La Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte climbs to the church of St Mary of the Mount in Caltagirone, Sicily The Church of Saint Mary of the Mount in Caltagirone dates back to the 12th-century; its staircase is early 17th-century; but the majolica tiles that have made the staircase famous today were only placed […]
The cactus greenhouse at the Giardini Esotici Pallanca in Bordighera, where just some of the Garden’s 3,000 succulents are kept… Giacomo Pallanca left the olive oil trade in 1861 to work with the German botanist Ludwig Winter. His son Bartolomeo inherited his passion and in 1910 established the Pallanca Exotic Garden at Bordighera, a nursery […]
We love seeing your photos and this month we’ve got some fantastic snapshots from all over the Italian peninsula – enjoy! This month’s winner: “Modica 2013. Cathedral San Giorgio Cathedral with wedding.” by Jim Mabon, Stirling And more of our favourites this month… “Lago di Mergozzo is a small lake in northern Italy just […]
St Peter‘s (La Chiesa di San Pietro) in Portovenere stands on a promontory overlooking the Gulf of Poets Saint Peter’s at Portovenere is built on the site of a 5th-century church, and before that an earlier, pagan temple dedicated to Venus. It was consecrated in 1198 but its bands of black and white Carrara marble (the […]
The Devil’s Bridge is one of Italy’s most beautiful, and most strange… The Ponte della Maddalena, otherwise known as the Ponte del Diavolo, straddles the Serchio river at Borgo a Mozzano, in Lucca, Tuscany. No one knows for sure who built it, but the legend goes that it was St Julian, who required the help […]
The transhumance of livestock in Italy is a tradition that dates back centuries, even millennia… Transhumance, the act of moving livestock ‘across ground’ to new pastures, has been practised in Italy – and other parts of the world – for longer than anyone can remember. Recently, Italy, supported by Austria and Greece, asked to […]
The medieval castle of Santa Severa faces out to sea on the Lazio coast, just 40 minutes north of Rome The Castle of Saint Severa is named after a young girl whose entire family was martyred. Her father was a Roman military commander who converted to Christianity and was put to death for refusing to renounce […]
Keep sending us your Italian travel snaps for entry to our monthly photo competition. Here are our favourites for June! This month’s winner: “One of the canals in Venice during my holiday there in April. A delight around every corner!” by Jean Sawyer, North Charlton And more of this month’s best reader snaps… “This was taken […]
We love seeing your Italian snaps, and these are the winning photos for this month. Which is your favourite…? This month’s winner: “Boat trip from Panarea, heading to Stromboli. Summer 2017.” by Karen McKenna, Ushaw Moor And more of this month’s best reader snaps… “We have travelled around Italy during the past 30 years. This […]
Porticello Beach lies on the northeastern end of the island of Lipari, one of the glorious Aeolian Islands just north of Sicily… This pebbly beach on Lipari is notable for its content of pumice. Pumice mining was a major part of the island’s economy until 2000, when, as part of the deal for the Aeolian […]