Italy is filled with churches that demonstrate all aspects of style in architecture. You may have many famous ones on your "must see" list, but you'll find some astonishing exemplars hiding in the minor cities, the minuscule hamlets, even in the most remote countryside. Save time to visit them as well, for they will show you the different architectural fashions that have existed since Christianity first appeared in Rome.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most recognisable buildings in the world. However, it is only part of a collection of buildings of outstanding artistic and architectural interest. This complex makes up the Cathedral Square or Piazza del Duomo, also known as the Field of Miracles or Campo dei Miracoli. As well as the cathedral and leaning bell-tower, the complex, surrounded by lawns, includes the baptistry and the Camposanto, or monumental cemetery. Because of the soft underlying soil, both the baptistry and the cathedral lean out of the perpendicular, though not as dramatically as the Leaning Tower. The Piazza del Duomo is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The cathedral or Duomo was begun in 1064, and is built in the Romanesque style, with rounded arches. The horizontal layers of grey and white marble, and the detailed carving of the pillars and archways produce a distinctive Pisan Romanesque look, which has influenced many nearby towns and cities.

Most of the interior was destroyed by fire in 1595, so there are few medieval features inside the building. One that survived is the giant mosaic of Christ the King (1302) in the apse. The other survival is the carved marble pulpit (1302-1311) by Giovanni Pisano. This masterpiece of medieval sculpture was out of fashion by the late 1500s, so during the re-modelling after the fire, it was simply packed away. It was rediscovered in 1926 and restored to its original position. This pulpit has beautifully carved panels of biblical scenes, and is regarded as the masterpiece of the Pisano family.

The baptistry was begun in the 12th Century, with a Romanesque ground floor, with rounded arches and horizontal layers of marble. Money ran short, however, and the work was left unfinished for nearly a century. When the work was restarted, it was in the Gothic style and under the supervision of Nicola Pisano and his son Giovanni. The upper half has pointed Gothic arches and pinnacles, and statues of saints and prophets. Many of these statues were taken down in the 19th Century and replaced by copies. The originals were put in the Cathedral Museum. The building is topped by a large dome.

The interior is plain and very bare, which gives it a striking echo. There are two important works of art: the large baptismal font (1246) with rich stone inlay is by Guido Bigarelli; the pulpit (1260) is by Nicola Pisano, with reliefs of New Testament scenes, and animal figures supporting the columns. These are marked out from the earlier Romanesque style of carving by the depth of the figures and the accuracy of representation.

The famous Leaning Tower was built as a campanile or bell tower. Started in 1173, it has the same rounded Romanesque arches as the cathedral and the ground floor of the baptistry. As with the baptistry, there were long interruptions to the building work, and the tower was only finished in the 14th Century. The tilt in the tower was evident from a fairly early stage, and increased very slowly over the centuries. Major restoration work was carried out in the 1990s and appears to have stabilised the structure.

The Camposanto or monumental cemetery closes the north side of the Campo dei Miracoli. It has a much more severe marble facade than the 'wedding-cake' decorated effect of the cathedral. Legend claims that during the Crusades, a medieval bishop brought back a load of earth from Golgotha near Jerusalem. It became a status symbol to be buried in this holy earth, so that the graves of the most highly regarded Pisans were always found here.

The cathedral of Orvieto (1310) is a shining example of Italian Gothic architecture. Its façade clearly betrays the influence of French Gothic, with four large pinnacles that divide the church into three bays. But visible traces of early Christian styles keep this church from being classified as pure Gothic. The façade is painted with gold and other colors, a technique not found among most churches in Italy because, since it was done last, it was sometimes forgotten or it even wore off over time.

"Orvieto, with its base some 660 feet above the River Paglia and its sharply cut flanks giving it clarity, possesses one of Italy's most distinctive profiles. Though the town is full of historic buildings, none can equal its superb Romanesque-Gothic cathedral, begun in 1290, and the medieval square it faces."

The Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute (Basilica of St Mary of Health/Salvation), commonly known simply as the Salute, is a famous church in Venice, placed scenically at a narrow finger of land which lies between the Grand Canal and the Bacino di San Marco on the lagoon, visible as one enters the Piazza San Marco from the water. While it has the status of a minor basilica, its decorative and distinctive profile and location make it among the most photographed churches in Italy.

The Duomo of Florence: Begun in the late 1200s and consecrated 140 years later, the pink, green, and white marble Duomo was a symbol of Florence's prestige and wealth. It's loaded with world-class art and is one of Italy's largest and most distinctive religious buildings. A view of its red-tiled dome, erected over a 14-year period in what was at the time a radical new design by Brunelleschi, is worth the trip to Florence. Other elements of the Duomo are Giotto's campanile (bell tower) and the octagonal baptistery (a Romanesque building with bronze doors).

St. Peter's Basilica (Rome)

Its roots began with the first Christian emperor, Constantine, in A.D. 324. By 1400, the Roman basilica was in danger of collapsing, prompting the Renaissance popes to commission plans for the largest, most impressive, most jaw-dropping cathedral the world had ever seen. Amid the rich decor of gilt, marble, and mosaics are countless artworks, including Michelangelo's Pietà. Other sights here are a small museum of Vatican treasures and the eerie underground grottoes containing the tombs of former popes, including the most recently interred, John Paul II. An elevator ride (or a rigorous climb) up the tower to Michelangelo's glorious dome provides panoramic views of Rome.

The Duomo of Siena: Begun in 1196, this cathedral is one of the most beautiful and ambitious Gothic churches in Italy, with extravagant zebra-striped bands of marble. Masterpieces here include a priceless pavement of masterful mosaics, an octagonal pulpit carved by master sculptor Nicola Pisano, and the lavishly frescoed Piccolomini Library.

Basilica di San Francesco (Assisi): St. Francis, protector of small animals and birds, was long dead when construction began on this double-tiered showcase of the Franciscan brotherhood. Giotto's celebrated frescoes reached a new kind of figurative realism in Italian art around 1300, long before the masters of the Renaissance carried the technique even further. Consecrated in 1253, the cathedral is one of the highlights of Umbria and the site of many pilgrimages. It took a direct hit from the 1997 earthquakes but has miraculously made a recovery.

St. Mark's Basilica (Venice): Surely the most exotic and Eastern of the Western world's churches, the onion-domed and mosaic-covered San Marco took much of its inspiration from Constantinople. Somewhere inside the mysterious candlelit cavern of the 1,000-year-old church, which began as the private chapel of the doges, are the remains of St. Mark, patron saint of Venice's ancient maritime republic.

The Duomo of Milan: It took 5 centuries to build this magnificent and ornate Gothic cathedral, the third-largest church in the world. It's marked by 135 marble spires, a stunning triangular facade, and thousands of statues flanking the massive but airy, almost fanciful exterior.

Enhance your holiday travel experience by downloading this audio tour of St Marks Basilica in Venice, Italy. Great Discoveries Audio Tour of the St. Mark's Basilica offers today's tourist the most informative and entertaining way to visit this unique edifice, which has majestically dominated Venice's grand square, the Piazza San Marco, for over 900 years. Throughout the centuries, countless numbers of pilgrims and tourists alike have been awestruck by the golden magnificence of this, the largest and most lavishly decorated church of the 11th century. One can only imagine what it would have meant to an ancient pilgrim, weary from his long and dreary travels, to stand in the Piazza and view the Basilica's exotic beauty.

Venice Travel Information

Discover the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, the most brilliant architectural jewel in the Venetian crown and a soaring baroque structure unlike any other. Her silhouette dominates the southern terminus of the Grand Canal and she lifts her gleaming drum of white Istrian stone high above the city's tiled rooftops. She sits at the entrance to Venice like some great lady on the threshold of her salon with her domes, scrolls, scalloped buttresses and statues forming a pompous crown. Her wide steps are placed on the ground like the train of a magnificent robe.