A detailed pachyderm supports Rome's smallest Egyptian obelisk.

This curious, round temple is the oldest still-standing marble building in Rome.

This historic recreationist school churns out warriors that may very well have had a fighting chance in Rome's pits of the day.

A treasure trove of Renaissance-era funerary art in a Roman church built on top of Nero's grave.

The "Greatest Sewer" of ancient Rome is one of the oldest sewer systems in the world, and is still in use.

This large, circular tomb is the final resting place of the first emperor of Rome.

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

2300-year-old Roman road connecting the empire.

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.

This 16th-century close preserves an unusual piece of Edinburgh's transportation history.

This otherwise ordinary close on the Royal Mile constituted the end of the world for Edinburgh’s poorest residents.

At one time this small mining village was the highest town in America but now it sits abandoned while the mine churns on.

Nestled in the hills of Tuscany are gorgeous, multicolored hot springs.

The site of the "Bone Wars" between two rival paleontologists during the dinosaur rush of the 19th century.

A master of trompe-l'oeil creates a stunning, tourist-fooling dome out of a flat ceiling.