Places JCPHOTOGRAPHY Wants to Go

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

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

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

A new sculpture calls attention to climate change in the centuries-old city it threatens.

Despite their macabre past, these hooks are said to bring good luck to those who touch them.

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

Venice's island of the dead.

This breathtaking monastery was established by Saint Benedict himself 1,500 years ago.

Brass cobblestones mark the places where individual Holocaust victims were taken from their homes.

The smaller of the three towers of San Marino is a former prison inaccessible from the ground level.

The San Marino-Rimini railroad was short-lived but this tunnel once provided shelter for hundreds of refugees during World War II.

High in the clouds of San Marino sits an ancient tower with some curious prisoner graffiti.

A historic cavernous cistern lies hidden behind a wall at San Marino’s stamp and coin museum.

Where members of the Crossbow Corps of San Marino demonstrate their skills.

Over 50 exquisite hand-painted Renaissance maps decorate a Medici storage room.

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

The oldest operating pharmacy in the world features 800-year-old recipes.

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

The bright red cars take travelers through breathtaking Tuscan scenery.

Medieval torture techniques with a modern conscience.

On rare days, this abandoned castle's gatekeepers open its doors, revealing the eye-popping splendor hidden inside.

The graveyard is filled with beautiful funerary art and boasts breathtaking views of Florence.

The mummified relic of St. Antoninus.

A medieval weapon rumored to have been used by the brilliant poet himself.