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There is a moment in the Inferno, the first of the three canticles of the Divine Comedy, in which Dante Alighieri, as we would say, 'loses it.' This comes directly [...]

In Vittore Carpaccio's haunting picture Meditation on the Passion of Christ, Jesus is seated on a throne inscribed with Hebrew characters and flanked by two wizened, white-bearded hermits, but is [...]

A visit to the city of Naples, the capital of South Italy, famously known as the hometown of romance and famous for delicacies like pizzas is described. Da Attilio, A1 22, and Panificio Esposito are some of the best pizzerias offering the best pizzas.

Fish cook, David Pasternack, who runs the Esca restaurant in New York, feels that the freshness of fish is dependent upon how it is handled, and for this reason, he catches most of the fish he uses in the restaurant. Pasternack uses the fish to create dishes such as linguine alle vongole, and salt-baked branzino.

Sultan Abdulhamid II's Yildiz Palace and Park in Turkey speaks of extravagance and spoilage. The palace was built by Abdulhamid, reputedly the last Muslim ruler to have a grand harem on European soil, to house his 300 mistresses.

A traveler described his visit to Naples, Italy. Naples is a chaotic, lively place with terrible traffic conditions. Neapolitans are characterized as a superstitious lot who maintain a two-thousand year devotion to St. Januarius.

Byline: Dan Hofstadter CAFà CULTURE WHERE TO EAT, DRINK, SLEEP, AND BE MERRY ON BOTH SIDES OF THE DANUBE One of Budapest's greatest treasuresapart from its legendary cafésis the frequency, [...]

Byline: Photographs by LISA LIMER Baths, Beauties, Budapest! Budapest shares with other Central European cities a checkered (to put it mildly) historyin this case, Turkish rule, followed by Hapsburg, Nazi, [...]

Italy in Full There are places (like people) that attract for their sheer loveliness. Others have a more complex appeal. Sicily's Palermoat once gorgeous and grimhas Dan Hofstadter bewitched, bothered, [...]

Parliamo Palermo Art Nouveau splendor, Islamic mosaics, Capuchin cadavers, irresistible street food, altars of marzipanthis city has it all [ FOR THE FEATURE, SEE PAGE 140 ] A sprawling southern [...]

gourmet TRAVELS SICILIAN SLICE SLEEPY BYWAYS, FLOWERING MEADOWS, BAROQUE PALACES, AND A RARE BREED OF COW THAT PROVIDES SOME OF THE RICHEST MILK IN THE WORLD: SICILY'S RAGUSA PROVINCE IS [...]

Divine art, delicious food, decadent hotels, Dionysian wines, and a handful of essential books to help you enter into the spirit of Italy's most seductive region [FOR THE FEATURE, SEE [...]

Byline: Photographs by DITTE ISAGER What is it about this piece of Italy that makes it such a phenomenon in the eyes of the whole world? In a series of [...]

Once one of the great cultural centers of Europe, Ferrara hangs on to its rich history through curious breads, copious pastries, and miles of pasta. The most important event in [...]

Some years ago, out for a stroll in an old quarter of Naples, I suddenly began to feel woozy. The ground beneath me buckled, and the corner of a nearby […]

Russel Wright's house sits on solid stone foundations but needs preservation Fifty miles up the Hudson River from New York City lies Manitoga, the sylvan estate of the American designer […]

The modern bathrooms and kitchens in a new showroom have an ancient, ritualistic beauty For many people, concepts like "flush surfaces" and "recessed handles" conjure up visions of a modernist […]

Every once in a while, some perfectly artless public document directs our attention to the small suggestive deeds of a powerful public figure. Such was the case on June 4, [...]

I used to wear my shoes with their backs folded down, a la turque. I cannot remember when this habit began, but I do know that it spared my feet [...]

ON the first morn- ing of the Id al-Fitr, Damascus was empty of traffic. Joyful families would later throng the streets, but now only small groups of adults trudged along [...]

'Hey, Amy, great haircut.' 'Well, I don't know.' 'No, really. Nice.' 'Cute?' 'Yes. Yes.' 'You mean it?' 'Trust me. I love to criticize hair.' The talk of the women around [...]

MANY ITALIANS SPEAK OF THEIR loss of innocence during the 1960's. During this period, they claim, the elemental passions were diluted by psychobabble, the charming old songs were replaced by [...]

A life hardly less romantic and turbulent than his novels While the 1985 centennial of the death of the greatFrench novelist and poet Victor Hugo went as unnoticed in this […]

Fran*ecois Boucher: he summed up the lives of aristocrats Looking at Fran*eois Boucher's paintings of the female nude, overwhelmed by their voluptuous intimacy, we seem to feel that we know […]

The far-reaching eye of Venice's Antonio Canaletto You can go to Venice for any number of reasons--for your honeymoon, for Palladio's churches, for the Biennale, or (heaven help you) for [...]

The astonishing path of Benjamin West, from the American backwoods of the ]8th century to the glitterzing halls of England's aristocracy A few years before his death n London at [...]