The 16th-century son of Sienese nobility carved this hermitage out of volcanic rock.

For centuries, this town's hot springs have been embraced by rich and poor—and even by Popes.

Visit a secretive crypt before it crumbles to dust.

This amazing medieval fortress stands atop a promontory along the famous Cinque Terre.

A lover's walk between hilltop towns, decorated with graffiti love notes.

Perched above a grotto, this tribute to Mother Nature looks out into the ocean.

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

A dreamlike medieval church dug into the tuff rock, with unusual carvings and possible traces of the Templar knights.

A devastating landslide accidentally created this tourist hotspot.

Stare out over the lagoon and beyond from this 10th-century campanile on the island where the city of Venice began.

The small peaceful island off the Venice tourist circuit is where the city began more than 1,500 years ago.

One of the largest squares in Europe contains an entire artificial island.

The oldest botanical garden in the world that technically isn't the oldest.

This winding road through an Italian canyon may be the most scenic drive in the world.

Once the hunting reserve of a noble family, this is one of the few remnants of Pleistocene planitial forest in northern Italy that still stands.

In Lago Superiore, the largest expanse of lotus flowers outside of Asia is hard to miss.

An Italian geologic wonder that served as the inspiration for the landscape of Dante's hell.

Italy's curious field of mud volcanoes is named for being both gross AND salty.

South of Bologna, a limestone grotto with a protruding waterfall and a floor full of cave pearls.

Leonardo da Vinci was one of many to find inspiration in this unique, rocky landscape in Tuscany.

Does this strange mural depict witches battling beneath a penis tree?

Nestled in the hills of Tuscany are gorgeous, multicolored hot springs.

Gigantic mosaic sculptures of the figures on Tarot cards fill this colorful Tuscan garden.

This network of roads is one of the most unique Etruscan creations ever discovered.