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“We already have lots of regulars, and it’s only been four months,” Valerio Spadaro Guerra tells me when we meet on a rainy November morning in his shop, Casadora. “I thought it’d take longer to get customers, but it didn’t. The response has really been beyond my expectations. ” We are in Rome’s Prati, a stately area just north of St. Peter’s Squar...

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With only a few days remaining before Christmas you can feel the holiday cheer all around, streets filled with lights and colors for the most awaited celebration of the year. In the squares of many cities around Italy you can see a Christmas tree, which has become a tradition: aming these squares there is St Peter’s, one of the most beautiful squar...

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Italy marks the Feast of Immaculate Conception, a Catholic holy day, with a national public holiday on 8 December. The fact that the festa falls on a Wednesday this year means that many people will turn the occasion into a "ponte" (bridge) or long weekend, despite the snow forecast in some northern regions. This year more than 10 million people in...

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If you’d told me four years ago that I’d be coming to Rome’s defence, I would have told you: Ma va’. Yeah right, get out of town. And I would have said I’d be long gone myself. And yet, as the latest InterNations survey of expats around the world puts Rome in last place for city life and work, here I am not only still living here but saying out lou...

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Maritozzo Day, Rome's annual tribute the maritozzo, takes place in the capital on Saturday 4 December. Now in its fifth edition, Maritozzo Day is devoted to celebrating the popular Roman dessert, from the classic cream-filled version to more adventurous creations. Organisers Tavole Romane invite fans to head to their trusted maritozzo-makers to "en...

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A villa in the heart of Rome that features the only known ceiling painted by Caravaggio is being put up for auction by court order after the home was restored by its last occupants: a Texas-born princess and her late husband, a member of one of Rome's aristocratic families. The Casino dell'Aurora, also known as Villa Ludovisi, was built in 1570 and...

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In the heart of Rome’s lively Trastevere neighborhood is the oldest pharmacy in the city, dating back to the 16th century. The Pharmacy of Santa Maria della Scala, originally called ‘spezieria,’ takes its name from the nearby church and convent of Santa Maria della Scala; on the second floor of the convent was a pharmacy / apothecary, initially ope...

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The 2021 edition of 100 Presepi, Rome's international Nativity crib exhibition, is scheduled to take place under the colonnade of St Peter's Square from 5 December until 9 January 2022. A firm fixture on Rome's Christmas calendar, each year 100 Presepi hosts some Nativity scenes from across Italy and dozens of other countries. In addition to contem...

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The celebrated designer Giorgio Armani received Italy's highest honour on Friday for his services to Italian fashion. The president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, bestowed the Knight Grand Cross on the 87-year-old fashion stylist at a private ceremony in the Quirinal Palace. Armani stated that he was "proud to represent Italy" and "honoured to receiv...

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All the superlatives still don’t quite do justice to the vastness and grandeur of St. Peter’s Basilica. The most important, and arguably most magnificent church in Catholic Christendom took 120 years to build, 20 popes, and some 6 to 10 architects, depending on who’s counting. It covers 5.7 acres of land and can fit roughly 60,000 people inside. It...

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