A tour guide at the back of the boat was pointing to some of the sites as the craft raced toward Bellagio (the real village not the hotel in Vegas). Italy’s lake region is one of the most picturesque spots in a country already stunning with beauty both designed by nature and by ancient architects. Lake Como’s shore is rich with stories of kings, sa...

THE CATTEDRALE DI PARMA SITS in one of Parma’s main squares. Construction on the massive cathedral began in 1059 at the behest of bishop Cadalo and was consecrated in 1106. With the passing of the centuries, it has been filled with Romanesque sculptures and other masterpieces from the Parma School of Painting. The entrance to the cathedral is guard...

Isolated inside our homes and apartments, our worlds have suddenly shrunk. But a striking project just made public by artists and brothers Parker and Clayton Calvert is a reminder of the expansive beauty of empty cities such as New York, Rome, Florence, and Siena. What is especially notable about their quiet images of some of the world’s most famou...

Certain secrets of the Colosseum are too unsettling to include in the average travel brochure. There are myths that even had its architects afraid. Not everything is dark about this ancient landmark though. It’s got quite the redemption arc that isn’t covered the same way that the gore and bloodshed are. The Colosseum has managed to stay relevant f...

Being the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, the northern region of Lombardy has been the worst affected and strained by the emergency, with the highest number of cases and deaths, and health facilities on the verge of collapse.   Definitely consider visiting this region when it is possible to travel again. Its capital, Milan, is a glo...

Museums and palaces may be closed, but the online world is more open than ever. Many cultural institutions in Italy are coping with the nationwide lockdown by opening their virtual doors to the public, offering alternative ways to see their art and architecture and to savor the culture through online tools, such as virtual tours, YouTube videos, en...

Ostia Antica gets EU recognition together with nine other sites in Europe. Rome. The archaeological area of Ostia Antica has been awarded the European Heritage Label by the EU, in recognition of its historical and cultural heritage. The news, announced by the EU Commission, saw a jury of independent experts award Ostia along with nine other heritag...

There is little comfort in the news these days: grim and frightening statistics that measure the relentless global march of the viral outbreak; reports of medical workers in many countries heroically treating patients in dire conditions; and stark images showing how much of the world has come to a standstill because of the health crisis. If there w...

Ferrara, a pleasant, bike-friendly small town in Emilia-Romagna, has been a Unesco World Heritage site since 1995, along with the surrounding agricultural lands of the vast Po river delta.  The area comprised within the Unesco site includes the medieval city within the ring of defensive walls that were erected starting in the 12th century, and subs...

Tra i canyon delle Dolomiti, nella città termale amata da Sissi (Merano) o a Bolzano, per scoprire la celebre mummia Ötzi, risalente ad oltre 5.000 anni fa. Per il momento, di viaggiare, a causa dell’emergenza Coronvirus, non se ne parla. Ma grazie alla tecnologia è possibile visitare musei, partecipare a laboratori creativi e «muoversi» tra le mer...