The history of Italy goes back to numerous ancient Italian peoples, notably including the Romans, who conquered the Mediterranean world during the Roman Republic and ruled it for centuries during the Roman Empire. With the spread of Christianity, Rome became the seat of the Catholic Church and the Papacy. Between late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, Italy experienced the arrival of Germanic tribes and the fall of the Western Roman Empire. By the 11th century, Italian city-states and maritime republics expanded, bringing renewed prosperity through commerce and laying the groundwork for modern capitalism. The Italian Renaissance flourished during the 15th and 16th centuries and spread to the rest of Europe. Italian explorers discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, contributing significantly to the European Age of Discovery. However, centuries of rivalry and infighting between city-states left the peninsula divided. (Full article...)
Overview of the stages: route from Venice to Rome covered by the riders on the bicycle (red) and distances between stages (green).
The 2009 Giro d'Italia was the 92nd running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It was held from 9 to 31 May 2009, and marked the 100th year since the first edition of the race. Starting in Venice and finishing in Rome, 22 teams competed over 21 stages. Four of the top ten finishers in this edition later had their results voided.
The Giro was raced on a unique path through Italy, taking the peloton to some historic cities and towns in Italian cycling. Though the route lacked any well-known, storied climbs, the many intermediate and mountain stages in the second and third weeks of the race proved deceptively difficult. The 10th and the 16th stages were both called the race's queen stage, as both contained multiple difficult mountain climbs. (Full article...)
Italian cuisine includes deeply rooted traditions common throughout the country, as well as all the diverse regional gastronomies, different from each other, especially between the north, the centre, and the south of Italy, which are in continuous exchange. Many dishes that were once regional have proliferated with variations throughout the country. Italian cuisine offers an abundance of taste, and is one of the most popular and copied around the world. Italian cuisine has left a significant influence on several other cuisines around the world, particularly in that of the United States in the form of Italian-American cuisine. (Full article...)
Image 7World map of first level subdivisions (states, counties, provinces, etc.) that are home to Little Italys or Italian neighbourhoods (from Culture of Italy)
Image 16The Roman Empire provided an inspiration for the medieval European. Although the Holy Roman Empire rarely acquired a serious geopolitical reality, it possessed great symbolic significance. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 24Samantha Cristoforetti is the first Italian woman in space. She holds the record for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight by a European astronaut (199 days, 16 hours). (from Culture of Italy)
Image 31Espresso is a coffee brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee beans. The term espresso comes from the Italian esprimere, which means 'to express', and refers to the process by which hot water is forced under pressure through ground coffee. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 32The Azzurri in 2012. Football is the most popular sport in Italy. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 38The Italian explorer Christopher Columbus leads an expedition to the New World, 1492. His voyages are celebrated as the discovery of the Americas from a European perspective, and they opened a new era in the history of humankind and sustained contact between the two worlds. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 63The Colosseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 78The cover of the Corriere dei Piccoli on 11 July 1911 carries a cartoon strip in the Italian style, without speech bubbles. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 83Palazzo Senatorio, seat of the municipality of Rome. It has been a town hall since AD 1144, making it the oldest town hall in the world. (from Culture of Italy)
The Forma Urbis Romae is a massive marble map of ancient Rome, created under the emperor Septimius Severus between 203 and 211.
Dome of Florence Cathedral
Interior of the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome
South face of the Tofana di Rozes in the Parco naturale regionale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo
Sellajoch, South Tyrol and Trentino (seen from Pordoi Pass), Langkofel on the left, Piz Ciavazes on the right
Porta Soprana is the best-known gate of the ancient walls of Genoa.
A section of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo
View of Piazzetta San Marco toward Grand Canal of Venice, at dawn, with Doges' Palace on the left and Biblioteca Marciana on the right.
Entrance to Cinecittà in Rome, the largest film studio in Europe (from Culture of Italy)
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of Italy. (from Culture of Italy)
The historic seat of the Corriere della Sera in via Solferino in Milan (from Culture of Italy)
Dario Fo, one of the most widely performed playwrights in modern theatre, received international acclaim for his highly improvisational style. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997. (from Culture of Italy)
World map of first level subdivisions (states, counties, provinces, etc.) that are home to Little Italys or Italian neighbourhoods (from Culture of Italy)
Antonio Vivaldi, in 1723. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. (from Culture of Italy)
The Arch of Constantine in Rome (from Culture of Italy)
The statue of Italia turrita in Naples. Italia turrita is the national personification of Italy. (from Culture of Italy)
The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. (from Culture of Italy)
Palazzo della Carovana, the current seat of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (from Culture of Italy)
The Roman Empire provided an inspiration for the medieval European. Although the Holy Roman Empire rarely acquired a serious geopolitical reality, it possessed great symbolic significance. (from Culture of Italy)
The Frecce Tricolori, with the smoke trail representing the national colours of Italy, above the Victor Emmanuel II Monument in Rome during the celebrations of the Festa della Repubblica on 2 June 2022 (from Culture of Italy)
Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (c. 1486). Tempera on canvas. 172.5 cm × 278.9 cm (67.9 in × 109.6 in). Uffizi, Florence. (from Culture of Italy)
The Piazza dei Miracoli, with Pisa Cathedral, the Pisa Baptistery, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, in Pisan Romanesque style (from Culture of Italy)
The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. reflects the president's admiration for classical Roman aesthetics. (from Culture of Italy)
Palio di Siena (from Culture of Italy)
Anti-fascist demonstration at Porta San Paolo in Rome on the occasion of the Liberation Day on 25 April 2013 (from Culture of Italy)
The ingredients of traditional pizza Margherita—tomatoes (red), mozzarella (white), and basil (green)—are inspired by the colours of the national flag of Italy. (from Culture of Italy)
Samantha Cristoforetti is the first Italian woman in space. She holds the record for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight by a European astronaut (199 days, 16 hours). (from Culture of Italy)
The Altare della Patria in Rome, a national symbol of Italy celebrating the first king of the unified country, and resting place of the Italian Unknown Soldier since the end of World War I. It was inaugurated in 1911, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy. (from Culture of Italy)
John Florio is recognised as the most important Renaissance humanist in England. (from Culture of Italy)
Pinocchio Disney film is based on The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. (from Culture of Italy)
Clockwise from top left: Thomas Aquinas, proponent of natural theology and the Father of Thomism; Giordano Bruno, one of the major scientific figures of the Western world; Cesare Beccaria, considered the Father of criminal justice and modern criminal law; and Maria Montessori, credited with the creation of the Montessori education (from Culture of Italy)
Giosuè Carducci. In 1906, he became the first Italian to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. (from Culture of Italy)
The Uffizi in Florence (from Culture of Italy)
Espresso is a coffee brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee beans. The term espresso comes from the Italian esprimere, which means 'to express', and refers to the process by which hot water is forced under pressure through ground coffee. (from Culture of Italy)
The Azzurri in 2012. Football is the most popular sport in Italy. (from Culture of Italy)
Italian folk dance in Molise (from Culture of Italy)
David, by Michelangelo (Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy), is a masterpiece of Renaissance and world art. (from Culture of Italy)
Romulus and Remus, the Lupercal, Father Tiber, and the Palatine on a relief from a pedestal dating to the reign of Trajan (AD 98–117) (from Culture of Italy)
Bologna University, established in AD 1088, is the world's oldest university in continuous operation. (from Culture of Italy)
The Italian explorer Christopher Columbus leads an expedition to the New World, 1492. His voyages are celebrated as the discovery of the Americas from a European perspective, and they opened a new era in the history of humankind and sustained contact between the two worlds. (from Culture of Italy)
Holographic copy of 1847 of "Il Canto degli Italiani", the Italian national anthem since 1946 (from Culture of Italy)
Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in Rome is a perfect example of modern Italian architecture. (from Culture of Italy)
Teatro di San Carlo, Naples. It is the oldest continuously active venue for opera in the world. (from Culture of Italy)
Giorgio Moroder, pioneer of Italo disco and electronic dance music, is known as the "Father of disco". (from Culture of Italy)
Gelato is Italian ice cream. (from Culture of Italy)
The Sagra dell'uva in Marino, Lazio, celebrating grapes (from Culture of Italy)
Roman mosaic of Virgil, the most important Latin poet of the Augustan period (from Culture of Italy)
Valle dei Templi (from Culture of Italy)
Castel del Monte, Apulia (from Culture of Italy)
Leonardo da Vinci, a polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect (from Culture of Italy)
Regional seat of RAI in Cosenza (from Culture of Italy)
Federico Fellini, considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers in the history of cinema (from Culture of Italy)
Royal Palace of Caserta is the largest former royal residence in the world. (from Culture of Italy)
Florence Cathedral, which has the biggest brick dome in the world (from Culture of Italy)
Ernesto Teodoro Moneta was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1907. He adopted the motto In varietate unitas! which later inspired Motto of the European Union. (from Culture of Italy)
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, possibly one of the most famous and iconic examples of Italian art (from Culture of Italy)
The Leaning Tower of Pisa (from Culture of Italy)
Galileo Galilei, an astronomer, physicist, engineer, and polymath, played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. He is considered the "father" of observational astronomy, modern physics, the scientific method, and modern science. (from Culture of Italy)
Alessandro Manzoni is famous for the novel The Betrothed (1827), generally ranked among the masterpieces of world literature. (from Culture of Italy)
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is an Italian art masterpiece worldwide famous. (from Culture of Italy)
The Colosseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. (from Culture of Italy)
Dante Alighieri, one of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages. His epic poem The Divine Comedy ranks among the finest works of world literature. (from Culture of Italy)
St. Peter's Basilica, a representation of Renaissance and Baroque architecture (from Culture of Italy)
Chiostro of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (from Culture of Italy)
William Shakespeare is an example of an Italophile of the 16th century. (from Culture of Italy)
Andrea Palladio is often described as the most influential architect in the Western world. (from Culture of Italy)
Scrovegni Chapel. The chapel contains a fresco cycle by Giotto, completed about 1305 and considered to be an important masterpiece of Western art. (from Culture of Italy)
Rai Radio 1 (from Culture of Italy)
The Creation of Adam is one of the scenes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, painted by Michelangelo sometime between 1508 and 1512. (from Culture of Italy)
Commedia dell'arte troupe I Gelosi performing, by Hieronymus Francken I, c. 1590 (from Culture of Italy)
The cover of the Corriere dei Piccoli on 11 July 1911 carries a cartoon strip in the Italian style, without speech bubbles. (from Culture of Italy)
The president of Italy Sergio Mattarella during his entry into the Sala del Tricolore on the occasion of the Tricolour Day on 7 January 2017 (from Culture of Italy)
Folkloristic reconstruction of the Company of Death led by Alberto da Giussano who is preparing to carry out the charge during the battle of Legnano at the Palio di Legnano 2014 (from Culture of Italy)
Palazzo Senatorio, seat of the municipality of Rome. It has been a town hall since AD 1144, making it the oldest town hall in the world. (from Culture of Italy)
Map of the Italian diaspora in the worldItaly+ 10,000,000+ 1,000,000+ 100,000+ 10,000(from Culture of Italy)
Linguistic map of the Italian language throughout the worldOfficial languageSecondary, widely spoken or understoodUnderstood by some due to former colonisation(from Culture of Italy)
Luciano Pavarotti, considered one of the finest tenors of the 20th century and the "King of the High Cs" (from Culture of Italy)
Enrico Fermi, creator of the world's first nuclear reactor. He is considered the "architect of the nuclear age" and the "architect of the atomic bomb". (from Culture of Italy)
Pietà, by Michelangelo, is a key work of Italian Renaissance sculpture. (from Culture of Italy)
A wooden puppet depicting the Befana (from Culture of Italy)
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