Naturally preserved bodies are eerily staged throughout the crypt in varying poses.

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

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

These medieval skyscrapers dominate the skyline of this small Tuscan town.

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

Medieval torture techniques with a modern conscience.

Five candy-colored villages on the Italian Riviera.

David Sedaris called it "The greatest shop in the world."

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

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

According to the local folklore, the myriad colors of this lake are the result of a lovelorn wizard's blunder.

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

Geothermal waterfalls in Tuscany.

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

Renaissance hospital featuring a rotating door into which unwanted babies were dropped.

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

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

A fairy tale castle in modern Rome.

A Nesting Doll of Churches.

This Roman arch marks the location of an ancient gate at one of the Seven Hills of Rome.

The studio built by fascists in the hopes of "reviving the film industry" with the occasional propaganda film opportunity thrown in.