This decaying complex from the early 1900s was once the site of massive iron and fluorite mines.

An abandoned piece of phallic art repurposed by locals into a makeshift fertility shrine.

Packed with geological formations, an ancient river, and taxidermied seals, this overlooked coastal cave system is worth a spelunk.

A town saturated in Italian rationalist architecture was once marshland drained by Mussolini.

The sacristy of this church contains remains and relics of members of the Aragonese royal family.

The ruins of this medieval castle now stand as a monument against all wars.

When occupying Nazi troops detonated a mine below, medieval frescoes were revealed in this small cliff-side hermitage.

In this nearly 1,000-year-old monastery, monks painstakingly restore old books.

The walls of this tiny Italian church are entirely covered with frescoes.

These ruins of a Phoenician sanctuary in Sicily have a dark history.

The ruins of this medieval castle overlook the lake of Piediluco in what was once a sacred forest.

This uniquely designed bridge served as the city gate for Comacchio.

According to a local legend, this bridge was constructed by an astrologer with the help of the devil.

Magnificent frescoes decorate the interior of this Romanesque church, which also showcases an unusual phenomenon during winter solstice.

Tourists to the mountaintop Sicilian town often overlook its ancient fortifications.

Ever loyal to Roma, the small village of Albe in the Abruzzo region carried on until an earthquake did it in.

These unique "earth pyramid" clay columns can be found in ravines around the village of Tirolo.

The oldest church in Mantua was buried for centuries under the facades of other structures.

This archaeological site built into a tuff outcrop is filled with rock dwellings, the ruins of a medieval castle, and a necropolis.

A crumbling watchtower and a lighthouse overlooks the site believed to be the Sirens' cliff in the "Odyssey."

Climb the dead electric pylons of Messina.

An intact, still operating pharmacy from the 18th-century filled with numerous artifacts and paintings.

This weird, elephant-shaped rock also hosts two ancient tombs.

Unscathed for almost 2,000 years, the best preserved Roman triumphal arch is in a small southern Italian city.