roseieposie's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Lido, Italy

San Lazzaro degli Armeni

Originally a leper colony, the island is now an Armenian monastery that's home to an incredible manuscript library and eclectic museum.
Venice, Italy

St. Mark's Lost Third Column

Two stone columns flank the grand Venice square, but there were supposed to be three.
Venice, Italy

Torcello

The small peaceful island off the Venice tourist circuit is where the city began more than 1,500 years ago.
Venice, Italy

Reliquaries of St Mark's Basilica Treasury

An extensive collection of reliquaries containing the bones of saints housed in the largest Catholic church in Venice.
Venice, Italy

San Giorgio in Alga

This abandoned island off the Venetian coast has been a radical monastery, a political prison, and a secret Nazi base.
Venice, Italy

Scuola Grande di San Marco

The marble facade hides a little-known medical museum with early surgical instruments and rare copies of canonical texts.
Venice, Italy

Piraeus Lion

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

Palazzo Dario

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

Ponte dei Pugni (Bridge of Fists)

100 year tradition of fist fights, marked by marble footsteps.
Venice, Italy

'Dragon Bones' of Santa Maria e San Donato

Hanging within this medieval church are the bones of a beast allegedly slain by a fourth-century saint.
Lido, Italy

Vartanush

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

The Mad Colored Houses of Burano

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

Tomb of Antonio Canova

A sinister pyramid in the Frari contains the heart of the famous neoclassical sculptor.
Venice, Italy

Lazzaretto Nuovo

The plague quarantine island home to the alleged "Vampire of Venice."
Venice, Italy

Scala Contarini del Bovolo

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

St. Mark's Clock Tower (Torre dell'Orologio)

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

San Servolo Insane Asylum Museum

Venice's "Island of the Mad."
Venice, Italy

The Flooded Crypt of San Zaccaria

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

Libreria Acqua Alta

This Venice bookstore has resigned itself to constant flooding by keeping its books in bathtubs and boats.
Pompeii, Italy

Villa dei Misteri

This amazingly well-preserved villa just outside Pompeii boasts rare examples of ancient Roman paintings.
Pompeii, Italy

Pompeii Thermopolium

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

Rock of Rovigliano

This tiny islet has somehow housed an ancient temple, two monasteries, a church, a fortress, and a restaurant.
Pompeii, Italy

Stone Phalluses of Pompeii

The walls and streets of the ancient city are peppered with penises.
Pompeii, Italy

The Brothels of Pompeii

Erotic art covers the walls of the largest ancient pleasure palace.