Suffocating dogs was a common spectacle in the fumes of this noxious cave.

On the shores of Lake Garda, the ruins of a Roman villa that allegedly belonged to the poet Catullus.

This Italian pyramid is said to hold the mingled remains of the dead from both sides of the Battle of Novara.

Leveled by an earthquake, this Italian village is now preserved as a massive concrete art project.

A fortified medieval basilica on the Caelian Hill preserves extraordinary frescoes and one of Rome's most beautiful hidden cloisters.

The underground sanctuary of a mysterious ancient Roman religious cult contains an exquisite traditional fresco.

A stunning hermit's shrine on a steep rocky spur in Northern Italy.

An abandoned quarry hides an open-air gallery of huge sculptures, some made from the rubble of 9/11.

An unusual house built using an iso-elastic membrane.

This ultra-modern burial building would have stacked the dead like a giant filing cabinet.

This poignant art installation raises awareness of violence against women.

Skulls and skeletons are omnipresent in this church dedicated to souls trapped in purgatory.

A quiet Sicilian village is home to a cafe that had an important role in "The Godfather."

A visionary Italian architect created an impressive cluster of concrete structures for a family's private tomb.

This Italian stadium makes liberal use of fascist statuary to evoke classical sporting arenas.

The only visible reminders of an elaborate engineering project that kept the tower from reaching the tipping point.

This overgrown mountain village has been abandoned for nearly a century.

This amazingly preserved Doric temple was abandoned before it was ever completed.

Remnants of a 4th-century church with vivid medieval frescoes and ancient sarcophagi hide beneath this old basilica.

One of Catholicism's four major basilicas has a series of papal portraits that are said to predict the end of the world.

Cave shrine on Monte Pellegrino.

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

The incorrupt tongue of the patron saint of lost things is venerated in this basilica.

A unique form of erosion created an uncanny landscape of boulders perched atop slender columns of clay.