This site deserves to be added to the list. More than what the rest of Italy--Venice, Florence, Rome, the whole lot--can claim, it was this building that kick-started the European Renaissance and thus the modern world as we know it. It is also incredibly beautiful to boot. Along with the Orto Botanico, the Capella degli Ermani really shows that during its height Padova and its university was one of the most important centers of learning in the western world.