Windblown rock formations in an ancient Roman quarry.

The intricate geometry inside this Baroque-style dome was designed to create "terror of the human soul."

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

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

This peculiar Italian elevator runs both horizontally and vertically.

Macabre symbols of death and mummies on display set the tone of this Italian purgatory church.

An unusual house built using an iso-elastic membrane.

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

A dead saint, a deadly poison, and a mysterious holy ooze.

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

Next to the Leaning Tower of Pisa is a cemetery home to ancient sarcophagi and disturbing murals.

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

This triumphal 16th-century arched gateway leads to the oldest street in Palermo.

A local student's chance encounter with Keith Haring led to the creation of one of Europe's largest murals.

A surreal botanical garden with an even more surreal tour guide.

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

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

Mysterious tombstones thought to be remnants of Atlantis.

This clifftop arch is a natural stunner.

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

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

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

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

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