Archive for 'Must See Attractions'

If you have found a villa rental in Padua and are exploring the city, it is unlikely that you will miss Prato della Valle, or “Prà deła Vałe” in Venetian, a 90,000sqm elliptical piazza in the city and the largest square in Italy as it is so vast and exceptionally beautiful. However, just in case, we're warning you: don't miss out on this stunning part of the city or you'll be kicking yourself later!

Before 1635, the area now occupied by Prato della Valle was actually a large and unpleasant swampy terrain, just south of the old city walls. Then, in 1636, a group of Venetian and Veneto public figures and nobles decided to finance the construction of a temporary, but lavish, theatre for mock battles on horseback on the site.

The Palazzo della Pilotta is a palace and complex of structures that is located between the Piazzale della Pace and the Lungoparma in the historic centre of the lovely Italian city of Parma. Vast but incomplete, the palace was built for the Farnese family in the 16th and 17th centuries, at the order of Duke Ottavio Farnese and then under Duke Ranuccio I. Built around a preexisting Visconti stronghold and a church, it was designed as a headquarters for the court and state services – such as stables, store rooms, arms rooms, theatre, barracks and more – rather than as a residence.

The charming city of Cosenza in the region of Calabria in the south of Italy is filled with surprises around every corner. If you have found a vacation rental in Calabria and are planning a day trip to this historic city, then be sure to head to Corso Mazzini, a pedestrian area between Piazza Bilotti and Piazza dei Bruzi, which is home to Cosenza’s Bilotti Open-air Museum. This street is dotted with works by famous sculptors like Mimmo Rotella, Emilio Greco, Giacomo Manzù, Giorgio De Chirico, Pietro Consagra, Justin Peyser, Sacha Sosno, and Salvador Dalí and is a museum that you can visit for free and whenever you want.

If you have always wanted to explore a Disney palace for yourself, then the Ducal Palace in Sassuolo, a Baroque villa located in the town of Sassuolo, near Modena, is one of the closest things to one in real life that you will find. Just find a vacation rental in Emilia-Romagna and spend a day wandering around!

Built on the site of an earlier castle from the medieval period, it came into the ownership of Niccolò III d'Este from the Della Rosa family in the 15th century and was rebuilt under Borso d'Este in 1458. In the early 17th century, the Duke Francesco I d'Este commissioned what is now the present structure and it was designed by architect Bartolomeo Avanzini.

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Castello Sonnino, or Castello di Montespertoli, is a stunning castle on a wine estate next to a village called Montespertoli in the Chianti region of Tuscany, 20km south of Florence. Dating back as far as the 13th century, this 150 hectare estate has been the home of the de Renzis Sonnino family since the beginning of the nineteenth century. The arrival of Baron Alessandro and Baroness Caterina de Renzis Sonnino, with their children Virginia and Leone, in 1987, saw the estate transformed into the well-oiled machine that it is today and their conservative renovation work and “commitment to the protection of the historic-cultural heritage and the revival of the winegrowing activity” have made Castello Sonnino one of the most highly regarded wine producers in Florentine Chianti.