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Although probably born in present-day Spain (but soon of Roman citizenship, according to the law of that time), Publius Elio Traiano Adriano, historically known with the only name of Adriano, is considered an absolute symbol of the grandeur of Rome. Witness and protagonist of one of the most eminent ages of the Roman Empire, Adriano is still rememb...

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Let’s continue on our journey around Italy and its beautiful dialects. We are now landing in the Italian capital: Rome or as you’d say in Italian, Roma. Roma’s dialect is very interesting because it’s more than a dialect, it’s considered more a way of speaking than a dialect due its similarities in grammar and form to standard Italian. In a way, Ro...

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In the mid-nineteenth century Italy was a place of great social differences, varieties of intent and multiplicity of interests and fashions. Suffice it to think that half of the peninsula had been involved in the Independence Wars while the south was placidly on its way to the Bourbon decline that the movie "The Leopard" such beautifully taught us....

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On a narrow street in Rome’s Trastevere neighbourhood, the blending of gastronomic and family traditions can be tasted, and it tastes delightfully sweet. Since 1940, the Innocenti family has owned the Biscottificio Artigiano Innocenti, a biscuit factory now run by Stefania Innocenti, third generation of biscuit specialists. The Biscottificio operat...

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Some describe Roma as a plate of archaeological lasagna (un piatto di lasagne archeologiche), made of layers upon layers of history (strati su strati di storia). Clementina Panella, a professor of archaeology at the Università di Roma “La Sapienza,” views it as a great book of human history (un grande libro di storia dell’umanità). After thirty yea...

1920

In the second half of July, the bustling Roman neighbourhood of Trastevere unites for its favourite celebration: La Festa de’ Noantri. The name of this festival derives from the Italian di noi altri, meaning “of us”, as in a celebration for that particular community. This popular tradition has its roots in the 16th century and takes place annually...

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On a steamy evening in late June, Lisa Scen, a retired cook of inscrutable age, donned a simple beige dress and glittery earrings and prepared to go to her first night at the opera. Actually, the opera came to her. The OperaCamion, a mobile stage, with its cast and crew, set up in a shabby square of scorched, uncut grass in the outlying San Basilio...

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It’s 1 a.m., early by Roman standards, and outside a club tucked into the side of a 16th-century palazzo, a jazz singer croons Summertime for a small well-dressed audience who all seem to know each other. In an adjacent piazza-turned-parking lot, glassy-eyed patrons smile as they conspire together over the hood of a car. A tall British man (think:...

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As United celebrates 20 years of service to Italy, the airline today announced it will be offering customers year-round nonstop service between New York/Newark and Rome. Expanding its current summer seasonal daily schedule, United will now also offer the service from November 2017 through to March 2018 – operating between three times a week and dai...

1917

Baking summer heat has forced Rome to close some of the drinking fountains known as "big noses", or "nasoni", that constantly gush fresh water on thousands of street corners, causing a public outcry. Hit by the soaring temperatures drying out southern Europe, the Italian capital has started turning off up to 30 of the 2,800 distinctive curved metal...

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