Eighteen mummies have stood guard behind the altar of this tiny church since 1833.

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

The marble facade hides a little-known medical museum with early surgical instruments and rare copies of canonical texts.

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

Venice's "Island of the Mad."

Go inside to really appreciate this 500-year-old technological masterpiece.

A new sculpture calls attention to climate change in the centuries-old city it threatens.

Where Venice's gondolas go for a tune-up.

100 year tradition of fist fights, marked by marble footsteps.

A small island less than half a mile from Venice is a forbidden island with a dark and twisted past.

Filled with goldfish swimming in a shallow pool of sea water, this ancient crypt is more wishing well than burial site.

This Italian dam is covered in salt-hungry goats who manage to scale its almost vertical face.

On rare days, this abandoned castle's gatekeepers open its doors, revealing the eye-popping splendor hidden inside.

Spiral alpine structure provides an alternative experience of viewing the Matterhorn.

Medieval torture techniques with a modern conscience.

This natural gas vent certainly earns its name as the smallest volcano in Italy.

The location of the last witch trials of Italy, known as "The Salem of Europe."

Built to repay the sins of the father, this church is home to one of the most valuable works of Western art.

The oldest botanical garden in the world that technically isn't the oldest.

The world's oldest surviving anatomical theater, where "the dead are pleased to help the living."

This deceiving white sand beach gets its brilliant hue from the chemical discharge of a nearby factory.

The middle finger of modernity.

A large grotto built in the 16th century amidst Florence's famous Boboli gardens.

Over 50 exquisite hand-painted Renaissance maps decorate a Medici storage room.