In April of 2016, I saw the “art movie” Florence and the Uffizi Gallery at the cinema. It featured the actor Simon Merrells as Lorenzo “Il Magnifico” de’ Medici and discussed the highlights of Florentine Renaissance art. The movie dedicated quite a few minutes to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the…
The Vallumbrosan Order is a branch of the Benedictines that was founded in the eleventh century by Saint John Gualbert (died 1073). The first church of the Vallumbrosans in Florence was built in either 1077 or 1092 (different dates are mentioned in different sources). At that time it was outside…
This post is about the Brancacci Chapel, a famous chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence. Normally, I would write a post about the church and then add a few lines about the chapels. For the Brancacci Chapel, I am going to turn that around. This post…
The Santi Apostoli is one of the oldest churches in Florence, but it is not as old as some Florentines zealously believe it to be. It is located in the Piazza del Limbo. “Limbo” is a slightly denigrating term for someone from the Dutch province of Limburg, so on my…
The best time to visit the Ognissanti church in Florence is on a Monday, Tuesday or Saturday morning. The church is open to the public on other days of the week as well, but only on the days mentioned are visitors allowed to visit the beautiful cloister next door (Chiostro…
The San Salvatore al Monte – sometimes with the addition “alle Croci” – is located on the same hill as the San Miniato. Tourists who make the climb up the hill to go and see the latter church should also pay a brief visit to the former. There are marked…
It was about time I wrote a post about the San Miniato al Monte, one of my favourite churches in Florence. The church is located on the other side of the river Arno, and as the name suggests, it was built on a hill overlooking the city. It is quite…
The pleasant town of Pontassieve owes its existence to Florence. In the middle of the fourteenth century, the Signoria of Florence (i.e. the city government) decided to build a castle at this strategic location, where the river Sieve joins the river Arno. Construction of the castle commenced after a government…
One of my travel guides calls the San Simpliciano a “little jewel”. That is a bit of an exaggeration, but the church is worth a visit nonetheless. It is one of the three or four churches in Milan founded by Saint Ambrosius (ca. 340-397). The church was completed in 401…
Saint Ambrosius (ca. 340-397) is credited with founding three or four churches in Milan in the late fourth century. The Basilica Martyrum (now the Sant’Ambrogio) was one of them, the Basilica Virginum (now the San Simpliciano) another. The third church was the Basilica Apostolorum, or the Basilica of the Apostles.…
The Sant’Ambrogio is one of the oldest and most important churches in Milan. Built between 379 and 386 by Saint Ambrosius (Anglicised as Ambrose; ca. 340-397) and later named after him, the church is even older than the San Lorenzo Maggiore. According to a brochure provided by the church itself,…
Fiesole’s small but interesting archaeological museum is located right within the city’s archaeological area, where one can find the remains of an Etruscan wall, a Roman temple, Roman public baths and a Roman theatre that is still used for performances during the summer. Fiesole has had an archaeological museum since…
Fiesole’s Duomo is hardly the most elegant building in Italy. It is simple and robust, made of large blocks of tuff. The Duomo was built in the shape of a classical Roman basilica, with the apse facing southeast. Its official name is the Cattedrale di San Romolo, after the first…
The San Lorenzo is one of the oldest churches in Milan, and certainly one of the most interesting. It is a centrally planned church, and has often been compared to the San Vitale in Ravenna because of its shape. It is more than a century older though. It pays to…
The small city of Fiesole rises high above the much larger city of Florence in the valley. Fiesole was known as Vipsul in Etruscan times and founded perhaps as early as 700 BCE. Situated on a hill at a height of some 300 metres, it was easy to defend and…
Of the eight UNESCO World Heritage sites in Ravenna, the Sant’Apollinare in Classe is the youngest monument. Classe is nowadays a frazione of the municipality of Ravenna, a small suburb located some five kilometres south of the city centre. By chance we visited the Sant’Apollinare in Classe first, even though…
The undisputed highlight of any trip to Ravenna is a visit to the Basilica di San Vitale. This church, which is about a kilometre west of Ravenna’s railway station and is located just south of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, is world famous for its unique shape and its wonderful…
We would never have heard about the Santuario della Madonna delle Grazie al Sasso if we had not by chance stumbled upon a website about the churches of Pontassieve. Pontassieve itself is a municipality east of Florence with a population of about 20.000. The built-up area of this comune consists…
Even before we packed our bags and drove to Italy, we knew we wanted to visit it. Sure, we were going to visit beautiful and important cities like Florence, Siena, Arezzo and even wonderful Ravenna, but we also wanted to see something “local”, a building or a work of art…
Ravenna is by no means a large city, but it is home to an amazing eight UNESCO World Heritage sites. Most of these sites are within walking distance of each other. Combination tickets give access to the monuments at very reasonable prices, and admission to two of Ravenna’s most interesting…