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The Italian low Renaissance marks a pivotal time in art history when Italy shifted from the Gothic style of the Middle Ages to the Renaissance style that the world is now familiar with. The change in technique was well received by the new ruling class. As Italy began to recover from the economic chaos of the Middle Ages wealthy, independent, city-s...

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If Florence is your destination, it's more than likely that you will arrive at the station called Santa Maria Novella, or Firenze SMN for short. It is Florence's main station, built in the Modernist style in 1934, used by 59 million passengers per year, and named after the nearby enormous Dominican church begun in 1246. Normally areas near stations...

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Closed since 2012 following a landslide, the Via dell'Amore (Lovers’ Lane), the Cinque Terre’s most famous path, is scheduled to be repaired starting this fall and reopened in 2023, according to a plan presented by the Cinque Terre National Park last week. The scenic trail that connects the villages of Riomaggiore and Manarola, the first two of the...

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Sicilian Baroque is a distinctive form of Baroque architecture in Sicily, which flourished after a massive earthquake in 1693 destroyed at least 45 towns in south-eastern Sicily, among them Catania, Ragusa, Modica, Scicli and Ispica. Rebuilding began almost immediately; local architects, many of whom had trained in Rome, were inspired to recreate t...

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Steps. Up and down canals, up and down ancient hiking trails, up and down vertical towns … steps. Thousands, maybe a million steps, were not what envisioned when I mapped out a cross-country trip to the picturesque coasts of Italy this summer. I flew into Rome and spent a few days exploring the capital, the Renaissance city of Florence and even too...

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My relationship with Piedmontese, the dialect of my region, has always been ambivalent. Growing up in a small rural community, I learned it without even noticing, because everyone around me would speak it. Even my parents, who would always speak in Italian to me, often switched to Piedmontese when chatting to one another. My grandparents used it ex...

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No nationality takes coffee as seriously as Italians do. Let’s be honest, you can’t go to Italy and not try the coffee, and Venice is no exception. Whether you’re a certified coffee-addict, or just like the occasional cup of Joe – or perhaps you’re a fully fledged freelancer looking for decent wifi to accompany your flat white (we have god and bad...

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For all the glories of Florence today, while meandering through the labyrinth of narrow alleys that open to grand piazzas graced by gorgeous sculptures, I reflect on how time has transcended history here, on the site of an ancient Etruscan settlement that grew into the historic core of Tuscany. Lingering in the early morning of Piazza della Signori...

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On December 1st Venetians will head to the polls to decide whether they want the historic and ‘oating’ centre of the city to literally break away from its more populated boroughs on the mainland, a vote brought on by the negative consequences of mass tourism on Venice’s residents. Venice authorities have called on its citizens to decide whether the...

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For centuries a place devoted to silence and meditation, the Sanctuary of Madonna della Corona is built into a vertical cliff face on Mount Baldo at 774 meters above sea level, overlooking the Adige valley, surrounded by a ‘crown’ of mountains, in the province of Verona. A pilgrimage destination since the Middle Ages, it was once only accessible th...

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