Churches in Italy

This deconsecrated church has seen many uses, from a tobacco storehouse to a cinema.

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

Some say this medieval church is where the poet Dante married his wife and also met the love of his life.

A rare example of an octagonal Catholic church.

A stunning hermit's shrine on a steep rocky spur in Northern Italy.

The martyr's wax-enhanced skeletal remains lie preserved in a glass case in the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.

A treasure trove of Renaissance-era funerary art in a Roman church built on top of Nero's grave.

Naturally preserved bodies are eerily staged throughout the crypt in varying poses.

A beautiful chapel on the hills of the Oltrepò Pavese claims to house the tomb of King Edward II of England.

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

The venerated body of a 12th century saint is celebrated each year with the 'Race of the Candles.'

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

The first Russian Orthodox church in the Catholic city of Rome in almost a thousand years.

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

A fairytale-like medieval church perched atop a rocky cliff on Italy's "Coast of the Gods."

This church, better known for its weeping portrait of the Virgin Mary, also houses the world's oldest existing piece of taxidermy.