Journal articles on the topic 'Florence. Santa Croce (Church)'

In 2005, during the composing of the Inventory of the Moveable Cultural Heritage of the Church and Monastery of St Francis of Assisi at Krk, three wooden statues were found in the attic. These had once belonged to a lavish Renaissance triptych at the centre of which was a figure of the Virgin (107 x 45 x 27 cm), flanked by the figures of St John the Baptist (c. 105 x 28 x 30 cm), an apostle with a book (c. 93 x 32 x 22 cm), and, in all likelihood, St James the Apostle. A trace of a small left foot in the Virgin’s lap indicates that the original composition was that of the Virgin and Child. It is highly likely that these statues originally belonged to the altar of St James which mentioned by Augustino Valier during his visitation of the Church of St Francis of Assisi in 1579 as having a pala honorifica . Harmonious proportions, fine modelling of the heads, beautifully and confidently carved drapery of the fabrics, together with almost classical gestures, all point to a good master carver who, in this case, sought inspiration in Venetian painting of the 1520s and 1530s. When attempting to find close parallels in the production of Venetian wood-carving workshops from the first half of the sixteenth century, without a doubt the best candidates are two signed statues from the workshop of Paolo Campsa de Boboti: the statue of the Risen Christ from the parish church of St Lawrence at Soave in Italy, dated to 1533, and the statue of the Virgin and Child in a private collection in Italy, dated to 1534. To these one can add a statue from the Gianfranco Luzzetti collection at Florence, which has been attributed to Campsa’s workshop. Judging from all the above, the statues from St Francis’ might be dated to the 1540s. In the parish church of Holy Trinity at Baška is a wooden triptych which, according to a nineteenth-century record, was inscribed with Campsa’s signature and the year 1514. When Bishop Stefanus David visited the Chapel of St Michael at Baška in 1685, he described in detail this wooden and carved palla on the main altar dedicated to St Michael, noting that the altar is under the patronage of the Papić family who had founded it and made considerable donations to it. The high altar in the Church of St Mary Magdalene at Porat, also on the island of Krk, has a polyptych attributed to Girolamo and Francesco da Santa Croce. Until now, it has been dated to 1556 - the year of the dedication of the altar and the church. However, more frequently than not, a number of years could pass between the furnishing of an altar and its dedication. With this in mind and having re-analyzed the paintings, the polyptych can be dated as early as the previous decade. Until now, the Renaissance statue of St Mary Magdalene (105 x 25 x 13 cm), originally part of an altar predella but today housed in the Monastery’s collection, was not discussed in the scholarly literature save for its iconography. Based on the morphological similarities between the statue of St Mary Magdalene and the three statues at Krk, it can be concluded that they were carved by the same master carver. Written sources inform us that after 1541 Paolo Campsa was no longer alive. Great differences between the works signed by Campsa have already been the subject of scholarly debate and it is known that due to high demand, his workshop included a number of highly skilled wood carvers. In the case of Krk, perhaps the master carver was an employee at Campsa’s workshop who outlived him and who, after its closure, went his own way and was considered good enough to be hired by fellow painters from the Santa Croce workshop. Installing a statue in a predella was a rare occurrence in sixteenth-century Croatia and Venice alike. Even in the case of Campsa. Reliefs were used more frequently. However, this arrangement was customary on contemporary flügelaltaren in the trans-Alpine north. It ought to be considered whether this northern altar design might provide a trail which would lead to a more specific location of a possible master carver.

Thirteen architectural drawings by four architects-Bramante, Baldassare Peruzzi, Giuliano da Sangallo, and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger-all dating from the period between early 1505 to 18 April 1506, all except one in the Gabinetto dei Disegni e Stampe of the Uffizi, and all connected with the earliest proposals for the new St. Peter's, are examined to establish their authorship and date and the exact sequence in which they were executed. Beyond that, the chronological alignment of the drawings enables us to follow the process of visualizing and creating a building of an unprecedented type and an extraordinary scale. The ground plans of several small-scale prototypes-such as the Audience Hall of the Piazza d'Oro at Hadrian's Villa, the Oratorio of Santa Croce (a tiny 2nd- or 5th-century structure that stood near the Lateran Baptistery until the end of the 16th century), and the 9th-century San Satiro in Milan-are combined with elements of larger-scale prototypes such as San Lorenzo in Milan and the cathedrals of Milan, Pavia, and Florence in the search for a plan and elevation that are both spacious and structurally sound, that sum up both Roman architectural achievement and the heightened unities of Renaissance church design. The main concern in most of these drawings is the delineation of the crossing, the baldacchino formed by the great piers and the dome they support, protecting the tomb of St. Peter and the altar of the Early Christian church. Although in nearly every drawing some attention is paid to the outer perimeters of the building and its internal spatial divisions, many of those decisions are left in suspense, particularly the question of whether the building is to be centralized or longitudinal. Bramante's main concern was to establish the scale of the crossing, the size and shape of the piers and their distance from each other. This nucleus, constructed up through the pendentive level during his lifetime, set the scale for everything that was to follow. In the absence of a definitive plan attributable to the Bramante/Peruzzi team, the pier designs of Uff. 529 A verso and of f. 1466 verso of the Rothschild drawing book, and the interior of the crossing as it appears in the perspective drawing Uff. 2 A, are the best evidence of Bramante's permanent contribution. The drawings considered here trace the experiments with shape and scale that led to the establishment of these elements.

Abstract. This paper describes a geophysical investigation conducted into two important churches, namely the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and the Church of Santa Croce, both in Gravina in Puglia (close to Bari, southern Italy). The Church of Santa Croce, now deconsecrated, lies below the cathedral. Therefore, the two churches constitute a unique building body. Moreover, below the Church of Santa Croce there are several crypts, which are only partially known. The prospecting was performed both with a pulsed commercial ground penetrating radar (GPR) system and with a prototypal reconfigurable stepped frequency system. The aim was twofold, namely to gather information about the monument and to test the prototypal system. The GPR measurements have also been integrated with an infrared thermography (IRT) investigation performed on part of the vaulted ceiling in the Church of Santa Croce, in order to confirm or deny a possible interpretation of certain GPR results.

Abstract. In this research paper photogrammetric techniques have been successfully applied to historic black and white analogic photographs to convey previously inaccessible architectural and archaeological information. The chosen case study for this paper is the Franciscan Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. A photogrammetric algorithm has been implemented over a series of b/w negatives portraying the archaeological excavations carried out in the years 1967–1969, after the traumatic flood of the river Arno in 1966 that severely damaged the city centre of Florence and, particularly, the Santa Croce monumental site. The final aim of this operation is to provide solid evidence for the virtual reconstruction of the lost rood screen of the basilica of Santa Croce, the current subject of the PhD research of one of the Authors (Giovanni Pescarmona) at the University of Florence. The foundations that were uncovered during the archaeological excavation in the ‘60s are one of the most important hints towards a convincing retro-planning of the structure. Using advanced photogrammetric techniques, and combining them with LIDAR scanning, it is possible to uncover new datasets that were previously inaccessible for scholars, opening new paths of research. This interdisciplinary approach, combining traditional art-historical research methods and state-of-the-art computational tools, tries to bridge the gap between areas of research that still do not communicate enough with each other, defining new frameworks in the field of Digital Art History.

The reasons behind the unusual internal division of the first phase of the church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme have never been fully explained. This paper proposes an explanation of the phenomenon with the help of a comparison with the Synagogue of Ostia Antica.

Riccoldo of Monte Croce (ca. 1243–1320), Dominican friar, missionary, and pilgrim, was an accomplished author, but nature of his written corpus has been disputed by scholarship. For some, he is a noted anti-Islamic polemicist. For others, he is a quasi-tolerant traveler in the East. Yet past attempts to understand Riccoldo’s corpus have taken little notice of the priory of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, where he spent most of his life. This article begins to rectify this omission and signals new ways to understand Riccoldo by drawing on the work of historians, philologists, and codicologists. It assesses Riccoldo’s relationship to Santa Maria Novella’s library and its books. It also traces some of Riccoldo’s social relationships, demonstrating how his positions as a lecturer and preacher and his social connections with individuals like Remigio de’ Girolami influenced his writings. Overall, this study reemphasizes the fact that without understanding social contexts we can never properly understand the intentions of pilgrim-authors.

On the Feastday of the Nativity of the Virgin, September 8, 1296, the papal legate of Boniface VIII, Pietro Valeriano di Piperno, blessed the rebuilding of the church of S. Reparata in Florence. In the ceremonial presence of the podestà, the Standard-Bearer of Justice, and the priors of the Signoria, he named the new cathedral “Santa Maria del Fiore.” Arnolfo di Cambio was made chief architect in charge of the renewal; and it was he who began a program of monumental sculpture devoted to the life of the Virgin (fig. 1). Giovanni Villani, who recorded the benediction ceremony in his chronicle, admitted that notwithstanding the rededication of the church to the Virgin and the invention of the poetic name “Santa Maria del Fiore,” most Florentines continued to call the cathedral S. Reparata.

In August 1465 Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi, mother of the art patron and builder Filippo Strozzi, arranged for an annual set of masses in the parish church of Santa Maria Ughi. Her purpose, as she said, was to commemorate the souls of “all our dead,” “tutti enostri passati”(sic). In her record of the commission, Alessandra carefully outlined the conditions of the bequest. She noted, for example, the location of the land donation whose proceeds subsidized the masses and the day the ten masses were to be performed, and made alternate arrangements should the priests of Santa Maria Ughi fail to uphold their obligations. Yet within this context of legal specifications and formulae, Alessandra remained curiously vague about one of the program's essential clauses: namely, the precise identity of “all our dead.“

Giotto's fresco cycles of the lives of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist in the Peruzzi Chapel in Santa Croce, Florence, have not enjoyed as much scholarly attention as the vast fresco cycle in the Arena Chapel. Scholars have analyzed the space depicted in the frescoes, the striking monumentality of the figures, and the depiction of architecture oblique to the picture plane; thematic content, however, has received less attention than form and space. In this essay, I will propose some religious and secular iconographic and thematic unities: themes of rebirth, resurrection, andcommunitas, which correlate with fourteenth-century Florentine attitudes toward wealth, historiography, and a belief in the spiritual role of the earthly city. The themes of the frescoes articulate the social and political structures of early fourteenth-century civic life, as Giotto transformed traditional subjects into images of contemporary significance in these frescoes.

This paper analyzes perceptions of the Jews by the Dominican friars in latemedieval Florence and focuses on the encounter between the Christian and Jewish worlds as manifested in Santa Maria Novella church in the oral and visual traditions. The intention is to examine the representations of Jews in a particular context, that of an Italian urban society in the late fourteenth century, especially in the context of mendicant activity, by studying both preaching and art in that context.The article shows the similarities and differences between the visual and the verbal in relation to the different media discussed, and analyzes the complexity of the Dominican perception of the Jews.

The aim of the article is to present the issue of reception of Ugo Foscolo’s works in Poland. A particular attention is paid to the multipart article in Kłosy from 1872 (No. 374–386) devoted to the Italian artist in connection with the transfer of the poet’s remains – many years after his death in England in 1827 – to the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence in 1871. The paper discusses the strategies adopted in the description of elements of the poet’s biography, including a sentimental key related to the figure of Quirina Mocenni Magiotti, an economic key and a moralizing key. Emphasizing the experience of emigration and compulsory uprooting of the Italian poet from the family land places this special periodical return from beyond the grave in a new context determined by the situation in Poland and the resulting condition of artists forced to emigrate. The analysis also involves unique Polish translations of three of the most important Foscol’s sonnets (*** [Solcata ho fronte]; “In morte del fratello Giovanni”; “A Zacinto”) included within the frame of the article in Kłosy.

AbstractHaving been found ‘vehemently suspected of heresy’ by the Holy Office in 1633, at the time of his death (1642) Galileo's remains were laid to rest in the tiny vestry of a lateral chapel of the Santa Croce Basilica, Florence. Throughout his life, Vincenzo Viviani, Galileo's last disciple, struggled to have his master's name rehabilitated and his banned works reprinted, as well as a proper funeral monument erected. He did not live to see all this come true, but his efforts triggered a mechanism that eventually led to the fulfilment of his wishes. A key element of his project was the transformation of the facade of his palace into a private (but publicly rendered) tribute to Galileo, with two long inscriptions celebrating Galileo's achievements and calling Florence's attention to the need to pay a proper tribute to him. Shortly afterwards, he revised the text and circulated it in print. This article presents the first critical edition and annotated translation of Viviani's original manuscript, long thought to be lost, and describes its role in Viviani's lifelong struggle for Galileo's intellectual legacy, as well as its impact on future historiography.

Emilio de Fabris's completion of the west front of Santa Maria del Fiore is the best-known of the architectural interventions carried out during the nineteenth century in the Piazza del Duomo and Piazza di San Giovanni in Florence. But this initiative was preceded by an earlier one that was more radical in character, insofar as it transformed the area around the Campanile and Duomo. A proposal of November 1823 by the architect Gaetano Baccani resulted in the demolition of a large part of the late medieval cathedral canonry and the creation of an extensive new piazza on the south side of Santa Maria del Fiore. This intervention introduced two issues that were to become fundamental to the notion of urban patrimony. On the one hand, it prompted consideration of the relationship between a historic monument and its ambience; on the other, it brought into focus the tension that was likely to exist between conservation and the creation of a modern urban environment. The present study publishes Baccani's formal submission to the Deputazione Secolare sopra l'Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore and draws on other documents preserved in the Archivio dell'Opera to construct a detailed history of the project. The study also introduces other literary and visual materials to establish the nature of Baccani's "systematization" of the Piazza del Duomo. Baccani's project is linked retrospectively to a Napoleonic plan for the modernization of Florence, but it is discussed also as a harbinger of later programs of urban renewal in Florence and in other Italian cities. The paper outlines the history of the canonry compound and places Baccani's reorganization of it in the context of the development of a new relationship between church and state in Florence. The piazza likewise is considered in relation to the transformation of Florence into a modern, orderly city, well-suited to the growing tourist industry. From Baccani's proposal to the Deputazione Secolare it is apparent that he wished it to be believed that his project was in keeping with the intentions of the original architects of the Duomo. The present study considers Baccani's project in this light, while also assessing the extent to which his plans were rooted in his own time. In particular, Baccani's conception of the area around the Duomo is discussed in relation to other urbanistic projects that were planned in Florence, Milan, and Rome during the Napoleonic period. Finally, Baccani's scheme is considered in relation to recent studies of the area around the Duomo by Piero Sanpaolesi, Margaret Haines, and Marvin Trachtenberg. The paper establishes that Baccani's intervention fundamentally changed the manner in which Santa Maria del Fiore and the Campanile could be seen, revealing an "ideal" view of the two buildings in juxtaposition. Baccani's vision is discussed in relation to a widespread nineteenth-century wish to consecrate the individual monument. The study concludes by introducing a number of unfamiliar images of the Campanile and Duomo and proposes that they lent authority to Baccani's concept of a "best" general view of these monuments.

As increasingly recognized by scholars, climate change is posing new challenges in the field of disaster risk management and urban planning. Even though cultural heritage has passed through decades and centuries, it has never experienced such unexpected and variable events as those forecasted by climate change for the foreseeable future, making it a sensitive element of the living environment. By selecting the city of Ravenna and the cultural heritage site of the Santa Croce Church and archaeological area as a case study, the paper aims at providing an insight into the role that urban planning tools have when it comes to improving the resilience of historical areas, coping with climate change through improvements to the disaster risk management of cultural heritage. Starting from a deep analysis of the existing spatial and urban planning tools that operate at different scales on the Ravenna territory, the adaptive capacity of the historical area toward the identified risks was assessed. The results may lead, on the one hand, to improving the integration of cultural heritage risk management into urban planning tools; on the other hand, they contribute to improving the scope and the governance of the heritage management plans in order to cope with climate change risks and their effects.

As the former capital of Dalmatia, Zadar abounded in monuments produced during the 17th and 18th century, especially altars, statues, and paintings. Most of this cultural heritage had been lost by the late 18th and the first decades of the 19th century, when the former Venetian Dalmatia was taken over by Austrian administration, followed by the French and then again by the Austrian one. Many churches were closed down, their furnishings were sold away or lost, and the buildings were either repurposed or demolished. One of them had been home to two hitherto unpublished angels-putti located on the top of the inner side of the arch in the sanctuary of Zadar’s church of Our Lady of Health (Kaštel) at the end of Kalelarga (Fig. 1). Both marble statues were obviously adjusted and then placed next to the marble cartouche with a subsequently added inscription from 1938, which tells of a reconstruction of the church during the time it was administered by the Capuchins. The drapery of the right angel-putto bears the initials I. G., which should be interpreted as the signature of the Venetian sculptor Giuseppe Groppelli (Venice, 1675-1735). This master signed his full name as IOSEPH GROPPELLI on the base of a statue of St Chrysogonus, now preserved in the Permanent Exhibition of Religious Art in Zadar (Fig. 2). Same as the signed statue of St Anastasia by master Antonio Corradini (Fig. 3), it used to form part of the main altar in Zadar’s monumental church of St Donatus, desacralized in 1798. Recently, two more angels have been discovered, inserted in the tympanum of the main altar in the church of Madonna of Loreto in Zadar’s district of Arbanasi, the one to the right likewise bearing the initials I. G. (Fig. 4). Undoubtedly, these two artworks were once part of a single composition: the abovementioned former altar in the church of St Donatus, transferred to the cathedral in 1822 and reconstructed to become the new altar in the chapel of St Anastasia. Giuseppe and his younger brother, Paolo Groppelli, led the family workshop from 1708, producing and signing sculptures together. Therefore, the newly discovered statues produced by Giuseppe are a significant contribution to his personal 174 Damir Tulić: Nepoznati anđeli Giuseppea Groppellija u Zadru... Ars Adriatica 6/2016. (155-174) oeuvre. It is difficult to distinguish between his statues and those by his brother, but it is generally believed that Paolo was a better artist. It is therefore important to compare the two sculptures, as they are believed to have been made independently. Paolo’s statue of Our Lady of the Rosary (1708) was originally located in the former Benedictine church of Santa Croce at Giudecca in Venice, and acquired early in the 19th century for the parish church of Veli Lošinj. If one compares the phisiognomy of the Christ Child by Paolo to that of Giuseppe’s signed sculpture of angel-putto in Zadar, one can observe considerable similarities (Figs. 5 and 6). However, Paolo’s sculptures are somewhat subtler and softer than Giuseppe’s. The workshop of Giuseppe and Paolo Gropelli has also been credited with two large marble angels on the main altar of the parish church in Concadirame near Treviso, as they show great similarity in style to the angels in Ljubljana’s cathedral, made around 1710 (Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10). The oeuvre of Giuseppe and Paolo Gropelli can also be extended to two kneeling marble angels at the altar of the Holy Sacrament in the Venetian church of Santa Maria Formosa, with their marble surface somewhat damaged (Figs. 11 and 12). Coming back to the former main altar in Zadar’s church of St Donatus, it should be emphasized that it was erected following the last will of Archbishop Vettore Priuli (1688-1712), that contains a clearly expressed desire that the altar should be decorated as lavishly as possible. As the construction contract has been lost and the appearance of the altar remains unknown, it can only be supposed what it may have looked like (Fig. 13). It is known that the altar included an older, 13th-century icon of Madonna with the Child, which was later transferred to the Cathedral and is today preserved in the Permanent Exhibition of Religious Art. Scholars have presumed that the altar may had the form of a triumphal arch, with pillars enclosing the pala portante with an older icon and statues placed lateraly. However, it can also be presumed that the executors of the archbishop’s last will, canons Giovanni Grisogono and Giovanni Battista Nicoli, found a model for the lavish altar in Venice, in the former altar of the demolished oratory of Madonna della Pace. That altar had been erected in 1685 and included an older Byzantine icon of Madonna with the Child. It was later relocated to Trieste and its original appearance remains unknown, but can be reconstructed on the basis of its depiction on the medal of Doge Alvise IV Mocenigo (1764), preserved in the parish church of Plomin (Fig. 14). This popular solution undoubtedly served as a model for the main altar in the church of Madonna delle Grazie at Este (Fig. 15), constructed between 1692 and 1697. Today’s appearance of the chapel of St Anastasia does not reveal much about its previous altars (Fig. 16). A recently discovered document at the State Archive of Zadar sheds a new light on the hypothesis that the old main altar was transferred from St Donatus in 1822 and became, with minor revisions, the new altar of St Anastasia, demolished in 1905. According to a contract from 1821, the saint’s altar was designed by Zadar’s engineer and architect Petar Pekota, and built by parish priest Giovanni Degano by using segments from older altars, including that of St Donatus. The painting ordered for the new altar, Martyrdom of St Anastasia by Giuseppe Rambelli from Forli (Fig. 17), is the only surviving part of the 19thcentury altar. The overall reconstruction of the chapel of St Anastasia took place between 1903 and 1906, according to a project of architect Ćiril Metod Iveković, which intended to have the chapel covered in mosaics ordered from Venice. However, during the reconstruction works, remnants of 13th-century frescos were discovered in the apse and the project had to be altered. The altar from 1822 was nevertheless demolished and a new marble mensa was built, with a new urn for the saint’s relics, made in the Viennese workshop of Nicholas Mund, as attested by receipts from 1906 (Fig. 18). A hundred years after the intervention, another one took place, in which the marble altar was disassembled and replaced by a new one, made of glass and steel, yet bearing the old marble urn of Bishop Donatus.

The reception of art is often described in ocularcentric terms, but all five senses could engage devotional objects in late medieval and early modern Europe. This article explores this phenomenon by considering a wooden crucifix with movable arms made by Donatello for the Franciscan church of S. Croce in Florence in the early fifteenth century. It makes new suggestions about the work's original location, its possible patrons, and its functions and reception, especially during the rituals associated with Good Friday. It also reflects on the challenges scholars face when taking a multisensory approach to premodern visual and material culture.

Every continent has its unique beauty, and Europe isn’t an exception. Here you will find a variety of tourist destinations ranging from beaches, beautiful sceneries, cultural and art centers among others. It’s no wonder Europe has always been voted among the best continents to visit. So, if you are planning for a romantic getaway, cultural tour, family vacation, or a getaway with your friends, this content has something to offer and more in what you are looking for. However, with 51 countries and thousands of destinations to discover, narrowing down on a single destination can be overwhelming. We are here to make your decision easier with the following 5 places that will guarantee you a getaway of your lifetime. Tuscany, Italy There is no better way to tour Tuscany than taking a road trip. Plan to land in Florence and start your tour there as it is home to the largest airport. While there, you can visit the Uffizi Gallery and savor the art in the display or enjoy a beautiful view of the city from up the hill at Piazzale Michelangelo. After enjoying the city, start your journey to the countryside stopping at stunning sceneries to enjoy the sites. You can make your first stop in Lucca. Enjoy the breathtaking Piazza d’Anfiteatro and take a stroll along the tops of the city’s fortifying walls. After that, make other stops at Pisa, San Gimignano, Siena, Val d’Orcia, and Montepulciano to enjoy all that these spots have to offer; beautiful sceneries, food and get to taste the local wine before heading back to Florence. While you can move around using public transport, renting a car and driving yourself around offers a more convenient option. To do this, however, you would need to possess an international driver's license, a document that allows you to drive in a foreign city. Make sure you obtain one before leaving for your trip. Madeira, Portugal If you love nature, Madeira in Portugal is one of the best destinations for this. This place is full of flowers, trees, beaches, and unique landscapes that are home to birds and other incredible wildlife. If you are in for some amazing scenery, head to the Valley of the Nuns also known as Camara De Lobos, or to Miradouro das Flores viewpoint to enjoy the cliffs around. The geological formation of Pico de Ana Ferreira will not disappoint either. If you haven’t experienced black sandy beaches, Madeira Island has this to offer. You can head to Praia do Porto do Seixal to savor this and enjoy a swim or to the sea to search for dolphins. Of course, a nature trip wouldn’t be complete without a hike to a nature trail; head to Ribeiro Frio Natural park for some rugged mountains and forest experience. San Sebastian, Spain If you are looking for the best beach experience, this gem along the northern coastline of the Basque Country is your best bet. The famous La Concha Beach offers the best atmosphere to chill out or take a walk. You can also go surfing off Zurriola Beach or take a ferry to Santa Clara Island. Apart from the beaches, San Sebastian is surrounded by green hills and numerous historical and cultural attractions. You can dive into this after you are done enjoying the beach. A visit to the San Vicente Church, the oldest in San Sebastian, a tour around the cobbled streets of the Old Town, or a funicular ride up the top of Monte Igueldo will leave you mesmerized. Paris, France Paris is one of the most romantic cities in the world. If you have been looking for the best destination for your honeymoon, proposal, anniversary or your spouse’s birthday weekend, the City of Love is perfect for a romantic getaway. Sip a glass of champagne from the top of the famous Eiffel Tower overlooking the beautiful views of the city and wait for the dark to see the tower sparkle with numerous gold lights. You can also take a stroll or cycle around the city and linger at romantic spots such as the iron footbridge at the intersection of rue de la Grange aux Belles and Quai de Jemmapes to see the road bridge open to let canal boats through. Explore the city’s art galleries to savor romantic works or go boat riding in Bois de Boulogne and afterward head to Jardin Shakespeare through the woods to see flowers, plants, and trees in Shakespeare plays grow. Rotterdam, Netherlands With diverse cultures, Rotterdam is one of the best destinations for a cultural tour. Start your tour at The Markthal, a huge, horseshoe-shaped building that houses a gigantic food court. You will enjoy different local cuisines as you marvel at some of the largest artworks the planet has to offer. You can then take a stroll through Witte de Withestraat to enjoy contemporary art in galleries located along the street. Head to WORM to enjoy some concerts of the local music or to Kinderdijk, a UNESCO heritage site to witness 300 years old windmills that pump water from swamps. Complete the cultural experience by renting a suite in one of the city’s iconic buildings such as Hotel New York and enjoy beautiful views from there. Conclusion There you have it! Five European destinations that are bound to blow your mind away. You can determine the best time to visit the continent by considering the weather, your budget, and your personal preferences. If you want the best weather for hikes and adventurous activities, the summer that runs from June to August is the best time to visit. However, be prepared to pay more and deal with crowds. The rest of the months can be cheaper since they are off-peak seasons, but you might have to endure unfavorable weather.