Welcome to Italy! I'm so excited to be visiting this wonderful country. I must say, however, that we are most certainly not the only ones visiting; Italy is the fifth most visited country in the entire world. Italy is a beautiful country rife with art and culture. It is located in southern Europe, and is the fifth most populated country in that continent with over 60,800,000 people residing there. Italy's official language is Italian and it's capital city is Rome, which is the city we will be vising first.
One of the places we must visit while in Rome, Italy is the Colosseum. The Colosseum, which was originally called the Flavian Amphitheatre, was constructed from 72 AD to 80AD. It was the largest of the Amphitheatres built by the Roman Empire. The Colosseum is located in the center of Rome, and was an important part of the culture of the Roman Empire. It was mainly used for public spectacles and is most famous for the gladiator contests that occurred there. Today, the Colosseum is an extremely popular tourist attraction. We, like many tourists, will pay to see this beautiful masterpiece. Many concerts and other public events also occur in or, more commonly, right outside of the Colosseum. Finally, many Roman Catholic ceremonies occur at the Colosseum.
Another beautiful piece of Roman history is the Pantheon. This structure was originally built by the Ancient Romans at a temple to all of the gods of Ancient Rome. In 126 AD, it was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian. Today, the structure as now also used by the Roman Catholic Church. King Vittorio Emanuele II, King Umberto I, and Queen Marheerita (Umberto I's wife) are buried at the Pantheon. The Roman Catholic Church also uses this site for religious ceremonies such as masses, weddings, and services on important Catholic days.
The final place we'll visit in Rome is the Vatican Museums which are located in Vatican City. These museums were built and are maintained by the Roman Catholic Church. They contain a large collection of art that has been put together by the church:
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| The Pinacoteca Vaticana Contains a large number of paintings. |
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| The Collection of Modern Religious Art has numerous sculptures and paintings with religious value. |
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There are several sculpture museums in the Vatican Museums as well. One of these is the Museo Pio-Clementino. There are 54 galleries in the this museums. After visitors go through the first 53 of them, the final one they get to enter is the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo.
The other sculpture museums include Museo Chiaramonti, Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, and Museo Gregoriano Egiziano. These museums contain numerous sculptures, sarcophaguses, stone tablets, vases, bronzes, and papyrus along with many other important historical and art objects.
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Rome is a beautiful city in Italy filled with ruins detailing history, art and religion. It's an incredible place to learn about Ancient Roman history, the Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church. While we have only touched on the many beautiful places to visit in the ancient city, we will have to move on so we can see more of this country. I hope you enjoyed the time we did have here!
The Duomo di Milan is located in the Piazza del Duomo or Cathedral Square. This is the main city squre in Milan. The squre was created in 1859 as construction of the cathedral was finally coming to an end. Along with the Duodmo di Milan, other structures that surround this square include the arcade of the Palazzo Settentrionale, Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II, and the Palazzo Meridionale. Also in the square is the statue of Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of Italy. 
The last place I'd like to visit in Milan is the Sforza Caslte. The original construction of the site occured in the 14th century. It was used by a number of people in Milan, and was influenced at different periods by the French and Spanish. In the 19th century, after the unification of Italy, the caslte was used by the military. During World War II, the castle was heavily damaged. When the war was finished, the castle was reconstruced with the purpose of making it a museum. Today, the castle is an art museum with the Civic Collections of Ancient Art. 
