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More than sixty years ago the Italian writer and painter, Carlo Levi, wrote a series of essays about Rome that were published posthumously. These short essays, published in 2005 under the title Fleeting Rome, must rank among his best works, perhaps surpassing even his famous Christ Stopped at Eboli. The essays in Fleeting Rome focus on Romans’ uniq...

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Greek, Roman, Arab, Norman, Swabian: throughout the centuries, Palermo was ruled by different civilizations and this is reflected in the city’s architecture, a mixture of Arabesque and Norman magnificence, of Baroque and Liberty styles. The multi-ethnic past of Palermo is visible in the Cathedral, one of the most important historic buildings and a...

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Living the high life — Italian-style — is just 6,600 kilometres and $53,000 away. That’s the low-end cost of a week’s stay at Villa Besana on the shores of Lake Como, an upscale resort area in northern Italy. Few luxuries are left unoffered at the picturesque retreat in the foothills of the Alps, where a Michelin-starred chef, a cellar of fine wine...

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Did you know that Italy has more sites with UNESCO World Heritage status than any other country in the world? Italy is in the top ranking of World Heritage out of 1,001 worldwide. 777 of them are cultural heritage; 194 of them are natural; and 30, mixed. Italy has 51 sites out of them, and is followed by Spain, which has 44 UNESCO sites, and by Chi...

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Every year in Italy there are many local celebrations which re-enact historical events through staged costume performances. One of the most important is the one yearly held in Palmanova.. Here we will tell you about its history and in particular how this tradition began. We will also present some of the many side events taking place, and finally wi...

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Rome is dotted with fountains – hundreds of them. From monumental to small, the city’s architectural landscape is very much characterized by the presence of ‘fontane,’ which for the past 2,000 years have decorated the squares and provided drinking water. During the Roman Empire, Rome had eleven aqueducts providing water for 39 monumental fountains...

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Today, it's one of the most astonishing places in Italy -- a city carved into a rugged hillside -- but just a few years ago, Matera was branded a national disgrace. Many residents still remember when the city had a reputation for squalor and its residents made their homes in dark grottoes that in some cases were originally used by their ancestors 9...

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It’s easy to miss the ancient Tuscan town of Sommocolonia. Perched on the spine of a high ridge amid a wild expanse of canyons, ravines and chestnut forests 38 miles north of Pisa, there are no restaurants, inns or cafes there. Nor are there any banks, grocery stores, pharmacies or things that really make a town a town. The stone settlement isn’t i...

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Just a few years ago, you might have been forgiven for thinking that Palermo’s main attraction was its collection of Mafia hot spots. Sure, the city’s tangled history with Godfather-esque organized crime dons will continue to lure its fair share of tourists to the capital of Sicily. But nowadays, Italy’s fifth-largest city is drawing an increasingl...

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Posizionate in vari luoghi del centro della Capitale, le Statue Parlanti nacquero in epoca pontificia quando il popolo cominciò ad appendere al collo di queste sculture cartelli con scritte satiriche, invettive e dialoghi umoristici mirati a deridere vari personaggi pubblici, tra i quali spesso anche il Papa, ovviamente rigorosamente di autori anon...

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