Places ElSilencio Wants to Go

A fairytale island floats in the middle of Italy's little-known Lake Orta.

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

This medieval Italian town is a sheer (and beautiful) cliffside defense.

The plague quarantine island home to the alleged "Vampire of Venice."

A complex, nine-layer maze on the grounds of a Venetian doge's playground.

The location of the last witch trials of Italy, known as "The Salem of Europe."

This sword isn't waiting for a king to pull it out. It was placed there by a saint.

Filled with goldfish swimming in a shallow pool of sea water, this ancient crypt is more wishing well than burial site.

This domed temple was built in a hidden cave mouth as a refuge for sinners seeking absolution.

One of several skulls claiming to belong to the beheaded St. John the Baptist is on display at this Roman church.

Abandoned medieval hill town.

A collection of objects supposedly singed by the hands of souls in purgatory.

This enchanting 600-year-old tree is so magical it inspired the beloved tale of Pinocchio.

The once forbidden "secret cabinet" of erotic art from excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Ruins of a 10th century church tucked away deep in a botanical garden.

This 16th-century monastery has been turned into a surrealist architecture compound.

Jesus' footprints and the first catacombs in the world.

This Luxembourg cave is covered in cryptic looking marks left by mining activity.

This tri-part waterfall is a little bit of fairytale beauty in the heart of Luxembourg's Little Switzerland.

This former quarry is now a picturesque gorge that hides a sunken lake.

The former home of a trailblazing surrealist is still filled with haunting dolls and grim paintings.

A church filled with the bones of hundreds of virgins martyrs—or so they say.

These "anatomical machines" are only one of the many strange items in this Italian crypt.

This former Roman Catholic Church still contains the embalmed hearts and organs of 22 popes.