Archive for 'Northeast Italy'

A temporary bridge is constructed in Venice each year in July. This tradition goes back to the sixteenth century and is part of the Festa del Redentore, or Festival of the Redeemer. The bridge is built over the Giudecca Canal allowing access to the Church of the Redentore. This takes place on the third Saturday of July when there is a great party with feasting followed by fireworks and religious celebrations held on the Sunday with a gondola regata finishing off the weekend. Carnival, which takes place in February, is an event that is largely recreated for tourists but the Festa del Redentore is still an authentically local event and is very important to the people of Venice. Why not find a holiday rental in Venice and see it all for yourself?

Rock im Ring is an Italian music festival which takes place in Ritten in Trentino Alto Adige each year in July. The festival is dedicated to primarily metal, punk and rock music. It was established in 1994 and has progressively gotten bigger each year, attracting more and more famous acts. Among those to have played in past years are Marky Ramone, Gallows, Juliette Lewis, The Subways and Dropkick Murphys. If you want to see the rugged beauty of the alps and take in a European music festival with a difference, this is just the thing for you. Find a holiday rental in Trentino Alto Aldige and pop along yourself!

The Villa Pisani at Stra was built in the 18th century for the wealthy Venetian Pisani family to celebrate the election of Alvise Pisani as Doge (ruler of Venice). Designed by Francesco Maria Preti, though commissioned from Girolamo Fringimelica, work was begun in 1735. It is much more formal and imposing than most Venetian villas and presents an extraordinary façade rich in elaborate ornamentation with festoons, caryatids, putti and statues. The property did not spend long in the hands of the Pisani family; it was bought by Napoleon in 1807 and given to his adoptive son, the Viceroy of Italy. After a period in the possession of the Savoy family, it became the property of the Italian state.

The mosaics of Ravenna entered the common parlance and radars of a very large audience in 2013 when Dolce & Gabbana used prints of some of the works of art in their garments. However, the Byzantine mosaics created in the city in the 5th and 6th centuries have always been one of its distinguishing features and one of the things that it is most well-known for.

Even today, it is still one of Italy's greatest producers of mosaics.

If you are interested in art or are fond of awe-inspiring church interiors that glitter like jewellery boxes then find a vacation rental in Ravenna and see them for yourself.

The Archiginnasio (the Greek for “first school”) of Bologna is the ancient seat of the University of Bologna and one of the most singularly unique buildings in the city. Originally it was the main building of the “Studium”, as the university was once called. That is, until 1803, when it became the site of the Institute of Science. In 1838, part of the building was made into the Archiginnasio Municipal Library. It continues to function as a working library to this day and is the biggest in Emilia-Romagna. It houses historical, philosophical, political, literary, artistic, biographical and bibliographical works in addition to a large section devoted to the culture of Bologna. It also contains over 35,000 manuscripts and pamphlets.