Places Joel Cusumano Wants to Go

Cave shrine on Monte Pellegrino.

Tourists to the mountaintop Sicilian town often overlook its ancient fortifications.

One of the most well-preserved temples of ancient Egypt.

A grand Yugoslav memorial to the group of partisans who fought and died resisting western Serbia’s Nazi occupation.

This ruined fortress was the stronghold for a persecuted medieval leader and his infamous Assassins.

The remains of a magnificent medieval fortress that was the capital of a vast empire.

The ruins of a 13th-century monastery that long served as a place of refuge from wars and raids.

The ancient water tanks remain some of the ruined city’s most beautiful architecture.

This daunting 1st century fortress was purportedly the site of one of the most dramatic revolts of the Jewish-Roman wars.

Descend 2,030 years into the past in an ancient tunnel built to support Jerusalem's most famous wall.

The remarkably well-preserved final resting place of a powerful ancient Thracian king.

Science fiction's grandfather has a fittingly marvelous tomb.

This salad has two key ingredients: hearts of palm and green ice cream.

These ruins in Volvi were once at the intersection of the Eastern and Western Worlds.

An autonomous republic of Orthodox monks.

This field of half-buried stone crosses was the burial place of a sect of heretical gnostics.

The medieval castle built as headquarters for the Pope's secretive Knights Templar.

This fairy-tale, neo-Gothic church in the Azores is a world of magical realism.

An ancient and majestic fortress that played an integral role in Portugal's road to independence.

A small Portuguese cottage formed between boulders in the countryside.

Picturesque intersection of witchcraft and ancient Christianity.

A king's pet, a pope's gift, an artist's inspiration, and a tragic shipwreck.

A unique seaside cave where Aleister Crowley faked his own death.

This small chapel is built of human bones and decorated with a golden skeleton.