  We review the latest variational calculations of the ground state properties
of doubly closed shell nuclei, from $^{12}$C to $^{208}$Pb, with semirealistic
and realistic two- and three-nucleon interactions. The studies are carried on
within the framework of the correlated basis function theory and integral
equations technique, with state dependent correlations having central and
tensor components. We report results for the ground state energy, one- and
two-body densities and static structure functions. For $^{16}$O and $^{40}$Ca
we use modern interactions and find that the accuracy of the method is
comparable to that attained in nuclear matter with similar hamiltonians, giving
nuclei underbound by $\sim$2 MeV/A. The computed Coulomb sums are in complete
agreement with the latest analysis of the experimental data.
