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 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.
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 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.
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.
Raphael’s birthplace in Urbino: Giovanni Santi’s workshop, the disputed fresco, and a few steps away the cathedral with the Albani Museum.
The Oratory of San Giovanni Battista in Urbino: the Salimbeni frescoes dated 1416, the Crucifixion and Brandani’s nativity at San Giuseppe next door.
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.
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.
The Fontana Maggiore in Perugia, carved by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano between 1275 and 1278: the months, the zodiac, the liberal arts and Aesop.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Palatine Chapel in Palermo: the Byzantine mosaics of Roger II, the muqarnas ceiling with its Arabic inscriptions and the restoration now under way.
The monumental cemetery of Staglieno in Genoa: Caterina Campodonico’s statue, Monteverde’s angel, Mazzini’s tomb and how to visit it.
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.
Genoa cathedral: the unexploded shell of 1941, the Sacro Catino, the platter of the Baptist and the Treasury Museum designed by Franco Albini.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
