Catherine Cornaro's story is closely linked to the wishes of her father: the ambitious Venetian patrician Marco Cornaro, who gave the benefit of his fortune to King John II of Cyprus , and later to his son James II. Of course, these loans were not made without ulterior motives. King James II of Cyprus soon understood that it was becoming complicated to pay him back. It was then that Marco Cornaro offered him his fourteen year old daughter, Caterina. Being still a minor, f

When the event known as "Vespro" or "Vespers" is mentioned in the pages of history, one immediately thinks of the paintings of the Venetian Francesco Hayez . But how well do we know this event? On Easter Monday of 1282, the people of Palermo , gathered according to custom in front of the church of Santo Spirito to attend Vespers , rose up against the French domination of Charles of Anjou by massacring all the French in the city and proclaiming their independence. The term Si

Who, coming or living in Padua , has never heard of the Botanical Garden ? It should be known that the oldest vegetable garden in the world was the invention of a wise, meek man: Francesco Bonafede, the reader of the Semplici . Naturally, this place was conceived as a site owned by the University of Padua , founded on the land of the Benedictine Monks of Santa Giustina, just before the mid-16th century. It was by the will of the Senate of the Republic of Venice that it was es

Fire, flames, smoke : a burning of forbidden tomes. The time is that of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, its protagonists are the heretics and their heresies. The Veneto at that time was crushed in the grip of the spiritual conflict between Luther's Germany and papal Rome ... The swarming of a non-Catholic religious community in this region was becoming remarkable, and cities like the capital of the Serenissima were revealed venues for the penetration of ideas in

Galileo Galilei spent eighteen years in Venice, from 1592 to 1610, which he would later remember as the best years of his life. During these years, he gained prestige with the Venetian senate, but also with the rectors of the University of Padua , who paid him an ever-increasing, and eventually substantial, salary. Galileo also frequented the learned circles and senatorial circles of Venice , where he became friends with Paolo Sarpi, philosopher and theologian. It seems tha

The Scrovegni Chapel has surely a certain Dantean character, but... is it true that Dante joined his compatriot Giotto here in Padua ? Before Padua: a Florentine friendship that never stops moving In the early fourteenth century, Florence is more than a city: it is a living workshop . Dante and Giotto share the same air — one made of workshops, schools, and ideas that spill beyond medieval boundaries. Within this climate Dante makes a deliberate gesture: he revives the word

Dante lived in Verona during his exile with the Della Scala family between 1312 and 1320 . The Della Scala family, also known as the Scaligeri family , was one of the noble families that ruled the city of Verona for 125 years, from 1262 to 1387. The Scaligeri also imposed their influence on the city of Vicenza. At their peak, the Della Scala family was unrivaled in power and wealth. But let us return to Dante in Verona. This city was the first stop of his exile , his fir

Perhaps not everyone knows that the symbol of Bassano del Grappa , the famous Ponte Vecchio , is the result of Andrea Palladio 's inexhaustible ingenuity. The Ponte degli Alpini , as it is also known today, crosses the river Brenta and is a monument dedicated in the 1920s to the hundreds of fallen soldiers of the First World War who saw Bassano and the surrounding territories the scene of the bloodiest clashes of the conflict. Due to a flood in 1567, the previous bridge was s

Palladian E-Bike Experience allows you to choose your own itinerary of exploration in the Palladian lands . Lake Garda , for example, will allow you to visit ancient residences where today it is possible to taste the best of the vineyards of Valpolicella . And then on to Peschiera , the fortress city which is a UNESCO heritage site . Also sung in Dante 's verses, Peschiera came into Scaligera's hands around 1300 to be brought back to its ancient splendor of impregnable for