Places moonlightpearls Wants to Go

Pompeii's less famous neighbor is still revealing her secrets.

A forgotten "city of water" underneath the famous Trevi district.

A labyrinth of ancient tunnels hidden below the city holds the ruins of 2,500 years of history.

Venice's "Island of the Mad."

A fairy tale castle in modern Rome.

Jesus' footprints and the first catacombs in the world.

Renaissance villa and gardens complete with a tormented colossus.

According to the local folklore, the myriad colors of this lake are the result of a lovelorn wizard's blunder.

Thousands of well-dressed mummies below a monastery.

Stalactites and stalagmites in a beautifully lit cave.

The engineering wonder and pleasure dome of a much-maligned emperor still holds undiscovered secrets.

This beautiful park on the outskirts of Rome protects the ruins of two colossal ancient aqueducts.

As can be expected from a centuries-old church built in a canal city, the undercroft of this house of worship is beautifully flooded.

At the crypt of St. Mary of Eulogies and the Dead you are left alone to ponder mortality among piles of skulls.

A large grotto built in the 16th century amidst Florence's famous Boboli gardens.

Architectural monsters are devouring this palace's every door and window.

An ossuary built in 1210 to collect bones from the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan.

The skull of the patron saint of lovers lies in the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin—maybe.

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

The underground sanctuary of a mysterious ancient cult.

The middle finger of modernity.

The doodles of a genius line the walls of a secret room under the Medici Chapel, where they were hidden for nearly 500 years.

A submerged archeological park still holds the wonders of a Roman Sodom.

A master of trompe-l'oeil creates a stunning, tourist-fooling dome out of a flat ceiling.