These spartan apartments are provided to clergymen visiting Vatican City.

The first Russian Orthodox church in the Catholic city of Rome in almost a thousand years.

A space dedicated to contemporary art and culture, co-chaired by fashion icon Miuccia Prada.

Remnants of cone-shaped fascist bomb shelters in Milan.

This Italian stadium makes liberal use of fascist statuary to evoke classical sporting arenas.

A sculpture serving as an homage to Pope John Paul II.

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

A modern sliver of architecture in Roma.

The first botanical garden, a feather in the cap of the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

A dead saint, a deadly poison, and a mysterious holy ooze.

This strange bovine gargoyle is said to have been put in as a passive aggressive form of revenge.

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

Before there were doorbells this bronze ear was installed for visitors to announce their arrival.

Milan's duomo is covered in beautiful carving including a curious "dinosaur-like" beast.

Southern Italy's spinning top village.

Fortified medieval tower house with lovely roof garden.

Long-abandoned art nouveau baths beneath Milan's Piazza Oberdan.

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

This abandoned island off the Venetian coast has been a radical monastery, a political prison, and a secret Nazi base.

An Italian ghost town that fought obscurity, until a mysterious illness brought it to its knees.

The mummified relic of St. Catherine sits forever on a golden throne.

This private skyway is filled with art and was expanded explicitly so that Hitler could appreciate a river.

The oldest of Venice's plague quarantine stations, designed to keep the medieval city safe from disease.

This Tuscan lake hides a 13th century town that is still visible when the water recedes.