Published on Sunday, March 1, 2020 by Kathy McCabe Rome’s Palatine Hill is now producing honey and olive oil from ingredients grown on its grounds. Italy owes its culinary brilliance to fresh, local products – and it doesn’t get more local than this. Parco Colosseo, the archaeological park comprising Palatine Hill, the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, is conducting a pilot project to produce the organic wildflo...

Published on Wednesday, February 26, 2020 by Kathy McCabe Romantic-era poet Giacomo Leopardi’s home will open the poet’s private living quarters to the public on March 21. Casa Leopardi, located in the town of Recanati in the central region of Le Marche, was the noble Leopardi family’s home. Parts of Casa Leopardi are already open to the public, such as the library and cellars, but the new opening will showcase the ...

Published on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 by Kathy McCabe Archaeologists working on the Herculaneum site near Pompeii have discovered that the infamous eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD produced heat so intense that it turned one man’s brain into glass. The remains of the man, whom archaeologists believe was about 25 years old, were discovered in the 1960s, but his body wasn’t fully examined until now. Dr. Pier Paol...

Published on Thursday, January 30, 2020 by Kathy McCabe Rome’s Borghese Gallery has started a crowdfunding campaign to raise about $8 million to buy a bronze sculpture by Bernini. The bust is of Pope Urban VIII, who commissioned many works from Bernini and was the Baroque artist’s most important customer. Now, Anna Coliva, the director of the Borghese Gallery, wants to purchase the bust from its current owners, the des...

Published on Sunday, January 26, 2020 by Kathy McCabe Italian art newspaper Artribune has named Rome’s MAXXI museum the Best Museum in Italy for 2019. MAXXI, a museum of modern art, stands for Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo. MAXXI, which opened in 2010, showcases contemporary art by Italian and foreign artists. The institution comprises two museums: a museum of art, and a museum of architecture. Its build...

Published on Saturday, January 4, 2020 by Kathy McCabe Piobbico, a beautiful medieval village in central Italy, has celebrated an unusual trait for 140 years: It is the home of the Club dei Brutti (The Ugly Club), known for the ugliness of its residents. The club’s motto is “A person is what he is and not what he looks like.” Piobbico, population 2,000, lies in a valley between the Adriatic Sea and the Apenni...

Published on Monday, December 30, 2019 by Kathy McCabe Newly excavated thermal baths have opened to the public in Pompeii, allowing visitors to see the ruins of what was supposed to be a main attraction in the city. Construction began on the Pompeii Central Baths before the fateful Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 A.D., but was never completed. The baths were being built to replace the city’s old bathhouse, whose rooms ...

Published on Thursday, December 26, 2019 by Kathy McCabe For now, the gardens at Milan’s Villa Belgiojoso Bonaparte are open only to adults accompanied by children – but that may change, as the city mulls whether to make the gardens accessible to all. Since July, Milan City Councilor Filippo Del Corno has been pushing to allow adults without children into the gardens as well. Tucked away behind a secret door at the 1...

Published on Friday, December 20, 2019 by Kathy McCabe Two Italian medical history museums – the Museo delle Arti Sanitarie in Naples (39-081-440647; Via Luciano Armanni 1; www.museoartisanitarie.it) and the Museo Storico Nazionale dell’Arte Sanitaria in Rome (39-06-6833262; Lungotevere in Sassia 4, Ospedale Santo Spirito) – are collaborating to enhance their respective collections and educate the public about Italy...

Published on Monday, December 16, 2019 by Kathy McCabe Michelangelo’s Pietà dell’Opera del Duomo is undergoing restoration at the Opera del Duomo museum in Florence. The sculpture is also known as The Deposition, the Bandini Pietà or The Lamentation over the Dead Christ, and is known for an incident in which Michelangelo became frustrated with the piece and tried to destroy it. The restoration began in Novembe...