Giovanni da Verrazzano was a great navigator, humanist, man of science, and man of action, primarily remembered as the first Westerner to explore the eastern coast of what is now the United States of America. Exactly 500 years ago, on April 17, 1524, he set foot in what is now New York Bay. In the […]
Nowadays, we have the luxury of using computers, phones, and tablets to take notes wherever we go, with the internet accessible almost everywhere. However, in the era before the twentieth century, such conveniences were nonexistent, but there were removable cuffs. The phrase “off the cuff” is believed to have originated from the old practice of […]
From their beginnings, monasteries served as places of prayer, meditation, and industrious activity, and the apothecary monks were experts in the cultivation, preservation, and drying of herbs. In addition to gathering individuals dedicated to asceticism and divine contemplation, these monastic havens often provided temporary refuge to pilgrims and passing travelers. As a result, they housed […]
Naples is one of the most famous cities in the world for its beauty, geographical location, intrinsic life, folklore, and hospitality of the people. The warmth of the sun and the people is reflected everywhere. It has been a land of conquest by numerous foreign dominations, and the one that left its deep mark was […]
I will write here about the historical place of Lucrezia Borgia without going into the prejudice and gossip that surrounded her in her lifetime and beyond. Lucrezia was the daughter of Rodrigo Borgia, from a family that left a significant mark on the period between the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Rodrigo Borgia, as […]
The Apuan Alps are ancient Italian mountains located between the Versilia coast of Tuscany and Emilia. They represent the largest and oldest marble basin in the world. The area is also known as “White Gold” due to the quality, beauty, and uniqueness of its white marble. Carrara marble, already used in Roman times, gained its […]
Nutella is part of Italian culture like Fiat 500, the markets in each city, the fashion and the beauty. On April 20, 1964, the first jar of Nutella came out from the Ferrero factory in Alba-Piedmont city. Its origins, however, date back to the 1940s and before. Pietro Ferrero was a pastry chef in Turin. […]
La via del Sale (in English, “the Salt Road”) refers to the history and culture of salt production in Sicily, especially in the Saline di Marsala area of the Riserva Naturale dello Stagnone, the largest nature reserve in Sicily, stretching from Marsala to Trapani and today managed by the World Wildlife Fund. These famous salt […]
Venice’s history is all about politics and money. For centuries, the city was one of the richest in Europe; but in the 16th century, that began to change. Venice came under pressure from the Turks and the European powers. The republic was going through an economic crisis. They had lost their Eastern market, and the […]
At the beginning of the 16th Century, a debate raged in the city of Venice about whether Jews, who had lived alongside Christians for centuries, should be permitted to remain in the city, or, as was happening in other parts of Europe, should be expelled. One faction was for expulsion, while objectors wanted them to […]