Italy

Places in this region

Sea Lion Caves

Only known mainland rookery and hauling area of the threatened Stellar sea lion

Description needs to be rewritten. Copy/pasted from Wiki/other sources. Everything else good to go. -- Nick Sea Lion Caves is one of the great sea grottos of the world, comparable in size and... »

Watery Wonders, Curious Caves | Edited by canuck and Nicholas Jackson

Passetto di Borgo

The Pope’s secret escape route

On May 6, 1527 a rogue army of 35,000 mercenaries and soldiers descended on Rome. The Pope found himself on the wrong side of international land-grab politics, religious reformations that had... »

Architectural Oddities | Edited by Annetta

Il Giardino dei Tarocchi

Gigantic mosaic sculptures representing tarot cards fill a garden in Tuscany

Niki de Saint Phalle, born Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle on October 29, 1930, was a French sculptor and film maker. In 1978, she began work on a series of 21 large-scale sculptures... »

Outsider Art | Edited by Bswanson and Dylan

Tempio Voltiano

Old batteries and frog skeletons reside in this lakeside monument to Allesandro Volta

Tempio Voltiano, or the Voltian Temple, is a neoclassical monument and museum dedicated to the life and work of the Italian physicist and inventor of the modern battery, Allesandro Volta. In the... »

Strange Science, Instruments of Science, Electrical Oddities, Retro-Tech | Edited by Trevor and wythe

The Museum of Medieval Torture

Medieval Techniques with a Modern Conscience

Medieval torture devices and modern human rights abuses are not two things that are often mentioned within the same sentence. However, at the Medieval Criminal Museum in San Gimignano they go... »

Crime and Punishment | Edited by Nathan_Risinger and Kiri_the_Unicorn

Sala delle Carte Geografiche (Hall of Maps)

54 exquisite hand painted Renaissance maps decorating a Medici storage room

When Giorgio Vasari undertook the restoration of the grand old Palazzo della Signoria, now known as the Palazzo Vecchio, he envisioned a new room adorned with maps of Italy and the known world,... »

Marvelous Maps and Measures, Repositories of Knowledge | Edited by Annetta and Dylan

Monte Testaccio

A hill made entirely of ancient Roman jars

It's been the site of jousting knights and frolicking revelers in carnivale celebrations. Garibaldi defended Rome from the top of it, while wine cooled in caves under it. It has stood in for... »

Geological Oddities | Edited by Annetta and Dylan

Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy

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

The Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy is probably the oldest still-operating pharmacy in the world, and certainly the oldest in Italy. It was established in 1221, when the Dominican monks from the... »

Pharmacy Museums | Edited by michelle, Josh and 4 others

Centrale Montemartini

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

Industry is the backdrop for divinity at the Centrale Montemartini in Rome. Formerly the first public electricity plant, the Giovanni Montemartini Thermoelectric Centre has been reimagined as a... »

Museums and Collections, Electrical Oddities | Edited by allison and wythe

Manna of St. Nicholas of Bari

A dead saint, a deadly poison, and a mysterious holy ooze

"I know I must die; someone has given me Aqua Tofana." Mozart told his wife on his deathbed in 1791. Wolfgang was referring to an infamous poison, reputedly odorless and tasteless that was widely... »

Relics and Reliquaries, Catacombs, Crypts, & Cemeteries | Edited by Annetta and lib

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