A petite white lighthouse perched on the ancient core of Stromboli Volcano.

A semi-abandoned village destroyed by U.S. bombings during World War II dominates the valley of Turano.

Buried next to Pompeii, this lesser-known Roman villa was the opulent vacation home of Emperor Nero's wife.

Ancient cave tombs known as the "houses of fairies."

Windblown rock formations in an ancient Roman quarry.

This scenic fortress dates back at least 2,400 years to the time of Magna Graecia.

A fascist-era rural village abandoned since the early 1980s.

The pristine waters crossing this forest form a hidden waterfall among the dense vegetation.

An abandoned 17th-century baroque hunting lodge with a wonderfully strange architectural plan.

Contains some of the world's more disturbing wax anatomical models.

The forbidden island of the Tuscan Archipelago may still contain buried treasure.

During World War II, this rice mill became a Nazi concentration camp.

Stare out over the lagoon and beyond from this 10th-century campanile on the island where the city of Venice began.

This clifftop arch is a natural stunner.

The bones of some 7,000 soldiers killed in the historic Battle of Solferino are stored here.

An abandoned quarry hides an open-air gallery of huge sculptures, some made from the rubble of 9/11.

The mountaintop inspiration for Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose."

Mysterious tombstones thought to be remnants of Atlantis.

Hidden within this iconic mountain are a set of World War II bunkers once used by German forces.

This hidden alley near the location of Rome's first theater was the site of a curious miracle.

A climbing route in the mountains of Italy’s Dolomites, built for soldiers during World War I.

Before it was buried by volcanic ash, this fast-food restaurant fed the hungry hordes of ancient Rome.

Now an entertainment complex, the Lingotto building was once an avant-garde auto factory with a test track on the roof.

This cliff-face port is considered a masterpiece of mining engineering.