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
Archive
Monuments & landmarks
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
The Crypt of Original Sin: eighth-century frescoes outside Matera
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.
Monuments 10 min
Raphael’s Birthplace in Urbino: Giovanni Santi’s Workshop, the Disputed Fresco and the Cathedral with the Albani Museum
Raphael’s birthplace in Urbino: Giovanni Santi’s workshop, the disputed fresco, and a few steps away the cathedral with the Albani Museum.
Museums Renaissance Art 13 min
Oratory of San Giovanni Battista in Urbino: the 1416 Salimbeni Frescoes and Brandani’s Nativity at San Giuseppe
The Oratory of San Giovanni Battista in Urbino: the Salimbeni frescoes dated 1416, the Crucifixion and Brandani’s nativity at San Giuseppe next door.
Gothic Art Medieval Art 13 min
The Studiolo of Federico da Montefeltro in Urbino: the Inlays, the Famous Men and the Restoration Reopened in 2025
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.
Monuments Renaissance Art 14 min
The Oratory of San Bernardino in Perugia: Agostino di Duccio’s facade, free and on a side square
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.
perugia umbria 9 min
Underground Perugia: the Rocca Paolina and the Etruscan Well, a walled-up quarter and a two-thousand-year-old well
Underground Perugia: the Rocca Paolina with the medieval quarter buried in 1540 and the Etruscan Well of the third century BC, with opening times and prices.
perugia umbria 11 min
The Fontana Maggiore in Perugia: fifty reliefs by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano to read in the square
The Fontana Maggiore in Perugia, carved by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano between 1275 and 1278: the months, the zodiac, the liberal arts and Aesop.
perugia umbria 10 min
The Collegio del Cambio in Perugia: Perugino’s frescoes and the self-portrait hung on a nail
The Collegio del Cambio in Perugia: the Sala dell’Udienza frescoed by Perugino between 1498 and 1500, his self-portrait and the plaque that praises him.
perugia umbria 10 min
Miramare Castle in Trieste: Carl Junker’s building site, the park built on bare rock and the curse that does not hold up
Miramare Castle in Trieste: the building site opened in 1856, the Castelletto, the study shaped like a ship’s cabin, the twenty-two-hectare park and the curse.
Castles Monuments 13 min
Trieste Cathedral of San Giusto: two churches, a Roman temple and the mosaics that stand between Ravenna and Venice
Trieste Cathedral of San Giusto: the Byzantine mosaics in the side apses, the Roman propylaeum inside the bell tower, the 5th-century floor and the castle.
Monuments Mosaics 16 min
The Risiera di San Sabba in Trieste: what happened here and what remains today
The Risiera di San Sabba, the only Nazi camp with a crematorium in Italy: the history of the camp, Romano Boico’s memorial, opening hours and free entry.
Monumenti Architettura 12 min
The Serpotta oratories in Palermo: what can be done with a poor material
The oratories of Giacomo Serpotta in Palermo: the stuccoes of Santa Cita with the battle of Lepanto, and San Lorenzo with its Caravaggio stolen in 1969.
Opere d’arte 11 min
Monreale cathedral: six thousand square metres of mosaic born of a quarrel between a king and an archbishop
Monreale cathedral: the gold-ground mosaics of William II, the apse Pantocrator and the cloister with its 228 paired columns, with opening hours and tickets.
Monumenti Mosaici 12 min
Palermo cathedral and the royal tombs: where the story of Frederick II ends
Palermo cathedral: the porphyry sarcophagi of Roger II and Frederick II, the column with the Quranic verse and the 1801 meridian line by Giuseppe Piazzi.
Monumenti 11 min
The Palatine Chapel in Palermo: a Catholic church with Arabic inscriptions on the ceiling
The Palatine Chapel in Palermo: the Byzantine mosaics of Roger II, the muqarnas ceiling with its Arabic inscriptions and the restoration now under way.
Monumenti Mosaici 12 min
The monumental cemetery of Staglieno in Genoa: the sculpture a new middle class bought for itself
The monumental cemetery of Staglieno in Genoa: Caterina Campodonico’s statue, Monteverde’s angel, Mazzini’s tomb and how to visit it.
genova liguria 11 min
Villa del Principe in Genoa: Andrea Doria’s palace and Perino del Vaga’s vault
Villa del Principe in Genoa, Andrea Doria’s home: Perino del Vaga’s Fall of the Giants, the Lepanto tapestries and the garden by the sea.
genova liguria 10 min
San Lorenzo cathedral in Genoa: the unexploded shell, the Sacro Catino and Albini’s museum
Genoa cathedral: the unexploded shell of 1941, the Sacro Catino, the platter of the Baptist and the Treasury Museum designed by Franco Albini.
genova liguria 11 min
The Rolli palaces in Genoa: how the system worked and when you can visit them
The Rolli palaces of Genoa: what the list of state lodgings was, why Rubens drew them in 1622 and when you can actually get inside them.
genova liguria 11 min
The Swabian Castle of Bari and its Gypsotheque: 130 casts of Apulian Romanesque
The Swabian Castle of Bari, from Roger II to Bona Sforza, and the Gypsotheque with the 130 plaster casts taken in 1911 from cathedrals all over Puglia.
Monumenti Musei 11 min
The cathedral of San Sabino in Bari: a church that had its Baroque taken away
The cathedral of San Sabino in Bari: the rose window and its monsters, the solstice light, the Odegitria in the crypt and the Byzantine city dug out beneath it.
Monumenti Arte romanica 11 min
The basilica of San Nicola in Bari: the relic theft that started Apulian Romanesque
The basilica of San Nicola in Bari: the 1087 translation, the Porta dei Leoni, the cathedra of Elia, the crypt with its Orthodox altar and Bona Sforza’s tomb.
Monumenti Arte romanica 12 min
The basilica of Superga: a vow, Juvarra’s dome and the 1884 rack tram
Visiting the basilica of Superga in Turin: Juvarra’s dome, the Royal Tombs, the climb to the dome, the rack tram, with hours and prices checked on site.
Monumenti Architettura 11 min
Guarino Guarini’s Chapel of the Holy Shroud, and the cloth you cannot see
Guarino Guarini’s Chapel of the Holy Shroud in Turin: the dome of stacked arches, the 1997 fire, the restoration, and why the cloth itself is not on display.
Monumenti Architettura 10 min
Mole Antonelliana and the Cinema Museum: the synagogue that never was one
The Mole Antonelliana and the National Museum of Cinema in Turin: the building site that ran away, the Aula del Tempio, the panoramic lift, hours and prices.
Monumenti Musei 10 min
The portico of San Luca: the arches everyone calls 666, and the view Bologna has left
The portico of San Luca in Bologna: the arches traditionally called 666, the 3,600 metres and 489 steps to the sanctuary, with hours and the climbable dome.
Monumenti Architettura 10 min
The Lamentation by Niccolò dell’Arca: how you carve a scream in clay
The Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Niccolò dell’Arca in Santa Maria della Vita in Bologna: the seven figures, the running Magdalene, hours and prices.
Monumenti Scultura 9 min
Santo Stefano in Bologna: seven churches around a courtyard, and a basin that is not Pilate’s
What to see in the Santo Stefano complex in Bologna: the Holy Sepulchre, the courtyard of Pilate, the Trinity and the cloister, with hours and closing day.
Monumenti Arte sacra 9 min
Basilica of San Petronio: the facade nobody finished and the meridian that measured the year
What to see in the basilica of San Petronio in Bologna: the unfinished facade, Cassini’s meridian, the Bolognini chapel and Giovanni da Modena’s Hell.
Monumenti Architettura 10 min
Scrovegni Chapel: how to visit it and how to read Giotto’s cycle
How to visit the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua: compulsory booking, 15-minute slots, prices, and how to read Giotto’s cycle of frescoes wall by wall.
Monumenti Pittura medievale 10 min
The Frari basilica in Venice: Titian’s Assunta and the choir nobody expects
What to see in the Frari basilica in Venice: Titian’s Assunta and Pesaro Altarpiece, the friars’ choir, the Canova monument and the Donatello, with hours.
Monumenti Pittura veneta 10 min