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 …
Of Villages and Vesuvius: 1800BC
The ancient mount Vesuvius rises high above the Campanian plain. The plain – a great oval ringed by mountains – stretches north, east and south …
Italian Stories: From the Godfather to the Fortunate Pilgrim
This story is written from Australia: far from Italy. Yet for me these two places will always be connected, for I was born in one …