City corners
The Alley That Guards Bramante: Santa Maria della Pace and the Arco della Pace
Just steps from Piazza Navona, Santa Maria della Pace guards Bramante's first Roman cloister, far from the crush.
Jun 23, 2026Elena Marchetti
Borghi, arte e storia minore
Si occupa di borghi, centri storici, chiese e siti archeologici: paesi sotto i mille abitanti e architetture fuori dalle guide turistiche ufficiali.
Guides by Elena Marchetti.
City corners
Ca' de Sass and the Courtyards of the Cinque Vie: Medieval Milan
Near the Duomo, between the Ca' de Sass and the Cinque Vie, a medieval Milan of silent courtyards survives that few tourists cross.
Jun 23, 2026
Churches and cathedrals
Aquileia: walking on the largest early Christian mosaic in the West
Near Grado, the basilica of Aquileia holds 760 square metres of early Christian mosaic: the largest mosaic floor in the West, to be crossed in peace.
Jun 23, 2026
City corners
Corso Magenta in a whisper: Leonardo's vineyard and the frescoed silence of San Maurizio
A stone's throw from the Last Supper, Corso Magenta hides Leonardo's vineyard and San Maurizio, a Milanese church frescoed by Bernardino Luini.
Jun 23, 2026
City corners
Among magnolias and cloisters: the courtyards of the University of Pavia
Behind its Strada Nuova facade, the University of Pavia opens onto a sequence of Renaissance cloisters in the shade of magnolia trees.
Jun 23, 2026
Abbeys, hermitages and sanctuaries
The Sacra di San Michele: Climbing the Stairway of the Dead Above the Val di Susa
On Monte Pirchiriano, the Sacra di San Michele is reached by the Stairway of the Dead: a thousand-year-old abbey, symbol of Piedmont, in the Val di Susa.
Jun 23, 2026
Abbeys, hermitages and sanctuaries
The Abbey of Vezzolano, the Romanesque Cloister Hidden in the Monferrato
Among the hills of the Monferrato, the Abbey of Vezzolano guards one of the most beautiful Romanesque cloisters in Piedmont, a stone's throw from Turin.
Jun 23, 2026
Churches and cathedrals
The Baptistery of Riva San Vitale: Fifth-Century Stone on the Shores of the Ceresio
On Lake Lugano stands the oldest Christian building in Switzerland: an octagonal baptistery fifteen centuries old, still little visited.
Jun 23, 2026
Churches and cathedrals
Castelseprio: Byzantine Frescoes Among the Hills of the Varese Area
Among the hills of the Varese area, a small stone church preserves one of the most extraordinary cycles of early medieval frescoes in Europe.
Jun 23, 2026