Tag: en
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Michelangelo and the Challenge of David: The Birth of a Masterpiece
Michelangelo was just 26 years old when, in 1501, he offered to carve the David. The Cathedral of Florence wanted to decorate its buttresses with statues of prophets, and in the warehouses of the Opera del Duomo there was a block of marble—over 5 meters tall, from the Fantiscritti quarry in Carrara—that had been sitting…
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Half day in Siena: what to see.
You are in Tuscany and among the many villages and cities of art you know that a stop in Siena is a must! After all, you can’t miss the city of the Palio, the city that still retains the urban layout of the Middle Ages, the city of St. Catherine, and the greatest exponents of…
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A day in Siena stop by stop
Have you planned to spend a whole day in Siena? Let me guess, you realized there are so many interesting things to see and you don’t know what to choose? No problem, your guide is here 😉 It’s true, Siena is a tiny city and yet it is full of treasures. Most of them are…
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Strange marks in Florence
I had actually seen these signs before but didn’t think they were related to this context. Often, along the walls of a religious building, such as that of the Florence Baptistery you can find spolia (i.e., the reuse of architectural or decorative elements from Roman times) or the famous and mysterious magic square, the Sator.…
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The Door of the dead
Have you ever seen a door of the dead?Most likely you have, you just didn’t know it! Where do you find it… You must have seen it walking through the narrow streets of medieval villages.I know that some of them are still visible, especially in Central Italy.Here in Tuscany, there are several. Precisely, have you…
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Bagno Vignoni – Ancient Tuscan Thermal Baths
“The waving vapors on the surface of the dark water, bubbling here and there, made that complex of houses with simple charm a strange universe out of time, luminous and vaporous, in which bathers of all centuries, Roman togas or Renaissance dresses could have found themselves…” (from the book “Toscanes” by Pierre-Jean Rémy). One of…
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The ancient Abbey in Coneo – Colle Val d’Elsa (Siena)
Don’t know what to see in Tuscany? No problem! Today I take you to a beautiful place, immersed in the Tuscan countryside, precisely in Colle Val d’Elsa (SI).It is very old, but I’ll tell you right now, there is a sore point: it is abandoned. But it is the right place if: This is Badia…
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Piazza del Campo
The first warm sun of spring, but it’s still cold in the shade.I sit down on the warm bricks, lean back with my hands, and stretch my legs. I can’t eat the ciaccino yet, it’s too hot. The swallows fly all around while the pigeons approach you to pick up some crumbs. The light reflected…
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The origins of the Befana
Needless to say, we inherited the character of the Befana from the Romans. During the twelve nights following the winter solstice, the Romans dedicated themselves to celebrations for the birth of nature, during which mysterious female figures, guided by Diana, flew over the fields to make them more fertile. Another hypothesis has it that the flying women…
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Do you know the origin of the name “January”?
The King of Rome Numa Pompilius (753 – 673 BC) had a temple erected dedicated to the most ancient Latin god, the god of gods, namely Two-faced Janus (Ianus Geminus). He reigned in the golden age and hosted Cronus, who took refuge in Italy after he was chased away by Zeus. In Roman times, if you strolled…