Published on Saturday, December 26, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Perhaps the last thing that comes to mind when thinking of Italy is the Aztecs – but, in one of Italy’s many peculiarities and well-kept secrets, the Sicilian town of Modica  is famous for Aztec chocolate. Passing on their discovery of an interesting new food called xocolatl from the New World, Spanish conquistadors introduced the chocolate to Sicily during the i...

Published on Monday, December 21, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Before Rome was the modern center of Christianity, its religion consisted of rituals and practices introduced to the city from all over the Roman Empire and honoring various gods. Eventually, those pagan religions faded as Christianity rose, but one fascinating relic of pre-Christian worship has been renovated and opened to the public for the first time: a pagan basil...

Published on Wednesday, December 9, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Fendi, one of Italy’s most famous and respected fashion houses, will finance the restoration of four symbolic fountains in Rome—an announcement which follows Fendi’s recent financing of the Trevi Fountain restoration and renovation of Quattro Fontane. The latest fountains to get some stylish funds invested will be the Janiculum Fountain, the Fountain of Moses...

Published on Sunday, December 6, 2015 by Kathy McCabe As Rome prepares for a Jubilee Year (otherwise known as a Catholic Holy Year), city authorities have banned actors who dress up as ancient centurion guards and charge tourists for photo opportunities of and with them. According to Reuters, new and extended security measures for the Jubilee include making sure visitors to the capital are not subjected to the centur...

Published on Tuesday, December 1, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Italy will be the site of filming for a new film version of DC Comics’ Wonder Woman story, details learned when one of the principal actors, Saïd Taghmaoui sent photos out via social media of his costume and his colleague Chris Pine’s. (Those posts have been taken down since.) French actor Gal Gadot will play “Wonder Woman” in the film whose current/workin...

Published on Friday, November 27, 2015 by Kathy McCabe The city of Trapani on the island of Sicily was named the best Italian destination in terms of both price and quality by travelers who took part in a Trivago.com online survey; Cagliari (on Sardinia) and Lecce (in Puglia) came in second and third. "The objective of the Best Value Index is to draw a map of the cities that offer tourists the best compromise between ...

Published on Wednesday, November 18, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Proving there’s always something new to discover among Rome’s ancient treasures, the Roman Forum recently opened a newly restored section to the public for the first time. The Imperial Ramp, a more than 2,000-year-old pathway connecting the public part of the Forum to emperors’ private residences, offers a new look at how the rich and famous lived in ancient Rom...

Published on Saturday, November 7, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Last week, Italy’s culture ministry named Mantua the country's 2016 Cultural Capital, meaning that the northern city of 50,000 will be awarded one million euros to finance projects to enhance its historic status. Mantua, home to the powerful Gonzaga family from the 14th to the 18th centuries, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2007, because despite its small ...

Published on Monday, November 2, 2015 by Kathy McCabe In a previously discovered ancient Roman villa underneath the town of Positano, on the Amalfi Coast, further excavations have unveiled more treasures. Brilliantly colored frescoes, an extraordinary safe, part of the home’s white mosaic floor, and bronze furnishings reveal that the owners were wealthy and possibly nobles – especially given that the safe consist...

Published on Sunday, October 25, 2015 by Kathy McCabe The Italy Mix is a regular post about the most interesting Italy and Italy travel news and human interest stories around the Web. Here are our top picks for this week: Best Italian Wine Region You've Never Heard Of:  Friuli-Venezia Giulia’s vineyards, such as Rosazzo, benefit from the breezy, sunny microclimate created by their equidistance from the Austrian Alp...