Who was Maria Montessori? Learn about this influential educator in a brief history of Italy’s first female physician Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was a pioneering physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name. Today, her model for schools is a global standard, found in nearly every country. While her approach […]
Abruzzo’s Trabocchi Coast is home to many wonders. Explore our top ten things to see and do along this glittering coastline… Picture this: a stretch of coastline where the blue shades of the sea blend with the sky, and as you wander along the shore, the salty breeze mingles with the aroma of freshly cooked […]
The Order of St. Clare, often known as the Poor Clares, today numbers some 20,000 nuns around the world. But how did this 13th-century nun become the patron saint of television? Italia! Women #3: St. Clare of Assisi (1194-1253) Chiara Offreduccio (she didn’t become “St. Clare” until two years after her death) was born to […]
The ‘Grandmother of Gynaecology’ Trota of Salerno studied and practised at the Medical School of Salerno during the 1100s… Italia! Women #2: Trota of Salerno (12th Century) We know very little of the life of Trota except that she worked at the Medical School of Salerno during the 12th century. There are no biographical records; […]
Matilda of Canossa, Countess of Tuscany, left a legacy of church-building that has lasted a thousand years… Italia! Women #1: Matilda of Canossa (1046-1115) Revered as La Gran Contessa, Matilda of Canossa was one of the most powerful nobles in Italy and her legacy is built in stone – quite literally. But under normal circumstances […]
In the far southeast of Rome is a park with a long and watery history, Joe Gartman writes… Images by Patricia Gartman There is a place, not far from the old Via Appia, where you can step outside of Rome without leaving the city. You can almost step outside of time too, into a landscape […]
You could travel the world’s museums to see the works of Antonio Canova, or you could go to Possagno, Joe Gartman writes… Images by Patricia Gartman There’s an elegantly mirrored and frescoed room in Venice’s Correr Museum, just off Piazza San Marco. I suppose you’d call the décor neoclassical: the mirrors are square, the frescoes […]
Even the most familiar places tend to look a little different as night falls… Sara Scarpa bravely steps into the shadows in search of Venice’s spookiest legends. Photos by Iain Reid The maze of narrow alleys, combined with the tricks of the light reflected in the canals, the decaying palaces and the fog make Venice […]
Pulsano Abbey stands on the spur of Italy’s heel in the Gargano area of Puglia, overlooking the Gulf of Manfredonia Photo by Getty Images There has been an abbey at this location on the Gargano promontory since the 6th century. However, the original was destroyed by Islamic invaders and the 12th-century rebuild – which had […]
We are still making discoveries at Herculaneum, and computer technology may be about to reveal something very special, says Joe Gartman… Photos by Patricia Gartman It’s been ten years or more since I saw the little, old-fashioned wooden display cases sitting in a deserted room of the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. When I […]