In this episode with Alberto Angela we travel through the history of one of the most fascinating cities in the world: first a Greek colony with the name of Byzantium, then with the name of Constantinople, for more than a thousand years the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and for another five hundred of the Ottoman Empire and finally a megalopolis of modern Turkey with the name of Istanbul.

In this episode Alberto Angela walks through the English capital on streets that will become a real musical pentagram. We discover London through its songs aboard a bus, the legendary double decker, and we stop at the most iconic places in the city, including Abbey Road Studios, the Royal Albert Hall and the very famous Wembley Stadium where one of the most famous concerts in the history of music was held: Live Aid.

Alberto Angela talks about Vincent van Gogh: a journey through the places and emotions that inspired his masterpieces. From the vibrant brush strokes to the unique light of his canvases, an intimate portrait of the genius who revolutionized art with his tormented humanity.

In Regio IX of Pompeii a new unexpected discovery: a large fresco, a megalograph with a Dionysian theme. Alberto Angela shows exclusively a sumptuous banquet hall with extraordinary frescoes, witnesses of rites, art and life in the ancient city.

The story of one of the most famous, fascinating and discussed emperors of Rome: Nerone

What happened to the ancient human species that inhabited Europe and part of Asia before the arrival of Homo Sapiens? Why, at a certain point in prehistory, are there no archaeological traces left of these men of extraordinary strength? And what happens when the two human species come face to face in the same territories? Alberto Angela, in this episode of Ulisse, guides us to the solution of this intricate enigma "at the crime scene" directly from the wonderful places inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Sapiens in Italy and Europe.

In this episode of Ulisse, with Alberto Angela, we will immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of the Parisian Belle Époque: years in which the push of science, art and fashion created a society made up of new comforts but which will discover itself to be more fragile than it appears . These were the years of the Impressionists, of Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, Van Gogh.

The story of the life of one of the most important figures of our time, Queen Elizabeth II, the monarch who reigned longest on the throne of England and the United Kingdom. Alberto Angela accompanies viewers on a journey through time that spans much of the 20th century and reaches the present day, recounting the slow transformation of the image of the monarchy by Elizabeth in the decades of her reign, through the main historical and family facts which have touched the royal house of Windsor until more recent times. With the most beautiful period images, many of which have been restored to their original splendor, viewers will relive the sumptuous royal ceremonies and discover lesser-known aspects of one of the world's oldest and most enduring monarchies. The episode's special guest is the English actress Helen Mirren, an Oscar winner for her portrayal of the queen in the acclaimed film "The Queen".

A journey into a unique land, in search of the colours, sounds, smells and signs that characterize it. The color of the sea and the stone. The sound of wind and voices. The smell of cistus and helichrysum. The signs of the many civilizations that have invaded it from time to time, without ever dominating it. An island that is almost a continent. From the beaches of Maddalena and Asinara to the mines of Sulcis, from the stones of the nuraghi to the Roman remains, from the basilica of Saccargia to the walls of Alghero, ours will be a tale punctuated by stories, traditions, legends that make this land a magical place and mysterious. We will meet its people, we will listen to its particular language and we will fill our eyes with the color of an incredible sea. The great English traveler Herbert Lawrence defined it thus: "Sardinia is something else... Ridges of hills like moorland... which are disappearing, perhaps, towards a small group of peaks.

One hundred and ten years after its sinking, Alberto Angela will accompany us to the places that marked the events of this transatlantic liner, a technical jewel considered "unsinkable", shipwrecked on the night between 14 and 15 April 1912.

What is the state of health of the Earth, this planet so small, so fragile and vulnerable? What damage have we caused to the environment with our behaviors? How many natural resources do we consume in daily life and above all do we still have time to remedy this? And how? These are some of the questions that we will try to answer with Alberto Angela in this special episode of Ulisse which sees the extraordinary participation of Piero Angela.

The fourth episode of this new series of episodes tells the life of Saint Francis and Saint Clare: two boys destined to inherit the honors of their social status but who will realize that that way of life does not satisfy them and will choose a new path: their .

The protagonist of this episode is the air. You cannot see it, it has no smell or taste, but it is the most abundant element on the earth's surface and is crucial for our survival. In fact, air, by penetrating our lungs, provides our body with oxygen that allows us to move, speak and even think and profoundly influences plant and animal life. Alberto Angela will take us on a long journey inside the air, making us discover the most surprising aspects of this substance. On board a vintage sailing ship, Alberto Angela will explain to us how the use of wind has changed the history of humanity, from the great geographical discoveries to the latest technological evolutions of racing catamarans. We will discover the extreme limits of life without air: the possibility of remaining without breathing underwater for up to half an hour, as Umberto Pellizzari, the freediving record holder, will explain to us.

In this episode you will discover precautions that are within everyone's reach but which some populations or groups have always practiced with extraordinary results. The same behaviors that have recently attracted the attention of doctors and researchers who study the mechanisms of aging. We will talk about nutrition, we will try to understand which type of movement is best suited to keeping us fit over the long distance and much more. The journey will start from the islands of Okinawa, Japan; we will discover how well-being arrived on these islands just a few decades ago and those who are now elderly have led a spartan existence for a good part of their lives, often marked by periods of enormous difficulty. Yet, those very elderly people seem to have slowed down the effects of old age. In these islands people live for a long time, but above all the diseases typical of old age are rarer.

Alberto Angela visits the Egyptian Museum in Turin and talks to us about the ancient Egyptian civilization through the precious finds contained in the museum. Exploring the rooms you go through the entire history of ancient Egypt and you can see great treasures, mummies and ancient statues. The Egyptian Museum of Turin, after that of Cairo, is the most important museum in the world dedicated to this civilization.

In this episode we are in the places where Anna grew up and was happy before her life changed forever. Anna would have liked to study and become a famous writer, but fate chose differently. Her mocking and cruel end, a few days after the arrival of the Allies, will forever leave Anna to her story and the pages of her diary will become pages for eternity.

The Cairo museum is one of the most extraordinary places in the history of humanity: it houses the treasures of the Pharaohs. Thousands of objects recovered from the tombs: jewels, statues, works of art, sarcophagi. A priceless heritage that tells the story of almost three thousand years of Egyptian civilization. It is at the Cairo museum that Alberto Angela will be found to guide us on this journey into ancient Egypt: not only discovering the most precious objects of the Pharaohs (and their own mummies), but taking us to the most impressive places discovered by archaeologists. Thanks to special permits, Ulysses' crew was able to enter the tomb of Queen Nefertari, forbidden to cameras, to film the almost intact frescoes of this queen, Ramesses II's beloved wife. At night, the crew also entered the Pyramid of Cheops, showing the charm of these places.

Ulisse recounts the "Splendor of Rome", when the empire reached its maximum power and territorial extension in the second century. The land borders ran for over 10 thousand km from Scotland to the borders of Iran, from the Sahara to the North Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. The driving force of everything was Rome, located exactly at the center of the Empire, with almost 1.5 million inhabitants. It was the most populous city in all of Antiquity. It had 423 neighborhoods, 1400 fountains, 11 colossal baths, 40 triumphal arches, 100 temples, more than 4000 large statues, 28 libraries.

Ulisse will dedicate his third appointment to the underground world, making a journey beneath the earth's crust. In fact, a small invisible and often fantastic universe exists beneath our feet. In these "twenty thousand leagues underground" Ulisse will explore the world of caves, observing speleologists in their explorations and visiting surprising sites such as the Wieliczka rock salt mine in Poland. Alberto Angela visited the depths of this mine which has been exploited for millennia and which today presents incredible settings: enormous caves, statues carved in salt, a church and even a concert hall with immense chandeliers all made with salt.

"I know I have a fragile and delicate woman's body, but I have the stomach and heart of a king, of a king of England." These are the words of Elizabeth I, the virgin queen, protagonist of this episode of "Ulisse - Il piacere della scoperta". With the help of a drama, Alberto Angela reconstructs the life of Queen Elizabeth I Tudor from her difficult childhood to the last days of her long reign. A life lived like a Shakespearean tragedy, made up of deception, revenge in the name of religion, bloody deaths.

Ulisse will tell, from the places of his history, the life of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. Daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria, Marie Antoinette married, in her early teens, Louis XVI, Dauphin of France. Their life took place in the marvelous Palace of Versailles, just outside Paris, in the 18th century. From these famous places, Alberto Angela will try to make us relive the atmosphere that preceded the French Revolution, an event that overwhelmed the life of Marie Antoinette, her husband Louis XVI and many aristocrats who were part of that court. Marie Antoinette's life, like that of her husband, ended in Paris, under the blade of the guillotine on the Place de la Revolution, now Place de La Concorde.

An exciting journey into 16th century England through the intricate events of King Henry VIII and his six wives, some repudiated, others beheaded. A story of tyranny, blood and betrayal that led to the separation of England from the Church of Rome. We will discover that an epidemic, not too different from the one we are experiencing, kept King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his lover at the time, separated for a long period, and we will reveal the contents of some handwritten letters from the king to his beloved which are kept today in the Vatican Apostolic Library.

Alberto Angela takes us on an exceptional journey: Jerusalem in the time of Jesus. Following the narrative thread of the story of Jesus, as it is presented by the Gospels and tradition, we discover Israel as it was in those years and getting to know the historical figures who forged. Starting from Herod the Great, at the end of whose reign Jesus was born, with the numerous architectural testimonies he left in the territory: from the fortress of Masada to the city of Caesarea Maritima, from the sumptuous tomb of Herodion to the Temple, up to his successor, Herod Antipas, to whose name the story of Salome is linked. The investigations into the death of John the Baptist and the events of the complicated trial of Jesus. We meet Pontius Pilate, a figure who has remained enigmatic due to the few historical testimonies available.

The first episode of Ulisse takes us to Petra, the fascinating city of the Nabataeans, forgotten for centuries and rediscovered only at the beginning of the 19th century. It is the starting point for an itinerary to discover Jordan, a land of merchants, prophets and kings. Here, in a corner of the Jordan River, Jesus was baptized.