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

The middle finger of modernity.

Thousands of well-dressed mummies below a monastery.

This community on a small Venetian island has taken to painting their houses in bright neon hues.

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

Ancient snack bar of the Roman Empire re-opened.

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

The skull of the patron saint of lovers lies in the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin—maybe.

Gods clash with machines in a power plant regenerated as a museum.

2300-year-old Roman road connecting the empire.

Architectureal fantasy quarter of Rome.

This ritzy Italian market is built around a statue of an unforgiven heretic who was burned for his belief in an endless universe.

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

The only "Egyptian" pyramid in Europe and the legendary tomb of Remus.

The final resting place of the poets Shelley and Keats.

A hospital where antique dolls are given new life.

Hundreds of lucky felines haunt the ruins where Caesar was murdered.

This hidden Art Nouveau courtyard is an opulent feast for the eyes.

An alchemist's "magic door" stands in the middle of a Roman park.

Architectural monsters are devouring this palace's every door and window.

The crypts of Capuchin friars decorated with the bones of over 4,000 friars, including an entire "crypt of pelvises."

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

The martyr's wax-enhanced skeletal remains lie preserved in a glass case in the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.

Ironically this massive termite is the mascot for a company that is acclaimed for killing his kind.