Vacatione

142 ceramic steps become a mosaic once a year.

Italian cave with exceptional acoustics and an unsavory history.

A mysterious ancient elephant said to possess magic powers is now the symbol of a Sicilian city.

The world's most active stratovolcano is almost always erupting.

A medieval wash house where people washed clothes in a river allegedly formed by the tears of a mourning nymph.

A collection of grotesques lines the walls of this Italian villa.

Cave shrine on Monte Pellegrino.

Every inch of this chapel is covered in craftsmanship from across the world.

Thousands of well-dressed mummies below a monastery.

Why a column on the entrance is inscribed with a verse from the Quran is one of Sicily's many mysteries.

This entire town moved to a safe location after it was devastated by an earthquake, but the remains of the original town are still around.

Gorgeous views of Italian mountains and valleys form the backdrop of this unique open-air theater.

"Stairs of the Turks", a chalky white cliff eroded conveniently into stairs, allowing for easy pillaging.

This prison on the Maltese island of Gozo is almost 500 years old, and they have the graffiti to prove it.

Two geological phenomena in one precarious locale: a towering stone window, and a deep blue void.

An abandoned set from the 1980 film "Popeye," claimed and repurposed as a theme park by creative locals.

This spectacular dome managed to survive after being bombed in World War II, in an event known as the "Miracle of Mosta."

Burial grounds for more than 1,000 bodies deep under the modern town of Rabat.

The remains of a 1st-century aristocratic Roman town house featuring beautiful well-preserved mosaics.

This unique building in the main square stands out among the city's typically Baroque architecture.

This almost-forgotten underground dungeon housed several convicts over the years, including Caravaggio.

The medieval home is still engraved with the symbol of the profession, an eye flanked by two axes.

This subterranean necropolis holds three floors of antler-dug grave caves.

Stone Age solar temple is aligned with the sun on each equinox and solstice.