Wonders of Europe. For the first time, Alberto Angela's program outside Italian borders.

Starting on Wednesday, December 28, in prime time at 9:15 p.m. on Rai1, is a new season of Alberto Angela’s successful program Meraviglie, the show with which the popular TV host has, in past years, taken his audience on a discovery of Italian sites listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This year, Meraviglie is leaving national borders for the first time: the new series, titled Stars of Europe, is in fact dedicated to European Unesco sites.

For three weeks the Rai Cultura program dedicated to the treasures of cultural and environmental heritage will offer a journey through Europe from east to west, from south to north, in search of the most representative beauties of each country, but also the lines of a common history and a common identity. In addition to Alberto Angela’s narration, images shot in 4K with the use of acrobatic drones, this series will be enriched by the testimonies of celebrity guests and artistic performances in some of the most significant places of the journey.

In the first episode, the journey starts from Mont Saint-Michel, in northern France, a small island home to a famous Benedictine abbey, which stands in the middle of an immense bay open to the English Channel, where the tides are among the most powerful in Europe. During the most intense phases, the sea recedes some 20 kilometers, then returns, isolating the abbey from the mainland. It then continues to Lisbon, Portugal, the western gateway to Europe open to the Atlantic Ocean. From the tower of Belém, to the embroidery of the Jéronimos Monastery, Alberto Angela narrates this fascinating city nestled on the banks of the Tagus and facing the ocean. He will guide the audience by streetcar through the narrow streets of Alfàma, the old Arab quarter, and to the discovery of the magnificent azulejos of the palace of the Marquises of Fronteira, to the Carmo church where Dulce Pontes sings to the notes of maestro Ennio Morricone.

However, there will also be no shortage of Italian stops: for this first episode Alberto Angela will be in Verona, the Scaliger city that inspired the literary romance of Romeo and Juliet. At the Arena, the ancient amphitheater created to host gladiators and now one of the world’s greatest opera houses, Alberto Angela meets Roberto Bolle, the legendary Romeo of dance. At Juliet’s balcony, Riccardo Cocciante performs a piece from his popular opera dedicated to the two tragic lovers.

The journey finally ends in Chartres, a French town home to the world-famous Gothic cathedral. Its famous stained glass windows, which have been preserved intact for nine centuries, have given their name to a color, the famous “Chartres blue.” An enigmatic labyrinth in the center of the nave is actually an initiatory path leading the faithful to salvation. Wonders - Stars of Europe is a production made by Rai Cultura in 4K, directed by Gabriele Cipollitti with photography by Vincenzo Calò. Written by Alberto Angela with Fabio Buttarelli, Ilaria Degano, Vito Lamberti, Aldo Piro, Emilio Quinto.

Wonders of Europe. For the first time, Alberto Angela's program outside Italian borders.

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