The Byzantine mosaics of Ravenna, in northern Italy, are a major tourist attraction. Spread across eight buildings from the early Christian period, these magnificent artworks are now part of one of Emilia-Romagna’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Early Christianity In Ravenna Ravenna played a crucial part in western civilisation during the 5th and 6th centuries, first …
Tucked away behind a 14th century convent church in the historic heart of Naples, the Cloister of Santa Chiara is a magnet for visitors, and reputedly the most photographed spot in Naples. The church itself dates back to 1310, but the cloister was built in its present form in the 18th century. Both church and cloister …
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Tourists with a taste for gourmet Italian food have always flocked to Emilia-Romagna, particularly to Bologna, with its signature meat sauce and cured meats, and Parma, famed for its ham and cheese. However, Rimini, in the south of Emilia-Romagna, has its own distinctive foods which will satisfy the most discerning palate. It is surprisingly easy …
Pesaro, on the Adriatic coast south of Rimini, is mainly known as an upmarket beach town with a number of fine buildings in the town centre. However opera lovers also know it as the birthplace of Giaocchini Rossini, and every summer they flock to the opera festival held in his memory. Rossini And Pesaro …
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San Marino has its own government, a seat at the United Nations, and produces its own stamps and coins. Yet this tiny country, the oldest republic in Europe, covers an area of only 61 sq km, and its borders are wholly contained within northern Italy. Tourists visit San Marino for its breathtaking hill top position, …
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The Certosa di Pavia is a historic Carthusian monastery situated a few kilometres north of the medieval university town of Pavia, close to Milan. It was commissioned by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the first Duke of Milan, as a monastery and family mausoleum. The Duke had his court in Pavia and the Certosa (meaning “Charterhouse” in …
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25 March is historically the start of the New Year in Florence. It is also the day on which the archangel Gabriel announced the incarnation to the Virgin Mary. The Feast of the Annunciation is one of the lesser known of Italy’s numerous religious festivals, hardly mentioned in the guidebooks. I’d been to something similar …
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