Traditions

The craft of rope makers, funaio or cordaro, is as old as Man: a thousands-year long art, based on an easy manual technique, where two only apparently simple factors join forces: the rush (which in Italian is called giunco and …

Naming a child is usually one of two things: a matter of trends or a matter of tradition. Every year, parents all over the world let celebrities and VIPs inspire their choices, just as it happened in 2017, when “Rumi”  …

For over forty years, I have been living in both Italy and the US. I feel Italian and American, Italiana and Americana, sounds almost like a Starbucks drink! The difference with being Italian-American is that I feel the two cultures …

Lunigiana is a historical area nestled between Tuscany and Romagna that always survived on agriculture, a characteristic from which it inherits all of its traditional cuisine. Typical of this land is a sort of flat bread, testarolo, still cooked using …

The glossy, celebrity-filled cologne counters of modern shopping malls hide a fascinating, if odd history. Today’s fragrances offer heady punches of patchouli, sweet vanilla, amber and candy floss, but their ancient counterparts called for deer musk, the anal secretions of …

Modern pizza rhy-mes more with evolution than tradition. After its recent appointment to the UNESCO Intangible World Heritage List, the dish symbol of the Made in Italy and of Italian history and tradition all around the world, starts looking at …

Messina in north eastern Sicily is a sadly forgotten capital of the Italian island. Cruise ships arrive, and their passengers are whisked off to nearby tourist Mecca Taormina, while other tours leave it off their itinerary completely. This city, with its naturally formed …

The expression Made in Italy itself is almost perfectly synonymous with Italian craftsmanship, or artigianato, to say it as we do. From culinary products to clothing, from jewelry to leather goods and fabrics, the importance of human hands and of …

The road into the Hyblaean Mountains snakes left and right, hugging the hillsides as the flora turns from spartan scrubland to holm-oak forest. It’s hard to not notice, after the 40 km drive up from the gem city of Siracusa, …

Nevermind how long you have lived in Rome, you’ll always find something new to discover, or so do its lucky residents say. Of course, Rome is art, history and good food. It’s tradition and the very heart of Italian identity. …