Lombardy often seems to have more in common with France and Germany to the north than to Mediterranean Italy. It was named for the Lombards (or Longobardi), a Germanic tribe who controlled the area after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and the Lombard region once stretched over the whole of northern Italy. Lombardy’s proximity to northern Europe, and its control of the Alpine passes between north and south made it both vulnerable and valuable down the ages. Milan early became a powerful commercial centre, and to this day it remains the hub of Italian economic power, much more so than the political capital of Rome. For centuries, Milan was the de facto capital of Italy, with rulers from Charlemagne to Napoleon coming to Lombardy to be crowned rulers of Italy. Lombardy and Milan are, of course, the base of Silvio Berlusconi’s economic empire. Check out Lombardy villas and apartments in one of Italy’s most buzzing cities.

The region has excellent communications, with Milan forming a road and rail hub. The A1, A4, A7, A8 and A9 highways radiate out from the capital, and the crossing into Switzerland and mainland Europe is just north of here. Just about every town we mention is on Italy’s excellent rail network (as are the Lakes), comprising the ‘S’ Line Suburban services, and ‘R’ Line Regional trains, and there are airports at Milan (Linate and Malpensa), at Bergamo and Brescia.

Sights to see in Milan include the Duomo, the world’s largest Gothic cathedral, Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper‘, a host of excellent art galleries and museums, including the Gallery of Modern Art, the Pinacoteca Brera and the Museo del Cinema. There is La Scala opera house, the San Siro (for lovers of soccer) and the Castello Sforzesco. Heading south you reach the ancient town of Pavia, known as ‘the city of a hundred towers’ in medieval times. With fine Romanesque and Gothic churches, a Duomo, cobbled streets and little alleyways, Pavia is a quite charming place to explore. Set in the heart of the River Po Plain, Cremona is famed for violin production (Stradivarius was a scion of the town). There are around a hundred makers today. Mantua was described by Aldous Huxley as ‘the most romantic city in the world’. Set on an island between three lakes, it has a medieval core of cobbled streets and piazzas, some superb buildings including the Palazzo Ducale (once the largest palace in Europe) and the Palazzo Te (once seat of the ruling Gonzaga dynasty). Knowital has some terrific Lombardy villas and apartments in Mantua and Cremona.

Skiing in Lombardy
Airports, roads, cities … where’s the countryside you cry? Lest we make Lombardy sound completely urbanised, let’s consider the wild open spaces that make this such a compelling region. We have skiing, we have lakes, we have national parks, and you can quickly be out of delightful historic cities such as Pavia and Mantua and into the hills. With its northern reaches in the Alps, Lombardy has some excellent ski resorts, and there are slopes at Madesimo, Aprica, Santa Caterina Valfurva, Bormio, Livigno, the Tonale Pass, Ponte di Legno, numerous resorts in Valsassina and a fair distance south, including the valleys around Brescia and Bergamo (within easy reach of the Po Valley) and in the Apennine slopes at Oltreph Pavese, near to Pavia. Thus you can be skiing in the morning and sitting by Lake Garda or Maggiore in the afternoon. And when those snows melt in the summer you have countryside that’s quite marvellous for walking, hiking and exploring. Check out our ski listings for Lombardy villas and apartments based around the major ski resorts.

There are some 130 national parks and nature reserves including Stelvio and Adamello, and there are the lakes. ‘One can’t describe the beauty of the Italian Lakes,’ opined no less than Henry James, ‘nor would one try if one could’. Verdi, Bellini and Rossini sought inspiration by renting villas on their shores, and they continue to inspire and delight today. With dozens of smaller lakes dotted amidst Maggiore, Como and the rest. Starting from the west, there is the small and undervisited Lake (Lago) Orta. Next is Lake Maggiore, which lies half in Lombardy half in Switzerland; lake towns include Cannobio, Verbania and Stresa, and the Borromeo Isles are a popular boat trip onto the lake. A collection of small lakes and Lake Varese itself lead on to the charming town of Varese itself. The forked Lake Como is very pretty (Wordsworth was a fan), and the pretty towns of Varenna and Bellagio (’the most beautiful town in Italy’) are worth a visit.

Through the valleys of Valchiavenna and Valtellina and we come to the split town of Bergamo: Bergamo Bassa, the modern town in the valley and Bergamo Alta a lovely medieval town, 1200ft up within gated walls, and with superb clean air. Lake Iseo is a delight, with steep, pine-clad banks which plunge down from the mountains. Heading west we come to Brescia, another fine, affluent medieval city with superb Renaissance piazzas, a good cathedral and a clocktower (the Torre dell’Orologio) modelled on the belltower in Venice’s St Mark’s Square.

Two minor lakes, Lago d’Idro and Lago di Ledro lead us on to the easternmost of the lakes, Lago di Garda. The biggest of the lakes, with the cleanest waters, Lake Garda is great for watersports (a stiff breeze for windsurfers) and has very pretty, and lushly planted shoreline. Towns to check out include Desenzano del Garda, Sirmione, Gardone Riviera, Salo, Gargnano, Riva del Garda, Torbole, Malcesine and the very pretty village of Torri del Benaco. Pay a visit to the lovely former fishing village of Garda, to Bardolino (where the excellent red wine comes from) and Lazise. And the theme park of Gardaland is great for the kids. Again, You can view Lombardy villas and apartments on our Google maps here.

Once you have taken your pictures of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, now safely underpinned by engineers for another century or so, you’ll find there is lots more to see in this beautiful Tuscan city. Pisa is very ancient, pre Roman in fact, but after being a Roman settlement it rose to its greatest glory between the 11th and 13th centuries. A major military power, Pisa became very rich too, and the fruits are everywhere. There is the Campo dei Miracoli, the collection of urban architecture that includes the Leaning Tower, the Duomo (cathedral), the Baptistery and the Camposanto. You’ll find apartments and villas in Pisa, Tuscany in the heart of the old town, as well as in the countryside around. Use our rather clever Google maps to pinpoint apartments and villas in Pisa, Tuscany close to the places you want to see.

There are fine churches including San Zeno, San Sisto and San Paolo a Ripa d’Arno. There is a collection of important palazzi, including the Palazzo della Carovana, and you should see the Torre dei Gualandi, and the university’s botanic gardens. And there are a number of good museums and galleries - appropriate when so many brilliant medieval and Renaissance artists lived and worked in Pisa. Check out the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, the Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Reale and the Museo Nazionale di S. Matteo among others. For a comprehensive introduction to Pisa accommodation and a great choice of apartments and villas in Pisa, Tuscany, check our listings.

The ancient town of Volterra, in Tuscany’s Pisa province, long predates the Romans, being a neolithic settlement, an important centre for the Etruscans and then a municipium under Rome. Today, lying on a high plateau in its circle of grey-yellow volcanic hills, Volterra has an isolated and bleak aspect. DH Lawrence described it as ‘an inland island, cirously isolated and grim’. Still, let’s not get too gloomy - sitting high above the valley it’s a starkly beautiful place, with its cobbled streets, walled gateways and sombre palazzos. The town reached its peak in the Middle Ages, before falling to Florence and the Medici in the 16th century.

There is plenty to see, including the first century BC Roman theatre, excavated in the 1950s. The Piazza dei Priori can lay claim as one of the most beautiful squares in all Italy, while the Palazzo dei Priori was the administrative centre of Volterra from the Middle Ages. The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta is early medieval, enlarged in the 13th century after the earthquake, and has some superb pieces of art, among them paintings by Santi di Tito, Giovanni Balducci and Agostino Veracini, a terracotta group attributed to Andrea della Robbia and a fresco of the Magi by Benozzo Gozzoli. See too the Medici Fortress (now a prison) and the Guarnacci Etruscan Museum, home to thousands of funeral urns from the Hellenistic and Ancient periods. Further evidence of Etruscan settlement lies outside the town, with excavations of tombs in the Valle Bona. Also see the Medici Villa di Spedaletto.

Take a look at a Google map of accommodation in and around Volterra, Tuscany … information, prices and how to book.

There are some good markets in the heart of Florence, you might want to look at apartments in Florence close to San Lorenzo (famous for its food shops) or to the Mercato delle Pulci (flea market to translate) which is renowned for antique stalls. You’ll find antique shops on the Via Maggio, with antique furniture and objets d’art. Florence also has a tradition of goldsmiths and silversmiths, you need to look for the little jewellery shops around the Ponte Vecchio.

For designer clothing in Florence, you’re best advised to head out to The Mall, on Via Artina (number 63) – the Florence Mall has outlets for Armani, Gucci, Prada, and all the major names of Italian fashion. Back in town, the Via dei Tornabuoni has, slightly questionably, been described as Florence’s Fifth Avenue (though the atmosphere is nothing like of course, the shops are top notch). Stores include Versace, Coveri, Gucci, Armani et al. You can get a reasonably affordable Florence city apartment in the heart of things and close to the shopping. Check out some listings of Florence city apartment rentals here.

Italy is, famously shaped like a boot, a long slim country with mountains running down its spine (the Apennine mountain range), and you are never especially far from a coastline. This unusual topography naturally affects the Italy climate graph, with landlocked Umbria (the only one of the Italian regions not to have any coastline) also being the region with the greatest extremes of temperature. Umbria gets very hot in the summer and can be very cold in the winter months. Conversely, Puglia (or Apulia), the heel of Italy’s boot, despite being very sunny and in the deep south, doesn’t ever get unbearably hot (depending on what you can bear of course). With the Ionian and Adriatic coasts never far away, there is a cooling effect on this sunbaked region.

Water is something else again of course, and here is where the Italy climate graph becomes very crucial. Go to Puglia, Molise, Calabria and Sicily and water becomes a very precious resource. If you’re renting a villa in southern Italy you are likely to find your hosts very careful with the water supply. And if you are buying property in southern Italy, you need to check that your land actually HAS access to water, ideally via the mains supply or, more likely from a well.

Check out property for sale in Italy, hotels in Italy and villa and apartment rentals in Italy. And check out Italy weather forecasts from italy-weather-and-maps.com for your visit to Italy.

It must have been a matter of immense pride for this poor Catholic family have a son enter the priesthood, but they couldn’t have guessed the bizarre twist Francesco’s life would take. As a youth he had experienced visions. As an adult he adopted the motto ‘Pray, Hope and don’t Worry’ – a hard code to live by as he was beset by diabolical attacks, including the devil visiting him disguised as ‘an angel of light’. Padre Pio now began manifesting the stigmata and transverberation, could survive for weeks at a time with no nourishment. The word spread and those close to him began to claim he could levitate, be in two places simultaneously, perform miracles… All were guaranteed to unsettle the Vatican, particularly as Pio was becoming a ‘star’ in his own right. Counter accusations followed – of insanity, of preying on women and ‘perverting the fragile souls’ of his young pupils.

None of which stopped the cult from growing, despite the best efforts of the Vatican. Padre Pio died on 23 September, 1968. His home town of San Giovanni Rotondo has been massively commercialised and is up there with Lourdes and Santiago de Compostela as a site of pilgrimage. The Vatican, who either saw the light or became intensely pragmatic, depending on your level of cynicism, eventually canonised Padre Pio as a saint. And there’s no rest for the good – on 3 March 2008, Saint Pio’s body was exhumed in preparation for public display in a glass case later in 2008. Observers described the body as being in surprisingly good condition (a hint at divine intervention?) though as the ‘skull was showing through the skin’ we should perhaps take that with a small pinch of incense. Morticians were put to work to brush up the late saint for public display.

As Padre Pio would doubtless say himself, he is just a man. What is more remarkable about the whole San Giovanni Rotondo circus is how, despite the best efforts of the Vatican to control and regulate, the supernatural and miraculous retains a huge hold over a certain type of believer. And how a resolutely practical Catholic Church can turn superstition into cash – there will be hundreds of thousands of visitors to San Giovanni Rotondo this year and for many years to come.

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More about the life and work of Padre Pio

Those eruptions then. A contast flow of lava slies from the three craters into the sea on the north-west side. Occasionally, as in January 2003, more powerful eruptions hurl rocks into the sea causing miniature tidal waves. This was part of a pattern of eruptions that began the year before, seeing the island closed to visitors for several months. At night, Sromboli is spectacular, as ash and blocks of stone are hurled hundreds of feet into the sky, fire and volcanic ‘bombs’ raining down. It’s generally more bark than bite, and the last really serious eruption was in 1930, when the bombs destroyed houses and killed several residents.

Ferries run into Scari (Stromboli town) from Naples on the mainland and the neighbouring island of Lipari. The main beaches are at Ficogrande and Piscita (a fine ashy beach). Check out the church of San Vincezno, with superb views of the offshore isle of Strombolicchio, then on to Piscita’s church of San Piscita. Bear in mind that Stomboli is little, cycles or motor scooters will quickly get you to all the sights. The northern village of Ginostra is a lovely spot, with white terraced houses, and there are boat trips around the island. But no trip to Stromboli would be complete without an ascent to the volcano, ideally at night. It’s not always available - with Stromboli bursting two new craters open in early 2007, there is a constant reminder that Stromboli may drowse but never sleeps. You can camp at the summit but always go with a guide, and on no account attempt a night descent on your own.

You’ll find some very nice accommodation in Stromboli here.

From April to July, we have the oldest and perhaps the most famous music festival in all Italy, the Maggio Musicale (Musical May) in Florence. Running since 1933, the festival has two months of concerts, ballet, opera and exhibitions. During June, the Miami International Piano Festival has a festival and symposium in the superb Puglian baroque city of Lecce. Venice’s contribution to the European Fête de la Musique day sees the Serene Republic hosting free concerts in all of its squares – everything from folk to classical, rock to jazz. June and July see the Spoleto festival, centred on the Piazza della Liberta in the heart of town. A superb annual event, which grows by the year, Spoleto has ballet, classical music, theatre and visual arts events.

Heading into the far north-east of Italy we have the International Operetta Festival at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste. The festival runs June into July and is approaching its fortieth year, with everything from Gershwin to Franz von Suppé. Summer is a fertile time for Italian music festivals in fact, with the Ravenna Festival during June and July, and featuring opera, dance, jazz, world music and drama. There is also, of course, the world famous Verona Arena Opera Festival during the summer months.

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Ravenna Festival
International Operetta Festival, Trieste
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La Scala
Maggio Musicale
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Sights in the town are mainly in the old quarter. This is a charming tangle of piazzas and alleyways with the main road of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele cutting through the centre. They include the 13th century walls (at least in part, with just a tower left of the original 36 plus four gates). There is the Renaissance Palazzo d’Usini, one of the oldest houses in the town and now the public libarary, and the Palazzo Ducale (now the town hall) dating from 1775. On the other side of the Corso is the medieval Piazza Tola.

There is the Fonte Rosello, the fountain built in 1606 by Genoese craftsmen, and the University Palace (1611-51, and the former Jesuit college). At the heart of the town is the Duomo, the cathedral of St Nicholas of Bari, featuring Baroque embellishments on the Aragonese-Gothic body of the building, and dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. Other main churches include the 13th century early Gothic Santa Maria di Betlem, the Church of the Most Blessed Trinity and the 12th century St Peter in Silki. See too the Aragonese palace of the Duke of Vallombrosa.

Accommodation in and around Sassari, Sardinia

The diversity is extraordinary. There is a terrific collection of Caravaggio’s, including the mighty Entombment. Paintings by Giotto, Raphael, Fra Angelico, Poussin, Titian and of course Leonardo’s portrait of St Jerome. There is the red marble Papal throne, rescued from the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano. There is the Niccoline Chapel and the Gallery of Maps. So where do we start?

Enter, and the first collection you hit is the Museo Pio-Clementino. The octagonal courtyard here houses some superb Classical statues, among them the Apollo Belvedere from Roman times and the Laocoon, dating from the first century AD and rescued from Nero’s Golden House in 1506. This sculpture is the origin of the whole collection of museums, being the first piece put on exhibition here more than 500 years ago (the anniversary was celebrated by the opening of the Vatican Hill necropolis excavations to the public in 2006). The Sala Rotonda has mosaics and statues and the Sala delle Muse houses statues of Apollo and the nine muses. An interesting oddity is the Sala degli Animali, with animal statuary.

Next up is the Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum) which has mummy cases and ‘canopi’ (receptacles for the entrails of the dead). Climb to the first floor and we enter the Museo Gregorio Etrusco, with pieces from southern Etruria, including art and sculpture, and with fine examples of the handiwork for which Etruscan smiths were famous.

Down stairs again and we come to the Gallery of Candelabra, with enormous chandeliers from the old imperial Roman villas. There is the Gallery of Tapestries, including some fine 17th century cloths from the Barberini workshops. The huge Gallery of Maps is a delight, and a testimony to the confidence (or arrogance) of Pope Gregory XIII in the 16th century. Gregory it was who reorganised our calendar (the Gregorian Calendar you see) and he also commissioned artists to create great maps of the known world - the implication being that this world was very much under papal dominion. We see the Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto and maps of medieval Italy and France … fascinating stuff.

We move swiftly on to the Raffaello Stanze (Raphael Rooms), some of the work by the master himself, some by his pupils. The Stanz di Constantino has the epic ‘Battle of the Milvian Bridge’ by Romano and Penni. The Stanza di Eliodoro has important works including the ‘Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple’, the ‘Mass of Bolsena’, the ‘Deliverance of St Peter’ and ‘Leo I Repulsing Attila the Hun’. The Stanza della Segnatura (the Pope’s study) was commissioned by Julius I, with the magnificent ‘School of Athens’. Finally, the Stanza Incendio is a collaborative work by Perugino (Raphael’s teacher), Raphael himself and his pupils. See the ‘Fire in the Borgo’ here.

Onward to the Borgia Apartments, which houses modern art including works by Dali and Francis Bacon (a superb study of Innocent X after Velasquez). The real highlight is the ceiling frescoes, though, created by Pinturrichio in the Sala dei Santi. From here you take a stairway up to the Sistine Chapel, built by Sixtus IV between 1473 and 1481. Everybody knows Michelangelo’s ceiling painting of course and the Last Judgement, which graces the wall behind the altar. On busy days some 20,000 tourists troop through here, on quiet days a mere 15,000, so pick your time well to avoid the crowds. Late in the day is, of course, best. No photos or video in the Sistine Chapel by the way, and DO remember that you are in a place of worship. If Michelangelo was to paint the perfect backdrop, then the artists Sixtus commissioned to produce work to hang in the chapel were more than equal to it. A stellar array of talent included Perugino (’Jesus giving St Peter the Keys to Heaven’), Botticelli (’The Trials of Moses and ‘Cleansing of the Leper’) and Ghirlandaio (’Calling of St Peter and St Andrew’). The ceiling itself is a marvel, with frescoes moving from the ‘Creation of Light’ to the ‘Drunkenness of Noah’, a breathtaking gallop through the Old Testament. And the ‘Last Judgement’, grudgingly created by Michelangelo under pressure from the family of the now-deceased Julius II, was to follow 20 years later. The ageing artist created a controversial triumph, many Romans being shocked at the introduction of nudity into the Papal chambers. The master mocked his critics, portraying the Pope’s majordomo, Biago di Cesena with ass’s ears.

On leaving the chapel we pass through the Braccio Nuovo and the Museo Chiarimonti, with important statuary including ‘The Prima Porta Augustus, and ‘The River Nile’. The gallery is a full 300 metres long, a rather spooky stroll past hundreds of busts of unnamed ancient Romans. The Galeria Lapidaria, with more than 3000 stone tablets and engravings is not generally open to the public. On to the Pinacoteca, a superb gallery of painting, from the early Renaissance to the 19th century. Artists represented include Crivelli, Lippi and Giotto’s ‘Martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul’. There is another room of Raphaels here, Caravaggio’s ‘Descent from the Cross’, Reni’s ‘Crucifixion of St Peter and Pussin’s ‘Martyrdom of St Erasmus’, a particularly gruesome depiction of the saint having his intestines pulled out and wound onto a drum.

Lastly we have the little grouping of the Museo Gregoriano Profano, with statuary, busts and friezes, the Museo Pio Cristiano, with early Christian sarcophagi and art brought back from all over the planet by Catholic missionaries.

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