Three Cities in Italy

THREE ITALIAN CITIES VENICE, MILAN

& FLORENCE…

VENICE

Venice is a unique city built in the middle of a lagoon.

It is one of Italy's most beautiful and romantic cities as well as one of the most popular cities of art in Italy.

The heart of Venice is Piazza San Marco with its magnificent church, Saint Mark's Basilica.

There are a lot of museums, palaces, and churches to visit.

Wandering along Venice Canals and getting lost in its maze of narrow streets is always enchanting.

Venice is the northeast of Italy and historically was a bridge between the East and the West. Its architecture features a Byzantine feel not really found elsewhere in Italy.

The Academy Gallery is Venice's most important museum. This art gallery contains the world's most complete 13th 18th century art collections. These include masterpieces by Tiziano, Tintoretto and many other famous painters.

The Church of Santa Maria della Salute is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was built in 1630. It stands between the Grand Canal and the Giudecca Canal, making the church visible when entering Saint Mark's Square from the sea.

Venice Lido is Venice's beach and stretches for eleven km. In the 1920s it was the most important beach in Italy due to its aristocratic atmosphere...

...Nowadays, it is famous for the Film Festival, which is held here every year between the end of August and the first week of September.

The cheapest way of getting around the city is by the water bus, which is an economical way of crossing Grand Canal. A water taxi is more expensive.

The most romantic experience in Venice is the gondola, because it offers a romantic tour of the small canals.

MILAN

Milan, one of Europe's wealthiest cities, is known for its stylish shops, galleries ad restaurants. It also has a rich artistic and cultural heritage.

Its Gothic Cathedral, with its beautiful marble facade, is magnificent.

Da Vinci's painting, The Last Supper, is one of Milan's top attractions and La Scala is one of the world's most famous opera houses.

Milan is located in the Po Valley in the north-west of Italy and it is the capital of Lombardy.

Today Milan is the second largest city in the country and probably the most important city as for fashion, industry and commerce.

The city is home to a lot of art galleries with collections of paintings and frescoes by famous Italian artists, museums, monuments, buildings and churches spanning centuries, and restaurants overlooking the city's finest sights.

The Cathedral is the most representative monument in the city.

The cathedral is one of the main examples of Gothic architecture.

Castello Sforzesco was originally designed

by Galeazzo II Visconti in the 14th century as a defensive castle.

The Caste takes its name from the Italian mercenary and Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza.

The spendid Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio consacrated by St. Ambrose in 387 AD, was rebuilt in the 11th century and it became the model for all Lombard-Romanesque churches.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is full of elegant shops and cafĂŠs. It was built in the first half of the 19th century.

FLORENCE

Florence is in Tuscany and it is one of Italy's most important Renaissance architectural centres. Its Cathedral and Baptistery are magnificent‌

‌Florence has several excellent museums with many famous paintings ad sculptures, including. Michelangelo's David and Botticelli's Birth of Venus. There are also Medici palaces and gardens.

The most important sights in Florence are located on the north side of the River Arno.

This is the hub of the whole city and the site of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with its famous Brunelleschi's Dome, its elegant Baptistery with Ghiberti’ s Paradise Gate, and Giotto's Bell Tower, from which you can admire an incredible view of the city.

The Academy Gallery, home of some of Michelangelo's wonderful statues including the original David , is the main attraction to the north of the Cathedral.

The Gothic Church of Santa Maria Novella, whose stunning white and green marble faÇade was designed by Leon Battista Alberti is worth a visit .

The most important civic building in the city, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence's Town Hall, stands in Piazza della Signoria, a real openair museum.

In the same square you can admine Neptune’s Fountain by Ammannati and the Equestrian Statue of Cosimo I by Gianbologna, a copy of Michelangelo’s David, and the beautiful Loggia dei Lanzi, where statues such as Perseus by Benvenuto Cellini and the Rapture of the Sabines by Giambologna are on show.

Right next to Palazzo Vecchio there is the Uffizi Gallery, one of the most important art galleries in the world ,with its large collection of Renaissance masterpieces by greatest artists ever, such as Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Titian.

The Vasari Corridor connects Palazzo Vecchio with Palace Pitti. The corridor passes over the iconic Ponte Vecchio.

Pitti Palace, is home to eight splendid museums such as the Palatine Gallery and the Modern Art Gallery .

Behind Pitti Palace there is Boboli Gardens ,a huge hillside park with a great view of Florence from its Forte Belvedere.

The sublime Franciscan Basilica of Santa Croce is the focus of the eastern side of the city centre.

Many famous people are buried here including Michelangelo , Macchiavelli , Galileo and Foscolo.