Church of San Giuliano

---

Church of San Giuliano
Via Faenza
Florence, January 2025

“The church of San Giuliano is a Catholic place of worship located in Via Faenza in the historic center of Florence. The church belonged to the female monastery of San Giuliano, founded in the 14th century by Bartolo Benvenuti, and was also known as the ‘Monache di Montaione’ monastery. At the beginning of the 16th century the monastery was inhabited by Dominican nuns dependent on Santa Maria Novella who in 1514 left with the permission of Pope Leo X to place themselves under the dependence of the Archbishop of Florence. In those years the monastery, in particular its church, was embellished with notable works of art: on the high altar there was an altarpiece by Mariotto Albertinelli with the Madonna and Child with Saints Giuliano, Domenico, Nicola and Girolamo and on the one on the right another by the same Albertinelli with the Trinity, both dating back to around 1510 and today in the Galleria dell'Accademia.” (Chiesa di San Giuliano, Wikipedia)

La Clerecía

---

La Clerecía
Calle de la Compañía
Salamanca, September 2025

“La Clerecía is the name given to the building of the former ‘Real Colegio del Espíritu Santo’ (or Santo Espíritu) of the Society of Jesus, built in Salamanca between the 17th and 18th centuries. It is of baroque style. It differs the college, with an interesting cloister, and the church, with an impressive facade of three bodies. The name of Clerecía is due to an abbreviated denomination of its belonging to the Real Clerecía de San Marcos after the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain. Construction began in 1617 under the protection of Margaret of Austria, wife of Philip III, apparently as an act of reparation to the order for the imprisonment suffered by its founder, Ignatius of Loyola, by the Inquisition in the Mocha tower of the old cathedral of Salamanca. It was completed in 1754. The general floor plan of the building is the work of Juan Gómez de Mora. After the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain, decreed by Charles III by means of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1767, the building was given to the Royal Clergy of San Marcos, with headquarters in the Church of San Marcos. The latter subsequently ceded the building (except for the church) to the Diocese of Salamanca, which installed the Seminary of San Carlos in it. In 1940, the Pontifical University of Salamanca was created and instituted by Pope Pius XII, and the Diocese gave it the building as its headquarters. Although this delivery did not include the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Pontifical University suppressed its worship since September 2012 to be exploited for tourism. Only weddings of alumni and people linked to the Pontifical University are allowed.” (La Clerecía, Wikipedia)

Santa Anastasia

---

Basilica of Santa Anastasia
Piazza Santa Anastasia
Verona, May 2025

“The church of San Pietro da Verona in Santa Anastasia, better known as the basilica of Santa Anastasia, is an important Catholic place of worship that stands in the heart of the historic center of Verona; it is located at the end of the decumanus maximus of the city in Roman times, near the point where the wide meander of the Adige river is crossed by the Ponte Pietra, where the two main traffic routes of the city, road and river, gravitate. It is the largest, most solemn and representative church in Verona, a reflection of a lively moment in the city's life, when the expansion and consolidation of political and economic institutions allowed the community, in synergy with the Scaliger rule, the Dominican clergy and the Castelbarco family, to make a considerable financial effort to build this important temple, a symbol of their power.” (Santa Anastasia, Wikipedia)

Ermita del Humilladero

---

Ermita del Humilladero
Calle Humilladero
Ávila, September 2025

“The Ermita del Humilladero (Humilladero hermitage) is a Catholic temple in the Spanish city of Ávila , whose construction dates back to the 16th century. Located in the city of Ávila, it is also called the ‘humilladero de la Vera Cruz’. It is a hermitage made of Berroqueña ashlar stone whose construction was halted between 1552 and 1594, according to Juan Martín Carramolino. After leveling the road that led from the city to Madrid, the main façade (the south one) was buried up to half of the door. It is located a few meters from the Basilica of San Vicente.” (Ermita del Humilladero, Wikipedia)

Ponte San Michele

---

Ponte San Michele
Via Ponte San Michele
Vicenza, May 2025

“The bridge, exclusively for pedestrians, crosses the Retrone River in the south-eastern part of the city. In this ‘alla veneziana’ form with a single arch, it was built in 1621-23, the third reconstruction of a structure originally made of wood (1265) and then of stone (1422). It owes its name to its proximity to the Augustinian church of San Michele, built in the 13th century by the Augustinians, but destroyed in the Napoleonic era; today only part of the convent remains.” (Ponte San Michele, Arte.it)

El Cenachero

---

“El Cenachero” by Jaime Fernández Pimentel, 1968
Plaza de la Marina
Málaga, March 2025

“This bronze sculpture created by Málaga artist Jaime Fernández Pimentel in 1968 represents a typical and traditional figure of Málaga, the ‘Cenachero’ or Fish Vendor. El Cenachero sold fish on the streets of the city while maintaining the balance of the two esparto baskets he carried. These basket are called ‘cenachos’ in Spanish, hence his name. The cenachos were handmade of esparto and filled at the beaches where the central fishing net was landed. Generally, Cenacheros sold anchovies, but also traded in mackerel, sardines or whitebait. The sculpture shows how a traditional cenachero dressed: with a sash, the hanging cenachos and a hat to protect him from the heat. In honour of the twinning of the cities of Málaga and Mobile, Alabama, Málaga City Council donated a replica of this sculpture to Mobile, which has been erected in a square of this American city.” (El Cenachero, Ayuntamiento de Málaga)

Palazzo del Bo

---

Palazzo del Bo (Bo Palace)
Via VIII Febbraio
Padua, May 2025

“The Bo Palace (Palazzo del Bo) is the historical seat of University of Padua since 1493. It is still home to the Rectorate and the School of Law. It is also home to the oldest anatomical theatre in the world. The University of Padua was founded by an exodus of professors and students from the University of Bologna in 1222. When the University settled in the current location of the Bo, a long time had passed since its foundation and, by then, all its structures had profoundly changed from the initial ones. It was now made illustrious by the value of its students and teachers, furthermore it could materially be considered one of the major European universities, and the most attended by foreign students among the universities of the Italian peninsula. Like many other complexes that have had a long historical life, that of the Bo also presents itself with a rather complex genesis and with events that, over the centuries, have contributed to modifying its physiognomy. Therefore, a historical analysis of the various components of the Palace, starting from the defined sixteenth-century nucleus, and then arriving at the imposing additions that occurred during the twenty years of fascism, implies an understanding of the events that have marked the life of the city and the university over the centuries.” (Palazzo del Bo, Wikipedia)