Massa Marittima, Italy
Massa Marittima Mural
Does this strange mural depict witches battling beneath a penis tree?
Places I want to go
Places on this traveler's wishlist.
Massa Marittima, Italy
Does this strange mural depict witches battling beneath a penis tree?
Pompeii, Italy
The walls and streets of the ancient city are peppered with penises.
Naples, Italy
The burial place of an obscure North African saint was turned into a macabre body preservation factory for the 17th-century Neapolitan elite.
Verona, Italy
A whale rib was used to advertise the store by the arch that offered exotic goods from far away.
Gaiano, Italy
A rambling museum which honors the beauty in everyday objects.
Bologna, Italy
A diverse collection of wax, bone, papier-maché and mummified relics.
Palermo, Italy
This Arabesque Italian castle was built with a primitive, if ingenious, air-conditioning system.
Palermo, Italy
Haunting graffiti left by prisoners of the Spanish Inquisition.
Monopoli, Italy
Macabre symbols of death and mummies on display set the tone of this Italian purgatory church.
Cislano, Italy
A unique form of erosion created an uncanny landscape of boulders perched atop slender columns of clay.
Naples, Italy
The Neapolitan Cult of the Dead still cares for the skulls at this mini-Fontanelle.
Siena, Italy
Contains some of the world's more disturbing wax anatomical models.
Atessa, Italy
A preserved dragon's rib that remembers the legend of the founding of the city of Atessa.
Lucca, Italy
The naturally mummified body of a peasant girl saint.
Venice, Italy
The marble facade hides a little-known medical museum with early surgical instruments and rare copies of canonical texts.
Gubbio, Italy
Fountain where visitors can earn a license to be mad.
Bagheria, Italy
A collection of grotesques lines the walls of this Italian villa.
Villa Caldari, Italy
An Italian vineyard invites religious pilgrims to stop by 24/7 to get their drink on, for free.
Bologna, Italy
In the world's oldest university is a stunning 17th century anatomical theater carved from spruce.
Bologna, Italy
This zoological museum began as the first great curiosity cabinet.
Milan, Italy
The odd depiction of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus is rooted in the Catholic Church's eradication of Catharism.
Borgo Valsugana, Italy
An open-air museum in a mountain valley features works designed to blend in with—and disintegrate back into—their natural surroundings.
Ferentillo, Italy
Naturally preserved bodies are eerily staged throughout the crypt in varying poses.
Villaggio Monte Busca, Italy
This natural gas vent certainly earns its name as the smallest volcano in Italy.