Archive for 'Northwest Italy'

Genoa is a great unsung hero that many often don't hear much about. It does not seem to garner the endless lines and lines of press that are published about other Italian cities every day but it should. It is a wonderful beauty, filled with architectural gems and hidden treasures. Its history is rich and its cultural heritage is fascinating. Even its graveyard is a stunner.

Among all the sights and attractions, however, one stands apart. It is hard not to notice the Biosfera by famous architect Renzo Piano. Just find a villa in Liguria and pay a visit to this extraordinary structure for yourself.

Renzo Piano was the 1998 Pritzker Prize winner and is probably best known for his controversial design of the Centre Georges Pompidou but is a prolific architect that his left his stamp all over the world. Piano was actually born in Genoa in 1937 and comes from a family of builders.

Columbanus, known as San Columbano, in Italy, was an Irish saint who was active in the Frankish Empire, establishing monasteries throughout what is now France, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland, in the 6th and 7th centuries.

The best known are: St. Gall in Switzerland, Disibodenberg in the Rhine Palatinate, St. Paul's at Besançon, Lure and Cusance in the Diocese of Besançon, Beze in the Diocese of Langres, Remiremont Abbey and Moyenmoutier Abbey in the Diocese of Toul, Fosses-la-Ville in the Diocese of Liège, Mont-St-Michel at Peronne, Ebersmunster in Lower Alsace, St. Martin at Cologne.

Finally, he moved on to Italy, where, at Bobbio, he established a great monastic centre. He worked to convert the Arian Lombards and restore unity with the Bishop of Rome. It was here that he spent the last years of his life, leaving a corpus of writings that shaped the monastic culture of the Middle Ages.

Italy is known as a world-class leader in art and design. Many movements and styles were born or mastered in Italy over the century. The Renaissance, in particular, forever changed art and architecture in the western world. However, for all of the architectural gems that exist in Italy, there are also some rather bizarre buildings. These might, equally, be beautiful but are definitely odd.

One of the strangest architectural ventures in Italy is the Rocchetta Mattei, a magnificent castle located in the northern part of the Tosco-Emiliano Apennines, in the province of Bologna. It is an exceptionally eccentric building that speaks to its former owner, a similarly strange character. The earl Cesare Mattei, who had the castle built in the 19th century, was the inventor of "electrohomeopathy," a medical practice said to cure cancer. His methods have been largely debunked but he showed his eccentricity in his personal life and tastes as well, as can be seen throughout the castle.

There is lots to see and do in Italy but we have rounded up a list of some particularly intriguing attractions and sights that we have dubbed the Seven Wonders of Italy and, continuing from the last article, here are some more of said wonders.

The Fiat Lingotto Factory in Turin was built in the 1920s and was the largest and most modern car manufacturing plant in Europe and second in the world at the time. It is five storeys high with a test track atop the roof and cars were moved upwards from floor to floor to be tested on the track when completed. The factory was eventually closed in 1982 but, in 1985, it was converted and made into a multi-purpose centre and is now used commercially by various companies. The exterior is largely unchanged but the interior has been drastically redesigned in order to house an exhibition centre, a conference centre and auditorium, two hotels, offices and retail space.

America has Salem and Italy has Triora in Liguria.

This charming town's appearance does not belie its troubled and bloody past and will forever be interconnected with witches and witchcraft.

It all goes back to 1587, when bad weather and a bad harvest lead locals from the town to speculate as to what was causing all of their misfortune. They came to the logical conclusion: it had to be the fault of witches. The rest, as they say, is history.

Find a holiday rental in Liguria and you can uncover this disturbing and fascinating history for yourself, all while enjoying the delightful town that Triora is today.