Archive for 'Tourist Attractions'

The Palazzo Ducale is the most famous building in Urbino and one of the most impressive and beautiful Renaissance palaces in Italy. It is now also home to the National Gallery of Le Marche as well. Therefore, it's a bit of a package deal when you visit, offering a stunning combination of both art and architecture. Listed as a UNESCO, world heritage site, it is not only acknowledged as unique and important by locals but is recognised as an extra special site in this world. If you are interested in art, architecture, history or merely getting lost in the majesty of the past and court culture, then the Palazzo Ducale is somewhere you won't want to miss. Why not find a villa with pool in Le Marche and take a day to explore this most beautiful of sights in Urbino?

The Casina delle Civette, or House of the Owls, was the home of Prince Giovanni Torlonia until his death in 1938. The building was originally constructed in the nineteenth century as a “Swiss Cabin” pleasure building on the edge of the grounds of the ancestral home of Villa Torlonia. These types of buildings were used by the aristocracy across Europe to retreat from formal court life in their homes and play at simplicity. The building was designed by Giuseppe Jappelli in 1840 for Prince Alessandro Torlonia to look like a rustic dwelling. However, in the twentieth century, when his nephew, Giovanni, got his hands on the structure it became increasingly elaborate. It was transformed from a cottage into a medieval hamlet.

Though you'll never be stuck for something to see or do in Rome, sometimes one becomes tired of museums and churches but if you're visiting the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, an oddity outside the doors will provide a little bit of fun and light relief. Dating to around the 1st century AD, the Bocca della Verità, or Mouth of Truth, is a tall stone disc with a humanoid face carved into its surface. With hollow holes for eyes and a gaping mouth, it is a somewhat alarming looking object. The original purpose is of the large medallion is uncertain but theories of all sorts of uses have flown around for centuries: everything from a ceremonial well cover, to a piece of fountain decoration, to a manhole cover.

Baia, in the Campania region of the south of Italy was once the Las Vegas of the Roman Empire where anything went and parties were had. A prominent resort city for centuries, the town was dedicated to the recreational whims of rich and powerful Romans looking to blow off a little steam. In fact, some of the most famous and influential figures of antiquity are known to have visited on multiple occasions, with some even building holiday homes there. Among these was Nero, Cicero and Caesar. This all came to a grinding halt when the town was sacked by invading Saracens. By 1500, it was completely abandoned and the water level slowly rose so that the land was reclaimed by the sea.

The Cathedral of St. Ambrose is a building in Lombardy with roots going as far back as the tenth century, though the present structure dates to the sixteenth.

It is the seat of the Bishop of Vigevano and the current building was commissioned by Duke Francesco II Sforza in 1530.

Dedicated to St. Ambrose, it was designed by Antonio da Lonate and thought it was begun shortly afterwards, work was not completed until 1612.

With beautiful painted interiors, a newer Baroque façade and a famous treasury and museum inside, it is a typical Italian cathedral in many ways.