The Millennium Experience

No city in Italy can match Florence’s stupefying artistic wealth, important paintings and sculptures are everywhere; no where in Italy and perhaps in all Europe, is the act of looking at art more rewarding. The city is unique and incomparable and an astonishing percentage of the great artists of the Renaissance lived and worked there: Leonardo, Raffaello and Michelangelo. Florence is the resulting marriage between the very old and the very new : it is a bustling metropolis that has managed to preserve its predominantly medieval street plan and predominantly renaissance infrastructure while successfully adapting to the demands of 20th century life.
People looking for accomodation can find many Florence hotels. Room rates are very unsteady during the year therefore it’s better if you hotel search on specialized websites.
Visitors who whish to live a short period as if they were in the medieval and renaissance age should come to Florence and enjoy its magic ancient atmosphere.
Around Florence
If you decide to stay in Florence and to visit the surrounding villages in the area of Greater Florence, city buses bring you to the village of Fiesole, and to the nearest of the various Medici Villas which where originally country retreats but are now consumed by the suburbs, 15 and 30 minutes by train or by bus away from here are Prato and Pistoia. The day trip are pleasant with their medieval ensembles Florentine inspired to the Renaissance art. On the way to Pisa, by train and by car, are worthwhile diversions to Vinci, Leonardo’s birthplace and to san Miniato. To visit Chianti, which is to the south, you need your own transport. As you probably know Chianti is one of the most famous wine regions in the World.
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Who has never been to Venice? Much as been said about this unique town, about its monuments, of the magic atmosphere of the Carnival and of its inhabitants. May be it is better not to say anything else about it ,but going there personally, admiring the wonderful view, discovering the masterpieces of art and architecture – where you will understand how beautiful Venice is the best advice. Venice hotels are really numerous and suitable for all the requirements. From singles to families, from thoughtless voyagers with low cash to rich people looking for luxury. But to avoid bad surprises is always better to make hotel reservation on time, even on the internet on the big websites specialized in rates comparison.
The beauty of Venice would be enough to make Veneto a unique region. But Veneto is not only this. There is so much to say about the richness of its territory that it would be impossible to make a list of all of them here. Which other region has the largest number of villages , most of which you can visit, masterpieces of art and architecture, how many gardens which are also beautiful, perfectioned in time, able to shine on their own, without the surrounding they are part of. There are many things to do if you go on holiday to Veneto : among these the discovering of handcraft. The first place to visit, famous for its gold smithry all over the world is Vicenza. This beautiful town rich of monuments is surrounded by a charming landscape, because of the beauty of the Berici Mountains, volcanic hills where every single hectare of land and every town are a discovery. Bassano del Grappa, nice town on the Brenta river, with a characteristic wooden bridge, not only famous for its pottery : in this area there are several workshops specialized in the production of artistic furniture. Of course we can’t forget the refined art of glass-making of Murano and the precious embroideries and laces of Burano, which make your trip here more interesting. Moving to Friuli Venezia Giulia we can see the landscape is quite the same, also here there is not one but two lagoons : the one of Marano and the one of Grado. The latter is a beautiful seaside resort partly surrounded by a pine-wood and it lies on a lagoon island, famous for its sand-bathing, made possible for its kind of sand, the only place exposed to the south of Adriatic. But we can’t say you know Friuli if you haven’t been to Trieste and Venezia Giulia, this town is located in a place full of characteristic views, among which the castle of Miramare, and the Muggia Bay famous seaside resort with its panoramic view. All the region is dominated by the Carso Mountains, rich of natural and environmental resources. Comment on the blog and suggest your travel advice. ... More

Roma, the ancient capital of the Roman Empire (and now the capital of Italy) was built on seven hills – the Palatine, the Capitoline, Esquiline, Viminal, Caelian, Aventine and Quirinal. Much of its ancient construction survives; you could easily spend a week just visiting the ruins of such imperial splendours as the Colosseum, the Forum and the Baths of Caracallá. In fact, you could divide Rome up into historical periods, spending a week investigating each one. The city centre is full of baroque churches and convents of great magnificence, and countless palaces. Renaissance and baroque, some of them are now galleries or museums; and then there is the Vatican City with Bernini’s magnificent Piazza San Pietro (St Peter’s Square) and the huge and sumptuous Basilica di San Pietro. The Vatican museums give access to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, but they include many other museums and galleries with paintings and sculpture from all periods. Visitors will also find that Rome is a noisy, breathlessly busy city. Finding Rome hotels especially during the summer is not easy, considering the huge amount of italians ad foreigns tourists that invades the city. Besides this often rates are not really convenients. Therefore is opportune to search directly on the internet hotel deals on specialized websites.
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Florence and Rome are known for art and architecture. Florence is known for the Renaissance and Rome for its artifacts. Milan, on the other hand, while usually associated with fashion is likewise rich in art and architecture. Instead of featuring just one period, Milan contains examples of art and architecture from different periods, namely, Gothic, Renaissance and neoclassical. The famous Duomo is an excellent example of Gothic architecture. The church of Sant’ Ambrogio was designed in romanesque architecture. Santa Maria delle Grazie was designed during the Renaissance, and the opera house La Scala is an example of neoclassical architecture. At a monestary next to Santa Maria delle Grazie, Leonardo da Vinci painted the mural of the Last Supper. Milan also has the Castello Sforzesco which contains one of Michelangelo’s last sculptures, the Rondanini Pietà. While this site by no means is meant to be authoritative, it nonetheless will allow you to become familiar with Milan’s art and architecture through links to other sites. Before starting the visit we find one of the Milan hotels right for our pockets. The city offers accomodations suitable for every requirement, from hostels, to bed and breakfast to cheap hotels, that are often findeable in the centre of the city.
Castello Sforzesco
The Sforzesco castle was built in 1450 by the Sforzesco family which ruled Milan and Lombardy between 1450 and 1535. The castle’s achitecture is that of the Romanesque period, the period during which the castle was built. The Sforzesco Castle museum contains the Rondanini Pietà (1553). This, Michelangelo’s last work, was carved during the last years of his life. Michelangelo Buonarotti, almost certainly the most famous artist produced by Western civilization is universally viewed as the supreme Renaissance artist. He created monumental works of painting, sculpture, and architecture. Through this vast and multifaceted body of artistic achievement, Michelangelo made an indelible imprint on the Western imagination. Michelangelo’s work is considered to exhibit an awesome spiritual and physical power and his works seem to have exhausted his personal energies as well as the tradition of humanism that reached its full fruition in the art, literature, and philosophy of his time. The unfinished nature of the Rondanini Pietà is an example of the aging artists struggle with the omnipresent power of death.
The Duomo
The Duomo, the largest of the Italian Gothic cathedrals, (begun c.1386), has come to symbolize the city of Milan. Located in Milan’s central square, the Duomo resembles later northern examples, of Gothic architecture. In general, Italian Gothic architecture makes use of the simplicity of horizontal space, afforded by Gothic architecture’s most characteristic features; rib vaulting and pointed arches, both widely used in Romanesque churches. Italian Gothic style usually avoided the soaring vertical scale and ornamental complexity of French and English cathedrals. The term Gothic was first used during the Italian Renaissance to characterize all the monuments of the Middle Ages because they were contemptuously regarded as the products of barbarian Goths and therefore utterly lacking in artistic merit. Subsequently, however, the term was restricted to the art and architecture of those centuries immediately following the Romanesque period and preceding the Renaissance. As the last medieval period, the Gothic age has now also come to be regarded as one of Europe’s outstanding artistic eras.
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Peccioli is a small town of about 5000 inhabitants in Tuscany. It is located on a low hill offering a wide panorama all over the Era Valley. It is a medieval town built thanks to the commitment of the counts of Gherardesca and it still retains the typical structure of that time with narrow alleys and lanes lined with shops prmeated by an old and fascinating atmosphere. ... More