-
Palazzo Estense
From the 17th century, nobles and the rich, many from Milan, began to build second residences around Vareses historic centre. Of these, the most sumptuous is the Palazzo Estense, completed in 1771 for Francesco III d’Este, the Austrian-appointed governor of the Duchy of Milan. From
-
Museo Villa Puccini
In 1880 Puccini left Lucca to study at Milans music conservatory, returning after his studies to Tuscany to rent a lakeside house in Torre del Lago, 15km west of Lucca on the shore of Lago Massaciuccoli. Nine years later he had a villa built on the same lakeshore, undertaking the L
-
Giardino Bardini
This garden was named after art collector Stefano Bardini (1836–1922), who bought the villa in 1913 and restored its medieval garden. It has all the features of a quintessential Tuscan garden including artificial grottos, an orangery, marble statues and fountains. Inside the villa
-
Nuraghe di Palmavera
A few kilometres west of Fertilia on the road to Porto Conte, the Nuraghe di Palmavera is a 3500-year-old nuraghic village. At its centre stands a limestone tower and an elliptical building with a secondary sandstone tower that was added later. The ruins of smaller towers and basti
-
Teatro alla Scala
Giuseppe Piermarinis grand 2800-seat theatre was inaugurated in 1778, replacing the previous theatre, which burnt down in a fire after a carnival gala. Costs were covered by the sale of palchi (private boxes), of which there are six gilt-and-crimson tiers. When rehearsals are not i
-
Museo di Paestum
Just east of the ruins, the Museo di Paestum houses a collection of much-weathered metopes (bas-relief friezes), including 33 of the original 36 from the Tempio di Argiva Hera (Temple of Argive Hera), 9km north of Paestum, of which virtually nothing else remains. The star exhibit i
-
Basilica di San Miniato al Monte
Five minutes uphill from Piazzale Michelangelo is this wonderful Romanesque church, dedicated to St Minius, an early-Christian martyr in Florence said to have flown to this spot after his death down in the town (or, if you want to believe an alternative version, walked up the hill
-
Museo Pignatelli
When Ferdinand Acton, a minister at the court of King Ferdinand IV (1759–1825), asked Pietro Valente to design Villa Pignatelli in 1826, Valente whipped up this striking Pompeiian facsimile. Now the Museo Pignatelli, its aristocratic hoard includes sumptuous furniture and decorativ
-
Chiesa di Sant’Agostino
The plain white facade of this early Renaissance church, built in the 15th century and renovated in the late 1700s, gives no indication of the impressive art inside. The most famous work is Caravaggios Madonna dei Pellegrini (Madonna of the Pilgrims) but youll also find a fresco by
-
La Giudecca
Simply walking through Ortygias tangled maze of alleys is an atmospheric experience, especially down the narrow lanes of Via Maestranza , the heart of the old guild quarter, and the crumbling Jewish ghetto of Via della Giudecca . At the Alla Giudecca hotel you can visit an ancient
-
Area Archeologica del Teatro di Marcello e del Portico d’Ottavia
To the east of the Jewish Ghetto, the Teatro di Marcello is the star turn of this dusty archaeological area. This 20,000-seat mini-Colosseum was planned by Julius Caesar and completed in 11 BC by Augustus, who named it after a favourite nephew, Marcellus. In the 16th century, a pal
-
Madonna del Ghisallo
In the high-country village of Magreglio (497m), 7km south of Bellagio, stands a simple 17th-century church known as the Santuario della Madonna del Ghisallo . The road up has frequently been included as a classic stage of the Giro dItalia cycle race, and is known to professional a
-
Museo
The ducal treasures on show in the basilicas museum would put a king’s ransom to shame. A highlight is the Quadriga of St Marks , a group of four bronze horses originally plundered from Constantinople and now installed in the 1st-floor gallery. Portals lead from the gallery on to t
-
Piazza del Gesù Nuovo
Flanked by the spiky Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo and the Basilica di Santa Chiara, this lively square is one of Naples most beautiful. For hundreds of years it was the principal western entrance to the city. But it wasnt until two major modifications in the 16th century that the piazza t
-
Grotte di Castellana
Dont miss these spectacular limestone caves, 40km southeast of Bari and Italys longest natural subterranean network. The interlinked galleries, first discovered in 1938, contain an incredible range of underground landscapes, with extraordinary stalactite and stalagmite formations –
-
Piazzetta Nilo
Youll stumble across two deities in this dusty little square. First is ancient-Egyptian river god Nilo: the marble Statua del Nilo was erected by Alexandrian merchants who lived in the area during Roman times. The sculpture mysteriously disappeared when the Egyptian expats moved ou
-
Oratorio di Santa Cita
This 17th-century chapel showcases the breathtaking stuccowork of Giacomo Serpotta, who famously introduced rococo to Sicilian churches. Note the elaborate Battle of Lepanto on the entrance wall. Depicting the Christian victory over the Turks, its framed by stucco drapes held by hu
-
Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie
Any visit to The Last Supper (Il Cenacolo) must be accompanied by a tour of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Built by Guiniforte Solari, with later additions by Bramante, it encapsulates the magnificence of the Milanese court of Ludovico Il Moro Sforza and Be
-
Basilica di San Lorenzo
Its difficult not to be bowled over by this oft-ignored hotchpotch jumble of towers, lodges, apses and domes. In spite of appearances, it really is the one basilica. At its heart is an early-Christian circular structure with three adjoining octagonal chapels, dating to the 4th cent
-
Museo Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei
This usually crowd-free museum occupies the Castello di Baia, built in the late 15th century by the Aragonese as a defence against possible French invasion. Later enlarged by Spanish viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo, it served as a military orphanage for most of the 20th century. Today,
Total
3296 -travel
FirstPage PreviousPage NextPage LastPage CurrentPage:
142/165 20-travel/Page GoTo Page:
