Throughout the history of the Italian peninsula, urban, rural, and regional centers have played a pivotal role in the development of Italian culture. Whether hubs of trade and commerce, models of artistic expression and religious faith, seats of power, or nurturers of knowledge, these centers represent Italy’s defining cultural themes. In this class, Marcella Corona will lead us on a journey to some of the most famous of these centers – to Rome, Venice, Florence, and Naples. She will also take us to some of Italy’s lesser known towns and villages. We will visit Cassino, with its extraordinary abbey and World War II battle site, and Alberobello, with its unique prehistory trulli buildings. We will also visit the villages of Monteriggioni for a step back into medieval times, Patricia, a picturesque mountain village in Lazio, and Paestum, with its temples and ruins of an ancient Greek colony.