Heritage

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 …

In Italy, Easter comes a close second in the list of most loved celebrations after, needless to say, Natale. Both rooted in religious tradition, they are the apotheosis of Italian spirituality, heritage and, of course, food.  Easter is a movable …

The Roman army is legendary: whether you think of Caesar’s Republican days or the greatness of the Empire, its strength, prowess, organization are not only known among classicists and military historians, but also among common people, used to the centurions …

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 …

Buon compleanno, Venezia. I know, you’d never thought to have such a birthday. No tourists in town and your — not many — residents locked inside. I have the impression you enjoyed your 1500 years celebrations, back in 1921, better, …

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 …

Goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg may have invented the movable-type printing press around 1450 in Meinz, Germany to create his monumental Bibles, but Venice is where the Printing Revolution began by giving the nascent industry a major push and changing men’s lives. …

Life becomes a time warp in Cornello dei Tasso, a golden stone medieval hamlet of unusual beauty perched on a cliff in the Brembana Valley at 800 m above sea level. Only eight kilometers north of San Pellegrino Terme and …

About 60 million people speak Italian in the Belpaese and an extra 1.5 million do it around the world, including France, Croatia, Switzerland, Slovenia,  as well as Argentina, Australia, Brazil and the US, of course.  A brief review of what …

Italians and Americans have plenty of things in common, but there is one they don’t share: Father’s Day.  To be truthful, it’s not only the US and Italy that celebrate their dads on different times of the year, because Father’s …