Cultural Building sights in Italy
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Libreria Piccolomini
Off the north aisle of the Duomo Nuovo, the Libreria Piccolomini is one of the cathedral's great treasures. Pope Pius III built this compact hall to house the books of his uncle, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who became Pope Pius II; only a series of huge choral tomes remains on display.
The walls of the hall have vividly coloured narrative frescoes by Bernardino Pinturicchio. They depict events in the life of Piccolomini, starting from his early days as a secretary to an Italian bishop on a mission to Basle, through to his ordination as pope and eventually his death in Ancona while trying to mount a crusade against the Turks. In the centre of the hall is a group of statues k…
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Palazzo d'Usini
North of Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, Via Cesare Battisti leads into the leafy Piazza Tola. It used to be the centre and main market of the medieval town, and you'll still find a market here on weekday mornings. When the Spaniards were in charge they burnt heretics here, looking on from fine palazzos such as the 1577 Palazzo d'Usini. It's a rare example of 16th-century civil architecture in Sardinia and now houses the public library.
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Biblioteca e Raccolta Teatrale del Burcardo
Rome's little-known theatre museum includes dazzling costumes worn by acting greats such as Eleonora Duse, fin de siècle playbills, set design artwork, and exquisite 18th-century Chinese marionettes. The lack of English information doesn't detract from the appeal and there's a well-stocked theatre library (mostly Italian) on the 2nd floor.
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Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio
Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio is the result of Pope Pius IV's project to curtail the Basilica di San Petronio. Seat of the city university from 1563 to 1805 (notice the professors' coats of arms on the walls), it today houses Bologna's 700,000-volume Biblioteca Comunale (Municipal Library) and the fascinating 17th-century Teatro Anatomico where public body dissections were held under the sinister gaze of an Inquisition priest, ready to intervene if proceedings became too spiritually compromising. Cedar-wood tiered seats surround a central marble-topped table while a sculptured Apollo looks down from the ceiling. The canopy above the lecturer’s chair is supported by two skinl…
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Museo Mandralisca
Off Piazza del Duomo is the private Museo Mandralisca. The museum has an interesting collection that includes Greek ceramics and Arab pottery, the highlight being the Portrait of an Unknown Man, a Renaissance masterpiece painting by Antonello da Messina.
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Museo Civico
Catania’s Museo Civico is housed in the grim-looking Castello Ursino. The museum is the repository of the valuable Biscari archaeological collection, an extensive exhibition of paintings, vases and sculpture, plus an impressive coin collection.
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Palazzo dell'Orologio
Palazzo dell'Orologio occupies the site of a tower where, in 1288, Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, his sons and grandsons were starved to death on suspicion of helping the Genoese enemy at the Battle of Meloria, an incident recorded in Dante's Inferno.
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Biblioteca Estense
The Biblioteca Estense holds one of Italy’s most valuable collections of books, letters and manuscripts, including the celebrated Bibbia di Borso d’Este, a masterpiece of medieval illustration.
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Biblioteca Nazionale
The Palazzo Reale also houses the Biblioteca Nazionale, which includes at least 2000 papyruses discovered at Herculaneum and fragments of a 5th-century Coptic Bible. Bring ID or miss out.
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Chiesa di San Marco
The Venetian Chiesa di San Marco boasts a rose window sporting a Venetian lion at its centre. The Chiesa di Santa Teresa dei Maschi (Strada Incuria) is one of the few baroque churches.
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Archivio Storico
Iglesias' historical archive contains the whole of the town's history, including Ugolino's Breve di Villa Chiesa.
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Malatestiana Library
A library as a tourist attraction? When it's Italy's oldest civic library, crammed with ancient manuscripts from the 9th to 15th century, you don't have to be a closet librarian to be overawed. Part of a Franciscan monastery complex, the library, fittings and codices have remained unchanged for over 500 years.
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Palazzo della Corgna
The head of the della Corgna family was appointed as governor of the town by his uncle, Pope Julius III, and subsequently commissioned artists to paint works for the town, known then as Castel della Pieve (it was elevated to a city in 1600). The frescoes in the statuesque Palazzo della Corgna include ones by Il Pomarancio and Salvio Savini. It's now a library open to the public, so feel free to step in and have a wander.
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