When Rome’s famed Cinecittà cinema studio complex opened its doors for a Fellini exhibition in 2011, visitors could walk onto film sets including replicas of a stretch of 19th century Broadway used in Gangs of New York and the sprawling ancient Roman Forum built for the BBC television series Rome. Cinecittà was built in 1937 […]
Farfalla (n.f) Butterfly. Farfalla is a strange word because, although it does derive directly from Latin, the way that it has morphed into modern Italian is unusual. The Latin, ‘papilio’, has become ‘papillon’ in French, and the word retains its ‘p’ form in Old Florentine (the basis of modern Italian), in the Bolognese, Milanese and […]
In 1659, the Medici family, now well and truly the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, sold their 1400s Renaissance home in Florence, where they had lived when they were bankers and the unofficial rulers of the Florentine Republic, to the Riccardi family. Understandably, the new owners immediately renovated. Possibly their most spectacular addition to the palazzo […]
Nuvola/Nube (n.f.) Cloud. Bargain: two Words for the Week for the price of one! You may think. But it’s not really. It’s more like one and a half. As we’ll see… Here the Italian words are very different from the English one. ‘Cloud’ is Old English – and is actually related to ‘clod’, as in […]
Carnevale (n.m.) Carnival The tradition of Carnevale has never truly been part of the Protestant tradition, but its history in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches is ancient and rich – the Venice Carnival has been going strong since 1268, except notably for a few years at the end of the 18th century when the […]
Located in the Piazza San Marco in Venice, the prestigious Caffè Florian is the oldest coffee house in Italy, and has attracted a particularly high calibre of guests over the years… This orchestra, playing al fresco in a time-honoured Italian tradition, are part of the expected luxury of Caffè Florian. Opening in 1720, it is […]
Located just outside the city of Agrigento in Sicily is one of the most iconic Italian sights, the Valley of the Temples, which serves to remind us of ancient Greek rulers… The Valle dei Templi is, quite understandably, one of Italy?s mostprized archeological relics. Built between 510 BC and 430 BC, it was excavated and […]
With incredible detailed stonework, the Arch of Constantine on the Via di San Gregario in Rome marks a significant historical victory that changed the course of religion? The impressive Arco di Costantino is one of the key architectural sights of ancient Rome. Located between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill, it was built to celebrate […]
Sally FitzGerald celebrates the 100th anniversary of DH Lawrence’s move to Lake Garda with a tour around the town of Gargnano… When someone visits a place for a day and decides to stay for six months you know they must have discovered something quite special. This is exactly what happened when the much-loved English writer […]
Hailed as the next Italian tenor by producer Mike Hedges, Friar Alessandro?s debut has shot to number one in the Classic FM charts. Rachel Beckwith uncovers the remarkable story of the first friar to be signed by a major label The headquarters of Decca Records is a large, contemporary building with a labyrinth of corridors […]