An ancient woodland that inspired a young J.R.R. Tolkien.

Bizarrely shaped rock formations in northwest Bulgaria come with equally bizarre legends.

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

"Unity, Creativity, Beauty."

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

Featured in one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history.

This historic black and white monastery is one of Bulgaria's architectural jewels.

This tiny Bulgarian town offers a stunning location in the mountains and a storied history.

This rose and lavender oil distillery still operates as it did more than a century ago.

Ruins of an early Roman Christian church dating back to the 4th to 5th centuries.

In a long-dry lake bed, these groups of massive stone pillars bear a striking resemblance to clumps of everyone's favorite fungi.

An architectural marvel that spans the Arda River, and has stories of a haunted past.

The temple that withstood the Nazis.

This once-grandiose behemoth of a monument from the socialist era now sits quiet and closed up.

A forgotten and crumbling Yugoslav monument to the victims of fascism.

This surreal memorial/cemetery is a necropolis of crumbling stonework and puzzle-shaped headstones.

The place where World War I began.

The haunting ruins of a military fortress turned astronomical observatory sit on a Sarajevo mountaintop.

This top-secret nuclear bunker hidden in a Bosnian mountain has been converted to a modern art exhibition space.

Christianity and Islam have clashed, yet here a Serbian Orthodox church and a mosque stand together.

Stone pillars and a petrified wedding party in the hills of North Macedonia.

This 3,800-year-old site contains markers used to study the movement of the sun and moon and create a lunar calendar.

Last remaining nuclear missile base in Ukraine.

One of the most poignant ruins of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the local football team's stadium has been quickly reclaimed by nature.