One of the richest art collections in the world, the Vatican Museum has an entire section dedicated to animal sculptures (Sala degli animali). Displayed here are creations from antiquity to renaissance, some proving impressive artistic qualities especially in reproducing body movement, muscles and tension. Painstakingly details, like the hair in lion’s mane or the fur […]

The works for this immense edifice, the fourth church in the world, began in 1386, by dismantling an older church. Ever since, the entire town was shaped around this dome. Gothic is not a popular style in Italy, but this church was influenced by two French architects who were employed at the beginning of the […]

Three emperors contributed to this public bath, the most grandiose building of its type. Its 120.000 sq m size equaled the prior baths of Caracalla, but it included some architectural innovations especially about arcades and semi-domes that were to be used in churches and public buildings for the millenniums to come. The Roman baths were […]

For anyone who visits Rome, Plazza di Spagna is one of the loveliest places to be in, and it would be a very romantic scenery if only another million people wouldn’t have had the same urge at the same time. As it is the case with Fontana di Trevi, Scalinata is a perfect place to […]

For Renaissance, classic Greek antiquity was the ultimate model. Or, to use a Platonic concept, it was rather an anamnesis, a process of remembering the finest art produced, the fertile debates of an open and curious society. Thus, when Pope asked the 27 years old Raphael to decorate his apartments in the Vatican, the young […]

The Pincian Hill may not be one of the famous seven hills of ancient Rome, but today is the most pleasant one, as it hosts the finest park in the city. To imagine a person as rich and powerful as to have something like that as a week-end domain is enough to give us head-spins. […]

Though it is one of the iconic and imposing churches in Naples, the Basilica is dedicated to one of the most humble saints of Italian Middle Ages. Francesco di Paola followed on the steps of modesty of his model Francisc of Assisi and of several recluse monks of the Oriental Christianity. Francis of Paola was […]

Though it is a recent work, the Anglican Church on Via Nazionale in Rome was included on the Italian national monuments’ list, thanks to the work of three artists, two English and one American. The mosaics they created manage to give the church of St Paul’s Within Walls the convincing appearance of a centuries old […]

The largest cathedral in Naples resembles on the outside with the more famous and more grandiose dome of Milan. It is this facade, remade in the XX century by Errico Alvino that is the most valuable architectural element of it, and numerous sculptors contributed with statues for this exterior. The liberty of individual artists and […]

This church, found in Piazza de la Repubblica, was incorporated into the baths of Diocletian by two great architects. The first one was Michelangelo Buonarroti and the second one was Luigi Vanvitelli, the architect of Caserta Palace, near Naples. So the entrance of the church maintains the unsuspected shape of a ruin wall from an […]

When people hear “the cathedral of Rome” usually think of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, from where the Pope delivers the Easter benediction. Well, in fact St Peter’s is not a cathedral at all, it’s a “regular” church, despite its architectural and historical value. The term cathedral comes from the Latin word for seat, […]

Palazzo Braschi was built in the 18 century by the duke Luigi Braschi Onesti. Under the Napoleonic occupation of Rome, duke Braschi was declared mayor of the city. Donated to the Italian state, the palace was used by Benito Mussolini as his headquarters. The most important architectural piece of the palace is the monumental marble […]

The Pantheon was a pagan temple dedicated to all gods, commissioned by Marcus Agrippa. It was meant to impress by its unprecedented dimensions and shape and was heavily decorated, in contrast with the austere interior we see now. It was probably very colorful, with stars painted on the ceiling, statues in every niche and golden […]

The forum was the most important public place in ancient Rome, an open space surrounded by columns and statues of revered historic figures, in which the local elite could meet to discuss politics, raise popular support, take part in elections and make commerce. Temples and political institutions surrounded the forum. A term somewhat misleading for […]

Michelangelo Buonarroti is one of the greatest artists of all times, with sculptures that almost touch perfection, like David (found in Florence), Moses (part of the tomb of Pope Julius II in the church San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome) or Pieta (found inside St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican). His paintings also made history, as […]

In antiquity, Galatia was populated by migrant Celtic tribes from Gaul and was situated in Anatolia, where today is Turkey. Long before the Ottomans or even the Romans to arrive, the region was under the cultural influence of the Greek world. Alexander the Great conquered the entire known world as far as the knowledge of […]

Though he appears only briefly in the Iliad, the Trojan priest Laocoon comes to represent the voice of reason. He is the one that warns the Trojans of the wooden horse trick that would lead to the destruction of the city. The Trojan war is the most important and most complex myth of ancient Greek […]

According to tradition, St Andrew was the first among the twelve apostles to be called by Jesus to preach His teachings. Andrew was also a fisherman, like his brother, Peter, the founder of the Church. They both spread the Gospel in the Greeko-Roman world and suffered a martyric death, choosing a different shape of the […]

The majestic monument of reunification is at the end of one of the most important boulevard, Via del Corso, close to the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, Capitoline and Palatine Hill, the most important historic hill of ancient Rome. Thousands of years of history surround us here and this impressive masterpiece rises up to the task […]

Garibaldi is the most celebrated Italian historic figure, with monuments, streets and public squares in almost every city of the country. Giuseppe Garibaldi is the artisan of Italy’s unification in today’s borders, or the Risorgimento, as the process was known. The reunification started in the aftermath of the defeat of Napoleon. The reactionary monarchs of […]