Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
Fulvio shows us one of the most enigmatic monuments of all Rome, the Pantheon. He gives us some history, some interesting facts, and a legend, as well.
Difficulty: Beginner
Italy
In 1749, King Charles of Bourbon (Charles III of Spain) or Carlo Terzo di Borbone, who was King of Naples at the time, commissioned an important campaign of archeological digs in an area near that city. Marika tells us the story.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
After Stabiae was razed to the ground in a war, the Romans decided to build some luxury villas in the area. Luckily, some archeological digs led by archeologist Libro D'Orsi were effectuated in the 1950s, and 3 villas came to light.
Difficulty: Beginner
Italy
The Villa San Marco is an amazingly well-preserved luxury villa from the Augustan period, with a wonderful panoramic view of Vesuvius and the gulf of Naples. Marika shows us around the four nuclei of the villa.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
The name of the villa was inspired by the story of Dionysus who watched Ariadne while she slept. It was excavated first by the Bourbons but was buried again. Later in the 50s, digs were resumed and now, it can be visited in all its glory.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
The last stop on the trip to Castellammare di Stabia is the seafront, called il lungomare in Italian. There's a great panorama, a lovely sea breeze, and it's a great place to just walk around. Marika mentions the famous natural spring water of Castellammare, both for thermal baths and for drinking.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
Fulvio shows tells us the story of a door, a very famous door, called the Alchemist's Door, also called the Magic Door, or the Door to Heaven, a monument built by Massimiliano Savelli Palombara, Marquis of Pietraforte on the grounds of his villa in Rome.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
Take your time with this episode about Rome because it is chock full of information. Il Campidoglio, also called Monte Capitolino, is the smallest of the seven hills of Rome, but it's the most important because that's where the mayor's office is, as well. Where did the word "capitol" come from? Fulvio has the answer. He also talks about where the word "money" comes from. And you will recognize the name of the architect who designed the piazza and its surrounding buildings.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Fulvio describes the monument we look at in this segment before telling what it is. The story has some pretty surprising aspects.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Fulvio tells us plenty of interesting things about the history of one of the symbols of Rome, the Colosseum. To begin with, it wasn't always called the "Colosseum."
Difficulty: Beginner
Italy
To take a break from the hustle and bustle of Rome, there is a place waiting for you, just 40 minutes away, where horses and cows graze in the wild, and where there is plenty of interesting flora and fauna to observe: The Sorbo Valley.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
The first place we visit is practically a theater on a mountain, designed and built to replicate places with religious significance in the Holy Land. The mountain, aptly named, is Sacro Monte (sacred or holy mountain) and is located in Piemonte, to the northwest of Milan.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
We visit the 28th chapel where the scene of Jesus before Pontius Pilate is depicted. We also learn a little secret about how these statues were created.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Vennai is the most important marble quarry in Carrara. Luigi Pasquale talks about when he started working there at about 14 years of age.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
A quarryman has to have a passion for his work. Every block of marble is a challenge and has to be observed on all sides and many times to make sure it is good. But succeeding in cutting it and taking it out is an enormous satisfaction.
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