As can be expected from a centuries old church built in a canal city, the undercroft of this house of worship is beautifully flooded.

Venice's island of the dead.

This Italian church is as beautiful as it is common, except for the real skulls decorating the many mannequins inside.

The incorrupt tongue of the patron saint of lost things is venerated in this basilica.

Pilgrimage site for star-crossed lovers.

One of the oldest libraries in the world is still operating and contains the oldest existing document in the Italian language.

It’s said this crypt was the setting for the tragic finale of the Shakespeare play.

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

One of the most well-preserved castles in Italy also contains a rare medieval example of a port fortification.

On the shores of Lake Garda, the ruins of a Roman villa that allegedly belonged to the poet Catullus.

A massive mausoleum towers over the gravestones in a 19th-century Italian "model village."

The mummified relic of St. Antoninus.

The graveyard is filled with beautiful funerary art and boasts breathtaking views of Florence.

Many famous English poets including Elizabeth Barrett Browning are laid to rest at this Swiss-owned cemetery in Florence.

Renaissance hospital featuring a rotating door into which unwanted babies were dropped.

The oldest operating pharmacy in the world features 800-year-old recipes.

Two stone columns flank the grand Venice square, but there were supposed to be three.

Hanging within this medieval church are the bones of a beast allegedly slain by a fourth-century saint.

A sinister pyramid in the Frari contains the heart of the famous neoclassical sculptor.

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

This palatial spiral staircase was so unusual the name "snail" was given to the noble family who built it.

A space dedicated to contemporary art and culture, co-chaired by fashion icon Miuccia Prada.

Nestled in the heart of Milan is a real wunderkammer of morbid curiosities.

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