“Apricale is a fortified medieval village in the Valle Nervia a few miles inland from Ventimiglia on the Riviero dei Fiori in Western Liguria. We stayed in this beautiful13th century village that clings haphazardly to the hillside, with lovely restaurants, piazza, and fantastic old footpaths snaking through the terrace hillsides. Ideal to scoot around in […]
Each year, in a remote village in the Peligna valley, a festival takes place that dates back 3,000 years. Nadia Attura attends a celebration in the valley of the snakes. Deep in the Peligna valley, where north Italy meets south, villagers are preparing to celebrate Europe’s oldest festival: a bizarre, 3,000-year-old tradition that mixes ancient […]
Florence at Dusk by E Bellock
Since the height of its 17th-century splendour, this seductively sensuous Carnevale has lured visitors from afar. Sadie Briggs visits Venice in search of the magic behind the masks. Being swept along tall, narrow streets in an anonymous crowd of beautifully opulent revellers with music, shouting and whoops of excitement coming from every direction, can be […]
Fiat 500, Amalfi by Robert Birchall of Heath Charnock “I took this on a visit to the town of Amalfi when we visited Italy in July 2010 for our 25th Wedding Anniversary. I felt it summed up the love affair the Italians have for the original Fiat 500. Spot the little red heart!”
The smuggling of the mortal remains of St Mark to Venice from Alexandria in 828 satisfied a Divine Will – according to the Venetian version of the story, anyway… When, in the 4th Century AD, St Mark the Evangelist allegedly visited the then uninhabited lagoon, an angel appeared unto him saying: “Pax tibi Marce, Evangelistameus!” […]
In 1599, the Capuchin monks of Palermo made a macabre discovery: some of the corpses they had entombed in their catacombs had become naturally mummified. Then the monks decided to preserve one of their own… When the Capuchin monks of Palermo mummified Brother Silvestro of Gubbio they started a trend. From 1599 to 1880, when […]
Chair and Flowers, Bevegna by Peter Colligan “Whilst strolling round Bevagna, one of our favourite towns in Umbria, we came across this delightful little scene by the Roman Amphitheatre. The warm colours are simply delightful.”
Every year a festival takes place in Monterubbiano in Le Marche. We trace the history of the flight of the woodpecker. The game takes place in the afternoon, always on the Sunday of Pentecost (the seventh Sunday after Easter), and always in the small town of Monterubbiano, near the Adriatic coast. Four men, on horseback […]
Joe Gartman reveals the ghosts of the past in Ferrera, a city where long-gone rulers and clergymen left unfinished business… Ghosts don’t exist, I am inclined to believe, but the atmosphere of Ferrara is distinctly eerie. Maybe it’s the mist floating in from the Po Delta, to east of the city, where the great river […]