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ITALY
Top Things To See
(provided by worldtravelguide.net)
Be fascinated by Rome's numerous relics and monuments, the
hectic buzz of swarming scooters, bellowing motorists and
animated street cafes. Roman streets contain reminders of
all the eras in Rome’s rich history – the Colosseum
and the Forum are the most famous from the classical period
and ancient basilicas bear witness to the early Christian
era. Via del Corso, Rome’s main thoroughfare, cuts
through the length of the city centre from Piazza Venezia
in the south, with the vast marble Vittorio Emanuele Monument
(erected to commemorate the unification of Italy and honour
her first king), to emerge in Piazza del Popolo in the north,
beyond which lies the cool green refuge of the Villa Borghese.
East of Via del Corso lie the elegant shopping streets including
Via Borgognona and Via Condotti which lead up to Piazza di
Spagna (the famous Spanish Steps). At the nearby Trevi Fountain,
visitors guarantee their return to Rome by throwing a coin
into the waters. West of Via del Corso, a maze of narrow
streets winds its way down to the River Tiber. It is here,
in the historic centre of Rome, that the most complete ancient
Roman structure is found: the Pantheon, on Piazza della Rotonda,
built by Emperor Hadrian and completed in AD 125. Monumental
in scale, the diameter of the dome and its height are precisely
equal, while the interior is illuminated by sunlight entering
through a 9m (30ft) hole in the dome’s roof. Just beyond
the Pantheon lies Piazza Navona, a long thin square, on a
classical site, rebuilt in the 17th century in High Baroque
style. Close by stands the circular hulk of Castel Sant’Angelo,
burial place of Emperor Hadrian and the papal city’s
main fortified defence in later times.
On the west bank of the Tiber, the Vatican City is an independent
sovereign state, best known for the magnificent St Peter’s
Basilica. The Basilica is approached through the 17th-century
St Peter’s Square, a superb creation by Bernini, enclosed
by two semi-circular colonnades, with an Egyptian obelisk
in the centre. To the right of St Peter’s stands the
Vatican Palace, the Pope’s residence. Among the principal
features of the Palace are the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican
Museum. The Vatican Gardens can be visited only by those
on guided tours. For further information, see the separate
Vatican City country section.
Probably the highlight of any tour of Italy, Venice (Venezia)
is a must. The city’s main monuments – St Mark’s
Basilica and the Doge’s Palace overlooking St Mark’s
Square – have gained fame through innumerable paintings
by such artists as Canaletto, but the whole city is in many
ways a work of art. The city’s most important thoroughfare
is the Grand Canal, lined with fine Gothic and Renaissance
palazzi (buildings) and crossed by the bustling Ponte di
Rialto (Rialto Bridge) and the wooden Ponte dell’Accademia
(Academy Bridge). Nearby, the Galleria dell’Accademia
displays hundreds of Venetian paintings dating from between
the 14th and 18th centuries. The Venetian islands of Burano
(famous for lacemaking), Murano (famous for glassmaking)
and Torcello (noted for the magnificent Byzantine Basilica
of Santa Maria Assunta) can be visited by boat.
Note: The city is linked to Mestre, on the mainland, by a
causeway which can be crossed by road or rail. Although there
is a large car park in Venice, at the end of the causeway,
it is easier and cheaper to park in Mestre and continue by
train.
Visit Turin, also known as La Parigi d’Italia (the
Italian Paris). Uptown Turin is centred on the main shopping
street, Via Roma, which links the city’s favourite
square, the Piazza Castello, with its most dramatic building,
the Baroque Palazzo Madama, which houses the Museum of Ancient
Art, and the Egyptian Museum, the second-largest in the world
after Cairo. The famous Turin Shroud may be viewed in the
15th-century white marble Cathedral.
In Milan (Milano), appreciate the delicate and ethereal beauty
of the splendid Gothic Duomo (Cathedral), one of the world’s
largest churches.The Castello Sforzesco, in the west of the
city, is a massive fortified castle, which now houses a number
of museums. Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, The Last
Supper, may be viewed at the convent of Santa Maria della
Grazie. The Teatro della Scala (Scala Theatre) remains the
undisputed world capital of opera and is well worth viewing
for its magnificent opulence.
In Lombardy, discover Cremona, the birthplace of the Stradivarius
violin. A walk around the Medieval Piazza del Comune offers
various architectural treats. There are also two interesting
museums: the Museo Stradivariano, housing a wealth of Stradivarius
musical instruments, and the Museo Civico, displaying mosaics
and relics from the Romanesque period.
Discover the beauty of the great northern lakes which lie
in a series of long, deep valleys running down onto the plains
from the Alps. Lake Como is perhaps the most attractive,
Lake Maggiore the most elegant (and populous) and Lake Garda
the wildest and most spectacular.
Visit Genoa (Genova), capital of Liguria, and the birthplace
of Christopher Columbus. The Medieval district of the city
holds many treasures, such as the Church of Sant’Agostino
(next to the Museo dell’Architettura e Scultura Ligure),
the beautiful Church of San Donato, the 12th-century Church
of Santa Maria di Castello, the Gothic Cathedral of San Lorenzo
and the Porta Soprana (the old stone entrance gate to the
city). The Doge's Palace was built in the 17th-century. It
holds the Doge's Chapel, the Grimaldi Tower, the Hall of
the Minor Consiglio and the Hall of the Maggior Consiglio.
The Acquario (Aquarium) presents underwater ocean life, with
1000 species housed in 71 vast tanks, making it the largest
centre of its kind in Europe.
Immerse yourself in the Shakespearian world by going to Verona,
the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The
Casa di Giulietta (Juliet’s House), a small Medieval
home with a balcony and courtyard, attracts thousands of
visitors each year. The other big attraction is the well-preserved
Roman Arena, built in AD 290 and able to accommodate over
20,000 spectators. An opera festival, with open-air night-time
performances, is staged here throughout summer.
Discover a profusion of early Byzantine and Christian monuments
decorated with stunning mosaics in Ravenna, notably the splendid
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the octagonal Basilica di San
Vitale, and the churches of San Apollonare Nuovo and Sant’Apollinare
in Classe, all of which are UNESCO-listed World Heritage
Sites.
Visit the principal Tuscan city, Florence (Firenze), the
world’s most celebrated storehouse of Renaissance art
and architecture. Brunelleschi’s revolutionary design
for the dome of the Duomo (Cathedral) is generally accepted
as the first expression of Renaissance ideas in architecture.
Between the Piazza del Duomo at its feet and the river are
many of the best-loved palazzi (palaces), whilst close by
to the north are the churches of San Lorenzo and Santa Maria
Novella. The shop-lined Ponte Vecchio bridge scans the river
to arrive at Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens. The Uffizi
Gallery houses one of the world’s most celebrated art
collections including masterpieces such as Botticelli’s
Birth Of Venus, Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation, Michelangelo’s
Holy Family and Titian’s Urbino Venus. Michelangelo’s
famous statue of David may be viewed at the Accademia di
Belle Arti near the University.
Take a picture of the famous Leaning Tower, a free-standing
campanile or bell tower in Pisa, north of Siena. Next to
the tower, on Campo dei Miracoli, stand the elegant 11th-century
Gothic Cathedral and the Baptistry.
Visit the place where pizza was invented, Naples. Frequently
criticised for urban decay and delinquency, it is a city
where splendid churches and palaces stand aside squalid tenement
blocks. Notable monuments include the 17th-century Palazzo
Reale, built by the Bourbons, the massive stone Castel Nuovo,
overlooking the sea, and the San Carlo Opera House. The impressive
Museo Archeologico Nazionale houses an excellent collection
of Greco-Roman artefacts, including mosaics from Pompeii
and Herculaneum.
Enjoy fantastic views of the Bay of Naples, Pompeii and the
Tyrrhennian Sea from Mount Vesuvius, still an active volcano.
Understand how the ordinary first-century Romans lived their
daily lives at the remains of Pompeii and Herculaneum, engulfed
in the great eruption of AD 79. Moulds of people and animals
found well-preserved, buried under the burning ash, can be
seen at Pompeii, and the decoration in some of the excavated
villas is amazingly intact, including numerous wall paintings
of gods and humans in scenes ranging from the heroic to the
erotic.
Visit the 13th-century Basilica di San Francesco, one of
Italy’s best-loved and most-visited churches, located
in the picturesque Medieval hilltown of Assisi, famous as
the birthplace of St Francis, founder of the Franciscan order
of monks. The life of St Francis is commemorated in frescoes
by Giotto in the basilica.
Pay a visit to Castelgandolfo, on the western side of the
Italian 'boot'. The city overlooks the spectacular Lake Albano,
and is dominated by the Palazzo Pontificio, the Pope’s
summer retreat.
In Matera, visit the extraordinary Sassi, a vast troglodyte
settlement of houses and churches carved into tufa rock.
Home to 15,000 residents until the 1950s, this is now a UNESCO-listed
World Heritage Site.
Sicily is littered with the remains of successive invading
cultures. The most important ancient Greek sites are: the
temples of the Valle dei Templi at Agrigénto, said
to be better preserved than any in Greece itself; the Greek
Theatre at Syracuse (where there is also a Roman Amphitheatre);
and the vast Temple of Apollo at Selinunte. In the capital,
Palermo, notable buildings include the Cathedral, the Martorana,
the Palazzo dei Normanni, San Cataldo, San Giuseppe dei Teatini
and Santa Maria di Gesù churches. The catacombs at
the Capuchin Monastery contain thousands of mummified bodies.
There are many Bronze Age remains, the best known being the
nuraghi - circular (sometimes conical) stone dwellings throughout
Sardinia. The largest collection may be found at Su Nuraxi,
about 80km (50 miles) north of Cagliari, the island's capital. |
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