The Guide to Essential Italy

📚 Course Lectures

1. Rome: The Eternal City – The Tiber, Monte Caprino, Michelangelo’s piazza, Church of Aracoeli (30 min)

2. The Capitoline and the Colosseum – Piazza Venezia, Trajan’s Forum, Colosseum (29 min)

3. Imperial Palaces of the Palatine Hill – Circus Maximus, Domitian’s palace, Farnese Gardens (30 min)

4. Pompeii: A City Frozen in Time – Forum, baths, mansions, brothels, Villa of Mysteries (30 min)

5. The Roman Forum – Temples, Arch of Titus, Basilica of Maxentius, Vestal Virgins (30 min)

6. Along the Via Sacra to the Capitoline – Basilica Aemilia, Curia, Arch of Septimius Severus (29 min)

7. The Via del Corso and Princely Palaces – Palazzo Doria Pamphili, Palazzo Colonna, Galleria Sciarra (29 min)

8. The Trevi Fountain and Baroque Rome – Trevi, Quirinal palaces, Bernini’s Cornaro Chapel (30 min)

9. Above and Beyond the Spanish Steps – Via Veneto, Palazzo Barberini, Villa Medici, Via Condotti (29 min)

10. At the Bend in the Tiber – Palazzo Montecitorio, Temple of Hadrian, Sant’Ignazio (30 min)

11. The Pantheon to Campo dei Fiori – Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Palazzo della Cancelleria (31 min)

12. Piazza Farnese to the Ara Pacis – Palazzo Farnese, Villa Farnesina, Mausoleum of Augustus (30 min)

13. Piazza del Popolo to San Clemente – Santa Maria del Popolo, Borghese Villa, Lateran Basilica (29 min)

14. The Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica – Raphael Rooms, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s (30 min)

15. Orvieto, Siena, and San Gimignano – Cathedrals, medieval squares, fresco cycles (30 min)

16. Florence: Politics in Art and Architecture – Uffizi, Palazzo Vecchio, Orsanmichele (31 min)

17. From the Piazza del Duomo to San Marco – Florence Cathedral, Baptistery, Medici Chapel (31 min)

18. Santa Croce and the Pazzi Chapel – Accademia, Santa Croce, Pazzi Chapel (30 min)

19. En Route to the Ponte Vecchio – Dante’s house, Palazzo Bartolini-Salimbeni, Ponte Vecchio (30 min)

20. The Pitti Palace – Palatine Gallery and Boboli Gardens (30 min)

21. The Oltrarno – Santo Spirito, Brancacci Chapel, Medici intrigues (30 min)

22. Walking to Santa Maria Novella – Ponte Santa Trinita, Via Tornabuoni, Dominican complex (29 min)

23. From Santa Maria Novella to San Lorenzo – Green Cloister, Spanish Chapel, San Lorenzo (30 min)

24. The Medici Legacy – Medici Sacristy, Chapel of the Princes, Laurentian Library (30 min)

25. The Ognissanti, Palaces, Parks, and Villas – Ognissanti church, Cascine Park, Bardini Gardens (30 min)

26. Romantic Views: San Miniato and Fiesole – San Miniato al Monte, Villa Medici, hillside views (30 min)

27. Arezzo, Perugia, and Assisi – Churches, papal fortresses, St. Francis Basilica (30 min)

28. Venice: The Center of Power – Doge’s Palace, Basilica di San Marco, Molo (31 min)

29. The Drawing Room of Europe: Piazza San Marco – Procuratie, clock tower, Basilica exterior (30 min)

30. The Basilica of San Marco – Golden mosaics, altarpieces, Cappella dei Mascoli (28 min)

31. The Ducal Palace – Golden Staircase, apartments, halls of state (30 min)

32. Venetian Civilization – Hall of the Great Council, Bridge of Sighs, Correr Museum (29 min)

33. Along the Giudecca and Grand Canals – Palladio’s churches, Santa Maria della Salute (29 min)

34. The Upper Grand Canal and San Marco on Foot – Palaces, Jewish ghetto, gondola lore (30 min)

35. The Rialto and Sestiere San Polo – Rialto Bridge, mercantile Venice, Scuola Grande di San Rocco (29 min)

36. Sestiere Castello and the Outer Islands – San Zanipolo tombs, glass and lace islands (37 min)