Places daveschaaf Wants to Go

Cave shrine on Monte Pellegrino.

Thousands of well-dressed mummies below a monastery.

This Arabesque Italian castle was built with a primitive, if ingenious, air-conditioning system.

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

Every inch of this chapel is covered in craftsmanship from across the world.

Behind medieval walls in a corner of bustling Palermo is a breathtaking former mosque once inhabited by a wolf-taming hermit.

A study of Fascist era Art Deco design in Italy.

Why a column on the entrance is inscribed with a verse from the Quran is one of Sicily's many mysteries.

An abandoned shopping gallery built during Fascist Italy tucked in the center of Palermo.

This mosaic-lined medieval church was built by the world's first admiral and still holds mass in ancient Greek.

Haunting graffiti left by prisoners of the Spanish Inquisition.

This skeletal, unfinished Gothic church once housed a miraculous masterpiece by Raphael.

A surprising and unconventional mosque hidden in the subsoil of Istanbul.

A marvel of Byzantine engineering under the streets of Istanbul.

Five sultans and their families rest in eternal splendor, teeming with overlooked beauty and drama.

1513 Turkish world map, full of European state secrets and snarky commentary.

The ornate miniature mansions were built for Istanbul's feathered residents.

This former Imperial summer home was the venue for a royal slap that once echoed 'round the world.

Rusted structures stand like ghosts of Cyprus' 6,000-year-old copper industry.

This 700-year-old Cyprus castle is the birthplace of the world's oldest wine, said to be toasted by Richard the Lionheart at his wedding.

The water here is so clear you can see the mysteriously sunken ship from the surface.

Breathtaking Byzantine paintings cover the inside of this 12th-century church.

This gem is often wrongly overshadowed by the larger, newer Metropolis church in Athens.

This small 16th-century church in Athens is almost entirely surrounded by a modern building.