The Most Beautiful . . .
6 total works
Synonymous with fine wine, elegant cuisine and good living, Burgundy is also a land of outstanding architecture and charming villages. Many of these ancient communities stand beside the leisurely rivers that wend their way through the duchy - the beginnings of the Seine, the Yonne, the tributaries of the Loire and the Saone. And beside these rivers lie woodlands, pastures and the greatest vineyards in the world.
Complete with a map and traveler's guide, "The Most Beautiful Villages of Burgandy" is the definitive introduction to one of the most enchanting regions in the western world.
Author of the highly successful The Most Beautiful Villages of Tuscany, James Bentley, along with photographer Alex Ramsay, has now turned his attention to more extensive, though equally beautiful, Tuscan communities. Travelling from north to south of the region, as in the Villages volume, we encounter first the towns with substantial Etruscan and Romanesque features, then the walled towns of central Tuscany, followed by the coastal and thermal communities of the south. The country towns described and photographed in this book have been selected not only to exemplify the remarkable variety of this part of Italy but also because they embody its altogether exceptional artistic, gastronomic and cultural heritage. Twenty of the most beautiful towns of this opulent land are treated in this visual and textual feast by Alex Ramsay and James Bentley, which is completed by a guide to the principal sights, events, hotels and restaurants of each town. The whole volume makes a wonderful companion to The Most Beautiful Villages of Tuscany.
The elegance of Tuscany's grand cities is found on a more intimate scale in its numerous small towns and villages, the most charming of which are celebrated in this revised, compact edition of the bestselling book. Thirty-six villages from all over Tuscany feature here, from those clustered around the great cities of Lucca and Florence, which produce some of the finest olive oil and are home to some of the world's greatest works of art, to the Chianti region and the valley of the Orcia, devoted to the cultivation of aromatic herbs. The vivid, highly descriptive accounts of each village are accompanied by page after page of marvellous colour photographs. `Beautifully composed photographs ... graceful, knowledgeable text' - Country Living `Breathtaking photographs ... the riches and variety of Tuscany are laid out for all to see ... a well balanced, well presented and well written exploration of one of Italy's most beautiful regions' - Contemporary Review
A visual and verbal account of 31 villages and islands in one of Europe's most popular tourist spots. The villages are drawn from the four departments of modern-day Brittany: Finistere, Morbihan, Ille-et-Vilaine and Cotes-d'Armor. Brittany is very distinct from the rest of France. It is a place of dramatic contrasts - a jagged coastline, fertile plains and wild moorland. Its people and culture are Celtic; legend has it that King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table gathered in the Forest of Paimpont, and that Merlin is buried close by. Centuries of religious piety are enshrined in Breton architecture. Brittany's vigorous and varied village life and architecture are captured here in James Bentley's commentaries and Hugh Palmer's evocative photographs.
The Dorodogne offers splendid scenery, exquisite food and wine, the finest examples of prehistoric art and some of the most enchanting villages of France. This guide offers a journey through the region, from northern gems such as Brantome to "grand" villages such as Hautefort, found further south among the hills and limestone valleys. Gastronomy and prehistory distinguish the villages of the two southern-most areas, from the white wine of Monbazillac to the prehistoric cave paintings of Les Eyzies, while the ancient fortified towns of Montfort and Montpazier recall the struggles of the Middle Ages. The book comes complete with a travellers' gazetteer.
Villages are the very embodiment of Englishness. Honey coloured cottages from peaceful Cornwall communities; splendid thatched roofs sweeping over eaves and windows in the villages of Hampshire; half-timbering, flint and limestone giving Suffolk hamlets their characteristic appearance; and limestone, sandstone and millstone grit giving a darker look to those of Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland. This volume records the richness and diversity of the English village in photographs and commentary. Grouped by area and sub-divided by county, this is a celebration of the most beautiful villages of England.