418mhm's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Pompeii, Italy

Stone Phalluses of Pompeii

The walls and streets of the ancient city are peppered with penises.
Pompeii, Italy

Villa dei Misteri

This amazingly well-preserved villa just outside Pompeii boasts rare examples of ancient Roman paintings.
Ercolano, Italy

Osservatorio Vesuviano (Vesuvius Observatory)

The oldest volcanology research center in the world.
Pozzuoli, Italy

Flavian Amphitheater of Pozzuoli

Italy's third-largest Roman arena gives a peek into the underground operations beneath the ancient spectacles.
Naples, Italy

Gaiola Island

This magical-looking island is notorious for the misfortunes suffered by its owners.
Naples, Italy

Naples Underground

A labyrinth of ancient tunnels hidden below the city holds the ruins of 2,500 years of history.
Naples, Italy

Funicolare Centrale

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

Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco

The Neapolitan Cult of the Dead still cares for the skulls at this mini-Fontanelle.
Naples, Italy

Toledo Art Station

This shining multicolored metro station deep under Naples is said to be the most beautiful in Europe.
Rome, Italy

Galleria Sciarra

This hidden Art Nouveau courtyard is an opulent feast for the eyes.
Rome, Italy

The Head of St. John the Baptist at San Silvestro in Capite

One of several skulls claiming to belong to the beheaded St. John the Baptist is on display at this Roman church.
Rome, Italy

The Dome Illusion

A master of trompe-l'oeil creates a stunning, tourist-fooling dome out of a flat ceiling.
Rome, Italy

Torre Argentina (Roman Cat Sanctuary)

Hundreds of lucky felines haunt the ruins where Caesar was murdered.
Venice, Italy

Isola di San Michele

Venice's island of the dead.
Bolzano, Italy

Ă–tzi the Iceman

Europe’s oldest natural human mummy.
Matera, Italy

The Crypt of the Original Sin

A cave in southern Italy adorned with thousand-year-old Biblical frescoes existed in obscurity until fairly recently.
Naples, Italy

Gabinetto Segreto

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

Valle dei Mulini (Valley of the Mills)

An Italian crevasse filled with abandoned buildings gives visitors a look at the world without humans.
Caltagirone, Italy

Ceramic Steps of Caltagirone

142 ceramic steps become a mosaic once a year.
Realmonte, Italy

Scala dei Turchi

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

Hallstatt Charnel House

An Austrian house of bones filled with hundreds of intricately painted skulls.
Hallstatt, Austria

Salzwelten: The Hallstatt Salt Mine

The world's oldest known salt mine.
Munich, Germany

Asamkirche

Among the ostentatious rococo ornamentation of this church, an image of death cuts the life-thread.
Salzburg, Austria

Panorama Museum Salzburg

This 19th century cyclorama acts like an analogue time machine to a different era.