Top Reads this month
Dreaming of long walks in the Tuscan countryside? Don’t know where to go next with your summer recipes? We look at Florentine cuisine and the use of garlic, we survey a photographic overview of Italy,...
View ArticleItalia Icons – Michelangelo
It is perhaps the most famous statue in the world and a preeminent icon of the Renaissance, and of the city that produced the Renaissance… Michelangelo’s David was first commissioned in 1466, though...
View ArticleThe Angel of the Uffizi
Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici knew her family’s vast artistic collection was of immeasurable value to Florence Consider Mantua. Ruled by the powerful Gonzaga family for nearly four centuries, it became a...
View ArticleSwimming pools in Florence
Florence is a hot place to be, humid and sticky heat can only mean one thing, some cool relief in one of the cities’ pools. Costoli Near the Campo di Marte stadium, it’s the biggest and one of the most...
View Article5 Piazzas you just have to visit
Piazzas hold a special place at the heart of Italian life and Italy boasts some stunning examples. With so many it’s tricky to choose one, but we’ve narrowed down five favourites… 1. Piazza san Marco,...
View ArticleThe painting of Dante inside the Florentine cathedral
A painting often really does speak a thousand words, and in this one we get to dive into to the mystical world of Dante Inside the cathedral in Florence, just before the presbytery, on the left aisle...
View ArticleThe Forgotten Garden, Florence
Beyond the palazzo… now, rising elegantly up the slope was a series of manicured terraces, and a grand stairway climbing with them Oltrarno means ‘beyond the Arno’, and refers to the part of Florence...
View ArticleFlorence Art and Restoration Fair 2016 commemorate 50 years since the flood
Florence is now considered the capital of culture and restoration, a perfect setting for this fair… The International Art and Restoration Fair in Florence will take place from 9th to 11 November 2016 ....
View ArticleThe Floods of Florence 1966
Renaissance city’s worst natural disaster killed many and ruined great art and books This is one woman’s letter, who saw it all happen… Recollections by Mary Edmondson on the 50th anniversary of the...
View ArticleFast Art: The Duke and the Duchess
They are double-sided portraits, painted by Piero della Francesca, who was the court painter at the court of Urbino These portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino are amongst the most famous...
View ArticleVisit this winter wonderland in Florence
Located on the steps of the Basilica Santa Croce, the architectural jewel at the heart of the world famous Piazza Santa Croce, Florence’s annual Christmas market offers a shopping experience like no...
View ArticleViewpoint: The River Arno
Looking upstream into a Florence sunrise almost the colour of the city’s beloved football club’s shirt, we are, in one very real sense, looking towards the source of the Renaissance itself… The River...
View ArticleWhen in Florence, don’t miss out on these
There are so many fascinating sights in Florence, so many it could become overwhelming! Use this advice… Opera Di Santa Maria Del Fiore di Firenze A statue by Michelangelo, Brunelleschi’s death mask, a...
View ArticleThe Duomo in Florence is inviting visitors to leave ‘digital graffiti’
Florence Cathedral invites visitors to leave ‘Digital Graffiti’ Vandals are being welcomed to the the Duomo, in one way or another. Everywhere you go, you’ll notice that some tourists just could resist...
View ArticleFlorence’s famous gardens get will get a Gucci makeover
Gucci are going to fund a €2 million restoration of Florence’s popular Boboli gardens, the fashion house announced on Tuesday The Tuscan capital’s Uffizi art gallery will organise the restoration...
View ArticleHomes in: City Apartments
Italy has a bounty of jewel-like cities – small-sized, liveable and packed with beautiful buildings. They make excellent places to buy a home, offering easy holidaymaking and superb rental returns,...
View ArticleTop ten Italian cities for apartments
Incase you can’t decide on your ideal Italian city to settle in – we have made a list of the top cities for you to make the choice a bit clearer. 1. Rome – population 2,850,000 Italy’s brash, loud,...
View ArticleRailway Touring Company: Steaming into Tuscany
There are many ways to see Italy, but surely one of the most unique has to be by steam train. Mark Nicholls enjoys a nostalgic steam train tour across the Apennines from Rimini to Florence, then to...
View ArticleTuscany travel guide for opera lovers
If you love opera, where better to hear it than in Tuscany? All summer long, you can enjoy beautiful music in lovely Tuscan locales. From great accommodation to top spots for food and drink, Adrian...
View ArticleFlorence: home of poets
Jane Keightley stays at atmospheric Casa Guidi, the Florence apartment that Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett called home Photos by Jane Keightley Ever since my first trip to Florence I had always...
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