A turbulent era in Italian politics saw the emergence of a great aviator, the flamboyant Marshal Balbo, as famous for his stand against Hitler as for his revolutionary leadership. Of the many colourful personalities to come out of Italy’s fascist era, Italo Balbo was among the most exuberant. He was a prominent member of the […]
Only second to Brazil in the rankings as the most successful World Cup football team ever, the Italian team basks in the glory of its second title in 1938, in Paris. Victory on the football field seems almost second nature to the Italians. In the third staging of the Fifa World Cup, the Italian […]
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 […]
If this image looks familiar it is because we visited Padua’s ’meadow without grass’ in June. Unfortunately, we barely had time to stop then, so this month we return, under cover of darkness, to see it at its most splendid… We visited Il Prato della Valle when we spent 48 Hours in Padua earlier this […]
Built in Turin, Desio (Monza and Brianza) and Termini Imerese (Palermo), between 1957 and 1975, the Fiat 500 is recognised the world over as a symbol of Italian identity… Measuring just under 3 metres long and originally powered by a tiny 479cc, two-cylinder, air-cooled engine delivering just 13bhp, the Fiat 500 – across its […]
“He who controls the high ground controls the battle,” goes the old military adage – and it doesn’t get much higher than La Rocca Calascio. Standing at 1,460 metres above sea level – that’s 300 metres higher than Ben Nevis – this medieval fortress provides a vantage point over huge swathes of land… Standing in the […]
A spectacular example of 19th-century architecture, the elegant Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II arcade in Milan had a central part to play in the birth of the modern-day malls in which we shop today… Gazing up through the central octagonal glass dome of Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II to the blue skies above gives a whole new […]
In 1910 a new car manufacturer was formed, launching its first vehicle, the A.L.F.A 24HP. What was A.L.F.A went on to become Alfa Romeo, one of Italy’s producers of design icons… Who hasn’t, at some point, hankered after an Alfa Romeo? Anyone who has petrol rather than blood running through their veins will appreciate the […]
During the Second World War, Pope Pius XII was criticized for his perceived lack of aggressive action towards Nazi Germany. But he actually did more than was known at the time… On 15 October 1943, thousands of men, women and children gathered around Pope Pius XII during his inspection tour of Rome after an American […]
It was not until 1924, when the nuns of Santa Chiara in Naples swapped digs with the monks, that outsiders were allowed to view these beautiful tin-glazed earthenware tiles, known in Italy as maiolica. Music plays as men and women dance and flirt with each other, food and wine is quaffed with abandon; general merry-making […]