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Located in Italy's culturally rich Emilia-Romagna region, Ravenna offers a fascinating blend of art, churches and historical landmarks. The city's main claim to fame lies in its extraordinary collection of Byzantine mosaics, which adorn its ancient churches and monuments. These intricate works of art, dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries, depic...

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Some days we want to have lunch in Rome and dinner in Milan, for that we’re grateful for the three-hour Alta Velocità. But then there are other days we want to slow down, peel our eyes from our screens, and really just enjoy the ride. These three train lines call attention to bygone eras of travel, and they’re more about the journey than the destin...

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From Florence and Rome to Positano and Capri, Italy is home to many must-visit destinations. Of course, the beautiful European country also has a plethora of less-visited spots ranging from charming hilltop villages to postcard-perfect coastal escapes. While Ravenna isn’t quite a hidden gem, it’s certainly not a requisite stop on most tourist route...

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Italy was ground zero for the Roman world (at least until it split into East and West) and is where many of the most impressive Roman ruins are found today. Italy is full of excellent ancient Roman ruins worth visiting. Some of them are well-known while others are lesser known (like the peculiar Mouth of Truth in Rome). Here are 10 of the best anci...

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The most famous image of Ravenna is one of freeze-frame tranquility: a white, wooden structure, like that of a picture frame, encapsulates a sandy beach reaching outwards into infinity. Given the usual liveliness of these shores, the picture, captured by Luigi Ghirri, can feel a bit off-putting–and is even more haunting in the context of the devast...

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The NIAF Board of Directors Mission to Italy trip, which took place from June 11 – 21, 2023, was a resounding success. The trip began in Rome, where the board met with high-ranking officials of the Meloni government, members of the Italian parliament and attended a Gala dinner presented by We the Italians, in honor of NIAF, at the historic Circolo...

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I don’t know how common it is in US schools, but here in Italy, at least when I was a child in the 1980s, it was quite common to create colorful paper mosaics during art class: you’d buy these colored, shiny paper sheets, which you’d cut into tiny squares and glue onto drawings to color them. Admittedly, it was a messy job, with most children getti...

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A city moulded through layers of artistic styles and historical events. Quiet yet bustling, suspended amid the treasures of its UNESCO heritage, the summer nightlife of the seaside resorts nearby, the cumbersome Romagna tradition and the street art that has made it, once again, an art capital. A young, fun and contemporary destination, find out wha...

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Visiting Ravenna is not just a beautiful adventure in the present, it also serves as a reminder of the past. From the picturesque buildings with pretty, painted colors to the older churches with mosaics lining the interior. Despite the cloudy sky, Ravenna was still a sight to behold. I hope to return to Ravenna in the summer to see the beautiful co...

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Ravenna had emerged as the center of the Western world by the time Placidia arrived in 416. “Ravenna attracted the best artists and architects from around the empire,” noted Claudia Frassineti, a cultural heritage specialist and guide in the city. “It was the new capital city, the focus of wealth and power.” Emperor Honorius, Placidia’s half-brothe...

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