In Italy, you don’t find only nice stores, you find very old ones, too. Mind, trade and commerce have a long history everywhere in the world, but there aren’t many places where you can find ateliers, restaurants, or cafés operating for more than – or the best part of – a century (although I am sure that there are a store or two in London or Paris that would give some of the entries in this article a run for their money!).

The difference, perhaps, lies in how, here in Italy, we have several associations that gather together and protect the integrity of historical stores, restaurants, cafés and businesses, both at a national and local level.