1.- The regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of the state, constituting its first NUTS administrative level.

The regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of the state, constituting its first NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, of which five are constitutionally given a broader amount of autonomy granted by special statutes. Mere administrative districts of the central state during the Kingdom of Italy, Regions were granted political autonomy by the 1948 Constitution of the Italian Republic.
Nevertheless, the actual implementation of regional autonomy was postponed till the first Regional Elections of 1970, as the ruling Christian Democracy party didn't want the opposition Italian Communist Party to gain government in many of them where it was historically rooted (the red belt of Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria and Marche).

2.- Royal Palace of Caserta, the best example of Italian Baroque.

The best example of Italian Baroque, such as the Fountain of Dolphins which is nearly 500m in length, or the Eolo fountain, the project was done by Vanvitelli, or the Fountain of Diana and Actaeon, behind which is a large artificial waterfalls.
One ofthe reasons which persuaded the jury to award this prestigious prize is thè recent restoration of the flourishing English Garden. Hills, glades, lakes and canals have aver the years been enriched by new plants from ali aver the world.

3.- The Castle De Cesaris of Spoltore has returned to live.

The Castle De Cesaris of Spoltore (Abruzzo) is an ancient building, whose foundation is shrouded in mystery. It is now a private residence. It consists of a courtyard, a stable for twelve horses, the cellar, the barn and the dungeons.Some properties are due to the restructuring of the '500 and '700 presuppose an existing structure, probably related to the fortress on top of the hill on which the village stands.
Seen from outside the country, the castle looked like a fortress from the perimeter wall and homogeneous with some impressive window and a single opening at the bottom.

4.- The Best Romantic Getaways in Italy.

Costa Esmeralda (Sardinia): Since the 1960s, The Emerald Coast of Sardinia has been a mecca of the rich and famous, many arriving on million-dollar yachts for an off-the-record vacation. Heavenly bays are overlooked by olive tree covered hills. The coast with its sandy beaches is studded with some of the poshest beach resorts in Europe.

Spoleto: Spoleto is as ancient as the Roman Empire and as timeless as the music presented there every summer during its world-renowned arts festival. The architecture of this quintessential Umbrian hill town is centered on a core of religious buildings from the 13th century. It's even more romantic during the off season, when the crowds are less dense.

5.- The Best Ruins in Italy.

The Colosseum (Rome): Rome boasts only a handful of other ancient monuments that survive in such well-preserved condition. A massive amphitheater set incongruously amid a maze of modern traffic, the Colosseum was once the setting for gladiator combat, lion-feeding frenzies, and public entertainment whose cruelty was a noted characteristic of the empire (just ask Russell Crowe). All three of the ancient world's classical styles (Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian) are represented, superimposed in tiers one above the other.

6.- The Best Cathedrals in Italy.

Italy has many majestic cathedrals, often with spectacular works of art inside. A cathedral is a city's main church and is usually called the duomo but also can be named basilica, cattedrale or chiesa madre (mainly in the south). There are a few rules to observe when visiting a cathedral such as no skimpy clothing, speaking quietly, and sometimes not taking photos inside. While most cathedrals do not charge admission there are a few that do.

7.-  A beautiful mountain lake in the Dolomite Mountain Range.

The Dolomites are a mountain range located in north-eastern Italy. It is a part of Southern Limestone Alps and extends from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley (Pieve di Cadore) in the east. The northern and southern borders are defined by the Puster Valley and the Sugana Valley (Val Sugana). The Dolomites are nearly equally shared between the provinces of Belluno, South Tyrol and Trentino.

8.- In Italy there are approximately 1500 the most important museums of the world heritage museum.

In Italy there are approximately 1500 museums, among them the most important find heritage museum in the world, due to its rich artistic heritage which represents almost half of the world's heritage. The importance of Italian museums exceeded scientific interest and research, about 30 years to become an important social educational tool.

Italy has a wealth of museums displaying art and artifacts from prehistory through modern days. Whether you're looking for archeology, Renaissance paintings, or modern art, Italy has something for you. Find out which museums have what you want to see with this guide to the best museums in Italy.

9.- The Fort Ceraino, originally called Fort Hlawaty, is a fortress built by the Austrians in the Veneto region.

The Fort Ceraino, originally called Fort Hlawaty, is a fortress built by the Austrians, which rises in the territory of the municipality of Dolcè on the left bank of the Adige. Passed in 1866 in Italian hands, took the name of Fort Ceraino (from the locality of the municipality is located).
Currently decommissioned by the army, is in a state of neglect.
The Ceraino Fort, built by the Austrians between 1850 and 1851, was called by them to the Lieutenant Field Marshal Johann von Hlavaty in recognition for his work as a military architect. After 1866, when Veneto was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy, was called Fort Ceraino.

6.- The Uffizi Gallery is the one of the oldest and most famous art 10useums of the Western world.

The Uffizi Gallery  is a museum in Florence, Italy. It is one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the Western world. Building of the palace was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici as the offices for the Florentine magistrates — hence the name "uffizi" ("offices"). Construction was continued to Vasari's design by Alfonso Parigi and Bernardo Buontalenti and ended in 1581. The cortile (internal courtyard) is so long and narrow, and open to the Arno River at its far end through a Doric screen that articulates the space without blocking it, that architectural historians treat it as the first regularized streetscape of Europe.

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Italy Photo Gallery: Top 10 most popular articles in August 2013.

1.- The regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of the state, constituting its first NUTS administrative level. Th...

Italy Photo Gallery: Top 10 most popular articles in August 2013.

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In the heart of Apulia more beautiful, suspended between the blue Adriatic and the green hills of olive trees.

Ostuni the White City famous in the world, is home to the "White City Resort" incomparable setting for relaxation, entertainment and quality restaurants.

Words are a pretext to peek at the photos, which are an excuse to talk of Ostuni. Because of Ostuni the author might say, the White City.

But more than that the lightning can remember who mistreats his eyes when the sun finally makes its way into a patch of sky free of rainclouds.

Exit a twilight heated by white reflections and feel the light that embraces first, and then crushes. Against the walls, to him succulents, between the legs of cats curled up.

Under the faces, in the porticoes, in the shadow of clothes hanging. What else would just be demeaning flags of slovenliness, here are a symptom of that goes inside out: palazzi - multi-storey houses stacked one on the other - are huddled, sunken, narrow, covet each other.

And instantly to flow into an exterior that is only continuation: the streets as corridors, squares as small rooms, decorated with the same care. Vases of flowers painted shutters, cats, rats nothing.

"Ostuni is the scenic city par excellence, every house is a belvedere, every restaurant is the Bellavista, at each window there is a poet who looks in the plain below the olive trees that cangian color to every wind [...] In Ostuni houses are white, milk and lime, are white to hurt the eyes are pure white walls, windows, doors, stairs, everything is impossibly white. [...] A Ostuni going to understand what it means to be sheltered from the sun [...] not to want more novels, not to think more distant travel, here is the charm of all the cities of the seas South, here is the 'equator at hand. "

(Ettore Della Giovanna)

source: Immagini d’Italia

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Ostuni the White City, suspended between the blue Adriatic and the green hills of olive trees.

In the heart of Apulia more beautiful, suspended between the blue Adriatic and the green hills of olive trees. Ostuni the White City famo...

Ostuni the White City, suspended between the blue Adriatic and the green hills of olive trees.

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The church of Santa Maria di Ronzano stands alone on a hill in the valley Mavone, in the town of Ronzano, in the municipality of Castel Castagna Abruzzo, in the province of Teramo.

The building belonged to the monastery of the Benedictine abbey who conceived the convent, now disappeared.

The architectural style of the church is characterized by a clear imprint of the Romanesque style – Apuglia who finds himself in setting windows, blind arches in the area of ​​the presbytery and in the plant that, although internally encompasses three semicircular apses, externally appears straight.

These features are common to the factory Ronzano Apulian churches of the cathedral of Bito, the dome of St. Conrad in Molfetta and the basilica of San Nicola in Bar.

The exterior walls of the sides of the church are also made of brick and stone blocks, where the latter were combined and sorted to generate forms of decorum that meet the same succession of arches inside.

The clear lines of the stone, which emerge from the red latrizio, draw a skeleton framing blind arches between pilasters on both the longitudinal portions and on the wall of the presbytery, which are connected to the four blind arches and the large lancet window that opens in the center of ' apse.
The entire wall covering has mullioned windows of some slit, others of medium size bounded by barriers decorated with motifs branch and the largest in the area of ​​the apse.
This is larger than all the others, is opened between two columns, resting on shelves, topped with capitals decorated with palmettes.
Its outline is framed by a band carved with fruits and flowers and has crossed the bay from its perforated stone hurdle and worked by the board.
Above the roof of the back wall is designed for fitting the bell tower made, too, in brick and stone.

source: Immagini d’Italia

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The church of Santa Maria di Ronzano is an interesting example of the propagation of architectural models in Abruzzo.

The church of Santa Maria di Ronzano stands alone on a hill in the valley Mavone, in the town of Ronzano , in the municipality of Castel ...

The church of Santa Maria di Ronzano is an interesting example of the propagation of architectural models in Abruzzo.

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The Castle De Cesaris of Spoltore (Abruzzo) is an ancient building, whose foundation is shrouded in mystery. It is now a private residence.

It consists of a courtyard, a stable for twelve horses, the cellar, the barn and the dungeons.

Some properties are due to the restructuring of the '500 and '700 presuppose an existing structure, probably related to the fortress on top of the hill on which the village stands.
Seen from outside the country, the castle looked like a fortress from the perimeter wall and homogeneous with some impressive window and a single opening at the bottom.

Unlike the other side, not modified by subsequent work, looking toward the center of the town with its simple forms of eighteenth-century aristocratic palace, dominated, in an original way, from a lookout tower.

In large areas of the ground floor were occupied by warehouses, seven tanks to store water and grain and a stable for twelve horses. Upstairs various adjoining rooms were chasing each other around a small cloister.

The renovation, which took place in several stages, beginning only affecting the outer facade and the rooms on the garden, turned it into a prestigious house without changing their basic structure.

They are, in fact, re-emerged traces of ancient frescoes and returned to light the cobblestone pavement of the wide river corridor, where, probably, passed the carriages and horses of the gentlemen of the past.

Transformed into a prestigious house without changing their basic structure, the Castle of Spoltore has returned to live.

source: Immagini d’Italia

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The Castle De Cesaris of Spoltore has returned to live.

The Castle De Cesaris of Spoltore ( Abruzzo ) is an ancient building, whose foundation is shrouded in mystery. It is now a private reside...

The Castle De Cesaris of Spoltore has returned to live.

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