“He who controls the high ground controls the battle,” goes the old military adage – and it doesn’t get much higher than La Rocca Calascio. Standing at 1,460 metres above sea level – that’s 300 metres higher than Ben Nevis – this medieval fortress provides a vantage point over huge swathes of land… Standing in […]
High in the hills overlooking Varese is one of the most remarkable hidden treasures you could wish to behold – the rarely seen frescoes of the Sacro Monte de Varese As far as hidden secrets go, the Sacro Monte di Varese appears like the central plot focus in a sequel to The Da Vinci Code. Situated […]
This statuette was commissioned in the mid-1930s to glorify ‘il Duce’. It’s about 18 inches tall, but it carries a story much taller than that… The artist and sculptor Antonio Ligabue (1899-1965) was not what anyone who knew him would have called a ‘people person’. Though obviously talented – albeit in that self-taught way art […]
They were originally constructed as temporary field shelters, and then affordable village housing – yet nowadays they can command quite a price… The trulli were first built by farmers and shepherds working in the Itria Valley, and would often be dismantled and reconstructed elsewhere as the patterns of agriculture shifted across the land. Then they […]
Commissioned by the Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family, the Castel Sant’Angelo has been a fortress, a castle, and is now a museum… This unusual, cylindrical edifice used to be the tallest building in Rome. Built to a height of 48 metres on the right bank of the Tiber by Hadrian […]
The sculptural decoration on the three exposed corners of the Ducale Palace proclaims the fragility of man. Venice is a wonder which never ceases to amaze me. It often seems, when I look at old favourites, that I am viewing them for first time, so wonderful is the artistic detail and layered meaning. Saint Mark’s […]
Italian fashion brand Benetton is now 50 years old, and it is still campaigning for a better, more caring, more sustainable world, writes Gilly Turney. But it is no longer out to shock; but taking a gentler, more mature approach. The year 2016 is going to be all about equality for women across the globe… […]
Vincenzo Scamozzi’s final touch for the Olimpico was an amazingly detailed, three-dimensional stage set behind the scaenae, depicting the ancient city of Thebes Andrea Palladio channelled the great Roman architect and writer Vitruvius, studied Roman ruins, and added his own Renaissance ideas. With his Quattro Libri dell’Architettura (Four Books on Architecture), he dominated grand-building design […]
Francis Ford Coppola is one of the biggest names in movie-making history. Famed for his Godfather trilogy, which was based largely in Sicily as well as America, his family harks from Basilicata. In this issue of Italia! James Miller visits his palazzo in the region and gets to speak with the man himself… Throughout history […]
What few examples have been found reflect a wealthy and sophisticated culture with refined tastes This fascinating civilization is often overshadowed by its more ‘famous’ fellow Ancients, the Greeks and the Romans; however, the Etruscans stand on their own for their cultural development, artistic production and commercial prowess. They were contemporaneous with the Ancient Greeks; […]