Places to visit

Most visitors to Florence spend their days walking through places that one family built, funded, or commissioned. They weren’t kings […]

In Bologna, a centuries-old pasta tradition is quietly disappearing. Meet the sfogline — the women who still make pasta by hand, the old way.

Every 15th May, Gubbio in Umbria stages a race where the winner is always known. Discover why the Festa dei Ceri still brings an entire Umbrian town to tears.

The malocchio is Italy’s ancient evil eye belief — and the ritual to cure it is still performed by nonnas across the country. Here’s how it works.

Discover why Naples takes its nativity scenes more seriously than anywhere on Earth — and the 500-year-old street where the craft never stops.

Twice a year, Arezzo holds the Giostra del Saracino — a jousting tournament where four rival quarters of the city have competed for the golden lance for over 700 years.

Italian olive oil is far more than a cooking ingredient. Discover the DOP regions, harvest rituals, and family stories behind every bottle.

When Italy became a unified country in 1861, fewer than three per cent of its 22 million people could speak

Discover Opera dei Pupi, Sicily’s ancient puppet theatre tradition. For 800 years, Palermo has staged epic battles between knights and Saracens. Here’s why it still matters.

Traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena takes 25 years to make and is stored in family attics, passed down like an heirloom. Here’s the real story behind Italy’s most misunderstood ingredient.

Italy’s sagre are village food festivals that turn piazzas into giant dining tables. Discover what they are, where to find them, and why locals love them.

Walk into any Italian home at Christmas and you will find two camps. Panettone on one side. Pandoro on the

Discover why Florentine leather has been the world’s finest for 700 years — the Medici, vegetable tanning, the Oltrarno workshops, and the artisans keeping the tradition alive.

Discover why Parmigiano Reggiano is still made by hand in Emilia-Romagna — an 800-year recipe, strict DOP rules, and a taste that no imitation can match.

Three times a year, thousands pack Naples Cathedral to watch a 700-year-old blood miracle. This is the story of San Gennaro, the patron saint who still holds an entire city in his hands.

The Pantheon in Rome has an open hole in its roof and has been standing for 2,000 years. Here’s the extraordinary engineering story behind it.

Discover the unwritten rules of Italian coffee culture — from standing at the bar to the cappuccino rule that confuses every tourist visiting Italy.

Italian hand gestures are a language all their own. Here is why Italians communicate with their hands — and what those gestures actually mean.

Discover how Brunelleschi built Florence’s iconic dome without scaffolding — and why the engineering secret he hid inside it was never fully explained.

Discover pietra leccese, the golden stone found only in Lecce, Puglia. It can be carved like wood — and it built Italy’s most ornate Baroque city.