7 more villages added to ‘Most beautiful villages’ list
From lakeside terraces to hilltop hamlets, Italy’s heritage shines in five new “Borghi più belli” (most beautiful villages) and two honorary guest villages.
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Category: Culture
Sanremo festival drawn into Eurovision dispute
Italy’s Sanremo Music Festival, the country’s most influential annual pop culture event, has been pulled into a growing controversy over Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.
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Bernini and the Barberini exhibition in Rome
Rome will host a major new exhibition examining the relationship that shaped the birth of the Baroque. Bernini and the Barberini looks at the bond between sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini and his first great patron, Pope Urban VIII.
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On this day in history: birth of artist Giovanni Lanfranco
The Italian painter Giovanni Lanfranco, regarded as one of the leading masters of High Baroque painting in Rome, was born on 26th January, 1582 in Parma. Lanfranco’s work, particularly his dome frescoes, set new standards for illusionistic perspective and dramatic foreshortening.
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Consorzio flags over 2,500 online abuses of Chianti name
More than 2,500 online contents linked to the improper use of the Chianti name have been identified in the past six months, according to a monitoring report commissioned by the Consorzio Vino Chianti.
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Venezi cites Boskov maxim in ongoing La Fenice row
La Fenice’s newly appointed musical director Beatrice Venezi has said “the game isn’t over until the referee blows the whistle”, as protests continue at Venice’s historic opera house over her appointment.
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Pompeii graffiti revealed by new imaging technology
Insults between gladiators and love stories between enslaved Romans have resurfaced at Pompeii, as new technology reveals graffiti long hidden from view. Writings scratched into a wall more than 2,000 years ago are now offering fresh insight into everyday life in the ancient city.
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Fashion designer Valentino dies aged 93
Fashion designer Valentino Garavani, known worldwide simply as Valentino, has died aged 93, his foundation announced on Monday. His death comes four months after the passing of Giorgio Armani, another towering figure of Italian fashion, who died on September 4 aged 91.
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St Francis of Assisi at 800
In 2026, Italy marks 800 years since the death of St Francis of Assisi. Few medieval figures still command such wide attention, yet Francis speaks across centuries because his ideas confront enduring human tensions. We only have to look at news articles to understand that wealth, power, violence, and humanity’s place in the natural world […]
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Ancient Roman pools unearthed beneath scrapyard in Rome
Construction workers preparing a residential development in an eastern suburb of Rome have uncovered two large Roman pools dating back around 1,800 years.
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