As can be expected from a centuries old church built in a canal city, the undercroft of this house of worship is beautifully flooded.

Natural cathedral designed by Italian artist Giuliano Mauri.

The glowing blue Nymphaeum of Emperor Tiberius.

The underground sanctuary of a mysterious ancient cult.

This sword isn't waiting for a king to pull it out. It was placed there by a saint.

Geothermal waterfalls in Tuscany.

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

This 16th-century monastery has been turned into a surrealist architecture compound.

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

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

The middle finger of modernity.

Architectureal fantasy quarter of Rome.

Renaissance villa and gardens complete with a tormented colossus.

A submerged archeological park still holds the wonders of a Roman Sodom.

Pompeii's less famous neighbor is still revealing her secrets.

The first Russian Orthodox church in the Catholic city of Rome in almost a thousand years.

This Roman arch marks the location of an ancient gate at one of the Seven Hills of Rome.

More sculpture than building, this architecturally significant temple was built on the spot of Saint Peter's crucifixion.

The engineering wonder and pleasure dome of a much-maligned emperor still holds undiscovered secrets.

A collection of objects supposedly singed by the hands of souls in purgatory.

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.

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

This "mathematical tower" was an observatory, early skyscraper, and place to reflect on all of nature and the cosmos.

This skeleton-filled altar piece served as a backdrop to one of the most iconic scenes in "The Sound of Music."