The "Great Sewer" of ancient Rome is one of the oldest sewer systems in the world, and is still in use.

This small, ancient Roman temple was once a church dedicated to the patron saint of penitents.

This curious, round temple is the oldest still-standing marble building in Rome.

This ancient market is often referred to as the oldest shopping mall in the world.

Legend has it that this bronze orb, which sat atop an ancient Egyptian obelisk, once held the ashes of Julius Caesar.

A mysterious chasm in the heart of the ancient Roman Forum, the Lacus Curtius was once believed to be a gateway to hell.

An ancient Roman temple first dedicated to an emperor's wife is now a church.

A Nesting Doll of Churches.

A rather vulgar example of the transition from Latin to the Italian vernacular.

Memorials at a Florence railway station remember the citizens who were deported from Italy and sent to extermination camps.

More than 450 years ago, an Italian nun became the first woman to paint the iconic subject.

A plaque on the base of this statue holds a bewitching design.

A slightly creepy gallery of plaster cast models in the same museum as Michelangelo's David.

This strange bovine gargoyle is said to have been put in as a passive aggressive form of revenge.

In Florence's great Duomo, a 26 foot fresco honors a mercenary famous for attacking Florence.

This bronze boar's snout has been rubbed to a golden sheen by visitors seeking good fortune.

The famous sculptor left his mark on this Italian wall in an internationally protected example of street art.

This private skyway is filled with art and was expanded explicitly so that Hitler could appreciate a river.

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

This Venice bookstore has resigned itself to constant flooding by keeping its books in bathtubs and boats.

As can be expected from a centuries-old church built in a canal city, the undercroft of this house of worship is beautifully flooded.

According to tradition this is the oldest church in Venice, but its actual age is a mystery.

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

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