For those travelling around Italy, the country has a lot more to offer than the standard tourist attractions. There is even the opportunity to explore some downright creepy locations and learn something about the country and the people who have lived there throughout its history.

Galileo’s finger

If you decide to stay in one of the many lovely apartments in Florence, you might want to consider heading to the city’s Museum of Science while you’re there. In the museum, you can actually see the middle finger of Galileo, the renaissance scientist. The finger was taken from his body 95 years after he died and is now on display in a container of glass and gold for everyone to see.

Mussolini’s bunker

There are plenty of sites to visit on a break in Rome that have a creepy side. Many tourists visit the Coliseum to admire its architecture, but it is also where about 400,000 people were killed. However, Mussolini’s bunker under Villa Torlonia has to be one of the strangest. This is the location where Mussolini would hide during bombing raids and gives an insight into the mind of someone who was responsible for a great deal of suffering in the world.

Capuchin catacombs

If you really have a stomach for creepy sites, visit the Capuchin catacombs in Palermo. This labyrinth is home to 1,250 bodies that are all at different stages of decomposition. The corpses have been separated into different sections, and each person was interred wearing their best clothes. There is even one that is hanging up on the wall with his eyes still open, which is truly spooky.