Southwestern Sardinia
Lording it over the electric green landscape, the scant ruins of the 12th-century Castello di Marmilla sit atop a perfectly pyramidal hill near the hamlet…
Must-see attractions in Italy
Taormina
Overlooking Piazza IX Aprile, this jewel-box church was completed in the early 18th century. The central portal is made of local marble while the portals…
Rimini
Rimini is perhaps a tad over-excited about this newer attraction: a church and hospital dating to 1368 beautifully restored and converted into a small…
Sorrento
On its route down to Marina Grande, Via Sopra le Mura passes through a large stone archway. This was one of Sorrento's original Greek city gates, built in…
Southeastern Sicily
A 400m walk north of Piazza del Popolo lies Piazza Moro, home to two exquisite baroque churches: the Chiesa Madre (on the southern flank) and the Chiesa…
Ragusa
Built between 1756 and 1796, this elegant church was commissioned by the wealthy Benedictine order. Inside, turn your gaze upward to appreciate Sebastiano…
Southwestern Sardinia
Just off Piazza Quintino Sella, stairs lead to a stout square tower. This is all that remains of the Castello Salvaterra, the once-mighty Pisan fortress…
Ravello
Located just below the main approach to town, this modern building, which follows the natural slope of the hill, has caused a love-it-or-hate-it…
Syracuse
At the heart of Ortygia is handsome Piazza Archimede, home to Giulio Moschetti's Fontana di Artemide. Constructed between 1906 and 1907, the fountain's…
Minori
Rediscovered in the 1930s, the 1st-century Villa Roma Antiquarium is a typical example of the splendid homes that Roman nobles built as holiday retreats…
Procida
Linked to Procida by pedestrian bridge, pocket-sized Vivara is what remains of a volcanic crater dating back some 55,000 years. The island is home to…
San Polo & Santa Croce
The influence of Palladio swirls around neoclassical St Eustace's Church (completed in 1709), from the dazzling white, statue-heavy facade facing the…
Chiesa della Gran Madre di Dio
Turin
A grand backdrop across the Po from Piazza Vittorio Veneto, this church was built in the style of a mini-Pantheon from 1818 to 1831 to commemorate the…
Venice
Sior Rioba, a gent in an outsized turban, has been hanging out at the corner of Campo dei Mori since the Middle Ages. The square's name is a misnomer, as…
Capri
This humble 16th-century hermitage is in the valley of Cetrella, halfway up Monte Solaro. The bell tower and two barrel-vaulted naves form the oldest part…
Centro Storico
Built on the ruins of the Roman temple to Aesculapius, the Graeco-Roman god of medicine, the Isola Tiberina's 10th-century church is an interesting hybrid…
Venice
Positioned at the top of the public gardens, this statue of Italian Unification hero Giuseppe Garibaldi has him commanding a mountain with a tame-looking…
Capri
Though not remarkable in itself, Capri’s main church, named after its patron saint, is a tempting haven from the bottlenecks of tourists on the streets…
Padua
When a 1944 bombing raid demolished the extraordinary 1448–57 frescoes by Andrea Mantegna in the Capella Overtari in the Chiesa degli Eremitani, the loss…
Manarola
Built in 1338 in Ligurian-Gothic style, the small stone church of San Lorenzo is notable for several finely made triptychs, including a 14th-century…
The Veneto
Italy’s great poet Petrarch (Petrarca) spent the last five years of his life in the medieval village of Arquà Petrarca, where you can visit his stone…
Siena
This 16th-century gate replaced its medieval predecessor, which was the major northern entrance through Siena's medieval city walls. The structure has…
Basilicata
The symbol of Maratea, visible from multiple vantage points along the coast, this 22m-high statue of Christ faces inland towards the Basilica di San…
Centro Storico
Check out Rome’s dark side at this macabre museum of crime. Housed in a 19th-century prison, its gruesome collection includes torture devices, murder…
The Amalfi Coast
Built in 1580 and tweaked numerous times since, this is Bomerano's architectural centrepiece. The marble baptismal font dates from the second half of the…
Siena
The largest medieval fountain in Siena, Fontebranda was built in the 13th century and features three wide Gothic arches, crenellations and water jets in…
Northwestern Sardinia
Head to the small, sleepy town of Sedini to see one of the area's best-known domus de janas (prehistoric tombs). Gouged out of a huge calcareous rock…
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
A former pasta factory that hung up its spaghetti racks in 1960 after 55 years of business, this is now a contemporary art hub, with regular shows in the…
Volterra
The grassy ranks of seating and towering columns of Italy's finest and best-preserved Roman theatre makes this a particularly evocative archaeological…
Capri
Rising above Punta Carena, Capri’s rugged southwesterly point, is the faro, Italy’s second-tallest and most powerful lighthouse. The rocks nearby are a…
Museo Barracco di Scultura Antica
Centro Storico
This little-known museum, one of the few in Rome that's free to enter, boasts a small but interesting collection of early Mediterranean art. Exhibits…
Venice
Avant-garde Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava’s 2008 bridge over the Grand Canal has been called many things: a fish tail, a glass tongue, pleasingly…
Palazzo Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme
The Dolomites
The modern-day Magnificent Community of Fiemme is headquartered in the wonderfully frescoed Palazzo Vescovile in Val di Fiemme’s main town of Cavalese…
Murano, Burano & the Northern Islands
Take a pause from glass shopping to check out The Baptism of Christ, attributed to Tintoretto, in 16th-century St Peter the Martyr's Church. The parish…
Friuli Venezia Giulia
The Early Christian Museum is an archaeological site as well as a museum, housed on the site of an ancient Christian basilica, the mosaic floor of which…
Museo Virtuale della Scuola Medica Salernitana
Salerno
In Salerno’s historic centre, this small, slightly forlorn museum deploys videos and touch-screen technology to explore the teachings and wince-inducing…
Ancient Rome
At the foot of the Campidoglio, next to the Aracoeli staircase, you'll see the ruins of a 2nd-century apartment block (insula). The ground floor is…
Ionian Coast
Built in the 13th century, this dark, brooding Norman castle sits over an earlier Arab fortification. It's in surprisingly good shape considering its age,…
Matera
Situated on a hill near the town centre, this 15th-century castle was left unfinished after the unpopular Count Tramontano, seemingly unaware that high…
Trieste
Once a Roman fort, this sturdy 15th-century castle was begun by Frederick of Habsburg and finished off by blow-in Venetians. The city museum is housed…
