Culture

These Exhibitions in Rome Should be on Your Radar for Summer 2025

by Alex Sakalis | Mon, 05/05/2025 - 11:40

Rome in high season can be a whirlwind of crowds, long lines and packed piazzas — but away from the well-worn paths of the Colosseum and Vatican Museums is a…

Culture

Get Up Close With Caravaggio On Your Next Visit to Rome

by Toni DeBella | Thu, 03/13/2025 - 13:00

Rome’s National Gallery of Ancient Art at Palazzo Barberini opened “Caravaggio 2025” last week, kicking off one of the most highly anticipated exhibitions of…

Culture

Everything You Need to Know About Ladin, the Secret Language of the Dolomites

by Alex Sakalis | Fri, 02/21/2025 - 07:40

“Willkommen. Benvenuti. Welcome.” These are the three familiar greetings written on the sign at Parco Cervi, deep and high in Italy’s Dolomite region. Yet…

Culture

Record Viewership and Viral Moments: Highlights From the 75th Edition of Sanremo

by Jenna Spray | Sun, 02/16/2025 - 23:40

“È come Il Natale, La Pasqua, Il Carnevale,” Jovanotti declared from Sanremo’s main stage on the first night of the music festival’s 75th edition. Love it or…

Culture

Inside Palazzo Citterio, the Modern Art Gallery Freshening Up Milan’s Brera

by Alex Sakalis | Sun, 02/02/2025 - 04:43

Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera — one of the world’s most venerable art museums — is expanding. Under director Angelo Crespi, the preeminent home of Italian…

Culture

Palazzo del Comune of Pordenone / Photo: BearFotos via Shutterstock

This Pordenone Campaign Pushes Back Against Provincialism

by Ornella Macorig | Mon, 01/06/2025 - 09:27

Editor's note: Pordenone was just declared Italian Capital of Culture for 2027 on March 12, 2025. To celebrate, we are revisiting this article on the campaign…

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…