Tag: italy

Lame Rosse and Fiastra lake

MaxShutterSpeed

Lame Rosse is one of the most popular itineraries of the Sibillini mountains, along the wonderful Fiastra lake. This itinerary starts from the dam of the lake; After 1 hour walking, you will meet a little valley where the lame rosse rocks stand. Lame rosse are made of grit and clay and their particular shape is due to the erosion weathering. Have a look at the gallery of this magical itinerary.

 

Gear: Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 11-24mm F/4L USM and Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM

The “ancient” Spoleto – Part #2

MaxShutterSpeed

Second and last part of Spoleto photo gallery.
One of the most fascinating monuments of the city is the Duomo (Cathedral of Santa Maria dell’Assunta): at sunset, the colors are stunning and it is the best place for a romantic evening and dinner. This site is the location of the Festival dei due Mondi (Festival of the two worlds): since 1958, in June, is held this important event, dedicated to arts and music. It is famous worldwide, in the US the Spoleto Festival USA is scheduled every year as well.
Ponte delle Torri, a 13th-century aqueduct, possibly on Roman foundations.with its 230 ms. lenght, it is the real symbol of the city.
The magnificient Rocca Albornoziana fortress, it was built in the middle of the 14th-century for the Cardinal ALbornoz. The “Rocca” is made of 6 towers, dividing the fortress in two buildings: the Cortile delle Armi, for the troops, and the Cortile d’onore for the use of the governor. The latter courtyard is surrounded by a two-floor porch. Not to be miss: the Camera Pinta (“Painted Room”) with 15thcentury frescoes.

 

Gear: Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 11-24mm F/4L USM and Canon EF 35mm F/2 IS USM

The “ancient” Spoleto – Part #1

MaxShutterSpeed

Spoleto is a beautiful village in the Umbria Region, a country famous for its landscapes, the upper quality food (first of all the truffles, the most precious selctions are growing in these lands) and the magnificient monuments and architecture.
The town is a ancient city in the province of Perugia, a great example of the Roman civilization, still tangible in the many monuments for which the city is famous. Spoleto is the location of a record audience tv movie: “Don Matteo”, the story of a priest with the passion for investigation, which with his bicicle, runs all the city helping the local police fightining the crime. The fiction has a great success worldwide.
Not only arts and music, the city is a very popular destination for the tourists.
The Roman age is still present in the architecture of the city: the Roman theater has been mainly rebuilt, but it is still a spectacural seen. It is linked with the National Archaeological Museum, housed in the former monastery of Sant’Agata.

 

Gear: Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 11-24mm F/4L USM and Canon EF 35mm F/2 IS USM

Bologna

MaxShutterSpeed

Wandering in Bologna, the medioeval capital of Emilia Romagna region in north of Italy.

In this photo gallery some shots taken around the old city with the distinctive lengthy porticoes: indeed, Bologna counts more than 53 kilometers of porticoes and worldwide there isn’t another city with this peculiarity.

Bologna is also famous for the oldest university, for its beautiful architecture and, of course, for the typical food.

The shots in this gallery represent some of the most important monuments of the city:

  • The fountain of Neptune in the Neptune square
  • The deconsacrated church of Santa Lucia, now the Great Hall of University
  • The famous Mercanzia Square, the old city market
  • The “finestrella”, a small window on the canal of the city
  • A player of saxophone outside the house of the italian singer Lucio Dalla
  • The courtyard of Archiginnasio Palace
  • The two towers, icons of the city of Bologna, Asinelli and Garisenda towers
  • Some cityscapes of Bologna taken from the top of the Asinelli tower
  • The church of St. Domenico by night.

 

 

Variuos gear.

In Black and white – Gallery #1

MaxShutterSpeed

A photo gallery of pictures in black and white taken around in Europe.

 

In this gallery:

The Pont Du Gard in France, the highest (50 mt.) Roman aqueduct.

The statue of Marquis De Sade in the Château de Lacoste (France).

Two pictures of Jaume Plensa’s sculpture. The Nomade (the biggest one) in harbour of Antibes, and one of the seven Figures,  an installation in Place Massena in Nice (France), representing the seven continents.

Some shots in Netherlands and Bruges (Belgium).

A shot of a frozen day in Campitello di Fassa (Italy).

 

Various gear.

Pallotta Castle – Caldarola (Italy)

MaxShutterSpeed

Caldarola is a small town in the Italian region Marche. The town includes the Castello Pallotta and the Pallotta Palace.

The castle is in remarkable condition both inside and out. It still contains the original paintings, furnishings, clothing, and early transportation vehicles, and also has a small private collection of medieval arms.

The castle is family owned and was lived in until comparatively recently so has warm feel.

 

 

Gear:  Canon Eos 7D with Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM and Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM

Hell’s gorge and hermatage of St. Leonardo

MaxShutterSpeed

The Hell’s gorge, in italian “Gole dell’Infernaccio” in the Marche region (Italy) earned their name in the days when this was one of the few routes through the Apennine mountains between Adriatic coast and Rome.

With long steep-sided gorges and wild mountains around, it was famous for brigands waiting to ambush travellers.

Today it’s a beautiful, peaceful and easy walk through deep wooded ravines, alongside a stream with wildflowers and dragonflies, which opens finally into cattle pastures leading up to the Passo Cattivo (Evil Pass).

There is an optional pathway to a small church, the hermatage of St. Leonardo (eremo di San Leonardo).

The church was built almost single handed by a monk named Padre Pietro, well-known as “The bricklayer of God”, who began the work in 1971.

He lived up there in total solitude, and unfortunately, Padre Pietro is deceased on august the 9th of 2015, at 88 year old.

 

Gear: Canon EOS 6D and Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM

Sanctuary of San Luca – Bologna

MaxShutterSpeed

The Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca in Bologna is a Basilica church sited atop of Monte della Guardia, in a forested hill some 300 meters above the plain, just south-west of the historical center of Bologna.

It is easily spotted from afar as one nears Bologna.

Sanctuary is connected to the city walls by the world’s longest monumental portico (the Portico of San Luca), held aloft by 666 arches, beginning at Piazza di Porta Saragozza.

 

Gear:  Canon Eos 1000D and Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM

Vieste

MaxShutterSpeed

Vieste is beautiful a town in the Puglia (Apulia) region of Italy and it is included in the Gargano National Park.

Main attractions in Vieste are, of course, the two large beaches at two sides of town, but also a castle on top of the town, with a triangular shape and bastions at its vertexes, the cathedral in Apulian Romanesque style and the Lighthouse, built in 1867.

 

Gear:  Canon Eos 40D, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II and Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM

Sori (Liguria)

MaxShutterSpeed

A small gallery of some HDR photos and long exposures taken in Sori.

Sori is a beatiful city in the Italian region Liguria and part of the so-called Golfo Paradiso (Paradise gulf) in the Riviera di Levante.

 

Gear: Canon Eos 7D, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM, Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM and Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM

The gulf of Naples by night

Naples by night

MaxShutterSpeed

Some photos of Naples taken in a december full moon night and blue sky.

The bay, bordered by city lights of Naples and Mount Vesuvius.

The “finestrella of Marechiaro”, a typical and romance place down to Posillipo.

Villa Volpicelli, used as set of a wildly popular Italian soap opera “Un posto al sole“—A Place in the Sun;

And two shots of little harbor of Riva Fiorita on the Posillipo coast.

 

Gear: Canon Eos 6D and Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM II

The Basilica of the Holy House in Loreto

MaxShutterSpeed

Some HDR night scenes in Loreto (Italy), outside the Basilica of the Holy House.

The late Gothic Basilica has been built in 1469, around the Holy House, and the sacred site attracts as many as 4 million Catholic pilgrims and visitors each year. Some of the greatest architects of the time worked on the construction of this basilica, Bramante and Vanvitelli for all.

Inside the basilica, the Holy House is, of course, the main attraction. It is a small stone building measuring 13 x 31 feet, with traces of medieval murals on the inner walls. An ancient tradition tells that the walls of the Shrine existed in Nazareth, Galilea: the Holy House is the same House where Our Lady Mary was born, grew up and received the angelic announcement.

This tradition, based on devotion and popular belief, ascribed the transportation of the House of Nazareth to an angelic mission; current historical studies have developed the hypothesis of a transportation carried out by Man, through sea and land, that came true with special assistance from above. That’s the way “to read between the lines” and give the most probable explanation to the Holy House event.

Curiosity: outside the place of the Basilica you can see an Aermacchi MB-339-A/PAN of aerobatic demonstration team of the Italian Aeronautica Militare. In 1910, Our Lady of Loreto became the patron saint of pilots, because of the tradition of the house’s flight from Nazareth.

 

Gear: Canon Eos 6D and Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM II