Here you will find the latest headlines about Italy, particularly news related to travel and tourism in the country. I would love to have the discipline to update this daily. Instead, I only get around to highlighting this story or that one. To supplement the Italy news you learn from these posts, check out my go-to sources Corriere della Sera (in Italian) and, in English, The Local Italy.
The Spanish Steps have finally re-opened after a lengthy refurbishment project funded by Bulgari. But will the steps be fenced off at night to keep “barbarian tourists” from trashing them?
Yesterday in my post about the earthquake in Central Italy, I mentioned that Italian blogger Paolo Campana had started an initiative for diners and restaurants to raise money for earthquake relief (for Amatrice and the entire affected region) by ordering dishes of amatriciana.
During the wee hours of the morning, an earthquake with a 6.2 magnitude struck central Italy. Italian news reports say the epicenter was near Rieti, about 1.5 hours north of Rome.
Turin has added another destination to Italy’s contemporary art scene. CAMERA, the Centro Italiano per la Fotografia will showcase Italian and international photography in a 2,000 square meter space just down the road from the Museo Nazionale del Cinema and other sights in Torino’s historic center.
It’s been called the “shame of Italy” and for good reason. The A3 autostrada, a 443km highway that is to connect Salerno to Reggio Calabria, has been under construction since 1966. Faulty construction and mafia meddling by both the Camorra and ‘Ndragheta factions have caused numerous delays during the nearly 50 years since the project…
The Daily Mail reports on three depopulated Italian towns — Gangi (Sicily), Carrega Ligure (Piedmont), and Lecce nei Marsi (Abruzzo) — that are offering real estate for about €1 down…plus a commitment of €25,000 in renovations and upkeep. They are set in villages that are just a hairs-breadth away from becoming one of Italy’s fabled ‘ghost…
Emilia-Romagna’s Shit Museum explores man’s relationship to manure.
Roman hoteliers, who write that Rome’s 25 million annual tourists is only a quarter of the number that go to London, are less concerned about how tourists are affecting the city than how the city is affecting tourists.
Trying to decide if a travel experience is authentic or not is like trying to separate “travelers” from “tourists.” That debate separates those who travel along class and age lines, with travelers proclaiming their experiences better, richer, more true than those of the tourists. There’s even a famous quote by G.K. Chesterton that delineates these…
The Vatican Museums welcome up to 25,000 visitors per day. Is it time for them to limit the crowds?
We admire Italy’s art and monuments for color, style, and the skillfulness of their creators. But the gruesome stories that many of these famous works depict are a reminder of real human suffering.
Each day, as many as 20,000 visitors pay up to €16 per person to enter the Vatican Museums, the highlight of which is the Sistine Chapel. This coming weekend, reports Crux, approximately 40 fans of German automaker Porsche will get to pay up to €5,000 each to take a private tour of the Vatican, which includes dinner…
Recently, city officials in Rome unveiled the Barcaccia fountain, which had been under wraps for the past year so it could be cleaned. The Barcaccia is now gleaming, as you can see in the photo above, and provides a pleasing visual for all those tired souls taking a breather on the Spanish Steps.
Excerpts from the Art Issue of the New York Review of Books. Reviews on Veronese, Piero della Francesca, and Futurism. There’s also a Michelangelo poem.
This is what happens when you have writer’s block and you are supposed to write about Italy.
Earthquakes can strike nearly anywhere in Italy. Learn more about seismic activity in Italy, from historic quakes to earthquake monitoring resources.
The latest reports about the earthquake that hit Emilia-Romagna this weekend state that at least seven people were killed, 50 injured, and more than 13,000 have been displaced. The 6.0 earthquake struck early Sunday morning north of the city of Bologna in the town of Finale Emilia. According to The Guardian, the quake “wrought havoc…
A short primer on a few of the dates you will encounter while meandering the streets and squares of Italy.