Paladin's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Venice, Italy

Torcello Bell Tower

Stare out over the lagoon and beyond from this 10th-century campanile on the island where the city of Venice began.
Pompeii, Italy

Villa dei Misteri

This amazingly well-preserved villa just outside Pompeii boasts rare examples of ancient Roman paintings.
Pompeii, Italy

Stone Phalluses of Pompeii

The walls and streets of the ancient city are peppered with penises.
Pompeii, Italy

Thermopolia of Pompeii

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

The Brothels of Pompeii

Erotic art covers the walls of the largest ancient pleasure palace.
Florence, Italy

Vasari Corridor

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

Passetto di Borgo

The Pope’s secret escape route.
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

Giant Hands of Venice’s Grand Canal

A new sculpture calls attention to climate change in the centuries-old city it threatens.
Venice, Italy

St. Mark's Lost Third Column

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

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

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

The Mad Colored Houses of Burano

This community on a small Venetian island has taken to painting their houses in bright neon hues.
Florence, Italy

Bronze Replica of Michelangelo’s David

A copy of the famous statue can be found in this Florence piazza, along with one of the most breathtaking views of the city below.
Florence, Italy

Il Porcellino

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

Via Appia

2300-year-old Roman road connecting the empire.
Glendalough, Ireland

Writers' Room at The Wicklow Heather

A restaurant with an extensive Irish whiskey bar also has several first editions of famous works by Irish authors.
Cashel, Ireland

Hore Abbey

The ruins of a medieval monastery named after a type of tree.
Ireland

The Dry Stone Walls of the Aran Islands

Mortarless walls that stretch for miles are a lovely solution for creating grazing land in the harsh terrain of the Aran Islands.
Dunloe Upper, Ireland

Gap of Dunloe

Traveling this mountain pass reveals quaint stone buildings, stunning Irish scenery, and a bridge said to grant wishes.
Corofin, Ireland

The Burren

A hugely vast Irish landscape of barren rock that stretches for miles.
Wicklow, Ireland

The Round Tower of Glendalough

This ancient Irish tower could easily have stood in for Rapunzel's prison.
Kerry, Ireland

Great Blasket Island

Just a few miles off the western coast of Ireland lies an isle steeped in Irish literary history.
Kerry, Ireland

Gallarus Oratory

This single room has survived the centuries with almost no deterioration.