Stare out over the lagoon and beyond from this 10th-century campanile on the island where the city of Venice began.

An island on the Venetian Lagoon hosts this stone chair that has nothing to do with the King of the Huns.

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

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

This abandoned island off the Venetian coast has been a radical monastery, a political prison, and a secret Nazi base.

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

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

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

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

According to tradition this is the oldest church in Venice, but its actual age is a mystery.

The pile of books behind the dignified writer gave the statue a most undignified nickname.

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

In the past, Renaissance sex workers were encouraged to entice customers on this bridge.

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

A sinister pyramid in the Frari contains the heart of the famous neoclassical sculptor.

This deconsecrated church has seen many uses, from a tobacco storehouse to a cinema.

A copy of the famous statue can be found in this Florence piazza, along with one of the most breathtaking views of the city below.

This private skyway is filled with art and was expanded explicitly so that Hitler could appreciate a river.

Legend says this mysterious stone head belongs to a woman who was petrified by an alchemist.

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

Some say this medieval church is where the poet Dante married his wife and also met the love of his life.

A medieval weapon rumored to have been used by the brilliant poet himself.

This bronze boar's snout has been rubbed to a golden sheen by visitors seeking good fortune.

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