Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Greg Pye

Faro was originally just a fishing village built by the Romans, who called it Ossonoba. In 1249, thanks to Alfonso III. was freed from the power of the Moors and became to prosper as a city. But in 1596 a city suffered a damaging blow, it was burned by the Earl of Essex, who was a great favorite of Queen Elizabeth I. And later, in 1755, it was damaged again during the massive earthquake. Although the remnants of ancient city walls managed to preserve until today, most of the beautiful buildings either did not outlast the destruction or have been largely damaged. So the buildings that you can see today in Faro, come mainly from the late 18th and 19th century.

Faro is now a beautiful coastal city protected by a low sandy islands Ilha de Culatra, Ilha da Barreta and Ilha da Faro. Unfortunately, many tourists pass Faro without stopping here, even though it has the largest number of cultural and historical monuments from all the towns in the Algarve region. Preserved old town center around the cathedral and behind the old city walls, definitely worth a visit.

The historical center of Faro can easily be explored on foot. It lies in a small bay and is partly surrounded by medieval walls. The old harbor area has arched entrance gate with a bell tower called Arco da Vila. This arch was built in the 19th century for Bishop Dom Francisco Gomes do Avelar, who has decided to rebuild the dilapidated city. Street behind it, paved with cobblestones, leads to a beautiful Largo da Sé Square, where you can see the cathedral. From the original Gothic cathedral from the 13th century, which was destroyed in 1596 by English forces led by the Earl of Essex, are preserved only unusual tower, covered porches and two inner chapels. The reconstruction of the cathedral took a long time, so it is now built both in Renaissance, and Baroque style.

Inside the cathedral you can see a huge pipe organ decorated with spectacular Chinese motifs. During festive occasions, there are playing Europe’s leading organists. The cathedral also houses one of the most important Algarve’s collections of sacred art from the 17th and 18th century. And its tower offers a beautiful view of the city.

On the square Largo da Sé is also a Bishop’s Palace Paço Episcopal. If you go through another stone arch in Arco Repouso, walk up to the church of São Francisco, which was built in the 18th century. It is decorated with tiles and scenes from the life of St. Francis. Further north, another church rises in Pé Nossa Senhora da Cruz, who is an exceptional oil paintings depicting episodes from Genesis.

In the monastery Convento de Nossa Senhora da Assunção (Monastery of Our Lady of the Assumption), which is the oldest Renaissance building in the Algarve, is probably the most beautiful cloister in southern Portugal, which was built in 1540 by Afonso Pires. The monastery was founded by Leonor, sister of Manuel I (king of Portugal). The monastery has been carefully restored and since 1973 houses a museum devoted to archeology where you can see the local archaeological finds. The collection includes also Roman, medieval and Manueline stone reliefs and sculptures. The main exhibit is a 2,000 year old Roman mosaic floor measuring 9 x 3 meters, showing a head of the god Neptune.

The most interesting church in Faro is Igreja do Carmo (Carmelite Church). It has an imposing facade with two towers and a beautiful gilded interior, but its biggest attraction is haunted Bone Chapel. Besides the Carmelite church from the 18th century is located another museum – Museo Marítimo exhibiting a small collection of marine exhibits, including model ships. You will see a flagship example of Vasco de Gama, which he used during his voyage to India. Plus you can learn here about the traditional methods of fishing on the coast of the Algarve.

The main artery of Faro is the elegant pedestrian street Rua de Santo António, which is full of shops, bars and restaurants. On the northeast of the city lies the Jewish cemetery, founded for the community, which was brought here by Marquis de Pombal in the 18th century.

About 7 kilometers from the town is a beach. The local coastline is attractive because it includes a number of small sandy islands with a unique nature reserve. In the vicinity of the bay is the Ria Formosa Natural Park, which is a favorite resting place for many species of migratory birds.

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Venice is absolutely the most important tourist destination from all places located on the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea. With its romantic location and a unique charm attracts thousands of tourists from around the world every year. Its historical, artistic and cultural heritage makes it the world’s cultural center. There are several museums and galleries of all mankind. During the year it is also home to many large celebrations and festivals.

Venice, the capital of Veneto, have over 360,000 inhabitants, of which, however, only about 100,000 live in historic city of Venice or on the islands in the lagoon. The rest live on the coast of Venice-Mestre (Venezia – Mestre). This part consists of industrial and transportation center, it’s a new part of Venice. Historic centre of Venice is situated on total of 117 islands and islets, which are connected by 409 bridges. There are no roads or cars, but instead of those you can see here 177 canals with romantic boats and gondolas.

History

City, which we now know as Venice, was founded in distress, when residents, at the end of the Roman Empire, scuttled away into uninhabited and empty regions, where they found safe against barbaric tribes. So gradually people settled the islands and in the year 810 they established a town here. Shortly after that, in the year 827, there was founded the bishopric. Venice was first a Byzantine colony, but gradually it made independent and its power and wealth grew up.

In 1204 the Venetians participated in the conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) and Venice reached the top of its golden age.

When the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, began a time of slow decline, which continued by moving the trade routes from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean. There were also large European countries standing against Venice. In the 18th century, Venice dominated only its surroundings, and in 1797 felt itself under the Habsburg yoke. In the years 1805 – 1815 belonged to Napoleonic satellite state and then again to the Habsburgs until 1866, when finally joined the Italian kingdom, later Republic.

Venice’s Islands and channels

Venice lies, as already mentioned, at 117 islands, connected by over 400 bridges. In addition to channels there are also lanes for pedestrians in the streets, so you can get anywhere in the old Venice on foot.

The city is divided into traditional administrative districts (called Sestiere): Cannaregio, Castello, San Marco, Dorsoduro, San Polo and Santa Croce. The most attractive tourist district is San Marco, where is the Doge’s Palace, St. Mark’s Cathedral, Piazza di San Marco and the Piazzetta with two columns, symbols of Venice.

The most important is Canal Grande over which you can get through 4 bridges or by numerous ferries.

On one side of the Canal Grande is the railway station (Stazione Venezia S. Lucia) and even nearby is a bus station Piazzale Roma. Those are the two entrances to the city. At the other end of the channel is St. Mark’s Square with the great church of St. Mark and the Doge’s Palace.

Orientation is relatively easy because you can use the vaporetto water bus along the Canal Grande or around Venice, or go on foot. There are lots of directional signs to the most important objects (S. Marco, Rialto, Rerrovia). They can navigate you anywhere even without using a map of the city.

Accommodation in Venice

When booking a room, make sure that your hotel lie in the main part of Venice, because then you can easily get everywhere on foot. Mainly cheaper hotels and hostels lie on the surrounding islands or mainland, from which you are then transported by a ferry to Venice centre. An advantage of staying out of the city centre can be, in addition to lower prices, that those hotels mainly have a parking spot available for you when arriving by car. And in addition to the city centre you will see also its surroundings which is interesting and nice as well. I could recommend staying in some of the camping sites located at Punta Sabbioni, where you can get easily by car and transport to Venice’s centre by regular ferry.

Culture and heritage

For careful examination you would need several months, for further explore reserve at least three days, preferably more. However, even within a single day you can see many beautiful and very interesting sights.

Architecture and walks

In each local area (Sestiere) you will find dozens of churches, palaces and houses of exhibition that are worth seeing, also all kinds of shops worth exploring. Venice, it is a pure joy of discovering something new.

Venice, however, is not attractive only because of its art and history. Venice’s romance lies also in the sunset over the lagoon. Even if you come just for a single day, be sure to do the walk through small streets, narrow bridges, around the channels. Also experience, when you get lost in the old streets, is one of the finest travel experiences, make sure you do not miss this opportunity. It’s really worth it!

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The city was founded in the early 13th century, when the bishopric was moved from Old Sarum, an ancient Iron Age fort, which now stands on the northern outskirts of town, about 3 km from the city centre. This place was inhabited already 5000 years ago. The double ditches of this fort are still visible, however there was nothing left from the city inside the walls. Old Sarum was settled by the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and the bishops of Sherborne. But over time, they seemed uncomfortable, as this place was plagued by drought and strong winds, therefore, they requested the pope to move to Salisbury. This city is still called New Sarum. In the 19th century Old Sarum had been completely abandoned.

Domination of the city is its Cathedral, which is situated in the beautiful and peaceful district of The Close. There are also located schools, hospitals, theological colleges and hostels clerics. Salisbury cathedral, also known as Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was built between 1220 – 1258. Today it is a beautiful example of early English Gothic architecture, characterized by high lancet windows. The uniqueness of the cathedral is primarily in its perfectly uniform architectural concept. The only exception is a majestic tower that was built in the years 1280 – 1310. With its 123 meters it is the tallest spire in the United kingdom. It is quite surprising that the tower still stands, its foundations are only about 2 meters deep and the measurement found that the tower leans up to 77 cm.

But it is not everything that Salisbury Cathedral can offer. You can also see here the oldest working clock in the world from the year 1386, which are exposed on the left side of the cathedral. However the most important monument is the English charter Magna Carta from 1215, which is stored in the Chapter House. It is the best-preserved of the four surviving original copies of Magna Carta.

Salisbury Cathedral is famous also for its organ choir. The List of all Organists sorted chronologically in a row from the very beginning can not be overlooked in the cathedral. I must say that the cathedral has much to be proud of. I was lucky enough to hear the choir which was an amazing experience. I definitely recommend you to listen to (they do practice about 1 hour before Mass).

More info you can find at Salisbury Cathedral official website.

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Amiens Cathedral / Maurice

The destruction and bombing of the city during the First and Second World War, miraculously didn’t destroyed the great Cathédrale de Notre-Dame, which is the main reason for visiting Amiens. It is a wonderful representative of the French Gothic style and it is also the highest cathedral in all of France. It stands on the place of the burnt Romanesque basilica. It was built between 1220 – 1236 and at that time it was the largest in France. The building is 145 meters long, 112 meters high. Arches inside the vault measured 42,3 meters. The cathedral was not built just to their astonishing height, but also as a place to be imposed on the head of John the Baptist brought from a failed crusade. The construction involved three architects, the most famous of them was Robert de Luzarches.

The city tour can proceed in the district St. Leu, which is the oldest and most attractive part of Amiens. It extends north from the cathedral and you can get into it through one of the bridges over the river Somme. You will find the narrow cobbled streets with flowers, restaurants, cafes, as well as antique markets and small art studios. The local squares are lined with canals, and therefore this area is often called Little Venice – La Petite Venice. If you will be tired, you can get into a boat and get a ride on the canal between the flowering gardens. The streets around the cathedral have beautifully renovated building, such as the medieval bell tower or a house, which houses the Museo de Picardie. This museum has a wide focus, you will find here something from each side, plus a few hidden archaeological pieces. Here you can see the works from the Roman period up to the 20th century, but excels mainly in the collection of French paintings and sculptures. Statues of glowing white marble from the 19th century are very charming, as well as works by Picasso and Balthus located on the second floor.

Another interesting museum is located in the building of the Hotel de Berny from 17th century.

One of the famous people that were born in Amiens was the writer Jules Verne (1828 – 1905), whose house Maison á la Tour you can visit here. Verne wrote a large part of his fantasy novels right here.

Other sights include the Perret tower standing next to the station from August Peretti, or a number of churches, such as Ste Jeanne d’Arc, St Acheul, Sainte Anne or Saint Firmin. In 1970, the University of Jules Verne was founded here in Amiens.

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