Places stonoceno Wants to Go

This domed temple was built in a hidden cave mouth as a refuge for sinners seeking absolution.

A complex, nine-layer maze on the grounds of a Venetian doge's playground.

The plague quarantine island home to the alleged "Vampire of Venice."

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

David Sedaris called it "The greatest shop in the world."

This quaint Italian town keeps losing ground as the sides of its plateau slowly erode.

Virgil's many-mouthed gateway to the underworld.

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

Where Aleister Crowley taught magick in "La Chambre Des Cauchemars," his "Chamber of Nightmares."

Pilgrimage site for star-crossed lovers.

Over 50 exquisite hand-painted Renaissance maps decorate a Medici storage room.

Skulls from the plague of 1656 and World War II bombings are united by a cult dedicated to caring for the ancient dead.

Medieval town turned hippie commune, once home to the secret foreskin of Jesus Christ.

Filled with goldfish swimming in a shallow pool of sea water, this ancient crypt is more wishing well than burial site.

These "anatomical machines" are only one of the many strange items in this Italian crypt.

A fairy tale castle in modern Rome.

Giant, pink stuffed rabbit on an Italian mountain.

A collection of objects supposedly singed by the hands of souls in purgatory.

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

The final resting place of the poets Shelley and Keats.

This immaculate and historic water garden culminates in a massive stone dining table with an inset fountain for chilling the wine of the Cardinal's guests.

The once forbidden "secret cabinet" of erotic art from excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Natural cathedral designed by Italian artist Giuliano Mauri.

Hidden beneath the famous St. Peter's Basilica is a veritable city of the dead that may hold the remains of St. Peter himself.