Portal:Italy

The Italy portal Portale Italia Italy (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja] (listen)), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica Italiana [reˈpubblika itaˈljaːna]), is a European country consisting of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands. Italy is located in Southern Europe, and it is sometimes considered as part of Western Europe. The country covers a total area of 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi) and shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. Italy has a territorial exclave in Switzerland (Campione) and a maritime exclave in the Tunisian Sea (Lampedusa). With around 60 million inhabitants, Italy is the fourth-most populous member state of the European Union. Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, Italy has historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures. In addition to the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout modern-day Italy, the most predominant being the Indo-European Italic peoples who gave the peninsula its name, beginning from the classical era, Phoenicians and Carthaginians founded colonies mostly in insular Italy, Greeks established settlements in the so-called Magna Graecia of Southern Italy, while Etruscans and Celts inhabited central and northern Italy respectively. An Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC, which eventually became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People. The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the peninsula, eventually expanding and conquering parts of Europe, North Africa and Asia. By the first century BC, the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became a leading cultural, political and religious centre, inaugurating the Pax Romana, a period of more than 200 years during which Italy's law, technology, economy, art, and literature developed. Italy remained the homeland of the Romans and the metropole of the empire, whose legacy can also be observed in the global distribution of culture, governments, Christianity and the Latin script. Selected article - Self-Portrait, c. 1567; Museo del Prado, Madrid. Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (pronounced [titˈtsjaːno veˈtʃɛlljo]; c. 1488/90 – 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian (/ˈtɪʃən/ TISH-ən), was an Italian painter during the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno, (then in the Republic of Venice). During his lifetime he was often called da Cadore, 'from Cadore', taken from his native region. Recognized by his contemporaries as "The Sun Amidst Small Stars" (recalling the final line of Dante's Paradiso), Titian was one of the most versatile of Italian painters, equally adept with portraits, landscape backgrounds, and mythological and religious subjects. His painting methods, particularly in the application and use of colour, exercised a profound influence not only on painters of the late Italian Renaissance, but on future generations of Western art. Read more... Selected picture - Youth of Moses by Sandro Botticelli, 1481-82, Sistine Chapel Interior of the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome A section of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo View of Piazzetta San Marco toward Grand Canal of Venice, at dawn, with Doges' Palace on the left and Biblioteca Marciana on the right. Dome of Florence Cathedral The Forma Urbis Romae is a massive marble map of ancient Rome, created under the emperor Septimius Severus between 203 and 211. South face of the Tofana di Rozes in the Parco naturale regionale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo Porta Soprana is the best-known gate of the ancient walls of Genoa. Sellajoch, South Tyrol and Trentino (seen from Pordoi Pass), Langkofel on the left, Piz Ciavazes on the right Did you know... - ...that Poliphilo, the main character in the Renaissance book Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, was said to have felt "extreme delight," "incredible joy," and "frenetic pleasure and cupidinous frenzy" when he saw the buildings depicted in the book? ...the famous biblical period movies Pier Paolo Pasolini’s "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" (1964), Bruce Beresford’s "King David" (1985) and Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ" (2004) were filmed in Matera? Selected cuisine - A multigenerational banquet depicted on a mural from Pompeii (1st century AD) Food and dining in the Roman Empire reflect both the variety of foodstuffs available through the expanded trade networks of the Roman Empire and the traditions of conviviality from ancient Rome's earliest times, inherited in part from the Greeks and Etruscans. In contrast to the Greek symposium, which was primarily a drinking party, the equivalent social institution of the Roman convivium (dinner party) was focused on food. Banqueting played a major role in Rome's communal religion. Maintaining the food supply to the city of Rome had become a major political issue in the late Republic, and continued to be one of the main ways the emperor expressed his relationship to the Roman people and established his role as a benefactor. Roman food vendors and farmers' markets sold meats, fish, cheeses, produce, olive oil and spices and pubs, bars, inns and food stalls sold prepared food. Bread was a meaty food for Romans, with more well-to-do people eating wheat bread and poorer people eating barley bread. Fresh produce such as vegetables and legumes were important to Romans, as farming was a valued activity. A variety of olives and nuts were eaten. While there were prominent Romans who discouraged meat eating, a variety of meat products were prepared, including blood puddings, sausages, cured ham and bacon. The milk of goats or sheep was thought superior to that of cows; milk was used to make many types of cheese, as this was a way of storing and trading milk products. While olive oil was fundamental to Roman cooking, butter was viewed as an undesirable Gallic foodstuff. Sweet foods such as pastries typically used honey and wine-must syrup as a sweetener. A variety of dried fruits (figs, dates and plums) and fresh berries were also eaten. Read more... Categories Select [►] to view subcategories ▼ Italy ► Italy-related lists ► Buildings and structures in Italy ► Italian culture ► Economy of Italy ► Education in Italy ► Environment of Italy ► Geography of Italy ► Government of Italy ► Health in Italy ► History of Italy ► Organisations based in Italy ► Italian people ► Politics of Italy ► Italian society ► Images of Italy ► Italy stubs General images - The following are images from various Italy-related articles on Wikipedia. Antonio Meucci, c.1880, inventor of the first telephone The Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral in Florence, which has the biggest brick dome in the world, and is considered a masterpiece of Italian architecture and world architecture. Italian cavalry in Trento on 3 November 1918, after the victorious Battle of Vittorio Veneto. Italy's victory marked the end of the war on the Italian Front, secured the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and contributed to the end of World War I just one week later. The Vitruvian man by Leonardo da Vinci, representing the ideal human proportions as described by Roman architect Vitruvius, is a quintessential masterpiece of the Renaissance. According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BCE by Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf. A Prada shop in Singapore. Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana Store on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas Carmine Crocco Italy has been a home for innovation in science in the centuries since Galileo formulated his theories of planetary movement. The Colosseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire provided an inspiration for the medieval European. Although the Holy Roman Empire rarely acquired a serious geopolitical reality, it possessed great symbolic significance. Fresco of dancing Peucetian women in the Tomb of the Dancers in Ruvo di Puglia, 4th–5th century BCE A 1905 Fiat advertisement. Petroglyph in Valcamonica, Lombardy, the largest collection of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world (10th millennium BCE). Maximum extent of the Italian Empire. Benito Mussolini during the March on Rome in 1922. Italian kingdom in 1919. Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, ca. 1482–85. Giuseppe Garibaldi, hero of Italian unification. Expansion of the territory known as Italy and the nearby islands from the establishment of the Roman Republic until Diocletian. Etruscan fresco, 5th century BCE. Marco Polo at the court of Kublai Khan (painting by Tranquillo Cremona, 1863). Rai Radio 1. The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello (ca. 1438–40). Italy and the nearby islands in the 1st century BCE. Florence Cathedral, Arnolfo di Cambio, campanile by Giotto dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. Dante Alighieri, one of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages. His epic poem The Divine Comedy ranks among the finest works of world literature. Italian states in 1494. The Roman Empire at its greatest extent under Trajan in CE 117. The Pompeii Lakshmi, an ivory statuette from the Indian subcontinent found in the ruins of Pompeii. The Indo-Roman trade relations, beginning around the 1st century BCE, testifies to extensive Roman trade in far away regions. Venetian dessert tiramisù. The celebration of the Azzurri for the first victory (of four) in the 1934 World football championship Federico Fellini, considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century. The Creation of Adam is one of the scenes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, painted by Michelangelo sometime between 1508 and 1512. The discovery of the New World by Christoper Columbus. Insurgents celebrating the liberation of Naples after the Four days of Naples (27–30 September 1943). Brunello di Montalcino is one of Italy's finest red wines, made around the town of Montalcino from a Sangiovese variant known locally as Brunello. William Shakespeare is an example of an Italophile of the 16th century. St. Peter's Basilica is the world's largest Christian church. It is the second church to stand above the crypt (tomb) believed to hold the body of Saint Peter, the first pope. Founding of Rome, 8th century BCE. Pasta with pesto sauce. Socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti was murdered a few days after he openly denounced Fascist violence during the 1924 elections. Alcide De Gasperi, Prime Minister 1945–53, is revered as a founding father of modern Italy and Europe. Alessandro Manzoni, one of Italy's greatest 19th-century writers. David, by Michelangelo (Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy) is a masterpiece of Renaissance and world art. Antonio Vivaldi, in 1723. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons The espresso comes from the Italian esprimere, which means "to express," and refers to the process by which hot water is forced under pressure through ground coffee. The Colosseum in Rome, built in the 1st century. Map of Etruscan civilisation. Italian Lombard kingdom (781–1014). Italian prisoners in El Alamein, November 1942. The Redipuglia War Memorial of Redipuglia, resting place of 100,000 Italian soldiers. More than 650,000 died on the battlefields of World War I. The total deaths for Italy amounted to 1,240,000. Galileo Galilei, the founder of modern experimental science. The Battle of Bitonto by Giovanni Luigi Rocco Residents of Fiume cheering D'Annunzio and his Legionari, September 1919. At the time, Fiume had 22,488 (62% of the population) Italians in a total population of 35,839 inhabitants. The Roman Forum, the commercial, cultural, and political center of the city and the Republic which housed the various offices and meeting places of the government. Emirate of Sicily (831–1072). the Leaning Tower of Pisa Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is an Italian art masterpiece worldwide famous the EUR in Rome is a perfect example of modern Italian architecture Commedia dell'arte troupe Gelosi in a late 16th-century Flemish painting. Italian states in 1796. Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic, elected on 3 February 2015. Giuseppe Verdi, one of Italy's greatest opera composers. Portrait by Giovanni Boldini. "Italophone" world.   Official language.   Secondary, widely spoken or understood.   Understood by some due to former colonisation. Italian kingdom in 1864. Mussolini and Hitler in June 1940. Italian states (1815–1859). Imperial ambitions of Fascist Italy in Europe, 1936. Attack of the far-right terrorist group NAR at the Bologna railway station on 2 August 1980, which caused the death of 85 people. The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, possibly one of the most famous and iconic examples of Italian art Marchese Guglielmo Marconi was the inventor of radio. Spanish Republican poster against "the Italian invader". Giuseppe Mazzini. Ancient Greek colonies and their dialect groupings in Southern Italy.   NW Greek   Achaean   Doric   Ionian Umberto II, the last King of Italy, was exiled to Portugal. Italy today. Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (c. 1486). Tempera on canvas. 172.5 cm × 278.9 cm (67.9 in × 109.6 in). Uffizi, Florence Italian irredentism map. The historic seat of the Corriere della Sera in via Solferino in Milan. Su Nuraxi nuraghe, Sardinia, Italy, 2nd millennium BCE. Pyramid of Monte d'Accoddi is an archaeological site in northern Sardinia, Italy, located in the territory of Sassari near Porto Torres. 4th millennium BCE. Giants of Mont'e Prama, Sardinia, Italy, early 1st millennium BCE. The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world and one of the "Big Three" alongside Cannes and Berlin Pinocchio Disney film is based on The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. Leonardo da Vinci is one of the greatest painters and most versatile geniuses in history. Italy and the Habsburg Empire in 1547. Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, the first Prime Minister in the history of Italy. Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy for almost ten years between 1994 and 2011. Andrea Palladio is often described as the most influential architect in the Western world. the Arch of Constantine in Rome. Greek temple of Hera, Selinunte, Sicily. The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., reflects the president's admiration for classical Roman aesthetics. Palazzo della Carovana, the current seat of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. Mussolini reviewing adolescent soldiers, late 1944. Aragonese Castle in Reggio Calabria From left to right, Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini and Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano at the signing of Munich Agreement. The Uffizi. This mosaic depicts some of the Gladiators entertainments that would have been offered at the games. Michelangelo's David, one of the symbols of Italian Renaissance. Fiat 600, iconic middle-class dream car and status symbol of the 1950-60s. Regional seat of RAI in Cosenza. Italy's Naval Jack, featuring the coats of arms of the four major Maritime Republics. Clockwise from upper left: Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Amalfi. Milan Cathedral is the fourth-largest church in the world. Physician attire for protection from the Bubonic plague or Black death, 1656. Official portrait of Benito Mussolini. Italian unification in 1860. Antonio Canova's Venus Victrix. A chocolate gelato ice cream dessert. Neapolitan pizza Margherita. Sheets with the iconic picture of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, exposed as a sign of protest against Italian Mafia. They read: "You did not kill them: their ideas walk on our legs". Ötzi the oldest mummy in the world discovered in the southern Alps (region of Trentino-Alto Adige) with extremely sophisticated equipment to that time. 4th millennium BCE. the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Chiostro of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. The signing ceremony of the Treaty of Rome on 25 March 1957, creating the EEC, forerunner of the present-day EU. Etruscan pendant with swastika symbols, Bolsena, Italy, 700–650 BCE. Louvre Museum. A Ferrari SF70H by Scuderia Ferrari, the oldest surviving and most successful Formula One team. 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