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

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

An Italian hillside ghost town.

Five candy-colored villages on the Italian Riviera.

Drink wine handed out through a window as part of an age-old tradition.

A forgotten "city of water" underneath the famous Trevi district.

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

In Rome’s Jewish ghetto, a 200-year-old bakery still makes the neighborhood’s historic sweets.

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

Venice's "Island of the Mad."

Sitting on an Italian hilltop is this surreal fortress built by the mad inventor of electrohomeopathy.

A labyrinth of ancient tunnels hidden below the city holds the ruins of 2,500 years of history.

Jesus' footprints and the first catacombs in the world.

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

Thousands of well-dressed mummies below a monastery.

Stalactites and stalagmites in a beautifully lit cave.

According to the local folklore, the myriad colors of this lake are the result of a lovelorn wizard's blunder.

This beautiful park on the outskirts of Rome protects the ruins of two colossal ancient aqueducts.

An ossuary built in 1210 to collect bones from the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan.

Renaissance villa and gardens complete with a tormented colossus.

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

Architectural monsters are devouring this palace's every door and window.

A large grotto built in the 16th century amidst Florence's famous Boboli gardens.

2300-year-old Roman road connecting the empire.