Downstairs in the Vatican grottoes are the papal tombs, among them the simple marble slab that Pope John Paul II now calls home.

BBC: Lonely Planet's top 10 sights in Rome

The essays cover Japanese puppet theatre, church paintings, ballet, grottoes and Italian photography, and all are subjected to detailed, passionate and often infectious celebration.

ECONOMIST: Cultural critics

Brown sparrows and squirrels hop between the hothouse flowers and, hidden among the clusters of bamboo and trailing ferns are Victorian grottoes, ornamental fountains and classical busts.

BBC: The last piece of England

The Mogau Grottoes are a Unesco World Heritage Site and represent the greatest collection of Buddhist art from the 4th to the 14th Century AD.

BBC: Digital Chinese caves preserve history

Big halls are way better than small grottoes.

FORBES: Connect