Armenian monks at an island monastery in the Venetian Lagoon make a rare rose petal jam.

This community on a small Venetian island has taken to painting their houses in bright neon hues.

A small sculpture that pays homage to the famous bronze ear of Ca de l'Oreggia—or does it?

After sitting unused for decades, this abandoned communist infrastructure became a wildlife utopia.

17th century palace once a meeting place for politicians.

The bust of Romania’s most notorious ruler, Vlad Dracula aka "Vlad the Impaler," keeps watch over the ruins of his medieval court.

This solitary monastery may hold the remains of Vlad the Impaler (but probably not).

A once-luxurious, now abandoned hotel in the Italian Alps.

Remnants of cone-shaped fascist bomb shelters in Milan.

This grisly effigy displays an early Christian martyr who was skinned alive and beheaded.

An exclusive waiting room built for the royal family in the 1920s is hidden in Milan’s central station.

Castle and secret tunnel withstood a siege until its owner was killed by the Holy Roman Empire, while sitting on the toilet.

The train platform where Jews were sent to concentration camps is now preserved as a Holocaust memorial.

This building has a giant piercing through one of its corners.

Dynamite factory turned museum explores the history of explosives.

A plain wooden seat that once belonged to one of the most prominent figures of the Protestant Reformation.

An opulent monument built for a duke who donated his entire fortune to the city of Geneva.

Everything from alchemy books to building plans for the Eiffel Tower are housed inside this museum.

The Swiss hilltop housed an early 20th-century vegetarian nudist colony.

This taxidermilogical collection was assembled by a peltmonger turned animal activist.

A trove of ridiculously valuable prints and manuscripts under one roof.

A Swiss amusement park entirely dedicated to the theory of ancient astronauts.

This eclectic architectural gem played witness to Zurich’s colonial past.

World's largest permanent maze made of 18,000 conifers.