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August 10, 2009 This fantastic hilltop town in central Tuscany is perched atop a mountain that views the entire Val di Chiana plain and portions of the Valdarno. No wonder men from all historic epochs have established settlements here. The earliest known occupants were the Etruscans, then the ancient Romans. The town, with an outstanding town square (piazza) is dominated by a castle. During the medieval period the current castle was built. Although the community was involved in many wars, it wasn’t until World War II that its most famous or infamous event occurred. On June 29, 1944, the retreating German army, under constant attach by Italian patriots, killed over 200 men in this village five at a time while the women watched. With assistance by my cousins Sergio, his son Matia, and his nephew Francesco, all of Quarata, Italy Coordinates: N 43 25 026 E 11 43 403 506 meters Canon PowerShot G9 78 pix: 6 rows of 13 columns 707 megapixels (43806 x 16152) Image size: 4000x3000 (12.0 megapixels) |
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64 pictures (16 x 4) taken with a simple tripod and manual rotations.
Nikon D70 with Nikkor 18-200VR Focal Length 200mm Exposure time : 1/500s F number : f/13.0 |
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360° view from the top of the Plose mountain (2500 m) - Italy
46 Photos X 1 row freehand (no tripod) Nikon D70 - Nikkor 18-200VR Focal length : 46mm Aperture : F/14 Speed variable : from 1/500 to 1/1000 |
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Il castello è ubicato su un poderoso rilievo roccioso (764 m) delimitato da pareti scoscese a sud e ad ovest, mentre i versanti settentrionale e orientale presentano un lungo declivio con dislivello pronunciato. Era composto da due muri di cinta: le mura esterne (1,10 m di spessore) sul lato nord, che sbarravano l'accesso e le mura interne (1,50 m di spessore) che circondavano la parte sommitale del sito. Nell'angolo nord-est della cinta esterna si vedono le tracce di un edificio molto lungo, probabilmente adibito a scuderia. Sotto il cortile interno si apre una splendida cisterna sotterranea (6,80 x 11,30 m) coperta da volta archiacuta rinforzata da un'arcata centrale. Infine, a sud-ovest, nel punto culminante del sito, si vedono i resti di una struttura molto stretta (6,70 x 2,70 m) forse una torre. L'esame delle murature fa propendere per una datazione piuttosto tarda (forse XIV secolo), mentre la cisterna, molto simile a quella del castello di Calatafimi (cfr.) o ancora a quella del castello di Agira (cfr.), potrebbe risalire al XIII secolo. |
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Poppi Castle in Il Casentino, Tuscany, Italy July 22, 2009 With assistance from my cousin Marco Goretti Although I was born in the United States, my family has a long history amid the Tuscan hills of Italy. To the east of Florence running south to Arezzo is a wonderful valley where the Arno River finds it source and tranquility reigns. It was in this valley many centuries ago that the Conti Guidi ruled from a series of hilltop castles. They were a ruthless group and the peasants suffered tremendously. In the 1200s a great battle took place between Florence and Arezzo for dominance of the region. That battle, the Battle of Campaldino, determined the fate of the two cities for centuries to come. Florence went on to become the ‘flower of the Renaissance,’ while Arezzo fell from grace. The poet Dante put much of this history and more than a dozen of the central characters of this drama in his Divine Comedy. Poppi Castle was the most important of all the castles in Il Casentino and it still stands on its perch overlooking the valley. It is magnificent to look at and to look from. If it looks familiar, it is because the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence is patterned after it. Coordinates: N 43 42 938 E 11 45 348 448 meters Canon PowerShot G9 18 pix: 3 rows of 6 columns 170 megapixels (20660 x 8269) Image size: 4000x3000 (12.0 megapixels) |
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September 2008, Italy, Campania, Great view from restaurant in Ravello.
From Wikipedia: "Ravello is a town situated above the Amalfi Coast in the province of Salerno, Campania, Italy and has approximately 2,500 inhabitants. It is a popular tourist destination. Ravello was an important town of the Maritime Republic of Amalfi, an important trading power in the Mediterranean between 839 and around 1200. Ravello was a diocesan town from 1086 to 1603; after that the bishop's see was moved to Scala. The town has served historically as a destination for artists, musicians, and writers, including Richard Wagner, M. C. Escher, Giovanni Boccaccio, Virginia Woolf, Gore Vidal, and Sara Teasdale who mentioned it in her prefatory dedication in Love Songs, one of her many books of poems. Every year in the summer months, the "Ravello Festival" takes place. It began in 1953 in honour of Richard Wagner. The small village of Ravello perched high above the Amalfi coast has inherited a noble and rich tradition, nowhere better exemplified than in the historical Villa Cimbrone with its astounding public gardens." |
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Mulino of Pratovecchio, Il Casentino, Tuscany, Italy
Once called Mulino del Barbo, this flour mill is known to be a thousand years old. There is evidence that the Romans may have had a mill here earlier. Why here? Well, it is on the banks of the Arno River high in the Casentino Valley where one finds the river’s source. Seated in front of the mill is Natalina, the owner. She has devoted her life to gathering wheat from the nearby farmers and grinding it into flour. Today, in her 80s, she no longer runs the mill. It may be the first time in its history that the work has stopped. Also in the photo are Nunciata and Luca, who live in the middle apartment. The grindstone for the mill holds the flower pots behind Natalina, but the remainder of the equipment is still ‘in situ’ just inside the door. Natalina lives upstairs in ancient rooms topped by wooden ceilings. This gigapan took 110 pix. I wanted to include the Arno River, but that would have made it over 200 pix. I learned the closer you are to an image the more pix you must take. I was surprised. Coordinates of Mulino at Pratovecchio: N 43 47 901 E 11 42 319 460 meters Canon PowerShot G9 110 pix: 10 rows of 11 columns 707 megapixels (38468 x 26410) Image size: 4000x3000 (12.0 megapixels) |
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On the roof of the Milan Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Milano; Milanese: Domm de Milan) is the cathedral church of Milan in Lombardy, northern Italy. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi.
See the Milan Cathedral as high resolution panorama http://share.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=12474 This is a 360° spherical panorama best viewed with Google Earth |
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The beautiful little Italian town of Orta San Giulio sits on the edge of Lake Orta. Like Venice on a lakeside this village hosts outdoor art exhibitions each year like the horse on http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=29386 |
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The Ponte degli Scalzi (or Ponte dei Scalzi), literally, "bridge of the barefoot", is one of only three "classical" bridges in Venice to span the Grand Canal.
The bridge connects the sestieri of Santa Croce and Cannaregio. On the north side, Cannaregio, are the Chiesa degli Scalzi (church of the barefoot) and the Santa Lucia (Ferrovia) railway station. The south side, Santa Croce, is close to the bus station Piazzale Roma. Designed by Eugenio Miozzi, it was completed in 1934, replacing an Austrian iron bridge. Ponte degli Scalzi is located close to the site of construction of the fourth bridge over the Grand Canal, to be known as Ponte di Calatrava. |