A museum dedicated to controversial Russian pianist Alexander Scriabin.

A replica of the straw hut where Vladimir Lenin lived in hiding, disguised as a hay farmer, in 1917.

The laboratory where the Soviet secret police invented exotic poisons used to kill dissidents in hideous and (mostly) untraceable ways.

A model village fit for an emperor.

Home of Vissarion, the "Jesus of Siberia."

The composer did some of his finest work in this country home, including "The Nutcracker."

A homemade anatomical collection of medical anomalies and accidental catastrophes.

Intricate wood carvings on an island in Siberia.

Social outcasts and cannibalism in Stalin's Soviet Union.

An abandoned 14th-century castle and prison complex on a small island in the Neva River.

Russia's own leaning tower was built on a tragic historical fable.

One of the world's tallest statues is also one of its most hated.

Russian researchers who have been excavating ancient squirrel burrows may have brought a 32,000-year-old plant back to life.

A former military outpost of Ivan the Terrible, the 16th-century church contains some of the rarest examples of Eastern Orthodox mural paintings.

An unusual abandoned church damaged in World War II sits in a small village outside Moscow.

300-year-old villagers houses and traditional churches preserve a nearly lost piece of Russian history.

This 15th-century cave complex is one of the very few monasteries to stay open throughout World War II and the Soviet regime.

Gargantuan home of Russian science.

This massive glowering Lenin head gazes out over eastern Siberia.

A uniquely authentic display of traditional Russian culture.

Former estate of Lenin, now home to his death mask.

The giant Siberian crater known locally as the "doorway to the underworld" is expanding every year.

This Russian locomotive museum was once devoted just to Lenin's funeral before expanding to encompass Moscow's entire train history.

Stalin's secret bunker.