Archive for 'Churches & Religious Buildings'

If you have found a vacation rental in Pisa and are planning a trip in the area, you'll likely be looking into what there is to see and do in and around Pisa. While the pretty and historic city itself has its famous Leaning Tower (in a complex of other fascinating religious buildings), cute little streets lined with restaurants and shops, some great museums, and much more besides, the surrounding landscape is also beautiful and full of gems and well worth exploring. For example, just ten kilometres from town you will find the little town of Calci, located on the foothills of the Monte Pisano hillside, which is home to the breathtaking Calci Charterhouse.

The Charterhouse of Pisa (or Certosa di Pisa), more often referred to as the Calci Charterhouse in English, is a stunning architectural complex that is a former Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, and is home to two different museums today: National Museum of the Monumental Charterhouse of Calci and the Natural History Museum of the University of Pisa. If you're fond of frescoes, architectural prowess, dinosaurs, pretty gardens, and more, this is somewhere to see all of the above under (and adjacent to) one roof.

If you have found a luxury villa in Florence and are looking to delve into, and explore, some of the beautiful Tuscan countryside around the city and if you are interested in abandoned places and history, then you should probably head to Semifonte. Located in the province of Florence, within the modern day comune of Barberino Val d'Elsa, Semifonte was once a grand fortified city that was built during the 12th century. If was destroyed in 1202 in a siege during conflict with Florence and little remains today as the peace treaty brokered with Florence required surviving inhabitants to demolish their own city and prevented rebuilding on the site. In fact, the stones used to build Barberino Val d'Elsa were taken from the destroyed city and repurposed, leaving very little of the city behind today.

There are certain pictures of the lovely Tuscan countryside and landscape that get shared time and time again: the iconic winding roads and perfect rolling hills of the Val D’Orcia, Cypress Avenue in Bolgheri, and walled towns like Siena, as seen from a distance and with lush green surroundings. Amongst these “generic” images of the evocative Tuscan countryside, you are likely to spot one particular little chapel popping up time and time again, the Chapel of the Madonna di Vitaleta, or La Cappella della Madonna Vitaleta.

Located in the province of Siena, next to the village of Vitaleta, on the road between San Quirico d’Orcia and Pienza, this pretty little house of worship is one of the most photographed churches in Tuscany and is a picture-perfect gem. Framed by cypress trees either side of the single bay, white stone-clad gem, and surrounded by rolling green hills, it looks almost too idyllic for real life. But real it is, and it is also free to visit whenever you please. Just find a holiday rental in Siena and come see it for yourself.

Florence is always increasing the number of fully-accessible museums and attractions, ways to avoid architectural impediments, themed sensory tours, helpful elements in public transport, places to park, and more. They are working to make it a more accessible destination for all and it is a great place to choose if you or someone in your group have particular requirements but don't want to miss out on a wonderful holiday or have to stress out overly about the details. Just find a vacation rental in Florence and continue to read our guide to the helpful initiatives making Florence more accessible for all...

5. Special Tours, Exhibits, Attractions & More

The Uffizi Gallery, Palazzo Vecchio, Gallery of Modern Art, Palazzo Davanzati, Marino Marini Museum, Galileo Museum, Museum of Natural History, and Botanical Gardens all offer special tours and ways of exploring their attractions for those with special requirements or needs and there are also many guides that offer special tours and personalised routes through the institutions. Very few museums are inaccessible and those that are are only this way due to unalterable historical features of the buildings in which they are housed. Most attractions also have sections of their websites dedicated to accessibility but this PDF offers a good guide to the main ones that tourists might be interested in visiting.

Italy is home to some incredible churches, to be sure, and if you're in Tuscany, in particular, you will find lots of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque gems. However, more modern beauties are less commonly found. Among them the Church of San Giovanni Battista or the Chiesa dell’Autostrada del Sole in Limite, in the municipality of Campi Bisenzio. Although formally named after John the Baptist, the latter name is a nickname meaning “The Motorway of the Sun Church” and was given due to the building's unusual location between the Autostrada del Sole and the A11 Firenze-Mare Highway, which was actually chosen to remember labourers who lost their lives while building the motorway. While it is certainly not everyone's cup of tea, those interested in design and architecture will find it intriguing. If you're an architecture nerd that has found a luxury villa in Florence, be sure to check this unusual gem out for yourself.