lauras's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Riomaggiore, Italy

Via dell’Amore

A lover's walk between hilltop towns, decorated with graffiti love notes.
Vernazza, Italy

Cinque Terre

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

Cristo degli Abissi (Christ of the Abyss)

A sunken idol welcomes parishioners to Davy Jones' Locker.
Pompeii, Italy

Thermopolia of Pompeii

Ancient snack bar of the Roman Empire re-opened.
Andria, Italy

Castel del Monte

Geometry and mystery come together in an epic show of octagonal masonry.
Alberobello, Italy

Alberobello

Southern Italy's spinning top village.
Matera, Italy

Sassi di Matera

People have been living in the cave houses on this Italian hillside since the Neolithic era.
Perca, Italy

Earth Pyramids of Platten

These delicate sand pyramids look like naturally occurring gothic spires.
Bologna, Italy

Antica Aguzzeria del Cavallo

Once known for its horse-powered knife sharpening, this 200-year-old shop offers an array of blades and hard-to-find culinary tools.
Bologna, Italy

Towers of Bologna

Over 100 towers were built in Bologna during the Middle Ages, but only 22 survive.
Bologna, Italy

Fountain of Neptune

Legend has it this fountain built to symbolize the Pope’s power hides a strange secret concerning Neptune's manliness.
Bologna, Italy

Finestrella di Via Piella

A small window on Via Piella offers a lovely and rare peek at Bologna's lost canals.
Turin, Italy

Fiat Lingotto Factory

Now an entertainment complex, the Lingotto building was once an avant-garde auto factory with a test track on the roof.
Fiorano modenese, Italy

Salse di Nirano

Italy's curious field of mud volcanoes is named for being both gross AND salty.
Chiavari, Italy

Colonia Fara

This former fascist summer camp was abandoned for decades.
Stelvio, Italy

Stelvio Pass

One of the highest mountain passes in Europe has been ranked among the best driving roads in the world.
Verona, Italy

Juliet's Balcony

Pilgrimage site for star-crossed lovers.
Leggiuno, Italy

Santa Caterina del Sasso

This monastery built into a cliff hides a perfectly preserved hermit in a glass coffin.
San Carlo, Italy

Colossus of San Carlo Borromeo

For hundreds of years, this huge figure has been blessing visitors before they explore his body.
Torba, Italy

Faceless Nuns of the Torba Monastery

An unsettling painting of three faceless sisters that is surrounded by history and legend.
Munich, Germany

Klenze's Stone Bench

The unusually large seat sits atop the base of a ruined temple.
Munich, Germany

Wunden der Erinnerung (Wounds of Memory), LMU Library

The scars of World War II are preserved on its walls.
Munich, Germany

Monopteros

This beautiful 19th-century temple stands atop the ruins of its predecessor.
Munich, Germany

Pinakothek der Moderne Futuro House

One of the most easily accessible examples of the rare 1960s UFO houses.