Heritage

As Liberation Day approaches every April 25th, the editorial pages of Italy’s national newspapers reignite the national discourse over Mussolini, fascism, and the future of Italian democracy. Although the fall of nazi/fascism may seem remote, it remains relevant today, not only to …

Garibaldi purportedly once said, “I swear it will be spaghetti that unifies Italy.” It was at the time a Southern Italian dish associated only with the lower classes. Naples’ lazzaroni, the infamous street beggars, for little more than a penny …

The discovery of a 17,000-year-old skeleton in Grotta delle Mura, near Monopoli in Puglia, offered new insights into the genetic history of early human populations in southern Italy. The child, who died at just 16 months of age, is one …

We all know how important café culture is in Italy, with many believing that the first real cafés in Europe were invented here, with Venice often competing with Vienna for this honor. Over the years, we at L’Italo-Americano have had …

Palazzo Ducale, or the Doge’s Palace, is one of Venice’s most prominent landmarks, a symbol of the city’s immense power and prestige during the height of the Venetian Republic. For centuries, it served as the residence of the Doge — the …

Last weekend Italy, along with many other countries, transitioned to daylight saving time, a practice aimed at maximizing daylight hours during the evening by setting clocks 60 minutes forward. This annual adjustment is a modern solution to optimize energy usage and …

If you have been to Italy, you have most likely come across those small, colorful boxes of candies, usually displayed beside the till in virtually every café. If you bought some, their pastel hues and delicate flavor, I bet, found …

Volcanic ash rained down, followed by a fiery flood of pyroclastic rock and toxic gas; the noonday was cast into darkness. Where only moments before a normal August afternoon had been underway, now lay mayhem and devastation. The opulent villas, …

While names like Antonio Meucci, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison dominate the pages of technological history, not many know Innocenzo Manzetti, an Italian inventor whose remarkable innovations included one of the earliest prototypes of the telephone and, very importantly …

A newly discovered manuscript of Il Milione, Marco Polo’s famous account of his travels, has been found in the Biblioteca Diocesana Ludovico Jacobilli in Foligno, a historic town in the Umbria region of central Italy. The discovery is significant also due to …