The ruins of an abbey believed to have been founded by Charlemagne in the 9th century.

The spot where the fascist dictator made some of his most famous speeches including declaring war on Britain and France.

Gods clash with machines in a power plant regenerated as a museum.

The "Greatest Sewer" of ancient Rome is one of the oldest sewer systems in the world, and is still in use.

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

The former home of an Italian artist is now a shrine to his ambitious works.

A treasure trove of Renaissance-era funerary art in a Roman church built on top of Nero's grave.

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

A fairy tale castle in modern Rome.

The skull of the patron saint of lovers lies in the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin—maybe.

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

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

This hidden alley near the location of Rome's first theater was the site of a curious miracle.

A detailed pachyderm supports Rome's smallest Egyptian obelisk.

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

Underground monastery and fortress.

Fine dining in the bizarre world of Lewis Carroll.

The original "capsule building" is a masterpiece of Metabolist architecture.

A Japanese concept restaurant that feels like a party thrown by the monsters in your closet.

Japan's corrupt-mental-institution themed restaurant offers diners a chance to eat inside of filthy cells.

A 20-meter (65-foot) robot towers over Tokyo Bay.

Shrine to Japanese water-goblins, complete with their preserved body parts.