YouTube turns 20: the Italian journey of the video platform
YouTube turns 20 in these days, a period in which it has revolutionized the use of video worldwide. On average, the time spent in Italy on YouTube each month is 18 hours and 15 minutes per user. There are 42.8 million users (72.8% of the Italian population), and the percentage of men and women using the platform is exactly the same (50%). The YouTu...
Rocky Marciano: the legend of the Italian American boxer in a new artistic project
A team of Italian artists, led by Carmine Di Giandomenico, Francesco Colafella, and Maestro Tanino Liberatore, has come together to tell the story of legendary boxer Rocky Marciano in a work that blends comic book and biography, offering a fresh perspective on his extraordinary career. Born on September 1, 1923, in Brockton, Massachusetts, Rocco Fr...
A Journey through Italy’s Traditional Carnevale Desserts
Carnevale in Italy is one of the most vibrant festivities of the year, marked by colorful parades, masquerades, street performances, and, of course, delicious food. Celebrated in the weeks leading up to Lent, Carnevale has deep roots in ancient traditions. The word Carnevale itself comes from the Latin carnelevarium, meaning "to remove meat," a ref...
4 Board Games That Promote a Positive Image of Italy
Board games aren’t the sort of entertainment people tend to get up in arms about — but in Italy, certain themes are never child’s play. When the board game La Famiglia: The Great Mafia War hit the Italian market last month, it sparked outrage. Launched by a German company, the game comes in packaging illustrated with the requisite “postcard Italy”...
Visiting St. Paul Outside the Walls: Rome’s Hidden Basilica
Rome is on a lot of people’s minds this year. That’s because 2025 is a Jubilee year, a Holy Year for Catholics that takes place every quarter of a century. Millions of Catholics from every corner of the planet will be making a pilgrimage to the Eternal City (and, of course, Vatican City) to show their devotion and piety. One of the Jubilee traditio...
Shooting kicks off on The Secrets of Milan, for docufilm series that will chronicle the cities history and art
Shooting has begun in Milan on I segreti di Milano, the first episode of the docufilm series Memorie Italiane, directed by Alfio D’Agata and produced by Cine 1 Italia in collaboration with Rai Documentari. Filming will take place in some of the city’s most fascinating historic locations, including Taverna Moriggi, and the series will be hosted by w...
Grupariata, Calabria's unique red focaccia
Bread has a central role in Italian cuisine, with each region proudly promoting its own distinct varieties, textures, and flavors. The delicious and humble focaccia is the same: from the soft and fluffy focaccia barese, topped with cherry tomatoes and olives, to the richly layered sfincione siciliano, often considered a cross between focaccia and p...
Italian Agri-Food Districts Exports Soar to €21B
Italy’s agri-food districts have sustained robust export growth, with sales surpassing €21 billion in the first nine months of 2024—up 7.7% year-on-year at current prices. According to the latest report from Intesa Sanpaolo’s Research Department, the sector’s performance aligns with overall Italian agri-food export growth (+8.2%), with districts ac...
Women on Film: The History of Gender Equality in Italy, As Seen on the Silver Screen
It was Autumn 2023, as the golden leaves began their descent to the ground and nature stripped itself bare for the winter, I found myself in Milan. A chill hung in the air, as did the impenetrable mists, which, as anyone who has visited northern Italy at that time of year will know, some days barely rose above the city’s highest spires, and I heade...
Agritourism, a growing Italian excellence
The new ISTAT report on agritourism businesses in Italy (2023) highlights a growing trend both in terms of the number of establishments (26,129, +1.1% compared to 2022) and the number of guests (4.5 million, +11%). However, the most significant increase is seen in the value of agritourism production (€1.871 billion), which marked a +15.4% increase...
Italy's Brignone wins women's giant slalom world gold
Italy's Federica Brignone put in a dominant display to win gold in the women's giant slalom at the Alpine World Ski Championships in Saalbach on Thursday. Brignone, second in the super-G a week ago, led after the first run, and again put in the fastest time on her second to win by 0.90 of a second over New Zealand's Alice Robinson, who took silver...
The painting of Dante inside the Florentine cathedral
Inside the cathedral in Florence, just before the presbytery, on the left aisle wall, there is a painting of Dante (1265-1321). It is a wonderful visual biography of this much-loved national icon. It was placed here in 1465, on the bicentenary of the great poet’s birth. The Florentine painter Domenico di Michelino was commissioned for the work by t...