A Nesting Doll of Churches.

One of several skulls claiming to belong to the beheaded St. John the Baptist is on display at this Roman church.

The martyr's wax-enhanced skeletal remains lie preserved in a glass case in the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.

This former Roman Catholic Church still contains the embalmed hearts and organs of 22 popes.

Drink wine handed out through a window as part of an age-old tradition.

This palatial spiral staircase was so unusual the name "snail" was given to the noble family who built it.

Crushed coral and crystals give the sand its signature coloration.

One of the world’s smallest bars, just 13 square feet, is brimming with speakeasy flair.

The abandoned "Ghost Mansion" was left to decay in the mountains of Northern Italy.

This 16th-century monastery has been turned into a surrealist architecture compound.

This centuries-old Italian chapel hangs midway down a sheer cliffside.

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

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

This quaint Italian town keeps losing ground as the sides of its plateau slowly erode.

This ritzy Italian market is built around a statue of an unforgiven heretic who was burned for his belief in an endless universe.

An Italian hillside ghost town.

Five candy-colored villages on the Italian Riviera.

A Milanese café entirely designed by the American director Wes Anderson.

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

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

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

The largest and most famous wax anatomical collection anywhere in the world.

This giant middle finger statue sends an unambiguous message to Italy's bankers.

A labyrinth of ancient tunnels hidden below the city holds the ruins of 2,500 years of history.