A whale rib was used to advertise the store by the arch that offered exotic goods from far away.

One of Catholicism's four major basilicas has a series of papal portraits that are said to predict the end of the world.

A copy of the famous statue can be found in this Florence piazza, along with one of the most breathtaking views of the city below.

This amazingly well-preserved villa just outside Pompeii boasts rare examples of ancient Roman paintings.

Da Vinci's equestrian statue, 500 years in the making.

Two stone columns flank the grand Venice square, but there were supposed to be three.

The best preserved Paleochristian basilica in Rome hides a number of oddities and secrets.

Italian poet Dante Alighieri is entombed in this small mausoleum in Ravenna, and his hometown of Florence has never been too happy about it.

This strange bovine gargoyle is said to have been put in as a passive aggressive form of revenge.

Those who own or stay at this 500-year-old, allegedly cursed house often meet terrible fates.

A treasure trove of Renaissance-era funerary art in a Roman church built on top of Nero's grave.

Small on the outside, big on the inside, this church is an astonishing act of visual deception.

Milan's duomo is covered in beautiful carving including a curious "dinosaur-like" beast.

The spot where the fascist dictator made some of his most famous speeches including declaring war on Britain and France.

A dismembered holy head stares out from her beautiful reliquary at the St. Dominic Basilica.

These medieval skyscrapers dominate the skyline of this small Tuscan town.

Renaissance hospital featuring a rotating door into which unwanted babies were dropped.

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

Medieval torture techniques with a modern conscience.

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

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

This private skyway is filled with art and was expanded explicitly so that Hitler could appreciate a river.

This bronze boar's snout has been rubbed to a golden sheen by visitors seeking good fortune.

This real life asylum of horrors is now an abandoned ruin that hides the unbreakable code to one patient's insanity.