The palace of the King of Kings, burned by Alexander the Great.

Marked by the hand of the explorer Henry Morton Stanley.

17th century mosque for Shah Abbas' harem.

These little castles each held thousands of pigeons.

An Italian hillside ghost town.

A town saturated in Italian rationalist architecture was once marshland drained by Mussolini.

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

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

In a city that boasts four separate inclined cable railways, this is one of the busiest funicular lines in the world.

Pompeii's less famous neighbor is still revealing her secrets.

Erotic art covers the walls of the largest ancient pleasure palace.

Ancient snack bar of the Roman Empire re-opened.

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

A beautifully well-preserved ancient Roman villa.

Beautiful views and Roman-style statues on the Italian coast.

The Jesus tree of Malta bears a striking resemblance to Christ on the cross.

An abandoned set from the 1980 film "Popeye," claimed and repurposed as a theme park by creative locals.

Two geological phenomena in one precarious locale: a towering stone window, and a deep blue void.

This entire town moved to a safe location after it was devastated by an earthquake, but the remains of the original town are still around.

Italian cave with exceptional acoustics and an unsavory history.

"Stairs of the Turks", a chalky white cliff eroded conveniently into stairs, allowing for easy pillaging.

Abandoned village in Sicily built during the agricultural reforms of Mussolini.

This constantly evolving art space saved an Italian town from its own crippling reputation.

Cave shrine on Monte Pellegrino.