Tag Archives: Italy

Great Train Journeys: ‘Palermo To Mount Etna’ In Sicily, Italy (BBC Video)

Michael Portillo’s 1936 Bradshaw’s Guide brings him to the Italian ‘treasure island’ of Sicily, full of natural beauty and ‘scenery of the greatest charm’. But the interwar guide book also tells Michael that the head of government in Italy is the fascist leader Signor Benito Mussolini.

On a railway journey from the capital, Palermo, through the ancient town of Agrigento and the port of Siracusa, to Europe’s largest volcano, Mount Etna, Michael explores Sicilian life under the dictatorship. Michael finds out how the dictator took on the mafia and asks whether it is true that under Mussolini, the trains ran on time. In Palermo, Michael takes in the art and architecture of the futurists and feasts on a Sicilian speciality – spaghetti and sardines – in the city’s Ballaro street market. In the Capo district, Michael learns how the island’s distinctive puppets are made and is enchanted to see them in action.

Among the spectacular ancient Greek and Roman temples of Agrigento, Michael hears of the passionate ten-year search by a British archaeologist at the time of his guide for a long-lost ancient Greek theatre. The drama of the interwar period comes to life in front of Michael’s eyes as he joins six characters in search of an author at the Teatro Pirandello.

Michael takes the helm to explore the port of Siracusa by boat before visiting a controversial monument, which depicts a dark chapter in Italian history. He concludes his Sicilian journey on the circular railway around Mount Etna, aboard the sleek, futurist-inspired train inaugurated by Mussolini in 1937 – La Littorina.

Roman History: ‘Street Food Shop’ Discovered In Pompeii Excavation (Video)

A street food eatery discovered at Pompeii has now been completely excavated, helping to reveal some of the favourite dishes of the citizens of the ancient Roman city. The shop is known as a “thermopolium” since it served hot food. A segment of the fast-food building’s counters was discovered in 2019 during work to shore up Pompeii’s often-crumbling ruins. The counter was decorated with paintings of animals, which might provide clues of the ingredients those meals contained. On top of the counter there were holes, where warm food was stored to be served.

Walking Tours: ‘Raggiolo’ In Tuscany, Italy (Video)

Raggiolo, the small village characterized by ancient fortifications, narrow and cobbled streets, small houses with tiny patches of land supported by dry stone walls, the village still perfectly preserves its original characteristics.

Located on the slopes of Pratomagno in the Casentino valley in the center of famous historical and tourist resorts such as La Verna, Camaldoli, Poppi and Arezzo, easily reachable along the roads that are themselves part of the beauty of the journey. In the silence of places pervaded by a kind of suspension of time, Raggiolo dominates its magnificently outdated valley from above. It presents itself with the simplicity of someone who has deep roots, more than millenary and an ancient and noble historical legacy of pride, of daily confrontation with the harshness of life, of ancestry that extends into the night of the centuries.

Stories of Longobards, of feudal lords and in particular of a Corsican colony that the tradition of the town has deduced here centuries ago. Stubborn people that of Raggiolo, indomitable and cunning, tempered by fatigue. Mountain people with a life marked by dried chestnuts, by familiarity with the forest and with animals, by transhumance in the Maremme. Fast with the billhook and the pinnate, daring in the use of the knife, of unusual physical vigor, lively intelligence. And a hard misery to endure in the intense cold of winters among polenta, boiled chestnuts and cheese.

Curiosity: ✱”La Brigata di Raggiolo” is the name of the local pro loco. Thanks to this association, the village is full of interesting cultural, folkloristic and territorial promotion activities that are held throughout the year. In particular, we should remember “The talks of Raggiolo”, an annual event where scholars of various kinds meet in this village to discuss topics related to Pratomagno and the “Festa di Castagnatura”, a festival dedicated to chestnuts which is generally held in the last weekend of October.

Walking Tours: ‘Collalto Sabino’ In Italy (Video)

A walking tour in 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗼, region 𝗟𝗮𝘇𝗶𝗼, center Italy, a small town of about 400 inhabitants, in the province of Rieti.

Collalto Sabino is a comune in the Province of Rieti in the Italian region Latium, located about 50 kilometres northeast of Rome and about 35 kilometres southeast of Rieti. Collalto Sabino borders the following municipalities: Carsoli, Collegiove, Marcetelli, Nespolo, Pescorocchiano, Turania.

Unique Travel: ‘Scattered Hotels’ In Italy – Designer Rooms In Medieval Towns

The ‘Albergo Diffuso’ is a concept of hospitality that was launched in Italy as an attempt to revive small, historic villages at risk of abandonment and historic buildings at risk of crumbling. 

A number of separate buildings make up an albergo diffuso, with a central unit corresponding to the reception within a 200-meter distance. They may feature rooms and apartments, with or without kitchen. There is also often a space for dining, and there may be other services and amenities as well, such as a pool. 

Santo Stefano di Sessanio is a fortified medieval village built in the mountains of Abruzzo at over 1250 meters above sea level, within the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park. 

The current urban configuration of the village was established in the middle of the Middle Ages when the phenomenon of fortification developed: high-altitude settlements, surrounded by a fortified wall perimeter that still remain today one of the most characteristic historical-topographical elements of the imaginary of the Italian landscape The integrity between territory and historical buildings has been residually preserved in some villages set in the Apennine mountains precisely because of their depopulation, in the more general context of impoverishment of the south, abandonment of the mountain and emigration of its people.

Website

Wilderness Timelapse: ‘Spirit In The Forests’ Of Abruzzo, Italy (Video)

Filmed and Edited by: Giovanni Lattanzi

Spiritus Silvam, the spirit of the forest. A timelapse video for an enchanted journey in the Abruzzo forests, in search of the magical spirit. That vital essence that inhabits all the woods of the world and that welcomes and accompanies you when you are among the trees, in their home. But you must have a free and aware mind, as well as a pure soul, to be able to meet him. And you have to remain silent in thought and open in your heart to talk to us and let you tell his magical stories.

Abruzzo is an Italian region, east of Rome, with an Adriatic coastline and the Apennine Mountains. National parks and nature reserves cover much of its rugged interior. It also encompasses hilltop towns, dating to the medieval and Renaissance periods. Regional capital L’Aquila is a walled city, damaged in a 2009 earthquake. The Trabocchi Coast, with sandy coves, is named after its traditional wooden fishing piers.

Walking Tours: ‘Venice – Italy’ In 4K UHD (Video)

Venice, the capital of northern Italy’s Veneto region, is built on more than 100 small islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has no roads, just canals – including the Grand Canal thoroughfare – lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces. The central square, Piazza San Marco, contains St. Mark’s Basilica, which is tiled with Byzantine mosaics, and the Campanile bell tower offering views of the city’s red roofs. 

Filmed in September 2020

Christmas 2020: An Empty ‘St. Peter’s Square’ In The Vatican City, Italy (Video)

St. Peter’s Square was eerily empty on Christmas Day Friday as Italians are under a nationwide lockdown for much of the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

St. Peter’s Square is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighborhood or rione of Borgo. Both the square and the basilica are named after Saint Peter, an apostle of Jesus considered by Catholics to be the first Pope.

Cocktails With A Curator: Bastiani’s “Adoration of the Magi” (The Frick Video)

In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” celebrate the Yuletide with Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon as he takes a closer look at Lazzaro Bastiani’s “Adoration of the Magi.” Acquired from Pierpont Morgan’s heirs in 1935—the year The Frick Collection opened to the public—this fascinating picture shows the gift-toting kings on different stages of their journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. A contemporary of Giovanni Bellini, Bastiani was considered the artist’s equal at the time and commanded similar prices for his pictures. Explore the work of this magnificent but under-appreciated artist while enjoying a festive Cranberry Bourbon cocktail—Merry Christmas!

Lazzaro Bastiani was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Venice. He was born in Padua. He is first recorded as a painter in Venice by 1460 in a payment for an altarpiece of San Samuele, for the Procuratori di San Marco. In 1462 he was paid at the same rate as Giovanni Bellini. 

Walking Tours: ‘Fara In Sabina’ In Italy (Video)

A walking tour in 𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮, region 𝗟𝗮𝘇𝗶𝗼, center Italy, a small town of about 14.000 inhabitants. The virtual walk starts just in the souhtern gate of this very cute town, in a saturday evening. Very few people around unfortunately, in full Coronavirus period.

Fara in Sabina, also spelled Fara Sabina, is a comune in the Province of Rieti in the Italian region Lazio, located about 40 kilometres northeast of Rome and about 25 kilometres southwest of Rieti.