Jack Ahearn clearly teaches cooler classes than me. One of his is Landscape Architecture Study Tour which had includes student reports on Florence's Boboli Gardens. Worth a look. I also found this blog post on Boboli with nicely chosen photos, something different than the usual tourist photos. And this set of Boboli Gardens photos include the infamous dwarf and turtle.

Is the High Line New York's Vasali Corridor?

Places and Spaces has written plenty about New York City's newest tourist landmark, the High Line. But a recent trip to the City got me thinking even more about how the new passageway above the city simply recalled another, much older elevated corridor.

In Florence, there is an elevated passageway hidden in plain sight called the Vasali Corridor. Not having been there, I have to experience it vicariously through other people's photos of the art-lined corridor.

Designed by its namesake, Giorgio Vasari, the corridor created a private passageway connecting many of Florence's landmarks: Palazzo Pitti, the Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, and Palazzo Vecchio. This map of the Vasali Corridor shows that it really covers some ground.

Once you know it is there, you can see it plain as day in the picture on your pizza box.

Another great map room

One of the best parts of traveling abroad is discovering the secrets of the past in places like the old map rooms. The first one I really remember being impressed by was at the Vatican Musuem, where the Papacy used maps as a means for displaying the lands over which they had influence, hundreds of years ago.

High on my list of rooms left to visit is the Giorgio Vasali's Hall of Geographical Maps in Florence with the Mappa Mundi at its center. Looking at some of the photos online you can see that he elegantly connected astronomy and geography in a space that both impresses and is simply beautiful.

So, go online and dig around some. This is worth checking out.

It isn't too late for Italy!

Experience the cultural landscapes unique to Italy as you take in the sights, sounds
and tastes of Piedmont and Tuscany with Ari Novy

http://studyabroad.rutgers.edu/program_italy_landscapearch.html

Deadline is April 15

StreetView City Tours - Rome

The Pantheon
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Piazza Navona
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Another great public space is Piazza de Popolo

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The Tiber

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Vatican
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Trevi Fountain

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Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana

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Tivoli

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Cools Class: Gardens and Landscapes of Italy

Study Abroad

Gardens and Landscapes of Italy
3 Credits
May, 2009


Informational meeting on
Wednesday, December 10
4:30 PM
Blake Room 152