High in the clouds of San Marino sits an ancient tower with some curious prisoner graffiti.

Eighteen mummies have stood guard behind the altar of this tiny church since 1833.

Contains some of the world's more disturbing wax anatomical models.

A dismembered holy head stares out from her beautiful reliquary at the St. Dominic Basilica.

This sword isn't waiting for a king to pull it out. It was placed there by a saint.

These gutted monastery ruins still stand proudly in the middle of the Italian countryside.

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

Geothermal waterfalls in Tuscany.

Host to the annual Festival of the Snakes.

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

Ruins of a 10th century church tucked away deep in a botanical garden.

A 16th-century horror show built in a lovely Italian garden.

Medieval town turned hippie commune, once home to the secret foreskin of Jesus Christ.

An Italian ghost town that fought obscurity, until a mysterious illness brought it to its knees.

The Vatican's secret porn-festooned bathroom was painted in erotic murals by one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance.

Ever hear of the Milazzo Cage?

Architectureal fantasy quarter of Rome.

More sculpture than building, this architecturally significant temple was built on the spot of Saint Peter's crucifixion.

Museum dedicated to literary greats of the Romantic Period is also the home in which Keats met his untimely end.

Gods clash with machines in a power plant regenerated as a museum.

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

The final resting place of the poets Shelley and Keats.

Installed in an act of one-upsmanship, the annual sundial in this church is also a symbolic victory for the Gregorian calendar.

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