Tillythecat's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Venice, Italy

St. Mark's Lost Third Column

Two stone columns flank the grand Venice square, but there were supposed to be three.
Rome, Italy

Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

One of Catholicism's four major basilicas has a series of papal portraits that are said to predict the end of the world.
Milan, Italy

Loggia dei Mercanti Whispering Gallery

The secret medieval communication system will whisk your words above the noise of the crowd.
Rome, Italy

The Sweating Cenotaph at the Archbasilica San Giovanni in Laterano

Stone memorial that's said to predict the death of the pope and the site of the Cadaver Synod.
Gubbio, Italy

Fontana Dei Matti

Fountain where visitors can earn a license to be mad.
Borgo Valsugana, Italy

Arte Sella

An open-air museum in a mountain valley features works designed to blend in with—and disintegrate back into—their natural surroundings.
Rome, Italy

Centrale Montemartini

Gods clash with machines in a power plant regenerated as a museum.
Milan, Italy

Bosco Verticale

Two very green residential towers cleaning the air in one of Europe's most polluted cities.
Ravenna, Italy

Dante's Tomb

Italian poet Dante Alighieri is entombed in this small mausoleum in Ravenna, and his hometown of Florence has never been too happy about it.
Venice, Italy

Scala Contarini del Bovolo

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

Il Porcellino

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

Monte Testaccio

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

Cascata delle Marmore (Marmore Falls)

Romans built the world's tallest artificial waterfall in 271 BC.
Schnals, Italy

Campanile di Curon

Bell tower juts out from a village buried under a lake.
Florence, Italy

Vasari Corridor

This private skyway is filled with art and was expanded explicitly so that Hitler could appreciate a river.
Rome, Italy

Campo de Fiori

This ritzy Italian market is built around a statue of an unforgiven heretic who was burned for his belief in an endless universe.
Rome, Italy

Basilica di San Clemente

A Nesting Doll of Churches.
Canale Monterano, Italy

The Ghost City of Monterano

The remains of a town so thoroughly destroyed by French forces that the citizens simply left.
Monte di Cuma, Italy

Antro della Sibilla (Cave of the Sibyl)

Virgil's many-mouthed gateway to the underworld.
Italy

Cattedrale Vegetale (Tree Cathedral)

Natural cathedral designed by Italian artist Giuliano Mauri.
Ravenna, Italy

Flooded Crypt of San Francesco

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

Medici Hall of Maps (Sala delle Carte Geografiche)

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

The Catacombs of San Sebastian

Jesus' footprints and the first catacombs in the world.
Rome, Italy

Domus Aurea

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