A fortified medieval basilica on the Caelian Hill preserves extraordinary frescoes and one of Rome's most beautiful hidden cloisters.

More sculpture than building, this architecturally significant temple was built on the spot of Saint Peter's crucifixion.

The odd depiction of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus is rooted in the Catholic Church's eradication of Catharism.

These gutted monastery ruins still stand proudly in the middle of the Italian countryside.

A domed disco abandoned since the '70s now attracts artists and explorers under its unique roof.

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

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

A stunning cemetery famous for its extraordinarily delicate & lifelike mourning sculptures.

A fake medieval village in the middle of Turin.

People have been living in the cave houses on this Italian hillside since the Neolithic era.

Those who own or stay at this 500-year-old, allegedly cursed house often meet terrible fates.

Small on the outside, big on the inside, this church is an astonishing act of visual deception.

This historic recreationist school churns out warriors that may very well have had a fighting chance in Rome's pits of the day.

The giant skeleton sculpture is surprisingly well-traveled.

The mummified relic of St. Antoninus.

A dismembered holy head stares out from her beautiful reliquary at the St. Dominic Basilica.

The skulls and bones of thousands of soldiers line the walls of this small Italian chapel.

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

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

A forgotten "city of water" underneath the famous Trevi district.

This half-finished "city of toys" was almost Italy's own Las Vegas.

This large, circular tomb is the final resting place of the first emperor of Rome.

An ancient artistic garden parlor full of hidden water wonders.

The secret medieval communication system will whisk your words above the noise of the crowd.