A mirror makes two stalls out of one in the Vucciria, Palermo's partly covered marketplace, where locals gather to shop and exchange the latest news. Palermo is hardworking, despite its distractions: 'We wake up in the morning,' says a businessman fondly, 'it's warm, and we can see the ocean and smell the flowers.'
—From "Italy Apart—Sicily," August 1995, National Geographic magazine
Trapped in the myth of her beauty, Venice beguiles and remains elusive. See why this city has held such sway over artists and romantics for centuries in this gallery.
Welcome to Rome! Once the heart of an empire that spread across all of Europe, the legacy of this ancient city lives on in spectacular ruins and enduring works of art.
Suspended between heaven and earth, Toledo—Spain's spiritual heart—still retains the same classic charm that lured the famous painter El Greco to the area in the 1570s.
Like one of Cézzane's impressionist paintings stirred to life by summer winds, Provence is a place where even the simplest of landscapes can turn suddenly sublime.
