Italy for the Kids

ITALY

Official name: Italian Republic
Population: 58,126,212 as of July 2009
Capital: Rome
Official Language: Italian
Size: 116,306 square miles (301,230 square kilometers; slightly larger than Arizona)
Climate: Cooler in far north; hot, dry in south
Products: Grapes, potatoes, grain, olives; machinery; iron and steel; textiles, ceramics


Timeline


800-600 B.C.:
Greeks, Etruscans and others settle in Italy.
753 B.C.:
Rome is founded. This marks the beginning of the Roman Kingdom.
Official name: Italian Republic
Population: 58,126,212 as of July 2009
Capital: Rome
Official Language: Italian
Size: 116,306 square miles (301,230 square kilometers; slightly larger than Arizona)
Climate: Cooler in far north; hot, dry in south
Products: Grapes, potatoes, grain, olives; machinery; iron and steel; textiles, ceramics


Timeline


800-600 B.C.:
Greeks, Etruscans and others settle in Italy.
753 B.C.:
Rome is founded. This marks the beginning of the Roman Kingdom.

Sat 18 Dec 2010 We'll be first arriving at Milan in the North of Italy at about 1 pm.

Milan
Visitors can get down to business in Milan, Italy's economic and fashion center. Its shops feature some of the world's most magnificent clothes. Not far from world's top design houses lies the city's business and financial center. The Duomo, or cathedral, in Milan is not to be missed — it's one of the largest in the world. The late-Gothic style cathedral boasts marble pillars and a nail said to come from Christ's cross

We  will perhaps check in at the Hotel Berna in the Railway area.

Then after freshening up we will head to the entre of the city.

The  prominent feature there is the Duomo

After the Romanesque period in architecture, around 1200 AD, most people in western Europe began to build Christian churches and palaces in the Gothic style. The easiest difference to see between the two styles is that while Romanesque churches have round arches, Gothic churches have pointed arches.

A Romanesque arch and a Gothic arch

But there are a lot of other differences as well. Gothic cathedrals have many more windows, and much bigger windows, and so they are not dark like Romanesque churches. This is because the architects have learned some new ways of making roofs and of supporting walls, especially the groin vault and the flying buttress.

Gothic churches are also usually bigger than Romanesque churches. By 1200 AD, people had more money available, and they could afford to spend more on building great churches. And, where many Romanesque churches had wooden roofs (which were always catching fire), Gothic churches had safer stone roofs

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