The Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano is perhaps the most ancient of Christian churches. It is held to be the most important after Saint Peter’s because it is the Cathedral of Rome. In the central space between the transepts is an altar where only the Pope, the bishop of Rome, can celebrate mass. As…
Only 11 km from Athens along the Athens-Corinth highway, this beautiful Byzantine Monastery dating from the 11th century lies in a tree-shaded grove. In addition to its architecture, the Church of the Monastery is decorated with some of the most brilliant examples of mosaic art of the Byzantine period. Near the Monastery is a tourist…
It is one of the most important works of the late Baroque in Rome. The architect Nicola Salvi, who had won a public competition, was commissioned by Pope Clement XII ( 1730-40 ) to build it. The fountain was inaugurated for the first time in 1740 under Benedict XIV and then when it was finished…
Everything and everyone in Athens seems to be drawn irresistibly towards the Acropolis, the 156 meters high limestone rock that crowns the city. Clearly visible from any part of Athens, the delicately poised and dazzling white columns of the Parthenon stand out against the blue background of the sky, an immortal symbol of the spirit…
Altstadt – The Old Town Worth seeing is the entire complex of the Old Town with its narrow streets, old burghers houses, and arcades. Where the Herzog-Friedrich-Straße widens out into a Square is the symbol of Innsbruck, the Goldene Dachl The Golden Roof This late gothic alcove, 16 meters high, was built around 1500 and…
Only 13 km from Antirrion, Nafpaktos is a bright and open seaside town, better known to many people as Lepanto, the proud name of the great sea battle in 1571, which brought Turkish naval supremacy in the eastern Mediterranean to an end. The two small castles built by the Venetians on either side of the…
The old town, next to the sea, with its tall handsome houses and narrow streets, retains much of its Venetian character. At its center rises the “Kasteli”, a Venetian fortress. The new town is pleasant and lively, with large and modern houses which stand in gardens filled with flowers all the year-round. In its outlying…
The Schonbrunn Palace is one of the most important cultural monuments in Austria. The palace and its elaborate gardens are an essential part of Viennese history and every visit. Vienna Schonbrunn Map
The main museums of Athens are the National Archaeological, the Byzantine, and the Benaki Museums. There is also the Acropolis Museum, the National and Historical Museum, the Museum of Greek Popular Art, the National Picture Gallery, the Theatrical Museum, the Geological and Paleontological Museum, and others. The National Archaeological Museum It is one of the…
Plaka is to Athens what Covent Garden is to London, what the Latin Quarter, or rather, Montmartre, is to Paris. Plaka for the Athenians is the quarter of the gods. Plaka, sited at the foot of the rock of the Acropolis, was from ancient times the center of Athens. At every step, in every alleyway,…
Englischer Garten – English Garden On February 1st, 1789 Karl Theodor issued an electoral decree for a military garden to be laid out in the garrison town. In 1803 the garden architect Ludwig von Sckell was put in charge and was able to realize his plans for the new design of the garden by 1808….
German Museum, Munich ( Deutsches Museum ) With its unique collections, the museum is situated on one of the islands in the Isar and has an exhibition area covering 40,000 m2. It is the most significant technical-scientific museum in the world. In this museum, you can feel the spirit of invention and it accompanies man’s…
Arches of Rome – Arches of Constantine, Septimus Severus, and Titus The arch, built as a memorial or to celebrate a triumph, is one of the great inventions of Roman architecture; Rome has many of them. The most recent, majestic, and well preserved is the Arch of Constantine near the Coliseum. It was inaugurated in…
Traffic Innsbruck is a railway and road traffic junction. Trains from Vienna-Salzburg ( Western railway ), Munich-Garmisch Partenkirch ( Karwendl railway ), Zurich-Bregenz ( Arlberg railway ), and Verona-Bozen ( Brenner railway ) arrive at the main station. A local railway, the Stubaital railway ( Innsbruck-Fulpmes ), and the railway number 6 with destination Igls…
Built a few years before the birth of Christ by Marcus Agrippa in honor of Augustus, it was then restructured under Hadrian ( around 120 AD ), the Pantheon is the most imposing and complete building surviving from antiquity. It is so well preserved because from 609 AD it was converted into a church dedicated…
Many other Fora were built when the Roman Forum became too small for the ever-increasing Roman population. Today, they are called Imperial Fora. Many of these Fora are now in ruins because during the Middle Ages they were used as quarries, using the old stones to build new buildings. Today, if you walk from the…
The legendary Schwabing begins to the north of the Siegestor ( Victory gate ) ( 1843-1852 ) which forms the border between two centers of Munich which are completely different in character. For a long time, it was just an ordinary village outside of the gates of Munich. Then in 1887, it became an independent…
The Appian way This is the most famous, the longest, the straightest of the old Roman roads, and also the best preserved. It starts, more or less, from the Baths of Caracalla and in an almost straight line, a good ninety kilometers, joins Terracina, Capua ( in Campania ), then goes through Benevento until it…
Capitol On this hill, there were built the most important temples of the city, such as that one of the triad Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. In the Middle Ages, it becomes the seat of the commune. From the beginning of 1536. by order of Paul III, Michelangelo planned this trapezoidal square and connected it with…
Piraeus This main port of Greece, and one of the largest in the Mediterranean, is a city in its own right. It has a population of nearly one million and is only 10km from Athens. Its strategic importance was established during the Classical era, about 450 B.C. when Themistocles built the famous Long Walls which…
The bridges over the Tiber and Castel Sant’ Angelo Many bridges cross the Tiber, some of them dating from the time of ancient Rome. The smallest is the footbridge Fabridus ( 62 BC ), the oldest Roman bridge to have survived, still used as a link between the Tiberina island and the city, as does…
The Piazza di Spagna A church, a flight of steps, and a fountain form the most elegant and complex Roman urban site of the 18th century. The Church of Trinita dei Monti was started in 1502 and consecrated eighty years later, at the wish of the French kings who dedicated it to a saint dear…
Rome, more than any other city, is full of obelisks, many of Egyptian origin. These enormous monoliths, either bare or covered in hieroglyphics, form focus points at the center of the great squares; but they are also symbols of the sun and immortality. There are thirteen obelisks in Rome. The most ancient and the highest…
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The museum stands in the southeastern corner of the Acropolis and houses priceless archaeological finds kept in chronological order, starting with the Archaic ( 800-600 B.C. ), and going to the Classical( 500-400 B.C. ), Hellenistic ( 300 B.C. ), and Roman periods. Among other outstanding works of art housed in the Museum’s 9 rooms…
The Golden Roof This late gothic alcove, 16 meters high, was built around 1500 and is covered with 3.450 gilt copper shingles. Innsbruck Golden Roof shows in his reliefs Emperor Maximilian I and his two wives, Maria of Burgundy and Maria Bianca Sforza, furthermore Chancellor, jesters, Moreskentänzer, and various arms. Today, there are replicas of…
One of the most powerful means which help men all over the world to know each other, to understand and love each other is art, the language of which is understandable to all people alike. Dance is the art as old as man himself which, still today covers a great part of all peoples life….
CRETE Crete is the largest of the Greek islands, offers yet another acceptable impression of life-enhancing friendliness, beauty, fertility, and the accumulated spoils of time. An Island of larger space and population ( 500,000 inhabitants ), Crete has almost unlimited advantages for a holiday. The obvious ones are well known by now, but less common…
historical sites in greece by tour-europe: The dawn of Europe’s history, when the kingdoms and empires of the Oriental civilizations rose and fell, begins with the arrival of the Greeks. The first slow stages of the climb from primitive culture to the heights of civilization began in the Aegean area during the Bronze Age…
This gate too, like the Porte St-Martin, has the form of a triumphal arch, with a single vault, measuring 79 feet both in height and in width. Designed by Blondel and erected in 1672, it has a sculpture by the Anguier brothers and was intended to celebrate the victories of Louis XIV in Germany, when…
Piazza del Popolo There are two identical Piazza del Popolo churches and an obelisk: this is the Piazza del Popolo, the apex of the so-called trident because from here originate three long and straight street: via del Babuino, where are many antique shops, which leads to Piazza di Spagna ( flanked by via Margutta, a…
The Hotel Falkensteiner Stara Planina is a mountain resort located between Knjaževac, Zaječar, and Pirot in Eastern Serbia ( 500km from Thessaloniki ), at 1,470 m altitude and one of the most beautiful landscapes of Stara Planina ( Old Mountain ), The Falkensteiner Hotel Stara Planina welcomes you as a perfect place for seminars, conferences,…