The Basilica of Santa Croce and the 1966 Flood

COVER PHOTO: Façade of the Franciscan Church, Santa Croce, Florence with, left, the Monument to Dante by Enrico Pazzi (1865) The Basilica di Santa Croce is a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church and the principal Franciscan church in the world. The construction of this the current building, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, on a marshy area near the Arno river was begun in

A Vaporetto Ride down the Grand Canal (Part 1)

To see Venice from a Vaporetto (water bus) is to see Venice in all its glory. Our four-part trip is going to take us on the Vaporetto Linea 1 the 4km (2.5 miles) from the Ponte della Costituzione in the west, to glide beneath the Scalzi, Rialto and Academia bridges to where the southern exit

Is Venice Doomed? (Part 3)

Part 1 of “Is Venice Doomed?” looked at the causes of Venice disappearing beneath the waves of the Venetian Lagoon. In Part 2, the effects on the buildings and people of Venice were discussed. Part 3, here, looks at what has been suggested, or done, to keep Venice above water. There seem to be three