Places Ian Engweiler Wants to Go

An Italian geologic wonder that served as the inspiration for the landscape of Dante's hell.

Italian horror legend Dario Argento’s own shop hides a sinister museum-dungeon in the basement.

Legend has it this fountain built to symbolize the Pope’s power hides a strange secret concerning Neptune's manliness.

A surreal botanical garden with an even more surreal tour guide.

Artist Diego Morlin's war between the natural and human worlds is a wanderer's delight.

An Italian vineyard invites religious pilgrims to stop by 24/7 to get their drink on, for free.

A 1,000-year-old church holds the bones of the Christian martyrs who died hiding inside it.

A cave in southern Italy adorned with thousand-year-old Biblical frescoes existed in obscurity until fairly recently.

A magnificent Neogothic tomb hides within this Italian fairytale-like forest.

A rococo room covered entirely in porcelain originally constructed for another royal residence.

Fortified medieval tower house with lovely roof garden.

Before it was buried by volcanic ash, this fast-food restaurant fed the hungry hordes of ancient Rome.

Hidden within this iconic mountain are a set of World War II bunkers once used by German forces.

A gorgeous medieval library where the books are kept in chains.

A dreamlike medieval church dug into the tuff rock, with unusual carvings and possible traces of the Templar knights.

A line of abandoned, alien-like fortresses dot the mountains of North Italy.

Haunting graffiti left by prisoners of the Spanish Inquisition.

One man's quest to fix his toilet unearthed over 5,000 artifacts spanning more than 2,000 years of history.

Naturally preserved bodies are eerily staged throughout the crypt in varying poses.

A fascinating assortment of cave dwellings, medieval ruins, and sarcophagi are being devoured by the forest.

Geometry and mystery come together in an epic show of octagonal masonry.

Many famous English poets including Elizabeth Barrett Browning are laid to rest at this Swiss-owned cemetery in Florence.

This hidden alley near the location of Rome's first theater was the site of a curious miracle.

The world's largest bamboo labyrinth is a living demonstration of the plant’s immense potential.