Ara Pacis: 6 reliefs to read, and a monument rebuilt twice
How to read the Ara Pacis of Augustus: the procession of the imperial family, Aeneas, the Lupercal, the Tellus, the acanthus scrolls and the altar inside.
Monumenti 13 min
Archive
Monuments & landmarks
Pontormo’s Deposition at Santa Felicita: Mannerism inside a chapel
Pontormo’s Deposition in the Capponi Chapel at Santa Felicita: why the title is misleading, and what remains of Brunelleschi’s chapel.
Monumenti Rinascimento 10 min
San Miniato al Monte: the finest church in Florence is free and closes at midday
San Miniato al Monte in Florence: white and green Romanesque marble, the apse mosaic and Gregorian vespers at 18:30, with hours and how to get there.
Monumenti 10 min
San Lorenzo: the façade nobody ever finished and the sacristy that changed everything
The basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence: Brunelleschi’s Old Sacristy, the bare façade and when the Laurentian Library actually opens, with hours and tickets.
Monumenti 11 min
Spaccanapoli: Gesù Nuovo, San Domenico Maggiore and the Donatello almost nobody looks for
The three churches of Spaccanapoli in Naples: Gesù Nuovo, the Aragonese Tombs at San Domenico Maggiore and Donatello’s tomb at Sant’Angelo a Nilo.
Monumenti 12 min
Florence Baptistery: the doors you photograph are copies, and the originals are two hundred metres away
The Florence Baptistery and the Opera del Duomo Museum: Ghiberti’s doors, where the originals are, the dome mosaics, with hours and the three passes.
Monumenti 11 min
Brancacci Chapel: the point at which painting learned to cast a shadow
The Brancacci Chapel in Florence: Masaccio’s Expulsion, the fig leaves the restoration removed and the Sala della Colonna, with hours and booking.
Monumenti 10 min
San Gregorio Armeno: how a shepherd figure is made, and the door almost nobody opens
San Gregorio Armeno in Naples: how a nativity shepherd figure is made, the church frescoed by Luca Giordano and the cloister, with hours, price and timing.
Monumenti 11 min
The Bourbon Tunnel: the escape route a king had dug, and that never reached the palace
The Bourbon Tunnel in Naples: the 1853 military passage, the wartime shelter and the seized cars, with hours, prices and which route to pick.
Monumenti 11 min
Palazzo Vecchio: the hall a friar built and a Medici painted over
Palazzo Vecchio in Florence: the Hall of the Five Hundred, Francesco I’s Studiolo, the Arnolfo Tower and the Thursday trap, with hours and tickets.
Monumenti 11 min
The art stations of Naples: Toledo, Università and Materdei, and the ticket you actually need
The art stations of the Naples metro: what to see at Toledo, Università and Materdei, and which ticket you need to visit all three.
Monumenti 11 min
Castel Nuovo: the marble arch wedged between two towers, and the hall where the barons’ conspiracy ended
Castel Nuovo, the Maschio Angioino of Naples: Alfonso’s arch, the Hall of the Barons, the Giotto of the Palatine Chapel and the necropolis under the floor.
Monumenti 10 min
Santa Chiara in Naples: the majolica cloister is not medieval, and the basilica you walk into dates from 1953
The Santa Chiara complex in Naples: Vaccaro’s majolica cloister, the basilica burned in 1943 and the Roman baths, with hours, tickets and how you get in.
Monumenti 11 min
The Royal Palace of Naples: a palace built for a king who never set foot in it
The Royal Palace of Naples: the Staircase of Honour, the Historical Apartment, the Court Theatre and the eight kings on the façade, with hours and closing day.
Monumenti 10 min
Underground Naples: the Greco-Roman aqueduct, the wartime shelters and the Roman theatre inside a ground-floor flat
Underground Naples from piazza San Gaetano: the Greek cisterns, the well-keepers, the air-raid shelters and the Roman theatre, with hours, ticket and duration.
Monumenti 11 min
Termoli cathedral: an Apulian facade on a cliff, an earthquake, the Turks and a restoration that took away instead of adding
Termoli cathedral: the Apulian Romanesque facade with its rose window and archivolts, the crypt, the relics of Saint Bassus and the walled old town.
Monumenti 10 min
Larino: an amphitheatre paid for by a will, a cathedral consecrated in 1319 and the mosaics that are not where you look for them
Larino in Molise: the Roman amphitheatre left by the will of Lucius Capito, the cathedral of San Pardo, the mosaics of the Civic Museum, times and tickets.
Monumenti 11 min
Pietrabbondante: the Samnite theatre at 966 metres, with stone backrests and armrests carved as lion’s paws
The italic sanctuary of Pietrabbondante: the theatre of the Samnite Pentri with its carved backrests, temple B, the polygonal walls, times and tickets.
Monumenti 11 min
Saepinum: the whole Roman town that a shepherds’ road has crossed for two thousand years
Saepinum at Altilia di Sepino: the Roman town crossed by the droving road, the shepherds’ inscription on Porta Bojano, the forum, the theatre and the times.
Monumenti 11 min
Tuvixeddu and the Grotta della Vipera: Punic and Roman Cagliari
The Tuvixeddu necropolis in Cagliari, the largest in the Punic world, and the Grotta della Vipera: the shaft tombs, the opening hours and what is closed today.
Monuments 12 min
Basilica of San Saturnino in Cagliari: the island’s oldest church, reopened in 2026
The basilica of San Saturnino in Cagliari, reopened in 2026: the Greek-cross martyrium, the Byzantine dome, its narrow opening hours and free admission.
Monuments 11 min
Fountain of the 99 spouts in L’Aquila: counting the masks and the secret of the spring
The fountain of the 99 spouts in L’Aquila: ninety-three stone masks and six plain spouts, the legend of the 99 castles and the spring never revealed.
Monumenti 11 min
Cagliari Cathedral: the Pisan pulpits and the crypt cut out of the rock
Cagliari cathedral of Santa Maria: the pulpits by Master Guglielmo brought from Pisa, the sanctuary of the martyrs cut into the rock, opening hours and tickets.
Monuments 12 min
The arch of Augustus and the stone bridge in Aosta: a monument that was once a house and a bridge left without its river
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.
Monumenti 11 min
Basilica of San Bernardino in L’Aquila: Cola dell’Amatrice’s facade and Silvestro’s sculptures
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.
Monumenti 13 min
Aosta cathedral: two mosaics under your feet, an 11th-century cycle above the vaults and a jawbone in the treasury
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.
Monumenti 12 min
Basilica of Collemaggio in L’Aquila: the first jubilee in history and the church that stood back up
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.
Monumenti 13 min
The collegiate church of Sant’Orso in Aosta: forty capitals to read and a fresco cycle walled into the roof space
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.
Monumenti 12 min
The Roman theatre of Aosta has reopened, and the people who paid for it call it half a building site
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.
Monumenti 11 min
Trento the painted city: the frescoed façades of Piazza Duomo and Via Belenzani
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.
Monuments 10 min
The Falcomatà seafront: the Greek walls, the Roman baths and the Aragonese Castle
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.
Monuments 11 min
The Palombaro Lungo: the cistern under the square and the Matera of water
The Palombaro Lungo of Matera: the cistern under Piazza Vittorio Veneto, five million litres, rediscovered in 1991, and the water system of the Sassi.
Monuments 9 min
Matera cathedral: the rose window, the Madonna della Bruna and the stone nativity
Matera cathedral, reopened in 2016: the sixteen-spoke rose window, the Madonna della Bruna of 1270, the Last Judgement and the stone nativity.
Monuments 11 min
Reggio Calabria Cathedral: a twentieth-century church and a rescued chapel
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.
Monuments 11 min
Trento Cathedral and Santa Maria Maggiore: the two churches where the Council was held
Trento Cathedral and Santa Maria Maggiore, the two Council churches: the spiral staircases, the early Christian basilica, the crucifix and the organ loft.
Monuments 11 min
Buonconsiglio Castle in Trento: Castelvecchio, the Magno Palazzo and Romanino’s frescoes
Buonconsiglio Castle in Trento: Castelvecchio, Bernardo Cles’s Magno Palazzo, the frescoes by Romanino and the Dossi, opening hours and tickets.
Monuments 11 min