gavinsparby's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Places visited in Castroville, California
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Matera, Italy

Sassi di Matera

People have been living in the cave houses on this Italian hillside since the Neolithic era.
Milan, Italy

The Bronze Ear of Casa Sola-Busca

Before there were doorbells this bronze ear was installed for visitors to announce their arrival.
Venice, Italy

Piraeus Lion

Thousand-year-old Viking runes adorn an ancient Greek lion at the entrance to the Venetian Arsenal.
Turin, Italy

Medieval Village

A fake medieval village in the middle of Turin.
Venice, Italy

Isola di San Michele

Venice's island of the dead.
Varese, Italy

Grand Hotel Campo dei Fiori

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

The Bull of Santa Maria del Fiore

This strange bovine gargoyle is said to have been put in as a passive aggressive form of revenge.
Rome, Italy

Veii

Rome's ancient Etruscan rival, now a park full of ruins.
Syracuse, Italy

Ear of Dionysius

Italian cave with exceptional acoustics and an unsavory history.
Siena, Italy

St. Catherine of Siena's Severed Head

A dismembered holy head stares out from her beautiful reliquary at the St. Dominic Basilica.
Consonno, Italy

Consonno

This half-finished "city of toys" was almost Italy's own Las Vegas.
Rome, Italy

The Wax-Encased Remains of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi

The mystic whose incorrupt corpse still attracts the faithful.
Rome, Italy

Mercatus Traiani (Trajan's Market)

This ancient market is often referred to as the oldest shopping mall in the world.
Florence, Italy

Dante's Dagger

A medieval weapon rumored to have been used by the brilliant poet himself.
San Martino della Battaglia, Italy

Ossario di San Martino

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

The Relic of St. Antoninus

The mummified relic of St. Antoninus.
Pompeii, Italy

The Brothels of Pompeii

Erotic art covers the walls of the largest ancient pleasure palace.
Florence, Italy

La Berta

Legend says this mysterious stone head belongs to a woman who was petrified by an alchemist.
Milan, Italy

Bosco Verticale

Two very green residential towers cleaning the air in one of Europe's most polluted cities.
Venice, Italy

Palazzo Dario

Those who own or stay at this 500-year-old, allegedly cursed house often meet terrible fates.
Florence, Italy

Ospedale degli Innocenti (Hospital of the Innocents)

Renaissance hospital featuring a rotating door into which unwanted babies were dropped.
Vilminore di Scalve, Italy

Gleno Dam

The sinister ruins of one of the worst dam failures of the 20th century lie in this astonishing alpine setting.
Sperlonga, Italy

Villa of Tiberius

The Roman Emperor's lost summer home and grotto full of enormous sculptures sit along the Italian seashore.
Tremosine, Italy

Strada della Forra

This winding road through an Italian canyon may be the most scenic drive in the world.