Culture

Via Roma in the heart of Vernazza / Photo: Jeff Whyte via Shutterstock

These Patterns in Italian Street Names are the Path to Understanding the Country

by Alex Sakalis | Fri, 11/08/2024 - 02:40

Spend enough time in Italy and you’ll start to notice something about the names of city streets: They’re predictable. When I go to a new city, I can…

Culture

Descending a Secret Underground Stairwell Toward Sicily’s Jewish Past

by Eric Millman | Fri, 10/11/2024 - 07:20

In old-town Syracuse, Sicily, at the corner of Via della Giudecca and Via del Crocefisso — “Ghetto” and “Crucifix” streets, respectively — an all but forgotten…

Culture

Marcello Mastroianni, the Ultimate Latin Lover, Really Wished You Wouldn’t Call Him That

by Eric Millman | Fri, 09/27/2024 - 04:00

This week marks a full century since the actor Marcello Mastroianni entered our world. Now, nearly 30 years on since he exited, it remains quasi-illegal to…

Culture

When Pablo Picasso Found Himself in Italy

by Alex Sakalis | Tue, 09/03/2024 - 04:15

Practically every aspect of Pablo Picasso’s life and art has already been picked apart. But his brief sojourn in Italy in 1917, when the artist was 35, remains…

Culture

Venice is Hiring Gondoliers. What Other Iconic Italian Jobs Need New Blood?

by Toni DeBella | Fri, 08/23/2024 - 14:11

The Venetian gondola is an Italian icon — and the gondoliers who pilot them have one of the most recognizable professions in the world. Since 1094, the…

Culture

Silver medalists Stefano Oppo and Gabriel Soares

A Brief History of Azzurro, Italian Athletes’ Preferred Shade of Blue

by Alexa Ahern | Thu, 08/08/2024 - 06:50

If you’ve watched any Italian athletes competing at the Paris 2024 Olympics in recent days, you may have noticed a recurring thread: The color blue. Unlike…

Culture

Via Appia Named 60th UNESCO World Heritage Site in Italy

by Toni DeBella | Thu, 07/25/2024 - 04:37

Via Appia is a 2,300-year-old autostrada. Its innovation was unmatched in ancient Rome, and it opened up the gateway to migration and commerce. The…

Culture

Why It’s Time to Put the Bargello Museum Back on Your Florence List

by Toni DeBella | Fri, 06/14/2024 - 12:40

Florence’s Bargello Museum reopened its Maiolica Room and Islamic Hall to the public earlier this week after a nine-month reconfiguration. The Maiolica Room,…

Culture

Azzurri teammates celebrate after Davide Frattesi's goal

Italy is Increasingly Multicultural. So Why Isn’t its National Soccer Team?

by Laurence Connell | Sun, 06/09/2024 - 08:45

In October of last year, after featuring in a 4-0 victory against Malta, then-20-year-old Destiny Udogie described making his first appearance for Italy’s…

Culture

Forget One Euro Homes. It’s Street Art Festivals’ Turn To Revive Italian Villages.

by Giulia Riva | Fri, 05/24/2024 - 02:45

Of all the revitalization efforts happening across Italy’s endangered rural villages — some hyper-local, others more widespread throughout the nation — the…