A lot of blood has been shed here, in this house that Vespasian built. Too bad he never got to see the end product. It was completed a year after his death, in A.D. 80. Titus, Vespasian’s son, welcomed the completed arena in style and held games that lasted 100 days and nights. During the […]
Tag Archives | Italy
Chiesa del Gesù
Get your sunglasses out! Entering Rome’s most important Jesuit church, Chiesa del Gesù, is like looking directly at the sun. This overwhelming, stunning gold and marble interior was designed by Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, a pupil of Michelangelo’s. The centerpiece is the ceiling fresco, designed by Giovanni Battista Gauli, who also frescoed the cupola, including […]
Bar del Fico
We eyed this appealing restaurant twice, once on either side of the block, without realizing it was the same place, so schitzo is its décor. While the front is a cozy, eclectic bar/café, the back is an unusually modern, cavernous (for Rome) restaurant. The small menu of traditional, regional dishes contained the supposedly ubiquitous but […]
Santa Maria Sopra Minerva
This 13th century structure is the only Gothic church in Rome that was spared a total Baroque makeover. I say “total”, because the façade and part of its nave did not quite escape the 16th century Baroque chisel. The big draw is Michelangelo’s sculpture, Cristo della Minerva, or Christ Bearing the Cross. The church was […]
The Pantheon
Romans love their domes, and this is the mother of them all. This was the largest dome in the world until the 15th century. Don’t feel too bad, though, since it’s still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. The Pantheon originated in 27 B.C., when a temple was ordered by Marcus Agrippa. In […]
Madonnelle
You can’t walk five blocks in Rome without seeing a madonnelle, or small madonna, staring out at you. Really. There are over 700 of them on street corners in the historic center. The original concept dates back to pagan times when votive wall shrines were set up to honor the Lares, spirits believed to protect […]
Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore
This 16th-century Roman Catholic church was built to thank God for the deliverance of the city from a major outbreak of the plague. It was designed by Andrea Palladio and is a single nave church with three chapels on either side. The façade was inspired by the Parthenon and the 15 steps were in reference […]
Ca’Rezzonico, or Museo del Settecento Veneziano
Housed in a former palace, this museum showcases 18th-century arts in intimate salons. It’s a quite different experience than wandering through Gallerie dell’Accademia, that’s for sure. Make sure to look skyward for Tiepolo masterpieces and climb to the very top for Ciardi’s canal view pieces. Dorsoduro 3136, Venice
Cruising
Yikes! I saw multiple cruise ships come and go each day. They looked even larger than usual in this small city of islets.
