Places hornbackelijah Wants to Go

This ancient Roman prison is decorated with an upside-down cross not as blasphemy but as saintly tribute.

The Pope’s secret escape route.

An unremarkable wooden wheel built into the side of one of Rome's oldest hospitals was part of a policy to reduce infant exposure.

Breathtaking and huge 430 year old maps of Italy.

If you want to talk to the Pope you will have to stare down this surreal vision of Jesus rising from a nuclear hell.

These spartan apartments are provided to clergymen visiting Vatican City.

Hidden beneath the famous St. Peter's Basilica is a veritable city of the dead that may hold the remains of St. Peter himself.

This equestrian statue of Constantine the Great has been the subject of criticism for centuries.

The Vatican's secret porn-festooned bathroom was painted in erotic murals by one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance.

Its interior is adorned with some of the best examples of early Christian mosaics.

This Roman arch marks the location of an ancient gate at one of the Seven Hills of Rome.

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

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

A monumental fountain in Rome features a large statue of Moses that has been criticized for centuries.

Installed in an act of one-upsmanship, the annual sundial in this church is also a symbolic victory for the Gregorian calendar.

Ancient ruins hidden underneath a modern luxury hotel.

Inside this McDonald's you can dine on your Big Mac and fries next to a 2,500-year-old Roman wall.

A sculpture serving as an homage to Pope John Paul II.

The ruins of this once gorgeous medieval church are still standing, despite the region's constant flooding.

The ruins of this temple were later chosen by Pope Celestine V to found an abbey and a hermitage.

Inscriptions found in the Majella mountains reveal stories of resistance and rebellion after the unification of Italy.

You can only access this hermitage by crawling under a ledge suspended above an overhang.

A two-hour hike in the Orfento Valley leads to the remote ruins.

In Majella National Park, these stone dwellings harken back to the region's pastoral history.