1473 Best Sights in Italy

The handsome Palazzo Patriarcale o Arcivescovile contains several rooms of frescoes by the young Gianbattista Tiepolo, painted from 1726 to 1732, which comprise the most important collection of early works by Italy's most brilliant 18th-century painter. The Galleria del Tiepolo (1727) contains superlative Tiepolo frescoes depicting the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Judgment of Solomon (1729) graces the Pink Room. There are also beautiful and important Tiepolo frescoes in the staircase, throne room, and palatine chapel of this palazzo. Even in these early works we can see the Venetian master's skill in creating an illusion of depth, not only through linear perspective, but also through subtle gradations in the intensity of the colors, with the stronger colors coming forward and the paler ones receding into space. Tiepolo was one of the first artists to use this method of representing space and depth, which reflected the scientific discoveries of perception and optics in the 17th century.

The Museo Diocesano here features sculptures from Friuli churches from the 13th through 18th centuries; and don't miss the magnificent library, the Biblioteca Arcivescovile Delfiniana.

Udine's fine civic collection of modern and contemporary art is housed in the handsome and part-modernized 16th-century Casa Cavazzini, which retains some ornate apartment interiors. The first and second floors display the permanent collection: first-floor highlights include bold sculptural works by the three Udinese brothers Dino, Mirko, and Afro Basaldella, with a backdrop of 14th-century frescoes discovered during the 2012 refurbishing. There are also fine works by Giorgio Morandi, Renato Guttuso, and Carlo Carrà. Up a floor is the Collezione Astaldi, spanning the 1920s through the 1960s, and Collezione FRIAM, with '60s and '70s works. Worth seeking out are Giorgio de Chirico's I Gladiatori (1931) and pieces by 20th-century American icons Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, and Sol LeWitt. 

Il Santuario di Hera Lacinia (Sanctuary of Hera Lacinia) was once one of the most important shrines of Magna Graecia. Only one column remains standing, but the site (known as Capo Colonna because of that single pillar) occupies a stunning position on a promontory 11 km (7 miles) south of the town of Crotone. The ruins are part of a vast park, which also contains a well-appointed museum documenting finds from prehistory to the Roman era. The sanctuary itself, which dates from the 7th century BC, is fenced off for safety reasons, but a walkway allows viewing.

The Egyptian Museum's superb collection includes statues of pharaohs and mummies and entire frescoes taken from royal tombs. The striking sculpture gallery, designed by the Oscar-winning production designer Dante Ferretti, is a veritable who's who of ancient Egypt. Look for the magnificent 13th-century-BC statue of Ramses II and the fascinating Tomb of Kha. The latter was found intact with furniture, supplies of food and clothing, and writing instruments.

Also known as the Museo del Costume, this ethnographic collection is a must for anyone interested in the cultural context of Sardinia's customs and traditions. Among the 8,000 items in the museum's collection, you can view domestic and agricultural implements, splendid jewelry, traditional musical instruments, and dozens of local costumes. Audio guides are available, and guided tours can be booked. The nearby park on Sant'Onofrio Hill affords magnificent views over Nuoro and the surrounding country.

An extraordinary collection of Etruscan relics is made all the more interesting by clear explanations in English. The bulk of the collection is comprised of roughly 700 carved funerary urns. The oldest, dating from the 7th century BC, were made from tufa (volcanic rock). A handful are made of terra-cotta, but most—dating from the 3rd to 1st century BC—are done in alabaster. The urns are grouped by subject, and, taken together, they form a fascinating testimony about Etruscan life and death.

Wannabe restauranteur Luciano Faggiano excavated fascinating discoveries when he bought this building and investigated the blocked toilet back in the year 2000. After initially finding a false floor that led to a Messapian tomb, more digging with the help of family and friends unearthed incredible artifacts including Roman devotional bottles, ancient vases, a ring with Christian symbols, and dusty frescoes. With encouragement and help from the Lecce government and university, an atmospheric homespun museum was born that allows visitors to explore the layers of history beneath the site's seemingly mundane masonry and toilet cisterns. The sprawling roof terrace affords wonderful views over the city. 

The life and magical cinematic oeuvre of Rimini's favorite 20th-century son, the celebrated film director Federico Fellini, is explored in depth at this wonderfully atmospheric and suitably dreamlike museum, opened in 2021. Spread over three sites—Castel Sismondo, Palazzo del Fulgor, and Piazza Malatesta—and through multimedia, sculpture, iconic film props, costumes, playful installations, and archive material, the exhibits chart the maestro's formative and Italian cinema's golden years. Fellini's artistic friends and collaborators are center-stage, too: screens project clips of Giulietta Masina in La Strada (1956) and Marcello Mastroianni in La Dolce Vita (1960), the evocative music of Nino Rota scores enliven every corner, and there's a Fellini-esque sculpture of a reposing Anita Ekberg. Palazzo del Fulgor, and the cinema immortalized in Fellini's semi-autobiographical love letter to Rimini, Amarcord (1973), has a changing program of Fellini's filmography.

One of Bagheria's most impressive palaces, Villa Cattolica has been meticulously renovated and converted into a gallery devoted to the artist Renato Guttuso (1911–87), who was born in the town. Guttuso's fierce, expressionist style and vivid sense of color made him one of Sicily's most renowned modern artists, and the gallery traces his career from his earliest sketches in the 1920s and 1930s to his later bold canvases, including his last work, a huge collective portrait of his mistresses and muses. Guttuso started his career painting carretti (farmer's carts) in the traditional style and the first rooms feature a collection of painted carts. The gallery also hosts work by Guttuso's peers and contemporaries, and a separate building holds an exhibition of Italian film posters, including one for the film Kaos, designed by Guttuso. The artist's tomb lies in the villa's garden.

Ancient Akragas (the Greek name for Agrigento) was synonymous with decadence and excess, a lifestyle perfectly summed up by the philosopher Plato who remarked that its people "built as if they are going to live forever, and eat as if they will never eat again." This museum is testimony to the fact that the people of Akragas had the means to buy the very best, from the high quality of the red-figured Greek banqueting ware to scenes on some of the magnificent kraters (used for mixing wine and water) that evoke life at an ancient dinner party in vivid detail. Look out as well for the double-walled wine jar, with space between its two walls for snow to chill the wine.  Save time by buying your tickets in advance online.

Housed in three magnificent buildings and partly remodeled by influential Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, the Revoltella provides a stimulating survey of 19th- and 20th-century art and decoration. Building on the bequeathment of the grand palazzo and art of Triestino collector-industrialist Pasquale Revoltella (1795–1869), the institution has continued to add important artworks from the Venice Biennale by the likes of Carrà, Mascherini, Morandi, de Chirico, Manzù, Fontana, and Burri. In contrast, a gorgeous cochlear staircase connects the three floors of the museum: its history and 1850–60 cityscapes are on the ground floor; 19th-century classical statuary, portraits, and historic scenes take up the first; while the third preserves opulent saloni.

A shrine to footwear, the shoes in this dramatically displayed collection were designed by Salvatore Ferragamo (1898–1960) beginning in the early 20th century. Born in southern Italy, Ferragamo jump-started his career in Hollywood by creating shoes for the likes of Mary Pickford and Rudolph Valentino. He then returned to Florence and set up shop in the 13th-century Palazzo Spini Ferroni. The collection includes about 16,000 shoes, and those on display are frequently rotated. Special exhibitions are also mounted here and are well worth visiting—past shows have been devoted to Audrey Hepburn, Greta Garbo, and Marilyn Monroe.

Joseph Whitaker's former home on Mozia island now holds the Museo Whitaker, displaying a good selection of the finds excavated on the island. As you enter, you'll see useful aerial photographs and models showing the island now and as it might have looked under Carthaginian rule. Most of the exhibits consist of steles, pottery, painted vases, and a scattering of spearheads and jewelry, but the centerpiece is the so-called youth of Motya, an elegantly sinuous life-size statue of a poised young man, one hand resting on his hip, exuding a powerful air of self-assurance. The statue is also known as the "charioteer,"  though there is no evidence that this was his role.

Outside the museum, walk in any direction to take in the dispersed archaeological site. You can't go wrong tracing the perimeter of the island, which will bring you to the Tophet (shrine and burial ground) on the northern shore, and the Cappiddazzu sanctuary, close to where the youth of Mozia was unearthed. There is little above thigh height until you come to such imposing structures as the north gate, the city's main entrance that stood at the end of a causeway (now submerged) that formerly linked it to the Sicilian mainland; the eastern tower; and the remains of the sturdy Carthaginian city walls. There are panels and charts throughout, providing explanations and background on what you're seeing.

Allow at least three hours for a thorough exploration of the museum and island, or longer if you want to bring a picnic lunch or pick up a snack at the café. Sunhats are strongly recommended.

In medieval times, a network of navigli, or canals, crisscrossed the city. Almost all have been covered over, but two—Naviglio Grande and Naviglio Pavese—are still navigable. The area's chock-full of boutiques, art galleries, cafés, bars, and restaurants, and at night the Navigli serves up a scene about as close as you will get to southern Italian–style street life in Milan. On weekend nights, it is difficult to walk among the youthful crowds thronging the narrow streets along the canals. Check out the antiques fair on the last Sunday of the month from 9 to 6. During the summer months, be sure to put on some mosquito repellent.

The narrow promontory outside Pula was the site of a Phoenician, Carthaginian, and then, later, Roman settlement that was first inhabited some 2,800 years ago. Nora was a prime location as a stronghold and an important trading town; Phoenician settlers scouted for good harbors, cliffs to shelter their craft from the wind, and an elevation from which they could defend themselves. An old Roman paved road passes the temple ruins, which include baths, a Roman theater, and an amphitheater now used for summer music festivals.

The Venetian Republic ordered the creation of Padua's botanical garden in 1545 to supply the university with medicinal plants, and it retains its original layout. You can stroll the arboretum—still part of the university—and wander through hothouses and beds of plants that were introduced to Italy in this late-Renaissance garden. A St. Peter's palm, planted in 1585, inspired Goethe to write his 1790 essay, "The Metamorphosis of Plants." The wonderful museum opened here in 2023, contains fascinating botanical collections and multimedia displays that explore the garden's history and evolution of plant use in medicine.

In the courtyard of the 16th-century Palazzo Marigliano is this world-famous hospital for dolls, which has a small museum dedicated to its poignant mission. Doll limbs, eyes and well-cuddled, antique characters of all shapes and descriptions spill from packed shelves. In business since 1895, it's a wonderful place to take kids (and their injured toys) and for anyone who retains a childhood sense of wonder with a penchant for the uncanny.

One of Italy's most majestic sights lies on the edge of a flat coastal plain: the remarkably preserved Greek temples of Paestum. This is the site of the ancient city of Poseidonia, founded by Greek colonists probably in the 6th century BC. When the Romans took it over in 273 BC, they Latinized the name to Paestum and changed the layout of the settlement, adding an amphitheater and a forum. Much of the archaeological material found on the site is displayed in the Museo Nazionale within the park, and several rooms are devoted to the unique tomb paintings—rare examples of Greek and pre-Roman pictorial art—discovered in the area.

At the northern end of the site opposite the ticket barrier is the Tempio di Cerere (Temple of Ceres). Built in about 500 BC, it is thought to have been originally dedicated to the goddess Athena. Follow the road south past the Foro Romano (Roman Forum) to the Tempio di Nettuno (Temple of Poseidon), a showstopping Doric edifice with 36 fluted columns and an entablature (the area above the capitals) that rivals those of the finest temples in Greece. Beyond is the so-called Basilica, which dates from the early 6th century BC. The name is an 18th-century misnomer, though, since it was, in fact, a temple devoted to Hera, the wife of Zeus. Try to see the temples in the early morning or late afternoon when the stone takes on a golden hue.

Just beyond the Arco di Tito, the Clivus Palatinus—the road connecting the Forum and the Palatine Hill—gently rises to the heights of the Colle Palatino (Palatine Hill), the oldest inhabited site in Rome. Now charmingly bucolic, with pines and olive trees providing shade in summer, this is where Romulus is said to have founded the city that bears his name, and despite its location overlooking the Forum's traffic and attendant noise, the Palatine was the most coveted address for ancient Rome's rich and famous. During the Roman Republic it was home to wealthy patrician families—Cicero, Catiline, Crassus, and Agrippa all had homes here—and when Augustus (who had himself been born on the hill) came to power, declaring himself to be the new Romulus, it would thereafter become the home of emperors. The Houses of Livia and Augustus (which you can visit with the S.U.P.E.R. ticket, for the same price as the Roman Forum admission) are today the hill's best-preserved structures, replete with fabulous frescoes. If you only have time for one, the House of Augustus is the more spectacular of the two. After Augustus's relatively modest residence, Tiberius extended the palace and other structures followed, notably the gigantic extravaganza constructed for Emperor Domitian which makes up much of what we see today.

One of Rome's most splendid 17th-century buildings is a Baroque landmark. The grand facade was designed by Carlo Maderno (aided by his nephew, Francesco Borromini), but when Maderno died, Borromini was passed over in favor of his great rival, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The palazzo is now home to the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, with a collection that includes Raphael's La Fornarina, a luminous portrait of the artist's lover (a resident of Trastevere, she was reputedly a baker's daughter). Also noteworthy are Guido Reni's portrait of the doomed Beatrice Cenci (beheaded in Rome for patricide in 1599)—Nathaniel Hawthorne called it "the saddest picture ever painted" in his Rome-based novel, The Marble Faun—and Caravaggio's dramatic Judith Beheading Holofernes.

The showstopper here is the palace's Gran Salone, a vast ballroom with a ceiling painted in 1630 by the third (and too-often-neglected) master of the Roman Baroque Pietro da Cortona. It depicts the Glorification of Urban VIII's Reign and has the spectacular conceit of glorifying Urban VIII as the agent of Divine Providence, escorted by a "bomber squadron" (to quote art historian Sir Michael Levey) of huge Barberini bees, the heraldic symbol of the family.

Dating from the 18th century but closed for most of the last four decades, the Palazzo Butera has been transformed by its gallerista owners, Massimo and Francesca Valsecchi, into one of Sicily’s (and Italy’s) most imaginative museum collections. Its labyrinthine rooms now display a heady mixture of old and new art. The collection’s strength lies in its bold juxtapositions, with works by an international roster of experimental modern artists of the likes of Gilbert and George, and David Tremlett, exhibited alongside classical landscapes and graceful Sicilian furniture from the 19th century. Painted ceilings remain from the palace's Baroque beginnings, some of them artfully peeled back to reveal the wooden construction behind them. Diverse temporary exhibitions displayed on the ground floor add to the mix. There’s a lot to take in, but if you need a break from all the hectic creativity, head for the terrace, accessed from the second floor, which provides benches and a walk around one of the two courtyards as well as views over the harbor. You can get even better views from the viewing platform reached from the roof, while further up, steps lead to a lofty view of the harbor, Monte Pellegrino, and, inland, the whole of the Conca d’Oro plain in which the city sits.

This is a true rarity: a Baroque residence whose original furniture, paintings, drapes, and decorations are largely intact. The Italian film director Luchino Visconti used the villa, which sits just at the end of Ariccia's famous bridge, for most of the interior scenes in his 1963 film The Leopard. The rooms of the piano nobile (main floor)—which, unlike Rome's Palazzo Chigi, are open to the public, but only on guided tours—contain intricately carved pieces of 17th-century furniture, as well as textiles and costumes from the 16th to the 20th century.

The Room of Beauties is lined with paintings of the loveliest ladies of the day, and the Nuns' Room showcases portraits of 10 Chigi sisters, all of whom took the veil. You can get a close look (with a guide) at Le Stanze del Cardinale (Cardinal's Rooms), the suites occupied by the pleasure-loving Cardinal Flavio Chigi.

Spoleto’s compact but delightful modern art museum, housed in an 18th-century palace, features a fine collection of works from Italian contemporary artists, including renowned Spoleto sculptor Leoncillo and Umbria-based American sculptor Barbara Pepper. International artists such as Alexander Calder and Richard Serra are also represented, and an entire room is devoted to a large-scale wall drawing by Sol Lewitt. The Appartamento Nobile is a reproduction of an 18th-century nobleman’s house, and the Pictures Gallery has paintings from the 16th to 19th centuries.

Rome's grandest private palace is a fusion of 17th- and 18th-century buildings that have been occupied by the Colonna family for more than 20 generations. The immense residence faces Piazza dei Santi Apostoli on one side and the Quirinale (Quirinal Hill) on the other—with a little bridge over Via della Pilotta linking to gardens on the hill—and contains an art gallery that's open to the public on Saturday morning or by guided tour on Friday morning.

The gallery is itself a setting of aristocratic grandeur; you might recognize the Sala Grande as the site where Audrey Hepburn meets the press in Roman Holiday. An ancient red marble colonna (column), which is the family's emblem, looms at one end, but the most spectacular feature is the ceiling fresco of the Battle of Lepanto painted by Giovanni Coli and Filippo Gherardi beginning in 1675. Adding to the opulence are works by Poussin, Tintoretto, and Veronese, as well as portraits of illustrious members of the family, such as Vittoria Colonna, Michelangelo's muse and longtime friend.

It's worth paying an extra fee to take the guided, English-language gallery tour, which will help you navigate through the array of madonnas, saints, goddesses, popes, and cardinals to see Annibale Carracci's lonely Beaneater, spoon at the ready and front teeth missing. The gallery also has a caffè with a pleasant terrace.

The University of Padua, founded in 1222, centers on this predominantly 16th-century palazzo with an 18th-century facade. It's named after the Osteria del Bo (bo means "ox"), an inn that once stood on the site. It's worth a visit to see the perfectly proportioned anatomy theater (1594), the beautiful Old Courtyard, and a hall with a lectern used by Galileo. You can enter only as part of a guided tour; weekend/public holiday tours allow access to other parts of the university including the gorgeous 1930–40s interiors by Milanese architect-designer Gio Ponti; most guides speak English, but it is worth checking ahead by phone.

An elegant 15th-century pink-marble staircase leads up from the mercato vecchio (old market) courtyard to the magistrates' chambers in this 12th-century palace, built at the intersection of the main streets of the ancient Roman city. The interior now houses exhibitions and the 1,600-strong artwork collection of the Galleria d'Arte Moderna Achille Forti, including the alluring Meditazione (1851) by Francesco Hayez. You can get the highest view in town from atop the attached 270-foot-high Romanesque Torre dei Lamberti. About 50 years after a lightning strike in 1403 knocked its top off, it was rebuilt and extended to its current height.

The 500-room palace that dominates the Mantua skyline was built for the Gonzaga family, though much of the art within the castle was sold or stolen as the dynasty waned in power and prestige. A glimpse of past grandeur can still be spotted as you enter the palace, turn immediately left, and walk up a steep hallway, arriving in Camera degli Sposi (literally, the "Wedded Couple's Room") where Duke Ludovico and his wife held court. Reservations are recommended, either by phone or online ( www.ducalemantova.org).

Rising grandly above Piazzetta San Marco, this Gothic fantasia of pink-and-white marble is a majestic expression of Venetian prosperity and power. Although the site was the doges' residence from the 10th century, the building began to take its present form around 1340; what you see now is essentially a product of the first half of the 15th century. It served not only as a residence but also as the central administrative center of the Venetian Republic.

Unlike other medieval seats of authority, the Palazzo Ducale is free of any military defenses—a sign of the Republic's self-confidence. The position of the loggias below instead of above the retaining wall, and the use of pink marble to emphasize the decorative function of that wall, gave the palazzo a light and airy aspect, one that could impress visitors—and even intimidate them, through opulence and grace rather than fortresslike bulk. You'll find yourself in an immense courtyard that holds some of the first evidence of Renaissance architecture in Venice, such as Antonio Rizzo's Scala dei Giganti (Stairway of the Giants), erected between 1483 and 1491, directly ahead, guarded by Sansovino's huge statues of Mars and Neptune, added in 1567. Though ordinary mortals must use the central interior staircase, its upper flight is the lavishly gilded Scala d'Oro (Golden Staircase), also designed by Sansovino, in 1555.

The palace's sumptuous chambers have walls and ceilings covered with works by Venice's greatest artists. Visit the Anticollegio, a waiting room outside the Collegio's chamber, where you can see The Rape of Europa by Veronese and Tintoretto's Bacchus and Ariadne Crowned by Venus. The ceiling of the Sala del Senato (Senate Chamber), featuring The Triumph of Venice by Tintoretto, is magnificent, but it's dwarfed by his masterpiece, Paradise, in the Sala del Maggiore Consiglio (Great Council Hall). A vast work commissioned for a vast hall, this dark, dynamic piece is the world's largest oil painting (23 feet by 75 feet). The room's carved gilt ceiling is breathtaking, especially with Veronese's majestic Apotheosis of Venice filling one of the center panels.

A narrow canal separates the palace's east side from the cramped cell blocks of the Prigioni Nuove (New Prisons). High above the water arches the enclosed marble Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs), which earned its name in the 19th century, from Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. Reserve your spot for the palazzo's popular Secret Itineraries or Doge's Hidden Treasures tours well in advance. The Secret Itineraries tour visits the doge's private apartments and winds through hidden passageways to the interrogation (read: torture) chambers and the rooftop piombi (lead) prison, named for its lead roofing. Venetian-born writer and libertine Giacomo Casanova (1725–98), along with an accomplice, managed to escape from the piombi in 1756; they were the only men ever to do so. The Hidden Treasures tour visits the ancient treasure chamber and the doge's church, visiting monumental frescoes along the way.

The Palazzo Ducale holds a place of honor in the city. If the Renaissance was, ideally, a celebration of the nobility of man and his works, of the light and purity of the soul, then there's no place in Italy, the birthplace of the Renaissance, where these tenets are better illustrated. From the moment you enter the peaceful courtyard, you know you're in a place of grace and beauty, and the harmony of the building indeed reflects the high ideals of the time.

The palace houses the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche (National Museum of the Marches), with a superb collection of paintings, sculpture, and other objets d'art. Some pieces originally belonged to the Montefeltro family; others were brought here from churches and palaces throughout the region. Masterworks include Paolo Uccello's Profanation of the Host, Titian's Resurrection and Last Supper, and Piero della Francesca's Madonna of Senigallia. But the gallery's highlight is Piero's enigmatic work long known as The Flagellation of Christ. Much has been written about this painting, and although few experts agree on its meaning, most agree that this is one of the painter's masterpieces.

When Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, Pope Paul III's grandson, retired to Caprarola, he intended to build a residence that would reflect the family's grandeur. In 1559, he entrusted the task to the leading architect Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, who came up with some innovative ideas. A magnificent spiral staircase, lavishly decorated with allegorical figures, mythical landscapes, and grotesques by Antonio Tempesta, connected the main entrance with the cardinal's apartments on the main floor. The staircase was gently inclined, with very deep but low steps, so that the cardinal could ride his horse right up to his bedchamber.

A tour of the five-sided palatial villa includes the Hall of Farnese Triumphs, the Hercules Room, and the Antechamber of the Council of Trent, all painted by the Zuccari brothers. Of special interest is the Hall of the Maps, with the ceiling depicting the zodiac and the walls frescoed with maps of the world as known to 16th-century cartographers. The palace is surrounded by a formal, two-tiered Renaissance garden.