He left us master works such as The Last Supper and Mona Lisa. His intricate, ahead-of-his time thinking influenced the worlds of art, science and engineering. But at the heart of this Renaissance rock star was someone intensely human. 573 years after his birth, here are seven stories to celebrate the man behind the legendary…
Category: Art & Culture
Nine Places in Europe to Experience Ancient Rome
In its heyday, the Roman Empire occupied more than two million square miles and stretched from England to Egypt, with its citizens numbering around 120 million people. With such an enormous reach, the ancient Romans understandably left evidence of their heritage not only in Rome and Italy, but throughout Europe. As a companion piece to…
Three Sites Added to Italy’s UNESCO World Heritage List
Padua, Bologna and Tuscany’s Montecatini Terme are home to Italy’s newest UNESCO sites, achieving World Heritage status in August 2021. This boosts Italy’s total to 58, now the country with the most heritage sites in the world. Here’s a quick peek at these cultural gems. Padua’s 14th Century Fresco Cycles In Italy’s northeastern corner between…
UNESCO World Heritage Sites Near Rome
“Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations.” –UNESCO World Heritage Center Since 1972, UNESCO has designated more than 1,000 sites worldwide as World Heritage Sites, with 55 of those in Italy (the country tied for China for the most World Heritage Sites.)…
Nine Beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Cities for Your Italy Wish List
“Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations.” –UNESCO World Heritage Center Since 1972, UNESCO has designated sites throughout the world, both natural and man-made, as World Heritage Sites, in an effort to help preserve and protect “cultural and natural heritage around the…
These 14 Universities in Italy Have Welcomed Students Since the 1400s — or Earlier
As roughly 207 million college students worldwide begin their new fall term, many will attend universities which have been in operation since the 1400s — some since the 1200s. Being a passionate armchair historian, I find that information very enticing. The university as we regard it today — an educational institution designed for instruction, examination, or…
The Oldest Universities in Italy: A Sneak Peek
Not only is Italy home to the oldest university in all of Europe and nearly the oldest in the world, il bel paese is also home to multiple universities which have been in continual operation for several centuries. Where might one find these educational treasures? And how many might there be still in operation? Here’s…
The Birth of the University: An Italian Story
This fall roughly 207 million college students will converge at universities across the world to learn, study, gather and debate with like-minded individuals in the name of higher education. As they select roommates, buy books and balance the demands of a new schedule, it understandable that many may not have medieval Europe on their minds….
Cheers to all: Cin Cin a tutti!
I never really thought about why we “toast” with our drinks when gathered with others, I just accepted it as a time-honored tradition. But the armchair historian in me was amused to discover recently, while browsing one of my Italian texts, that we have the ancients to thank for this one. This sparked my interest,…
7 Reasons to Love Italian
We study Italian because we want to, not because we need to. Because the music of the language moves us to learn it, to engage in this “impracticality”, to throw some of our precious time to the wind and do something simple for the pleasure of being able to pronounce words like piacere. –From “Why…
Prayers & Piazzas 