This fine example of Romanesque architecture is largely ignored, thanks to a mistake that occurred in its grounds… Photo by Getty Images Ask anyone what they know about Pisa and they’ll mention its Leaning Tower, the freestanding campanile of the city’s Cathedral, on which construction began (on dodgy ground) nearly a century after the Cathedral […]
Pulsano Abbey stands on the spur of Italy’s heel in the Gargano area of Puglia, overlooking the Gulf of Manfredonia Photo by Getty Images There has been an abbey at this location on the Gargano promontory since the 6th century. However, the original was destroyed by Islamic invaders and the 12th-century rebuild – which had […]
This historic but dilapidated residence sits on the Posillipo coast in Naples, west of the Mergellina harbour, some way beyond the Castel dell’Ovo… Photo by Getty Images The Villa Donn’Anna takes its name from Anna Carafa, the wife of a Spanish viceroy of Naples who inherited the property in 1630 and had it rebuilt to […]
The Mithraic Mysteries was once the predominant religious practice in Rome, and some archeological remains of this pre-Christian religion still survive… Photo by Getty Images Before Constantine converted to Christianity and changed Europe for ever, the most worshipped figure in Rome was Mithra, a divinity of Persian origin about whom little history remains. By the […]
The Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius stands centre stage in Rome’s Piazza del Campidoglio… Photo by Getty Images One of the few stipulations that the Pope made when he commissioned Michelangelo to redesign the piazza on the Capitoline Hill was that the famous ancient statue of Marcus Aurelius should be its focal point. The statue […]
It snowed in Rome last February, and in 2012, though historically it’s actually quite a rare event… Photo by Getty Images This photograph was taken on Monday 26th February 2018, after the ‘Beast from the East’ had dumped several centimetres of snow on Rome, giving the city’s schoolchildren, and many of its shop and office […]
Florence’s Piazza della Signoria is named after its palazzo, which is now also known as the Palazzo Vecchio Photo by Getty Images The Duomo may be the more famous Florence landmark, but the Piazza della Signoria has at least as much historical importance to the city. The Signoria was the government of Florence at the […]
The development of a national rail network in Italy coincided with the unification of the country The first railway line in Italy ran (and indeed still does) between Naples and Portici in what was then the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. That opened in 1839 and the development of a pan-Italian rail network, which was […]
In Naples, where history is told through layers of earth, an ancient tomb offers a window to the distant past… Deep beneath the streets of northern Naples, on the slopes leading up to Capodimonte, in the area officially known as Rione Sanità, but also sometimes called the ‘Valley of the Dead’, lie le Catacombe di […]
La Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte climbs to the church of St Mary of the Mount in Caltagirone, Sicily The Church of Saint Mary of the Mount in Caltagirone dates back to the 12th-century; its staircase is early 17th-century; but the majolica tiles that have made the staircase famous today were only placed […]