One of the most well-preserved castles in Italy also contains a rare medieval example of a port fortification.

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

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

The top of society once luxuriated in this world-class hotel, which continues to impress, even in ruin.

An eccentric artist's abode in this small Italian town has been transformed into a surreal temple of mosaic madness.

A gorgeous medieval library where the books are kept in chains.

This seaside Italian village doesn't just look Escher-esque, it actually inspired the mind-bending artist.

The abandoned ruins of a failed resort hide on this verdant, picture-perfect island.

The walls and streets of the ancient city are peppered with penises.

Ancient ruins hidden underneath a modern luxury hotel.

The first Russian Orthodox church in the Catholic city of Rome in almost a thousand years.

A small window on Via Piella offers a lovely and rare peek at Bologna's lost canals.

Geometry and mystery come together in an epic show of octagonal masonry.

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

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

Machismo turned on its head: the lady's hand goes to the dude with the bigger brain.

A fairytale-like medieval church perched atop a rocky cliff on Italy's "Coast of the Gods."

This precariously perched fortress was once ruled by a crow-worshipping baron.

A stunning bridge that appears as if it's lunging to the shore, and has a legend of a devilish architect.

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

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

Inside this McDonald's you can dine on your Big Mac and fries next to a 2,500-year-old Roman wall.

A volcanic old faithful, Stromboli has been erupting continuously for the last 2000 years.

This historic recreationist school churns out warriors that may very well have had a fighting chance in Rome's pits of the day.