Necropolis near Dargavs, North Ossetia, Russia

Tale from the crypts. Necropolis of Dargavs

Be glad we're merely paying a virtual visit to this 'City of the Dead' outside Dargavs, Russia. Local folklore warns that if you set foot here, you won't escape with your life. We're not sure the dead pose such mortal danger, but what's certain is that this is a dead-quiet village. These vaulted-roof huts are not homes – they're crypts.

Were you here, you might peer into the sole window of any of these huts and see the inhabitants, some entombed with their earthly possessions, others laid to rest in rowboats to paddle into the afterlife. Many of the remains are preserved unsettlingly well – and they more than outnumber you. In use from at least the 16th to 18th centuries, this necropolis is populated by about 10,000 departed ancestors.