The Italians are a strongly individualistic society. They've also been around long enough to know what serves a soul well in human relating. In Italy, boys lean - against columns, walls, vespas, while women retain a graceful femininity. The special charm of the Italian man is commonly known as machismo, and the Italian women recognizes it for the acquired dignity and self-assurance that it is. But they do so knowing that human failings are as common as human triumphs. Still, if there is one truth that the Italian - both man and woman - minds above all others, it is that a person can find scarce little happiness in this world without strong family ties to cloth and comfort the spirit.

Having seen so much, been so much, the Italians are a people generally unafraid of human emotion, both the good and the bad. In all, the Italians seem to have discovered the secret of successful living. Many will be familiar with Italian expressions on the joys of living – la vita e bella, la dolce vita, la joia di vivere – and with the Italian belief that life is to be enjoyed. But Italian popular song is replete with references to la malenchonia, a term which translates literally as the melancholy of living, or the suffering. While “the suffering” is a very catholic concept, it also describes a very universal emotion. In Italy, one need only contemplate the eyes of an Italian fresco, or those of a passerby to see it. It is as much a part of the Italian culture – and a part of life – as la joia di vivere.

A land of enchantment, Italy is a place where the very walls seem to whisper to the soul of the passerby. They speak an all too human tale of triumph and defeat, glory and sorrow, life and death. Italy has been host to many cultures, both eastern and western. Of the many peoples who have wandered through, some left their mark, others their influence. All contributed to the extraordinary legacy that patterns and textures the landscape.

Italian architecture is a walk through history - through the glories of the Roman, Medieval, and Renaissance ages. The ancient stone fortifications of the Greeks, the Etruscans and later the Romans stand as magnificent, irregularly shaped rocks, dust, and marble litter. The scattered religious and monumental structures of the Byzantines, the Franks, and the Arabs continue to hold all the magic of their spirited artistry. Italy is a prime stop on any architectural pilgrimage.

For lovers of the stone-paved and narrowly winding alley, the concentric view of the multi-arched passage, and the steep stepped inclines of the city glued to the hill-side, Italy may just be all you ever dreamed of. Medieval architecture is a conspicuous feature of the Italian landscape. The medieval Italian city was once a forest of brick towers and stone fortresses, and a labyrinth of high heavy walls, blind alleys, and hidden alcoves – all impediments to those who might think to attack or invade the city.

The most remarkable flowering of culture in Italy, known as the Renaissance, lasted about two hundred and fifty years, and was characterized not only by its art, but by often violent feuding and competition between wealthy families. The north was divided into numerous warring city states, each attempting to impress and out do the one beside it in everything from might and militancy to style and saper fare.

At the last decade of the 15th century, Italy was divided into some four hundred independent city states spanning the north of the country. Architecture from this period reflects the medieval atmosphere of competition and suspect. The civil politics of this period did much to define the face of modern Italy, particularly in the north. What remains today makes for distinctive architecture and the pleasures of an hours-long stroll.