nickpapa's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Venice, Italy

Giant Hands of Venice’s Grand Canal

A new sculpture calls attention to climate change in the centuries-old city it threatens.
Ladispoli, Italy

Torre Flavia

The ruins of this medieval tower are destined to crumble into the sea.
Sabaudia, Italy

Sabaudia

A town saturated in Italian rationalist architecture was once marshland drained by Mussolini.
Genoa, Italy

Genoa Cathedral

This cathedral hides a sculpted dog that determines your fate and an unexploded shell from World War II.
Bologna, Italy

Fountain of Neptune

Legend has it this fountain built to symbolize the Pope’s power hides a strange secret concerning Neptune's manliness.
Rome, Italy

Tor Fiscale Park

This park on the outskirts of Rome boasts two ancient Roman aqueducts and a medieval tower.
Venice, Italy

Peggy Guggenheim's Grave

The only museum with its curator—and her pets—buried inside.
Rome, Italy

Palazzo Naiadi Roman Baths

Ancient ruins hidden underneath a modern luxury hotel.
Venice, Italy

St. Mark's Lost Third Column

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

Towers of Bologna

Over 100 towers were built in Bologna during the Middle Ages, but only 22 survive.
Bologna, Italy

Anatomical Theatre of the Archiginnasio

In the world's oldest university is a stunning 17th century anatomical theater carved from spruce.
Venice, Italy

Palazzo Dario

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

Mussolini's Balcony

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

Isola di San Michele

Venice's island of the dead.
Venice, Italy

Scala Contarini del Bovolo

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

Cristo degli Abissi (Christ of the Abyss)

A sunken idol welcomes parishioners to Davy Jones' Locker.
Venice, Italy

St. Mark's Clock Tower (Torre dell'Orologio)

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

Cinque Terre

Five candy-colored villages on the Italian Riviera.
Venice, Italy

The Mad Colored Houses of Burano

This community on a small Venetian island has taken to painting their houses in bright neon hues.
Venice, Italy

Libreria Acqua Alta

This Venice bookstore has resigned itself to constant flooding by keeping its books in bathtubs and boats.
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

The Arch of Cabo San Lucas

A graceful natural rock formation stands astride the point where the Gulf of California meets the Pacific Ocean.
Bermuda

The Unfinished Church

Storms, funding, and in-fighting have kept this Bermuda church from ever being completed.
Havana, Cuba

Hotel Nacional de Cuba

Once a favorite playground for the world's most illustrious guests, Hotel Nacional's secret weapons and bunkers reveal a more menacing side to its golden history.
Havana, Cuba

Coppelia

Castro's communist ice cream mothership has been serving five-scoop "salads" for over 50 years.