Spring in Italy smells of freshly bloomed flowers and trees that are colored with new light, the climate becomes mild, the squares of the cities come back to life and the sun reappears to make the landscapes shine. In short, for many this is the best time of year to travel and to enjoy landscapes and locations without the confusion of summer or the...

"Only loving and knowing counts. Not having loved, not having known". It would be enough to contextualize this sentence to understand how brilliant, divisive and provocative Pier Paolo Pasolini has been for Italian culture. Writer, linguist, director, poet, he was born on March 5, 1922 in Bologna, Emilia Romagna, exactly 100 years ago. Because of h...

Following a successful 2021 bid for Unesco World Heritage status – elevating Italy's total sites to a world-leading 58 – Bologna has just launched a newly designed guided walking tour that takes a deep dive into the best of the centuries-old porticoes that canvas the historic city center. The 90-minute tours (€15) depart from Bologna Welcome's Tour...

As Elizabeth David wrote in “Italian Food” in 1954, “Everyone has heard of the mortadella sausage of Bologna, but how many hurrying motorists drive past the rose and ochre coloured arcades of Bologna quite unaware that behind modest doorways are some of the best restaurants in Italy.” She might have added, “and everyone has cooked spaghetti alla bo...

Bologna is the capital of arguably Italy’s most important food region, Emilia-Romagna, a storied territory whose kitchens have given birth to a long list of specialities famous the world over. Lasagne, ragù, tortellini, mortadella, parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar all hail from here. At Pasta Fresca Naldi, a tiny shop/cafe west of the historic...

There is absolutely no doubt that one of the things Italy continues to gift the world is art. The Bel Paese gave us Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Leonardo, Dante, Artemisia, and more recently Modigliani, Boccioni, and Cattelan, to name a few names. But it’s not just indoor art that we should be paying attention to: the Italian street art is just as flo...

Many are the Italian cities where every year local traditions are carried on and events are held to celebrate the festivities. Here are some of Central Italy’s Christmas markets that come to life every year in the month of December. Here it is possible to find many gift ideas or local and traditional products. Furthermore, you will live the magic o...

Christmas markets, light shows and old traditions: all across Italy there are many events planned for the Christmas and New Year period: here we have chosen the most interesting suggestions for you. The very first traditional Christmas markets date back to around the 14th century in Germany and Alsace and then spread along the Alps, including Italy...

AROUND THE YEAR 1603, Italian shoemaker and amateur alchemist Vincenzo Casciarolo tried smelting some especially dense stone he had found on the slopes of Mount Paderno, near Bologna. No gold, silver, or other precious metals resulted as he had hoped. But after the stone had cooled, Casciarolo discovered something interesting: If he exposed the mat...

In terms of sheer scale, Bologna’s porticoes are unique. Dating from 1100, they were originally constructed to help accommodate scholars pouring into Europe’s first university as landlords built additional rooms over public land. In 1288 they were established by a municipal bylaw, which not only ruled that all new buildings had to be built with a p...