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Tourist Attractions

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  • Santa Maria del Fiore, designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, is the third largest church in the world (after St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London) and was the largest church in Europe when it was completed in the 15th century. It is 153 metres long, 90 metres wide at the crossing, and 90 metres high from the floor to the bottom of the lantern. The third and last cathedral of Florence, it was dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore, the Virgin of the Flower, in 1412, a clear allusion to the lily, the symbol of the city of Florence. It was built over the second cathedral, which early Christian Florence had dedicated to St. Reparata. The numerous different styles that we encounter in the building bear witness to changing tastes over the long period of time that elapsed between its foundation and its completion. The first stone of the façade was laid on 8 September 1296 to a design by Arnolfo di Cambio. Arnolfo worked on the cathedral from 1296 to 1302, designing a basilica with classical volumes based on three broad aisles converging in a vast choir hosting the high altar, itself surrounded by tribunes subsequently crowned by a dome. Arnolfo's design was substantially different from the church's current structure, as we can see from the outside. If we look at the northern and southern sides of the building, we will note that the first four windows on each side are lower, narrower and closer together than those to the east of them, which are part of an extension built by Francesco Talenti who was master of the works in the mid-14th century. Arnolfo managed to complete two bays and half of the new façade. The facade was dismantled in 1587 when the Grand Duke Francesco I de 'Medici decided to build a new modern one and the surviving statues that decorated it are now on display in the Museum. Work on the building site slowed down when Arnolfo died in around 1310, only resuming for good in 1331 when the magistrates of the Arte della Lana, or Guild of Wool Manufacturers and Merchants, took over responsibility for the building. Giotto was appointed master of the works in 1334, devoting most of his time to the erection of the bell tower but he died three years later. His post was filled by Andrea Pisano until 1348, the year of the Black Death which slashed the city's population from 90,000 to 45,000.

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  • Work continued, despite constant interruptions, until a competition was finally run in 1367. The competition was won by four architects and four painters, including Andrea di Bonaiuto, Benci and Andrea di Cione, Taddeo Gaddi and Neri di Fioravante. Francesco Talenti held the post of master of the works from 1349 to 1359, completing the bell tower and preparing a new design with the assistance of Giovanni di Lapo Ghini (from 1360 to 1369). The nave was fully vaulted by 1378 and the side aisles by 1380. The tribunes, and possibly also the drum for the dome, were built between 1380 and 1421.

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    Description

  • Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italian Torre Pendente di Pisa, medieval structure in Pisa, Italy, that is famous for the settling of its foundations, which caused it to lean 5.5 degrees (about 15 feet [4.5 metres]) from the perpendicular in the late 20th century.

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  • Extensive work was subsequently done to straighten the tower, and its lean was ultimately reduced to less than 4.0 degrees.

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  • The Piazza della Signoria has been the center of political life in Florence since the 14th century with the prominent Palazzo Vecchio overlooking the square.

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  • It was the scene of great triumphs, such as the return of the Medici in 1530 as well as the Bonfire of the Vanities instigated by Savonarola, who was then himself burned at the stake here in 1498 after he was denounced by the Inquisition as a heretic. A marble circle inscription on the piazza shows the location where he was burned.

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  • The Gallery entirely occupies the first and second floors of the large building constructed between 1560 and 1580 and designed by Giorgio Vasari. It is famous worldwide for its outstanding collections of ancient sculptures and paintings (from the Middle Ages to the Modern period). The collections of paintings from the 14th-century and Renaissance period include some absolute masterpieces: Giotto, Simone Martini, Piero della Francesca, Beato Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo, Raffaello, Michelangelo and Caravaggio, in addition to many precious works by European painters (mainly German, Dutch and Flemish).

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  • Moreover, the Gallery boasts an invaluable collection of ancient statues and busts from the Medici family, which adorns the corridors and consists of ancient Roman copies of lost Greek sculptures.

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  • The construction of the Duomo of Milan began in 1386 and ended in 1965, it took place in the same location where the St. Ambrose basilica was located since the 5th century to which in the year 836 the Basilica of St. Tecla was added and destroyed by a fire in 1075. The construction of the Cathedral Visconti with the aim of renovating the area and celebrate the policy of territorial expantion of the Visconti. The construction of the cathedral took place over a period of five centuries during which different architects, sculptors and artists made their professional contribution in the famous ""Fabbrica del Duomo"" (Cathedral Factory) which was an institution composed of 300 employees leaded by the architect Simone da Orsenigo. Galeazzo granted to the Factory the exclusive use of the marble of the quarry of Candoglia and exonerated the payment of taxes.

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  • In 1389, the Frenchman Nicolas de Bonaventure was appointed chief architect giving the cathedral a strong Gothic imprint. Thus, the exterior of the Cathedral is covered in pink white marble as well as the top that finishes with an infinity of pinnacles and towers crowned by statues that contemplate the city. Giuseppe Perego sculpted a golden copper statue in 1774 that was located at the highest point of the temple and is known as the Madonnina which became the symbol of Milan. This impressive project resulted in a unique architectural work, which fuses the international Gothic style with the traditional Lombard architecture.

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  • The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which is sometimes nicknamed “il salotto di Milano” (Milan’s drawing room), is an elegant nineteenth-century shopping arcade.

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  • It houses some of the most luxurious boutiques in Milan.

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  • In 1495, Leonardo da Vinci began what would become one of history's most influential works of art - The Last Supper The Last Supper is Leonardo's visual interpretation of an event chronicled in all four of the Gospels (books in the Christian New Testament). The evening before Christ was betrayed by one of his disciples, he gathered them together to eat, tell them he knew what was coming and wash their feet (a gesture symbolizing that all were equal under the eyes of the Lord). As they ate and drank together, Christ gave the disciples explicit instructions on how to eat and drink in the future, in remembrance of him. It was the first celebration of the Eucharist, a ritual still performed. Specifically, The Last Supper depicts the next few seconds in this story after Christ dropped the bombshell that one disciple would betray him before sunrise, and all twelve have reacted to the news with different degrees of horror, anger, and shock.

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  • Leonardo hadn't worked on such a large painting and had no experience in the standard mural medium of fresco. The painting was made using experimental pigments directly on the dry plaster wall and unlike frescos, where the pigments are mixed with the wet plaster, it has not stood the test of time well. Even before it was finished there were problems with the paint flaking from the wall and Leonardo had to repair it. Over the years it has crumbled, been vandalized bombed and restored. Today we are probably looking at very little of the original.

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  • Sforzesco Castle, Italian Castello Sforzesco, in Milan, castle built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza and now home of a fine art collection. Collections of the Castello Sforzesco include those of the Museum of Antique Art, of the Museum of Musical Instruments, and of the Picture Gallery. The “Rondanini Pietà,” Michelangelo’s unfinished last work, is there.

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  • The Picture Gallery has works by Renaissance and 17th-century Italian masters, including Andrea Mantegna, Giovanni Bellini, Filippo Lippi, Correggio, and Jacopo da Pontormo. There is also a fine collection of French and Dutch works.

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  • "The Colosseum is the main symbol of Rome. It is an imposing construction that, with almost 2,000 years of history, will bring you back in time to discover the way of life in the Roman Empire.

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  • The construction of the Colosseum began in the year 72 under the empire of Vespasian and was finished in the year 80 during the rule of the emperor Titus. After completion, the Colosseum became the greatest Roman amphitheatre, measuring 188 meters in length, 156 meters in width and 57 meters in height."

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  • The Vatican City, one of the most sacred places in Christendom, attests to a great history and a formidable spiritual venture. A unique collection of artistic and architectural masterpieces lie within the boundaries of this small state.

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  • At its centre is St Peter's Basilica, with its double colonnade and a circular piazza in front and bordered by palaces and gardens. The basilica, erected over the tomb of St Peter the Apostle, is the largest religious building in the world, the fruit of the combined genius of Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bernini and Maderno.

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  • Pantheon, building in Rome that was begun in 27 BC by the statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, probably as a building of the ordinary Classical temple type—rectangular with a gabled roof supported by a colonnade on all sides. It was completely rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian sometime between AD 118 and 128, and some alterations were made in the early 3rd century by the emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla.

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  • It is a circular building of concrete faced with brick, with a great concrete dome rising from the walls and with a front porch of Corinthian columns supporting a gabled roof with triangular pediment. Beneath the porch are huge bronze double doors, 24 feet (7 metres) high, the earliest known large examples of this type.

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  • The Sistine Chapel is a rectangular brick building with six arched windows on each of the two main (or side) walls and a barrel-vaulted ceiling. The chapel’s exterior is drab and unadorned, but its interior walls and ceiling are decorated with frescoes by many Florentine Renaissance masters. The frescoes on the side walls of the chapel were painted from 1481 to 1483. On the north wall are six frescoes depicting events from the life of Christ as painted by Perugino, Pinturicchio, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Cosimo Rosselli. On the south wall are six other frescoes depicting events from the life of Moses by Perugino, Pinturicchio, Botticelli, Domenico and Benedetto Ghirlandaio, Rosselli, Luca Signorelli, and Bartolomeo della Gatta. Above these works, smaller frescoes between the windows depict various popes.

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  • For great ceremonial occasions the lowest portions of the side walls were covered with a series of tapestries depicting events from the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. These were designed by Raphael and woven in 1515–19 at Brussels.

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  • An impressive – if rather confusing – sprawl of ruins, the Roman Forum was ancient Rome's showpiece center, a grandiose district of temples, basilicas and vibrant public spaces. The site, originally a marshy burial ground, was first developed in the 7th century BCE, growing over time to become the social, political and commercial hub of the Roman empire.

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  • If you can get your imagination going, there’s something wonderfully compelling about walking in the footsteps of Julius Caesar and other legendary figures of Roman history. Signature sights include the Arco di Settimio Severo, the Curia, the Tempio di Saturno and the Arco di Tito.

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  • St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco) is Venice on parade, where everyone comes to see and be seen. It is Venice's only square with the title of ""piazza"" – the rest are called ""campo."" Life has revolved around this piazza since the days of the Republic, when it was a market, as well as the center of civic and religious life. Considered one of the finest squares in the world and certainly Venice's prime attraction, it is surrounded on three sides by the stately arcades of public buildings and on the fourth, by Basilica di San Marco's riot of domes and arches and the soaring St. Mark's campanile.

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  • The lines waiting to enter the basilica, which is by far the most popular attraction in Venice, may seem intimidating, but you can skip these by joining a tour. No obstruction mars the vast stone-paved expanse of St. Mark's Square, where the only traffic is Venetians, tourists, and the ever-present pigeons. Make the most of your visit and find the best things to do with this list of the top attractions and tours in St. Mark's Square.

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  • The one you see today was built mainly in the 14th century, and the façade overlooking the Piazzetta dates from the first half of the 15th century. Although the palace is now a museum, unlike most museums, these paintings were created especially to decorate the Doge's Palace, not added later.

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  • The artworks, iconic beauty, and interesting history of the Doge's Palace make it one of Venice's major attractions for tourists. You'll be sure of seeing all the highlights with this visitor's guide to exploring the Doge's Palace.

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  • Slightly more than 3 km (2 miles) long and between 30 and 70 metres (100 and 225 feet) wide, the Grand Canal has an average depth of 5 metres (17 feet) and connects at various points with a maze of smaller canals. These waterways carry the bulk of Venetian transportation, as automobiles are banned throughout much of the city. Traditional poled gondolas are a favourite with tourists but are now vastly outnumbered by motorized public-transit water buses (vaporetti) and private water taxis. Siren-equipped boats belonging to the police, fire, and emergency medical services traverse the Grand Canal at high speed, and barges are responsible for the delivery of goods throughout the city.

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  • The connection between Venetians and their city’s main thoroughfare does not end at the grave: funeral barges can be seen transporting the dead to Isola di San Michele, an island northeast of the city that has been the site of Venice’s largest cemetery since the early 19th century.

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  • The Rialto Bridge's 7.5-meter (24-foot) arch was designed to allow passage of galleys, and the massive structure was built on some 12,000 wooden pilings that still support the bridge more than 400 years later. The architect, Antonio da Ponte (""Anthony of the Bridge,"" appropriately enough), competed against such eminent designers as Michelangelo and Palladio for the contract.

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  • The bridge has three walkways: two along the outer balustrades, and a wider central walkway leading between two rows of small shops that sell jewelry, linens, Murano glass, and other items for the tourist trade. (Warning: The bridge consists primarily of steps, making it a challenge for tourists with strollers or wheelchairs.)

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  • Murano In the 8th century began the traditional art of molding the crystal in an exquisite and subtle form, which has become famous. In order to prevent fires on land that could be produced during the glassmaking process, Murano was elected as a ""floating"" factory, where master glassmakers transformed the sand into glass using air and fire to create magnificent pieces. Since the process of creating glass was very complex and economically relevant, glassmakers were allowed to enjoy some immunities of the time, but they were not allowed to leave the Republic in order not to divulge the secrets of their art. Burano The island of Burano is actually a small archipelago of 5 islands connected through bridges. In the 16th century the lace of Burano became the most famous in Europe and in 1872 was created the first school of lace, known as ""Scuola dei Merletti."" Even when it is possible to see and buy these beautiful works, authentic pieces cost a lot and are difficult to find since their elaboration can take many weeks.

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  • Torcello After the fall of the Roman Empire, Torcello was one of the first lagoon islands that was populated, here the Venetians fled from the mainland to take refuge from repeated barbarian invasions. It was for a long time controlled by the Byzantines. From the 12th century onwards the Torcello summit ended due to the swamps and malaria with them, the population left the island.

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