The small peaceful island off the Venice tourist circuit is where the city began more than 1,500 years ago.

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

Thousand-year-old Viking runes adorn an ancient Greek lion at the entrance to the Venetian Arsenal.

Venice's "Island of the Mad."

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

A sinister pyramid in the Frari contains the heart of the famous neoclassical sculptor.

The plague quarantine island home to the alleged "Vampire of Venice."

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

A museum dedicated to secret surveillance.

Haunting monument to the German Jewish philosopher who died while fleeing fascism.

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

This bunker in northern France was built by Nazi German forces with the intention of launching up to 50 V2 rockets at London each day.

A top-secret bunker now turned museum, is an eerie look at what life would have looked like in the event of nuclear war.

The many—66 to be exact—faces of the German forest.

Legendary site where an evil bishop was devoured by rodents.

A memorial for a young woman and her ghost, which are claimed to have caused countless deathly shipwrecks.

This marvelous array is one of the largest collections of mechanical instruments in Europe.