Baby Wrapping – Traditional Baby Swaddling in Italy and Beyond
Baby wrapping or traditional baby swaddling is an ancient practice that was once widespread in Italy and much of Europe and the Mediterranean. It was …
Italian Stories
“Tutti fratelli”: Solferino, Italy and Humanity’s Wounds
Henri Dunant had come to Italy on business. But when he arrived in northern Italy he instead witnessed the Battle of Solferino. Here the armies …
Don Paolo: the Making and Unmaking of a Dragon (Il Drago Part 3)
In this third instalment of Il Drago by Luigi Capuana we learn how Don Paolo became “Dragone”. Who is this fearsome old man who chased the children …
The Tomato Conquers Italy
The tomato is central to Italy’s love affair with food. For Italy was conquered by the tomato. It was a slow conquest, but transformed by …
Dante and the Invention of the Italian Language
“Italians speak Italian”. It seems obvious. Yet not too long ago neither were there any “Italians” in the way we understand it today; and nor …
Ancient Italy: The Arrival of Agriculture and the People from the Sea: 6000BC
In ancient times the mountainous spurs of the Apennines ran down Italy’s spine and the Alps were piled at its northern end much as today. …
Our Lady and the Faith of our Mothers
No visit to Italy is complete without endless opportunities to enter and be awestruck in Italy’s innumerable churches and shrines. And any visitor from an …
Il Drago and Luigi Capuana’s search for redemption
Luigi Capuana was a nineteenth century writer. His work, The Old Dragon (Il Drago), although an apparently light children’s story, carries a poignant loss and search …
Forgotten crimes and the sack of Rome
The sack of Rome in 410 AD hastened the emergence of a new post-Roman world and eventually, over the course of fifteen centuries, the birth …