A coffee table book about the Vatican that drips with luxury and power.

If you are visiting Rome, you cannot afford to miss Vatican City, the world's smallest country and home to the Pope. Here you will find the most important church in Christendom, St. Peter's Basilica, as well as some of the world's most significant artistic treasures, including the Sistine Chapel. ...

Before Christianity became the dominant religion of Rome, many people worshipped Mithras, the pagan God depicted here. Adherents believed that the world was created from the blood of a bull, thus the symbolism here of Mithras slitting the throat of the bull. The scorpion (below the bull's ...

The Vatican Museums welcome up to 25,000 visitors per day. Is it time for them to limit the crowds?

It's getting ever more difficult to get into the Vatican Museums. The museums, Musei Vaticani in Italian, are home to some of the world's most precious and recognizable Western art including Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican recently raised prices for a ...

If you’ve ever wanted to know more about the history of the crucifixion during the age of Ancient Rome, here is a fascinating podcast to listen to on Easter.

Readers frequently write to me with questions about their Italy itineraries. I decided to start putting these informal tips online so that I can better help others. If you would like some help with your Italy travel planning, feel free to contact me using the form at the end of this post. ...

Michelangelo and Fra Angelico were Italian Renaissance artists who died on the same day (many years apart).

Florence isn't the only city in Italy with a duomo.

Until 1963, Molise was part of a territory known as the Abruzzi and Molise. The terminology dates from the time when the area was part of the Kingdom of Sicily — a heritage that also groups Abruzzo and Molise with the Italian south or Mezzogiorno despite its central location. Since Molise has ...

The richest and most populous of Italy's regions, Lombardy is home to Milan. Milan is not only the capital of Lombardy, but also Italy's capital of fashion, finance, and media. Known as Lombardia in Italian, Lombardy derives its name from the Longobards, a Germanic kingdom that ruled large ...

This map shows Italy and its neighbors to the north, east, and west. Italy shares land borders with six countries (France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Vatican City, San Marino) and maritime borders with 10 countries (Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Libya, Tunisia, ...

"Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy" is the perfect cure for wanderlust. Here is a comprehensive guide to all the places he visits in Season 1.

Easter season is one of the best times to visit Rome. Here's how you can plan your visit to Rome and Vatican during Holy Week.

You will need several lifetimes to see all there is to see in Rome. Rome is so full of everything, from big monuments to tiny details, that you will definitely feel overwhelmed by it all. Finding things to do in Rome is easy. The problem is figuring out what not to see, especially if you ...

Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Here's how to get tickets and prepare for Midnight Mass.

Damnatio Memoriae, a modern description of a common Roman practice, condemned unpopular leaders to oblivion. Here's how that worked and what we can learn from it today.

To know Italy's weather is to understand its winds.