A THOUSAND YEARS OF HISTORY

«Every great building once begun as a building plan. That means, sitting in that building plan on the table is a mighty structure not yet seen. It is the same with dreams.»
- Israelmore Ayivor

BIZARRE BEAUTY

«The idea of beauty does not descend into matter unless this is prepared as carefully as possible. This preparation consists of three things: arrangement, measure, and aspect or form.»
- Nicolas Poussin

THE PROMISED LAND

«Tuscany was the only country in the world to be “home”: the rest of Italy, and France, England, Spain, Germany, they were republics, kingdoms, empires, but not “homes”.»
- Curzio Malaparte

TIMELESS BEAUTY

«The Tuscan countryside was built as a masterwork by a refined people: it is incredible how these men built their own rural landscapes as if they had no other concern than beauty.»
- Henri Desplanques

THE LAND OF LEMONS

«Do you know the land where citrons bloom, golden oranges glow among dark leaves, A gentle wind blows from the blue sky, the myrtle is still, and the laurel stands tall? Do you know it well?»
- Wolfgang Goethe

AN UMBRIAN GARDEN

«The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies, but never grows to the enduring happiness that the love of gardening gives.»
- Gertrude Jekyll

THE LAND OF WONDERS

«Tuscany is a land that since old ages has seduced visitors and bewitched its own inhabitants, to the point that many artists praised its beauties.»
- Ilaria Giannini

THE GREEN HEART OF ITALY

«And then, the Umbrian God, found an amazing blue for the sky and an even more beautiful color to paint the distances and the mountains. For this reason, Umbria is so miraculously blue; the bluest of all the land.»
- Karel Čapek

PERFECTION IN NATURE

«What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility.»
- Albert Einstein

A PLACE FOR HAPPINESS

«Everything here emanates greatness, taste, humanity, purity and beauty at the utmost degree. I do believe I would be happier here than in any other place.»
- Klemens von Metternich

AND SINKING IN THIS SEA IS SWEET TO ME

« Only three things are infinite. The sky in its stars, the sea in its drops of water, and the heart in its tears.»
- Gustave Flaubert

IN THE SHADOW OF AMELIA

« Americans who visit Tuscany or Umbria love the landscape: the silvery olive groves, the fields of sunflowers, the vineyards, the stone houses and barns.»
- Anthony Lewis

A NEOCLASSICAL GEM IN CHIANTI

«There is nothing fundamental to be found in art after Phidias and Raffaello, but there is always something to do, even after them, to preserve the cult of truth and perpetuate the tradition of beauty.»
- Jean-Auguste D. Ingres

LAND OF WINE

«Chianti, like the rising sun, possession gains, and drives the mist of dullness from the brains. The gloomy vapor from the spirit flies, and views of gaiety and gladness rise.»
- Peter Lamberg

A GEM IN THE HEART OF NAPLES

«Naples, what a strange city: to live it to its fullest we should erase all the surprises it offers you day after day, but then it would no longer be the same...»
- Giovanni Scafoglio

A FLORENTINE HIDEOUT

«Through these old streets I wander dreamily; around me Florence sweeps her busy tide of life»
- William Leighton

A LAKESIDE PARADISE

«The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.»
- Alfred Austin

A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

«Lighthouses are endlessly suggestive signifiers of both human isolation and our ultimate connectedness to each other. »
- Virginia Woolf

BUONTALENTI'S LEGACY

«Among all the foreign cities, Florence is the one I prefer. The longer you live here, the more you find yourself loving it. There is something so welcoming here that I feel like I were home.»
- Pëtr Il'ič Čajkovskij

HIDDEN FLORENCE SANCTUARY

«I love cloisters, which are the architectural equivalent of a theological concept: perfect freedom within set boundaries.»
- Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

THE WATERWAYS OF MILAN

«Yes, Milan is really beautiful, my friend, and believe me when I say that sometimes you really need a strong will to resist its seduction and carry on with your work.»
- Giovanni Verga

CITY OF CANALS

«Perhaps I am afraid of losing Venice all at once, if I speak of it, or perhaps, speaking of other cities, I have already lost it, little by little.»
- Italo Calvino

IN THE SHADOW OF THE DOME

«And when I thought of Florence, it was like a miracle city embalmed and like a corolla, because it was called the city of lilies and its cathedral, St. Mary of the Flowers.»
- Marcel Proust

BETWEEN SEA AND MOUNTAINS

«All the burdens and efforts are repaid by the beautiful view one can enjoy from such a height: the first sight of Genoa and the Mediterranean Sea from that point leaves no room for regret.»
- Lady Sydney Morgan

A BALCONY IN VENICE

«At the break of dawn, stars are filled with envy when they see the beauties of Venice emerging from the mist.»
- Mieczysław Kozłowski

OF MADNESS AND BEAUTY

«To build a city where it is impossible to build a city is madness in itself, but to build there one of the most elegant and grandest of cities is the madness of genius»
- Alexander Herzen

GAZING AT THE HORIZON

«The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired, so long as we can see far enough.»
- Ralph W. Emerson