Writer Polly Coles reads her first essay about Italy’s public spaces. The Piazza is the social, political and emotional heart of Italian communities, from hamlets to great cities. Show more

Writer Polly Coles reads her second essay about Italy’s public spaces, La Strada (The Road), a place of exile, transition and vision beyond the civilised confines of the city. Show more

Writer Polly Coles reads Walls, the third essay in her series about Italy’s public spaces, in which she explores the history and fundamental ambiguity in the idea of a city wall. Show more

Writer Polly Coles reads her fourth essay about Italy’s public spaces and shows how Italian garden culture over the centuries has often differed radically from that of Britain. Show more

Writer Polly Coles explores the curious coexistence in Italian churches of public grandeur and private domesticity. The Church is her final essay about Italy’s public spaces. Show more