An alien landscape on the banks of the Aegean Sea.

Replicas of Apollo's leonine stone guard cats still line a sacred row in Greece.

Heralded as the world's first theater, these ruins are often overlooked as they reside in the shadows of the Acropolis.

A sharp sculpture made of thousands of pieces of jagged glass.

According to myth, Zeus himself was hidden in this cave to escape being eaten by his dad.

Giant marble phalluses on the sacred island of antiquity.

An ancient octagonal weather station named for the eight Greek gods of wind.

This mystical orb covered in strange symbols is thought to have been used in ancient Greek magical rituals.

This ancient hydrological marvel is now the base of a modern outdoor cinema.

The Cycladic architecture makes this Athens neighborhood feel like an island paradise hidden in the shadow of the Acropolis.

The railway carts travelers to central Athens's highest peak, which offers stunning vistas of the city.

A minotaur, a labyrinth, and a dubious restoration pull in visitors from around the world.

Learn about the sweet, storied legacy of beekeeping in ancient Greece.

Perched on a spindly rock spire in a Greek archipelago, this lighthouse would make a perfect wizard's tower.

Hidden in a secluded Greek cove is a pristine beach marred only by the rusting smuggler's hulk stranded on its shores.

The hallucinogenic center of the ancient world.

The last moments of the ill-fated Pompeiians, frozen forever in plaster.

Hidden in an Italian forest is a completely homemade amusement park that has taken a lifetime to create.

The glowing blue Nymphaeum of Emperor Tiberius.

Sitting on an Italian hilltop is this surreal fortress built by the mad inventor of electrohomeopathy.

The doodles of a genius line the walls of a secret room under the Medici Chapel, where they were hidden for nearly 500 years.

The middle finger of modernity.

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

This Venice bookstore has resigned itself to constant flooding by keeping its books in bathtubs and boats.