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They were expert engineers, way ahead of the curve on underfloor heating, aqueducts and the use of concrete as a building material. Now it turns out that the Romans were also masters at recycling their rubbish. Researchers at Pompeii, the city buried under a thick carpet of volcanic ash when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, have found that huge mounds of...

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The Fountain of Venus and Adonis, sculpted in white Carrara marble by Gaetano Salomone between 1784 and 1789, stands out in the wonderful frame of the gardens of the Royal Palace of Caserta, a park extending over 120 hectares with English gardens and small woods. The water system was designed by Luigi Vanvitelli, creating a fascinating journey in t...

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When you think of Italy’s most memorable dishes, its beloved pizza will most likely be among your top five, if not top three, favourites. It’s an ultimate comfort food that has become an ever-growing obsession around the world. But what is it that makes pizza from Italy so special, and where do you find the very best? Like so many of the country’s...

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A light in the shadow of Vesuvius. Zero new infections and zero deaths of people with coronavirus in 24 hours in Naples. This is what is reported in the daily report of the municipality of Naples (Napoli) updated at 11 am today, Monday 20 April. Therefore, the number of positive cases of coronavirus altogether registered in Naples city since the b...

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Santa Maria Capua Vetere, simply known as Capua in Antiquity, was one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire. Indeed, Cicero called it Alter Roma (the “other Rome”) and in the 1st century BC Emperor Augustus had an amphitheater built here to celebrate a center so great it rivaled Carthage and o Corinth. The Amphitheater of Capua, or Amphi...

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THE SMALL ROCK OF ROVIGLIANO peeks out above the water at the mouth of river Sarno in the Gulf of Naples. According to legend, this tiny islet originated when the mythical hero Hercules, after returning from the tenth of his twelve labors, detached the top of nearby Mount Faito and hurled it into the sea. During Roman times, the islet was known as...

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JUST SOUTH OF THE COAST of Posillipo, one of the most famous quarters of Naples, what looks like a pair of small islands turns out to be just one, with the two huge rocks connected by very a thin stone arch. Seen from the sea it’s a wonderfully odd sight, and yet this bizarre bridge is not the only unusual thing about Gaiola Island.  The cursed fam...

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What is typically the busiest time of year in Italy has arrived: Easter weekend, when Italian families travel across the peninsula to see friends and relatives and take in the country’s treasures. Capodimonte is always bustling at Easter. Last year, lines stretched throughout the palace courtyard for the museum’s Caravaggio exhibition. This year, C...

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Angelo Picone lowers a wicker basket full of food to the ground on a rope, leaning over his rustic balcony, verdant with pot plants.“If you can, put something in. If you can’t, take something out,” Picone, a Naples street artist, merrily hollers to bemused passersby in the alleyway below. Picone’s simple message is resonating in a country trying to...

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Pasta di Gragnano PGI is one of the most successful products in terms of production value among the 300 PDO and PGI Italian food & beverage products. According to the latest Qualivita-Ismea report, the turnover generated by this product – a symbol of Campania and Italian food culture – reached 186 million euros, growing by more than 62 per cent.

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