JonAkzar's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Places visited in Fethiye, Turkey
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Places edited in Hartlepool, England
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Places visited in South Yorkshire, England
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Al-Shikhan, Iraq

Lalish Temple

The sacred shrine of the Yazidis.
Samarra, Iraq

Great Mosque of Samarra

9th century Abbasid mosque, damaged in modern warfare.
Hillah, Iraq

Babylon

Celebrated as a center of civilization, the remains of the ancient city have been nearly destroyed by greed, egoism, and war.
Turkmenistan

Dekhistan Ruins

The remains of a medieval city loom in one of the most isolated desert regions of Turkmenistan.
Gokdepe, Turkmenistan

Saparmurat Hajji Mosque

A memorial to the thousands of Turkmen soldiers and civilians who died in a bloody 1881 battle.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Arch of Neutrality

A dictator's gold statue once rotated to face the sun on a 75-meter high marble tower.
Koytendag, Turkmenistan

Kyrk Gyz Cave

A cave covered with bizarre stalactites of cloth.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Turkmenbashi's Land of Fairy Tales

An eccentric dictator's take on a Turkmen version of Disneyland.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

The Walk of Health

This harsh mountain path was built as a strange attempt to improve the health of Turkmen citizens.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Wedding Palace

If you want to get married in the White Marble City of Ashgabat, you should do it in this surreal disco ball building.
Merv, Turkmenistan

Ancient Merv

This famed Silk Road oasis was one of the largest cities in the world before it was destroyed by a Mongol horde.
Gokdepe, Turkmenistan

Köw Ata Underground Lake

This cavernous swimming spot doubles as a home to the largest known colony of bats in Central Asia.
Turkmenistan

The Gates of Hell

A fiery crater has been burning in the Karakum Desert since 1971.
Sednayah, Syria

Monastery of Our Lady of Sednayah

One of the oldest monasteries in the world is a key pilgrimage site for both Muslims and Christians.
Hama, Syria

Norias of Hama

Only a handful of these gorgeous historic waterwheels remain but even those are in danger from local unrest.
Set Zaynab, Syria

Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque

This ornate mosque is said to hold the remains of Muhammad's granddaughter beneath its dome of pure gold.
An-Nabk District, Syria

Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi

This ancient mountain monastery welcomes all manner of faith in an effort to keep Christians in Syria.
Aleppo, Syria

Souk al-Saqatiya

Amid the rubble of Aleppo's Old Quarter, part of a historic market has been restored and re-opened.
Syria

Church of Saint Simeon the Stylite

What is left of the pillar of Saint Simeon, the voluntary martyr who climbed the column to give his sermons, remaining perched there for thirty-seven years.
Aleppo, Syria

The Citadel of Aleppo

One of the oldest and largest castles in the world.
Masyaf, Syria

Musyaf Castle

The Syrian headquarters of alleged hashish-smoking assassins.
Balshoon, Syria

Dead City of Serjilla

A 1,500-year-old ghost settlement is slowly fading away.
Safita, Syria

Krak des Chevaliers

Ruins of the Crusaders' headquarters.
Palmyra, Syria

Palmyra

Mysterious lost empire of the Silk Road.