Heritage

For our ancestors, the Romans, wine was not just a drink but a symbol of power, wealth, and status; its production was a complex process that involved not only manual labor but also sophisticated technology and management. The Villa of the Quintilii, located in …

Pizzoccheri are a traditional dish from Valtellina, a mountainous region between northern Lombardia and Switzerland. The dish has ancient origins, with some believing that the Romans already knew them, as we will see.  The recipe is quite simple: a dough made …

Italy is known for its art, architecture, cuisine, and natural beauty, but often we forget how some of its most iconic landmarks are streets that for centuries offered locals and visitors a way around our cities, or represented a destination …

In Italy, as in many other parts of the world, churches are traditionally built with their main altar facing East. In Rome, San Pietro, San Giovanni in Laterano, and Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri all face East. In Florence, the …

Il 25 Aprile is a significant historical date in Italy, marking the conclusion of World War II and Fascism in the country. This is a day to reflect on the past, remember the sacrifices made, and celebrate the birth of a new …

Instinctively, you say: “Galileo!” Upon reflection, you probably remember it was Hans. But what if I told you that the person who invented the telescope was the one and only Leonardo da Vinci? This is the conclusion researchers came to, after …

When we think of the remnants of the ancient Romans, our minds tend to wander to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, or the majestic Pantheon, all situated in modern Italy. However, the vestiges of this great civilization are not confined …

If you’ve been to Rome, you know the Eternal City loves her cats. The cat colony at Torre Argentina is world-famous, and visitors to the Colosseum, or the Fori Imperiali can testify their presence is well-established in these two famous archaeological symbols of …

I don’t know how common it is in US schools, but here in Italy, at least when I was a child in the 1980s, it was quite common to create colorful paper mosaics during art class: you’d buy these colored, shiny paper …

Medicine in Rome was at once incredibly different and incredibly close to what it is today. Different, of course, because of what 2,000 years of discoveries and research gave us; but similar, because some of our ancestors’ intuitions – which …