A statue representing a lost Roman profession that was vandalized for centuries.

Templar knights fleeing persecution are said to have left this sword in stone as a landmark in 1307.

This old medieval prison tower has been a site of astronomical research for more than 250 years.

A brutalist gem towering over the heart of Milan.

This Italian pyramid is said to hold the mingled remains of the dead from both sides of the Battle of Novara.

The Bourbon royal family had this unique octagonal hunting "cottage" built on a tiny islet in Lake Fusaro.

According to tradition this is the oldest church in Venice, but its actual age is a mystery.

This scenic fortress dates back at least 2,400 years to the time of Magna Graecia.

Windblown rock formations in an ancient Roman quarry.

The bones of some 7,000 soldiers killed in the historic Battle of Solferino are stored here.

This Neapolitan exhibition hall grants weird and wonderful insight into the intricacies of human biology.

What looks like a link in Gondor's early warning system is actually a centuries-old Italian fortress.

This small, ancient Roman temple was once a church dedicated to the patron saint of penitents.

An extraordinary house museum and cabinet of curiosities in the heart of Florence.

This medieval hilltop village was abandoned at the end of the 19th century, after existing for more than 500 years.

One of Catholicism's four major basilicas has a series of papal portraits that are said to predict the end of the world.

The bomb-ravaged remains of of a colossal Neptune.

A submerged archeological park still holds the wonders of a Roman Sodom.