Archive for 'Museums & Galleries'

In the last post we were discussing Pisa and why it is such an excellent place to visit...In fact, we began listing just ten of the many reasons as to why you should find a luxury villa in Pisa and plan a trip right away. Here are the other five to complete the set...

6. Palazzo Blu: Palazzo Blu is one of Tuscany's artistic highlights and is an excellent art museum located right in the historic heart of Pisa. Home to both an excellent permanent collection – featuring works by the likes of Artemisia and Orazio Gentileschi, Benozzo Gozzoli and Umberto Vittorini – and important temporary exhibitions throughout the year – Dali, Lautrec and Escher have all been showcased in the last couple of years, it is a wonderful place to get a taste of the great tradition of art in Tuscany.

7. Borgo Stretto: This is a popular pedestrian shopping street filled with charming historic buildings, stores, eateries and cafés. Ideal for wandering, doing a spot of shopping and grabbing a bite to eat, it's an idyllic and typical pretty Tuscan cityscape to spend some time in.

People know Pisa best as home to the famous Leaning Tower but that is not all there is to this charming Tuscan city.

If you find yourself a luxury villa in Pisa, then these are just ten of the things you can expect from your trip:

1. The Leaning Tower of Pisa: Okay, okay, so I said that the Leaning Tower isn't all there is to Pisa. However, it would be remiss of me not to mention it at all. It's one of many great reasons to visit the city. It is iconic. And silly photos are a staple of being a tourist.

2. The Duomo: While you're in the area, the Duomo, next to which the Leaning Tower is located, is a must-see. Special tickets can be purchased to visit multiple sites in the Piazza dei Miracoli and the Duomo is one of the highlights. A truly stunning and richly ornamented building, it features dazzling interiors and will linger in your mind forever after viewing it.

If you are a da Vinci fan that is planning on finding a luxury villa in Florence this Autumn, be sure to pencil a visit to the Uffizi Gallery into your trip.

The Uffizi is to host the Codex Leicester in an exhibition, celebrating the 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s death, from the 29th of October 2018 to the 20th of January 2019, giving you plenty of time to plan a trip that will overlap with the show!

Called, “The Codex Leicester. Water, Nature’s Microscope”, it is to be curated by the Museo Galileo’s director Paolo Galluzzi and has been made possible due to a loan of the object by Bill Gates, who has been its owner since 1994.

A post shared by jillkellett (@jillkellett) on Apr 20, 2017 at 4:06pm PDT

Tuscany is full of grand gardens and is full of excellent art collections but there are also several places that combine the two things. One of these makes for a perfect day out for those who find a vacation rental in Maremma, the Giardino di Daniel Spoerri. A lovely sculpture garden created by the Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri in the early 1990s, it was opened to the public in 1997 and is located in Seggiano, near Monte Amiata.

If you have found a vacation rental in Pistoia and are planning your trip in the area, you're likely compiling a list of things to see and do. One thing to pencil in is a visit to the Chiesa del Tau, or Church of del Tau.

This church was constructed around 1340 by Fra’ Giovanni Guidalotti, who then donated it to the canons of Sant’Antonio del Tau. It is a single nave building with a raised presbytery and a crypt below. It is most famous for the extraordinary Gothic fresco cycle that decorates the walls and vaulted ceilings of the interiors and the sculptures of Marino Marini that are on display on the premises.

Boasting some truly exceptional works of art, it is a must-see gem that one might not expect to yield such incredible cultural value.