Colosseum
Rome · Ancient site
Europe · 5 landmarks
Famous landmarks in Italy
Five landmarks, four cities, several ways to read a dome.
The Colosseum and the Pantheon both lead to Rome, but their outside shapes give you different evidence. One is an open oval structure with repeated arches; the other presents a temple-like entrance in front of a domed building. Practise identifying the whole arrangement rather than relying on a close-up of a column, which could fit many places.
The remaining stops pull your map northward. Pisa’s leaning bell tower repeats rings of open arches. Florence Cathedral places a large reddish dome above a richly patterned building. Saint Mark’s Basilica in Venice spreads its decoration across a broad facade and several domes. Learning Pisa, Florence and Venice as separate map anchors prevents a familiar Italian photograph from becoming an automatic Rome guess.
Locations: Rome · Pisa · Rome · Florence · Venice. The landmark cards below include exact coordinates.
Read the map
Find Rome first, then identify the Tuscany pair of Pisa and Florence. Keep Venice farther northeast instead of merging all northern landmarks.
A small learning challenge
Compare the roof outline of Florence Cathedral with Saint Mark’s Basilica. Write one difference you could still recognize in a cropped photograph.
Meet the five landmarks
Open a guide for location, history, photo clues, and credited photography.
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Pisa · Tower
Pantheon
Rome · Religious
Florence Cathedral
Florence · Religious
Saint Mark’s Basilica
Venice · Religious
How well do you know Italy?
Five photographs, five pins. Put your new mental map to work.