olliesf's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Balestrino, Italy

Balestrino Ghost Village

Abandoned medieval hill town.
Rome, Italy

Mussolini's Balcony

The spot where the fascist dictator made some of his most famous speeches including declaring war on Britain and France.
Naples, Italy

Gaiola Island

This magical-looking island is notorious for the misfortunes suffered by its owners.
Rome, Italy

Meridian Line of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs

Installed in an act of one-upsmanship, the annual sundial in this church is also a symbolic victory for the Gregorian calendar.
Verona, Italy

Juliet's Balcony

Pilgrimage site for star-crossed lovers.
Florence, Italy

Il Porcellino

This bronze boar's snout has been rubbed to a golden sheen by visitors seeking good fortune.
Rome, Italy

Metropoliz Museum of the Other and the Elsewhere

An abandoned Roman salami factory has found new life as an art space home to 200 squatters.
Naples, Italy

Bourbon Tunnel

Dug as a secret royal escape route, the tunnel became a wartime bomb shelter and dumping ground for vintage cars.
Naples, Italy

The Anatomical Machines of Cappella Sansevero

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

Villa de Vecchi

The abandoned "Ghost Mansion" was left to decay in the mountains of Northern Italy.
Naples, Italy

Gabinetto Segreto

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

Toledo Art Station

This shining multicolored metro station deep under Naples is said to be the most beautiful in Europe.
Rome, Italy

Museo Storico Nazionale Dell' Arte Sanitaria

One of the most important yet well-hidden museums dedicated to the history of medicine.
Ferrara di Monte Baldo, Italy

Santuario Madonna della Corona

This centuries-old Italian chapel hangs midway down a sheer cliffside.
Province of Matera, Italy

The Village of Craco

An Italian hillside ghost town.
Rome, Italy

Museum of the Holy Souls in Purgatory

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

Cinque Terre

Five candy-colored villages on the Italian Riviera.
Pompeii, Italy

Plaster Citizens of Pompeii

The last moments of the ill-fated Pompeiians, frozen forever in plaster.
Venice, Italy

St. Mark's Clock Tower (Torre dell'Orologio)

Go inside to really appreciate this 500-year-old technological masterpiece.
Florence, Italy

Babae Wine Window

Drink wine handed out through a window as part of an age-old tradition.
Florence, Italy

La Specola Anatomical Collection

The largest and most famous wax anatomical collection anywhere in the world.
Milan, Italy

Bar Luce

A Milanese café entirely designed by the American director Wes Anderson.
Milan, Italy

L.O.V.E.

This giant middle finger statue sends an unambiguous message to Italy's bankers.
Riola, Italy

Rocchetta Mattei

Sitting on an Italian hilltop is this surreal fortress built by the mad inventor of electrohomeopathy.