The building that once housed the dictator's secret police is now a museum that documents the history of an oppressive regime and those who fought against it.

The ruins of this Brazilian island prison still bear the scars of the bloody rebellion that closed it down.

Dynamite factory turned museum explores the history of explosives.

A landmark in the history of technology and computing is hidden in a tiny Baroque chapel.

A fake medieval village in the middle of Turin.

The astonishing collection of an infamous criminologist.

The mountaintop inspiration for Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose."

This Torino museum honors a soldier who kept the city safe using barrels of exploding gunpowder, losing his life in the process.

This medieval castle was home to a known tyrant and features several hidden passages.

This war memorial holds the remains of around 20,000 World War I soldiers from both sides of the conflict.

A visionary Italian architect created an impressive cluster of concrete structures for a family's private tomb.

This Italian foot path winds through the mountains via 52 individual tunnels.

This military mausoleum captures the solemn grandeur that most memorials only aspire to.

Destroyed numerous times, this centuries-old bridge has always been rebuilt with its original design.

Artist Diego Morlin's war between the natural and human worlds is a wanderer's delight.

The 1940s structure houses what was once Europe's largest telescope.

The remains of 50,000 World War I soldiers rest under a towering arch overlooking the Alpine battlefields.

Two bronze wolves atop this large rock honor the "Wolves of Tuscany" brigade of World War I.

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

An 18th-century post box used to alert the church of sick and ailing foreign pilgrims.

A fortified medieval basilica on the Caelian Hill preserves extraordinary frescoes and one of Rome's most beautiful hidden cloisters.

Romans decided this 16th-century "talking statue" was so ugly, they named it after a primate.

A magnificent waterfall is also home to the remains of a Roman hydraulic engineering system.

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