A small villa said to have inspired the design of the court jester at the heart of Giuseppe Verdi's 1851 opera.

This bridge was constructed from the rubble of the infamous Bastille.

This emotive sculpture was originally created for the 1878 World's Fair.

A beautiful Victorian statue shows France's enduring love of the rhinoceros.

The tradition of open-air secondhand and antiquarian bookselling in Paris dates back to the Renaissance.

The water-powered carriages are long gone, but for over a century this funicular railway has been the fastest route to the highest point in Paris.

High atop the Eiffel Tower is a small apartment built exclusively to entertain the science elite and make the rest of Paris jealous.

Paris' linguistic guide to the international language of, yes, love.

This iconic Parisian bookstore doubles as the "Tumbleweed Hotel" for traveling writers.

One of the largest caves in the world open to the public.

A large statue of Pope Gregory XIII in Bologna was disguised as Saint Petronius to avoid destruction.

This amazing medieval fortress stands atop a promontory along the famous Cinque Terre.

Old batteries and frog skeletons reside in this lakeside monument to Alessandro Volta.

Milan's duomo is covered in beautiful carving including a curious "dinosaur-like" beast.

Religious perseverance and cultural coexistence manifest in an architectural gem that multiple wars couldn't topple.

This dazzling Art Nouveau mansion is now home to the Modern Art Gallery Subotica.

This scale model of our solar system hid in plain sight for years before a physics team sought out all the planets.

Large, airy hallways hide within an impenetrable fortress that beckons urban explorers.

Backwards hour and minute hands and a timing mechanism that fluctuates with the temperature led to this clock tower's local nickname.

Humble beginnings for one of the world's most famous scientists.

This picturesque monastery at the base of a cliff is a peaceful oasis open to all visitors.

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

One of the largest squares in Europe contains an entire artificial island.

The seat of the Mantua bishop holds many secrets within its walls.