Regarding viewing art and associated churches/sites, has anyone seen or created a spreadsheet of clustered areas and locations of said/art and church/site? In other words, SE Rome has these 4 major churches/sites that are home to these “well-loved” art pieces. Because art and “well-loved” art is subjective I realize everyone’s top 20 or 50 will be different but I’m hoping something like this exists and it will be a good starting point of building our own list. We know we can’t do it all in the timeframe of our trip so we thought we could pick an area of Rome for example, seek the famous pieces to view and then take our time to also view the lesser know art and architecture.
Posted by
505 posts
Can you do a search of google maps that users have added. We've used that for lots of things, e.g. Modernist Architecture in Barcelona, restaurants in Venice.
Posted by
Los Angeles by way of Providence and Rome
610 posts
Rome has over 900 churches, with a staggering amount of art and artifacts in most if not all of them, so a daunting task.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16367 posts
Some travel guidebooks arrange their sightseeing attractions by area. For instance, my Eyewitness Guide for Rome contains chapters for things to see in Quirinal, Esquiline, Aventine, etc. along with a color-coded map. Each of those chapters include snapshots of notable churches and why they're important. Same for DK guidebooks for other cities.
Yes, art is subjective so some visitors are on the hunt for Caravaggio's, others for Bernini's or Raphaels, etc. Still others look for early Christian mosaics or frescoes. You have to make your own list of top 20, 30, 40....Believe it or not, of those I've seen so far St. Peter's isn't near the top of my Rome favorites list! Florence? The historic center doesn't cover as broad an area as Rome so it's not difficult to pinpoint the more important churches, as far as artworks are concerned, even though there are many!
Posted by
OP
11 posts
Thank you Kathy. I appreciate your referral to guide books that specify sites within an area of a city. I ordered a couple more today. I’ll start our own list and then add to it as we explore and discover.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16367 posts
BTW, I've made our own sightseeing maps the old-fashioned way: buying paper or laminated maps (sometimes they even come with the guidebooks) and attaching little stars to locations that are high on the personal want-to-see list that correspond to items I've also starred in the guidebook. I do have to make separate notes regarding opening hours and entry fees, if any, as those can change after the latest book has been published.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15768 posts
I've done something like that for grouping sights in Paris. It might be helpful in Rome, but I usually do the reverse there and pick an area, then look for what to see there. (not useful for a first-time or infrequent visitor, I admit). Some of the main sights in Rome are clustered anyway. Colosseum/Forum/Capitoline hill and a few other things, all together, more than a full day's worth. St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums are another full day.
Orvieto is really pretty small. Florence has so many sights and none are that far from each other. It's the easiest to walk in, flat and mostly well-paved. I only spent a day in Siena - walked to everything. Venice may be worth it, depending on how long you're there and what you want to see. Look at a map of Venice, it looks (aptly) like a fish. You can walk from head to tail in an hour, provided that [1] you don't get lost (happens a lot) and [2] you don't have to plow through a crowd somewhere (less likely).
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15768 posts
Also, note opening hours for churches, especially in Rome That can really trip you up, many close for a couple hours one or more times a day.