Category: Italy
Bologna: San Giacomo Maggiore
Bologna: Santo Stefano
The complesso di Santo Stefano is a very special complex of churches, chapels, a courtyard and a cloister. Although the complex adjoins the Piazza Santo Stefano and a street named the Via Santo Stefano runs alongside the buildings towards the Porta Santo Stefano, the complex rather surprisingly does not have…
Bologna: The cathedral of San Pietro
I have many travel guides about Italy. Almost all of them contain information about Bologna, but remarkably not a single one of them discusses the cathedral of the city. Apparently the Duomo of Bologna is fairly unknown and frequently skipped by tourists, which may have contributed to the common misconception…
Bologna: San Domenico
Bologna: San Francesco
Lombardy: San Martino della Battaglia
Lombardy: Solferino
Prato: Santa Maria delle Carceri
Prato: San Domenico
Prato: Castello dell’Imperatore
Prato: San Francesco
It is clear that the church of San Francesco, which adjoins the eponymous square in Prato, wants to welcome foreign tourists: most of the information panels in the building are in both Italian and English. The church furthermore has an excellent and well-structured website, which contains a lot of information…
Prato: Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
Prato: The Duomo
Pistoia: Ospedale del Ceppo
Pistoia: Museo Civico
The elegant Palazzo Comunale, also known as the Palazzo degli Anziani, is situated directly next to the Duomo of Pistoia. Construction of the palazzo started in 1295. As its alternative name indicates, it served as accommodation for the Anziani, the Elders. The magistrate with the prestigious title of Gonfaloniere (literally:…
Pistoia: Cappella del Tau
Pistoia: Madonna dell’Umiltà
Pistoia is sometimes called ‘little Florence’. The basilica of the Madonna dell’Umiltà may be largely held responsible for that nickname. It has a dome that closely resembles the famous dome that Brunelleschi built for the Duomo of Florence. Rather unsurprisingly, the dome in Pistoia was designed and built by a…
Pistoia: San Domenico
Pistoia: San Bartolomeo in Pantano
The beautiful abbey church of San Bartolomeo in Pantano was founded around 760, in the late Longobard era (568-774). The monks that settled here followed the rule of the Irish Saint Columbanus (ca. 540-615). Columbanus had travelled to Longobard Italy and had founded a famous abbey at Bobbio just before…