Museums, Pisa

This enormous palace is one of Florence's largest architectural monuments. The original palazzo was built for the Pitti family in 1457, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi and built by his pupil Luca Fancelli. The original construction consisted of only the middle cube of the present building. In 1549, the property was sold to the Medicis and became the primary residence of the grand ducal family. The palace was then enlarged and altered; from 1560, Bartolomeo Ammannati designed and added the grandiose courtyard and two lateral wings. Today, the Pitti Palace houses some of the most important museums in Florence: on the first floor is the Palatine Gallery, containing a broad collection 16th and 17th century paintings (including works by Raphael), and the Royal Apartments, containing furnishings from a remodeling done in the 19th century. On the ground floor and mezzanine is the Treasury of the Grand Dukes (formerly known as the the Silver Museum or Museo degli Argenti) displaying a vast collection of Medici household treasures, from table silverware to precious stone vases, rock crystals and precious jewelry. The Gallery of Modern Art is on the top floor, holding a collection of mostly Tuscan 19th and 20th century paintings. https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/pitti-palace.html

Like a very precious treasure chest, the Uffizi Gallery will grant itself to visitors just a little bit at a time: from the initial uncertainty on where to get tickets, getting through lines to get inside and at the metal detector, then taking two flights of Renaissance-era stairs before you arrive at the actual entrance to the museum. https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/uffizi-gallery.html

Palazzo Vecchio offers Roman ruins, a Medieval fortress and amazing Renaissance chambers and paintings. A microcosm where art and history have been indissolubly bound for centuries. Palazzo Vecchio is the main symbol of civil power for the city of Florence, whose original project is attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio. Construction on the solid fortress began in 1299 above the ruins of the destroyed Uberti Ghibelline towers, testimony of the final victory of the Guelph faction. The entire construction also rests on top of the ancient theater of the Roman colony of Florentia (dating back to the first century A.D.), whose ruins can be admired in the underground level. This area can be visited with a separate ticket or a combination ticket which includes the Palazzo Vecchio Museum and the Archaeological site. The area is suggestive organized with information and an interesting film to help you understand exactly what you are looking at underground. https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-monuments/palazzo-vecchio.html

Visiting the Galleria dell’Accademia, you're most likely target are the magnificent giant marble sculptures created by Michelangelo, and above all, the glorious David. If you explore the museum with a bit more time, the Accademia will offer you much more in the less crowded halls, satisfying any curiosity for botany, music, art symbols and painting techniques. The Accademia welcomes the visitor in the Hall of the Colossus, name taken from the huge models of the Dioscuri of Montecavallo which were displayed in this large hall in the 19th century. It now hosts in the center the plaster model for the stunning marble sculpture of Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine Women. Giambologna prepared the model as an exercise in creating a tightly-knit group of three figures from just one large block of marble. He did not actually name the sculpture, it was meant to be as a “simple” exercise of skill and it became the first example of such magnificent talent. https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/accademia-gallery.html

The Museo Civico, the city museum of Siena is situated at the heart of the city, in the first floor of the city hall known as Palazzo Pubblico in the main square of Piazza del Campo. Palazzo Pubblico is still used for its original function, for the municipal offices of Siena. https://www.discovertuscany.com/siena/what-to-do/museo-civico-siena.html

The chamber of Saint Paul used to be part of the abbess' apartment in the Benedectine Convent of Saint Paul, decorated from 1514 at the order of Abbess Giovanna da Piacenza, whose priorate was characterized by a lively cultural life. http://www.turismo.comune.parma.it/en/thematic-channels/discover-the-area/art-and-culture/museums-and-galleries/chamber-of-saint-paul-and-saint-catherines-cell

The Parks of Nervi are an important historical/nature complex formed from the combination of several gardens that once belonged to private villas: Villa Gropallo, Villa Saluzzo Serra, and Villa Grimaldi Fassio. Today, these villas belong to the City of Genoa and have been transformed into museums. http://www.visitgenoa.it/en/parchi-di-nervi-gropallo-serra-grimaldi-and-luxoro-villas

On display in Palazzo Rosso, a noble residence decorated with valuable furnishings and frescoes by Liguria's greatest painters of the 17th Century, is a rich gallery of paintings, collected over more than two centuries by the noble Brignole-Sale family. http://www.visitgenoa.it/en/strada-nuova-museums-palazzo-rosso

The town of Lonato boasts an exceptional monumental complex. Even the most demanding tourists will find it worth visiting. http://www.bresciatourism.it/en/what-to-do/rocca-and-ugo-da-como-house-museum/

La Scala, or Teatro alla Scala in Italian, is one of the most famous opera houses in the world. Its sober and elegant exterior never fails to surprise those that visit it for the first time. The Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este commissioned the construction of a new Ducal Theatre when a fire burnt down the previous theatre in 1776. The opera house was built on the site where the former site of the Church Santa Maria alla Scala, hence the name of the Teatro alla Scala. Like other theatres of the same period, La Scala also housed a casino during its early years. In 1943, during World War II, the theatre was badly damaged by bombing. It was reconstructed three years later. In 2002, the Opera House was closed for two years while it was renovated and opened in November 2004 with an opening performance of Europa riconosciuta by Antonio Salieri, which is the same opera that was performed when the theatre was inaugurated in 1778. Many famous operas have had their first production in La Scala, such as Othello, Nabucco by Verdi or Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. During its early years, the composer Giuseppe Verdi did not want his work to be represented in the Teatro alla Scala because he was convinced that the orchestra modified his compositions. Nevertheless, he then established a very close relationship with the Opera House. The Theatre Museum contains a large collection of paintings, busts, costumes and several other objects related to the world of opera and theatre. The visit includes discovering the theatre’s grand foyer, an elegant and sparsely decorated hall. Then you will be taken to the small box seats covered in red satin, where the high society enjoyed and still enjoys the various operas and ballets performed in La Scala. The enormous auditorium is made of wood and covered in red velvet, adorned with golden coloured stuccos. The stage is lit by a huge Bohemian crystal chandelier with 383 bulbs. https://www.introducingmilan.com/teatro-alla-scala

The new museum, created inside the ancient Ospedale Spagnolo (Spanish Hospital) in the Castello Sforzesco, is a fascinating space that has never opened to the public before and is exclusively dedicated to Michelangelo’s last masterpiece. http://www.turismo.milano.it/wps/portal/tur/en/arteecultura/musei/pitturaescultura/Museo_della_Pieta

Castello Sforzesco is a surprising monument sheltering several specialized museums and traces of the city’s past. An oasis of art and culture. It was originally a Visconti fortress and later home to the mighty Sforzas, the rulers of Milan, who transformed it into a magnificent ducal palace thought to have been decorated by several of the greatest artists of the times including Donato Bramante and Leonardo da Vinci. Transformed into a military complex during four centuries of foreign occupation and subsequently used as the barracks of the Italian army, at the end of the 19th century the Castle was restored by architect Luca Beltrami who turned it into the headquarters of Milan’s Civic Museums. Today the Castle sits in all of its glory in the eponymous square with its 70m-tall “Torre del Filarete” and a number of majestic circular keep-towers. https://www.wheremilan.com/sightseeing-sempione/sforza-castle/

It may seem strange entitle a museum to a stone, but a visit to the Ecomuseo della Pietra da Cantoni clarifies why this unique material is so important to the Monferrato’s culture. http://www.monferratodelights.com/blog/ecomuseum-pietra-da-cantoni/

The first exhibition of the current Archaeology Museum was located in the Loggia under the Palazzo della Ragione, in Piazza Vecchia, where it was simply a “collection of old stuff” and included several epigraphs. http://www.visitbergamo.net/en/object-details/73-archaeological-museum/

Boasting world-renowned expertise, the Museum presents more than 6000 specimens in their faithfully reconstructed natural habitat. Come and discover the amazing species of the Mediterranean, the incredible diversity of the inhabitants of the coral reef and the monumental Shark Lagoon, all under the same roof. From the highly colourful tropical zone to the spellbinding charm of the Mediterranean section, the Oceanographic museum invites you to observe the underwater world in all its authenticity. The one hundred or so pools, ranging in size from 100 to 450,000 litres, are home to several thousand fish specimens, more than 200 species of invertebrates and around one hundred species of hard and soft corals. https://www.oceano.mc/en/aquariums/our-aquariums

The Prince's Palace is the private residence of the ruling Prince but the State Apartments are open for public visits part of the year. The original fortress and ramparts were built by the Genoese in 1215 and throughout the centuries was transformed into one of the most luxurious residences in the style of Louis XIV. Prince Honore II was responsible for re-assembling the rich collections of art, which had been auctioned off during the French Revolution when the Palace was turned into a hospital for the Italian Army. However, Prince Rainier III is credited for restoring the Palace to its former glory and the magnificent state in which it can be seen today. Beginning at the top of the Hercule Gallery and descending on to the main courtyard is a spectacular double-revolution Carrera marble staircase dating from the 13th century and inspired by a similar staircase at the Chateau of Fontainebleau. Adorning the gallery walls are frescoes of mythological figures attributed to Francesco Mazzucchelli dating from the 16th century and the Genovese artist Orazio Ferrari in the 17th century. The frescoes in the Palatine chapel in the north end of the main courtyard depict the history of Saint Devote, the patron Saint of the Principality. The chapel, built-in 1665, is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. http://www.palais.mc/en/museum-and-visits/the-state-apartments-1-26.html

The Museum, of contemporary design, houses rare stamps depicting the Principality’s postal history, as well as all the documents which have been used in the stamp-printing process from the first Charles III stamp in 1885 to the present day. The Museum of Philately and Coinage is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm (6 pm in July and August). It sells currently available stamps and coins issued by the Principality. https://www.visitmonaco.com/us/place/museums/90/museum-of-stamps-and-coins

Monaco’s Naval Museum is the result of one man’s passion. From a very early age, Professor Claude Pallanca dreamed of sailing and meticulously built model ships. During his military service, he was assigned to the Jeanne d’Arc as a dental surgeon, where he established friendships with many sailors and naval officers, and his passion for boats and the sea grew. https://www.visitmonaco.com/us/place/museums/145/naval-museum#

Boasting a rare and important collection of fossils and excavated treasures originating from the Principality and nearby regions, this museum retraces some of the most significant milestones in the history of humans. http://www.visitmonaco.com/us/Places-to-visit/Museums

The Accademia Museum (Gallerie dell'Accademia) is part of a complex including the church of Santa Maria della Carità, the homonymous Scuola Grande (the original entrance is now the main access to the museum) and the Monastery of the Canonici Lateranensi (the complex was in use until the beginning of the XIX century). The gallery take its name from the Accademia delle Belle Arti (Art Accademy) who opened the building and shared the sites until few years ago (2004). The operas preserved inside the Gallery are many and of inestimable value. Most of the painting comes from a period between the XIV and the XVIII century, the most important authors are Carpaccio, Bellini, Tintoretto, Tiziano. Also many sculptures and drawing can be admired, amongst them the vitruvian man by Leonardo da Vinci, exposed only few periods. Initially the museum was operating as didactic and restoration of art operas centre. http://venice-tourism.com/en/places/dorsoduro-district/accademia-gallery-museum

The Correr Museum offers a real opportunity to know the Art and History of Venice. In the Napoleonic wing that was during the 19th century house of kings and emperors with their impressive neoclassical rooms, we find an important collection of works of one of the greatest sculptors of that time, Antonio Canova (1757-1822). In this museum we can also visit the New Magistrates, "Procuratie Nuove", which were designed between 1552-1616 by the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi and where once the most important civic authorities of the Republic of Venice were housed. In these spacious rooms, currently there are collections that document various aspects of the city's history, such as public institutions, daily life, naval achievements and local festivals. On the second floor is the exhibition of the Art Collection covering the period from the beginning of Venetian painting to the 16th century; also here we can find other incomparable masterpieces. https://www.venice-museum.com/correr-museum-piazza-san-marco.php

The Dogi Palace represent the symbol and the hart of the political and administrative life of the Venetian Republic millenary history. In the halls of the palace the Doge and the council took all the decision about Venice and its life. http://venice-tourism.com/en/places/san-marco-district/dogi-palace-and-its-secrets

An exceptional example of civil baroque architecture, the Palais Lascaris is a recognised Musée de France, devoted to the art and music of the 17th and 18th centuries. http://en.nicetourisme.com/nice/53-palais-lascaris

The National Marc Chagall museum, was created by the artist's will to bring together in one purpose-built place his most important biblical works : the 17 paintings which make up the Biblical Message. The permanent collection is the biggest public collection of works by Marc Chagall. It is organized around the set of works produced by the painter on the Old Testament themes, supplemented by a large number of works of secular or religious inspiration: over 400 painting, gouaches, drawings, wash drawings and pastels. The museum offers the visitor a first room containing twelve large-size paintings illustrating the first two books of the Old Testament, Genesis and Exodus. In a second, smaller hexagonal room are five compositions on the theme of the Song of Songs, another Old Testament book. Audio-guides in French, English, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese and Spanish . http://en.nicetourisme.com/nice/183-musee-national-marc-chagall

A gem of industrial hydroengineering, Panperduto represents an area of great interest to make visitors aware of cultural, historical, agricultural and environmental heritage. Located on the banks of the Ticino river, at Somma Lombardo along the European E1 trail and a few kilometres away from the Lago Maggiore and Milan, Panperduto is a place rich of history and culture. The old residence of the dam workers has been authentically restructured and today welcomes tourists following the cycleways, footpaths and points of interest along the watercourses. There is accommodation available with the opportunity to take guided tours of the whole complex, from the river confluence to the museum of the Italo-Swiss watercourses including a garden of interactive water games, to the migratory passage for fish and the beautiful trails immersed in the Ticino nature reserve. http://www.vareseturismo.it/en/blog/panperduto

In 1563, with the transfer of the ducat's capital from Chambéry to Turin, Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy established his residence in the palace of the bishop at the Duomo; already in 1584, Carlo Emanuele I entrusted the architect Ascanio Vittozzi with the construction of a new factory. After 1643, with the regency of Maria Cristina of France, the direction of the work passed to Carlo di Castellamonte and then to Carlo Morello. http://www.museireali.beniculturali.it/index.php/it/il-complesso/palazzo-reale

The Museum of Antiquities consists of several sections: the New Channel, with the Archeology exhibition in Turin and the Marengo Treasure Halls; the Territory, dedicated to the archeology of Piedmont and the "Exhibitions on the catwalk"; the Collections, the "historical" nucleus of the Museum and location of the setting up of the Papyrus of Artemidorus. The underground floor of the Manica Nuova of Palazzo Reale has been the venue since 2013 for the renewed display of the Marengo Treasury and the Archeology exhibition in Turin which presents the city's archaeological materials, originating from the collections of the sixteenth-century scholars, increased by the antiquaries of the following centuries and merged into the royal collections, together with the new acquisitions resulting from recent archaeological excavations. The section connects with the archaeological area of ​​the Roman theater which partially contains and overlooks it. http://www.museireali.beniculturali.it/index.php/it/il-complesso/museo-archeologico

“If you want to see the Picassos of Antibes, you must come to Antibes to see them.” It is a new museum that the public will discover after two years of works, more accessible, easier to visit and providing better preservation conditions for the works displayed. http://www.antibesjuanlespins.com/en/art-et-culture/picasso-museum

The Vatican Museums,founded by Pope Julius II in the early 16th contain one of the world's greatest art collections in the world. Exhibits range from Egyptian mummies and Etruscan bronzes to ancient busts, old masters and modern paintings. https://m.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani-mobile/en.html

The first nucleus, a collection of ancient sculptures, was constituted by Julius II (1503-13) but the idea of ​​the museum was born with Clement XIII (1758-69), who with the assistance of Winckelmann had the Museo Profano exhibiting set up Greek and Roman sculptures. With Clement XIV (1769-74) and Pius VI (1775-99) the Museo Pio Clementino was born, which brings together the most famous examples of ancient sculpture such as the Apollo del Belvedere, the Laooconte group and the Torso del Belvedere, while in 1807 -10, under Pius VII, the Chiaramonti Museum is set up by Canova, which houses Roman sculptures. In 1822 the Braccio Nuovo is opened with over 150 sculptures including statues such as the wounded Amazon, the Doryphoros, the enormous statue of the Nile, the Augustus of Prima Porta. With Gregory XVI the Gregorian Etruscan Museum was opened in 1837 , with finds coming mostly from the nineteenth-century excavations carried out in southern Etruria, and in 1839 the Egyptian Gregorian collecting a series of statues depicting deities or characters of the royal family, sarcophagi, mummies and elements of funerary furniture. In 1844 he opened the Lateran Profane Museum (today Gregoriano Profano) and later the Pio Cristiano which collected materials from excavations in the Roman catacombs including numerous sarcophagi. https://www.turismoroma.it/it/node/121

Known as Hadrian's Tomb, the Castel Sant'Angelo is a fortress located on the right bank of the Tiber, a short distance from the Vatican City. Construction of the building began in the year 135 under the direction of the Emperor Hadrian, who intended to use it as mausoleum for himself and his family. It was finished in the year 139 and a short time later, it became a military building, which in the year 403 would be integrated to the Aurelian Walls. The Castel Sant'Angelo is split into five floors which can be reached by a spiral ramp that first reaches the chamber of ashes and subsequently the cells in which a number of historical figures were incarcerated. Advancing toward the upper part of the castle you will find different rooms that functioned as a Papal residence, decorated with perfectly preserved frescoes from the Renaissance period, besides the extensive collection of weapons. In the upper floor there is a large terrace where you can take amazing photographs of the city from above. Advancing toward the upper part of the castle you will find different rooms that functioned as a Papal residence, decorated with perfectly preserved frescoes from the Renaissance period, besides the extensive collection of weapons. In the upper floor there is a large terrace where you can take amazing photographs of the city from above. https://www.rome.net/castel-sant-angelo

It seems that in the first half of the 15th century the Visconti stayed "in the countryside", a step away from the current Marche metro stop in Milan, in Villa Mirabello. At the time, however, the building we are talking about was called Cascina Mirabello, and it can be found in the documents of 1468 that recognized it as the property of this Pigello Portinari. The Florentine nobleman dear to Prince Sforza, general manager of the annuities of the Milanese duchy and representative of the Florentine House of the Medici in Milan, was also the promoter of the construction of the Portinari Chapel in Sant'Eustorgio. Towards the end of the 15th century, the villa changed hands, becoming the property of the noble Landriani. Antonio Landriani, awarded by Francesco Sforza as mayor of Milan in 1456, then appointed prefect of the ducal treasury by Galeazzo Maria Sforza, later president of the Mint of Milan by the appointment of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, then became a trusted man and adviser politician of Ludovico il Moro. Ludovico himself was a guest of the Landriani in Villa Mirabello on February 4, 1500. A few years later the villa became one of the houses of the order of the Humiliati, of which Gerolamo Landriani was general. The Landriani family remained the owner of Villa Mirabello for some tens of years, enough to leave traces still visible today in the form of coats of arms that stand out on the fireplace of the main hall and on the ceilings, together with the motto "always el duty ”frescoed on the walls of the villa next to pomegranate figures and blue crosses. It seems that the villa then passed from Landriani to Marino, a rich family of Genoese origin whose member Tommaso entrusted Galeazzo Alessi with nothing less than the construction of Palazzo Marino in Piazza Della Scala. The history of the villa, in the following years, is rather confused, but it is known that it later became the property of the Serbelloni family and that, starting from the mid-1500s, it faced a sad decline: the building was reduced exclusively to uses agricultural and over the next three centuries it became increasingly dilapidated, until Luca Beltrami, in 1891, considered it by re-evaluating it as an illustrious example of Lombard architectural art. https://www.fondazionevillamirabello.it/

The Pantheon, completed in 126 AD, was a Roman temple with a surprising oculus that is the building's main source of natural light. The Pantheon of Agrippa, also known as the Roman Pantheon, is one of the architectural masterpieces of the Italian capital. It is the best preserved building from ancient Rome. The construction of the current Pantheon was carried out during the reign of Hadrian, in the year 126 A.D. The name of Agrippa comes from the place in which the current building is built, which was previously occupied by the Pantheon of Agrippa, built in the year 27 B.C and that was destroyed in a fire in the year 80 A.D. At the beginning of the 7th century the building was donated to the Pope Boniface IV, who transformed it into a church, in which function it currently finds itself in a perfect state of preservation. In the interior of the Pantheon the tombs of numerous Italian kings and a multitude of art works are found. The best-known person who can be found buried in the Pantheon is without doubt the painter and Renaissance architect Raphael. The outskirts of the Pantheon are usually full of people at all hours, either photographing the imposing building or having a traditional supper in some of the terraces of the Piazza della Rotonda while they enjoy the shows put on by different street artists. https://www.rome.net/pantheon