Tag Archives: ideal city
Palmanova: a Renaissance ideal city should have a public bathroom
I love love love love love an ideal city so—duh!—I went to Palmanovo while I was in northeast Italy. The best way to understand the layout of Palmanova would be from above. Here’s the next best way: a map. Why this shape? Apparently, back in 1593, folks in this area were pretty concerned about invasion […]
Teatro all’Antica, Sabbioneta: ideal city as theater
Vespasiano I Gonzaga had a lot going on for him; he was a duke, he had an awesome name, and if this statue of him is realistic, he was a total hottie. But was he satisfied? Nuh uh—Duke Hottie Gonzaga wanted his very own ideal city, so in the mid 1500’s he commissioned Sabbioneta. Sabbioneta […]
Nowa Huta: Krakow’s cuddly ideal city
I went to Nowa Huta to gawk at a dreary communist dystopia and found myself in a Renaissance ideal city. Oh man, I just love when this happens, the travel surprise. In fact, not including that time we traveled to Ghent and accidentally encountered a blackface Christmas celebration have I ever had my expectations so […]
Urbino: Ideal Renaissance city drowned in a sea of drunken students
How could I help it? I idealized Urbino. Even though I’ve long maintained a vigilant stance against romanticizing people and places alike, this was Urbino: Renaissance mecca for humanists, scholars, art and architecture. The location, in the isolated and mountainous region of Italy’s Marche, combined with being a university town filled me with visions of […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 