Published on Friday, March 13, 2020 by Kathy McCabe A hypogeum (an underground temple) and tomb were found in the Roman Forum last month, dating back to the 6th century B.C. A sarcophagus that was found in the tomb was made of tufa rock, the same material with which Rome’s Capitol building was built. "This is an extraordinary discovery," Alfonsina Russo, the director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, told ANSA...

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 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 Tuesday, January 14, 2020 by Kathy McCabe Many of Rome’s cobblestoned streets will soon be revamped and paved with asphalt to make the roads more friendly to drivers. On 68 streets in the historic center, cobblestones will be removed and relocated to 113 pedestrian streets. Work to remove the sampietrini, as the basalt cobblestones are called, will begin this month with Via IV Novembre, followed b...

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 Sunday, November 24, 2019 by Kathy McCabe To the delight of art lovers, Italy’s popular free museum Sundays are back. This popular program, which offers free entry on the first Sunday of the month for both Italian and foreign visitors at state-run museums around the country, was introduced in 2014 by Culture Minister Dario Franceschini. About 15 million visitors took advantage of the offering in total Ho...

Published on Monday, October 14, 2019 by Kathy McCabe The beauty of Rome is that the city’s vast collection of art and architecture means there’s always something different and unexpected to see beyond the usual tourist haunts. Whether you’re a seasoned traveler to Rome looking to discover new sites or a first-time visitor seeking to escape the crowds, on your next trip to Rome, visit these lesser-known archite...

Published on Tuesday, September 24, 2019 by Kathy McCabe Molise, one of Italy’s lesser-known and rural regions, has been experiencing a population decline as residents increasingly move to urban areas. So Antonio Tedeschi, a regional councilor, had an idea: Entice people to move to Molise by paying them $27,000 to settle there and open a small business. "I want my region to undergo a renaissance and avoid its authe...

Published on Sunday, August 25, 2019 by Kathy McCabe When you think of images of Rome, you probably think of the Coliseum, the Trevi Fountain and, of course, the cobblestone-lined streets that have been an iconic part of the city’s landscape for centuries. Unfortunately, as beautiful as the cobblestone streets are, they are also becoming more of a nuisance. According to an article in The Local, the blocks are too e...