ItalyUpdate

A performance of Gustav Mahler's Titanâ symphony at Venice's historic opera house, La Fenice, will mark the date of the foundation of Europe's first Jewish Ghetto on the 29^th March 1516 and launch a programme of events that will continue for most of the year.

The Tuscany Region is putting on a special programme for children over the Easter weekend. The Campus Pasquali (Easter Campus), involving 12 museums of the Musei Senesi Foundation, is aimed at primary and middle school-age children with the proviso:Boredom is forbidden during the school holidays.

For the next two months, the wines of southern Italy will be available at a series of nine different venues for tastings and entertainment. With the slogan the wines that have made the South great, the annual Radici del Sud (Roots of the South) event kicked off in the Bari area at the Bistrot Aromi, Sannicandro, on the 15^th March 2016.

The Rocca di Arona, a spectacular park in the ruins of the ancient fortress overlooking Lake Maggiore, announces an exciting series of international events for the summer season., including opera in the amphitheatre among the rocks.

 The prestigious American travel guide, Forbes has allotted Italian hotels the biggest number of stars in its European classification. The 31 leading Italian hotels chosen number: eight 5-stars, fifteen 4-stars, seven recommended and one 4-star spa hotel.

Chianti, probably Italy's most famous wine, proudly announced its three hundredth birthday this year. The actual date will fall on the 24^th September when Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici back in 1716 fixed the standards of the local wine that he was exporting to Britain and other northern European countries.

A special performance of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's choral works was the highlight of a celebration held in his birthplace, the town of Palestrina (Lazio), on the 5^th March 2016. Organized by the Foundation G.P da Palestrina, the event focussed on the presentation of the volume The Papal Choir During the Pontificates of Julius II to Sixtus V (1503-1590) by American researcher, professor Richard Sherr.

Italy's Marche Region with its gentle hills and peaceful historic towns (promotional slogan: the ideal place for a better life) is to celebrate Pope's Francis' Holy Year of Mercy with a series of art exhibitions in four different centres.

The Egyptian Museum of Turin is launching an exciting joint venture event with Naples and the Campania Region in 2016 that aims to emphasize the influence of Egyptian culture and its importance in the Mediterranean world.

The 433 members of the Venice Gondoliers Association have now adopted a standardized uniform with a new logo incorporating typical symbols of their trade, including the distinctive gondola iron comb bows and the lion of St. Mark on the banner of the Serenissimo Republic.