ITALY: Residences of the Royal House of Savoy

  Received thanx to LITHTYS

    When Emmanuel-Philibert, Duke of Savoy, moved his capital to Turin in 1562, he began a vast series of building projects (continued by his successors) to demonstrate the power of the ruling house. This outstanding complex of buildings, designed and embellished by the leading architects and artists of the time, radiates out into the surrounding countryside from the Royal Palace in the 'Command Area' of Turin to include many country residences and hunting lodges.
    The relationships and dynastic links that the House of Savoy established with the royal courts in Paris, Lisbon, Madrid, Munich, and Vienna as well as the towns of Italy created a cosmopolitan artistic and cultural milieu at the court of Turin. Emmanuel-Philibert laid the foundations of a court tradition that had not previously existed in Turin. As the two superb volumes of the Theatrum Sabaudiae, published in 1682, demonstrate, the Dukes of Savoy were tireless builders. With ceaseless perseverance, they enriched their family heritage and commissioned internationally famous architects, artists, and gardeners such Ascanio Vitoti, Carlo and Amedeo di Castellamonte, Guarino Guarini, Filippo Juvarra, Michelangelo Garove, Benedetto Altieri, Daniel Seiter, Francesco Solimena, Sebastiano Ricci, Charles Andre Vanloo, Claudio Francesco Beaumont, Francesco Ladatte, Michel Benard, and many others.
    The palace of Venaria was built by Amedeo di Castellamonte in 1675 for Charles Emmanuell II.

ITALY: Venice and its Lagoon

   Venice is a unique artistic achievement. The city is built on 118 small islands and seems to float on the waters of the lagoon. The influence of Venice on the development of architecture and monumental arts has been considerable. Venice possesses an incomparable series of architectural ensembles illustrating the age of its splendour. It presents a complete typology whose exemplary value goes hand-in-hand with the outstanding character of an urban setting which had to adapt to the special requirements of the site.

  In AD 1000, Venice controlled the Dalmatian coast and in 1112 a trading market was founded in the Levantine port of Sidon. The year 1204 saw Venice allied with the Crusaders to capture Constantinople. The abundant booty brought back on that occasion, including the bronzes horses of St Mark's, is only the more spectacular part of the loot from Byzantium that the Doge Enrico Dàndolo shared with his allies.

    Under the Doge, a maritime empire of unequalled power extended over the entire length of the shores around the eastern Mediterranean, to the islands of the Ionian Sea and to Crete. During the entire period of the expansion of Venice, over the centuries when it was obliged to defend its trading markets against the commercial undertakings of the Arabs, the Genoese and the Ottoman Turks,as well as those of the European monarchs who were envious of its power, Venice never ceased, in the literal sense of the term, to consolidate its position in the lagoon. The marriage with the sea, that sposalizio that since 1172 was symbolized by the ring of the Doge, who had replaced the Dux (elected for the first time in 697 by an assembly of the people), was never called into question.

  

ITALY: Piazza del Duomo, Pisa

Standing in a large green expanse, Piazza del Duomo houses a group of monuments known the world over. These four masterpieces of medieval architecture – the cathedral, the baptistry, the campanile (the 'Leaning Tower') and the cemetery – had a great influence on monumental art in Italy from the 11th to the 14th century.

ITALY: Mantua and Sabbioneta

Mantua Ducal Palace



Mantua and Sabbioneta offer exceptional testimonies to the urban, architectural and artistic realizations of the Renaissance, linked through the visions and actions of the ruling Gonzaga family. Mantua, a town whose traces stem from the Roman period, was renovated in the 15th and 16th centuries - including hydrological engineering, urban and architectural works. The participation of renowned architects like Leon Battista Alberti and Giulio Romano, and painters like Andrea Mantegna, makes Mantua a prominent capital of the Renaissance. Sabbioneta represents the construction of an entirely new town according to the modern, functional vision of the Renaissance. The defensive walls, grid pattern of streets, role of public spaces and monuments all make Sabbioneta one of the best examples of ideal cities built in Europe, with an influence over urbanism and architecture in and outside the continent. The properties represent two significant stages of territorial planning and urban interventions undertaken by the Gonzagas in their domains.
 Mantua and Sabbioneta are exceptional witnesses to the interchange of human values of the Renaissance culture. They illustrate the two main forms of Renaissance town planning: the newly founded town, based on the concept of ideal city planning, and the transformed existing town. Their importance relates also to architecture, technology and monu¬mental art. The properties have played a prominent role in the diffusion of the Renaissance culture in and outside Europe.
Mantua and Sabbioneta are exceptional testimonies to a particular civilization during a specific period of history, with reflections on urbanism, architecture and fine arts. The ideals of the Renaissance, fostered by the Gonzaga family, are present in their urban morphology and architecture, their functional systems and traditional productive activities, which have mostly been preserved over time.
Both properties meet the required conditions of integrity and authenticity, since their most significant urban and architectural components have been preserved over time, as has their relationship with their settings.
The legal protective structure and management system are adequate, as both properties exhibit a good state of conservation.