337 Best Sights in Italy

Imbued with the supreme grace of the Renaissance, this often-overlooked church dedicated to Florence's patron saint, John the Baptist, stands in what was the heart of Rome's Florentine colony, where residents included the goldsmiths, bankers, and money changers who contributed to the building of the church. Talented goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini of Florence, known for both his genius and his vindictive nature, lived nearby.

Although the church was designed by Sansovino, Raphael (yes, he was also an architect) was among those who competed for this commission. The interior is the perfect Renaissance space, one so harmonious that it seems to be a 3D Raphael painting. Borromini executed a splendid altar for the Falconieri family chapel in the choir. He's buried under the dome, despite the fact that those who committed suicide normally were refused a Christian burial.

Distinguished by its five reddish-orange domes and stripped-clean stone interior, this 12th-century church was built by the Normans on the site of an earlier mosque—one of 200 that once stood in Palermo. The emirs ruled Palermo for nearly two centuries and brought to it their passion for lush gardens and fountains. One is reminded of this while sitting in San Giovanni's delightful cloister of twin half columns, surrounded by palm trees, jasmine, oleander, and citrus trees.

Across the tiny piazza from the Hotel Caruso is the noted 11th-century church of San Giovanni del Toro. Its evocative interior has three high apses and a crypt with 14th-century frescoes of Christ and the apostles. A 12th-century ambo (pulpit) by Alfano da Termoli startles the eye with its blue Persian majolica and four columns topped with elaborate capitals. The chapel of the Coppola family in the left aisle has an exceptional 14th-century relief of St. Catherine of Alexandria. The small church's three porticos adorned with lunettes show an Arabian influence, and the tripartite back facade is exquisite. Restoration work on the church commenced in 2003, with no sign of being completed. The church has some erratic summer opening hours; inquire about them at the Duomo or Azienda Autonoma Soggiorno e Turismo.

Just before the entrance of Tharros, you'll see the small, squat, and pink-domed church of San Giovanni di Sinis, dating from the 11th century. The simplicity of its bare and perfectly preserved interior, with three low-vaulted naves lit by tiny window apertures, offers a fascinating insight into the religious practises of the time.

Storefronts make up the facade, and market guilds—poulterers, messengers, and fodder merchants—built the altars at this church intimately bound to the Rialto markets. The original church was completely destroyed by a fire in 1514 and rebuilt in 1531 by Scarpagnino, who had also worked on the Scuola di San Rocco. During a more recent restoration, workers stumbled upon a frescoed cupola by Pordenone (1484–1539) that had been painted over centuries earlier. Don't miss Titian's St. John the Almsgiver and Pordenone's Sts. Catherine, Sebastian, and Roch.

Beyond the elaborate Baroque facade of San Giovanni Evangelista, the Renaissance interior reveals several works by Correggio: St. John the Evangelist (in the lunette above the door in the left transept) is considered among his finest. Two chapels have works displaying delicate perspective by a twentysomething Parmigianino (1503–40), a contemporary of Correggio's.

An architectural gem in green-and-white marble, the medieval church of San Giovanni Fuorcivitas holds a Visitation by Luca della Robbia (1400–82), a painting attributed to Taddeo Gaddi, and a holy-water font that may have been made by Fra Guglielmo around 1270.

Every day at 7:30 am (and 9:30 am on Sunday), the Perpetue Adoratrici (Sacramentine nuns) beautifully sing early Mass beneath Francesco de Mura's The Paradise, inside this late-17th-century church. Dressed in immaculate white and red habits, the nuns, at the end of the celebration, prostrate themselves before the altar, which stretches upward with layer after Baroque layer of Dionisio Lazzari's sumptuous gold and marble (1686), topped by the putti and the figures of Hope and Charity by Matteo Bottigliero (1733). Upon entering or exiting, take note of San Giuseppe dei Ruffi's dramatically Baroque facade, designed, as was the interior, by Lazzari, a renowned architect and sculptor. Hearing the nuns sing is a unique, if little known, Naples experience, and well worth rising early for.

Built in the 1840s on a Greek-cross plan, this neoclassical church contains a Madonna and Child with angels by an anonymous 15th-century master. Also inside is the Holy Family with St. Catherine of Siena, attributed to Arcangelo Salimbeni (1530/40–79).

One of the city's oldest and most important convents is set on Via San Gregorio Armeno—the street lined with Naples's most adorable Presepi—and is landmarked by a picturesque campanile. The nuns who lived here, often the daughters of Naples' richest families, must have been disappointed with Heaven when they arrived there, as the banquets held here rivaled those of the royal court, hallways were lined with paintings, and the church was filled with gilt stucco and semiprecious stones.

Designed by Niccolò Tagliacozzi Canale, the church has an interior that was described as "a room of Paradise on Earth" by Carlo Celano thanks to its highly detailed wooden ceiling, uniquely decorated choir lofts, shimmering organs, and illuminated shrines. It also has important Luca Giordano frescoes depicting scenes from the life of St. Gregory, whose relics were brought to Naples in the 8th century from Byzantium.

The restored Baroque fountain, with Matteo Bottiglieri's 17th-century Christ and the Samaritan Woman statues, is in the center of the convent's cloister (entrance off the small square up the road). You can gain access from here to other areas—some with magnificently preserved 18th-century interiors—of the still-working convent, including the nuns' gallery, which is shielded by 18th-century jalousies and offers a different perspective of the church.

Set amid the greenery of the Celian Hill, this church wears its Baroque facade proudly. Dedicated to St. Gregory the Great (who served as pope 590–604), it was built about 750 by Pope Gregory II to commemorate his predecessor and namesake. The church of San Gregorio itself has the appearance of a typical Baroque structure, the result of remodeling in the 17th and 18th centuries. But you can still see what's said to be the stone slab on which the pious St. Gregory the Great slept; it's in the far right-hand chapel.

Outside are three chapels. The right chapel is dedicated to Gregory's mother, Saint Sylvia, and contains a Guido Reni fresco of the Concert of Angels. The chapel in the center, dedicated to Saint Andrew, contains two monumental frescoes showing scenes from the saint's life. They were painted at the beginning of the 17th century by Domenichino (The Flagellation of St. Andrew) and Guido Reni (The Execution of St. Andrew). It's a striking juxtaposition of the sturdy, if sometimes stiff, classicism of Domenichino with the more flamboyant and heroic Baroque manner of Guido Reni.

Architect, priest, and mathematician Guarino Guarini was in his mid-sixties when he began this church in 1668. The masterful use of geometric forms and the theatrical control of light and shadow show him working at his mature and confident best. Stand in the center of the church and look up into the cupola to appreciate the full effect.

Contrasting black and white marble, so common in Liguria, embellishes the cathedral at the heart of medieval Genoa, inside and out. Consecrated in 1118, the church honors St. Lawrence, who passed through the city on his way to Rome in the 3rd century. For hundreds of years the building was used for state purposes, such as civic elections, as well as religious. Note the 13th-century Gothic portal, the fascinating twisted barbershop columns, and the 15th- to 17th-century frescoes inside. The last campanile dates from the early 16th century. The Museo del Tesoro di San Lorenzo (San Lorenzo Treasury Museum) inside has some stunning pieces from medieval goldsmiths and silversmiths, work for which medieval Genoa was renowned.

Sixteen ancient Roman columns line the front of this sanctuary; remnants of 4th-century Paleo-Christian mosaics survive in the Cappella di Sant'Aquilino (Chapel of St. Aquilinus).

Don't miss this small church, which houses a striking Annunciation by the important Sienese painter Domenico Beccafumi (1486–1551).

This typically Genovese black-and-white-striped church dates from the 12th century; its crypt contains the tomb of Andrea Doria (1466–1560), the Genovese admiral who maintained the independence of his native city. The well-preserved Piazza San Matteo was, for 500 years, the seat of the Doria family, which ruled Genoa and much of Liguria from the 16th to the 18th century. The square is bounded by 13th- to 15th-century houses decorated with portals and loggias.

The facade here is even more fanciful than that of the Duomo. Its upper levels have nothing but air behind them (after the front of the church was built, there were no funds to raise the nave), and the winged archangel Michael, who stands at the very top, seems precariously poised for flight. The facade, heavily restored in the 19th century, displays busts of such Italian patriots as Garibaldi and Cavour. Check out the superb Filippino Lippi (1457/58–1504) panel painting of Saints Jerome, Sebastian, Rocco, and Helen in the right transept.

A short but not very scenic walk from the center of town brings you to the little church of San Michele in Pontorme, chiefly notable for the gorgeous St. John the Baptist and St. Michael the Archangel, two works dating from about 1519 by native son Jacopo Carrucci (1494–1556), better known as Pontormo. Opening hours are erratic, so it's best to check with the tourist information office to see what's what.

This abbey, like the Baptistery a fine example of Romanesque architecture, is one of the oldest churches in Florence, dating from the 11th century. A 12th-century mosaic topped by a gilt bronze eagle, emblem of San Miniato's sponsors, the Calimala (cloth merchants' guild), crowns the green-and-white marble facade. Inside are a 13th-century inlaid-marble floor and apse mosaic. Artist Spinello Aretino (1350–1410) covered the walls of the Sagrestia with frescoes of scenes from the life of St. Benedict.

Officially named "San Nicola da Tolentino," Vincenzo Scamozzi's baroque building (1602; facade 1714 by Andrea Tirali) is named for St. Nicholas as venerated in the town of Tolentino in the Marche region of Italy. A black cannonball is stuck into the wall just to the right of the front door as you enter the church; this is a relic of the Austrian bombardment during the failed Venetian uprising in 1848. It didn't land here by itself, but was placed here as a memorial; an identical cannonball is on the facade of the church of San Salvador. It has a squad of doges' tombs: Giovanni I Cornaro (d. 1629), his son Francesco Cornaro (d. 1656), Giovanni II Cornaro (d. 1722), and Paolo Renier (d. 1789). The adjoining monastery now serves as a branch of IUAV, the University of Architecture.

The most important church in Treviso, this huge Venetian Gothic structure from the early 14th century has an ornate vaulted ceiling and frescoes (circa 1350) of saints by Tommaso da Modena (circa 1325–79) on the columns. The depiction of St. Agnes on the north side is particularly interesting, combining the naturalism initiated a few decades earlier by Giotto with the grace and elegance of Gothic abstraction. Also worth examining are Tommaso's realistic portraits of 40 Dominican friars, found in the Sala del Capitolo of the seminary next door. They include the earliest known painting of a subject wearing eyeglasses, an Italian invention (circa 1280–1300).

San Nicolò is one of the oldest churches in Venice (7th century), though the present building dates from 1300, and the covered porch was added in the 15th century. It was dedicated to the patron saint of sailors and fishermen. "Mendicoli" might refer to its earliest neighbors ("mendici," or beggars), or to "mendigola," the original name of the little island on which it stands. Under the Venetian Republic, the inhabitants of this area were categorically called "Nicolotti" (those from the easternmost part of Venice were "Castellani") and granted many special privileges by the doge. They elected their own "doge" in this church, and he was allowed, among other things, to follow directly behind the doge's barge on the Feast of the Ascension.

The church interior always seems a little dark, despite an unusual amount of gold leaf, not only on the picture frames but under the arches of the stone columns. You'll notice the classic three-nave Roman basilica design, and that the walls are covered with paintings, many by artists of the school of Veronese. The round painting by Francesco Montemezzano of St. Nicholas in Glory in the center of the ceiling may well be one of the most chaotic scenes of its type ever created. The imposing gilt wooden statue of St. Nicholas in the niche above the high altar is from the mid-15th century. Parts of the classic horror film Don't Look Now (1973) were filmed here.

For Conca in excelsis, head up the hill on Via Don Amodio, opposite the Hotel Belvedere, to Conca dei Marini's northern reaches. Your reward after a short climb up the hillside roads and steep scalinatelle is the stunningly sited neo-Byzantine church of San Pancrazio, set in a palm-tree garden. Opposite this church, in the direction of Positano, is a road leading to Punta Vreca, a sky-high lookout over the coast. Climbing farther up the scalinatella San Pancrazio will take you to the tiny town piazza.

One of Rome's most significant churches is a couple of Metro stops farther down Via Ostiense from Testaccio. Built in the 4th century AD by Constantine, over the site where St. Paul had been buried, the church was later enlarged, but in 1823 a fire burned it almost to the ground. Although the location near the river can be dreary and the outside lacks any real charm, the rebuilt St. Paul's is massive, second in size only to St. Peter's Basilica, and has a sort of monumental grandeur that follows the plans of the earlier basilica.

Highlights include the 272 roundels depicting every pope from St. Peter to Pope Francis (found below the ceiling, with spaces left blank for pontiffs to come) and the cloisters (€4, tickets available in the gift shop), where you get a real sense of the magnificence of the original building and a glimpse at artifacts unearthed from early workshops that surrounded the church. In the middle of the nave is the famous baldacchino created by sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio.

Built over remnants of two earlier churches is this 11th-century basilica, situated on the Arno about 8 km (5 miles) southwest of Pisa. According to legend, it was here that St. Peter the Apostle stepped off the boat in AD 42—his first step on Italian soil. (It would have made more sense for him to land on the Adriatic Coast, as he was coming from Antioch.)

The structure is a lovely example of Romanesque architecture, and it's not without its quirks: it has two apses, one at each end. On the walls are some crumbling, but still vibrant, frescoes dating from the 12th and 13th centuries. Thirty-one of these frescoes depict scenes from the lives of saints Peter and Paul, an uncommon subject in Tuscan wall painting. A car is a necessity to get to this lovely church.

On a pretty pastel square sits the 14th-century church of San Pietro. The rose window of marble imported from Carrara is impressive, particularly considering the work required to get it here.

This church contains an altar where Saint Peter supposedly preached while in Naples. Enter by the side door on Corso Umberto I, and you'll find the altar in the vestibule at the back, along with a 16th-century fresco depicting the preaching scene. The church also houses two canvases by Luca Giordano. On Monday and Wednesday afternoons and Sunday mornings, you can descend into the labyrinthine crypt, where the first Christian community in Europe was founded and the first six saints of Naples are buried.

Built by order of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain in 1481 near the spot where medieval tradition believed St. Peter was crucified (the crucifixion site at the Vatican is much more probable), this church is a handsome and dignified edifice. It contains a number of well-known works, including, in the first chapel on the right, the Flagellation painted by the Venetian Sebastiano del Piombo from a design by Michelangelo, and St. Francis in Ecstasy, in the next-to-last chapel on the left, in which Bernini made one of his earliest experiments with concealed lighting effects.

The most famous work here, though, is the circular Tempietto (Little Temple) in the monastery cloister next door. This small sober building (it holds only 10 people and is a church in its own right) marks the spot where Peter was thought to have been crucified. Designed by Bramante (the first architect of the "new" St. Peter's Basilica) in 1502, it represents one of the earliest and most successful attempts to create an entirely classical building. The Tempietto is reachable via the Royal Spanish Academy next door.

In the Middle Ages, the 10th-century church of San Salvatore de Bireto played an important role in the crowning of new doges for the Republic of Amalfi. The name Birecto likely comes from the Semitic word biru, meaning a small stream of water, referring to the fact that the church is built on an arch right over a stream—today a narrow road leading through Atrani. The church was remodeled in the 1800s but has received a careful restoration to reveal some aspects of its medieval past, including Arab-influenced Gothic designs, ancient ceramic tile work, and religious artifacts like a curious 12th-century marble plaque showing two peacocks. The paneled bronze doors cast in the 11th century came from Constantinople, as did the doors in the Amalfi Duomo, both testimonies to the cultural and commercial exchange between the Republic of Amalfi and the Orient.

Erected in the 16th century atop a previous church, this building has evolved many times—from the church of San Severo into a private palace, a monastery later suppressed by Napoleon, a state archive, a World War II bomb shelter, and an earthquake-damaged relic—before a long and painstaking renovation restored its luster. To the right of the nave, high above a door, rests the tomb of Charles V's general—and original church benefactor—Giovanni Bisvallo.

In addition to its aesthetic highlights, the complex also provides a telling lesson on mortality. Aboveground one can view the grandeur of monuments to the dead. Less grandly, a brief excursion downstairs reveals the scolatoi; these are draining holes where the recently deceased, seated upright and left to be drained of bodily fluids, were visited daily by Dominican monks seeking to reinforce their sense of the fragility of human existence.