Published on Saturday, November 15, 2014 by Kathy McCabe Excellent design features in every aspect of Italian life, from furniture to automobiles to eyeglass frames to grocery packaging. Of course bookstores in our favorite country are well designed—and often also extremely beautiful. This list is of the most visually arresting stores. They aren’t necessarily the ones in which you’ll find titles in English (but isn’...

Published on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 by Kathy McCabe Say “Clooney effect,” and many people will think of George himself, and go weak in the knees. But the sexy actor has had an equally strong impact on Venetian tourism. After his September nuptials with Amal Alamuddin (now proudly “Amal Clooney”), The Daily Mail reported that UK travel searches to the city known as La Serenissima went up by more than 100%. Bu...

Published on Tuesday, November 11, 2014 by Kathy McCabe Twenty years ago, the frescoes of the Vatican’s renowned Sistine Chapel received a major 16-year restoration, making Michelangelo’s masterful paintings vivid once more. After all, the Sistine Chapel is visited by 20,000 people each and every day; some wear and tear is to be expected. Both visitors and artwork will benefit from the latest upgrades installed by t...

Published on Sunday, November 9, 2014 by Kathy McCabe The Shroud of Turin will go on display for the first time in five years in the spring of 2015, in coordination with a visit by Pope Francis. The sacred cloth, said to have wrapped Jesus Christ in his tomb, is stored in the Turin Cathedral in a climate-controlled case and will be on display at the cathedral from April 19 to June 24, 2015, with Pope Francis’ visit sch...

Published on Wednesday, November 5, 2014 by Kathy McCabe Emperor Nero’s opulent palace in Rome, built in 64 AD and closed since 2005, is open to the public once again—this time, though, only on weekends to allow restoration work to continue. Because most of the structure is still damaged, just 8,530 square feet of the palace’s 170,000 square feet has reopened, partially thanks to financial aid by crowdfunding and Sky ...

Published on Monday, November 3, 2014 by Kathy McCabe New photos of one of Benito Mussolini’s secret underground war bunkers have surfaced as Rome celebrates the 40th anniversary of the end of fascism and as the bunker opens for visitors. One of 12 bunkers eventually built in Rome for Mussolini, this shelter was built in 1940 because Mussolini feared Allied forces would attempt to assassinate him. He was right—th...

Published on Wednesday, October 29, 2014 by Kathy McCabe After a fierce competition, Matera in the southern Italian region of Basilicata has been named as European Capital of Culture for 2019. The small town expects more than 5 million visitors in 2019, and plans to complete public works projects and city improvements to host the event. A town of 60,000 people, Matera is little-visited by travelers and is best known as...

Published on Monday, October 27, 2014 by Kathy McCabe The Italy Mix is a weekly 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: Swiss Guards Launch Cookbook: Sure they guard the Pope, but did you know that they can cook too? It includes the favorite recipes of Pope Benedict and Pope Francis.  (Wanted in Rome) Sparkling ...

Published on Friday, October 24, 2014 by Kathy McCabe These beautiful mountains are one of the gems of Northern Italy. Here are five facts you might not have not about this corner of Italy: 1. The Dolomites were designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009. The mountain range in northern Italy received this designation for its sublime beauty and historical significance, as the area contains Mesozoic fossils and...

Published on Wednesday, October 15, 2014 by Kathy McCabe Archaeological excavations have proven that the heart of Florence has been in the same spot for thousands of years – underneath the famous Palazzo Vecchio, itself built in 1299. The excavations unearthed the ruins of an ancient Roman amphitheater in Florence, extending to nearby Piazza della Signoria, where archaeologists have found objects dating to the ancient Rom...