Walks in Rome (Est. 2001)
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  • St Peter's Basilica
    • Altars >
      • Altar of St Joseph
      • Altar of St Gregory the Great in St Peter's Basilica in Rome
      • Altar of the Madonna of Succour
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      • Altar of the Lie
      • Altar of the Presentation of the Virgin
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      • Altar of the Transfiguration
      • Altar of Pope Leo the Great
    • Monuments >
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      • Maria Clementina Sobieska
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      • Pope John XXIII
      • The Stuarts
    • Portico >
      • Door of Death
      • Door of Good and Evil
      • Central Door
      • Door of the Sacraments
      • Holy Door
    • Pieta
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    • Cathedra Petri
    • Crossing >
      • Baldacchino
      • Confessio
      • Dome
      • St Longinus
      • St Helena
      • St Veronica
      • St Andrew
    • St Peter
    • Chapel of the Choir
    • Chapel of the Baptistery
    • Nave
  • Vatican Museums
    • Borgia Apartment
    • Cappella Niccolina
    • Gallery of the Candelabras
    • Gallery of the Maps
    • Gallery of the Tapestries
    • 'Raphael' Tapestries
    • Sala di Costantino
    • Sala dei Chiaroscuri
    • Stanza della Segnatura
    • Stanza di Eliodoro
    • Stanza dell' Incendio
  • Sistine Chapel
    • North Wall
    • South Wall
    • East Wall
    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
      • Ceiling: Part Three
    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fontana di Piazza delle Scole
    • Fountain of Moses
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Bees
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Goddess Roma
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza del Popolo
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountains of St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Four Fountains
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Venice Marries the Sea
  • Churches
    • Chiesa del Gesù >
      • Cappella di Sant' Ignazio
    • Chiesa Nuova
    • Lateran Baptistery
    • San Bartolomeo all' Isola
    • San Carlo ai Catinari
    • San Carlo al Corso
    • San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
    • San Clemente >
      • Cappella Castiglione
    • San Crisogono
    • San Francesco a Ripa >
      • Cappella Altieri
      • Cappella Rospigliosi-Pallavicini
    • San Giorgio in Velabro
    • San Giovanni a Porta Latina
    • San Giovanni dei Fiorentini
    • San Giovanni in Laterano >
      • Cappella Corsini
    • San Girolamo della Carità >
      • Cappella Antamoro
      • Cappella Spada
    • San Gregorio Magno
    • San Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • San Lorenzo in Damaso
    • San Lorenzo in Lucina
    • San Luigi dei Francesi >
      • Cappella Contarelli
    • San Marco
    • San Pancrazio
    • San Paolo fuori le Mura
    • San Pietro in Montorio
    • San Pietro in Vincoli
    • San Saba
    • San Sebastiano fuori le Mura >
      • Cappella Albani
    • San Silvestro in Capite
    • San Vitale
    • Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura
    • Sant' Agnese in Agone
    • Sant' Agostino
    • Sant' Anastasia
    • Sant' Andrea al Quirinale
    • Sant' Andrea della Valle
    • Sant' Andrea delle Fratte
    • Sant' Antonio dei Portoghesi
    • Sant' Ignazio di Loyola
    • Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza
    • Santa Caterina dei Funari
    • Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
    • Santa Costanza
    • Santa Croce in Gerusalemme >
      • Chapel of St Helen
    • Santa Francesca Romana
    • Santa Maria degli Angeli
    • Santa Maria del Popolo >
      • Cappella Cerasi
      • Cappella Chigi
    • Santa Maria del Priorato
    • Santa Maria della Pace >
      • Chigi Chapel
      • Cloister of Bramante
    • Santa Maria della Vittoria >
      • Cappella Cornaro
    • Santa Maria dell' Anima
    • Santa Maria dell' Orazione e Morte
    • Santa Maria dell' Orto
    • Santa Maria di Loreto
    • Santa Maria in Aracoeli >
      • Cappella Bufalini
    • Santa Maria in Campitelli
    • Santa Maria in Cosmedin
    • Santa Maria in Domnica
    • Santa Maria in Trastevere >
      • Cappella Altemps
    • Santa Maria in Via
    • Santa Maria Maddalena
    • Santa Maria Maggiore >
      • Baptistery
      • Cappella Paolina
      • Cappella Sistina
    • Santa Maria sopra Minerva >
      • Cappella Carafa
      • Cappella dell' Annunziata
    • Santa Prassede
    • Santa Sabina >
      • Chapel of St Catherine
      • Chapel of St Hyacinth
    • Santa Susanna
    • Santi Apostoli
    • Santi Cosma e Damiano
    • Santi Domenico e Sisto
    • Santi Giovanni e Paolo
    • Santi Luca e Martina
    • Santi Nereo e Achilleo
    • Santi Quattro Coronati
    • Santissima Trinità degli Spagnoli
    • Santissima Trinità di Monti
    • Santissimo Nome di Maria
  • Palatine
  • Forum
    • Arch of Septimius Severus
    • Arch of Titus
    • Basilica of Maxentius
    • Curia Julia
    • Temple of Antoninus Pius
    • Temple of Castor and Pollux
    • Temple of Saturn
    • Temple of Venus and Rome
    • Temple of Vesta
  • Ancient Monuments
    • Aqueducts
    • Ara Pacis
    • Arch of Constantine
    • Arch of the Money-Changers
    • Arch of Janus
    • Aurelian Walls
    • Baths of Caracalla
    • Baths of Diocletian
    • Castel Sant' Angelo
    • Catacombs of Domitilla
    • Circus Maxentius
    • Circus Maximus
    • Colosseum
    • Column of Marcus Aurelius
    • Column of Trajan
    • Forum of Augustus
    • Forum of Trajan
    • Mausoleum of Augustus
    • Nymphaeum
    • Pantheon
    • Ponte Fabricio
    • Ponte Milvio
    • Ponte Rotto
    • Ponte Sant' Angelo
    • Porta Maggiore
    • Porta San Paolo
    • Porta San Sebastiano
    • Portico of Octavia
    • Pyramid of Cestius
    • Temple of Hadrian
    • Temple of Hercules
    • Temple of Portunus
    • Theatre of Marcellus
    • Tomb of Caecilia Metella
    • Via Appia
  • Obelisks
    • 'Minerveo' Obelisk
    • 'Flaminio' Obelisk
    • 'Matteiano' Obelisk
    • 'Lateran' Obelisk
    • 'Dogali' Obelisk
    • 'Macuteo' Obelisk
    • 'Solare' Obelisk
    • 'Vatican' Obelisk
    • 'Agonalis' Obelisk
    • 'Sallustiano' Obelisk
    • 'Quirinale' Obelisk
    • 'Esquiline' Obelisk
    • 'Pinciano' Obelisk
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    • 'Torlonia' Obelisks
    • 'Mussolini' Obelisk
    • 'Marconi' Obelisk
  • Mosaics
    • S. Agnese fuori le Mura
    • S. Cecilia in Trastevere
    • S. Clemente
    • S. Francesca Romana
    • S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • S. Marco
    • S. Maria in Domnica
    • S. Maria in Trastevere
    • S. Maria Maggiore
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  • Gallery
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    • Piazza Vittorio
  • Miscellaneous
    • A Calendar of Saints
    • Antico Caffè Greco
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  • Rioni
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    • Rione IV - Campo Marzio
    • Rione V - Ponte
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    • Rione VIII - Sant' Eustachio
    • Rione IX - Pigna
    • Rione X - Campitelli
    • Rione XI - Sant' Angelo
    • Rione XII - Ripa
    • Rione XIII - Trastevere
    • Rione XIV - Borgo
  • On This Day in Italy
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  • Pictures from Italy
    • Florence >
      • A Literary Tour
      • Anna Maria Luisa: Last of the Medici
      • Casa-Galleria Vichi
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      • Cosimo I de' Medici
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      • Festina Lente
      • Floods
      • Fontana del Bacchino
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      • Fountain of Neptune
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      • Gian Gastone de' Medici
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      • Pope Leo XI
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    • Lazio >
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    • Tuscany >
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    • Venice >
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      • Daniele Manin
      • Flagpoles
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      • Gondolas
      • Harry's Bar
      • Henry James
      • House of Three Eyes
      • King Victor Emmanuel II
      • Map of Venice
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      • Master of the House
      • Palazzo Contarini Fasan
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      • Punta del Dogana
      • Scacciadiavoli
      • Shrine of St Lucia
      • Sior Antonio Rioba
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      • The Lion's Mouth
      • Tommaso Rangone
      • Torcello
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      • 'Viennese Oranges'
      • Wellheads
      • Winged Lions

The Wellheads of Venice


Wellhead (vera da pozzo), Campo San Boldo, Venice
Wellhead (Vera da pozzo), Campo San Boldo

The Venetian diarist, Marin Sanudo (1466-1536), summed up one of the paradoxes of Venice when he wrote: 'Venexia è in aqua et non ha aqua.' ('Venice is in water and it doesn't have water.')

Given the location of the city, the sinking of wells was out of the question. And so the Venetians had to solve the problem of providing fresh water for its large population (in the 14th century Venice was the fourth largest city in Europe, with a population well in excess of 100,000) by collecting rainwater.

The city's numerous campi and cortili were turned into extremely efficient facilities for collecting and storing the wet stuff. Large underground cisterns (up to 5 metres deep) would collect the rainwater, which flowed through small stone drains (gatoli or pivelle). The rainwater was sifted through sand to remove any impurities. The water would then be drawn up through the wellhead, known as a vera da pozzo.

The wellheads in the campi were locked and the keys held by the local parish priests, who decided when the well should be opened. This centuries-old practice changed in the 1880s with the advent of piped water from the mainland. This ensured that the wells never ran out of water. When water was piped directly into people’s houses the wells became redundant and thousands of wellheads disappeared. Many were sold off to foreigner collectors, some were broken up, and some found other uses, often as rather elaborate plant pots.

Taking many forms (round, square, hexagonal, octagonal, cylindrical), most wellheads, which date from the 9th to the 19th century, were carved out of Istrian stone, a few out of Verona marble, and at least two were cast in bronze. Some are elaborately carved, others less so.  

According to a census of 1858, there were 6,046 private wells, 180 public wells and 556 disused wells in Venice. Assuming that each well had a wellhead, that comes to a grand total of 6,782. I wonder how many there are today. Alberto Rizzi in his fascinating and fact-filled volume The Well-Heads of Venice comes up with a figure of 2,500.
19th century photograph of a wellhead (vera da pozzo) in Venice
19th century photograph of a wellhead (vera da pozzo)
Wellhead (Vera da Pozzo), 1427, by Bartolomeo Bon, Ca' d'Oro, Venice
Wellhead (Vera da Pozzo), 1427, by Bartolomeo Bon, Ca' d'Oro
Bronze wellhead, Palazzo Ducale, Venice
Bronze wellhead, Palazzo Ducale

walking Tours of Rome

Copyright © David Lown 2001-2023. All Rights Reserved. 
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    • Altars >
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    • Monuments >
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      • The Stuarts
    • Portico >
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    • Crossing >
      • Baldacchino
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    • St Peter
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    • Nave
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    • 'Raphael' Tapestries
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    • Stanza della Segnatura
    • Stanza di Eliodoro
    • Stanza dell' Incendio
  • Sistine Chapel
    • North Wall
    • South Wall
    • East Wall
    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
      • Ceiling: Part Three
    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fontana di Piazza delle Scole
    • Fountain of Moses
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Bees
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Goddess Roma
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza del Popolo
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountains of St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Four Fountains
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Venice Marries the Sea
  • Churches
    • Chiesa del Gesù >
      • Cappella di Sant' Ignazio
    • Chiesa Nuova
    • Lateran Baptistery
    • San Bartolomeo all' Isola
    • San Carlo ai Catinari
    • San Carlo al Corso
    • San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
    • San Clemente >
      • Cappella Castiglione
    • San Crisogono
    • San Francesco a Ripa >
      • Cappella Altieri
      • Cappella Rospigliosi-Pallavicini
    • San Giorgio in Velabro
    • San Giovanni a Porta Latina
    • San Giovanni dei Fiorentini
    • San Giovanni in Laterano >
      • Cappella Corsini
    • San Girolamo della Carità >
      • Cappella Antamoro
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    • San Gregorio Magno
    • San Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • San Lorenzo in Damaso
    • San Lorenzo in Lucina
    • San Luigi dei Francesi >
      • Cappella Contarelli
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    • San Sebastiano fuori le Mura >
      • Cappella Albani
    • San Silvestro in Capite
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    • Sant' Agnese in Agone
    • Sant' Agostino
    • Sant' Anastasia
    • Sant' Andrea al Quirinale
    • Sant' Andrea della Valle
    • Sant' Andrea delle Fratte
    • Sant' Antonio dei Portoghesi
    • Sant' Ignazio di Loyola
    • Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza
    • Santa Caterina dei Funari
    • Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
    • Santa Costanza
    • Santa Croce in Gerusalemme >
      • Chapel of St Helen
    • Santa Francesca Romana
    • Santa Maria degli Angeli
    • Santa Maria del Popolo >
      • Cappella Cerasi
      • Cappella Chigi
    • Santa Maria del Priorato
    • Santa Maria della Pace >
      • Chigi Chapel
      • Cloister of Bramante
    • Santa Maria della Vittoria >
      • Cappella Cornaro
    • Santa Maria dell' Anima
    • Santa Maria dell' Orazione e Morte
    • Santa Maria dell' Orto
    • Santa Maria di Loreto
    • Santa Maria in Aracoeli >
      • Cappella Bufalini
    • Santa Maria in Campitelli
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    • Santa Maria in Domnica
    • Santa Maria in Trastevere >
      • Cappella Altemps
    • Santa Maria in Via
    • Santa Maria Maddalena
    • Santa Maria Maggiore >
      • Baptistery
      • Cappella Paolina
      • Cappella Sistina
    • Santa Maria sopra Minerva >
      • Cappella Carafa
      • Cappella dell' Annunziata
    • Santa Prassede
    • Santa Sabina >
      • Chapel of St Catherine
      • Chapel of St Hyacinth
    • Santa Susanna
    • Santi Apostoli
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    • Santi Domenico e Sisto
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    • Santi Quattro Coronati
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    • Santissima Trinità di Monti
    • Santissimo Nome di Maria
  • Palatine
  • Forum
    • Arch of Septimius Severus
    • Arch of Titus
    • Basilica of Maxentius
    • Curia Julia
    • Temple of Antoninus Pius
    • Temple of Castor and Pollux
    • Temple of Saturn
    • Temple of Venus and Rome
    • Temple of Vesta
  • Ancient Monuments
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    • Ara Pacis
    • Arch of Constantine
    • Arch of the Money-Changers
    • Arch of Janus
    • Aurelian Walls
    • Baths of Caracalla
    • Baths of Diocletian
    • Castel Sant' Angelo
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    • Circus Maxentius
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    • Colosseum
    • Column of Marcus Aurelius
    • Column of Trajan
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    • Ponte Fabricio
    • Ponte Milvio
    • Ponte Rotto
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    • Porta Maggiore
    • Porta San Paolo
    • Porta San Sebastiano
    • Portico of Octavia
    • Pyramid of Cestius
    • Temple of Hadrian
    • Temple of Hercules
    • Temple of Portunus
    • Theatre of Marcellus
    • Tomb of Caecilia Metella
    • Via Appia
  • Obelisks
    • 'Minerveo' Obelisk
    • 'Flaminio' Obelisk
    • 'Matteiano' Obelisk
    • 'Lateran' Obelisk
    • 'Dogali' Obelisk
    • 'Macuteo' Obelisk
    • 'Solare' Obelisk
    • 'Vatican' Obelisk
    • 'Agonalis' Obelisk
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    • 'Quirinale' Obelisk
    • 'Esquiline' Obelisk
    • 'Pinciano' Obelisk
    • 'Mediceo' Obelisk
    • 'Torlonia' Obelisks
    • 'Mussolini' Obelisk
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  • Mosaics
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    • S. Cecilia in Trastevere
    • S. Clemente
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    • S. Marco
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    • S. Maria Maggiore
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  • Gallery
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    • Piazza del Campidoglio
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Piazza del Quirinale
    • Piazza della Repubblica
    • Piazza Farnese
    • Piazza Navona
    • Piazza San Pietro
    • Piazza Vittorio
  • Miscellaneous
    • A Calendar of Saints
    • Antico Caffè Greco
    • Babington's Tea Rooms
    • Borromini & the Baroque
    • Catacombs
    • Cloisters
    • Column of the Immaculate Conception
    • Domes
    • EUR
    • Fascism
    • House of the Owls
    • Jewish Ghetto
    • Jubilee Years
    • Knights of Malta
    • Mithraism
    • Monumental Complex of S. Spirito in Sassia
    • Ponte Sisto
    • 'Protestant' Cemetery
    • Quartiere Coppedè
    • Spanish Steps
    • 'Talking' Statues
    • Tiber Island
    • Villa Borghese
    • Vittoriano
  • Rioni
    • Rione I - Monti
    • Rione II - Trevi
    • Rione III - Colonna
    • Rione IV - Campo Marzio
    • Rione V - Ponte
    • Rione VI - Parione
    • Rione VII - Regola
    • Rione VIII - Sant' Eustachio
    • Rione IX - Pigna
    • Rione X - Campitelli
    • Rione XI - Sant' Angelo
    • Rione XII - Ripa
    • Rione XIII - Trastevere
    • Rione XIV - Borgo
  • On This Day in Italy
    • January
    • February
    • March
    • April
    • May
    • June
    • July
    • August
    • September
    • October
    • November
    • December
  • Pictures from Italy
    • Florence >
      • A Literary Tour
      • Anna Maria Luisa: Last of the Medici
      • Casa-Galleria Vichi
      • Column of Justice
      • Column of St Zenobius
      • Cosimo I de' Medici
      • Cosimo II de' Medici
      • Costanza Bonarelli
      • David With Fig Leaf
      • Elizabeth Barrett Browning
      • Equestrian Statue of Cosimo I de' Medici
      • Equestrian Statue of Ferdinando I de' Medici
      • Festina Lente
      • Floods
      • Fontana del Bacchino
      • Fontana dei Puttini
      • Fountain of Neptune
      • Fountains of the Marine Monsters
      • Gian Gastone de' Medici
      • Girolamo Savonarola
      • Images of the Annunciation
      • Little Devil
      • Monument to Cellini
      • Palazzo Bartolini-Salimbeni
      • Palazzo Bianca Cappello
      • Palazzo Fenzi
      • Palazzo Viviani
      • Perseus and Medusa
      • Piazza Santa Maria Novella
      • Pope Leo XI
      • Porta della Mandorla
      • Rape of the Sabine Woman
      • Santa Maria Novella
      • Canons' Palace
      • Statue of Dante
      • Theft of the Century
      • Torre del Arnolfo
      • Twelve Good Men
      • Villa Gamberaia
      • Wheel of the Innocents
      • 'Wine Windows'
    • Lazio >
      • Bomarzo: Parco dei Mostri
      • Viterbo: Santa Rosa
    • Tuscany >
      • Arezzo: Giorgio Vasari
      • Lucca: Puccini
      • Pistoia: Ospedale del Ceppo
      • Siena: The Balzana
    • Venice >
      • Ab Urbe Condita
      • Acqua Alta
      • Bartolomeo Colleoni
      • Barque of Dante
      • Burano
      • Caffè Florian
      • Daniele Manin
      • Flagpoles
      • Giustina Rossi
      • Gondolas
      • Harry's Bar
      • Henry James
      • House of Three Eyes
      • King Victor Emmanuel II
      • Map of Venice
      • Martinmas
      • Master of the House
      • Palazzo Contarini Fasan
      • Ponte Borgoloco
      • Ponte Chiodo
      • Punta del Dogana
      • Scacciadiavoli
      • Shrine of St Lucia
      • Sior Antonio Rioba
      • The 'Book Shitter'
      • The Lion's Mouth
      • Tommaso Rangone
      • Torcello
      • Venus
      • 'Viennese Oranges'
      • Wellheads
      • Winged Lions