rdmertz29's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Venice, Italy

The Flooded Crypt of San Zaccaria

As can be expected from a centuries old church built in a canal city, the undercroft of this house of worship is beautifully flooded.
Pompeii, Italy

Plaster Citizens of Pompeii

The last moments of the ill-fated Pompeiians, frozen forever in plaster.
Saturnia, Italy

Terme di Saturnia

Geothermal waterfalls in Tuscany.
Rome, Italy

The Mouth of Truth

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.
Vaglia, Italy

The Colossus of Villa Demidoff

Renaissance villa and gardens complete with a tormented colossus.
Ercolano, Italy

Herculaneum

Pompeii's less famous neighbor is still revealing her secrets.
Rome, Italy

The Dome Illusion

A master of trompe-l'oeil creates a stunning, tourist-fooling dome out of a flat ceiling.
Florence, Italy

Buontalenti Grotta

A large grotto built in the 16th century amidst Florence's famous Boboli gardens.
Venice, Italy

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

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

Pozzo di San Patrizio

Water and windows define this defensive Italian well.
Florence, Italy

Vasari Corridor

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

The Bull of Santa Maria del Fiore

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

Ponte dei Pugni (Bridge of Fists)

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

Elephant and Obelisk

A detailed pachyderm supports Rome's smallest Egyptian obelisk.
Rome, Italy

Torre Argentina (Roman Cat Sanctuary)

Hundreds of lucky felines haunt the ruins where Caesar was murdered.
Rome, Italy

Santa Maria della Concezione Crypts

The crypts of Capuchin friars decorated with the bones of over 4,000 friars, including an entire "crypt of pelvises."
Bomarzo, Italy

The Monsters of Bomarzo

A 16th-century horror show built in a lovely Italian garden.
Vienna, Austria

Habsburg Imperial Crypt

The final resting place for the remains of 143 Habsburg royalty.
Vienna, Austria

House Attack

The house that took a plunge into the facade of a museum.
Vienna, Austria

Josephinum Medical Museum

One of the best collections of wax anatomical models in the world.
Vienna, Austria

Ampelpärchen

Vienna's diversity-themed traffic lights were inspired by the Eurovision Song Contest.
Vienna, Austria

Museumsquartier Passages

This series of Baroque passageways in Vienna's cultural center mix old architecture with modern art.
Vienna, Austria

Jesuitenkirche (Jesuit Church)

The solemn exterior conceals an opulent interior of this 17th century church.
Vienna, Austria

Votivkirche (Votive Church)

A neo-Gothic church built to thank God for saving the Emperor of Austria from an assassination.