A fairytale island floats in the middle of Italy's little-known Lake Orta.

The martyr's wax-enhanced skeletal remains lie preserved in a glass case in the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.

A Nesting Doll of Churches.

The location of the last witch trials of Italy, known as "The Salem of Europe."

Pilgrimage site for star-crossed lovers.

Crushed coral and crystals give the sand its signature coloration.

This ritzy Italian market is built around a statue of an unforgiven heretic who was burned for his belief in an endless universe.

This sword isn't waiting for a king to pull it out. It was placed there by a saint.

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

This domed temple was built in a hidden cave mouth as a refuge for sinners seeking absolution.

Ruins of a 10th century church tucked away deep in a botanical garden.

This centuries-old Italian chapel hangs midway down a sheer cliffside.

Five candy-colored villages on the Italian Riviera.

Jesus' footprints and the first catacombs in the world.

An Italian hillside ghost town.

This quaint Italian town keeps losing ground as the sides of its plateau slowly erode.

The last moments of the ill-fated Pompeiians, frozen forever in plaster.

The final resting place of the poets Shelley and Keats.

2300-year-old Roman road connecting the empire.

Geothermal waterfalls in Tuscany.

Stalactites and stalagmites in a beautifully lit cave.

The only "Egyptian" pyramid in Europe and the legendary tomb of Remus.

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.