Places fayelilian Wants to Go

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

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

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

This shining multicolored metro station deep under Naples is said to be the most beautiful in Europe.

The last moments of the ill-fated Pompeiians, frozen forever in plaster.

This giant middle finger statue sends an unambiguous message to Italy's bankers.

Thousands of well-dressed mummies below a monastery.

The skull of the patron saint of lovers lies in the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin—maybe.

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.

An alchemist's “magic door” stands in the middle of a Roman park.

A master of trompe-l'oeil creates a stunning, tourist-fooling dome out of a flat ceiling.

Architectureal fantasy quarter of Rome.

A large statue of Pope Gregory XIII in Bologna was disguised as Saint Petronius to avoid destruction.

Once known for its horse-powered knife sharpening, this 200-year-old shop offers an array of blades and hard-to-find culinary tools.

This building features dozens of faces along its facade, although one is a bit chilling.

A beloved local artist has been honored with this statue of a man emerging from a toilet.

Martin Bricelj Baraga's monolithic sculpture measures the blueness of the sky, and changes color to match it.

This Renaissance palace features a unique architectural design and is now home to the Ferrara National Art Gallery.

Sitting on an Italian hilltop is this surreal fortress built by the mad inventor of electrohomeopathy.

South of Bologna, a limestone grotto with a protruding waterfall and a floor full of cave pearls.

An intact, still operating pharmacy from the 18th-century filled with numerous artifacts and paintings.

Since the 1960s, this small village has invited painters to decorate its walls.

A great white whale sculpture now sits in the location where the remains of a prehistoric cetacean were found.

A bronze monument to his majesty, King Gino.