Places stephlt25 Wants to Go

Venice's "Island of the Mad."

This palatial spiral staircase was so unusual the name "snail" was given to the noble family who built it.

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

The skulls and bones of thousands of soldiers line the walls of this small Italian chapel.

Pilgrimage site for star-crossed lovers.

Not far from the more famous House of Juliet, visitors will find the supposed residence of her lover.

It’s said this crypt was the setting for the tragic finale of the Shakespeare play.

A young Italian couple has been locked in an embrace for over 6,000 years.

Photographs of the faces of the town's dead cover the walls of this small Italian church.

Ham is serious business at the Prosciutto Museum-Serious, delicious business.

The city of Parma's cathedral is home to one of the greatest illusionistic frescoes of the Renaissance.

A sculpture in memory of a homeless man much loved by the city of Parma.

This lavish 20th-century casino adorns labels for San Pellegrino water.

The bones of some 7,000 soldiers killed in the historic Battle of Solferino are stored here.

Archeologists can't decide if these two hand-holding skeletons were brothers or lovers.

Host to the annual Festival of the Snakes.

Naturally preserved bodies are eerily staged throughout the crypt in varying poses.

Templar knights fleeing persecution are said to have left this sword in stone as a landmark in 1307.

A 16th-century horror show built in a lovely Italian garden.

A huge enchanting public park just outside the ancient walls of Rome.

The secret centuries-old German cemetery in the heart of the Vatican.

Since 1999, this gelateria founded by a string instrument maker has been turning out some of Rome’s best scoops.

This basilica is dedicated to two saints, one of which is known more for his famous quote.

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