The martyr's wax-enhanced skeletal remains lie preserved in a glass case in the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.

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

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

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

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

Venice's "Island of the Mad."

This beautiful park on the outskirts of Rome protects the ruins of two colossal ancient aqueducts.

A labyrinth of ancient tunnels hidden below the city holds the ruins of 2,500 years of history.

Jesus' footprints and the first catacombs in the world.

The largest and most famous wax anatomical collection anywhere in the world.

Five candy-colored villages on the Italian Riviera.

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

Thousands of well-dressed mummies below a monastery.

Stalactites and stalagmites in a beautifully lit cave.

The final resting place of the poets Shelley and Keats.

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

An ossuary built in 1210 to collect bones from the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan.

Renaissance villa and gardens complete with a tormented colossus.

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

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

2300-year-old Roman road connecting the empire.

The oldest operating pharmacy in the world features 800-year-old recipes.

At the crypt of St. Mary of Eulogies and the Dead you are left alone to ponder mortality among piles of skulls.

The doodles of a genius line the walls of a secret room under the Medici Chapel, where they were hidden for nearly 500 years.