I saw this on FamilySearch – 5 Best Places in Italy to Explore Your Heritage: https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/5-best-places-in-italy-explore-heritage/. I cut down the article to keep it around 500 words, but more information in link above.
Italy is a country rich in history and culture. If you travel just about anywhere in Italy, you will experience its heritage, whether by exploring ancient ruins, savoring regional dishes, or gazing in awe at a breathtaking cathedral. Here are five of the best places to visit in Italy to celebrate and discover the country’s heritage.
Centro Storico (Historic City Center), Rome
More than 2,000 years of history are layered in the historical heart of the city of Rome. Centro Storico (“Old Town”) is not a single destination, but a collection of neighborhoods that are best explored at a leisurely pace, making it one of the best places to visit in Italy.
Wander the cobblestone streets, and feast your eyes on beautiful churches, monuments, and gardens. Stop at panetterias (bakeries) and trattorias (restaurants) along the way to enjoy Italy’s delicious food.
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Old Rome is home to some of the world’s most famous ancient ruins as well as masterpieces of Italian architecture, sculpture, and art. Below are some of the major historic sites you will want to explore in Centro Storico:
- Vatican City
- Colosseum and the Pantheon
- Capitoline Hill and Palatine Hill
- Piazza Navona and Piazza Campo de’Fiori
- The Old Jewish Ghetto
- Trevi Fountain
La Città Alta, Bergamo
Città Alta (“High City”) is also an old city center and sits high on a hill in Bergamo, Italy. Powerful Venetian walls built in the 1500s surround this historic destination and remind visitors that it was once a heavily-fortified city. Main thoroughfares laid out by early Roman city planners still follow their original paths, and a medieval tower still stands at the main city crossroads.
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Villaggio Crespi d’Adda, Capriate San Gervasio
One of the best places in Italy to visit is the Crespi Workers’ Village, which tells the story of a factory town and an important chapter in both European and United States history. During 19th-century industrialization, most factory workers lived in poverty and squalor. Some factory owners built model towns so their employees could enjoy a more prosperous way of life. As part of this small but important movement, the Crespi family built Crespi d’Adda in the 1800s and early 1900s.
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Val di Noto, Sicily
An important story in Sicily’s history is preserved—literally—in stone. In 1693, a massive earthquake destroyed many of the towns in the Val di Noto region. The inhabitants rebuilt their towns, many of them with a new eye to city planning and architectural greatness.
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Museo Diffuso della Resistenza, Turin
Immerse yourself in more recent Italian history in Turin at the acclaimed Museo Diffuso della Resistenza (its full name translates as “Widespread Museum of Resistance, Deportation, War, Rights, and Freedom”). Housed in the city’s old military quarter, the museum’s exhibits feature multimedia interviews with Turin residents about World War II.
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Ups Downs Family History 