Het zal niemand zijn ontgaan: het bouwvallige en brandgevaarlijke Binnenhof te Den Haag gaat de komende jaren flink op de schop. De beide Kamers der Staten-Generaal, de Raad van State en het ministerie van Algemene Zaken moeten voor een aantal jaar verhuizen naar andere onderkomens. Opdat we ons in de…
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…
Originally we had not even intended to visit the church of San Domenico, a church that was not even mentioned in our travel guide. But while we were sitting in the Piazza San Domenico, waiting for the Cappella del Tau on the other side of the road to open, we…
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…
We were confronted with two issues when we wanted to visit the church of Sant’Andrea in August of last year: limited opening hours and an admission charge. This may be the standard arrangement, but it may also have been linked to the global COVID-19 crisis. In any case, the first…
Our travel guide did not have any information on the enormous church of San Francesco, but fortunately the church was included in a small map of the centre of Pistoia in the same guide. As the church is close to the large car park where we wanted to leave our…
The church of San Giovanni Fuorcivitas, dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist, is a very special edifice. The long side of the building, i.e. the northern side wall, basically serves as the façade of the church while the real façade is hidden away in a narrow alley. And the pseudo-façade…
Whether this is a standard arrangement or not I do not know, but in August of 2020 the beautiful octagonal baptistery of Pistoia could be visited for free. The edifice stands opposite the cathedral of the city and inside one can book guided tours for the bell-tower of the Duomo…
The cathedral of Pistoia is a splendid Romanesque-style building of which the history goes back to the tenth century. The present building dates mostly from the twelfth century, as a fire that broke out in 1108 necessitated a rebuilding. In the next couple of centuries many more changes were made…
The church of San Francesco in Montefalco was built between 1335 and 1338. A monastery was constructed next to it. More than five centuries of Franciscan presence in the town were ended in 1863 when the complex was transferred to the municipality, which in 1895 established the civic museum here.…
Benozzo di Lese di Sandro, who is currently best known as Benozzo Gozzoli (ca. 1421-1497), was a young and talented artist when in 1449 he was summoned to Montefalco to paint frescoes there. Gozzoli was in his late twenties and had gained some experience as a goldsmith by assisting Lorenzo…
In de Noord-Hollandse forensengemeente waarin ik opgroeide was en is ook een Van Speijkkade. Ik kwam er regelmatig. Mijn kleuterschool stond er en een vriendje van voetbal woonde er. Als kind had ik echter geen idee wie Van Speijk was geweest. Later leerde ik dat hij ‘Dan liever de lucht…
Op de plek van het huidige Castello dell’Imperatore stond oorspronkelijk een burcht van de familie Alberti. De nederzetting rondom deze Castrum Prati werd in de elfde eeuw verenigd met het dorp Borgo al Cornio en zo ontstond de stad Prato. De Alberti werden er de graven van, na een investituur…