brendanorourke78's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Pizzo, Italy

Chiesetta di Piedigrotta (Church of Piedigrotta)

This church carved into the rocks is full of enchanting stone statues.
Tropea, Italy

Santa Maria dell’Isola Monastery

A fairytale-like medieval church perched atop a rocky cliff on Italy's "Coast of the Gods."
Messina, Italy

The House of Cavaliere

An eccentric home in Sicily turns heads on a regular basis.
Syracuse, Italy

Ear of Dionysius

Italian cave with exceptional acoustics and an unsavory history.
Calatafimi, Italy

Temple of Segesta

This amazingly preserved Doric temple was abandoned before it was ever completed.
Gibellina Vecchia, Italy

Cretto di Burri

Leveled by an earthquake, this Italian village is now preserved as a massive concrete art project.
Poggioreale, Italy

Ruins of Poggioreale

This entire town moved to a safe location after it was devastated by an earthquake, but the remains of the original town are still around.
Sciacca, Italy

Il Castello Incantato

A madman's personal garden filled with 1,000 sculpted heads.
Palermo, Italy

Qanat di Palermo

A network of underground water channels that dates back to the Middle Ages.
Palermo, Italy

Vigili del Fuoco

A study of Fascist era Art Deco design in Italy.
Palermo, Italy

The Martorana

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

'Trionfo della Morte'

This uncanny fresco celebrating the "triumph of death" was split into four pieces to be moved to another museum.
Bagheria, Italy

Villa Palagonia

A collection of grotesques lines the walls of this Italian villa.
Naples, Italy

MUSA Anatomy Museum

This Neapolitan exhibition hall grants weird and wonderful insight into the intricacies of human biology.
Naples, Italy

Anatomy Museum of the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli

An eerie, little-known Neapolitan museum filled with preserved human remains.
Naples, Italy

Bourbon Tunnel

Dug as a secret royal escape route, the tunnel became a wartime bomb shelter and dumping ground for vintage cars.
Naples, Italy

The Anatomical Machines of Cappella Sansevero

These "anatomical machines" are only one of the many strange items in this Italian crypt.
Naples, Italy

Naples Underground

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

Gabinetto Segreto

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

Trullo di Marziolla

The oldest-known example of a historic architectural style recognized by UNESCO.
Castellana Grotte, Italy

Castellana Caves

The sunlight passing through the opening of this huge cave system creates a magical effect.
Monte di Cuma, Italy

Antro della Sibilla (Cave of the Sibyl)

Virgil's many-mouthed gateway to the underworld.
Pozzuoli, Italy

Phlegraean Fields

A sulfuric hellscape in southern Italy.
Naples, Italy

Catacombs of San Gennaro

An underground paleo-Christian burial site composed of the remains of several cemeteries and Basilicas.