32 Best Sights in Italy

At the heart of Vicenza, Piazza dei Signori contains the Palazzo della Ragione (1549), the project with which Palladio made his name by successfully modernizing a medieval building, grafting a graceful two-story exterior loggia onto the existing Gothic structure. Commonly known as Basilica Palladiana, the palazzo served as a courthouse and public meeting hall (the original Roman meaning of the term "basilica"). Walk around the loggia for grandstand views of the piazza, and the cavernous salon which hosts wonderful art exhibitions. Take a look also at the Loggia del Capitaniato, opposite, which Palladio designed but never completed.

Legend holds that Galileo conducted an experiment on the nature of gravity by dropping metal balls from the top of the 187-foot-high Leaning Tower of Pisa. Historians, however, say this legend has no basis in fact—which isn't quite to say that it's false. Work on this tower, built as a campanile (bell tower) for the Duomo, started in 1173. The lopsided settling began when construction reached the third story.

The architects attempted to compensate through such methods as making the remaining floors slightly taller on the leaning side, but the extra weight only made the problem worse. The settling continued, and, by the late 20th century, it had accelerated to such a point that many feared the tower would simply topple over, despite all efforts to prop it up. The structure has since been firmly anchored to the earth. Work to restore the tower to its original tilt of 300 years ago was launched in early 2000 and finished two years later. This involved removing some 100 tons of earth from beneath the foundation.

Reservations, which are essential, can be made online or by calling the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. It's also possible to arrive at the ticket office and book for the same day. Note, though, that children under eight aren't allowed to climb.

You can't miss the unusual square dome and thin, elaborate spire of this Turin landmark above the city's rooftops. This odd structure, built between 1863 and 1889, was intended to be a synagogue, but costs escalated and eventually it was bought by the city; it now houses the Museo Nazionale del Cinema (National Cinema Museum), a worthy sight for film buffs. At scheduled times on weekends, you can walk all the way up to the top of the dome, a journey not for the faint of heart (and not permitted for children under age six).

The dazzling funerary chapel of the Sangro di Sansevero princes combines noble swagger, overwhelming color, and a touch of the macabre—which expresses Naples perfectly. The chapel was begun in 1590 by Prince Giovan Francesco di Sangro to fulfill a vow to the Virgin if he were cured of a dire illness. The seventh Sangro di Sansevero prince, Raimondo, had the building modified in the mid-18th century and is generally credited for its current baroque styling, the noteworthy elements of which include the splendid marble-inlay floor and statuary, including Giuseppe Sanmartino's spine-chillingly lifelike Cristo Velato (Veiled Christ).

At the Villa Barbaro (1554) near the town of Maser, you can see the exquisite results of a onetime collaboration between two of the greatest artists of their age: Palladio was the architect, and Paolo Veronese did the interiors. You can easily spend a couple of hours here, so set aside time for lingering in the gorgeous grounds, admiring the honey-hue exterior and ornate statuary, including the dreamlike nymphaeum and pool. A visit is particularly immersive because the superb condition of the grounds and interior creates an uncanny atmosphere: nowhere else in the Veneto do you get such a vivid feeling for the combination of grandeur and leisure with a tangible whiff of a working farm.

Villa Barbaro, a short drive from Asolo, is most accessible by private car; the closest train station is Montebelluna. Buses leave for Maser from the bus station at Treviso, Montebelluna, or Bassano di Grappa. The bus will leave you at a stop about 1½ km (1 mile) from Maser. Hours can vary, so check the website.

Being an independent nation based on commerce, Venice in the 16th and 17th centuries was the premier European city for inventions, patents, and research. Midwives, for example, were required by the Ministry of Health to be able to read, to be certified to have spent two years attending anatomical dissections relating to obstetrics, to have spent two years as an assistant to an approved midwife, and to have passed a final examination conducted not only by doctors, but two midwives who were permitted to question the candidate. In the 1770s obstetric surgeon Giovanni Menini paid for the construction of an anatomy theater where not only midwives, but also surgeons, were taught. The building is now used for civic functions. The adjacent bridge is named the Ponte de l'Anatomia.

This lovely Gothic baptistery, which faces the Duomo's facade, is best known for the pulpit carved by Nicola Pisano (circa 1220–84; father of Giovanni Pisano) in 1260. Every half hour, an employee will dramatically close the doors, then intone, thereby demonstrating how remarkable the acoustics are in the place.

The Gothic bell tower designed by Giotto (circa 1266–1337) is a soaring structure of multicolor marble originally decorated with sculptures by Donatello and reliefs by Giotto, Andrea Pisano, and others (which are now in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo). A climb of 414 steps rewards you with a close-up of Brunelleschi's cupola on the Duomo next door and a sweeping view of the city.

The galleria was erected during the "cleanup" of Naples following the devastating cholera epidemic of 1884. With facades on Via Toledo—the most animated street in Naples at the time—the Liberty-style arcade with curvy glass and wrought-iron dome and vaulted wings, built between 1887 and 1890 according to a design by Emanuele Rocco, had a prestigious and important location.

Two landmark medieval towers, mentioned by Dante in The Inferno, stand side by side in the compact Piazza di Porta Ravegnana. Once, every family of importance had a tower as a symbol of prestige and power (and as a potential fortress). Now only 24 remain out of nearly 100 that once presided over the city. Torre Garisenda (late 11th century), which tilts 4 degrees (Pisa's leans 3.9), was shortened to 157 feet in the 1300s. Torre degli Asinelli (1119) is 318 feet tall and leans 7½ feet; both towers and the piazza are currently closed to visitors while the tottering Torre Garisenda is being carefully monitored.

Set behind what could be, save for the palm trees, a very English expanse of lawn, this salmon-pink building with its Athenian-style porch was built in 1826 for Ferdinand Acton, the son of English aristocrat Sir John Acton. In 1841, it was bought by the Rothschild banking family, who brought in Gaetano Genovese—he of the Palazzo Reale's sumptuous staircase—to design the Salotto Rosso and the ballroom.

The villa then passed to a distant ancestor of Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, and eventually went to the Italian State in 1955. Attractions here include a sumptuous collection of porcelain and a biblioteca-discoteca—an archive of classical and operatic records. The villa also contains paintings that are part of Banco di Napoli's collection, including works by masters of Neapolitan Baroque, as well as 18th- and 19th-century landscapes.

Near the Collegiata stands this splendid town palace, named after the family to whom the Medici bestowed San Quirico in 1667. Small art exhibitions are occasionally displayed in the palace courtyard, and the tourist office is here. The rest of the building is closed to the public.

Easy to miss despite its vicinity to Piazza San Marco, this Renaissance-Gothic palace is accessible only through a narrow backstreet that connects Campo Manin with Calle dei Fuseri. Built around 1500 for the renowned Contarini family, its striking six-floor spiral staircase, the Scala Contarini del Bovolo (bovolo means "snail" in Venetian dialect), is the most interesting aspect of the palazzo. You can start the climb up the 133 stairs every half hour between 9:30 am and 5:30 pm from late October to late February and 10 am to 6 pm from late February to late October (online booking recommended). Though there's not much to see inside the palazzo itself, except for a limited art collection including one work by Tintoretto, the views of Venice from the top of the staircase are worth a look.

Just off the southeast corner of Piazza Tasso, this palazzo was built in the 14th century in Catalan style but transformed into a Rococo-era showstopper, thanks to its exquisite Esedra Maiolicata (Majolica Courtyard, 1772). This was one of the many examples of majolica and faienceware created in this region, a highlight of Campanian craftsmen. (The most notable example is the Chiostro delle Clarisse at Naples's Santa Chiara.) In 1610 the palazzo became the Ritiro di Santa Maria della Pietà and today remains private, but you can view the courtyard beyond the vestryway. Its back wall—a trompe l'oeil architectural fantasia—is entirely rendered in majolica tile. As you leave the palazzo, note the unusual arched windows on the palace facade, a grace note also seen a few doors away at Palazzo Veniero (No. 14), a 13th-century structure with a Byzantine-Arab influence.

Many of Taormina's 14th- and 15th-century palaces have been carefully preserved. Especially beautiful is the crenellated Palazzo Corvaja, with characteristic black-lava and white-limestone inlays and the seat of the first Sicilian parliament in 1411. The interior is presently closed.

The easily distinguishable and now abandoned Palazzo d'Avalos—sometimes called Palazzo Reale or Il Castello—was the 17th-century residence of Innico d'Avalos, cardinal and mayor of Procida. The building was then used as a prison from the 1830s until 1988. Guided tours can be booked through the comune.

Tuscany's first town hall, built between 1208 and 1254, has a no-nonsense facade, fortress-like crenellations, and a five-sided tower. It later served as a model for other town halls throughout the region, including Florence's Palazzo Vecchio. The medallions that adorn the facade were added after the Florentines conquered Volterra. The town leaders still meet on the first floor in the Sala del Consiglio, which is open to the public and has a mid-14th-century fresco of the Annunciation.

This classic Renaissance palace facing the Basilica di San Petronio was erected from 1484 to 1494, and attached to it is the soaring Torre dell'Arengo. The bells in the tower have rung whenever the city has celebrated, mourned, or called its citizens to arms. It may not be open to the public, but head under the palazzo's atmospheric vaulted arches to experience the resonant magic of the Voltone del Podestà: whisper into the right-angled brick walls below a saintly statue to communicate with a pal opposite.

Sant'Agnello's two most famous estates sit side by side. In the early 19th century, the Jesuit Cocumella monastery was transformed into a hotel, welcoming the rich and famous. Next door is the Parco dei Principi, a hotel built by Gio Ponti in 1962 surrounded by a botanical park laid out in 1792 by the Count of Siracusa, a cousin to the Bourbons. Traversed by a diminutive Bridge of Love, this was a favorite spot for Désireé, Napoléon's first amour, who came here often. Shaded by horticultural rarities, this park leads to the count's Villa di Poggio Siracusa, a Rococo-style iced birthday cake of a house perched over the bay.

Green thumbs and other circumspect visitors can stroll through the romantic park, now part of the Hotel Parco dei Principi. It's notable for Ponti's alluring nautical design motifs and features, including a pool straight out of a David Hockey painting.

Occupying a rather unkempt pedestrianized piazza, this elegant ceremonial gateway is one of Naples's finest Renaissance landmarks. Ferdinand II of Aragon commissioned the Florentine sculptor and architect Giuliano da Maiano to build this white triumphal arch—perhaps in competition with the Arco di Trionfo found on the facade of the city's Castel Nuovo—in the late 15th century. As at Castel Nuovo, this arch is framed by two peperino stone towers, here nicknamed Honor and Virtue, while the statue of Saint Gennaro keeps watch against Mt. Vesuvius in the distance. Across Via Carbonara stands the medieval bulk of the Castel Capuano, home to Angevin and Aragonese rulers until 1540, when it was transformed by the Spanish viceroy into law courts, a function it fulfilled until just a few years ago. On Sunday, this is a meeting place for Naples's extracomunitari (immigrants), who chat in their native tongues—from Ukrainian and Polish to Twi and Igbo.

The medieval gate in the Aurelian walls was replaced by the current one between 1562 and 1565, by Nanni di Bacco Bigio. Bernini further embellished the inner facade in 1655 for the much-heralded arrival of Queen Christina of Sweden, who had abdicated her throne to become a Roman Catholic.

Framed by two squat, circular towers, this gate was constructed at the beginning of the 5th century during a renovation of the 3rd century Aurelian Walls. Here you can see just how well the walls have been preserved and imagine hordes of Visigoths trying to break through them. Sturdy as they look, these walls couldn't always keep out the barbarians: Rome was sacked three times during the 5th century alone.

A striking 12th-century twin-tower structure, this medieval gateway stands on the spot where a road from ancient Rome entered the city. It is just steps uphill from Christopher Columbus's boyhood home.

With its oft-photographed bell towers and scenic location below Villa Rufolo, the deconsecrated church of Santissima Annunziata is one of Ravello's most recognizable features, dating from the 13th century, when it was constructed for the wealthy Fusco family. The adjoining oratory was the 15th-century seat of the flagellating Confraternity of Battent. The church is generally closed to the public except for special events, such as performances by chamber orchestras. For an up-close look at the exterior, exit the Villa Rufolo and take a sharp right to reach the Via dell'Annunziata stair path, which plummets you down the hillside right past the church and to the scenic Via della Repubblica.

The charming rose-colored building tucked beside the church of San Stae was the headquarters of the guilds of the gold "pullers" (gold wire and thread) and gold beaters (gold leaf). Although it was a very old guild, founded in 1420, it was one of the smallest (only 48 members); this building, not their first, was constructed in 1711, and closed in 1798, a year after the fall of the Venetian Republic. After changing hands several times, in the early 20th century it became the property of a Venetian antiques dealer, whose family still owns it today. While it is not open to the public, the building is used for elegant private events.

Enchanting showpiece of the Largo Dominova—the little square that is the heart of Sorrento's historic quarter—the Sedile Dominova is a picturesque open loggia with expansive arches, balustrades, and a green-and-yellow-tile cupola, originally constructed in the 16th century. The open-air structure is frescoed with 18th-century trompe-l'oeil columns and the family coats of arms, which once belonged to the sedile (seat), the town council where nobles met to discuss civic problems as early as the Angevin period. Today, Sorrentines still like to congregate around the umbrella-topped tables near the tiny square.

The most attractive art nouveau structure in town, Terme Tettuccio, has lovely colonnades. Here fountains set up on marble counters dispense mineral water, bucolic scenes painted on tiles decorate walls, and an orchestra plays under a frescoed dome.

The highest spot in Lucca is the top of this tower, which had its first mechanical clock in 1390. It's since contained several clocks over the centuries; the current timepiece was installed in 1754. The reward for climbing 207 steps to the top is a panoramic view of the town.

Dating from the time of Frederick II (1194–1250), the Torre di Federico II was destroyed during World War II. A point of civic pride for San Miniatans and visible for miles, the tower was rebuilt and reopened in 1958. The hapless, ill-fated Pier della Vigna, chancellor and minister to Frederick II, leaped to his death from the tower, earning a mention in Dante's Inferno. The hill on which the tower stands—a surprisingly large oval of green grass—is one of the loveliest places in the area to have a picnic, enjoy the 360-degree view, and perhaps join local children in a pickup game of calcio (soccer).

The tower of the medieval Palazzo Guinigi contains one of the city's most curious sights: a grove of holm oaks. It is said that they were planted by the Guinigi family at the top of the tower as a symbol of renewal, and their roots have pushed their way into the room below. From the top you have a magnificent view of the city and the surrounding countryside. (Only the tower is open to the public, not the palazzo.)