Welcome to a site mainly about history and photography in Italy. Most of the posts deal with places in Italy and their history, and are illustrated by my own photography – large, medium and small format. Other posts deal with related subjects such as my photography, books about history and Italy, and anything else which seems relevant. Sometimes I just feel like celebrating le cose Italiane.
Three of my loves are Italy, history and photography, so this seemed a good way to indulge all of them at once.
You can find a lengthier self-introduction, and the reason behind the name of the blog, here.
All images on this site are my own and are copyright, unless explicitly identified otherwise. Each image is set to open at a higher resolution in a separate browser tab if you click on it, so I do recommend doing that if possible, especially if you are looking at this site on a computer, a tablet or a larger phone.
And yes, the photo in the title was taken by me, and no, I did not use a coloured filter. You can read about how I took it here.
Posts
You can find the entire blog, most recent post first, here. Otherwise, the lists of posts – most recent first – is below.
The Honourable Mercenary: Bartolomeo Colleoni and Bergamo
Town and Gown in Bologna – The Archiginnasio

The Infiorate of Spello
Roman Todi 2 – Architecture and Engineering
Roman Todi 1 – Becoming Roman
Sardinia – the North: Dancing Monks and Hidden Billionaires
The Witch, the Warrior and the Preacher – the story of Matteuccia da Todi
Sardinia – The West Coast
Ancient Sardinia
Ancient Todi – Before the Romans
Sardinia, Cagliari and the Festa di Sant’Efisio
Paleochristian Churches Part VI – Santa Maria and Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

Capri: Emperor Tiberius, Axel Munthe and Norman Douglas

Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II) and Pienza
The Abbey of Sant’Antimo in Tuscany
Cola di Rienzo… and Mussolini?
Homage to Italian Bars

The Cardinal and Napoleon’s Sister

Stormy Weather
The Sala Dei Notari in Perugia

Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in Rome
Catherine of Siena, Cardinal Albornoz and Sir John Hawkwood

Urbino – the Palazzo Ducale

A Return to Palermo
The Avignon “Captivity”

The Etruscan Heartland – Tarquinia and Tuscania
Ravello and its Villas

Amalfi and the Sorrentine Peninsula
The Frescoes of Fra Angelico in San Marco, Florence

The End of the World – The Duomo and Signorelli Frescoes in Orvieto

Wine and Truffles in the Langhe
Paleochristian Churches Part V – The Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome

A Walk to Porta Pia
Paleochristian Churches IV – Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Pudenziana and Santa Prassede
The Temple on the Mountain

Abruzzo and the Reluctant Pope
Cospaia – the Accidental Republic
Paleochristian Churches III – Three Umbrian Gems

Renaissance Exuberance in Perugia

Night Photography in Bologna

Paleochristian Churches II – A Return to Ravenna

Lake Maggiore and the Borromean Islands

Street Photography in Bologna
Perugino Comes Home
Viterbo – Wet Bishops in the Papal Palace

Palazzo Te – Romantic Trysts and Doomed Giants, but No Tea
Street Life in Naples

Procida
Paleochristian Churches (part one) – Santa Costanza and Sant’Agnese
The Ancient Gates of Perugia
Iris Origo, La Foce and Val d’Orcia

The Christmas Nativity Scenes of Naples
A Return to the Val d’Orcia
A Nation of Shopkeepers II – another celebration of Italian shops.

The Cloister of Santa Chiara in Naples
The Milvian Bridge at Feriae Augusti – when all roads lead OUT of Rome

A Little Place in the Country – The Villa Farnese at Caprarola

The Palazzo Trinci in Foligno II – More Jewels of the High Middle Ages
The Ponte Fonnaia on the Via Flaminia

Foligno: The Palazzo Trinci and the Hall of the Liberal Arts

The Lombard Invasion and the Byzantine Corridor
The Buried Streets of Perugia

The Sacred Wood of Bomarzo
The Via Amerina in Umbria

A Town Called Bastard

Et In Arcadia Ego
Princes Under the Volcano
Take this! Oh yeah? Take that!
Lars Porsena of Clusium, By the Nine Gods He Swore
A Brief Political History of the Italian Language
Cremona, Mantua and Venice – the life of Claudio Monteverdi

Mantua – Grumpy Old Artist, Charming Painting
Venice Curiosities
Commemorating the Passing of a Pandemic
Reasons to be Thankful

Valnerina: The Green Heart of the Green Heart of Italy

Evening Photography: Rome, Venice and Tuscany
Street Photography in Italy

Dawn in Venice
Taormina – In the Shadow of the Volcano

Tough Guys in Art – the Baglioni of Perugia
A Nation of Shopkeepers
The Val d’Orcia at Dawn – II
Camera and Chianti – The Italian Photography of Francis Sandwith
Ravenna at the Fall of the Empire
Castelluccio and the Piano Grande
The Serious Business of Dressing Up – Part II
Piazza Armerina, Morgantina and Siracusa

Puglia and the Salentine
A Continuous String of Onions: Padua Market
Vanished Kingdoms
The Serious Business of Dressing Up
Montalbano Country
Villas and Vistas in Tivoli
Carsulae: On the Legions’ Road to Rimini

History in Focus: Urbino
A Visit to Narnia
Alps and Castles: the Valle d’Aosta

The Garden of Livia Drusilla
Of Emperors and Onions
