captioning made possible by the annenberg/cpb project this is siena, a wonderfully preserved medieval cityn central italy. at its heyday around 1300, it was one of the most civilized and prosperous places in europe. siena and other italian city-states can stand as a new beginning in our story of western art. hitherto, the old medieval world view had, put simply, divided the classes of society into the aristocracy at the top, the church, and the laboring peasantry at the bottom. in places like this, we see for the first time a new class, conscious of its own identity-- the merchants. these cities were no longer controlled by feudal lords. they were republics. here in siena, several thousand citizens were eligible for election to the governing bodies which met down there in the palazzo publica. and in the palazzo, there is a fresco painted in the 1340s which encapsulates their faith in the secular arts of government, in the moderating power of reason in human society. it's called the effects of good government. this marvous fresco, painted by ambrogio lorenzetti, was the first panoramic land

on a hill above the forum, he created a classical frame for the medieval city hall-- a stage for therama of politics. as he had with saint peter's, michelangelo used a bold reworking of classical architecture and integrated ancient statues into his design. throughout his life as architect and artist, michelangelo had stayed at the center of power-- a turbulent force in turbulent times. but there is anoth journey in his life as an artist which became increasingly important to him-- a journey equally heroic, equally mythic, but private. it's revealed in his intimate productions-- in his letters, in his sonnets and sketches. and it takes him away from this public stage into his inner life-- questioning the artist's role and indeed the very nature of art itself. in his final years, michelangelo wrote a profoundly personal sonnet. "in a frail boat, "through stormy seas, "my life in its course "has now reached the harbor, "the bar of which all men must cross "to render account of good and evil done. "i now know how weighted in error "was the fond fantasy which made art for me "an idol and

among medieval cities in the north of europe, none are as well preserved as tallinn.town hall square was a marketplace through the centuries. its fine old buildings are a reminder that tallinn was once an important medieval trading center. today it's a touristy scene, full of people just having fun. through the season, each midday, cruise-ship groups congest the center as they blitz the town in the care of local guides. like many tourist zones, tallinn's is a commercial gauntlet. here there's a hokey torture museum, strolling russian dolls, medieval theme restaurants complete with touts, and enthusiastic hawkers of ye olde taste treats. woman: [ laughs ] steves: but just a couple blocks away is, for me, the real attraction of tallinn -- workaday locals enjoying real freedom and better economic times. still-ramshackle courtyards host inviting cafés. bistros serve organic cuisine in a chic patina of old-world-meets new. and just outside the walls, it seems there's no tourism at all. under towering ramparts, the former moat is now a park, perfect for a warm afternoon str

. >> whitaker: in almost any other italian city, a medieval piazza and cathedral this magnificent woulda is off the beaten path. it doesn't draw many visitors. but don't mistake it for some charming music box time has forgotten. cremona actually is a very international city, where the past and the present coexist quite harmoniously. thousands of violins still are made here every year. there seem to be more violin shops than espresso shops in cremona; there are 150 of them. stefano conia came here from hungary more than 40 years ago. edgar russ moved from austria, and makes violins, violas and violincellos. mathijs heyligers came from holland. he says he and all the other violin makers were drawn by cremona's history and tradition. do you feel the old master when you're walking through these streets? >> mathijs heyligers: well, yes. it's a matter of realizing that the man who made all those incredible instruments that we are admiring every day and we're listening at in the concert halls were made by a man that actually walked on the street here, because these streets haven't changed. the

city center. that ring rode is where an old medieval wall was built and when it was turn down it was turned into a ring road. here's the main train station up here. what starts to happen in the city of leipzig. starts to be large protests at the nikolai church, and the protesters come out of the -- they meet at the church, come out, gather here at the square, and they try to get as far around the ring road, around the city of leipzig as possible, and the police and east german secret employs stop them. this keeps happening again and again and the police are using increasing level of violence and more people show up and they use more violence and it becomes apparent to everyone involve that the night of october 9, 1989, october 9, is going to be the showdown, and one of the biggest surprises in my research -- i thought i knew his time period fairly well having already written a book about it. one over the biggest surprises when i got into the secret police records, local police records, the east german regime was planning a tianimen level event in leipzig on the night of october 9 them. guns went o

city's twelve casinos to shut down this year. >> a montgomery county native could become next secretary of defense. a knew eek resumeen including being physicist and medieval historian. he has shown a decade in leadership in clinton and obama administration. superintendent of abington school district praised obama's choice and said her students will greatly benefit from it. >> he's clearly a role model for all students independent abington school district we see dr. carter as someone who maiden credible accomplishments. >> on "healthcheck" tonight new research reveals that being obese may shorten your life by years. researchers at ma gill said most could be blamed on link to diabetesy and heart disease. they found it's not just quantity of years you can lose but quality. those living with chronic health issues up to 1 years longer than pen of afternoon weight. >> they brought umbrellas heavy coats and plenty of christmas spirit tape was among the crowd. >> happy holiday. >> meteorologist adam joseph took time for his leave for 5 annual mars drinks it christmas parade spap ago cross chester county and dancers put on quite a show for people lining the par ra

city tried to control it. like the building of a medieval cathedral, building a skyscraper was really a thrilling basketball spectacle and a technological show that takes place in the open in the heard of town. some would arrive with binoculars and try to watch the ant-like men, sky boys they called them. they were heroes in a lot of the newspapers. manhattan in the 20s, and it's street theater. when you see guys doing this, these are the sky boys. probably the most fascinating thing for people to watch were that they worked without hard hats and safety heroin seszs. this is one of the guys there. four guys and a heater, a catcher and a gunman. here's how it works. these guys would have charcoal heaters like you have in your back yard. they would go until they got to a cherry red color. a guy would go in there with tongs and flip the rivet to a catcher. that's a catcher. he would cav catch it in his glove. then there is -- if the catcher misses it, by the way, he either hits and scars him or falls below this missile. capable of driving a hole in someone's head. the catcher then places the rivet between two beams and

city as it looked a century ago out of gingerbread. this year's holiday masterpiece also includes santa's north pole. the cathedral and medieval european castles. this creation took an entire year to design. 150,000 gingerbread, 15 pounds of white and dark chocolate, yum, 35 pounds of marzepam and buckets of icing. the stained glass windows are melted jolly ranchers. >> bring that thing up to the newsroom it will be gone in half an hour. >> torn apart. >>> still ahead on abc 7 news at 4:00, a teenager years away from getting his license takes control of a dangerous situation and actually saves his dad's life. >>> plus -- >> a new way to get your exercise. a workout routine that is all the rave. >>> i'm michael finney. can a department store blocked the internet on your phone while you're in the store? >>> a teenager's split second decision while riding in a car with his dad saved his father's life. michael jones immediately grabbed the wheel of his father's car in an arkansas town right after his dad suffered a seizure while he was driving. despite not knowing how to drive, the 13-year-old was able to avoid traffic and get hel