The Best Small Islands

With such a vast coastline Italy has plenty of beautiful, small islands dotted around its shores. Italia! selects five of the best diminutive destinations. Isola D’elba, Tuscany  Tuscany’s Elba was once home to Napoleon during his period of exile in 1814. It’s now hard to imagine how such an imposition could be deemed a punishment, […]

Italia! May Issue 138 on sale now!

Let us introduce Italia! May Issue 138 which is on sale now, this month we explore how Sardina has changed but the soul still remains… I’m pleased to announce that the latest issue of Italia! is on sale now and available to buy online and from stores across the UK! You can also download the digital edition […]

Buying a Home in Italy – Part 1

Owning a property in Italy is a dream that many people have made into a reality. And so can you. In this first of a three-part series, Fleur Kinson guides you through the initial why, what and where.   The Market Admit it. You love Italy. (Why else would you be reading this excellent magazine?) […]

48 Hours in Capri

Rich in history, glamour and beauty, Capri is also the perfect size for a couple of days’ exploring. Rebecca Burgess gives her highlights of this gem of an island. The island of Capri, rising out of the shimmering Tyrrhenian Sea, has long held an allure for some rather illustrious characters, with figures as prominent as […]

Mille Miglia

One thousand miles of open-road racing launched some of the greatest car manufacturers in the world. Italia! explores the turbulent history of the legendary car race The legend of the Mille Miglia is remembered to this day, but what lead to the demise of the great thousand mile car race? In 1927, the race was […]

Gardens of the Northern Lakes

Historically a trailblazer in garden design, Italy still wows with its gorgeous giardini. Fleur Kinson finds variety in all its splendour on the shores of the northern lakes. Italy, like England, is one of the great gardening nations of Europe and was hugely influential in the evolution of ideas about green spaces arranged for pleasure […]

Ciabatta Recipe

Ciabatta was given its name because the bread resembles a well-worn slipper. Prolonged rising and plenty of liquid produce a very light bread with a uniquely open and porous texture. Ingredients FOR THE STARTER ½ tsp dried yeast 150ml water 3 tbsp tepid milk ¼ tsp honey or granulated sugar 150g strong white flour FOR […]

Top Five Carnivals

Most months consist of some kind of festival in Italy – some celebrations more peculiar than others. Italia! discovers some of the weird, but mostly wonderful carnivals.   1. Carnevale di Venezia Venice’s internationally famed carnival attracts thousands of visitors every year. When you consider the scale of the event and number of passionate participants, it is […]

Past Italia! Sons of the She-Wolf

At the height of Mussolini’s powers, physical fitness was used to demonstrate the ‘supremacy’ of the fascist movement. As these diminutive skiers show, children were not exempt. Between 1926 and 1937, when the fascist regime was at its peak, Mussolini founded the Operazione Nazionale Balilla – Italy’s version of the Hitler Youth. Part of Il […]

Great Italian Films: The Italian Job

We are at the second in a series of eight of the most memorable starring roles, next is the original ‘The Italian Job’ and the legendary getaway scene featuring the rooftops and back streets of Turin… The Italian Job (1969, Turin, directed by Peter Collinson. Starring: Michael Caine, Noël Coward) Michael Caine stars as Charlie Croker, a cunning […]