The fishing boats that moor in this small lagoon enter and leave through a tunnel to the sea.

Two geological phenomena in one precarious locale: a towering stone window, and a deep blue void.

An eccentric home in Sicily turns heads on a regular basis.

The world's most active stratovolcano is almost always erupting.

A madman's personal garden filled with 1,000 sculpted heads.

Cave shrine on Monte Pellegrino.

Behind medieval walls in a corner of bustling Palermo is a breathtaking former mosque once inhabited by a wolf-taming hermit.

This mosaic-lined medieval church was built by the world's first admiral and still holds mass in ancient Greek.

Abandoned village in Sicily built during the agricultural reforms of Mussolini.

A collection of grotesques lines the walls of this Italian villa.

"Stairs of the Turks", a chalky white cliff eroded conveniently into stairs, allowing for easy pillaging.

Gorgeous views of Italian mountains and valleys form the backdrop of this unique open-air theater.

The engineering wonder and pleasure dome of a much-maligned emperor still holds undiscovered secrets.

The underground sanctuary of a mysterious ancient cult.

At the crypt of St. Mary of Eulogies and the Dead you are left alone to ponder mortality among piles of skulls.

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

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

An alchemist's "magic door" stands in the middle of a Roman park.

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

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

This ancient Roman prison is decorated with an upside-down cross not as blasphemy but as saintly tribute.

A Nesting Doll of Churches.

This beautiful park on the outskirts of Rome protects the ruins of two colossal ancient aqueducts.

This former Roman Catholic Church still contains the embalmed hearts and organs of 22 popes.