Places jordank Wants to Go

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

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

This magical-looking island is notorious for the misfortunes suffered by its owners.

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

Every day is like Christmas on this street where the traditional Neapolitan nativity scene comes to life.

These bronze horses on the gates of the Royal Palace of Naples were a gift from a Russian tsar.

San Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples, greets pedestrians between these narrow city streets.

This whimsical fountain depicts a winged siren shooting water out of her nipples into the fires of Mount Vesuvius.

This medieval city gate is now a blend of the past and the modern world.

A narrow opening between the mountains of the Amalfi Coast creates a scenic hidden beach.

Amalfi's pre-industrial history is slowly being engulfed by the lush vegetation of the Ferriere Valley.

The oldest volcanology research center in the world.

For centuries, this large Roman villa remained hidden thanks to the eruption that buried nearby Pompeii and Herculaneum.

This amazingly well-preserved villa just outside Pompeii boasts rare examples of ancient Roman paintings.

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

An oasis of beauty, tranquility and botanical research in the middle of Rome.

The first statue to be added to Saint Peter's Square in over 350 years is an ode to migrants and refugees around the world.

One of the most important yet well-hidden museums dedicated to the history of medicine.

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.

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

A rather vulgar example of the transition from Latin to the Italian vernacular.

This statue is the only female representation of Rome's "talking statues."

The ruins of the largest gladiatorial school in Rome are largely hidden under modern streets.