The Duke’s Diwan is a time capsule of early 20th-century Amman, hidden in plain sight on the busy King Faisal Street. Built in 1924 as the city’s first post office, this Ottoman-era stone house later became the Haifa Hotel before heritage activist Mamdouh Bisharat ("The Duke of Mukheibeh") rescued it from demolition in 2001. Today, its creaking wooden floors lead through rooms frozen in Jordan’s past, complete with antique typewriters, sepia photos of camel caravans on dusty roads, and a balcony overlooking downtown’s metamorphosis. More than a museum, it’s a living diwan (gathering space): poets hold readings at the carved oak table, while artists riff under the Arabian archways. Admission is free, and the duke himself sometimes holds court, spinning tales of old Amman over cardamom coffee. Don’t miss the upstairs gallery, where rotating exhibits spotlight Jordan’s underground creatives.

The monument, designed by Mihail Chemiakin, shows 2 children at play, surrounded by 13 menacing-looking figures, each representing a vice or evil the youth is often faced with growing up. Can you interpret the meaning of each sculpture? You can find the monument south of the Moscow Kremlin, in Bolotnaya Square.

Headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and home to the Pope, the Vatican City is an ecclesiastical state and the smallest state in Europe, both in dimension and population. Though teeny tiny, the state holds 11 noteworthy museums, including the Michelangelo-decorated Sistine Chapel (perhaps the greatest gem), St Peter's Basilica, and St Peter's Square. Marvel at the Vatican's treasures with your booked-ahead tour and avoid lining up in notoriously slow-moving queues.

This unique museum can be found below the ravishing Space Monument. At The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics there are several exhibitions with different space objects, documents, and art. If you are interested in space and the cosmonauts, you will most certainly not be disappointed.