All Around Italy

After visiting Fellini’s hometown of Rimini, our journey through the cinematic roots of the Emilia-Romagna region leads us to the city of Ferrara. Besides being known as one of the “capitals” of the Italian Renaissance, as well as because of …

The “Scoppio del Carro” or Explosion of the Cart, is one of the most spectacular festivals in Italy. It’s an ancient tradition that is deeply rooted in folklore. One that’s exciting and noisy as it is colourful. This is Easter, …

From the time of Emperor Augustus, the Salt Road has been a path for commerce between the mountain hamlet of Limone Piedmont and the Mediterranean Sea. Today trade continues in another form as visitors flock to the Maritime Alps seeking …

During the early Rena-issance, the noble Malaspina family became so powerful that it managed to rule over the border region between Tuscany, Liguria, and Emilia for several centuries. Instrumental to this success was their control over the Apuan Alps surrounding …

The last stop on our journey to discover the origins of Emilia-Romagna’s best-known filmmakers is in Parma. Whereas Rimini and Ferrara are closely related to the figures of Fellini and Antonioni, respectively, this beautiful city in the northwestern part of …

Ever since Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness, Christians have sought solitude as an act of devotion and dedication to peaceful prayer. Devout and secluded Christian communities began to spring up across Europe as early as the 3rd and …

Bagheria is a curiosity, a literary space in the most exotic place in Europe: Sicily at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, part of Europe and Africa, yet belonging entirely to neither. Sicily remains a unique land with an Arabic vibe, …

The streets of Venice cast their spells on thousands of visitors every year. From the day-trippers ticking St Mark’s off their bucket list to summer students here to study, from opera fans to art-lovers, everyone is searching for our own …

We made a brief stop at Grassano, one of the two small southern villages where Mussolini exiled Carlo Levi to silence him during the fascist’s ruinous reign.  But the real story of both Scotellaro and Levi is found in Matera. …

In the summer of 2015, the city of Bologna hosted in its town hall a successful exhibition titled Emilia-Romagna, terra di cineasti (Emilia-Romagna, a land of filmmakers): inspired by an eponymous essay written in 1990 by the influential film critic …