed many victims is now closed to traffic.

A giant owl named Rocco oversees mythical woodland creatures along these charming mountain trails.

This work of engineering is imbued with elegance and ingeniousness.

The first English fort built in India.

This Gothic-style church is reputedly built atop the remains of one of Jesus's apostles.

The painted and decorated towers of this Hindu shrine were once the tallest structures in one of the oldest cities in India.

An ancient city exhumed from the depths of the ocean.

Giant pigeon houses packed into city streets in Egypt.

A strange aquarium with stuffed fish, and almost no water for them to swim in.

A preserved oasis with traditional Andalusian-style architecture and beautiful views of the Nile.

The massive cave church of Cairo's Zabbaleen community is one of the largest Christian churches in the Middle East.

The medieval center of the Islamic world was also once the seat of Saladin's sultanate.

An ancient instrument used to measure the waters of the Nile so Egyptian farmers would know whether to expect famine or flood.