Archive for 'Museums & Galleries'

Chiostro del Bramante, as the name may suggest, is an architectural gem by the Renaissance master, Donato Bramante. The main architect employed by Pope Julius II, and the only one to rival Michelangelo, he was an extremely talented architect. The Chiostro is the cloister of what was originally a monastery complex commissioned by Cardinal Oliviero Carafa around 1500.

Today, the building has a different use, as a cultural centre used for various purposes, but this remarkable central structure remains unchanged despite this. It is still a harmonious space made up of elegant geometric lines and perfect proportions, according to Renaissance ideals, which revived classical Greek and Roman aesthetics. Light, bright, airy, and an oasis of calm, it is free to visit and just steps away from the famous Piazza Navona. If you were considering spending time in the city, be sure to browse our luxury villas in Rome, and then carve out some space in your schedule for a trip to this extraordinary space.

The elegant city of Turin is home to some stunning cultural institutions and museums that showcase extraordinary works of art in permanent collections and temporary exhibitions. The Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, or Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, also known as GAM, is one such institution and is currently home to an especially interesting exhibition. “I Macchiaioli. Italian art towards moderness [sic]” showcases the experimental works of the so-called
Macchiaioli artists that were completed from the middle of the nineteenth century right up to the sixties. If you have found a vacation rental in Piedmont and are looking to take in a bit of local culture, history and art, it is an ideal choice.

The Caffé Pedrocchi is an iconic café in the Italian city of Padua that dates back to the 18th and is where many historical events have taken place and famous figures have gathered over the years. Artists and intellectuals were drawn to the place to meet and discuss ideas and it can boast having had Lord Byron and Stendhal, who described it as “simply the best in the world,” as visitors. Still a café, and more, today, it is located right in the very centre of the city and is a great place to sit and grab a drink of one kind or another while you explore. Just find a vacation rental in Padua and follow in the footsteps of Byron to this very special café.

In 1760, Padua had around 40 café proprietors and the most successful was Pietro Zigno. Zigno took his nephew, Francesco Pedrocchi, under his wing and, at the age of 14, Pedrocchi started working at the café. Finding himself suited to the job, he decided to open his own establishment in 1772, after Zigno’s death.

Art and good food and coffee are a given if you have found a luxury villa in Italy and are planning a vacation in the country. However, if you like to combine those things, all at the same time, then a vacation rental in Rome is a good idea as there is somewhere where you can find it all under one roof: the “art restaurant” of Canova Tadolini.

Located on via del Babuino, in the heart of the city, Canova Tadolini is a museum combined with a restaurant and café. On display, all throughout the space, you will find busts, sculptural panels, sculptures and more that were created by the artist family that lived in the house until 1967: the Tadolini family.

An old factory is not where one might expect to find masterpieces from antiquity and, yet, that is exactly what you will discover with a vacation rental in Rome if you head to Centrale Montemartini, a new exhibition space for the Musei Capitolini.