That’s the middle of the summer here in Italy. September with its mild temperatures is near and it will be the perfect period for visiting many beautiful art cities.

How not to think about the world-famous city on the lagoon, Venice? Such a romantic place for couples is not to miss in a trip to Italy.

A holiday in Venice is an experience to do at least once in a lifetime…Why? Come and see with your eyes!

Do you never heard about the “city of love”? We are talking about an old city built on sea, a real labyrinth of narrow passageways and alleys, little squares, channels

Italy, world renound for its incredible history and dedication to the arts, is opening the doors of its countless and historically important state operated sites including museums of art and history, monuments, archaeological areas, archives and libraries … for FREE!

For the next ten days (April 16-25th) Italians and foreigners alike will enjoy this unique opportunity to experience the beauty and culture that exists within the walls of its most prestigious and visited locations without having to pay a dime.

Each city has its gems, and here’s a breif description of a few: Click on the citiy names for a more in depth description of the museums, monuments and more!

Florence: City of Renaissance art. He’re you’ll find the incredible Uffizi Gallery with its incredible collection of famous art from the middle ages all the way through the 18th century (featuring two of Botticelli`s greatest works), the Galleria dell’Academia – with Michelangelo’s famous statue of  ‘David’ …

Venice: The city of Venice is basically a museum its self, but

A special exhibition, opened on October 6th, 2009 and dedicated to the extraordinary work of Michelangelo Buonarroti as an architect, under the organization of Musei Capitolini in Rome is approaching to its end. For those who haven’t seen it and wanted to do so, the last day is February 7th, 2010. Beside the famous works in Florence, Siena, Bologna, Venice, the one made in Rome is considered to be among the most important.
Michelangelo had lived in Rome between 1505 and 1516, and afterwards from 1534 until his death in 1564, and during this forty-years long period the artist made numerous great projects, some of them realized, the others unfortunately remained on sheets of paper.
The exhibition is divided in 17 sections organized chronologically and it contains 105 works that remained to testify about the extraordinary inventions of Michelangelo.

In 2009 the Bauhaus celebrated its 90th anniversary of existence. For this occasion, the Palazzo Ducale of Genoa hosts, from October 2009 until February 14th, 2010, a retrospective exhibition of one of the most important artists from this school: Otto Hofmann.
The exhibition shows us a wide historic path of life of the artist through his work which definently left its mark on the vanguard of the XX century.
Otto Hofmann tells a story of a difficult life, in a very turbulent period which started in the thirties of the XX century, during his stay at the Bauhaus of Dessau. The story continues through years of the Nazi domination and censorship when a lot of his work was confiscated and accused as degenerated art. Then follows the time of the full immersion in the War and the imprisonment in Russia. A precious collection of watercolor paintings shows us the artist’s feelings and state of mind, horrified by the chaos that was spread all over the Europe.

No plans for the weekend?

Well, if your answer is “no”, then we’ll suggest you something unique to do.

This weekend in fact, on Saturday 26^th and Sunday 27^th September 2009, there will be a fully cultural event: as usual, also this year all the European countries will celebrate the European Heritage Days, which were conceived in 1991 by the European Council in order to encourage and promote the cultural dialogue and exchange between European countries.

As every year, MiBAC participates in the event with the slogan “Italy, the treasure of Europe” and organizes throughout Italy several initiatives intended to increase the value of Italian culture and heritage, with the aim to share all this great richness with other European countries.

In fact, throughout the country, many events and activities will take place in order to increase the national heritage value: over 1000 sites will be open to the public with free entrance, extraordinary openings, art exhibitions, concerts, shows and