Heritage
The ancient Romans are important for Italy: they are part of its history and heritage, a symbol of unity, and a constant presence in the collective imagination of the country. We like to read about them, discover what they used to do …
Have ever heard about the Passetto di Borgo or, to say it in Romanesco, er Coridore de Borgo? This historical landmark is a bit of a 007-esque fixture in the middle of the baroque beauty of the area around the Vatican. The elevated and …
Piazza San Marco is the heart of Venice and, if you’ve been to La Serenissima, you definitely spent some time there, either enjoying a Spritz at one of its many cafés or walking through the square itself, perhaps towards the Basilica, …
For Catholics, Easter is the most important celebration of the year. Yes, even more important than Christmas. In it, we remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is considered by the faithful the ultimate proof of His divine nature. While Italians, just …
We were sitting in Adele Negro’s kitchen in Albany, CA in 1993. There were four of us, contemplating the exhibit we were about to construct—on the WWII story“When Italian Americans Were ‘Enemy Aliens,’” and what we could formally name it. …
While I am uploading this article on our website, we’ve just re-elected our beloved Sergio Mattarella to the Presidency of the Republic for a second time. It seems the right moment, so, to delve into the history of power and …
Is there anything more quintessentially Venetian than a gondola? Well yes, perhaps: a gondoliere, or gondolier, to say it in English. We all know these colorful figures, so familiar to all those who visited La Serenissima at least once in …
In Christianity, Lent is the period of forty days that anticipates Easter and corresponds to the forty days spent by Jesus fasting and praying in the desert of Judea, as told by the Gospels. For Catholics, this is traditionally a period of …
Reprinted From Newsletter, Italian American Studies Association Among the features of Prof. Kenneth Scambray’s new book, Italian Immigration in the American West, 1870-1940, that stand out are the episodes he relates coming directly from his Family Papers. These are by …
Naming her brings to mind a time of conspiracies, cloak-and-dagger events, and lascivious, decadent orgies of sex and wealth. But was Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI and his favorite, Vannozza Cattanei, truly such a dissolute being? According to historians …