Italy: Atri – Cathedral of Santa Maria Asunto

A small hilltop town of Atri is home to an absolutely stunning 13th century cathedral with amazing medieval frescos inside. The frescos – walls, ceilings, columns – by the little known local Abruzzo artist Andre de Litio date to 15th century and are meant to illustrate the biblical story for simple (and often illiterate at the time) churchgoers. The scenes use clothing of the times and not the biblical stuff, there are common Italian animals and plants around, and the Latin used is the common folk pig Latin. A total jewel! The town also has a great central square and a couple other churches.