Photos: 150 sights and destinations in Italy
One of the best-preserved buildings from ancient Rome, the Pantheon was rebuilt during the second century AD during the reign of Hadrian, emperor of Rome from 117 to 138 AD. Originally a temple to the Roman gods, the Pantheon is now used as a Christian church and is a popular tourist stop. (Jason La / Los Angeles Times)
The Pyramid of Cestius is one of
Featured in Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita,” the Trevi Fountain is one of Rome’s grandest Baroque fountains.
Tradition holds that if you throw one coin in the fountain over your shoulder, you’ll return to Rome; two coins and you’ll find romance in Rome; three coins and you’ll marry in Rome.
Read more: 8 free attractions to see in Rome (Jason La / Los Angeles Times)
One of the largest squares in Rome, Piazza Navona is a prime spot for people watching. Flocks of tourists flow through the piazza each day to take in the shops and restaurants.
At its center is Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers, a standout among Rome’s many Baroque fountains.
(Jason La / Los Angeles Times)
The triumphal Arch of Titus at the Roman Forum. A bas relief on the arch shows Roman soldiers pillaging Jerusalem around AD 80. (Richard Derk / Los Angeles Times)
A wide avenue leads to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Chaotic and captivating, the Eternal City has much to offer history, art and food lovers, despite high costs and minor hassles. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The Colosseum is one of Rome’s most visited ancient landmarks. (The wooden walkway in the center is a modern addition.) At the site, costumed gladiators pose for pictures, and tourists can experience a new way of touring the Colosseum, called the Time Machine, which uses hand-held video monitors showing digitalized images of what the arena looked like in ancient times. (Richard Derk / Los Angeles Times)
Built to link the Spanish Embassy with the Holy See, the 138-step staircase ascends from Piazza di Spagna to Piazza Trinità dei Monti.
Today, the steps are a favorite spot for tourists to people watch and for amorous couples to kiss.
Read more: 8 free attractions to see in Rome (Jason La / Los Angeles Times)
Completed in the early 1900s, the conspicuously grand building honors unified Italy’s first king, Victor Emmanuel II.
The top steps of Il Vittoriano offers a great panoramic view of Rome. Inside is a small museum with free admission.
Read more: 8 free attractions to see in Rome (Jason La / Los Angeles Times)
One of Rome’s most picturesque piazzas, Campo de’ Fiori is lined with restaurants and shops. Mondays through Saturdays, it features a farmers market open from early morning to mid-afternoon.
Read more: 8 free attractions to see in Rome (Jason La / Los Angeles Times)
The Museum of the Imperial Forums in Italy. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
At Latte Piu, a milk bar patterned after ‘Clockwork Orange’s’ Korova, the drinks are as intoxicating as the surroundings. Via Albalonga 31, 00183 Rome, 011-39-06-770091.
Read more: Sipping ‘droog’ milk in Rome (Baxter Holmes / Los Angeles Times)
Two people sit on the steps of the indoor swimming pool at the Foro Italico, which was Mussolini’s vast health and fitness center.
Read more: Mussolini’s legacy in modern Rome (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The Stadium of the Marbles is surrounded by 60 statues of athletes that urge Romans to pursue physical fitness, a favorite theme of
Read more: Mussolini’s legacy in modern Rome (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The district of Esposizione Universale di Roma was conceived by Mussolini to stage Rome’s 1942 World’s Fair, and to showcase the glories of Fascist Italy in a self-styled “Olympics of Civilization.” The fair never took place because of the war.
Above, the lake and park at EUR, overlooked by the austere Church of Saints Peter and Paul.
Read more: Mussolini’s legacy in modern Rome (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Read more: Mussolini’s legacy in modern Rome (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The Museum of Roman Civilization in EUR contains artifacts from the 1937, Fascist-mounted Exhibition of Augustus and Romanness, including a fascinating plaster model of Imperial Rome.
Read more: Mussolini’s legacy in modern Rome (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The Palazzo della Civilta Italiana, completed in 1943, is the icon of the EUR district, about five miles southwest of Rome’s historic center. The cube-shaped building is affectionately known in Rome as the Square Colosseum.
Read more: Mussolini’s legacy in modern Rome (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
A sign identifies the villa, which was owned during Imperial Roman times by brick manufacturer Quintus Servilius Pudens. Among the treasures unearthed in Aqueduct Park are intricately worked mosaics and structural evidence of a 1st or 2nd century bathing complex. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Naples and its bay on the Tyrrhenian Sea (part of the larger Mediterranean) seen from the hilltop Certosa di San Martino.
Read more: Naples’ Baroque glory (Susan Spano / For The Times)
The high Italian Baroque dome of the Chapel of St. Gennaro in the Naples Cathedral.
Read more: Naples’ Baroque glory (Susan Spano / For The Times)
Glass-domed, late 19th century Galleria Umberto I, directly across from Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
Read more: Naples’ Baroque glory (Susan Spano / For The Times)
Pizzeria Brandi is the birthplace of the popular pizza Margherita.
Read more: Where to go for pizza in Naples (Susan Spano / For The Times)
Capodimonte, a palace turned museum overlooking central Naples, home of masterpieces by Italian painters such as Masaccio, Parmigiano and Raphael.
Read more: Naples’ Baroque glory (Susan Spano / For The Times)
Palazzo dello Spagnolo, designed by Neopolitan Baroque architect Ferdinando Sanfelice around 1725.
Read more: Naples’ Baroque glory (Susan Spano / For The Times)
The Sele River plain has fertile farm fields known for artichokes and -- some claim -- the world’s best handmade, artisanal mozzarella. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
On the highest point of Paestum is the temple of Athena. The Greek colony itself was founded around 600 BC with three majestic Doric-columned temples. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Leni, beneath the peak Monte Fossa della Fleci, is the island of Salina’s agricultural heart, growing capers, grapes, olives and tomatoes.
Read more: North of Sicily, Salina erupts with calm beauty (Susan Spano / For The Times )
The black sand beach and sea caves at Rinella on Salina’s south coast. Sicily is usually visible on the horizon.
Read more: North of Sicily, Salina erupts with calm beauty (Susan Spano / For The Times)
The church on the main piazza in Malfa, Salina’s biggest town, serves as a backdrop for a sunny cafe.
Read more: North of Sicily, Salina erupts with calm beauty (Susan Spano / For The Times)
The temple at Segesta, thought to date from the 5th century BC, was built by the ancient Elymians, whose language and origin remain a mystery.
Read more: Western Sicily, where centuries and cultures converge (Susan Spano / For The Times)
The ruins of Selinunte, a Greek colony founded in the 8th century BC, on the southwest coast of Sicily.
Read more: Western Sicily, where centuries and cultures converge (Susan Spano / For The Times)
A merchant offers souvenir pictures in the Piazza Liberta in Salemi.
Read more: Western Sicily, where centuries and cultures converge (Susan Spano / For The Times)
Windmills on salt flats north of Marsala are turned by the North African sirocco.
Read more: Western Sicily, where centuries and cultures converge (Susan Spano / For The Times)
The harbor by Ponte Umbertino, connecting modern Syracuse to its historical center, Ortygia Island, where Green settlers from Corinth founded the city in 733 BC. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Santa Lucia alla Badia on Ortygia Island’s Piazza Duomo. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Sunbathing on a spit off Ortygia Island. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The extraordinary Greek theater in Syracuse, inaugurated in 476 BC with a debut of “Women of
The new town of Ragusa, seen from the old town Ragusa Ibla, destroyed by an earthquake in 1693 and rebuilt in Baroque style. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Among the alleyways of Ragusa Ibla. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Ragusa Ibla’s Cathedral of San Giorgio, an elegant confection designed in 1744 by Sicilian architect Rosario Gagliardi. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The Circolo di Conversazione, a private club, is a Neoclassical addition to Baroque Ragusa. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Ragusa’s San Giuseppe Church on Piazza Pola has a floor made of locally mined black asphalt. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Sunday afternoon on the piazza in Noto, another Baroque gem in southeastern Sicily. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
A relief in the historic center of Catania, Sicily’s second-largest city, underneath Mount Etna. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The Cathedral of St. Agata, Catania’s Baroque Duomo, sits across from the fish market on a piazza that is a UNESCO World Heritage Monument. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Five hundred vendors display their wares in Arezzo’s central square, a haven for antiques shoppers that is 40 miles from Florence.
Read more: Antique-hunting in Arezzo, Italy (Laura Deutsch / For The Times)
The Archiginnasio Library Courtyard at the University of Bologna. The school is the oldest continually operating university in the world. (Comune di Bologna / Emilia-Romagna Tourist Authority)
Milan’s “Golden Triangle” luxury shopping district. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Milan’s Duomo is one of the largest churches in the world. (Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images)
A model wears a design from the Bottega Veneta fall 2011 collection.
Read more about Milan Fashion week in All the Rage, The Times’ fashion blog. (Jonas Gustavsson and Peter Stigter / For The Times)
The view along the Rio Malpaga near the Campo San Barnaba is classic Venice: bridges, boats and colorful ancient buildings. The small campo, or paved square, is one of dozens hidden among the tangled streets of Venice. Each campo is the hub of its own little universe, where all the necessities of life are available, from religion to pasta. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
In the Campo San Barnaba neighborhood of Venice, the 18th century church of the same name is somewhat forlorn. Deconsecrated and emptied of its best art, it is now an exposition space, currently hosting a show on the whimsical machinery designs of
The Bridge of Sighs, which spans the Rio di Palazzo and features windows with stone bars, leads to the Doge’s Palace. The view from the enclosed bridge was the last sight of
The Hotel Villa Igea fronts the Campo San Zaccaria. Just across the square is the Renaissance Church of San Zaccaria. This campo is small and dignified, less a neighborhood living room than a thoroughfare for people headed to the vaporetto stop at the waterfront promenade of Riva degli Schiavoni. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The Campo Santa Maria Formosa is busy with all matter of items for sale, even on a sun-baked summer day. The campo is home to one of
The Church of San Biagio beneath the walls of Montepulciano, a hill town about 50 miles southeast of Siena in the Tuscany region of Italy. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The Tuscan countryside, between winter storm fronts. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The west façade of Siena’s Duomo, in the background at right, is a Gothic structure that was designed chiefly by Nicola Pisano and his son Giovanni. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Jacopo della Quercia’s Fountain of Joy, dating from 1419, in Siena’s campo. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Among the vineyards at Tenuta Valdipiatti, a winery near Montepulciano, is an abandoned farmhouse on the winery property. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Mt. Vesuvius looms above Naples, Italy. (Ciro Fusco / EPA)
A float depicting Prime Minister
A man takes pictures of a statue representing an iceman named Oetzi, discovered in 1991 on the Italian Schnal Valley glacier. The museum in Bolzano houses the mummy as well as the artist’s rendering. (Andrea Solero / AFP/Getty Images)
The octagonal Baptistery of St. John, which has undergone many restorations, was built in its present form just after the mid-14th century. The font, built in 1226, still exists. (Fabrizio Giovannozzi / For The Times)
Michelangelo’s marble statue of “David” is seen at the dome of Florence’s Accademia Gallery. (Fabrizio Giovannozzi / Associated Press)
Lipari’s coastline (Susan Spano / LAT)
Romans flock to the sea at the height of summer when temperatures in the Italian capital climb above 80 degrees. In the old hill town of Sperlonga, beaches stretch north and south along the coast about halfway between Rome and Naples. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The Mount Whitney, flagship of the U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet, in port at Gaeta, just south of Sperlonga. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Statues from the Grotto of Tiberius are on display in the town’s archaeological museum. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Ruins of Tiberius’ villa near the grotto that bear the emperor’s name. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The town of Ostuni, in the hills of the region of Puglia, is chockablock with baroque and rococo buildings. (Rocco De Benedictis / For The Times)
The ancient streets of Brindisi, in the Puglia region of southern Italy. (Rocco De Benedictis / For The Times)
The Piazza Duomo in Lecce, in the Puglia region. (Rocco De Benedictis / For The Times)
The arch of St. Antonio, built in the14th century and rebuilt in the 18th, signifies entree into the town of Martina Franca, in Italy’s Puglia region. (Rocco De Benedictis / For The Times)
Polignano a Mare, in the boot heel of Italy. (Rocco De Benedictis / For The Times)
Italy’s mystical Castel del Monte, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an eight-sided castle built by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the 13th century. (Susan Spano / LAT)
A couple explores Italy’s Barletta Castello, constructed during the Norman period. (Susan Spano / LAT)
The Colossus of Barletta in southeastern Italy. (Susan Spano / LAT)
The Adriatic Sea flanks Italy’s Trani duomo, completed in 1200. (Susan Spano / LAT)
Detail of the Basilica of San Nicola in the Old Town section of Bari, Italy. (Susan Spano / LAT)
A beautiful day brings a crowd to the Palazzo Madama in Turin. (Wally Skalij / LAT)
The moon rises over the ancient Porta Palatina in Turin, Italy. (Wally Skalij / LAT)
The modern, angular Atrium Torino on Piazza Solferino was part of the construction boom in advance of the Turin Winter Olympics of 2006. (Wally Skalij / LAT)
A worshiper lights a candle at the Baroque Corpus Domini church in Turin, Italy. (Wally Skalij / LAT)
A statue and the Palazzo Madama stand in silhouette against the setting sun in Turin, Italy. (Wally Skalij / LAT)
The Museo del Cavatappi (Museum of Corkscrews) in Barolo. (Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune)
A clock tower juts out from the medieval town of Bagnaia, home to the Villa Lante gardens. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
Villa Lante, created in the 16th century in Bagnaia near Rome, unites flawless geometry and fantastical water features and landscaping to tell the tale of mankind’s taming of nature. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
In the medieval town of Ninfa lies a garden with English influences courtesy of Duke Roffredo Caetani’s American wife, Marguerite. The pair took possession of the grounds in the 1930s and experimented with non-native plants such as banana, bamboo and magnolias. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
A mossy stone giant seems to keep a watchful eye over a privately owned property in central Italy known as the “garden of the monsters.” (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
The fantastical stone gallery at Bomarzo is attributed to Vicino Orsini, circa 1570, and is said to be in the Mannerist style of art that evolved after the High Renaissance. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
A lotus is in full blossom at La Landriana, which features an unusually wide variety of plants thanks to the work of Marquise Lavinia Taverna and Russell Page. The English garden architect brought order to Taverna’s diverse tastes, creating artistic ensembles of texture, scent, shape and color. (Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times)
A woman who lives in the shadow of the Orvieto tombs walks home. Orvieto was a flourishing Etruscan center two millenniums ago. (Stefano Paltera / For The Times)
Beneath the cliffs of Orvieto lies the excavated Etruscan necropolis of Crocifisso del Tufo, dating from the 6th to 5th century BC. (Stefano Paltera / For The Times)
Children on a class outing view funerary fragments at the Museum of the Etruscan Academy in Cortona. (Stefano Paltera / For The Times)