Finished in 1282, the Castel Nuovo, or New Castle, provided the rulers of the Kingdom of Sicily with a bastion in the city of Naples. The walls of this fortress are just unbelievably massive, meant to intimidate and repel attackers. The pointed stones and scalloped walls were designed to cause battering rams’ blows to glance…
Tag: Italy
Villa Borghese, Rome
The Villa Borghese, now really the largest park in Rome, was once the country estate of the Borghese family. Like many powerful Italian families, they blew all of their money and had to sell off large portions of their collections and property to the state. Much like St. Louis’s Forest Park, you can see great…
Caserta, Campania, Italy
Every once and a while, I like to go back to the sources of much of St. Louis’s architecture. Usually, that means Europe. The palace at Caserta, built outside Naples in the Campania region of Italy, sits right on the edge of the mountains that rise dramatically from the plains around the port city. A…
Soulard Market
The architecture of Renaissance Florence inspired architects throughout the city of St. Louis. Above is the Loggia dei Lanzi on the main piazza of the city of Florence. As you can see below, this building, as well as the Ospedale degli Innocenti by Filippo Brunelleschi, inspired Soulard Market’s design. Using the repeated arched arcade, Soulard…
How Important Is a City’s Link with Its River? A Look at Rome, Italy
Update: The new Gateway Arch grounds are now complete. All the discussion recently about the new Arch Grounds competition and how St. Louis has lost its soul by being disconnected from the Mississippi River raised some interesting questions in my mind. I started thinking about how various cities that I’ve visited around the world embrace…
Cumae, Campania, Italy
“Excisum Euboicae latus ingens rupis in antrum, quo lati ducunt aditus centum, ostia centum, unde ruunt totidem uoces, responsa Sibyllae.”
Caserta, Campania, Italy
Supposedly this palace is where they filmed the palace of Naboo in the first Star Wars movie. I try to block the first prequel out of my memory, so I don’t remember any of these rooms in the movie.
Positano, Amalfi Coast, Italy
Positano clings to the side of the cliffs overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. There are no cars, except on the ring road up above that loops around the town.