A small island less than half a mile from Venice is a forbidden island with a dark and twisted past.

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

Rebuilt remains of a temple to Roman god Mithras.

A Scottish manor with a history of mysterious fires, magic, and eccentric tales

A fernery hidden by neglect is uncovered, and an ancient specimen along with it.

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

Museum in a swimming pool where the water still flows.

This wonky bit of historical taxidermy is experiencing a second life online.

This 16th-century monastery has been turned into a surrealist architecture compound.

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

The remains of a town so thoroughly destroyed by French forces that the citizens simply left.

This immaculate and historic water garden culminates in a massive stone dining table with an inset fountain for chilling the wine of the Cardinal's guests.

Victorian "Fancy Craft" Hair Wreaths and Relics.

A mysterious artist-run cabinet of curiosities and library.

This innocuous-seeming building is actually the remnant of a major wartime brothel.

Eighteen mummies have stood guard behind the altar of this tiny church since 1833.

Erotic art covers the walls of the largest ancient pleasure palace.

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

These "anatomical machines" are only one of the many strange items in this Italian crypt.

The once forbidden "secret cabinet" of erotic art from excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Skulls from the plague of 1656 and World War II bombings are united by a cult dedicated to caring for the ancient dead.

A grotto-like lodge decorated with gilded mosaics, rocks and a noisy waterfall was the setting for the most sumptuous pleasure house of 1900s Europe.

The final resting place of the poets Shelley and Keats.

Museum dedicated to literary greats of the Romantic Period is also the home in which Keats met his untimely end.