The arch of Augustus in Aosta, of 25 BC, was once a house and a fort: the story of the 1449 crucifix and of the stone bridge left dry after a medieval flood.
The megalithic area of Saint-Martin-de-Corléans in Aosta: the anthropomorphic stelae, the ritual ploughed field and the dolmen tombs, with times and tickets.
The basilica of San Bernardino in L’Aquila: the staircase, Cola dell’Amatrice’s facade, the mausoleum by Silvestro dell’Aquila and the Della Robbia.
The National Art Gallery of Cagliari and its retablos: the Master of Castelsardo, Saint Eligius and the Cavaro workshop of Stampace, with hours and tickets.
Aosta cathedral: the 12th and 14th-century choir mosaics, the 11th-century frescoes in the roof space and the treasure museum, with opening times and tickets.
The basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio in L’Aquila: the chequered facade, the Perdonanza Holy Door, the mausoleum of Celestine V and the restoration.
The collegiate church of Sant’Orso in Aosta: the Romanesque cloister with forty carved capitals, the roof-space frescoes, the crypt, opening times and tickets.
The National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari: the Nuragic bronzes, the Nora stone, the Giants now at Cabras, opening hours and the closed floor.
The Roman theatre of Aosta reopened on 3 July 2026 with a partial route: what you see, what you do not, the 22-metre façade and the walls of Augusta Praetoria.
What to see in Cagliari in two days: the Castello district, the Nuragic bronzes, the retablos of the art gallery, the cathedral, San Saturnino and Tuvixeddu.
What to see in L’Aquila in two days: Collemaggio and the Perdonanza, the MuNDA back in the castle, San Bernardino, the 99 spouts and the MAXXI.
What to see in Aosta in one day: the reopened Roman theatre, the arch of Augustus, the cryptoporticus, two 11th-century fresco cycles and the megalithic area.
The frescoed façades of Trento: the Cazuffi and Rella houses in Piazza Duomo, Palazzo Geremia on Via Belenzani, who painted them and how to look at them.
The Council of Trent and art: the 1563 decree on sacred images, who turned it into rules and how paintings really changed in the century that followed.
The Falcomatà seafront in Reggio Calabria: the Greek walls of Dionysius, the Roman baths, the Aragonese Castle and the truth about the d’Annunzio quotation.
The Palombaro Lungo of Matera: the cistern under Piazza Vittorio Veneto, five million litres, rediscovered in 1991, and the water system of the Sassi.
Matera cathedral, reopened in 2016: the sixteen-spoke rose window, the Madonna della Bruna of 1270, the Last Judgement and the stone nativity.
Reggio Calabria Cathedral, rebuilt after the 1908 earthquake: the facade, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel taken apart and put back piece by piece, and the hours.
Trento Cathedral and Santa Maria Maggiore, the two Council churches: the spiral staircases, the early Christian basilica, the crucifix and the organ loft.
The Cycle of the Months in Torre Aquila, Trento: the snowball fight, the grape harvest, the lost month and how the timed visit actually works.
The Civic Art Gallery of Reggio Calabria: the two panels by Antonello da Messina, the seventeenth century of Mattia Preti and Luca Giordano, hours and visiting.
The Sassi of Matera: what separates the Caveoso from the Barisano, how a cave house worked and the story of the 1952 evacuation up to UNESCO.
Buonconsiglio Castle in Trento: Castelvecchio, Bernardo Cles’s Magno Palazzo, the frescoes by Romanino and the Dossi, opening hours and tickets.
The Crypt of Original Sin near Matera: the eighth-century frescoes of the Painter of the Flowers, the 1963 discovery and how to book the visit.
The National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria level by level: the sanctuaries of Locri, the pinakes, the bronzes from the sea and the works out on loan.
The Riace Bronzes in Reggio Calabria: the 1972 discovery, how to look at the two statues, forty years of restoration and how entry to the room works.
The rock churches of Matera: Santa Lucia alle Malve, the Madonna de Idris and San Pietro Barisano in the Sassi, the Murgia park and the new ticket.
What to see in Trento in two days: Buonconsiglio Castle, the Cycle of the Months, the cathedral, Santa Maria Maggiore and the frescoed façades.
What to see in Reggio Calabria in one day: the Riace Bronzes, the Magna Graecia museum, Antonello at the art gallery, the cathedral and the Greek walls.
Raphael’s birthplace in Urbino: Giovanni Santi’s workshop, the disputed fresco, and a few steps away the cathedral with the Albani Museum.
What to see in Urbino in one day: the Ducal Palace, the Flagellation, the Studiolo, Raphael’s house, the cathedral, with hours and the Monday to avoid.
Piero della Francesca’s Flagellation and the Ideal City: the identity of the three men, the contested attribution and the twin panels in Baltimore and Berlin.
The Oratory of San Giovanni Battista in Urbino: the Salimbeni frescoes dated 1416, the Crucifixion and Brandani’s nativity at San Giuseppe next door.
A guide to the Ducal Palace of Urbino and the National Gallery of the Marche: history, rooms to see, hours and tickets checked in September 2026.
The Studiolo of Federico da Montefeltro in Urbino: the trompe-l’oeil inlays, the famous men and the restoration reopened in 2025 amid discoveries and disputes.
The Oratory of San Bernardino in Perugia: the polychrome facade carved by Agostino di Duccio between 1457 and 1461, with hours, free entry and what to look at.
