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

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

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

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

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

This Roman statue is missing a limb from when the Venetians stole it from Constantinople during the Crusades.

One of the earliest depictions of an Arthurian scene that is shrouded in mystery.

This beautiful 150-year-old synagogue survived Italy's fascist period and the Second World War.

The city of Parma's cathedral is home to one of the greatest illusionistic frescoes of the Renaissance.

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

One of the oldest and most significant collections of Ancient Egyptian archeology outside of Egypt.

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

These elaborate gothic monuments honor Verona's medieval lords.

A whale rib was used to advertise the store by the arch that offered exotic goods from far away.

Pilgrimage site for star-crossed lovers.

World War II-era bunkers are hidden under the beaches of this picturesque park, which is still scattered with wartime watchtowers.

Bronzes and busts that once stood in the city's main squares are now relegated to a small hidden courtyard.

In the heart of Tirana, this underground nuclear bunker has been transformed into a museum.

An Albanian monument to the Communism that nearly crushed the country is now a crumbling wreck.

A memorial to the atrocities of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania.

What happens when you cross a mayor and a painter?

A museum dedicated to secret surveillance.

The Adriatic's most famous wind can be reliably experienced in the city's Marina.

A World War II evacuation tunnel turned into a history display of Croatian state and people.