San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Borromini’s first and last building site: the rippling facade, the oval dome, the cloister and the crypt, with opening hours.
The Minerva elephant, the angels of Ponte Sant’Angelo, three palaces and the Bust of the Saviour: Bernini’s works outside the churches and the museums.
Bernini’s five works in Rome’s churches, all free to enter: Saint Teresa, Blessed Ludovica, the Raimondi Chapel, Sant’Andrea and Santa Bibiana.
Baldachin, Cathedra, colonnade, two papal tombs, the St Longinus and the Scala Regia: what to look for in St Peter’s and in what order, with checked dates.
Masaccio’s Trinity, Ghirlandaio’s frescoes and Paolo Uccello’s Green Cloister: what to see at Santa Maria Novella, with opening hours and visiting rules.
The tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo, Giotto’s fresco cycles and Cimabue’s Crucifix: what to see in the basilica of Santa Croce, with current hours and prices.
Michelangelo’s New Sacristy, the mausoleum in semiprecious stone and the secret room: what to see at the Medici Chapels in Florence, with tickets and hours.
The Ponte Vecchio in Florence: why it has shops on it, how it survived 1944 and how to walk the reopened Vasari Corridor above it today.
Pitti Palace and the Boboli Garden in Florence: the palace’s five museums, the Palatine Gallery, what to look for in Boboli and the updated ticket prices.
How to visit the Florence Duomo: the three passes compared, the climb up Brunelleschi’s dome with its compulsory slot, and checked prices and times.
Bernini’s Bee Fountain in Piazza Barberini: the wrong inscription that foretold the pope’s death, and why what you see today is a reconstruction.
The Barcaccia Fountain in Piazza di Spagna: why it sits below street level, who really carved it and what remains of the 2015 damage. History and visit.
Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona: who the four statues are, where the obelisk came from and why the veiled Nile legend is false.
Jumièges Abbey was sold as a stone quarry after the Revolution and saved in 1852. It stands roofless today, and anyone under 26 gets in free.
The Seu Vella of Lleida has its cloister in front of the church rather than beside it, and it was an army barracks from 1707 to 1948. The walls still show it.
Tarragona Cathedral holds Pere Johan’s alabaster altarpiece, the largest Romanesque cloister in Catalonia and an Arabic inscription dated to the year 960.
The Pont du Gard is the tallest stretch of a fifty-kilometre aqueduct that fell only centimetres per kilometre. Walking in to see it costs nothing at all.
The Sagrada Família in Barcelona is read through the colour of its light: blues and greens to the east, reds to the west. Since June 2026 the tallest church.
Zaragoza is the only city in the world with two working cathedrals: La Seo, with its Gothic alabaster altarpiece, and El Pilar, with its Goya domes.
The Aljafería Palace in Zaragoza holds the only 11th-century taifa royal seat still standing, a ceiling dated 1492 and the cells of the Inquisition.
The Arena of Nîmes is the best preserved Roman amphitheatre: what to look at inside, the centuries it spent as a walled neighbourhood and 2026 prices.
What to see in St Peter’s Basilica: the stars on the floor, the Pietà, the baldachin, the climb to the dome, and what is paid for and what is free.
What to know about the Trevi Fountain: it is Oceanus and not Neptune, the ancient aqueduct feeding it, the coins, and the 2-euro ticket of 2026.
What to see at the Pantheon in Rome: the largest concrete dome in the world, the oculus, Raphael’s tomb, and the 7-euro ticket introduced in 2026.
What to see at the Roman Forum and on the Palatine: the Curia, the Arch of Septimius Severus, the Lapis Niger, the imperial palace, with tickets checked.
How to visit the Colosseum: which ticket to choose between standard, arena and underground, what to look at inside and prices verified in 2026.
The 7 most beautiful churches to visit in Paris besides Notre-Dame, between Gothic art, history and masterpieces. From Saint-Denis to the Sainte-Chapelle.
A guide to Bracciano Castle near Rome: the history of the Orsini and Odescalchi families, the legend of Isabella de’ Medici, opening hours and 2026 prices.
The Memorial Church in Berlin, devastated by war and left in ruins as a warning, has a truly unusual history. Here’s why the "hollow tooth" matters so much.
The sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia in Palestrina is a masterpiece of antiquity and a great oracular site. Here is what to see and why to visit it.
Mont Saint-Michel: its history, legends, tides and all the practical information you need to visit the abbey and the mount at its best.
Paestum: what you don’t know about the archaeological park, why it’s famous, and what you really can’t miss in this Magna Graecia site.
What caused the Notre-Dame fire, what was lost and how it was rebuilt up to the reopening of December 2024. All the answers.
The Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, the most visited in the world. Its history, the 5 tombs not to miss (Géricault, Wilde, Jim Morrison) and my practical tips.
All the numbers, the history and the curiosities about the Eiffel Tower, the symbol of Paris, plus the tricks to go up without queuing.
The Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa is a monumental complex unique in the world: history, symbolism and everything you need to know before visiting.
