Portal:Italy

The Italy portal
Portale Italia

Italy (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja] ^ⓘ), officially the Republic of Italy is a country in Southern and Western Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, it consists of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands. Italy shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. It has a territorial exclave in Switzerland (Campione) and an archipelago in the African Plate (Pelagie Islands). Italy covers an area of 301,340 km² (116,350 sq mi), with a population of nearly 60 million; it is the tenth-largest country by land area in the European continent and the third-most populous member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city is Rome.

The Italian peninsula was historically the native place and destination of numerous ancient peoples. The Latin city of Rome in central Italy, founded as a Kingdom, became a Republic that conquered the Mediterranean world and ruled it for centuries as an Empire. With the spread of Christianity, Rome became the seat of the Catholic Church and of the Papacy. During the Early Middle Ages, Italy experienced the fall of the Western Roman Empire and inward migration from Germanic tribes. By the 11th century, Italian city-states and maritime republics expanded, bringing renewed prosperity through commerce and laying the groundwork for modern capitalism. The Italian Renaissance flourished in Florence during the 15th and 16th centuries and spread to the rest of Europe. Italian explorers also discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, helping to usher in the European Age of Discovery. However, centuries of rivalry and infighting between the Italian city-states among other factors left the peninsula divided into numerous states until the late modern period. During the during the 17th and 18th centuries, the Italian economic and commercial importance significantly waned. (Full article...)

Selected article -

Early, tinted 20th-century photograph of the Palazzo Pitti, then still known as La Residenza Reale following the residency of King Victor Emmanuel II between 1865 and 1871, when Florence was the capital of Italy

The Palazzo Pitti (Italian pronunciation: [paˈlattso ˈpitti]), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present palazzo dates from 1458 and was originally the town residence of Luca Pitti, an ambitious Florentine banker.

The palace was bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the chief residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It grew as a great treasure house as later generations amassed paintings, plates, jewelry and luxurious possessions. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected picture -

Image 1A section of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo
Image 2Porta Soprana is the best-known gate of the ancient walls of Genoa.
Image 3View of Piazzetta San Marco toward Grand Canal of Venice, at dawn, with Doges' Palace on the left and Biblioteca Marciana on the right.
Image 4The Forma Urbis Romae is a massive marble map of ancient Rome, created under the emperor Septimius Severus between 203 and 211.
Image 5Interior of the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome
Image 6Dome of Florence Cathedral
Image 7South face of the Tofana di Rozes in the Parco naturale regionale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo
Image 8Youth of Moses by Sandro Botticelli, 1481-82, Sistine Chapel
Image 9Sellajoch, South Tyrol and Trentino (seen from Pordoi Pass), Langkofel on the left, Piz Ciavazes on the right

Did you know... -

First Italian balloon flight medal

...that the first Italian public balloon flight (see medal) was organised by Count Andreani in Brugherio?

...that the Monte Viso Tunnel is the most ancient tunnel dug through a mountain in Italy?

Selected fare or cuisine -

Umbrian Pizza di Pasqua

The pizza di Pasqua ("Easter pizza" in English), in some areas also called crescia di Pasqua, torta di Pasqua, torta al formaggio or crescia brusca, is a leavened savory cake typical of many areas of central Italy based on wheat flour, eggs, pecorino and parmesan. Traditionally served at breakfast on Easter morning, or as an appetizer during Easter lunch, it is accompanied by blessed boiled eggs, ciauscolo and red wine or, again, served at the Easter Monday picnic. Having the same shape as panettone, the pizza di Pasqua with cheese is a typical product of the Marche region, but also Umbrian (where, as a traditional food product, it obtained the P.A.T. recognition). There is also a sweet variant. The peculiarity of this product is its shape, given by the particular mold in which it is leavened and then baked in the oven: originally in earthenware, today in aluminum, it has a flared shape. (Full article...)

List of fare/cuisine articles
Italian cuisine Pizza Ancient Roman cuisine Pasta Roman cuisine Parmigiano-Reggiano Sicilian cuisine Mozzarella Fettuccine Alfredo Acquacotta Carbonara Gelato Marron glacé Minestrone Chianti Food and dining in the Roman Empire Espresso Italian wine Testaroli Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale

General images -

The following are images from various Italy-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana Store on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas (from Culture of Italy)
Image 2Italian wine and salumi (from Culture of Italy)
Image 3Alessandro Manzoni is famous for the novel The Betrothed (1827), generally ranked among the masterpieces of world literature. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 4William Shakespeare is an example of an Italophile of the 16th century. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 5The statue of Italia turrita in Reggio Calabria. Italia turrita is the national personification of Italy. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 6The Sistine Chapel ceiling, with frescos done by Michelangelo (from Culture of Italy)
Image 7Giorgio Moroder, pioneer of Italo disco and electronic dance music, is known as the "Father of disco". (from Culture of Italy)
Image 8St Mark's Basilica in Venice, one of the best known examples of Italo-Byzantine architecture (from Culture of Italy)
Image 9The historic seat of the Corriere della Sera in via Solferino in Milan (from Culture of Italy)
Image 10Carnival of Venice (from Culture of Italy)
Image 11The cover of the Corriere dei Piccoli on 11 July 1911 carries a cartoon strip in the Italian style without speech bubbles. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 12Antonio Vivaldi, in 1723. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 13The discovery of the New World by Christoper Columbus (from Culture of Italy)
Image 14The espresso comes from the Italian esprimere, which means "to express," and refers to the process by which hot water is forced under pressure through ground coffee. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 15The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, possibly one of the most famous and iconic examples of Italian art (from Culture of Italy)
Image 16Prada shop at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan (from Culture of Italy)
Image 17The Creation of Adam is one of the scenes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, painted by Michelangelo sometime between 1508 and 1512. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 18John Florio is recognised as the most important Renaissance humanist in England (from Culture of Italy)
Image 19Federico Fellini, considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers in the history of cinema (from Culture of Italy)
Image 20A wooden puppet depicting the Befana (from Culture of Italy)
Image 21Gelato is Italian ice cream. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 22Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in Rome is a perfect example of modern Italian architecture. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 23Italian folk dance in Molise (from Culture of Italy)
Image 24The Roman Empire provided an inspiration for the medieval European. Although the Holy Roman Empire rarely acquired a serious geopolitical reality, it possessed great symbolic significance. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 25Columbus Breaking the Egg by William Hogarth (from Culture of Italy)
Image 26Pietà, by Michelangelo is a key work of Italian Renaissance sculpture. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 27Teatro di San Carlo, Naples. It is the oldest continuously active venue for opera in the world. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 28The Colosseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 29The Altare della Patria in Rome, a national symbol of Italy celebrating the first king of the unified country, and resting place of the Italian Unknown Soldier since the end of World War I. It was inaugurated in 1911, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 30Dario Fo, one of the most widely performed playwrights in modern theatre, received international acclaim for his highly improvisational style. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 31The Forum of Pompeii with Vesuvius in the distance (from Culture of Italy)
Image 32Pinocchio Disney film is based on The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 33Dante Alighieri, one of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages. His epic poem The Divine Comedy ranks among the finest works of world literature. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 34Roman mosaic of Virgil, the most important Latin poet of the Augustan period (from Culture of Italy)
Image 35The Calling of St Matthew by Caravaggio (from Culture of Italy)
Image 36The Sagra dell'uva in Marino, celebrating grapes (from Culture of Italy)
Image 37The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 38Folkloristic reconstruction of the Company of Death led by Alberto da Giussano who is preparing to carry out the charge during the battle of Legnano at the Palio di Legnano 2014 (from Culture of Italy)
Image 39The Uffizi in Florence (from Culture of Italy)
Image 40Festival of Saint Agatha (from Culture of Italy)
Image 41Scrovegni Chapel. The chapel contains a fresco cycle by Giotto, completed about 1305 and considered to be an important masterpiece of Western art. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 42The Leaning Tower of Pisa (from Culture of Italy)
Image 43Statues of Pantalone and Harlequin, two stock characters from the Commedia dell'arte, in the Museo Teatrale alla Scala (from Culture of Italy)
Image 44Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is an Italian art masterpiece worldwide famous. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 45Palio di Siena (from Culture of Italy)
Image 46Romulus and Remus, the Lupercal, Father Tiber, and the Palatine on a relief from a pedestal dating to the reign of Trajan (AD 98–117) (from Culture of Italy)
Image 47Tagliatelle with ragù (from Culture of Italy)
Image 48The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., reflects the president's admiration for classical Roman aesthetics (from Culture of Italy)
Image 49Ferragosto fireworks display in Padua on 15 August 2010 (from Culture of Italy)
Image 50Luciano Pavarotti, considered one of the finest tenors of the 20th century and the "King of the High Cs" (from Culture of Italy)
Image 51The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (from Culture of Italy)
Image 52Regional seat of RAI in Cosenza (from Culture of Italy)
Image 53The Arch of Constantine in Rome (from Culture of Italy)
Image 54Royal Palace of Caserta, the largest royal residence in the world (from Culture of Italy)
Image 55Traditional pizza Margherita, whose ingredients, tomato (red), mozzarella (white) and basil (green), are inspired by the colours of the national flag of Italy. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 56Entrance to Cinecittà in Rome, the largest film studio in Europe (from Culture of Italy)
Image 57The Trevi Fountain in Rome (from Culture of Italy)
Image 58St. Peter's Basilica, a representation of Renaissance and Baroque architecture (from Culture of Italy)
Image 59Rai Radio 1 (from Culture of Italy)
Image 60Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (c. 1486). Tempera on canvas. 172.5 cm × 278.9 cm (67.9 in × 109.6 in). Uffizi, Florence. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 61David, by Michelangelo (Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy) is a masterpiece of Renaissance and world art. (from Culture of Italy)
Image 62Clockwise from top left: Thomas Aquinas, proponent of natural theology and the Father of Thomism; Giordano Bruno, one of the major scientific figures of the Western world; Cesare Beccaria, considered the Father of criminal justice and modern criminal law; and Maria Montessori, credited with the creation of the Montessori education (from Culture of Italy)

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[1] Venetian is either grouped with the rest of the Italo-Dalmatian or the Gallo-Italic languages, depending on the linguist.