The Duomo of Perugia, also known as the cathedral of San Lorenzo, is an excellent example of a church of which the exterior is more interesting than the interior. ‘Exterior’ in this case mostly refers to the left flank of the building, as the façade at the front was clearly…
It is not difficult to rattle off pages about the Santa Maria in Aracoeli. The church has a long history and it is chock-full of beautiful art. Although there are a lot of Baroque ornaments, the Santa Maria in Aracoeli is an interesting mix of medieval and more modern elements.…
My first visit to Siena was in 2010. It was a rainy day and we got lost on the way to the city centre (which is quite an achievement: Siena is not that big). We had lunch at a mediocre restaurant that served factory-made tiramisu, which really should be a…
The Palazzo Pubblico is one of Siena’s most famous landmarks. It was constructed between 1297 and 1310 for the Governo dei Nove, the Council of Nine, one of the most important bodies of Siena’s republican government in those days. The Palazzo was extended and enlarged in later centuries and is…
This church in Siena was easy to see, but difficult to find. I had already spotted it while standing on top of the Facciatone, the end of the unfinished nave of Siena’s cathedral. But actually finding it proved to be a whole lot tougher. In fact, we got lost in…
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…
The small town 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…