Meraviglie. La penisola dei tesori (2018)

Alberto Angela on a new journey, to discover the Italian "Meraviglie", the first episode starts from the Flegrean islands. After Procida, capital of culture for 2022, the next stops will be the Aragonese castle of Ischia and the incredible Piscina Mirabilis. The journey continues in the city of Lucca. From the hanging garden of the Guinigi Tower, to the Cathedral, to the ancient amphitheater up to the walls which have remained intact. Finally we will be in the north, in the Aosta Valley: the Gran Paradiso with its pristine peaks, the Fenis Castle with its fairy-tale atmosphere and the Roman bridge of Ael, a living image of a glorious past

In this episode the journey to discover the beauties of Italy starts from the north of the country and more precisely from the islands of Lake Maggiore, on the border between Piedmont and Lombardy. We start from Isola Bella, the most sumptuous of the Borromean Islands, where the work of nature and the genius of man have come together to create one of the most spectacular gardens in the world and where we will admire the palace of the Borromeo family. We then move on to the Rocca di Angera, an ancient medieval fortress that belonged to the Visconti family and the Hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso, which for more than eight centuries has offered silence and serenity to those who dedicate their lives to prayer. The story continues to discover one of the oldest cities in Italy, Orvieto, to end in Syracuse.

In this new appointment we will start from the magnificent Villa Reale in Monza. We will discover the history of the grandiose residence commissioned by the Empress of Austria Maria Teresa for her son Ferdinand, governor general of Lombardy. From the Lombard treasures we will then move to Tivoli, a name that since the 16th century has been synonymous with wonder due to the presence of two jewels declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO: Villa Adriana and Villa d'Este. The Meraviglie cameras will then move to Palermo. City with a thousand faces, a crossroads of different cultures yet so integrated with each other. We will visit the Zisa castle known as La splendid, and then the splendid Cathedral of Monreale, both commissioned by William II.

We will leave Padua from one of the city's symbolic places: Palazzo della Ragione, a jewel of medieval art and architecture. We will then visit the Basilica of Sant'Antonio, with its unmistakable Byzantine style domes, and here, in the "Basilica of the Saint" as the people of Padua call it, we will admire absolute masterpieces of art, such as the seven bronze statues by Donatello which they decorate the large central altar. The Scrovegni Chapel, frescoed by Giotto and recently included in the list of world heritage sites, is unmissable.