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

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

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

An open-air museum in a mountain valley features works designed to blend in with—and disintegrate back into—their natural surroundings.

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

This military mausoleum captures the solemn grandeur that most memorials only aspire to.

Crossing this suspension bridge feels like walking through the sky, a fitting tribute to the head of the Apollo program.

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

A stunning cemetery famous for its extraordinarily delicate & lifelike mourning sculptures.

This half-finished "city of toys" was almost Italy's own Las Vegas.

This Roman statue is missing a limb from when the Venetians stole it from Constantinople during the Crusades.

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

This bustling Italian plaza is built on the ruins of an ancient Roman amphitheater.

Fortified medieval tower house with lovely roof garden.

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

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

A slightly creepy gallery of plaster cast models in the same museum as Michelangelo's David.

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

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

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

Secret refuge and museum of the Duke of Florence.

This Roman amphitheatre was also the location of the first gladiator school.

This magical-looking island is notorious for the misfortunes suffered by its owners.

Beautiful views and Roman-style statues on the Italian coast.