The pile of books behind the dignified writer gave the statue a most undignified nickname.

This Roman statue is missing a limb from when the Venetians stole it from Constantinople during the Crusades.

According to tradition this is the oldest church in Venice, but its actual age is a mystery.

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

Thousand-year-old Viking runes adorn an ancient Greek lion at the entrance to the Venetian Arsenal.

The marble facade hides a little-known medical museum with early surgical instruments and rare copies of canonical texts.

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

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

As can be expected from a centuries old church built in a canal city, the undercroft of this house of worship is beautifully flooded.

This Venice bookstore has resigned itself to constant flooding by keeping its books in bathtubs and boats.

These elaborate gothic monuments honor Verona's medieval lords.

A gorgeous example of 13th-century Gothic architecture.

A whale rib was used to advertise the store by the arch that offered exotic goods from far away.

Pilgrimage site for star-crossed lovers.

In medieval times this small stone seat was used as a bizarre way to punish insolvent debtors.

This old medieval prison tower has been a site of astronomical research for more than 250 years.

One of the largest squares in Europe contains an entire artificial island.

One of the world's oldest working clocks is curiously missing the Zodiac sign of Libra.

The medieval "dragon" on an Austrian city's coat-of-arms comes to life in a fountain.

Vienna's giant wonder wheel had a starring role in one of the greatest noir movies of all time.

This strange statue features a bust of the famous composer plopped atop a woman's body.

The beautiful, ornate weather station is the most popular geocache in Salzburg.

Ugly 18th-century dwarf statues living in a perfectly landscaped Austrian garden.

Terrifically morbid cemetary and site of famous Paracelsus' grave.