Italian Architectural Styles
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By Dion Protani
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Latest update: 17 December 2021
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There are numerous Italian architectural styles that typically relate to specific periods of history. Getting to understand those styles and quickly being able to identify which buildings belong to which categories can be tricky and requires a little bit of research.
The more you travel around Italy, the more you appreciate its wealth of history and how that history has shaped the country. In cases where an understanding of architectural styles may not have been particularly appealing at first, the fascinating legacy of historic buildings in Italy lures you in to pique your curiosity. So whilst terms such as Renaissance or Baroque may sound familiar, it's worth spending a little bit of time to understand their meaning. |
Basilica di San Francesco da Paola, Naples
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Related links
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Unlike most of the Italian architectural styles, we can be quite specific about the dates with Ancient Roman Architecture. The building style started with the formation of the Roman Republic in 509 BC and developed over the next eight hundred years until 330 AD when the city of Byzantium became the new capital of the Roman Empire and heralded the era of Byzantine Architecture.
Time period: 509 BC - 330 AD
Key features: Arches, domes, vaults, triangular pediments Examples: Pantheon, Colosseum, Verona Arena, Roman Forum |
The Pantheon, Rome
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Sometimes referred to as Paleochristian (the prefix paleo means "early" in English), Early Christian Architecture developed in Italy from 313 AD and the Edict of Milan which meant the Christian faith was officially tolerated within the Roman Empire. From this point onwards we see the first major Christian buildings in Italy including churches, baptisteries and mausoleums.
Time period: 4th - 6th century AD Building types: Churches, baptisteries, mausoleums Examples: Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, Albenga Baptistery |
Albenga Baptistery, Liguria
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The lines between Italian Byzantine Architecture and its Ancient Roman predecessor are quite blurred and in many cases there are few, if any, differences between the two. Byzantine architecture existed from the foundation of Constantinople as capital of the Roman Empire in 330 AD to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 but was little used in Italy by the 11th century.
Time period: 330 - 1000 AD
Key features: Mosaics, clerestory windows, higher domes Famous examples: Basilica di San Vitale, Basilica di San Marco |
Basilica di San Vitale, Ravenna
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Typified by towers, small windows and thick walls, the Italian Romanesque style first developed at the beginning of the second millennium and lasted around two hundred years.
One of the most obvious features of a Romanesque church is an accompanying bell tower or the use of semi-circular arches. Time period: 1000 - 1200 AD
Key features: Towers, semi-circular arches, barrel vaults Famous examples: Pisa Cathedral, Florence Baptistery |
Pisa Cathedral, Tuscany
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During the 12th century, the Gothic style started to develop in Europe and gradually took hold in Italy. The earliest examples of Italian Gothic Architecture include features typically found in the Romanesque style buildings but as the new style evolved, its own characteristics became more clearly defined. Pointed arches and flying buttresses are two mainstays of the Italian Gothic style.
Time period: 13th - 15th century
Key features: Pointed arches, flying buttresses, gargoyles Famous examples: Milan Cathedral, Florence Cathedral |
Milan Cathedral, Lombardy
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The Renaissance signalled an end to the so-called Dark Ages and saw a greater emphasis on ideas and philosophies from the Ancient Greek and Roman periods. Italian Renaissance Architecture then became a physical embodiment of those ideals and ideas.
Time period: 1400 - 1700
Key features: Geometrical symmetry, domes, flat facades Famous examples: Saint Peter's Basilica, Santa Maria Novella Architects: Brunelleschi, Bramante, Palladio, Alberti, Vasari |
Certosa di Pavia, Lombardy
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The Baroque style developed from the end of the 16th century and went through several phases until the middle of the eighteenth.
Italian Baroque Architecture can be described as theatrical in appearance with a focus on complex and highly-detailed church facades such as that of the Basilica di Santa Croce in Lecce. Time period: 1584 - 1750
Key features: Highly decorative, curves, ornate statuary Famous examples: Trevi Fountain, Basilica di Santa Croce (Lecce) |
Basilica di Santa Croce, Lecce
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Taking its name from a revival of Classic Greek and Roman building styles, Italian Neoclassical Architecture was brought about by a desire to move away from the lavish decorative styles of Baroque and later Rococo. Neoclassical buildings are relatively easy to identify with their triangular pediments supported by a colonnade facade as evidenced by the Tempio Canoviano in Possagno, Veneto.
Time period: 1750 - 1870
Key features: Triangular pediment over colonnade frontage Famous examples: Royal Palace of Caserta, Tempio Canoviano |
Tempio Canoviano, Veneto
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Towards the end of the 19th century, the Art Nouveau style became popular throughout the western world and its Italian equivalent was known as Liberty. It took its name from the famous department store in London and Liberty Style Architecture also coincided with the advent of tourism in the country. Numerous spa towns and seaside resorts alike are still dominated by the style.
Time period: 1895 - 1914
Key features: Lavish exteriors, balconies, natural shapes Famous examples: Villino Florio (Palermo), Mondello Pier |
Mondello Pier, Sicily
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Although its name will forever be tainted by the negative political doctrines of its key supporter, former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the aesthetic beauty of Italian Fascist Architecture cannot be ignored. Developed in the period between the two world wars of the twentieth century, the architectural style reached its apogee with the construction of the EUR district of Rome in 1938.
Time period: 1922 - 1943
Key features: Plain exteriors, straight edges, Roman ideals Famous examples: Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, Milano Centrale |
Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, Rome
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This final era of Modern Italian architecture differs from those that precede it in so much as it doesn't represent a particular style or set of artistic principles. Since the end of the Italian Fascist period in World War Two, there have been some amazing buildings constructed in Italy that haven't perhaps received the acclaim they deserve, in a country that's so closely-associated with the past.
Time period: 1945 - present Modern Italian architects: Renzo Piano, Massimiliano Fuksas Famous examples: Sanctuary of Padre Pio, Bosco Verticale |
Sanctuary of Padre Pio, Puglia
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