Places Polytropa Wants to Go

This headstone-like marker inscribed with three words has been an utter mystery for over a century.

Statue commemorating the use of ether in anesthesia.

Brass cobblestones mark the places where individual Holocaust victims were taken from their homes.

This large, circular tomb is the final resting place of the first emperor of Rome.

A mysterious chasm in the heart of the ancient Roman Forum, the Lacus Curtius was once believed to be a gateway to hell.

Time travel with sweets across history at this research-based candy store.

This mansion on an island off the coast of Georgia once belonged to a 108-year-old heiress.

A once-groundbreaking power plant turned into a hotel and mini-museum of archeological and geological wonders.

A unique museum dedicated to the Gullah-Geechee people, housed within an old oyster cannery.

This quirky curiosity shop takes its cues from the world's bazaars.

Step inside Lucy, the world's largest "elephant."

If you want to talk to the Pope you will have to stare down this surreal vision of Jesus rising from a nuclear hell.

The Vatican's secret porn-festooned bathroom was painted in erotic murals by one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance.

Believed to be the remains of the lost Temple of Minerva, this nymphaeum has been known by its misnomer to this day.

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

These hut foundations are believed to be the residence of Romulus, founder of Rome.

Roman politician Herodes Atticus built this nymphaeum to honor his wife, whom he may have murdered.

This small, ancient Roman temple was once a church dedicated to the patron saint of penitents.

This ancient trail climbs the mountain where a Latin League cult worshipped Jupiter, its main deity.

This ancient market is often referred to as the oldest shopping mall in the world.

This curious, round temple is the oldest still-standing marble building in Rome.

Rome's ancient Etruscan rival, now a park full of ruins.

A magnificent waterfall is also home to the remains of a Roman hydraulic engineering system.

This hill made entirely of ancient Roman jars was simply a garbage dump to the people of the time.