Giardini Salvi

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Giardini Salvi
Corso SS. Felice e Fortunato
Vicenza, May 2025

“The Salvi gardens (or Salvi garden, also called Valmarana Salvi gardens) are a public garden located in the historic centre of Vicenza, adjacent to the walls of Piazza Castello, in Piazzale De Gasperi. Inaugurated in 1592 by Leonardo Valmarana, the gardens were soon closed and reopened to the public only in 1909. They are, among the green areas for public use in the city, one of the least extensive; they host statues and two loggias in Palladian style.” (Giardini Salvi, Wikipedia)

Gänsediebbrunnen

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Gänsediebbrunnen (Goose Thief Fountain) by Robert Diez, 1878
Weißen Gasse
Dresden, September 2024

“The Goose Thief Fountain is a fountain in the Weiße Gasse in the inner old town of Dresden. It consists of a bronze figure on a stone base in a water basin. The bronze figure was created as a statue by Robert Diez in 1878. The architects Paul Weidner and Giese collaborated on the design of the fountain parts, which are made of Lusatian granite . The bronze casting is the work of the Dresden foundry C. Albert Bierling . It depicts a young man stealing two geese. This sculpture shows Thomas Platter (1499–1582), later a printer and rector of the Latin school in Basel, stealing two geese. In 1512, while on his travels as a traveling student, Platter visited the Kreuzschule in Dresden. He stole two geese for his farewell dinner with the schoolmaster. On the base above a collecting basin supported by four pillars are two more geese and two florally decorated volutes.” (Gänsediebbrunnen, Wikipedia)

Great Italian Synagogue

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Great Italian Synagogue
Via San Martino e Solferino
Padua, May 2025

“The Padua Synagogue, also called the Great Italian Synagogue in Padua (Sinagoga di Padova di rito italiano), is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located at San Martino e Solferino 9, in Padua, Veneto, Italy. Completed in 1548, it is the only synagogue still in use of the several that flourished in the university town of Padua from the Renaissance through World War II. The Italian Synagogue was built in 1548. The synagogue underwent renovation and/or restoration in 1581, 1631, 1830, and 1865. It was closed in 1892 when the community built a modern synagogue, but reopened after the war because in 1943 fascists burned the modern synagogue. The synagogue is located at 9 Via San Martino and Solferino in the historic ghetto. It is in the same building as the offices of the Jewish community of Padua. Students visiting the university are welcome to pray with the congregation. Visitors can see the synagogue by contacting the Jewish community.” (Padua Synagogue, Wikipedia)

Kašna Terezka

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Kašna Terezka (Teresa Fountain) by Václav Prachner, 1812
Mariánské náměstí, Staré Město
Prague, September 2024

“The Fountain with the Allegorical Statue of the Vltava River, also called the Teresa Fountain, is a fountain with a statue of a young girl by sculptor Václav Prachner, designed by Josef Bergler. Since 1812, it has been located on the south side of Mariánské náměstí in the wall of the Clam-Gallas Palace in the Old Town of Prague. The Church of Our Lady of the Pond stood on its site until 1791. The seated girl holds two jugs. Water flows from the vessel in her right hand into a fountain, while in her left hand is a larger vessel with a stream of water, allegorically symbolizing the Vltava River with five stars reminiscent of the legend of the Czech saint John of Nepomuk, who was thrown from the Charles Bridge into the river. The people of Prague became very fond of this fountain and began to call the statue ‘Terezka’, perhaps after the pretty girl who supposedly once came here to fetch water. The fountain was very popular and was damaged and subsequently repaired several times. Since 1953, when it was last reconstructed, a sandstone copy of it has been placed here, the original being kept in the depository of the National Gallery. Several Prague stories and legends are also associated with the fountain.” (Fountain with an allegorical statue of the Vltava River, Wikipedia)

Saturday afternoon

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Saturday afternoon
Piazza del Duomo
Florence, December 2024

Church of San Domenico

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Church of San Domenico
Corso Italia
Pisa, November 2024

“San Domenico is a Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church in Pisa, Italy. It was erected in 1385, under the guidance of Pietro Gambacorti, adjacent to a Dominican Convent. Pietro's daughter, the beatified Chiara Gambacorti, resided in that convent. In 1724 through 1732, the interior was decorated in the ornate late-Baroque style. The church and the adjacent convent were extensively damaged during World War II. It is today in use by the Order of the Knights of Malta. The interior is decorated by medieval frescoes and canvases by Giovanni Battista Tempesti depicting the ‘Life of the beatified Chiara’ (1782).” (San Domenico, Wikipedia)

Great Saint Martin Church

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Great Saint Martin Church
An Groß St. Martin
Cologne, September 2024

“The Great Saint Martin Church (Groß Sankt Martin, mostly shortened to Groß St. Martin) is a Romanesque Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. Its foundations (c.960 AD) rest on remnants of a Roman chapel, built on what was then an island in the Rhine. The church was later transformed into a Benedictine monastery. The current buildings, including a soaring crossing tower that is a landmark of Cologne's Old Town, were erected between 1150-1250. The architecture of its eastern end forms a triconch or trefoil plan, consisting of three apses around the crossing, similar to that at St. Maria im Kapitol. The church was badly damaged in World War II; restoration work was completed in 1985.” (Great St. Martin Church, Wikipedia)