A rather vulgar example of the transition from Latin to the Italian vernacular.

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

Installed in an act of one-upsmanship, the annual sundial in this church is also a symbolic victory for the Gregorian calendar.

A Nesting Doll of Churches.

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

Plaques on its facade commemorate the Tiber's most destructive deluges.

A statue representing a lost Roman profession that was vandalized for centuries.

A detailed pachyderm supports Rome's smallest Egyptian obelisk.

Brass cobblestones mark the places where individual Holocaust victims were taken from their homes.

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

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

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

One of several skulls claiming to belong to the beheaded St. John the Baptist is on display at this Roman church.

This ancient Roman arch misled treasure hunters for centuries.

The "Greatest Sewer" of ancient Rome is one of the oldest sewer systems in the world, and is still in use.

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

Breathtaking and huge 430 year old maps of Italy.

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

An Italian crevasse filled with abandoned buildings gives visitors a look at the world without humans.

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

Erotic art covers the walls of the largest ancient pleasure palace.

The walls and streets of the ancient city are peppered with penises.

Ancient snack bar of the Roman Empire re-opened.

A mysterious chasm in the heart of the ancient Roman Forum, the Lacus Curtius was once believed to be a gateway to hell.