Culture

Relics and reliquaries were really a thing of the Middle Ages. A saint’s bone or two could put your tiny village on the map and quickly transform it into a pilgrimage destination, which also meant something else: money. Hang on, you may …

The Colosseum is a symbol of Rome and Italy, with which everyone is familiar, even those who’ve never visited us. It is majestic and grandiose, as its name suggests, but also reassuring in a way: just like an old friend or a …

You may have read that opera lirica has recently become a candidate to enter the UNESCO intangible world heritage: another great achievement for our beautiful country and for the world of music. Yes, for our country, because opera as we know it today was …

Only last week, our Prime Minister Mario Draghi, during his intervention at the Verso Sud forum, held in Sorrento to discuss the role of our Southern regions in the future development of Italy, emphasized the importance of the Mediterranean in our economy, and …

Dante Alighieri is a symbol of Italy and its poetry, but also of the city he was born, Firenze. A proud Florentine, Dante never kept the love he had for his hometown a secret, so why is he buried in Ravenna? Well, because …

“Sweetie, where are you going on that bike?” If you like oldies made in Italy, you are probably familiar with the refrain from the 1951’s eponymous song, Bellezza in Bicicletta – incidentally, an interesting story, that of this song, but …

There are two countries within Italy. One, the Vatican, is the smallest sovereign state in the world. The other, San Marino, is the most ancient Republic still extant. There is something very magical about San Marino, a place which I had …

Whenever disaster strikes at home or abroad, the Red Cross springs into action. It’s a story many of us learn as school children: Clara Barton, nicknamed the Angel of the Battlefield because of her selfless medical service to Civil War soldiers, established the American …

You know the rule: children inherit their father’s surname automatically in most countries of the world, with the notable exception, for instance, of Spain and South America, where both are given, but only the father’s passing on further. For a long time, …

Aceto Balsamico di Modena is one of the most popular Italian products around the world. When I used to live abroad, in Northern Europe, I’d find it as an ingredient in a bit of everything from salad to sandwiches, and in …