Sunday, May 24, 2015

Kicking around Northern Italy

Two weeks in northern Italy, with a long weekend and a rental car...what to do...what to do. Why, I'm going to drink wine and see old shit.

The Teatro Olimpico is a theatre in Vicenza, northern Italy, constructed in 1580-1585. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is the oldest surviving stage set still in existence. 

The Teatro Olympico courtyard.

La Torre Bissara, also known as Tower Square, is a municipal tower overlooking Piazza dei Signori , alongside the famous Palladian Basilica. The tower dates back to 1174.

The Bastion guards Riva del Garda and is one of the emblems of the town. The grey stone bastion located at the foot of Monte Rocchetta is one of the symbols of Riva del Garda, and overlooks both the city and the lake. The bastion was built at the beginning of the 16th century to protect the town as well as its inhabitants right after the Venetian domination of Riva had come to an end. 

View of Riva del Garda from the Bastion.

The Church of Saint Barbara, is visible from the town of Riva del Garda, on the mountain, just above the old Bastion. The church was built during the construction of the hydroelectric plant in 1925 and it is dedicated to the patron saint of the miners.

The view of Riva del Garda from Saint Barbara.

5 comments:

  1. Don't you love those ridiculously tall and narrow bell towers?

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    Replies
    1. Yep, Italian architecture kicks ass. Driving on narrow, old town Italian roads....not so much.

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  2. Any castles for you to tour, CI? I know that you love castles.

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    1. There's plenty to choose from, but precious little time. I finally get to go home in about two weeks.

      Since I might not get another chance, I may have to do Venice next Saturday.

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  3. dmarks: There appears to be a glitch in the matrix, a comment from both you and Jersey didn't publish, so I'm posting it here:

    Those towers are rickety as hell, too. The famous bell tower of San Marcos in Venice? A replacement for one that fell in. I remember one town in northern Italy that had many such narrow very tall towers. They just kept falling in. I think only one or two are left, and there's rubble where one fell (1980s I think) and took out part of a church. Thinking of the places I have seen.

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