With little more than 20,000 inhabitants Beaune is just a small city. And yet it can boast of a truly spectacular monument from the Late Middle Ages, the Hospices de Beaune, also known as the Hôtel-Dieu. The Hospices are a hospital and alms-house, founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin (1376-1462),…
Second only to the Hospices de Beaune, the collegiate church of Notre-Dame de Beaune is the most beautiful monument that this charming Burgundian town has in store for visitors. There was probably already a church at this spot in the tenth century. The current church dates from the second half…
From our pleasant agriturismo it was about 50 minutes by car to the charming town of Jesi, birthplace of the great medieval monarch Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194-1250), a man who was both German and Sicilian, and who represented the cultures of both West and East. We approached Jesi from…
Met net iets meer dan 20.000 inwoners is Beaune maar een kleine stad. Toch staat hier een werkelijk spectaculair monument uit de Late Middeleeuwen, de Hospices de Beaune, ook bekend als het Hôtel-Dieu. De Hospices zijn een ziekenhuis en armenhuis, gesticht in 1443 door Nicolas Rolin (1376-1462), kanselier van hertog…
De kapittelkerk van Notre-Dame de Beaune is, op de Hospices de Beaune na, het fraaiste monument dat dit charmante Bourgondische stadje bezoekers te bieden heeft. Waarschijnlijk stond er al in de tiende eeuw op deze plek een kerk. De huidige kerk dateert van de tweede helft van de twaalfde eeuw.…
Vanaf onze prettige agriturismo was het ongeveer 50 minuten rijden naar het charmante stadje Jesi, de geboorteplaats van de grote middeleeuwse vorst Frederik II van Hohenstaufen (1194-1250), een man die zowel Duitser als Siciliaan was, en de culturen van zowel het Westen als het Oosten vertegenwoordigde. We benaderden Jesi vanuit…
Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194-1250) can be counted among the greatest monarchs spawned by the European Middle Ages. He was King of Sicily and Holy Roman Emperor, but also a crusader and a patron of arts and sciences, to name but a few of his other activities. His birthplace Jesi…
The Piazza Federico II in Jesi is named after the most famous man ever to have been born in this town in the Marche: Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194-1250), King of Sicily and Holy Roman Emperor. At the far end of the square stands the cathedral of the town, which…
We parked our car in the free parking garage called Parcheggio Mercantini and climbed the hill where the gorgeous church of San Marco is situated. The church and adjacent convent have been used by Carmelite nuns since the end of the nineteenth century. The nuns live in seclusion – they…
The proud cathedral of Autun is dedicated to Saint Lazarus. Upon hearing the name “Lazarus”, we are obviously inclined to think of the man who was resurrected by Jesus Christ. The cathedral of Saint-Lazare is indeed dedicated to this Lazarus, but this is in fact based on a misconception. For…
In a previous post I have discussed how Bibracte (Mont-Beuvray) was the most important fortified settlement (oppidum) of the Gallic tribe of the Aedui for about a century. Then, roughly between 20 BCE and 10 CE, Bibracte was abandoned. Its citizens left for a new city, founded by the Romans.…
Ancient Bibracte was an important fortified settlement (oppidum) of the Gallic tribe of the Aedui. According to the Roman general Gaius Julius Caesar it was their largest and most prosperous city.[1] This city was situated on a mountain called Mont-Beuvray, which reaches a height of over eight hundred metres. People…
We set out from our hotel on the Place du Président Wilson and entered the centre of charming Dijon. Our plan: a walk along the most interesting churches of the city. There happen to be quite a number of those, although some of these buildings are no longer in use…
The fine arts museum in Dijon is housed in the former palace of the Burgundian dukes. It opened to the public as early as 1787, even before the French revolution, which makes it one of the oldest museums of the country. A first surprise for me was that I found…
The churches of Sassoferrato were beautiful and its museums interesting, but the real reason I wanted to visit the town was that in its vicinity the famous ancient town of Sentinum was situated. This was the site where, in 295 BCE, the Romans and their allies defeated a coalition of…
One of the most important museums in Sassoferrato rather oddly does not use the word “museum” in its name. The Civica Raccolta d’Arte is, apparently, first and foremost a raccolta or collection. The predominantly religious works in the collection date from the fifteenth to late eighteenth centuries and come from…
The male Franciscans settled in Sassoferrato in the thirteenth century, and so did their female counterparts the Poor Clares. In 1253, just a stone’s throw away from the church of San Francesco, they founded the nunnery that they still inhabit today, over 750 years later. For obvious reasons the nunnery…
Many Italians are on holiday in August. That became very clear to us when we visited the charming town of Sassoferrato. We could easily find a spot to park our car in the high part of town and then continued on foot through the historical centre without encountering many other…
We parked our car in the Viale della Repubblica and continued on foot to the historical centre of Fossombrone. During the Middle Ages the town was part of the Papal States. The Pope in Rome had appointed members of the Malatesta family from Rimini as rulers, but in 1445 Galeazzo…
Just outside the built-up area of Fossombrone lie the remains of the town to which Fossombrone owes its name: the Roman colony of Forum Sempronii.[1] The colony was founded along the Via Flaminia, the important road that connected Rome with the Adriatic coast. At Fanum Fortunae (Fano) it swung north,…