Friuli Venezia Giulia
Beyond the workaday docks and medieval streets of old Roman fishing port Marano Lagunare, peace and quiet is ensured by two nature reserves: 13.77-sq-km…
Must-see attractions in Italy
Catania
Le Ciminiere is a modern museum complex housed in a converted sulphur refinery. The most interesting of its museums is the Museo Storico dello Sbarco in…
Western Sicily
It's impossible to miss the town's 15th-century church, a lumbering stone construction more evocative of a defensive fortress or jail than sacred place of…
Ravenna
Historically and architecturally distinct from Ravenna's other Unesco sites (there are no mosaics here), this two-storey mausoleum was built in 520 for…
Bergamo
The imposing arches and columns of the Palazzo della Ragione sit at the southern end of Piazza Vecchia. Built in the 12th century, it bears the lion of St…
Ischia
This pint-sized museum encased in the larger Museo Archeologico di Pithecusae pays homage to the man who turned humble little Lacco into a celebrity…
Ionian Coast
Located beneath a 17th-century Capuchin monastery, Savoca's small catacomb is considered one of Sicily's most significant. Its mummified corpses date back…
Modica
The Museo Civico houses a modest collection of archaeological finds from Modica and Cava d'Ispica, dating back to the neolithic period. The most prized of…
Salerno
Spread throughout six small galleries, Salerno's multi-era art museum houses a collection dating from the Renaissance right up to the first half of the…
Erice
Built by the Normans in the 11th century, this church later underwent extensive reconstruction, including the addition of an 18th-century baroque bell…
Chianti
Site-specific contemporary artworks created by artists from over 20 countries are scattered throughout this 7-hectare wood, including a glass labyrinth by…
Chiesa di San Giovanni in Bragora
Venice
This serene 15th-century brick church harmonises Gothic and Renaissance styles with remarkable ease, setting the tone for a young Antonio Vivaldi, who was…
Sorrento
Although Sorrento's noble Correale family reputedly owned a house on this very site in the 15th century, the current palazzo (mansion) dates from the 18th…
Cagliari
Treasures from the Cattedrale di Santa Maria are displayed at this compact museum just around the corner from the cathedral. One standout is the 15th…
Musei Provinciali di Borgo Castello
Friuli Venezia Giulia
Below the castle in three adjacent building (Casa Domberg, Tasso and Formentini) are the provincial museums of Gorizia. The most interesting is the Museo…
Museo Storico della Liberazione
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
The apartment block at Via Tasso 145 was the headquarters of the German SS during the Nazi occupation of Rome (1943–44), and now a small and sombre museum…
Capri
This is the island’s oldest church and the only real sight around the marina. Dating from the 5th century, the whitewashed chiesa is dedicated to the…
Area Archeologica della Linguella
Elba
The 16th-century Torre del Martello was where Napoleon was 'imprisoned' at the start of his fleeting exile on Elba in 1814 and the russet-red, hexagonal…
Eastern Sardinia
Named for Giovanni Corbeddu, the notorious 19th-century bandit who used to hide out here, this 150m-deep cave has also been the site of ongoing…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Slinging fresh fish daily for 700 years and still going strong, Venetian fishmongers are more vital to local cuisine than any single chef. Glistening fish…
Western Sicily
With its glistening cluster of emerald-green, ceramic-tiled domes, the cathedral is an imposing sight. Originally dating to the 11th century, it was…
Rome
A cobbled footbridge, Ponte Milvio is best known as the site of the ancient Battle of the Milvian Bridge. It was first built in 109 BC to carry Via…
Bologna
Basilica di San Petronio's new (and temporary) 54m-high panoramic terrace – reached from an entrance behind the basilica – doesn't hold a candle to the…
Val d'Orcia
This magnificent palace was the residence of Pope Pius II, and is considered Bernardo Rossellino's masterpiece. Built on the site of the pope's family…
Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime
Syracuse
Supposedly modelled on the shape of a tear drop, the 102m-high spire of this church dominates modern Syracuse's skyline. The church itself houses a statue…
San Giovanni & Testaccio
Palazzo Laterano was the official papal residence until the pope moved to the Vatican in 1377. Adjacent to the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, it's…
Como
This picturesque villa with extensive gardens is generally open only for special events (conferences, weddings and the like). The grounds, however, open…
Central Tuscany
Built by the Republic of Siena in the 13th century as a defensive outpost against Florence, Monteriggioni's castle resisted a number of sieges and attacks…
Trastevere & Gianicolo
Resembling a crenellated keep, Porta Settimiana marks the start of Via della Lungara, the 16th-century road that connects Trastevere with the Borgo. It…
Southern Rome
This pint-sized church marks the spot where St Peter, fleeing Rome, met a vision of Jesus going the other way. When Peter asked, ‘Domine, quo vadis?’ …
Museo di Storia Naturale del Mediterraneo
Livorno
Livorno's Natural History Museum is beloved of school groups and families. The highlight of the permanent collection is a 20m-long whale skeleton called…
Belluno
Belluno’s majestic cathedral with its elegant, onion-domed campanile (bell tower) designed by Filippo Juvarra was originally raised in 850 on top of an…
Venice
This plain almshouse is often overlooked in favour of the extravagant Jesuit church opposite. But the 12th-century Order of the Cross that founded it to…
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
Central Sicily
A reconstruction of a 13th-century church destroyed by a landslide in 1757, the current Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore made its debut in 1767…
Venice
This perfectly preserved 17th-century spezieria (pharmacy) illustrates how Venetian medical advice was dispensed three centuries ago, with curatives in…
Eastern Sardinia
Standing lonesome on the Golgo plateau amid ancient olive trees, this humble late-16th-century church with its striking whitewashed facade is flanked by…
Pistoia
Sister gallery to Palazzo de' Rossi on the same street, this palazzo is a fine example of 15th-century Tuscan architecture thanks to leading Florentine…
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
If you’re in need of a breather around Via Nazionale or are in search of somewhere for a picnic, follow Via Mazzarino off the main road and walk up the…
Eastern Sardinia
This small square is dedicated to the great poet Sebastiano Satta (1867–1914), who was born in a house here. To celebrate the centenary of Satta's birth,…
Padua
Flanking the western side of elegant Piazza dei Signori, the Palazzo del Capitaniato became the seat of Venetian authority when Padua came under the…
