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MusA Pinacoteca al Canopoleno
Housed in a 16th-century Jesuit college, Sassaris municipal art collection boasts over 400 paintings from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Of the religious art on the ground floor, a highlight is Bartolomeo Vivarinis fine triptych, Madonna con bambino (1473). Upstairs, works by
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Chiesa di San Lio
Giandomenico Tiepolo sure did know how to light up a room. Duck into the atmospheric gloom of San Lios baroque interior and, as your eyes adjust, look up at Tiepolo’s magnificent ceiling fresco, The Glory of the Cross and St Leon IX . On your left by the main door is Titian’s Apost
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Casa del Depero
Those Futurists were never afraid of a spot of self-aggrandisement and local lad Fortunato Depero was no exception. This self-designed museum was first launched shortly before his death in 1960, and was then restored and reopened by MART in recent years. The obsessions of early-20t
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Museo Bagatti Valsecchi
Though born a few centuries too late, the Bagatti Valsecchi brothers, Fausto and Giuseppe, were determined to be Renaissance men, and from 1878 to 1887 they built their home as a living museum of the Quattrocento. Decorated after the style of the ducal palaces in Mantua, the apartm
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Palazzo Piccolomini
This magnificent palace was the residence of Pope Pius II, and is considered Bernardo Rossellinos masterpiece. Built on the site of the popes family houses, it features a fine courtyard, handsome staircase and the former papal apartments, which are filled with period furnishings an
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Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis?
This pint-sized church marks the spot where St Peter, fleeing Rome, met a vision of Jesus going the other way. When Peter asked: ‘Domine, quo vadis?’ (Lord, where are you going?), Jesus replied, ‘Venio Roman iterum crucifigi’ (I am coming to Rome to be crucified again). Reluctantly
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Fonte Sacra Su Tempiesu
Set in dramatic hill country near the dusty town of Orune , the Fonte Sacra Su Tempiesu is a sophisticated and elegant nuraghic well temple, dating from the 2nd millennium BC. Its distinguishing feature is the strange keyhole-shaped entrance to the well. The temple displays a stran
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Solfatara Crater
Some 2km up Via Rosini, which becomes Via Solfatara (about 900m north of the metro), the surreal Solfatara crater was known to the Romans as the Forum Vulcani (home of the god of fire). At the far end of the steaming, malodorous crater are the Stufe, in which two ancient grottoes w
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Tesoro della Cattedrale
This small collection of Norman-era jewels and religious relics is accessed via the cathedrals right aisle. Most extraordinary is the fabulous 13th-century crown of Constance of Aragon (wife of Frederick II), made by local craftsmen in fine gold filigree and encrusted with gems. Mo
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Grotta di Seiano
At the bottom of a long, steep and exhausting descent, the Grotta di Seiano is not, in fact, a cave but a 1st-century tunnel linking the Roman Villa Pausilypon to Pozzuoli. Ventilated by three air ducts opening onto the sea, it was dug out of the tufa rock by Cocceius, the same Rom
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Isola Madre Gardens
The Isola Madre gardens are even more lavish than those of Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella, although in June 2006 a freak tornado struck the island, uprooting many of the island’s prized plants. Nevertheless, this English-style botanic garden remains full of interest, with azaleas,
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Bussana Vecchia
Ten kilometres northeast of San Remo lies an intriguing artists colony. On Ash Wednesday 1887, an earthquake destroyed the village of Bussana Vecchia. It remained a ghost town until the 1960s, when artists and counterculture devotees moved in and began rebuilding the ruins using th
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Li Muri
This necropolis is a curious site made up of four interlocking megalithic burial grounds, possibly dating to 3500 BC. Archaeologists believe that VIPs were buried in the rectangular stone tombs. At the rim of each circle was a menhir or betyl, an erect stone upon which a divinity m
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Laveno Funivia
Laveno is a pleasant enough lakeside town but the main reason for coming is to take the Funivia, which whisks you up to a panoramic beauty spot 949m above sea level, in the shadow of the Sasso del Ferro peak (1062m). The views over the lake and beyond to the Alps are breathtaking.
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Punta San Vigilio
The leafy headland of Punta San Vigilio curls out into the lake 3km north of Garda. An avenue of cypress trees leads from the car park towards a gorgeous crescent of bay backed by olive groves. There the Parco Baia delle Sirene offers sun loungers beneath the trees; theres also a c
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Piazza Bellini
The disparate architectural styles and eras of the buildings adorning this magnificent piazza should by rights be visually discordant, but in fact contribute to a wonderfully harmonious public space. The piazzas eastern edge is adorned by the delightful Teatro Bellini (Bellini Thea
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Parco Nazionale del Golfo di Orosei e del Gennargentu
The Parco Nazionale del Golfo di Orosei e del Gennargentu is Sardinia’s largest national park, taking in the Supramonte plateau and the Golfo di Orosei. Here the high mountains of the Gennargentu abruptly meet the sea, forming a crescent of dramatic cliffs riven by false inlets, sc
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Punta Campanella Marine Reserve
A popular diving destination, these protected waters are part of an 11 sq km reserve that supports a healthy marine ecosystem, with flora and fauna flourishing among underwater grottoes and ancient ruins. To see for yourself, the PADI-certified Nettuno Diving runs various underwate
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Villa Welsperg
At Parco Naturale Paneveggio-Pale di San Martino’s impressive headquarters in the 1853-built Villa Welsperg in Val Canali, suspended aquariums illustrate the park’s water life and exhibitions are dedicated to the flora and fauna. To get to the villa, follow the southbound S50 from
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Via San Gregorio Armeno
Dismissed by serious collectors, this narrow street remains famous across Italy for its pastori (Christmas crib figurines) nonetheless. Connecting Spaccanapoli with Via dei Tribunali, the decumanus maior (main road) of ancient Neapolis, its clutter of shops and workshops peddle eve
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