Tom`s travels

Friday, November 21, 2025

Ferrara (04/01/2025)

For a nice day trip, my mother, brother, Ania, and I decided to visit Ferrara, as Ania had never been there. Once there, we found parking close to the city center and then continued on foot. After approaching the old town, we started walking the nice narrow streets and came upon the first monumental building, the Palazzo Bentivoglio, a beautiful 15th-century Renaissance palace. A little further on, we reached the Piazza del Municipio, where the Palazzo Municipale is located. This 13th-century palace, later extended and refurbished during the 15th century, used to be the ducal residence of the Este family until the 16th century, when the court moved to the nearby castle. Nowadays, it hosts the town hall. In front of it stands the imposing, beautiful Romanesque cathedral, with still part of its facade covered in scaffolding. Continuing on our walk, we then reached the aforementioned Castello Estense. It was built starting in 1385 and later expanded and turned into the Este family's main seat, but still connected to the Palazzo Municipale with a covered passageway. It features a central courtyard, four towers at each corner, and is surrounded by a moat. We walked around it and then headed back towards the Cathedral on the square next to it, which had a small Christmas market. We walked around and then strolled through some side streets before looking for a place to have dinner. We first tried a local typical restaurant, but the wait was very long, so we instead opted for the nearby The Lab, where we had some tasty burgers. From the restaurant, we then continued on our walk, taking some side streets lined by old and nice buildings. Then we walked along Via delle Volte, a medieval street, as the name suggests, covered by arches from the 13th and 14th centuries. We then reached the southeastern side of town, where we visited the Monastery of Sant'Antonio in Polesine. The main part of the church, which can be freely visited, had a nice baroque decoration with a frescoed 17th-century ceiling. The rear church, known as the nuns' choir, can only be visited through a guided tour by one of the monastery's nuns. Once inside, the stern old nun with a faint voice that was very hard to hear showed us the three chapels of the rear church. The left one had the Stories of the Infancy of Jesus and the Life of the Virgin, the one on the right had the Stories of the Passion, both from the 14th century in a style like Giotto's, while the central one had frescoes from different periods and styles. After the visit, we exited the monastery and continued on through town until we reached the next monument, the Palazzo Schifanoia. One of the many so-called Delizie Estensi, a series of palaces and villas used by the Este family as a leisure retreat, it is the only surviving one inside the city walls. It was built in 1385, and its name is thought to originate from the Italian for escaping from boredom. Its simple exterior with a nice marble facade hides its splendid interior. As it's now a museum, we paid the entry fee and started the tour of the palace. We first saw some of the older rooms with part of the old wall frescoes and wooden ceilings still visible. Then the highlight came, the Salone dei Mesi, or Hall of the Months, a room decorated at

the behest of Borso d'Este by the best painters of the Ferrarese school active around 1470. The hall is 24 meters long, 11 meters wide and 7.5 meters high, and the fresco cycle starts from the southern side with each of the months of the year taking a section of the wall, further divided into three horizontal bands: two figured ones of greater height at the top and bottom and a central, narrower one with a blue background, shows the zodiac sign of the month. Some months, from October to February, have been nearly completely lost, while others, from March to September, feature some of the best Renaissance frescoes. Triumphs of Roman gods were frescoes on the upper part, while the lower parts were dedicated to the scenes of the life of Borso d'Este. Due to its artistic merit and references to the neo-Platonic and astrological culture of the era, the cycle of frescoes represents one of the most important moments in Renaissance art linked to the history of the Este family. We stood there gazing in awe at the lifelike frescoes and the overall amazing setting of that room. After visiting the rest of the museum, which was still worth it and featured many old objects and other frescoes rooms we headed outside as it had gotten dark. We walked shortly and reached the church of Santa Maria in Vado, with a beautifully frescoed 16th-century Renaissance interior. Next up was the church of San Francesco, built at the end of the 15th century with a simple but nice Renaissance interior. From there, we then walked to the northern side of the old town where the so-called Erculean Addition is set. This area, celebrated as an example of Renaissance urban planning, was created in 1492 by the enlargement of the walled city limits of Ferrara under the initiative of the duke Ercole d'Este. In this grid-like area of the city were straight roads, low buildings, and lots of inner gardens and green areas. Among the buildings, we stopped to admire the well-known Palazzo dei Diamanti, a Renaissance palace featuring thousands of white marble blocks with pinkish tones carved to represent diamonds, hence its name. At that point, we started heading back towards the core of the city, passing once again the castle and arriving at the cathedral. We visited its interior. Built in a Romanesque style in 1177, despite the scaffolding covering the majority of the facade, we could still partly admire the beautiful loggias, small arcades, and rose windows. The interior was completely remade in the baroque style during the 18th century, with some nice altars. After the visit to the Cathedral, we had one last walk around the area, visiting the Christmas market now during nighttime which was quite nice to see. From there, we eventually got back to the car and drove home.

Palazzo Bentivoglio in Ferrara

Piazza del Municipio

The Cathedral

The Castello Estense

A view of the castle

The Palazzo Municipale

A street in the old town

Another street in the old town

The monastery of Sant'Antonio in Polesine

Interior of the monastery

The central chapel

The frescoes of the right chapel

Palazzo Schifanoia

The Hall of the Months

Detail of the frescoes

The months of March and April

The church of Santa Maria in Vado

The courtyard of the Palazzo dei Diamanti

The christmas market and christmas tree

Thursday, November 13, 2025

Fiera di Primiero (29/12/2024)

On a day trip from Vicenza, my parents, Ania, and I decided to head north to the mountains and visit the area of Fiera di Primiero. We parked the car right outside the old town, next to the Cismon River, and then headed first to a bar to have a second breakfast. After that, we started walking through the tiny but nice old town, consisting of a main street lined with lovely houses, and at the center, the main square, Piazza Battisti. Here stands the church of the Beata Maria della Consolazione, dating to the 17th century, with nice wooden baroque altars inside, while the exterior was frescoed in the 1940s and the bell tower was added at the beginning of the 20th century. Further along the street and slightly uphill, we then reached the Palazzo delle Miniere, a 15th-century palace which served multiple purposes throughout its history. It was the former seat of the mining judge, the district captaincy, the government palace, the duties, the forestry offices, and finally the seat of the direct tax and registry office. Right next to it stands another church, that of Santa Maria Assunta, a 15th-century Gothic church which was unfortunately closed during our visit. Smaller but nonetheless picturesque was the church of San Martino, standing next to the main church, slightly uphill. Dating to the 13th century in a Romanesque style, it was used for a long time as a baptistery to the nearby Santa Maria Assunta, and still features traces of 19th-century frescoes on the outside, while the interior still features traces of medieval frescoes. A little further uphill, right next to this last church, is the so-called Canonega Vecia, which used to be the old rectory and still features a nice 18th-century frescoed facade with wooden balconies. From there, we then walked back down towards the river, crossed i,t and passed through the nearby town of Transacqua. Along the riverside on the outskirts of town, close to the next town, Tonadico, we had some beautiful views towards the nearby Pale di San Martino mountains and then stopped to have lunch at the Il Caminetto restaurant. We then entered Tonadico's old town, made up of the typical stone and wood houses of the area. We first passed by the church of San Sebastiano, which was closed, and then past some nice old buildings, one of which was the Palazzo Scopoli. Built starting from the 11th century, it was first used as a warehouse for the local community, then became the residence of the bishop's vicar, as well as the building where the Statutes of Primiero were kept. In the 15th century, it became the property of the Scopoli family, who enlarged and modernized the building, and now the palace stands as the municipal seat. Heading uphill from the town center, we reached the church of Santi Vittore e Corona, built in the 11th century but refurbished in its current form in the 16th century. The church was closed, but from up there we had a splendid view of the Primiero valley below. Moving on, we then reached the next town, Siror. Also, the old town was characterized by nice stone and wood houses, some of which with traces of frescoes. We also reached the local church, Sant'Andrea, which was open. Originally dating to the 14th century, it was rebuilt in the 18th century, taking its current baroque appearance, especially on the inside. From there, we then left town following a nice road through the countryside between the towns, dotted with typical wooden huts, and eventually reached the car. We then drove back and had a stop in Bassano del Grappa along the way to see its Christmas market and have a nice walk through its pretty old town.

View of the Pale di San Martino

The old town of Fiera di Primiero

The interior of the church of the Madonna dell'Aiuto

The main square

The Palazzo delle Miniere and the church of Santa Maria Assunta

The church of San Martino

The old refectory, the Canonega Vecia

The Cismon river

The old town of Tonadico

A street in the old town

The church of San Vittore

The countryside between Tonadico and Siror

The old town of Siror

A street in the old town

A view of the Pale di San Martino

Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Vignale Monferrato, Sacro Monte di Crea, & Moncalvo (26/12/2024)

On a sunny day, we decided to visit a few towns in the Monferrato area of Piemonte. Leaving Alessandria, we reached the town of Vignale Monferrato, picturesquely located on a hilltop in the hilly area of Monferrato. Once there, after having parked the car, we explore the old town on foot. We walked through the central Piazza del Popolo, surrounded by nice buildings and with a garden at its southern side facing out with a nice view. Then, slightly up from there, we reached the main church, San Bartolomeo, built between the 18th and 19th centuries with an imposing neoclassical pronaos. It was closed, so we walked around it and reached a panoramic terrace from where we had an amazing view of the surrounding landscape and the snow-covered mountains to the west and north, including the easily recognizable figures of the Monte Rosa and Monviso. Moving on, we walked and reached another terrace at the southern end of town, from where we enjoyed another amazing view. Descending down some stairs, we passed in front of the Beata Vergine Addolorata church, built in the Gothic style in the 15th century. It was also closed, so we continued walking some other minor streets until we circled back to the car. Driving on through the hilly landscape, we then reached the town of Serralunga di Crea, and after driving up a steep hill, we reached the Sacro Monte di Crea, one of the nine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. The complex consists of a sanctuary with a church located on the eastern end of the hilltop, and on the rest of the hill, at an even higher altitude, are a series of chapels dedicated to the Mysteries of the Rosary set throughout a nice protected park. The current sanctuary was built starting in 1589 to encourage prayer and meditation and to renew the Marian devotion linked to the shrine, a pilgrimage destination of considerable importance since the 11th century. We entered the main church and admired its nice baroque structure, including the large facade. Once inside, particularly noteworthy were the 15th-century frescoes inside the chapel of Santa Margherita, with incredible Renaissance living figures. We also saw the room with many ex-votos, thanking the Virgin Mary for many near-death experiences the faithful experienced, some as old as from the 19th century, while others were more modern. After visiting the church, it was time to head around the park and visit the rosary chapels. We didn't follow them in order, and all 18 chapels; however, we still saw the majority of them making a whole loop around the hilltop. We started out with the 5th chapel, right across the square from the church, featuring the nativity of Mary. The incredible thing about these chapels is the lifelike sculptures made in wood and terracotta and then colorfully painted, and with their dramatism, present stories related to the life, passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. So moving on, we then saw chapels 6, 7, 8, and 9, all relating still to Mary's life, the presentation of the Virgin, the marriage of the Virgin, the Annunciation, and the Visitation. Next up, we visited more chapels, all related to Jesus' life: numbers 10 through 20, with the Nativity, the Presentation, Christ among the Doctors, Agony in the Garden, the Flagellation, Crowning with Thorns, Way to Calvary, Wedding at Cana, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and the Ascension. Finally, the last three chapels, 21, 22, and 23 descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, also known as Pentecost, Assumption of Mary, and the Coronation of Mary in heaven, known as the Paradise Chapel. This latter one was probably the most amazing with its statues modeled on a spiralling direction upwards towards the top of the chapel. Right outside of it, as it was on the highest part, we also enjoyed a beautiful view of the complex and of the mountains all around in the distance. Once we were done visiting, we headed back down to the main square where the sanctuary church is located and decided to have lunch at the nearby restaurant, Ristorante Crea, where I had a tasty dish of gnocchi with local Castelmagno cheese. After lunch, we decided to stop at one last place, the town of Moncalvo, a short drive from there. After parking the car, we then continued on foot and visited the nice old town. As we walked through, we stopped to visit the 17th-century church of Sant'Antonio with some nice paintings inside dating to the 17th and 18th centuries. Outside the church, we continued our walk, passing by the 13th-century Gothic house, Casa Lanfrancone, and then reached the higher part of town where the Piazza Garibaldi is located. Here was the city theater built in 1878 on the site of the former 17th-century guardhouse, as well as part of what was once the medieval castle residence of the Marquis of Monferrato. Only the perimeter walls and towers remain, on top of one of which we then had a beautiful view of the town and mountains. We then walked around the rest of the town and visited the Santuario di Santa Teresa di Calcutta, built in the 18th century on a pre-existing 15th-century church. We completed the visit to the town by reaching the eastern end, where the church of St Francis was located, but found it closed. That meant then driving back to Alessandria for a nice dinner.