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Qualche turista osserva la facciata, ma non è ancora conosciuta da tutti.

Qualche turista osserva la facciata, ma non è ancora conosciuta da tutti.
A few tourists observe the facade, but it is not yet known by everyone.
From Lesson 203:Passive voice in simple tenses (essere + da)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Qualche turista osserva la facciata, ma non è ancora conosciuta da tutti.

Why is turista singular when the English translation says 'A few tourists'?
The word qualche (a few/some) is grammatically singular. It must always be followed by a singular noun and use a singular verb, even though the meaning is plural. If you wanted to use plural grammar, you would have to say alcuni turisti osservano.
In the passive structure è ... conosciuta, why does the past participle end in -a?
In the passive voice, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject of the sentence. The subject of this second clause is la facciata (the facade), which is feminine singular, so the participle becomes conosciuta.
How do we express 'by' in this passive sentence?
In Italian passive sentences, the person or group performing the action is introduced by the preposition da (by). Here, da tutti means 'by everyone'.
Why does ancora (yet/still) sit right in the middle of the passive verb?
Just like in English ('is not yet known'), Italian often places short adverbs of time like ancora, già (already), or mai (never) directly between the auxiliary verb (è) and the past participle (conosciuta).

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