This domed temple was built in a hidden cave mouth as a refuge for sinners seeking absolution.

Giant, pink stuffed rabbit on an Italian mountain.

This enchanting 600-year-old tree is so magical it inspired the beloved tale of Pinocchio.

These "anatomical machines" are only one of the many strange items in this Italian crypt.

Filled with goldfish swimming in a shallow pool of sea water, this ancient crypt is more wishing well than burial site.

Skulls from the plague of 1656 and World War II bombings are united by a cult dedicated to caring for the ancient dead.

A collection of objects supposedly singed by the hands of souls in purgatory.

Over 50 exquisite hand-painted Renaissance maps decorate a Medici storage room.

Jesus' footprints and the first catacombs in the world.

The once forbidden "secret cabinet" of erotic art from excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The engineering wonder and pleasure dome of a much-maligned emperor still holds undiscovered secrets.

Architectural monsters are devouring this palace's every door and window.

An ossuary built in 1210 to collect bones from the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan.

An Italian hillside ghost town.

Sitting on an Italian hilltop is this surreal fortress built by the mad inventor of electrohomeopathy.

The oldest operating pharmacy in the world features 800-year-old recipes.

Hidden in an Italian forest is a completely homemade amusement park that has taken a lifetime to create.

The last moments of the ill-fated Pompeiians, frozen forever in plaster.

The only "Egyptian" pyramid in Europe and the legendary tomb of Remus.

As can be expected from a centuries old church built in a canal city, the undercroft of this house of worship is beautifully flooded.

The glowing blue Nymphaeum of Emperor Tiberius.

The underground sanctuary of a mysterious ancient cult.

At the crypt of St. Mary of Eulogies and the Dead you are left alone to ponder mortality among piles of skulls.

The middle finger of modernity.