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Italian cities and landscapes: pure beauty.

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1M views 4K replies 123 participants last post by  keepthepast 
#1 · (Edited)
Italy is often called "il Bel Paese", " The beautiful country" and I think that this is well deserved. More than 20.000 castles, more than 5.000 historical villas only in Veneto region, many little medieval villages or renaissance towns and a lot of beautiful natural wonders as Dolomites, Frasassi Caves .....
Italy is the the country in the world with the higher number of Unesco World Heritage sites : 50.
In this thread I'm going to show some of the wonders lying inside its beautiful countrysides , villages and cities. I hope you'll enjoy .

Vicenza, Veneto



Piazza dei Signori

Vicenza, Italy di Augusto Mia Battaglia photography, su Flickr


Vicenza, Italy di Augusto Mia Battaglia photography, su Flickr


Vicenza, Italy di Augusto Mia Battaglia photography, su Flickr


Vicenza, Italy di Augusto Mia Battaglia photography, su Flickr


Vicenza, Italy di Augusto Mia Battaglia photography, su Flickr


Piazza dei Signori Vicenza di Albert dj, su Flickr


Piazza dei Signori2 di Giorgio Meneghetti, su Flickr


Vicenza Piazza dei Signori di Onufrij, su Flickr


Pallazo Chiericati, Vicenza, Italy di vabellon, su Flickr

Palazzo Chiericati

20110504-Veneto, Italy 3165 di R H Kamen, su Flickr


Palazzo Chiericati, Vicenza di twiga_swala, su Flickr

Teatro Olimpico

Teatro Olimpico di Andreaux, su Flickr


Teatro Olimpico - Vicenza (the oldest surviving enclosed theatre in the world) Vicenza di elevationus, su Flickr

Chiesa di S. Lorenzo

per Siro e Anna .... di giorgio 12, su Flickr

Cattedrale di S. Maria Annunciata

136_4_Vicenza Cattedrale di santamaria annunciata, esterno (costruite v sec su modello è Sant'ambrogio.mi di suzywong12, su Flickr

Corso Palladio

0524_Vicenza_40 di jacobdugo, su Flickr


Vicenza di dvdbramhall, su Flickr


Palazzo Da Schio - detta Ca' d'Oro di sangiopanza2000, su Flickr


Basilica seen from Corso Andrea Palladio di grosbeak_1, su Flickr
 
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20
#3,482 · (Edited)
Parco degli Acquedotti, Roma - Lazio

The Parco degli Acquedotti is a public park in Rome, Italy. It is part of the Appian Way Regional Park and is of approximately 240 ha. The park is named after the aqueducts that go through it. It is crossed on one side by the Aqua Felix and also contains part of the Aqua Claudia and the remains of Villa delle Vignacce to the North West. A short stretch of the original Roman Via Latina can also be seen. The park is served by the subway stations Lucio Sestio and Giulio Agricola (line A).

Although just 8 km from the centre of Rome, the park has been protected from development and retains a rustic air. Towards the South and East of the park crops are still grown and sheep can be found grazing. Partly due to its proximity to Rome's movie studios at Cinecittà, the park is often used as a film location. Perhaps the most memorable scene is the opening shot of La Dolce Vita where we see a statue of Christ suspended from a helicopter flying along the Aqua Claudia.

Parco degli Acquedotti by THuebert, su Flickr

acquedotto-e-fieno- by Silvia Vido, su Flickr

parco degli acquedotti (roma) by federico, su Flickr

Senza titolo by Zoltan Bartalis, su Flickr

Parco degli Acquedotti - 8 by Luigi Colavincenzo, su Flickr


Roma-parco degli acquedotti03 [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], di iessi (Flickr), da Wikimedia Commons

sunset at the park by roberto coletta, su Flickr

Parco degli Acquedotti - On The Run - HDR by The.Dark.Passenger., su Flickr

Parco degli Acquedotti - Acquedotto romano - HDR by The.Dark.Passenger., su Flickr

Parco degli Acquedotti by Alessia Massimi, su Flickr
 
#3,487 ·
Cappella San Severo, Napoli - Campania

Sculptural masterpieces

The Cappella Sansevero (also known as the Capella Sansevero de' Sangri or Pietatella) is a chapel located on Via Francesco de Sanctis 19, just northwest of the church of San Domenico Maggiore, in the historic center of Naples, Italy. The chapel is more properly named the Chapel of Santa Maria della Pietà, or the Pietatella. It contains works of art by some of the leading Italian artists of the 18th century.
Its origin dates to 1590 when John Francesco di Sangro, Duke of Torremaggiore, after recovering from a serious illness, had a private chapel built in what were then the gardens of the nearby Sansevero family residence, the Palazzo Sansevero. The building was converted into a family burial chapel by Alessandro di Sangro in 1613 (as inscribed on the marble plinth over the entrance to the chapel). Definitive form was given to the chapel by Raimondo di Sangro, Prince of Sansevero, who also included Masonic symbols in its reconstruction. Until 1888 a passageway connected the Sansevero palace with the chapel.

The chapel received its alternative name of Pietatella from a painting of the Virgin Mary (La Pietà), spotted there by an unjustly arrested prisoner, as reported in the book "Napoli Sacra" by Cesare d'Engenio Caracciolo in 1623. When the chapel was constructed it was originally dedicated to Santa Maria della Pietà, after the painting.
he chapel houses almost thirty works of art, among which are three idiosyncratic sculptures. These statues are emblematic of the love of decoration in late-Baroque, and are made of a marble-like substance that, in whole or in part, was invented by Raimondo.[3] Raimondo also participated in the design of the works of art in the chapel. The Veiled Truth (Pudizia, also called Modesty or Chastity) was completed by Antonio Corradini in 1750 as a tomb monument dedicated to Cecilia Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona, mother of Raimondo. A Christ Veiled under a Shroud (also called Veiled Christ), shows the influence of the veiled Modesty, and was completed in 1753 by Giuseppe Sanmartino. The Release from Deception (Disinganno) by Francesco Queirolo of Genoa serves as a monument to Raimondo's father.
The ceiling, the Glory of Paradise, was painted by Francesco Maria Russo in 1749. The original floor (most of the present one dates from 1901) was in black and white (said to symbolize good/evil) in the design of a labyrinth (a masonic symbol for "initiation").

In the basement there is a painting by the Roman artist Giuseppe Pesce, Madonna con Bambino, dating from around 1750. It was painted using wax-based paints of Raimondo di Sangro's own invention. The prince presented this painting to his friend Charles Bourbon, king of Naples.

 
#3,488 ·
#3,489 · (Edited)
"Piscina Mirabilis", Bacoli - Campania

The Piscina Mirabilis was a freshwater cistern on the Bacoli cliff at the western end of the Gulf of Naples, southern Italy. One of the largest freshwater cisterns built by the ancient Romans, it was situated there in order to provide the Roman western imperial fleet at Portus Julius with drinking water.

The cistern was dug entirely out of the tuff cliff face and was 15 metres high/deep (c. 49 feet), 72 metres long (c. 236 feet), and 25 metres wide (c. 82 feet). The capacity/volume was 12,600 cubic metres (c. 445,000 cubic feet) . It was supported by vaulted ceilings and 48 pillars. It was supplied with water from the main Roman aqueduct, the Aqua Augusta, that brought water from sources in Serino near Avellino, 100 kilometres distant, to Naples.

The ancient cistern is in private hands but parts of it may still be visited

Panoramica golfo di Pozzuoli by Marianna, su Flickr

grey&green by Max, su Flickr

piscina mirabilis by janeau, su Flickr

Bacoli: Piscina Mirabilis by Nigel Turner, su Flickr

Archeoarchipnosi by francesco grossi, su Flickr
 
#3,494 ·
Vetulonia, Toscana

Vetulonia, formerly called Vetulonium (Etruscan Vatluna), was an ancient town of Etruria, Italy, the site of which is probably occupied by the modern village of Vetulonia, which up to 1887 bore the name of Colonnata and Colonna di Buriano: the site is currently a frazione of the comune of Castiglione della Pescaia, with some 400 inhabitants.

Vetulonia has Etruscan origins. It was, by 600 BC, part of the Etruscan League of twelve cities. Dionysius of Halicarnassus places the city within the Latin alliance against Rome in the seventh century BC. According to Silius Italicus (Punica VIII.485ff), the Romans adopted their magisterial insignia, the Lictors' rods and fasces and the curule seat, from Vetulonia; in 1898, a tomb in the necropolis was discovered with a bundle of iron rods with a double-headed axe in the centre, and soon afterwards, a grave stela inscribed for Avele Feluske was discovered, on which the fasces were pictured. Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy also mention the town. The rich votive furnishing from the two extensive necropoleis attest to the importance of Vetulonia's elite.

The Mura dell'Arce (cyclopean walls) date probably from the 6th-5th century BC, and aerial photography has revealed further stretches, which show the political and commercial importance of Vetulonia, which was famous for its goldsmiths. Under the Roman Empire, however, it shrank to a secondary center, with the northward spread of malaria. Little is known also about medieval Vetulonia: first fought over by the abbots of San Bartolomeo di Sestinga and the Lambardi family of Buriano, it was acquired by the commune of Massa Marittima in 1323. Nine years later it was handed over to Siena.

The site of the ancient city was not identified before 1881. The Etruscan city situated on the hill of Colonna di Buriano, where there are remains of city walls of massive limestone, in almost horizontal courses, was accompanied by two necropoleis partly excavated by Isidoro Falchi in 1885-86; the town was renamed Vetulonia by royal decree in 1887.

The objects discovered in its extensive seventh-century necropolis, where over 1,000 tombs have been excavated, are now in the museums of Grosseto and Florence. The most important tombs, in this "richest and most interesting tomb group of northern Etruria", were covered by tumuli, which still form a prominent feature in the landscape.

Tra valli e colline di Maremma - Valleys and hills of Maremma by Jambo Jambo, su Flickr


PanoramaVetulonia [CC BY-SA 2.5 it (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/it/deed.en)], by Trapanator at it.wikipedia, from Wikimedia Commons

Vetulonia hdr by luciotnt, su Flickr

Vetulonia by Cesare Fratini, su Flickr

Vetulonia by Francesco Santini, su Flickr

Vetulonia by Francesco Santini, su Flickr

Vetulonia by Francesco Santini, su Flickr

Vetulonia by Francesco Santini, su Flickr

Vetulonia Gr Toscana by Ivan Galli, su Flickr

Vetulonia Gr Toscana by Ivan Galli, su Flickr
 
#3,497 · (Edited)
Palazzo Colonna, Roma - Lazio

The Palazzo Colonna is a palatial block of buildings in central Rome, Italy, at the base of the Quirinal Hill, and adjacent to the church of Santi Apostoli. It is built in part over ruins of an old Roman Serapeum, and has belonged to the prestigious Colonna family for over twenty generations.

History
The first part of the palace dates from the 13th century, and tradition holds that the building hosted Dante in his visit to Rome. The first documentary mention notes that the property hosted Cardinal Giovanni and Giacomo Colonna in the 13th century.
the palace was sacked during feuds, and the main property passed into the hands of the Della Rovere family. It returned to the Colonna family when Marcantonio I Colonna married Lucrezia Gara Franciotti Della Rovere, the niece of pope Julius II. The Colonna's alliance to the Habsburg power, likely protected the palace from looting during the Sack of Rome (1527).
Starting with Filippo Colonna (1578–1639) many changes have refurbished and create a unitary complex around a central garden. Architects including Girolamo Rainaldi and Paolo Marucelli labored on specific projects. Only in the 17th and 18th centuries were the main facades completed, one facing Piazza SS. Apostoli and the other Via della Pilotta. Much of this design was completed by Antonio del Grande (including the grand gallery), and Girolamo Fontana (decoration of gallery). In the 18th century, the long low facade designed by Nicola Michetti with later additions by Paolo Posi with taller corner blocks (facing Piazza Apostoli) was constructed recalls earlier structures resembling a fortification.

Colonna Art Gallery
The main gallery (completed 1703) and the masterful Colonna art collection was acquired after 1650 by both the cardinal Girolamo I Colonna and his nephew the Connestabile Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna and includes works by Lorenzo Monaco, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Palma the Elder, Salviati, Bronzino, Tintoretto, Pietro da Cortona, Annibale Carracci (painting of The Beaneater), Guercino, Francesco Albani, Muziano and Guido Reni. Ceiling frescoes by Filippo Gherardi, Giovanni Coli, Sebastiano Ricci, and Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari celebrate the role of Marcantonio II Colonna in the battle of Lepanto (1571). An Apotheosis of Martin V was painted by Benedetto Luti. There are frescoed apartments completed after 1664 by Crescenzio Onofri, Gaspard Dughet and Pieter Mulier II (nicknamed Cavalier Tempesta). Other rooms were frescoed in the 18th century by Pompeo Batoni and Pietro Bianchi. The gallery is open to the public on Saturday mornings, featuring free guided tours in English at 11.45 a.m.

The older wing of the complex known as the Princess Isabelle's apartments, but once housing Martin V's library and palace, contains frescoes by Pinturicchio, Antonio Tempesta, Crescenzio Onofri, Giacinto Gimignani, and Carlo Cesi. It contains a collection of landscapes and genre scenes by painters like Gaspard Dughet, Caspar Van Wittel (Vanvitelli), and Jan Brueghel the Elder.

Along with the possessions of the Doria-Pamphilij and Pallavacini-Rospigliosi families, this is one of the largest private art collections in Rome.


Trevi - palazzo colonna e basilica santi apostoli 01 [Public domain], by user:Lalupa (Own work), from Wikimedia Commons


Trevi - via IV novembre e palazzo colonna 01 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) o CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], di Lalupa (Opera propria), da Wikimedia Commons


Palazzo Colonna Hoffassade [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], di Peter1936F (Opera propria), da Wikimedia Commons


Palazzo colonna, giardino verso santi apostoli 00 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], by sailko (Own work), from Wikimedia Commons


Palazzo colonna, giardini 03 [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], di Sailko (Opera propria), da Wikimedia Commons

IMG_9394.jpg by killer joe, su Flickr


Palazzo colonna, galleria 01 [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], di Sailko (Opera propria), da Wikimedia Commons


Palazzo colonna, galleria 02 [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], di Sailko (Opera propria), da Wikimedia Commons


Palazzo colonna, appartamenti di donna isabella, salone con affreschi di giacinto geminiani 01 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) o CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], di sailko (Opera propria), da Wikimedia Commons


Palazzo colonna, appartamento della principessa isabelle, sala del dughet, 02 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) o CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], di sailko (Opera propria), da Wikimedia Commons


Palazzo colonna, sala del trono 01 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) o CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], di sailko (Opera propria), da Wikimedia Commons


Palazzo colonna, sala della cappella 01 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) o CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], di sailko (Opera propria), da Wikimedia Commons


Sebastiano Ricci, allegoria della Battaglia di Lepanto, 1695 circa 03 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) o CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], di sailko (Opera propria), da Wikimedia Commons


Giovanni Coli e Filippo Gherardi, storie della battaglia di lepanto, 1675-78, 12 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) o CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], di sailko (Opera propria), da Wikimedia Commons


Consolle intagliate con turchi prigionieri, su disegno di filippo Schor 05 [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], di Sailko (Opera propria), da Wikimedia Commons


Palazzo colonna, appartamenti di donna isabella, arazzo con stemma colonna [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) o CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], di sailko (Opera propria), da Wikimedia Commons
Io
 
#3,500 ·
Parrano, Umbria

Parrano by Luca, su Flickr

Italy_Parrano_hilltown-1904 by Erik Schmitt, su Flickr

Parrano 018 by artnbarb, su Flickr


Passeggiata de sanctis [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], by Avicenna07 at it.wikipedia (Transferred from it.wikipedia), from Wikimedia Commons


Via xx settembre [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], by Avicenna07 at it.wikipedia (Transferred from it.wikipedia), from Wikimedia Commons
 
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