La vita italiana

There isn’t a period in history as quintessentially Italian as the Renaissance. Even though it spread throughout Europe, with the notable exception of the British islands, it is in Italy that the rebirth of culture after the “dark ages” (which …

If there is one reason why Italian Americans are especially proud of their ethnic roots, it is because Italy happened to be the birthplace of the first explorers and navigators who “discovered” – or better, “re-discovered” – America at the …

Piazza Navona: how beautiful it is. So beautiful one may even accept to pay an excruciatingly high price for a “granita al limone” and a coffee in one of its many cafés just to dwell in comfort for a few …

History and art have a lot of things in common, of course. One of them is certainly the importance, nay, the essentiality of the concept of authenticity: an art piece is valuable and meaningful only when authentic, just as historical …

The “Marinella philosophy” originated in the year 1914, when the thirty-four-year-old Neapolitan Don Eugenio opened a small shop in the Riviera of Chiaia of Naples. After having completed the renovations, the young founder undertook his first trip to London to …

We all love it and eat it, and we may even be somehow knowledgeable about how to prepare some of its most representative dishes, but what do we really know about the history of food in Italy? Why does the …

When Niccolo Machiavelli penned his masterpiece, The Prince, Italy was a land divided and besieged by many foreign forces.  In his last chapter, “An Exhortation to free Italy from the Hands of the Barbarians,” he calls for new weapons and …

Every spring, thousands of tourists descend on the picturesque city of Siracusa in the southeast corner of Sicily, drawn to an experience unlike any other: Seeing Greek theater come alive in the same dramatic, open-air setting enjoyed by the ancient …

The Torino flavored wine returns to the spotlight of cocktails on the bar top with the vintage atmosphere from the beginning of the century, not only in the Piedmontese capital but throughout Italy and the world. In a bottle of …

The 100th edition of the Giro d’Italia is well underway. A celebration of Italian cycling and one of the most famous tours of its kind in the world. Lasting three weeks, the route covers a total of 3612 kilometres and …