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 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 Saturday, October 17, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Turin’s newest museum, Camera – the Italian Center for Photography, opened on October 1 with two exhibits on the subject of Ukraine, from Ukrainian photographer Boris Mikhailov and French photographer Jerome Sessini. Located in a 2,000-square-meter building in Turin’s historic center, Camera aims to promote the art of photography by helping amateurs become bette...

Published on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 by Kathy McCabe It has been more than a century since Romans were able to visit an aquarium in their city, but the wait is almost over, as the city’s brand new Sea Life Rome Aquarium is scheduled to open in spring 2016 in a completely underground structure located underneath the artificial lake the modern EUR district of Rome. The stars of the aquarium will include sea turtles, ...

Published on Monday, September 28, 2015 by Kathy McCabe A millennia-old Etruscan outpost in the middle of Lazio, Civita di Bagnoregio rises precariously from the volcanic rock. It seems anchored squarely atop the rugged hill, where it has sat for 2,500 years, but is in grave danger of collapse, both figuratively and literally. Only a tiny handful of people live here year-round – the population fluctuates, but is limit...

Published on Wednesday, September 23, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Matera, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, is gearing up to host 20 crews of European hot air balloons at the third annual Matera Balloon Festival next month. The four-day event, which runs from October 8 to 11 will give adventurous visitors a chance to soar above the rocky landscape by paragliding or hot air ballooning; for t...