A fairytale island floats in the middle of Italy's little-known Lake Orta.

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

The plague quarantine island home to the alleged "Vampire of Venice."

An abandoned Roman salami factory has found new life as an art space home to 200 squatters.

This ancient altar emerges from the thick forests to reveal the mysteries of Etruscan sacrificial rituals.

Explore the quarry where the marble was sourced for Michaelangelo's David.

This natural gas vent certainly earns its name as the smallest volcano in Italy.

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

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

A popular legend claims that the famous pizza was invented at a restaurant in this alley.

A detailed pachyderm supports Rome's smallest Egyptian obelisk.

An open-air museum in a mountain valley features works designed to blend in with—and disintegrate back into—their natural surroundings.

This ancient market is often referred to as the oldest shopping mall in the world.

A slightly creepy gallery of plaster cast models in the same museum as Michelangelo's David.

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

This subterranean shrine beneath a bike rental store celebrates the iconic Italian scooter.

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

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

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

A sulfuric hellscape in southern Italy.

The marble facade hides a little-known medical museum with early surgical instruments and rare copies of canonical texts.

Ham is serious business at the Prosciutto Museum-Serious, delicious business.

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

Overlooked amid the tourist bustle of Florence, this museum is dedicated to the craft of stone inlay.