Cruise from Spain to Italy
This blog is the sequel to our Western Mediterranean trip in the Spring of 2015. Our itinerary took us from Barcelona to Marseilles, then eastward by the Riviera coast into Savona, Italy.
The below video clip details the second part of our journey. After Marseilles, we travelled to Savona, Italy and took a train ride to Genoa before heading back to Barcelona.
A video blog of our walking tour in Siena
We visited Siena in the fall of 2017. Siena is a historic city in the picturesque Tuscany region of Italy.
The city center is one of the most well preserved from medieval times. Enjoy the video blog and take a walk with us in Siena!
An audio-visual tour of Duomo de Milano
Milan Cathedral (Duomo de Milano) is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan. The cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete. It is the largest church in Italy and the third largest in the world.
The main square surrounding the cathedral is a major tourist hub littered with famous fashion stores, the beautiful Victor Emmanuel II mall, museums, concert/event space, a major metro stop and shops and restaurants.
The cathedral tour has 2 sections. The amazing and historic interior. And the beautiful terrace with its Gothic architecture.
Leonardo da Vinci spent a major part of his career in Milan. Some of his engineering works are still in display at the Cathedral.
The sculpture “Saint Bartholomew Flayed” is a major tourist attraction.
A few hundred gargoyles and other smaller statues adorn the exterior of the magnificent cathedral.
Each of the tall aspires is dedicated to a famous person. During the allied bombing campaign in world war II only two aspires were damaged. Milanese attribute that to divine intervention!
The terrace atop the cathedral hosts concert events and offers an amazing view of Milan.
Video blog about the oldest church in Como, Italy
The Basilica of San Fedele is the oldest church in Como, Italy . It is located in the city center and is dedicated to Saint Fidelis martyr. It derives from an earlier Christian church from the 7th century, dedicated to Euphemia.
We visited this ancient church as part of a walking tour in 2017 on a trip to Lake Como. The square facing the church is the oldest surviving area of the city dating back to Roman times in the 5th century.
Como was the birthplace of many historical figures in Roman times, including the poet Caecilius mentioned by Catullus in the 1st century BCE and writers Pliny the Elder and the Younger. The image below shows some of these historical figures depicted in the impressive front facade of the Como Cathedral, built in later medival period.
Later famous historical figures from Como include Pope Innocent XI, scientist Alessandro Volta, and Cosima Liszt, second wife of Richard Wagner and long-term director of the Bayreuth Festival.
A video tour of Italy’s West Coast
A video blog of our trip to Italy’s West Coast (Liguria region) in the poet cities of Savonna and Genoa.
The historic center of Venice
Piazza San Marco, also known as St Mark’s Square, is the principal public square of Venice, Italy. Napoleon is said to have called the Piazza San Marco “the drawing room of Europe“.
The Square is dominated at its eastern end by St Mark’s Basillica . The Piazzetta dei Leoncini is an open space on the north side of the church named after the two marble lions (presented by Doge Alvise Mocenigo in 1722).
Beyond that is the Clock Tower (Torre dell’Orologio), completed in 1499. To the right of the clock-tower is the closed church of San Basso, designed by Baldassarre Longhena (1675).
To the left is the long arcade along the north side of the Piazza, the buildings on this side are former homes and offices of the Procurators of St. Mark, built in early 16th century by the Republic of Venice. The arcade is lined with shops and restaurants at ground level, with offices above. The restaurants include the famous Caffè Quadri, patronized by Austrian rulers in the 19th century, while the Venetians preferred Florian’s on the other side of the Piazza.
Turning left at the end, the arcade continues along the west end of the Piazza as the Napoleonic Wing, rebuilt by Napoleon in 1810. Behind the shops is the entrance to the Museo Correr (Correr Museum).
Turning left again, the arcade continues down the south side of the Piazza. The buildings on this side are known as the Procuratie Nuove, which were designed by Jacopo Sansovino in mid 16th century. The upper floors were intended by Napoleon to be a palace for his stepson Eugène de Beauharnais, his viceroy in Venice, and now houses the Museo Correr. At the far end the Procuratie meet the north end of Sansovino’s Libreria (mid-16th century), whose main front faces the Piazzetta. The arcade continues round the corner into the Piazzetta.
Opposite to this, stands the Campanile of St Mark’s church. The original structure was from 12th century, restored in 1514 and rebuilt in 1912. Adjacent to the Campanile, facing towards the church, is the elegant small building known as the Loggetta del Sansovino, built by Sansovino in 1537-46, and used as a waiting lobby for patricians meeting the Great Council in the Doge’s Palace.
Across the Piazza in front of the church are three large mast-like flagpoles with bronze bases decorated in high relief by Alessandro Leopardi in 1505. The Venetian flag of St Mark used to fly from them in the time of the republic of Venice and now shares them with the Italian flag.
A tour of Venetian history
The Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale) is one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former Republic of Venice, opening as a museum in 1923.
The history of a residence for the Doge in the current location goes back as far as 810 A.D. Doge Agnello Participazio moved the seat of government from the island of Malamocco to the area of the present-day Rialto, when it was decided a “ducal palace” should be built. No trace remains of that 9th-century building as the palace was partially destroyed in the 10th century by a fire. Around 1172 A.D., Doge Sebastiano Ziani inititated reconstruction work that would drastically change the entire layout of the St. Mark’s Square. The new palace was built out of fortresses, one façade to the Piazzetta, the other overlooking the St. Mark’s Basin. Between 1340 and 1430 A.D. further reconstruction was done to transform it into a Gothic style palace.
Violent fire in 1483 and then again in 1547 forced further repair and reconstruction work.
Refurbishment works were being held at the palace when on 1577 a third fire destroyed the Scrutinio Room and the Great Council Chamber, together with works by Gentile da Fabriano, Pisanello, Alvise Vivarini, Vittore Carpaccio, Giovanni Bellini, Pordenone, and Titian. In the subsequent rebuilding work it was decided to respect the original Gothic style. Since the 16th century, the palace has been linked to the prison by the Bridge of Sighs.
As well as being the ducal residence, the palace housed political institutions of the Republic of Venice until the Napoleonic occupation of the city in 1797. In 1866 Venice became part of Italy. By the end of the 19th century, the structure was showing clear signs of decay, and the Italian government set aside significant funds for its restoration and all public offices were moved elsewhere except the State Office for the protection of historical Monuments, which is still housed at the palace’s loggia floor. In 1923, the Italian State entrusted the management to the Venetian municipality to be run as a museum.
