francesca bezzone

Every Italian born after 1961 has, for sure, some childhood memories tied to figurinePanini and their beautiful albums. We’d buy them – or better, beg our parents and grandparents to buy them for us –exchange them with one another to …

The Beati Paoli are, perhaps, the most mysterious citizens of Palermo, so mysterious we don’t even know if they existed. For more than five centuries, their name and the legend surrounding it has permeated the streets of Sicily’s capital, with …

A year and two months since the first Covid-19 case was reported, Italy is still battling the virus. However, things may just have begun looking up: this week, most of the country will be placed in the lowest-risk zona gialla, …

People of America, Italy wants you back. With the promise that international travel will finally resume any time now, Americans can hope to fly over to the Belpaese again, after 15 months where boarding a plane to Europe remained a …

To us Italians and Italian-Americans – and to most historians – there isn’t really any doubt about it: Christopher Columbus was from Genoa. However, not everyone is as certain as we are, so much so the University of Granada, in …

If you read us regularly, you are definitely familiar with Pasquino, the talking statue located near Piazza Navona that, through his invectives, satires and commentaries  (the famous Pasquinate) — all rigorously seasoned with a hefty dose of humor —  outlined …

Possibly the most famous and recognizable Roman building in the world, the Colosseum is as iconic as anything can be: it’s synonym with the grandeur of the Roman Empire, with its power and, well… also with our ancestors’ penchant for …

My great uncle was a painter. Class 1918, the youngest of three, he had blond hair and the looks – I am told – of an old Hollywood actor. Left-handed and extraordinarily talented, he had always been an artist at …

The world discovered the existence of trenette, the traditional Ligurian noodle, thanks to Pixar’s Luca and his voracious appetite for them. But for every person familiar with the Italian Riviera and its cuisine, they are far from being a surprise: …

Castel del Monte has a way to charm its visitors. Architecturally unique and historically precious, this medieval dwelling located some 15 miles from Andria and about 50 from Bari, in Apulia, had been constructed in the 13th century to meet …