Ten Italian Cities from Udine to Catania

Udine is the historical capital of Friuli, set between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps about 20 kilometers from Slovenia. Its market was founded in 1223, it stayed under Venetian rule until 1797, and in the First World War it housed the Italian High Command, which earned it the nickname War Capital.

Trieste sits at the head of the Gulf of Trieste near the borders of Slovenia and Croatia. Habsburg rule from 1382 to 1918 made it the fourth-largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its chief seaport, and it was a separate Free Territory from 1947 to 1954 before returning to Italy.

Verona is the largest city in the Veneto, with 255,131 inhabitants, and the largest city municipality in northeastern Italy. Its annual opera season is held in the Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheater, which is a large part of why it ranks among the main tourist destinations of Northern Italy.

Parma was colonized by Rome in 183 BC and later became a stop on the medieval Via Francigena pilgrimage route. It is the second-largest city of Emilia-Romagna after Bologna, is home to the University of Parma, one of the oldest in the world, and was named a UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2004.

Modena lies on the south side of the Po Valley and is Italy's 20th-largest city. It is headquarters or production home to Ferrari, Maserati and Pagani, its Cathedral, tower and central square became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, and the Este family made it a ducal seat after Ferrara fell to papal control in 1598.

Siena had 50,000 people before the Black Death of 1348 and was then a major banking and commercial center. Today the Monte dei Paschi, operating since 1472, is called the oldest bank in the world, the University of Siena dates from 1240, and the Palio horse race is held twice a year in the Piazza del Campo.

Urbino in the Marche has only about 14,786 residents, yet it flourished as an independent Renaissance cultural center under Federico da Montefeltro, duke from 1444 to 1482. Its well-preserved medieval and Renaissance townscape and the University of Urbino, founded in 1506, helped earn it UNESCO World Heritage status.

Pescara, on the Adriatic coast at the mouth of the Aterno-Pescara river, is the most populous city in Abruzzo with 118,657 residents in January 2023. It is a young municipality, formed in 1927 by merging the old Pescara fortress south of the river with Castellamare Adriatico to the north.

Bari is the capital of Apulia on the Adriatic Sea and one of the most important economic centers of mainland southern Italy. Its old town of narrow medieval streets around the harbor holds the Basilica of Saint Nicholas, a major pilgrimage site, while the modern city is a port, university center and trade fair hub.

Catania is the second-largest city on Sicily after Palermo, lying on the eastern coast in the shadow of Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano. It has been rebuilt repeatedly after earthquakes and eruptions, and its late-baroque center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.