Facts About Italy

Apennines peninsula-Italy

2009-10-04T02:07:00.000-07:00

Apennines peninsula-Italy

Italy (officially the Italian Republic) is a coastal country in southern Europe, which consists mainly of Apennines peninsula together with two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. In north, Italy border to Switzerland and Austria in the northeast of Slovenia in the northwest of France, the southwest has a maritime border with Tunisia. Independent State of San Marino and the Vatican are enclave within Italian territory. Campione d'Italia (2.6 km ²) is the only Italian Exclave in Switzerland.

Apennines peninsula-Italy

Rome is the capital city of Italy, the capital of the Lazio Region (Lazio) and Rome province. It is one of the largest cities in Europe with around two million and half people. Rome is also known as the eternal city. It is situated on the banks of the River Tiber and on the seven hills.

Apennines peninsula-Italy

Travel Italy-Calabria

2009-09-06T02:03:00.001-07:00

Travel Italy-Calabria

Calabria is a poor, tourist uninteresting allegedly, and in principle, neglected Italian country. Calabria serves tourists as a transit country on route to Sicily. On the fingers of Italian Boot may drink coffee in Tropea and Scilla, in Reggio Calabria look in the Museum of Greek bronze statue, and in Villa San Giovanni board on the ferry to Sicily.
Beautiful sea and the old lookout countless fortresses despite tourism is a relatively poorly developed, camps are a little bit.

Travel Italy-Calabria

Aspromonte National Park stretches about Calabrias highest mountain, 1955 meters high Montalto. As far as the nature is beautiful and gorgeous, the villages are ugly. A closer you coming, you get the impression of misery, loneliness, poverty.
Villages in the interior of Calabria should stand from the time of the Greeks - Roccaforte del Greco, the Greek fortress. Around the year 1000, however, is here in the run from the Saracens dwelt local population.

Travel Italy-Calabria

Hybrid Lamborghini Gallardo

2009-08-10T06:43:00.000-07:00

Hybrid Lamborghini Gallardo

Here comes the first hybrid sport bull
Lamborghini endorsed the development of sports with hybrid drive
According to the first man of Italian car manufacturer super sports cars represents, also in Lamborghini promises to "green" changes.

Hybrid Lamborghini Gallardo

Lamborghini Chairman of the Board is in talks to Automobilewoche said to have developed the first hybrid car.
Head of Lamborghini has confirmed rumors, that the first model with such a drive model will be Gallardo. Hybrid Gallardo will lights of the world saw in 2015, when to make its first "green" vehicle with electric drive on the market sent Lamborghini biggest rival, Ferrari.

Hybrid Lamborghini Gallardo

Paparazzi

2009-06-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

Paparazzi

"La dolce vita" is already part of Italian history. Then were born paparazzi that today with their own, often, on rude appliances steal stars private moments.
In the gallery Oltre Dimore in Bologna, you can view an interesting exhibition of the photographer Marcello Geppetti, which is the most 'flourishing' years of his life in Rome could find and recorded social key moments.
Marcello, who began his career as a 20-year young man, has written a very important chapter in the history of photography. His photos are closer the world stars life’s to the world of normal humans, and started the flowering period of paparazzi’s, which lasts even today.

Paparazzi

Italian Traditions-Singing

2009-06-06T01:34:00.000-07:00

Italian Traditions-Singing

Let me sing
Italians are happy people, they wants to sing, play, wants to have own family. You’ll say that this is characteristic of each nation, but the Italians give to all these special significance. They sing at the food, in the car when driving to work, when they promise allegiance women ... Singing is accompanied by their lives and their lives are hidden in the songs of old and new authors. Toto Cotugno is in one of his poems also wrote, "lasciatemi cantare ... sono un Italiano vero "(let me sing ... I‘m an Italian). And that’s true!

Italian Traditions-Singing

Italian Traditions-Singing

Facts About Italy- Italian Business Rules

2009-05-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

Facts About Italy- Italian Business Rules

Italian Business Rules
In the Italian business world is not taboos, which would be applied. In general, you should keep only your own rules of good taste and nice behavior. Business cards in Italy are very often used. The Italian businessmen have a simple two-card, one form of business data in one of the more personal data, for less formal occasions. At the social meetings the cards are not normally exchanged because they often remain unnoticed, and at best ends up in hidden pocket. At the formal meetings, however, the cards exchange, from hand to hand or passed through it on the table to the recipient. The Italian style of business cards is simple, two-colored, usually in black and white with essential information.

Facts About Italy- Italian Business Rules

Facts About Italy- Italian Business Rules

Italy and Beauty Salons

2009-05-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

Italy and Beauty Salons

Hirsute breast as a sign of manhood
The beauty is for the Italians a very important factor. Thus the concern for the appearance of individuals is very important. Both men and women are very caring for their hair, skin, muscle and depilatory, although many men still believe that hirsute breast are sign of manhood. Beauty salons in Italy, therefore, are a good deal.

Italy and Beauty Salons

Italian Food

2009-05-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

Italian Food

If there is something in which Italians really enjoy, this is good food and the best cuisine for 99 percent of Italians is home kitchen. In restaurants they are able to sit for several hours and the habit is that the between launch genre more dishes, from starters, the first meal, but all other dishes to dessert and the "after-dessert." In addition to the home menu often like to try new tastes. However, that want to experiment with exotic food, but nothing can beat good pasta dish. While Italian restaurants are known worldwide and are found where the Italians are not, however, in Italy at the same time with the latest fashion trends grows restaurant with various "diet" food.

Italian Food

Italian Girls

2009-05-11T08:15:00.000-07:00

Italian Girls

Italian girls are beautiful, without which no Italian would no longer watch television, because even in such a serious program, such as reports, not lacking in the half strips the girls. Television is a stepping stone in life the desire of many girls. The programs are full of domestic and foreign beauty, which, in the interests of the lack of success dressed leaping, dancing, and displayed on television screens and many Italian turn thoughts. At the end of year the traffics are full of their sexy calendars, which are already trend in Italy. The well-known saying is "nothing is more beautiful than beautiful women."

Italian Girls

Italians and Football

2009-04-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

Italians and Football

On top of things with which the Italians have identified and for which living the entire Italian company, is football. In each field, meadow, or the market found at least one Del Piero, Cannavaro or Gattuso. In Italian football industry, the annual address to the billion, football stadiums on Sundays are full of viewers and there is no Italian, who has not been on a football game - and this applies also to gentle gender. Maradona in Naples is on the level of the gods, and when Italy became a world champion in 2006, is celebrated on the streets of all Italy. Sunday television stations broadcast almost exclusively to football and the whole content of the evening discuss on who has done an offense, who was wronged, and who will be champion this year. Every youngster dreams is that will become a football star, and when dreams sink, continued its journey to the home stadium stands as fans. Therefore, with a quiet conscience football can be placed at the top of the scale of things that Italians do the Italians.

Italians and Football

Italians and Football

Italians Status Symbols

2009-04-27T03:25:00.000-07:00

Italians Status Symbols

Conversations and discussions about the cars, engines and mobile phones, of the last fashionable among young Italians are often the most important topic. They discusses the whole hour and compete who has the better, faster, smaller or larger. These things are status symbol among young people and to give effect to the company is "almost" necessary.

Italians Status Symbols

Milan World Capital of Fashion

2009-04-26T01:46:00.000-07:00

Milan World Capital of Fashion

World Capital of Fashion
As Milan is the world capital of fashion, this impact is visible throughout Italy. Versace, Armani and Gucci are the names that they find themselves in almost every cabinet of Italians that gives something of itself. If the proverb "clothing makes the man" where it is, it is in Italy. Serious businessman wears nice shoes and nice clothes, if possible, but on the inside of the hidden label with a famous name. In this they follow the fashion industry's latest trends; information is drawn from the world famous people, television and the fashion press. Each must be dressed nice, it is taught as a child. Fashion, therefore, occupies the second place, just behind football.

Milan World Capital of Fashion

Italians are Proud People

2009-04-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Italians are Proud People

Like all nations with a long history and rich culture, the Italians are proud people. They are proud to its history, to its people, on their land. From the time of the Roman Empire to modern history, they have a range of representatives who are registered as something special, unique. Julius Caesar was a unique war chief, Dante Alighieri was a unique poet, Leonardo da Vinci was unique in all respects, and Roberto Baggio was a unique footballer. Although every nation has its unique people, the Italian will not placed them above its own.

Italians are Proud People

The Beauty of the Italian Coast

2009-03-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Italian Coast

Italian coast stretches along the Adriatic, Ionian, Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Seas. In the northern part of Adriatic coast, the beach series for each other.
Crowds of tourists are attracted mainly Rimini with long sandy beaches and plenty of fun. South of the Adriatic coast, of Abruzzi, where a number of hotels are, to the tip at Leuca where the Adriatic and Ionian Sea merge, people live closely associated with the sea and tourism. On the Liguria coast, about 300 kilometers long and has many bays, peninsulas and rock shelters. Near the coast are a few smaller islands, which attract mainly divers.
Tyrrhenian coast is famous for beautiful beaches and rich history. Attracts tourists mainly on the northern part of Tuscany, Versilia, Maremma, the area of Pisa and Livorno and the Argentario peninsula and the coast of the Lati. Southern parts of the Tyrrhenian Sea between Calabria during the Campaigna, may also boast of beautiful beaches and diverse tourist offer. The rich cultural heritage and pleasant holiday village attract tourists to the island of Sicily and Sardinia.

Beautiful Italian Coast

Lamborghini brand-Lamborghini Estoque

2009-02-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

Lamborghini Estoque-Presentation of the study

Lamborghini Estoque

Estoque is four-door sedan with all the major features of GT's. Lamborghini is in the best possible way answered to this broad siege of prestigious automotive grade (panamera Porsche, Aston Martin rapide). The Estoque is built around an extruded aluminium spaceframe chassis and this is something which its parent Audi has tremendous experience of. Throw in light but super strong carbon fibre bits at critical areas and Lamborghini claims a structure that is stiffer than any other supercar out there. The long wheelbase, the low profile, the broad track, the mighty, accentuated wheels, the clean surfaces and razor-sharp definition – every single line breathes the spirit of the Lamborghini brand.

Lamborghini Estoque

Importance of names
The word Estoque denotes sword with which at the end of bullfights toreador kills the bull. All Lamborghinis to date have been named after prized fighter bulls from Spain and Italy but this time Lamborghini pulled something else out of the bull ring lexicon to name this gorgeous four-door – the Estoque.

Lamborghini Estoque

Italy, the Biggest Trap for Tourists?

2009-02-18T03:23:00.000-08:00

"Bella Italia" is the country that visits every year tens of millions of tourists. Rome, Venice, Florence and Tuscany, Milan, Capri and Sicily - that is only some of the most popular tourist destinations, which practically all year foreign tourists and traveler’s visits. Them does, however, tricky hosts who want to quickly get in a lot of money - and other travel agencies are disappearing overnight, restaurants with double tariffs (one for the locals, the other for foreigners), false catalogs, "villas" that are actually studio, aircraft that never fly, summer resorts apartments , which are "sold out", but in reality has not yet been built ... About astronomical high coffee prices in the market of Saint Mark in Venice singing already all Venetian pigeons, but this is only a drop of the sea of tricks, how to beat naive foreigners, as it is even worse elsewhere. And each year in Italy accumulated more than 20,000 lawsuits of disappointed travelers which holiday in Italy goes to hell!

Vaporettos

"Closed!"
“Fishing” for Euros of tourists begins at airports. In Rome are again found an association of taxi drivers (it has been 40), which driving from the airport to the center of the city claimed 130 euros. In Venice is a similar story to “vaporettos”, water buses, which incidentally tourists paid several times more than the applicable price. Venice is obviously the biggest trap for tourists in Italy - a German couple has opted for an action, whereas the dinner to pay five hundred euros! Houses (and indeed many people dream of holidays in Tuscany hills), which can be rented through the Internet, without a bad conscience deliveries to several customers, and happened to be already, that the four families at the same time be confronted with a house. It is often not carried away no better for the Italians - in Milan is about a one hundred people have paid five hundred euros for the flight ticket to the Philippines. And left even without a ticket, because the travel agency which sold the ticket, from today - tomorrow close the door, the unidentified owners are gone, the door is disappointed awaits only the word "Closed!"

Italy Ski destinations

Eyes on stalks rather everywhere!
Similar things happen naturally throughout the world, most are fraudulent skills improve in the countries where tourists come up to and where the standard of living is much lower than in developed countries. These skills are write-down in a tourist guide, but fraudsters are always a step ahead and always find new ways to get to the money of tourists and ruined them vacation. Therefore, eyes on stalks!

Italy-The Diversity of Culture

2009-02-16T00:58:00.000-08:00

Italy is certainly one of the European countries with the most impressive history of culture and the arts. Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante, Verdi, Raphael, Vivaldi.... the famous artists whose works have many fans around the world.

Portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci

This is just another evidence that the creation of culturally diverse and universal at the same time. Greek Acropolis shows us quite another world and another time as an example Mona Lisa famous image, but both creation enthusiastic crowds around the world. Both are unique possibility of seeing the human mind and spirit.
The European Union seeks to maintain such "monuments" of human creativity, even though in its essence tends to the integration, unification. Recognizes that culture is the most important for the existence and identity of nations, grouped under its auspices. Therefore, efforts to preserve and promote cultural diversity, not only for art, but also for the conservation of the languages and traditions of individual nations.
Many of the activities of the Union in the field of culture are collected in the Culture 2007, which co-finances projects with various international cultural and artistic fields (music, theatrical and visual arts, literature, literary translations, and cultural heritage). It is aimed at strengthening cooperation between European culture and artists, and more specifically between the members of this program.

Da Vinci-Vitruvian Man

Sicily-Bella Sicily

2009-02-06T10:43:00.000-08:00

Bella Sicily, as the Italians say, is the largest Mediterranean island and probably the province, which in Italy is still the most linked to old traditions and customs. Mild climate throughout the year, attracts many tourists to visit many natural and cultural monuments. Perhaps the most famous logo of Sicily is the largest European volcano Etna, which is designed Millennium Life on the island and is the main reason that the Sicily is mother of many famous Greek myths.Sicily is attractive and enticing. Situated on the southern Italian boots, and offers its diversity, which should be known.

Sicily map

Facts about Italy: Italy essential facts

2009-01-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

Essential Facts about Italy
If you’re planning your next visit to Italy, then make sure you know some essential facts about traveling to this extra popular tourist destination in Europe, as it will help you plan and arrange your visit in the right way.
Here are some important Italy-Travel-Facts that you may want to know:

Italy Travel Facts

1. Accommodations
Italy offers a wide range of accommodations for all sorts of tourists. A lot of hotels can be found near train and bus stations and are usually low budget-types although some few are seedy. Inspecting a hotel before committing to it is often advisable. Italy hotels are generally rated by government system that does not take into account the appeal of the place. If you are staying longer, renting a house or apartment for a week is a good idea.
2. Italian Festivals
The best way to see more than what just an average tourist may see is finding sagras and Italian festivals. Sagras are blessing of such things as porcini mushrooms. One is likely to find great food served outdoors at communal tables and are a great way to meet Italians, all you need to do is dive in.

Italian Festivals

3. Language
Italy’s spoken language is Italian although you may hear some local dialects. In heavily tourist areas though, English is widely spoken. If there’s one Italian word you should remember, it is sciopero, pronounced as sho-per-o meaning strike. Strikes often happen in Italy that usually lasts for about a day or less, and seldom cause too many problems for tourists who are flexible. Labor issues are often displayed to public consciousness by short strikes so if you see papers on walls or windows of trains or bus stations, look for this word and you’ll know what’s up.
4. Italy Transportation
Italy public transport is served by extensive rail system and sometimes buses duplicate the rail routes. A lot of small cities in Italy have access to the larger cities nearby through twice-a-day bus conections. Bus stations are often very close to train stations. Since trains and busses are subsidized in Italy, they are slightly cheaper than most of the rest of Europe. Just take note that there are fewer trains on non-working days (weekends and holidays).

Italy Transportation

5. Maps of Italy
Providing yourself maps of Italy can be very helpfull, to plan your trip. There are a variety of maps of Italy that can be found online including rail map and region map.

Map of Italy

Capri Island

2009-01-19T11:29:00.000-08:00

From the Roman emperors the island of Capri is the governing home of rich and important. On the island you can see the legacy of famous people of the island. You can enjoy in a number of scenarios and to stop at the beautiful views of the nature of this beautiful island. When you choose to swim , you can choose between the various small coves with sandy beaches.

Capri Island

But Capri not only offered the cultural and natural heritage but also have many restaurants, bars, .. and, of course not forgetting the various shops and boutiques. At sunset we must visit t the world-famous''Piazzetta''and enjoy the spectacle.

Capri Island

World Famous Dish-Pizza

2009-01-09T07:37:00.000-08:00

After a brief consideration, I decided to write something about world-popular dish of Italian origin,Pizza!

World Famous Dish-Pizza

Only few countries in the world can say their national dish has become world famous. One of those is definitely Italian pizza.
A shop or restaurant where pizzas are made and sold is called a “pizzeria”.Authentic Italian pizzas are made with local ingredients like tomato,Mozzarella,garlic,oregano,virgin olive oil.
Neapolitan pizza has been given the status of a “guaranteed traditional specialty” in Italy!!

World Famous Dish-Pizza

World Famous Dish-Pizza

And remember, baking pizza is an art!
Facts about Italy will be back soon.

Carnival of Venice-Venetian Masks

2009-01-08T08:09:00.000-08:00

Venetian masks are a centuries-old tradition of Venice,Italy!Worn during the Carnevale, however In the past, the masks have been used on many other occasions as a device for hiding the wearer's identity and social status.

Venetian Masks

Venetian Masks

They come in all different colors and they can be full-face masks or eye masks.Near the end of the Republic, the wearing of masks in daily life was severely restricted.It was gradually shortened into the week-long festivities that now comprise the Carnevale.

Types of Masks:Columbine,Volto,The Bauta,Moretta,Medico Della Peste

Columbine mask

Medico Della Peste mask

Volto mask

The Bauta mask

Wearing Venetian masks has spread to Halloween masquerade balls and what North and South Americans call Mardi Gras,but they always carry their rich Italian history.

Vatican Papal Residence

2009-01-06T04:46:00.000-08:00

Today l wrote some basic information of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.

Vatican papal residence kept several art treasures,more than any other building in the world.

Vatican Papal Residence

In 1473 began the construction of Sistine Chapel, in 16.century was however, after Raphael plans built papal residence.

Today, Vatican City with its more than a thousand rooms, rooms and a library with about 60,000 manuscripts kept more treasures than any other building in the world.

Facts about Italy-Bella Donna

2009-01-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

Italian women are known for their beautiful skin, and the Mediterranean diet, rich in olive oil and grapes, is often attributed as the cause of that beautiful skin, rightly so. Beautiful women in Italy are not necessarily born that way – they make and keep themselves that way!

Monica Bellucci

Carla Bruni

Italian women are beautiful. Though from afar they can appear unapproachable, in fact they are some of the warmest, most vibrant women in the world. They may possess the aura of a queen, but the sweet temperament of a child. In almost all instances, their cultivated style and feminine grace stay with them throughout their lives, and regardless of age.

Francesca Alderisi

Italian Dream Motorcycles-Ducati

2009-01-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

Facts about Italy presents:Italian Dream Motorcycles-Ducati

Ducati was founded in Bologna, back in 1926. Ducati produces racing-inspired motorcycles with unique engine features, innovative designs, advanced engineering and overall technical excellence.

Ducati logo

Ducati has produced several styles of motorcycle engines, including varying the number of cylinders, type of valve actuation and fuel delivery. Ducati is best known for its "V-Twin" motor which is the powerplant in the majority of Ducati-marqued motorcycles.
Currently, there are four Ducati companies: Ducati Motor Holding,Ducati Corse,Ducati Energia and Ducati Sistemi.

Ducati 848

Ducati Hypermotard 1100

Drool - the new 2008 Ducati

Facts about Italy will be back soon!

Italian Luxury Sports Cars-Maserati

2009-01-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

Maserati logo

The company was founded in 1914 by six Maserati brothers: Carlo, Bindo, Alfieri, Mario, Ettore and Ernesto. Based in Bologna, Italy, the brothers were racing enthusiasts and planned to craft race cars for private use.By the 1960s, the automaker had shifted its focus from racecars to road cars.The 1980s were an especially dark time for Maserati. Its main model for the U.S. market, the Biturbo, was bland and notoriously unreliable.

Italian Luxury Sports Cars-Maserati

In 2005, Maserati was split from Ferrari but remained within the Fiat fold. That year also saw the reintroduction of the Quattroporte luxury sport sedan, which is now accompanied by the voluptuous GranTurismo coupe.

Italian Luxury Sports Cars-Maserati

Italian Luxury Sports Cars-Maserati

Italian Luxury Sports Cars-Maserati

Youth Hostels in Italy

2008-12-31T02:15:00.000-08:00

Italy has been a tourism hotspot for centuries.The best way to save money when you travel is to stay in a hostel in Italy.Hostelling in Italy is somewhat different to hostelling in any other European country.Hostels today are not just a way to save money, however - they are also great for people who like to meet other travelers.In Italy Hostels cost much lower than any hotel. As is the case elsewhere, the closer a hostel in Italy is to the main sights in that city, the more expensive it will be.YHA hostels in Italy are some of the most interesting and varied in the world.

Cheap Hostels in Italy

The Roman Colosseum

2008-12-30T01:09:00.000-08:00

The Roman Colosseum (70 - 82 A.D.) Rome, Italy

This great amphitheater in the centre of Rome was built to give favors to successful legionnaires and to celebrate the glory of the Roman Empire. Its design concept still stands to this very day, and virtually every modern sports stadium some 2,000 years later still bears the irresistible imprint of the Colosseum’s original design.

The Roman Colosseum (70 - 82 A.D.) Rome, Italy

The Roman Colosseum (70 - 82 A.D.) Rome, Italy

Today, through films and history books, we are even more aware of the cruel fights and games that took place in this arena, all for the joy of the spectators.

The Roman Colosseum (70 - 82 A.D.) Rome, Italy

Milan-La Scala Theater

2008-12-28T06:40:00.000-08:00

Today in Facts about Italy:Milan-La Scala Theater-Quick Presentation

A Temple to Opera music, built at the end of the 1700s over the remains of the Church of Santa Maria della Scala, from which the theater then took its name.

Milan-La Scala Theater

La Scala was originally illuminated with eighty-four oil lamps mounted on the palcoscenico and another thousand in the rest of theater.The original structure was renovated in 1907, when it was given its current layout.
It now hosts a museum with an extraordinary collection of paintings, drafts, statues, costumes, and other documents regarding opera.

Milan-La Scala Theater

Some of the greatest names in opera have made their debuts in this theater: Rossigni, Donizetti, Bellini, Puccini and, in 1839, Giuseppe Verdi who moved to the Grand Hotel in Milan on that date where he continued to live until he died.

Milan-La Scala Theater

In the center of the square there is a monument to Leonardo da Vinci and on the other side there is the wonderful Palazzo Marini.

Popular Coffee-Cappuccino

2008-12-27T07:13:00.000-08:00

Facts about Italy presents:Popular Coffee-Cappuccino

Coffee-Cappuccino

Italians love their coffee. Italian coffee is an art form with many customs and traditions.
The world owes them for the introduction of espresso, that thick rich coffee creation that’s one-of-a-kind. And, if that weren’t enough, they’re also responsible for the creation of cappuccino.Whether it's a caffè corretto thrown back like a shot, a cappuccino and brioche for breakfast, or a granita di caffè con panna to cool off from the hot midday sun, in Italy there is a coffee drink specific for every time and mood.

Coffee-Cappuccino

The Italians use the rule-of-thirds for the preparation of a good cappuccino. First, make a standard espresso shot in a pear-shaped 6-ounce cup.Second, pour in the warm, frothed milk.The milk and foam fill about one-third of the height each. Italians never order cappuccino after a meal and Italians can't understand why anyone would order a calorie-rich cappuccino after a big meal.

Coffee-Cappuccino

Facts about Italy will be back soon!

Italian Beautiful Women-Sophia Loren

2008-12-26T10:11:00.000-08:00

Sophia Loren was born Sofia Villani Scicolone in Rome, Italy, the illegitimate daughter of married engineer Riccardo Scicolone and aspiring actress and piano teacher, Romilda Villani.

Sophia Loren

Loren worked as a model in the weekly illustrated romantic stories.Loren was discovered by her future husband, the much older film producer Carlo Ponti, and they married on September 17, 1957.By the late 1950s, Loren's star began to rise in Hollywood, with films such as 1957's Boy on a Dolphin and The Pride and the Passion in which she co-starred with Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant.

Sophia Loren

She's an Academy Award winning actress!

Italy Skiing and Winter Sports

2008-12-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

From the Alps and Dolomites of northern Italy to Mt. Etna on Sicily, Italy offers skiing and winter sports vacations.
Here are some of Italy's top ski resorts.

Italy Skiing and Winter Sports

Italian Dolomites

The Italian Dolomites, bordering Austria, offer spectacular mountain scenery and a number of Italian skiing villages.Cortina d'Ampezzo and Val Gardena are two of the most well-known ski areas.

Ski Cervinia

Cervinia has a run over 20km long, one of the longest in the world. Because of heavy snowfall and high elevations, there is skiing nearly all year. Skiing is best for intermediate skiers.The highest ski elevation is 3480 meters and there are 30 ski lifts.

Italian Dolomites

Courmayeur Skiing

Cormayeur is a traditional alpine village in a fantastic location with great scenery and is known as one of the best all around ski resorts in Italy.Courmayeur and Chamonix share the highest mountain peak in Europe.The highest ski elevation is 2763 meters and there are 16 ski lifts.Courmayeur is also a popular destination for climbers and hikers in the summer and early fall.

Italy Skiing and Winter Sports

Corruption in Italy

2008-12-22T06:54:00.000-08:00

Facts about Italy presents:Corruption in Italy

A series of corruption scandals rocking Italy has revived memories of the "Clean Hands" campaign of the 1990s that drove the long-ruling conservative Christian Democratic party out of power.Launched in 1992, the operation dismantled a deep-seated system of patronage between politicians and business leaders dubbed "Tangentopoli"Upwards of 1,000 people were convicted as the Christian Democratic party, which had dominated Italian politics since World War II, was consigned to history.

Corruption in Italy

According to the annual index of Transparency International on perceived corruption around the world, Italy ranked 55th this year with a score of 4.8 out of 10, compared with 5.2 out of 10 last year.

The press already has a name for the new wave of corruption scandals: Tangentopoli Rosso (Red).

Italian Fashion

2008-12-21T09:09:00.000-08:00

Facts about Italy presents:Italian fashion

Italians have elegance in the blood!!!
So it is no wonder that some of the world's best sartorial artists are from Italy.Italians have had some of the best fashion visionares watching over what they wear.

Italian fashion

Fashion is almost national passion.The most popular fashion designers are Giorgio Armani,Versace,Gucci,Gianfranco Ferre,Valentino,Rocco Barocco, Roberto Cavalli.......

Italian fashion

For Italians,fashion is an instrument af social redemption whereby class is determined according to what one wears!!
The brands of Made in Italy dresses assure you an unforgettable experience with the best image.

Italian fashion

David Beckham Makes it to Milan

2008-12-20T10:14:00.000-08:00

Getting ready to be introduced by his new team this evening, Beckham was spotted arriving in Milan, Italy on Saturday morning (December 20).
The English soccer star made the trip from London, where he’s been spending the past few days alongside wife Victoria and their three sons, Romeo, Cruz and Brooklyn.

D. & V. Beckham

After arriving into town, Becks was driven off to a medical clinic in nearby Appiano Gentile to undergo medical tests while his Spice Girl bride reportedly scoured the area in search of a hotel to stay in during the next few days.The family will then be leaving Milan on Monday for the holidays, but David is to return a week later on December 29 so that he can fly out with the AC Milan squad to Dubai for their winter training camp.

David Beckham

Pompeii Disaster

2008-12-20T07:02:00.000-08:00

The people of Pompeii were quite unprepared for the eruption of Vesuvius.It is certain that when the eruption of Vesuvius started on the morning of 24 August, AD 79, it caught the local population utterly unprepared.But no one could have anticipated that the rumbling volcano would completely bury both towns with ash and pumice.

Pompeii Disaster

Evidence shows people who initially fled Pompeii returned, only to be killed by Vesuvius' increasing fury. Silent for thousands of years, Pompeii and Herculaneum are now living museums of life in the Roman Empire during the first century of the Common Era.

Pompeii Disaster

Vesuvius is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Located in southern Italy, near Naples it presents a constant threat to more then 1 million people.

Vesuvius

Gomorra-gangster film

2008-12-19T03:11:00.000-08:00

Gomorra is a gangster film that departs from the glamorizing norm. The acclaimed winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes and Italy's entry in the Oscar race, it is a vividly panoramic film about a pitiless world of criminality. A world where no human impulse or attempt at decency goes unpunished, a world where it's worth your life to get out alive."Gomorrah's" title is not only a reference to the reviled biblical city, it's a play on the word "Camorra," the name of the Mafia-type organization that rules Naples and environs like an alternate government.

Gomorra-gangster film

The film adroitly intercuts five stories from the book, stories of people who believe -- without saying so in so many words -- that they can cut their own deals with the system, bend its inflexible savagery to their own ends. Escape, however, is not in the cards.The film's last two stories involve mature adults. A Camorra executive involved in toxic waste disposal (Toni Servillo) tries to bring a younger man (Carmine Paternoster) into the organization. And a master dressmaker (Salvatore Cantalupo) has to decide whether to clandestinely aid a group of Chinese rivals.

Gomorra-gangster film

"Gomorrah" ends with type on the screen, informing us that the organization caused 4,000 deaths in the last three years while funneling money into enterprises both illegal and legal, including the rebuilding of the World Trade Center towers.
Gomorra is acclaimed winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes and Italy's entry in the Oscar race!

Fiat was closing all its factories

2008-12-18T09:42:00.000-08:00

Fiat has decided to delay the launch of its 2009 models to a "more propitious time," the Italian auto giant's chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said yesterday, wed citing its plunging sales.

Fiat logo

The company will roll out its Fiat 500 convertible, "but for the other new models, including the Alfa Romeo 149, we are thinking of waiting for a more propitious time," Di Montezemolo said in remarks quoted by the ANSA news agency.

Fiat 500

"What's the point of making the most beautiful car in the world if no one is going to buy it from you?" he added.
The company based in northern Turin initially announced it was closing all its factories in Italy - with some 48,000 employees - from Dec. 15 to Jan. 12.

Fiat logo

Fiat 2009 model

Mafia boss hangs himself

2008-12-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

Alleged Mafia boss hangs himself in Sicilian jail hours after his arrest.
ROME - Police in Sicily say the alleged Mafia boss of a Palermo neighbourhood has hanged himself in jail, hours after he was arrested in a blitz against the Cosa Nostra gang.

Mafia boss

Authorities had ordered the sweeping raids to prevent what they said were mob efforts to rebuild Cosa Nostra. Some 90 suspects were arrested in the blitz. Paramilitary police in Palermo say Gaetano Lo Presti's suicide in jail last night is under investigation.

Cosa Nostra

He was arrested because he allegedly headed a Mafia clan in the city's Porta Nuova district.
The capture of top fugitives in recent years has weakened Cosa Nostra.
Authorities say they ordered the latest raids to head off a bloody power struggle among rival mob bosses to rebuild the crime syndicate.

Cosa Nostra

Juventus -Most Supported Team In Italy

2008-12-17T09:19:00.000-08:00

The Bianconeri might not be top of the standings, but they remain well and truly the most popular team in Serie A.

Juventus

It might not mean much at the end of the day with regards to the Scudetto race, but the Institute Nielsen Italia made a study between June and July 2008 to find out how many supporters the Serie A teams have.As usual Juventus head the list with over 10 million fans, whereas Inter are in second place, just slightly ahead of Milan.

Juventus

Napoli and Roma have almost the same amount of fans, but the Partenopei are just slightly ahead in this special list.
Fiorentina and Lazio come next with around 2 million fans, whereas the bottom club side is Chievo with just under 5,000 fans behind them.

Juventus

Facts about Italy-Famous Bolognese Sauce

2008-12-16T06:32:00.000-08:00

Bolognese sauce is a meat-based sauce for pasta originating in Bologna,Italy.
Bolognese sauce is sometimes taken to be a tomato sauce but authentic recipes have only a small amount of tomato.

Famous Bolognese Sauce

Recipe for Bolognese sause:

Ingredients
225g/8oz minced beef
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
125g/4oz smoked bacon lardons
1 tbsp mixed dried herbs
400g/14oz tinned tomatoes
150ml/5fl oz red wine
salt and pepper

Famous Bolognese Sauce

Method
1. Heat a non-stick frying pan and add half the mince. Cook over a high heat to colour the meat, breaking up any lumps with the back of a fork. Repeat with the rest of the mince and drain off any fat.
2. Heat the oil in another large pan and cook the onion, carrot and green pepper until they start to soften.
3. Stir in the garlic, bacon lardons and the herbs and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the tomatoes and the wine and season well.
5. Add the mince and simmer gently for 40-50 minutes until thick. Use to make lasagne or serve with pasta.

Famous Bolognese Sauce

Preparation time less than 30 mins

Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour

Famous Bolognese Sauce

The Tower of Pisa

2008-12-14T09:56:00.000-08:00

The Tower of Pisa is the bell tower of the Cathedral. Its construction began in the august of 1173 and continued (with two long interruptions) for about two hundred years, in full fidelity to the original project, whose architect is still uncertain.In the past it was widely believed that the inclination of the Tower was part of the project ever since its beginning, but now we know that it is not so. The Tower was designed to be "vertical" (and even if it did not lean it would still be one of the most remarkable bell towers in Europe), and started to incline during its construction.

The Tower of Pisa

Both because of its inclination, and its beauty, from 1173 up to the present the Tower has been the object of very special attention. During its construction efforts were made to halt the incipient inclination through the use of special construction devices; later colums and other damaged parts were substituted in more than one occasion; today, interventions are being carried out within the sub-soil in order to significantly reduce the inclination and to make sure that Tower will have a long life.

The Tower of Pisa

In all this story it is possible to find a meaningful constant, the "genetic code" of the Tower: its continual interaction with the soil on which it was built. Today's (1999) works for the safeguard and the conservation of the Tower with very advanced methodologies are designed to fully respect this constant.

The Tower of Pisa

Giro d'Italia 2009 route

2008-12-13T23:18:00.000-08:00

The 2009 Giro d'Italia organisers unveiled a testing route on Saturday for the centenary edition that should suit seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong more than his rivals.

The 2009 Giro d'Italia starts in Venice on May 9 with a 20.5km team time trial and ends in Rome on May 31 with a 15.3km individual time trial.

In between the three-week race travels north into Austria for a finish in Innsbruck and then west to the Alps for a five-climb 250km mountain stage between Cuneo and Pinerolo.The 61.7km individual time trial along the spectacular Cinque Terre coastal region is expected to a be key stage where Armstrong could gain vital seconds on his rivals thanks to his excellent time trialing skills.

Giro d'Italia

The little known central Apennine mountains will test the riders in the final week of the race. Stage 17 to the summit of the Block Haus climb is only 79km long but finishes at an altitude of 2064 metres.The last mountain stage is on the slopes of the Mount Vesuvius volcano overlooking Naples, while the final time trial stage around Rome starts and finishes in the shadow of the Coliseum.
The total race distance is 3395.5 km.

Giro d'Italia

Giro d'Italia

The maglia rosa, or pink jersey, are held throughout the race by the cyclist who at the start of each stage has the lowest overall time up to that point of the giro. The holder often change from day to day, but due to the glory and big exposure for the team and the individual who holds the jersey, the teams often makes a lot of effort to keep the jersey within the team. The cyclist with the lowest time at the end of the giros last stage wins the Giro.

Giro d'Italia

Ferrari Facts

2008-12-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sport's car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy.Founded by Enzo
Ferrari in 1928 as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles in 1947 as Ferrari S.p.A.

Cavallino Rampante

After years of financial struggles, Enzo Ferrari sold the company's sports car division to the Fiat
group in 1969 to ensure continued financial backing.
Enzo Ferrari never intended to produce road cars when he formed Scuderia Ferrari in 1929 as a sponsor for amateur drivers.
The famous symbol of the Ferrari race team is a black prancing stallion on a yellow shield, usually with the letters S F (for Scuderia Ferrari), with three stripes of green, white and red (the Italian national colors) at the top. The road cars have a rectangular badge on the hood,
and the shield-shaped race logo on the side.

Cavallino Rampante

Cavallino Rampante

Most famous and popular models are F/430,F/575M,F/360 Modena, F/599.......

Cavallino Rampante

Presentation of Lamborghini

2008-12-08T06:45:00.000-08:00

Automobili Lamborghini was founded in 1963 by Ferruccio Lamborghini,who owneda tractor factory Lamborghini trattori.
Ferruccio Lamborghini priorities changed when he went to meet Enzo Ferrari at Ferrari factory to complain about the quality of his Ferrari 250,and received a dismissive answer from Enzo Ferrari.So he went back to his factory,summoned up his engineers and instructed them to build a faster sport car, which would make Ferrari turn pale.
The most famous and popular cars from Lamborghini factory are
Murcielago,Gallardo, Countach,350GT,Miura and many more.

Automobili Lamborghini

Automobili Lamborghini

Ferruccio Lamborghini had set a rule that Lamborghini would not be involved in motor raci
He saw such a program as too expensive and too demanding in company resources.Consequently, no Lamborghini racing car was fabricated under his management. The closest the company came to building racing cars at that time was when the company's test driver Bob Wallace made a few highly modified prototypes based on existing models.

Automobili Lamborghini

Italy on Verge of Financial Bankruptcy

2008-12-07T02:30:00.000-08:00

One of the world's strongest economies and a European Union powerhouse, Italy may be on the verge of financial collapse, said Italian officials expressing a growing concern about the ongoing financial meltdown that is affecting all sectors of the country's ailing economy.
“The threat of bankruptcy of our national economy should be considered real,” Italian Minister of Welfare Maurizio Sacconi said as he and other officials sounded the alarm in a TV broadcast on Wednesday evening during a discussion about the world's economic crisis.
“A bankruptcy scenario is even more horrifying than the recession one,” Sacconi, who is also an associate of the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, warned.
Contrary to what many of his governmental colleagues were saying, Minister of Economy and Finance Giulio Tremonti countered that the economic situation was not dire. Trying to tame the intense public panic that Sacconi caused with the statement, Tremonti said in an interview for the Peruvian La Republica newspaper that “Italy has a very strong economy. National debt is absolutely stable and is guaranteed by the state.”
Tremonti also sent out a message of encouragement to the nation saying that "Italy is in much better shape that we believe it is," despite the fact that the country currently operates on the third-biggest public debt in the world.
A report of Italian labor unions issued last week revealed a constant decrease in employment rates, with 900,000 more employees to be laid off by the end of 2009.
Last month, the Italian government announced that it was crafting a plan to cut the number of illegal workers and immigrants within its borders, especially those without special skills. Currently, more than 3.4 million foreigners live and work in Italy. Italy has struggled with illegal immigration, a touchy subject in Italian politics. The number of illegal immigrants to Italy has soared this year: 24,000 illegal immigrants have entered Italy from January to September, most of whom come from Africa.

Presentation of Gardaland

2008-12-06T07:07:00.000-08:00

Gardaland is the third-most-popular theme park in Europe.Built on the eastern shore of Lake Garda,the park opened in1975. Run and operated by the Merlin Entertainments Group, the park is promoted as first in Italy.

Presentation of Gardaland

It currently is home to six roller coasters and a total of 56 rides. The coasters are called Blue Tornado, Magic Mountain, Sequoia Adventure, Orto Bruco, Mammut and Fuga da Atlantide.

Presentation of Gardaland

The largest theme park in Italy, in many ways comparable to Disneyland but with a touch of Italian taste that no Northerner can provide. As the slogan goes, "At Gardaland fantasy becomes a live show... and there's always a show!".

Presentation of Gardaland

The choice for a constant modernization has allowed Gardaland to welcome a more and more growing number of visitors in its park. At the end of the nineties, park was enlarged in order to face national and European competiton (especially with Eurodisney and Fantasylandia).

Pizza Margherita

2008-12-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

It is said that the famous Margherita pizza from Naples, considered the "true" pizza by many, came about when Queen Margherita, while traveling through Italy, fell in love with the garnished flatbreads being sold to the poor. She summoned a baker named Raphelle to bake her a selection of pizzas to try. One version, consisting of tomatoes, mozzarella and fresh basil to honor the colors of the Italian flag, became her favorite, and was named to honor her appreciation for pizza. Pizza Margherita is still a favorite pizza choice in Italy today.

While living in Italy, I learned to love the thin-crusted pizza cooked in wood burning ovens that does not resemble the pizza sold in chain restaurants here in the US in any way. While the Italian pizza consists of a few, fresh ingredients on a tasty, thin crust, the American version consumed here, is often packed with multiple ingredients, laden with a layer of heavy cheese, and prepared with a much thicker crust.

Pizza Margherita

1 Large Can Plum Tomatoes (I Prefer Pomi Brand Crushed Tomatoes)

3 Tablespoons Minced Garlic

1/4 Cup Fresh Chopped Basil

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Dash Red Pepper Flakes

3 Cups Diced Mozzarella Cheese

4 Large Fresh Basil Leaves

To prepare the sauce, heat half the oil in a saucepan and cook the garlic until sizzling. Add the tomatoes, and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Add the chopped basil and mix well. Cook on low to medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Heat the oven to it's highest setting (Usually 500 degrees F.) To prepare the dough, press each dough ball into a flat disk on a lightly floured counter or bread board. Using your fingers and knuckles carefully, press the dough out into a 12 inch circle.

Place the dough onto a baking peel lightly coated with cornmeal. Place a large scoop of sauce onto each pizza and spread evenly across the pizza leaving a 1 inch edge. Do not use too much sauce as you should be able to see the dough through the sauce. Place some mozzarella cheese on each pizza and place one basil leaf in the center.

Bake each pizza for about 10 minutes or until the pizza is brown and bubbly turning the pizza halfway if needed for it to bake evenly.

Venice introduction

2008-11-26T08:36:00.000-08:00

Venice is one of Italy's top travel cities and a beautiful, romantic destination with many attractions. Its small, traffic-free streets along the winding canals make for great walking. You'll find many magnificent churches and palaces, lively squares, and interesting shops.
Venice actually consists of 117 bodies of land connected by more than 400 bridges over its 150 canals. The Grand Canal is like main street, cutting through the center of the city.

Venice is in on northeast coast of Italy. It is protected from the Adriatic Sea by a strip of land called the Lido.

Venice is divided into six sections or sestieri. The Cannaregio is near the station. Also on the same side of the Grand Canal are San Marco and Castello. Santa Croce is across the Grand Canal from the train station and San Polo and the Dorsoduro are across the canal from St. Mark's.

Venice is without doubt one of the most beautiful and popular cities in the world and is always admired by the many tourists that visit throughout the year. There are several tourism and tourist information offices situated in the city centre of Venice and these provide up-to-date information about Venice tourist attractions, museums, events, Venice festivals, Venice travel, Venice sightseeing and general Venice tourism and tourist information. Nearby there are also many interesting towns to explore close to Venice, such as Burano, Murano, Padua, Torcello, Verona and Vicenza.

Life and work of Leonardo da Vinci

2008-11-20T10:14:00.000-08:00

The life and work of the great Italian Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci have proved endlessly fascinating for later generations. What most impresses people today, perhaps, is the immense scope of his achievement. In the past, however, he was admired chiefly for his art and art theory. Leonardo's equally impressive contribution to science is a modern rediscovery, having been preserved in a vast quantity of notes that became widely known only in the 20th century.

Vitruvian man

Leonardo was born on Apr. 15, 1452, near the town of Vinci, not far from Florence. He was the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary, Piero da Vinci, and a young woman named Caterina. His artistic talent must have revealed itself early, for he was soon apprenticed (c. 1469) to Andrea Verrocchio, a leading Renaissance master. In this versatile Florentine workshop, where he remained until at least 1476, Leonardo acquired a variety of skills. He entered the painters' guild in 1472, and his earliest extant works date from this time. In 1478 he was commissioned to paint an altarpiece for the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Three years later he undertook to paint the Adoration of the Magi for the monastery of San Donato a Scopeto. This project was interrupted when Leonardo left Florence for Milan about 1482. Leonardo worked for Duke Lodovico Sforza in Milan for nearly 18 years. Although active as court artist, painting portraits, designing festivals, and projecting a colossal equestrian monument in sculpture to the duke's father, Leonardo also became deeply interested in nonartistic matters during this period. He applied his growing knowledge of mechanics to his duties as a civil and military engineer; in addition, he took up scientific fields as diverse as anatomy, biology, mathematics, and physics. These activities, however, did not prevent him from completing his single most important painting, The Last Supper.

With the fall (1499) of Milan to the French, Leonardo left that city to seek employment elsewhere: he went first to Mantua and Venice, but by April 1500 he was back in Florence. His stay there was interrupted by time spent working in central Italy as a mapmaker and military engineer for Cesare Borgia. Again in Florence in 1503, Leonardo undertook several highly significant artistic projects, including the Battle of Anghiari mural for the council chamber of the Town Hall, the portrait of Mona Lisa, and the lost Leda and the Swan.

Leonardo returned to Milan in June 1506, called there to work for the new French government. Except for a brief stay in Florence (1507-08), he remained in Milan for 7 years. The artistic project on which he focused at this time was the equestrian monument to Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, which, like the Sforza monument earlier, was never completed. Meanwhile, Leonardo's scientific research began to dominate his other activities, so much so that his artistic gifts were directed toward scientific illustration; through drawing, he sought to convey his understanding of the structure of things. In 1513 he accompanied Pope Leo X's brother, Giuliano de'Medici, to Rome, where he stayed for 3 years, increasingly absorbed in theoretical research. In 1516-17, Leonardo left Italy forever to become architectural advisor to King Francis I of France, who greatly admired him. Leonardo died at the age of 67 on May 2, 1519, at Cloux, near Amboise, France.

Other, slightly later works, such as the so-called Benois Madonna (c. 1478-80; The Hermitage, St. Petersburg) and the unfinished Saint Jerome (c. 1480; Vatican Gallery), already show two hallmarks of Leonardo's mature style: contrapposto, or twisting movement; and chiaroscuro, or emphatic modeling in light and shade. The unfinished Adoration of the Magi (1481-82; Uffizi) is the most important of all the early paintings. In it, Leonardo displays for the first time his method of organizing figures into a pyramid shape, so that interest is focused on the principal subject--in this case, the child held by his mother and adored by the three kings and their retinue.

In 1483, soon after he arrived in Milan, Leonardo was asked to paint the Madonna of the Rocks. This altarpiece exists in two nearly identical versions, one (1483-85), entirely by Leonardo, in the Louvre, Paris, and the other (begun 1490s; finished 1506-08) in the National Gallery, London. Both versions depict a supposed meeting of the Christ Child and the infant Saint John. The figures, again grouped in a pyramid, are glimpsed in a dimly lit grotto setting of rocks and water that gives the work its name. Not long afterward, Leonardo painted a portrait of Duke Lodovico's favorite, Cecilia Gallerani, probably the charming Lady with the Ermine (c. 1485-90; Czartoryski Gallery, Krakow, Poland). Another portrait dating from this time is the unidentified Musician (c. 1490; Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan). In the great The Last Supper (42 x 910 cm/13 ft 10 in x 29 ft 7 1/2 in), completed in 1495-98 for the refectory of the ducal church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Leonardo portrayed the apostles' reactions to Christ's startling announcement that one of them would betray him. Unfortunately, Leonardo experimented with a new fresco technique that was to show signs of decay as early as 1517. After repeated attempts at restoration, the mural survives only as an impressive ruin.

When he returned to Florence in 1500, Leonardo took up the theme of the Madonna and Child with Saint Anne. He had already produced a splendid full-scale preparatory drawing (c. 1498; National Gallery, London); he now treated the subject in a painting (begun c. 1501; Louvre). We know from Leonardo's recently discovered Madrid notebooks that he began to execute the ferocious Battle of Anghiari for the Great Hall of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence on June 6, 1505. As a result of faulty technique the mural deteriorated almost at once, and Leonardo abandoned it; knowledge of this work comes from Leonardo's preparatory sketches and from several copies. The mysterious, evocative portrait Mona Lisa (begun 1503; Louvre), probably the most famous painting in the world, dates from this period, as does Saint John the Baptist (begun c. 1503-05; Louvre).

The Last Supper

Leonardo's art and science are not separate, then, as was once believed, but belong to the same lifelong pursuit of knowledge. His paintings, drawings, and manuscripts show that he was the foremost creative mind of his time.

Presentation of Italy

2008-11-15T06:10:00.000-08:00

Facts about Italy: Presentation of Italy

A country of southern Europe comprising the peninsula of Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, and several smaller islands. It was settled in antiquity by Italic tribes, Etruscans, and Greek colonists. The non-Roman peoples were gradually supplanted as the power of Rome grew from the fourth century B.C. After the fall of the Roman Empire (A.D. 476), Italy was ruled by various barbarian tribes, local families, and popes. Nationalism in the 19th century led to unification under King Victor Emmanuel II in 1870.

Italy became a fascist state under Benito Mussolini, whose regime (1922–1943) was allied with Germany in World War II. After surrendering to the Allies in 1943, Italy was reconstituted as a republic in 1946. Rome is the capital and the largest city. Population: 58,100,000.

Privacy Policy

2008-11-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

Privacy Policy for http://factsaboutitaly.blogspot.com/

If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at lahmarjan@gmail.com.

At http://factsaboutitaly.blogspot.com/, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by http://factsaboutitaly.blogspot.com/ and how it is used.

Log Files
Like many other Web sites, http://factsaboutitaly.blogspot.com/ makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons
http://factsaboutitaly.blogspot.com/ does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie
.:: Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on your site.
.:: Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and other sites on the Internet.
.:: Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html

Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include ....
Google Adsense

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on http://factsaboutitaly.blogspot.com/ send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

http://factsaboutitaly.blogspot.com/ has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. http://factsaboutitaly.blogspot.com/'s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.