Nobles would stage mock naval battles on this large lake at the Royal Palace of Caserta.

This Roman amphitheatre was also the location of the first gladiator school.

In medieval times this small stone seat was used as a bizarre way to punish insolvent debtors.

This 6th-century church has the largest and best-preserved collection of Byzantine mosaics outside Constantinople.

In Florence's great Duomo, a 26 foot fresco honors a mercenary famous for attacking Florence.

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

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

A copy of the famous statue can be found in this Florence piazza, along with one of the most breathtaking views of the city below.

The walls and streets of the ancient city are peppered with penises.

Thousand-year-old Viking runes adorn an ancient Greek lion at the entrance to the Venetian Arsenal.

The incorrupt tongue of the patron saint of lost things is venerated in this basilica.

Da Vinci's equestrian statue, 500 years in the making.

One of the world's oldest working clocks is curiously missing the Zodiac sign of Libra.

Two stone columns flank the grand Venice square, but there were supposed to be three.

Built to repay the sins of the father, this church is home to one of the most valuable works of Western art.

The Emperor Tiberius' palace of debauchery.

Fortified medieval tower house with lovely roof garden.

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

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

Italian poet Dante Alighieri is entombed in this small mausoleum in Ravenna, and his hometown of Florence has never been too happy about it.

People have been living in the cave houses on this Italian hillside since the Neolithic era.

A sulfuric hellscape in southern Italy.

Southern Italy's spinning top village.

Europe’s oldest natural human mummy.