An incredible mosaic-lined monument said to have held the remains of an ancient Roman empress.

This 6th-century church has the largest and best-preserved collection of Byzantine mosaics outside Constantinople.

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

A giant portrait of an ancient king looms over the river.

A Roman monument to their own civil engineering prowess.

One of the most controversial statues in Romania is an emperor with no clothes.

Romania's triumphal arch looks out over Bucharest.

This communist behemoth is the heaviest building in the world and a legacy of a brutal regime.

The preserved arm of a third-century sorcerer is believed to have the power to lift curses and spells.

This once-derelict building is now one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world.

This solitary monastery may hold the remains of Vlad the Impaler (but probably not).

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

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

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

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

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

An extensive collection of reliquaries containing the bones of saints housed in the largest Catholic church in Venice.

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

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

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

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.

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

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