Venice's island of the dead.

This half-finished "city of toys" was almost Italy's own Las Vegas.

This winding road through an Italian canyon may be the most scenic drive in the world.

An ancient artistic garden parlor full of hidden water wonders.

Secret refuge and museum of the Duke of Florence.

Gigantic mosaic sculptures of the figures on Tarot cards fill this colorful Tuscan garden.

An abandoned Roman salami factory has found new life as an art space home to 200 squatters.

One of the largest caves in the world open to the public.

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

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

Five candy-colored villages on the Italian Riviera.

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

This museum is rotten with a century of wax medical deformities.

Walk through a fairytale in Tuscany.

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

This picturesque Umbrian city has a subterranean side that has long remained hidden.

A Milanese café entirely designed by the American director Wes Anderson.

The Sighignola summit on the Swiss border offers views so breathtaking it's been named one of the most beautiful places in Italy.

This palatial spiral staircase was so unusual the name "snail" was given to the noble family who built it.

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

This immaculate and historic water garden culminates in a massive stone dining table with an inset fountain for chilling the wine of the Cardinal's guests.

Medieval town turned hippie commune, once home to the secret foreskin of Jesus Christ.

This medieval Italian town is a sheer (and beautiful) cliffside defense.

A fairytale island floats in the middle of Italy's little-known Lake Orta.