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Matera is one of the longest inhabited cities in the world— people have been living there since the Neolithic period. It’s a Unesco World Heritage site that has inspired writers and movie makers and it will also officially become the new European Capital of Culture in 2019. Matera is the second biggest city in the region of Basilicata, in the south...

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A beautiful article appeared a while back on the renowned pages of the New York Times. It was an incredibly entertaining and informative account of the author’s voyage to one of Italy least known corner, Basilicata, a region mostly associated to the ageless Matera, UNESCO Heritage Site, vivid cinematographic set - it’s the town appearing in Mel Gib...

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Every country has its own unique Christmas traditions, and Italy may not be the first European country you’d associate with winter cosiness. But the country goes all out for the holidays, and does Christmas bigger and, we think, better than anywhere else. If you’re a fan of all things festive, here’s why Italy is the place to be. Rome’s beleaguered...

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On a crisp winter’s day, locals gather in a Southern Italian piazza, in the shadow of a 13th century convent, to raise a visionary new architectural structure. It takes a village to hoist the spired earth-toned building — though it’s made of cardboard. These villagers built the terraced work, designed by artist Olivier Grossetête, brick by paper br...

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The University of Calabria’s "Italian Diaspora Studies Seminar" is pleased to launch a new residential Writing seminar on the topic of Cultural Heritage and Memory. It will take place from May 15thto May 29th, 2019 in the National Park of Mount Pollino, with several planned field trips in the surrounding areas of Calabria and Basilicata, including...

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That of the nativity scene is a tradition strongly rooted in the culture and society of Italy. It is considered to date back to year 1223, when San Francesco is credited to have created in the village of Greccio the “presepe” by reconstructing the nativity scene with living animals and real people. The first known nativity, with reconstruction of t...

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Certainly not lacking for cultural excellence, Italy is not only the cradle of Roman, Renaissance and Baroque art, but it also plays a rather important role in the international modern and contemporary art scenes. Museums, galleries, cultural institutions and the artists themselves are organized into collectives: art in Italy follows the flux of ev...

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A mayor really isn’t supposed to say something like this. “We don’t want tourists.” I waited for the punch line. None came. “We don’t want to be occupied by tourists,” he continued. Tourism, he explained, will deplete a city of its soul — and this city has a prehistoric soul. I was in Matera, an ancient city of about 60,000 people, perched on top o...

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The region of Basilicata was known in Roman times as Lucania – a name some residents still use today. Basilicata is in southern Italy and sits between the boot’s ‘toe and heel’, with Puglia to its north, the Ionian Sea to the south-east, Calabria to the south and southern Campania to the west.  Basilicata may be a small region, but its landscape is...

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From Tuesday, November 13, 2018 to Tuesday, December 18, 2018. From 6:00 pm To 8:00 pm EDT. Entrance: Free. Italian Cultural Institute of New York, 686 Park Avenue - New York, NY 10065. Organized by the American Academy in Rome and presented in the US by the Italian Cultural Institute, this exhibition highlights how photography has framed modern pe...

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