230 Iconic Buildings to Explore in Italy

Pompeii’s amphitheatre was built by C. Quintius Valgus and M Procius, two of Sulla’s commanders who became the city’s magistrates after its subjugation by the Romans. This dates the amphitheatre to 70AD, making it one of the earliest constructed Roman amphitheatres and the oldest one left standing. It is located in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii and was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, that also buried Pompeii itself and the neighbouring town of Herculaneum.

A majestic 135-acre building complex in a garden setting in the city of Castel Gandolfo, Italy. It consists of a 17th-century villa, an observatory, and a farmhouse with 75 acres of farmland. It has been a museum since October 2016. It served for centuries as a summer residence and vacation retreat for the pope, the leader of the Catholic Church, and is afforded extraterritorial status as one of the properties of the Holy See. It overlooks Lake Albano.

The castle of Venosa is a historic fortified building of the homonymous municipality in the province of Potenza . Commonly called Aragonese as it was built by Duke Pirro del Balzo during the period of the Aragonese dynasty , it is located at the southern end of the plateau occupied by the urban extension of the city.

The Aragonese Castle is a fortification that stands on a tidal island of trachytic rock on the eastern side of the island of Ischia, connected by a 220 m long brick bridge to the ancient Borgo di Celsa , known as Ischia Ponte. The islet on which the castle was built derives from a syntactic eruption that occurred over 300,000 years ago. It reaches a height of 113 meters above sea level and covers an area of ​​approx56 000 m².

The castle of Otranto is the fortress of the homonymous city located in Puglia, in the province of Lecce. The castle, which gave its name to the first Gothic novel in history, is closely related to the city walls with which it forms a single defensive apparatus. The current appearance of the fort is in fact due to Spanish Viceroys, who made it a real masterpiece of military architecture: extraordinary defense works were implemented in 1535 by Don Pedro of Toledo.

It was erected in Rimini, Italy. This is a triumphal arch built in honor of Rome’s first emperor, Augustus, by the Roman Senate. This triumphal arch was built in 27 B.C.E. This is the oldest standing arch in Rome. The arch has one barrel-vaulted entryway. It signaled the end of the via Flaminia, which connected the cities of Romagna to Rome, and spans the modern Corso d'Augusto, which led to the beginning of another road, the via Emilia, which ran northwest to Piacenza.

The Arch of Constantine is an arch in Rome, found between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was built in honor of Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312. It is the latest of the triumphal arches in Rome. The arch is also a tour de force of political propaganda, presenting Constantine as a living continuation of the most successful Roman emperors, renowned for their military victories and good government.

The Arch of Titus is a Roman Triumphal Arch which was erected by Domitian in c. 81 CE at the foot of the Palatine hill on the Via Sacra in the Forum Romanum, Rome. It commemorates the victories of his father Vespasian and brother Titus in the Jewish War. The arch is also a political and religious statement expressing the divinity of the late emperor Titus.

The Arch of Trajan or Trajan's Arch of Benevento is a celebratory arch dedicated to Emperor Trajan on the occasion of the opening of the Via Traiana, a variant of the Via Appia that shortened the path between Benevento and Brindisi. The monument, which has reached us substantially intact, including the numerous sculptural reliefs that decorate the surfaces, appears to be the best-preserved Roman triumphal arch with reliefs.

The term " Grotte di Catullo " identifies a Roman villa built between the end of the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD in Sirmione, in the province of Brescia, on the southern shore of Lake Garda. The archaeological complex, part of which, especially in the northern sector, which has always remained insight, has been the subject of scholarly visits and speculations since the 15th century, is today the most important testimony of the Roman period in the territory of Sirmione and is the exampl

The Archiginnasio of Bologna is one of the most significant buildings in the city of Bologna: located in the heart of the historic center, it was the seat of the ancient University and is now the seat of the Archiginnasio Municipal Library. The building ceased its university function in 1803. Since 1838 it is the seat of the Municipal Library of Archiginnasio, the largest in Emilia-Romagna.

The Arco Castle is a castle located at Arco in the province of Trento. The castle consists of a system of buildings and fortifications that in total covers an area of ​​over 23,000 square meters. The building embraces the top of a steep rocky cliff in a dominant position above the Sarca plain. The historic center of Arco rises at the base of this rock formation and it seems that the complex of walls of the castle once constituted a single defensive system with those of the village below.

“Arch of Peace”, is a triumphant arch located at Porta Sempione, one of Milan's many city gates. This 25m-high triumphal arch was situated at the northwestern edge of Parco Sempione. On the top of the Arch stands a statuary group in bronze depicting the “Chariot of Peace” flanked by the four “Victorias on Horseback”, while the facade shows the embodiments of the rivers Po, Ticino, Adda and Tagliamento.

The Arsenal of Venice is an ancient complex of shipyards and workshops that forms a very large part of the island city of Venice, at its eastern end. It was the heart of the Venetian naval industry starting from the 12th century and is linked to the most flourishing period of the life of the Serenissima: thanks to the imposing ships built here, the Venetian Republic was able to fight the Ottomans in the Aegean Sea and conquer the routes of northern Europe.

The Aventine Hill is one of the seven hills on which Ancient Rome was built. The legend recounts that Romulus had the idea to build a city on the Palatine Hill and his brother Remus thought the Aventine Hill was the right place where to start construction of a city. The Aventino is ringed with very important churches, monasteries, and the one thing tourists come to see while missing the rest: the Knights of Malta keyhole in Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta.

The Neonian Baptistery, also known as the Orthodox Baptistery, is located in Ravenna and dates back to the 5th century. It takes its name from the bishop Neone who made it continue construction after his predecessor Orso. The name of the Orthodox should instead be understood according to the meaning of the time, which meant the Christians of the "right" doctrine as opposed to the Arian heresy.

The basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio is a religious building of the Aquila , located just outside the city ​​walls , on the homonymous hill. Founded in 1288 at the behest of Pietro da Morrone - crowned pope here with the name of Celestino V on 29 August 1294 - it is considered the highest expression of Abruzzo architecture , as well as the symbol of the city and was declared a national monument in 1902.

One of the most beautiful and luxurious pubic baths in ancient Rome begun by the emperor Septimius Severus in AD 206. There were three main bath chambers: the frigidarium, or cold room; the caldarium, or hot room; and the tepidarium, or lukewarm room. There were also large open-air swimming pools. Marble was used lavishly, and sculpture, mosaics, frescoes, and other decorations ornamented the interior.

The Marciana National Library is one of the largest Italian libraries and the most important in Venice. It contains one of the finest collections of Greek, Latin, and Oriental manuscripts in the world. Also known as Biblioteca Marciana, Biblioteca di San Marco, Libreria Marciana, Libreria Sansoviniana, Libreria Vecchia, or Libreria di San Marco, it is located on the lower part of Piazza San Marco, between the bell tower of San Marco and the Mint.

The Branca Tower, originally Torre Littoria, is a steel construction built-in 1933 on a project by the architect Giò Ponti and located inside the Sempione Park in Milan. With its 108.60 meters high, it is the tenth highest accessible structure in the city after the Unicredit Tower. The top of the tower is a panoramic point whose view, on a clear day, may encompass the Milan cityline as well as the Alps, the Apennines, and part of the Po Valley.