Casablanca is the largest city in the Maghreb, the first port and a symbol of modern Morocco, which has been able to blend tradition and progress. An example is the huge Hassan II Mosque (the prayer hall has 25 thousand faithful, the esplanade 80 000), with its tall minaret (200 meters), built on the shores of combining traditional forms sophisticated technology (the is openable roof).
The whole town follows a precise development plan: start from the center, like spokes, wide avenues lined with a carousel of domes, belvedere, columns, balconies, cedar wood, skylights (houses elegant blend the Art Deco and Art Neo -Moorish).
The traditional souq are concentrated in the district of Habbous, Where lovely shaded squares and narrow streets lined with arcades host bazaar full of merchandise of all kinds.
What to visit
The Hassan II Mosque, Place Mohamed V, the Central Market, the harbor, the district Habbous, the Parc de la Ligue Arabe, by Prince Moulay Abdallh.
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and capital of the canton of Zurich.
E 'divided in two by the River Limmat Niederdorf on the east shore, full of shops and cafes, is also home to the university and the twin towers of the Grossmunster, which in the sixteenth century Ulrich Zwingli Zurich made the center of the Protestant Reformation.
On the other hand, on the west bank, the old part of the city, which revolves around the Lindenhof area, home to fashion shops and offices. In the area there are also beautiful spiers of St. Peters Church and the church Fraumunster by Marc Chagall.
Warsaw today is a city reborn in morals, thanks to the end of the dreary socialist realism. Despite the appearance a little 'severe, is a young city that wants to live, but do not want to lose her memories. E ', in short, a true reflection of the new Poland.
The original is Stare Miasto, built towards the end of the thirteenth century around the first castle of the Dukes of Masovia. Razed to the ground by the Germans in 1944, a meticulous reconstruction has lovingly reconstructed the old forms in the Castle Square (Plac Zamkowy) and the rectangular Market Square (Rynek), now surrounded by colorful houses that are home to restaurants, bookstores, bakeries, museums, coffee, busy especially during the summer from vendors, painters and tourists.
The city tour can not neglect the Citadel, a fortress prison erected by Tsar Nicholas in 1832, the district Muranow, with the monument to the heroes of the ghetto (the Jews exterminated in Warsaw were 350 000) and the actual route, the Castle to Lazienki park, palaces, churches and monuments.
What to visit
The Royal Castle (Zamek Krolewski), the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Ulica Dluga (the long way) of neoclassical appearance, the Cytadela Zoliborz on the hill, the Palac Zamoyskich (the blue building), the Museum Kolkcij Jana Pawia II, the paintings donated by Pope John Paul II.
Vancouver, the largest city of the state of British Columbia, is the most important port not only in Canada, but for the entire West Coast of North America.
The ideal place to begin a visit to Stanley Park and the road around it, from which you have a wonderful view of the harbor, hundreds of private boats, dozens of cruise ships and a multitude of cargo left for the world, loads of lumber, wheat, coal and sulfur.
Vancouver is also a city of theaters and culture. Interesting are also the suburbs, each its own characteristics: Chinatown is the largest in America after that of San Francisco, Gastown, once area deprivation today atmospheres reminiscent Greewich Village in New York.
What to visit
The Museum of Anthropology (collections of Indian wood carvings, including ancient totem).
The Queen Elizabeth Theatre and Playhouse.
Robsonstrasse once inhabited by German immigrants, today the shopping street.
Tenerife is the largest of the seven islands that make up the archipelago of the Canary Islands, situated in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast.
L 'island, an area of 3,208 km square, offers an impressive volcanic landscape (rock formations are incredible shapes and colors), as well as an enviable number of plant and animal species.
Like the rest of the Canary Islands, in fact, Tenerife is volcanic in origin and still has many active volcanoes, including the Pico del Teide, which is the island's highest point (3,718 m) and also the highest point of the Spain.
In Tenerife in a single day can make a world: green, flowers and banana plantations in the north, rugged coastline hot and dry in the south.
What to visit
The two main tourist centers are:
Puerto de la Cruz in the north. Here you will find small black sand beaches and small coves obtained from wild beaches on the coast. Life on the beach takes place mostly around the pools of the various resorts. Puerto de la Cruz offers a relaxing environment, and a beautiful panoramic view.
Playa de Las Americas, in the south, which has arisen in recent years and developed disproportionately quickly with modern hotels, accommodation complexes with each type of service, shopping centers, pubs and clubs. Playa de Las Americas is located about 20 km from Tenerife South has a drier climate than Puerto. Here are lava sand beaches equipped for water sports.
The capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife is famous for its Carnival celebrations, parades of floats, samba schools and music invading the streets and squares. Santa Cruz holds an important artistic heritage miss the church of Nuestra Señora.
You should also visit La Laguna Puerto de la Cruz, La Ortova (monumental city, in the middle of a natural site rich in forests, characterized by abundant exotic vegetation, has many houses with typical Canarian balconies), the volcanic peak of Mount Teide (3717 meters) and, at his feet, the Teide National Park.
Worthy of note is the nearby island of "La Gomera" UNESCO World Heritage Site for its pristine natural beauty.
Stockholm is a city literally floating on water: to realize just climb the tower of television Kaknäs and observe the deep blue sea which stand out against the red silhouettes of the old buildings and the green of the trees.
A separate fresh water from the salt water are the island of Gamla Stan (the old town, perfect reproduction of a medieval village) and at the southern end, large closed the Slussen.
Today the city covers thirteen islands connected by bridges and tunnels, between Lake Mälaren and the Saltsjön (cove that opens onto the Baltic Sea), and has 700 000 inhabitants.
The skyline is dominated by the Stockholm Stadshuset (City Hall), a red-brick building from whose central body stands a massive square tower which seems to watch the bridges and islands of this quiet and airy, the undeniable charm.
What to visit
The Gamla Stan (the old town), Tyska Kyrkan, the Stortorget, the Stadhuset, the Great Cathedral (the Cathedral).
The Bollhustäppan (Garden of the Court of Dance), the Palace or the Royal Castle (with inside the Crown Jewels, the Hall of Writing Oscar II, the 'Royal Armoury), the island of Riddarholmen, the Riddarhuset (House of Nobili), the Riksdag (parliament).
The Medieval Museum, the Museum, the Katerinahissen, the island of Djurgården, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum, Skansen, the National Maritime Museum, the Tunnelbanen, the Sergelstorget, the Blà Tornet (where the Blue Tower Strindberg lived).
Everything works like clockwork, the streets are clean, orderly traffic, police inflexible with those dirty or makes noise. It is not Switzerland, Singapore, an island city-state in South-East Asia (in fact a main island and 55 smaller) and one of the economic tigers of Asia.
E 'connected in the north to the Malay Peninsula by a bridge; goes south, with smaller islands, towards Malacca.
It 'a real ethnic mix: Chinese, Malaysian, Indian, and then Armenians, Arabs, Indonesians and Europeans.
The port is the second in the world after Rotterdam, the financial market represents 24 percent of the country. The skyscrapers of glass block stand out the names of all the major multinationals.
But tourism is a respectable item in the budget of the country.
Old Times is the oldest part, built by the founder of Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles, who bought the land in 1819 by the Sultan of Johore and did design and build to the north the city of business, strictly English. The buildings are all in Victorian style and Palladian.
The Chinatown is the cultural heart of Singapore and is full of restaurants and shops. Arab Street is famous for its batik fabric shops, for straw baskets and jewelery craftsmanship.
Little India is colorful and smells of spices: the main market is called Zhujiao Centre. Orchard Road is the major hotels and shopping centers.
The Sister's Island are great for divers, with their coral reef.
The Butik Timah Nature Reserve is the largest area where the rainforest to survive.
They called it the "Paris of the East" in 1920 was a city of adventurers, gamblers, opium smokers, prostitutes, some dandies' debauched, gangsters, millionaires, child slaves forced to work for a handful of rice, missionaries.
Then here was founded the Chinese Communist Party, Mao put the basics of the Cultural Revolution, here were the bloody repression of Chiang Kai Shek, the Japanese occupation and the development of the dominance of the "Gang of Four".
Shanghai, for better or for worse, has always been a city laboratory, the hinge between China and the West, and remains so to this day, joining the Communist Party and the market economy, consumerism and political orthodoxy.
Shanghai is huge, with an intense traffic of cars and millions of bicycles, and has remained a unique cosmopolitan city, where you can feel the echoes of the past and you can see that China will be among the palaces of glass and signs lucicanti.
The Bund is the river (it is crossed by the Shanghai Huangpu), flanked by original buildings of foreigners, including the Peace Hotel, remained the same from the thirties, with an orchestra of elderly musicians playing (good) jazz of yesteryear.
Departs from the Bund Nanjing Lu, the most famous shopping street in China (you can find anything, also call it the Golden Mile. American way).
What to visit
The Shanghai Museum (bronzes, ceramics, paintings of incomparable beauty), the Garden of the Mandarin, the famous tea room Huxingting and the Temple of the Jade Buddha, the former French Concession with Huaihai Lu, the best place to shop; the tomb of the writer Lu Xun.
Caribbean a favorite destination for Italians, the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo is the capital of which, counting on prestigious golf courses, luxury hotels, restaurants, night clubs, casinos, magnificent beaches, lagoons, coral reefs, rivers and lakes.
Is also rich historical heritage. The ancient part of the capital is one of the most beautiful colonial cities in the world, as well as Havana.
The Republic occupies two thirds of the island of Hispaniola (the other part belongs to Haiti) and has six million inhabitants, Santo Domingo has a population of 2. On November 7, 1493 Christopher Columbus founded the first settlement in the New World, La Isabela, 35 km north of Puerto Plata.
What to visit
The main street of the capital, El Conde, the Parque Colon and the Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor, the Convento de Santa Clara (1522), the Reloj del Sol, sundial of 1753, the Alcazar de Colon, palace built by Columbus' son, Diego. The entire old town, in fact, is a real open-air museum.
Salzburg, situated in a wide valley with a mild climate, crossed by the Salzach River, at the northern edge of the eastern Alps at the Bavarian border, is the capital of the province of Salzburg.
From the three hills that surround it (the Moenchsberg, the Kapuzinerberg, the Rainberg) enjoy panoramic sea views.
Known throughout the world as the birthplace of the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) is famous also for the musical and cultural events that take place each year.
The city has a beautiful old town in the Gothic and Baroque (Italian-inspired) was added to UNESCO's list of Historic Heritage of Humanity. The city's cathedral (Salzburger Dom) is the most shining example of this style.
The cultural and artistic splendor of Salzburg is due in large part to the interests of the prince-bishops who ruled the fate of the city between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
What to visit
the Festung Hohensalzburg (Hohensalzburg Fortress): fort commissioned in 1077 by a bishop, now the largest intact fortress in Europe. E 'connected to the city by a funicular extremely characteristic.
Getreidegasse (Alley of Grains) with the birthplace of Mozart;
the Benedictine Convent of St. Peter;
Cemetery Petersfriedhof.
And again, the Residence and the Residence (Bishop's Palace), the Mozartmuseum, the Kapuzinerkloster, the Mirabell Palace.
Outside Innsbruck is a suburban palace, the Hellbrunn (Fontechiara), surrounded by formal gardens, fountains, water features and a zoo, active and much visited today.
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Of ancient origin, Pisa was Roman naval base in the Middle Ages and the rich and powerful maritime republic.
An ally of the Normans in the conquest of Sicily, is the author of the First Crusade, which is the acquisition of commercial bases in the Mediterranean.
Ally of Barbarossa, gets in a feud Sardinia, Corsica and the coast from the mouth of the Magra to those dell'Albegna: the twelfth century is the period of its maximum splendor.
After his fleet is destroyed by the Genoese at the Battle of Meloria, falls into the hands of Florence and from that point follows the fate.
What to visit:
The Piazza del Duomo, or Field of Miracles, contains the monuments for which the city is famous all over the world, arising from a green lawn as if by magic: the Duomo, the Campanile, the Baptistery and the Cemetery. The Cathedral, the highest expression of the Romanesque-Pisan, was begun in 1064 and completed by 1118 by Buschetto by Rainald, with sloping façade crowned by four orders of loggias. The walls are decorated with mosaics, glazed tiles, plumes and roses, culminating at the top with the Madonna by Andrea Pisano. Inside, the pulpit by Giovanni Pisano (1311), in the center hangs the so-called ("lamp of Galileo"), in bronze, whose oscillations would have made sense to the scientist the isochronism of the pendulum. Not far away stands the bell tower, known worldwide as the leaning tower, tilted about 5 degrees, with six rows of loggias around the cylindrical structure. The tower was built from 1173, interrupted for a century for the land subsidence and completed in the mid-300. Opposite the cathedral, stands the majestic Baptistery from the lawn, started in 1152 by Diotislavi to be completed two centuries later. Inside, the famous pulpit by Nicola Pisano in 1260. The Cemetery is a rectangular building, with a porch that runs around the lawn, where in the eleventh century was laid the earth brought from Golgotha. It houses the tombs of prominent residents, as well as a collection of Roman and medieval sculptures, including the tombs of Tino Camaino and Andrea Guardi. In the square, the museum of the Opera del Duomo. To complete the knowledge of the '200 and '300 Pisa, visit the National Museum of S. Matthew, at the convent of the same name on the river bank. Crossed the river on the bridge of Middle, the oldest in the city, you come to the beautiful Piazza dei Cavalieri, the center of the republican city, with the building of the Caravan, the church of St. Stephen to the knights and the palace of the clock. Also worth seeing are the churches of S. Catherine, and St. Maria della Spina, a jewel of Romanesque-Gothic style with statues of Andrea and Nino Pisano.
Capital of Norway, the Court residence and seat of government, enjoys a wonderful location in the Oslofjord, which opens the Skagerrak over a length of 100 km, free throughout the year by ice.
The town is surrounded by green hills, lakes and forests, inhabited by animals and colorful flowers.
Oslo collects about 13% of the Norwegian population and, in addition to the large port, includes mechanical engineering and shipbuilding. The presence of academies, universities and several museums contribute to the vibrant cultural atmosphere of the city.
What to visit
Karl Johansgate, the Stortorget (the largest market), the Cathedral, the Studenterlunden, the Storting (Parliament), Nationaltheatret, the Radhus, the Universitet (the Aula Magna painted by Munch), the SlottParken, the Konige Slott (the Royal Palace), Old Aker Kirke, Frognrparken (one of the most beautiful parks in the whole of Scandinavia), Vikingskipene.
Several museums: Historik Museum, Nasjonalgalleriet (with masterpieces by Munch), Kunstindustrimuseet, Munch Museum.
Capital of Bavaria, on a plateau overlooking the Bavarian Alps, situated on the left bank of the Isar, Munich traditionally knows how to live well, with an attitude very "southern" than other more severe cities in Germany.
So fun, Oktoberfest, rivers of beer, nightclubs, restaurants of all kinds, large parks, but also a lot of culture, art museums, art exhibitions and music festivals.
And, of course, many industries, which make Munich a rich city, as can be seen walking through the streets of downtown.
The historic core of the city, whose origins lie in the Middle Ages, is made from Marienplatz and the church of St. Peter, the oldest (XII century) parish, and the Neue Rathaus (1867), with its famous chimes with figures enamelled copper that every day at 11 mimic a tournament medieval and folk dances. Not far away, the Residenz Castle of the Dukes of Bavaria (XVI century), now converted into a museum.
Always in the center stands the Frauenkirche, Cathedral of Munich and Metro Bavaria, a late Gothic (1468-88) brick.
What to visit
Apart from the monuments already mentioned, the Deutsche Museum, the Theresienwiese park where we celebrate the beer festival, the Neue Pinakothek and Neue Staatgalerie (modern painting), the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum (Bavarian art), Antikensammulung (classical antiquity) and the 'Alte Pinakothek.
Moscow is a metropolis of contrasts violent billionaires and poor people, Mc Donald's, luxurious restaurants and dingy pubs, historical places of socialism and Orthodox churches, Soviet-style apartment blocks-nightmare and elegant buildings of the eighteenth century. The Moscow metro is in short everything: for a few rubles you can travel between stations decorated with crystal chandeliers and marble.
Moscow is everything and more, and even that's fascinating. It 'a gigantic city: the inhabitants are distributed over 1035 km square from the center to the endless and dingy suburbs. New bars, restaurants, night clubs open and close all the time: resist addresses only "historical".
From the twelfth century the Kremlin is the center of the city, where Ivan the Terrible and Stalin gave orders. Today, the Kremlin's walls protect some of the most precious treasures of the country.
What to visit
Red Square (with the Lenin Mausoleum, the State Historical Museum, the St. Basil's Cathedral and GUM, the department stores, 1,000 stores in a nineteenth century), The Kremlin (the towers, palaces, churches) , Arbat, a street of artisans, the Pushkin Museum, Gorky Park, the metro, the great avenues.