Naples
Piazzetta Orefici is the main square of the Borgo Orefici, a small, labyrinthine district that has housed goldsmiths, silversmiths and jewellers since…
Must-see attractions in Italy
Naples
The starting point for the deadly plague of 1656, it was on this very square that more than 200 supporters of the ill-fated Parthenopean Republic of 1799…
Mantua
This archway built around 1300 links two palaces with a covered walkway above the street. Look up as you pass beneath the arch to see iron rings on which…
Trapani
This golden-hued 18th-century palace – today a local government building so only viewable from the exterior – is one of Trapani's finest examples of…
Southwestern Sardinia
Beyond the unsightly remnants of Masua's mine, this lovely little sandy beach provides memorable close-ups of the Pan di Zucchero rock stack.
Ancient Rome
This red-brick tower rises above the Mercati di Traiano (Markets of Trajan). Built in the 13th century, it was owned by several of the warring families…
Erice
This church is noteworthy for its pair of Renaissance sculptures by the Gagini family: Antonio Gagini's statue of St John the Baptist, and Antonello…
Mantua
In the Palazzo della Ragione, which runs the length of the square from the Rotonda, and was once the seat of secular power in the city, you can see…
Chiesa della Santissima Trinità alla Badia
Tyrrhenian Coast
Just off the road to Petralia Soprana, this church, originally built as part of a 16th-century Dominican convent, boasts a handsome marble altarpiece…
Naples
Seat of Naples University's architecture faculty, this elegant 16th-century palazzo is one of the most significant examples of Renaissance architecture in…
Oristano
This tower, just off Via Giuseppe Mazzini, was part of the city's medieval walls, most of which were pulled down in the 19th century. It's now used to…
Rome
Part of the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia, this villa has archaeological finds relating to the pre-Roman Umbri and Latin peoples.
Centro Storico
This volunteer-run outfit looks after about 300 cats, who have the run of the ancient ruins in the Area Sacra of Largo di Torre Argentina.
The Veneto
Conegliano's Duomo would be wholly unremarkable were it not for some early works by Veneto artists. The most notable is a 1492–93 altarpiece by local…
Trieste
Behind Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia rise remains of the Roman theatre, which was built between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Concerts are held here…
Cattedrale di Nostra Signora Assunta
Savona
Among Savona's treasures to survive destruction by Genoese forces in the 16th century is the Cattedrale di Nostra Signora Assunta. It's worth a look for…
Syracuse
West of the Roman amphitheatre is the 3rd-century-BC Ara di Gerone II. This monolithic sacrificial altar was a kind of giant abattoir where 450 oxen could…
Fontana del Ratto di Prosperina
Enna
Right on Piazza Crispi is this monumental creation commemorating Enna's most enduring ancient legend.
Sassari
Overlooking the charming Piazza Tola is the 16th-century Palazzo d'Usini, one of the first Renaissance buildings to be constructed in Sardinia and now…
Bay of Naples
This noble house would originally have opened onto Cardo II (as yet unearthed). Its porticoed garden opens onto a triclinium (dining room) and other…
Catania
The modest, neglected ruins of this Roman theatre, below street level in Piazza Stesicoro, are worth a quick look if you're passing by. Note that opening…
Como
This 1615 villa was the summerhouse of abbot Marco Gallio and is one of the oldest landmark villas in Como. Now owned by the provincial government, it is…
Naples
It's in this 16th-century palazzo that Neapolitan musician Carlo Gesualdo murdered his unfaithful wife, Maria d'Avalos, and her handsome lover, Don…
Aosta
This arched, cobbled Roman bridge, also know as the Pont de Pierre, crossed the River Buthier in the first century AD, but today it's high and dry (though…
Verona
Located in what was once the Jewish Ghetto, this neoclassical synagogue was designed by Giacomo Franco and Ettore Fagiuoli and completed in 1864. It's not…
Taranto
The gigantic rust-red 1930s Palazzo del Governo, inaugurated by Mussolini, is a forbidding and masculine structure, expressive of the fascist ideas of…
Trento
In the centre of Piazza del Duomo is the town's beloved if rather unlikely Fontana del Nettuno, a splashing 18th-century fountain dedicated to the trident…
Ancient Rome
Overshadowed by the Campidoglio hill, this Roman Forum temple is a 1st-century reconstruction of an earlier 4th-century BC sanctuary.
Sassari
With its arched portico and delicately crafted mullioned windows, this 15th-century building, now home to a clothes shop, is a rare example of Catalan…
Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo
Lake Garda
Looking out across Lake Garda, this large church is worth a look for its exquisitely painted ceilings, altars by Tomezzoli and Benedetti and an angel…
Ecomuseo della Montagna Sarda e del Gennargentu
Eastern Sardinia
Newly expanded and relocated to Aritzo's town park in 2016, this ethnographic museum has rooms full of tools and artefacts from the rural, mountainous…
Torre Camponaria della Cattedrale
Northwestern Tuscany
Climb this 12th-century bell tower, built as a watch tower for the adjoining Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta e di San Genesio, for a lovely city view.
Civico Museo Archeologico di Bergamo
Bergamo
Set in the 14th-century citadel palace, this archaeology museum covers a lot of ground, from prehistoric and Roman times, up through Longabardic rule in…
Elba
The salmon-pink Star Fort, so called due to its shape, is one of Portoferraio's defining hilltop forts. It was commissioned by Cosimo l de' Medici and…
Trieste
Triestine modernist writer Italo Svevo is celebrated in this touching bronze, a companion piece to his great friend, James Joyce.
Taormina
Porta Messina was originally named Porta Ferdinanda when opened by Ferdinand IV of Bourbon in 1808. The occasion is commemorated in the plaque above the…
Trieste
A small, highly prized collection of liturgical items, textiles, documents and photographs, including a touching number of personal items stolen by Nazi…
Livorno
Pietro Tacca's 1626 statue of Grand Duke Ferdinand I of Tuscany and four chained African slaves was commissioned to commemorate Ferdinand's victories over…
Southern Rome
This iconic housing block was designed by Innocenzo Sabbatini between 1928 and '29. It's a compelling yet strange combination of modern red bricks with…
Centro Storico
Built by Borromini between 1647 and 1648, this landmark clock tower, after which the piazza below is named, was designed for the adjacent convent of San…
