The 1,000-year-old abbey is the birthplace of modern musical notation.

Psychoanalyst Carl Jung reported a paranormal experience after visiting this mosaic-lined Roman baptistry.

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

This Arabesque Italian castle was built with a primitive, if ingenious, air-conditioning system.

This grisly effigy displays an early Christian martyr who was skinned alive and beheaded.

Legend has it this fountain built to symbolize the Pope’s power hides a strange secret concerning Neptune's manliness.

The only museum with its curator—and her pets—buried inside.

Every inch of this chapel is covered in craftsmanship from across the world.

Also known as the Square Colosseum, this building is a prime example of fascist-era rationalist architecture.

Italian poet Dante Alighieri is entombed in this small mausoleum in Ravenna, and his hometown of Florence has never been too happy about it.

Over 100 towers were built in Bologna during the Middle Ages, but only 22 survive.

A volcanic old faithful, Stromboli has been erupting continuously for the last 2000 years.

A detailed pachyderm supports Rome's smallest Egyptian obelisk.

A star-shaped fortress town fort built in the geometric model of the Renaissance utopian city.

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

Southern Italy's spinning top village.

Venice's island of the dead.

Two very green residential towers cleaning the air in one of Europe's most polluted cities.

The world's most active stratovolcano is almost always erupting.

This mosaic-lined medieval church was built by the world's first admiral and still holds mass in ancient Greek.

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

Five candy-colored villages on the Italian Riviera.

Rome's semi-secret peephole vista is also a former Crusader stronghold.

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.