ItalyUpdate

ARTE NOUVEAU IMMERSION WEEK

Seventy Italian cities are participating in the present edition of Arte Nouveau Week (8-14 July 2025). The event, a grand tribute at European level to the artistic movement also known as Liberty, that dominated the art, architecture, crafts and design projects in many European towns and cities during the end of the 19^th century and early 20^th century until the outbreak of WW1.

The Italian version of the celebrations, that takes as its theme the butterfly motive designed by Arte Nouveau pioneer Eugene Grasset for the “Ver Sacrum” or Sacred Spring rituals, used for the US Putnam Fadeless Dyes Co. includes a programme of specialized guided cultural itineraries and lectures, coordinated by Prof.Andrea Speziali of the Italian Liberty Association, with access to numerous buildings usually closed to the public.

Among the tours programmed there are:

1) “Puglia Modernista” (9^th - 11^th July 2025) by coach, taking in Bari, Lecce, Trani, Barletta and others),

2) Freccia Liberty, Trains for Enthusiasts (8^th - 14^th July, a train trip from Northern Italy to the South, calling at 10 historic Italian stations decorated in Liberty style.

3) “Eterno Liberty. The dream of Art Nouveau (8^th July-12^th August) a deluxe tour in train and private plane, including stays in top class hotels and theatre performances.

Sicily also launches a programme of guided tours to the exhibition “Modernism in Sicily from Liberty to Arte Deco”, as well as a special opening of Villa Pottino (Palermo) with the exhibition “la Belle Epoque at Palermo between Art, Fashion and History”, plus a guided tour of Villa Ardizzone at Catania and the Liberty House Museum at Chiaramonte Gulfi (Ragusa), with works by Basile, Lalique, Legras and others. A special treat on offer is a dawn visit to Palermo's historic Liberty bathing establishment at the celebrated Mondello Beach.

Photos: Villino Florio and Casa Lazzara by Phil Lewis

M. STENHOUSE

Info:Associazione ITALIA LIBERTY: Tel. +39.3200445798 www.italialiberty.it

NAPLES' DOLLS HOSPITAL

A once obscure little craft laboratory in the rambling heart of Naples has become a major tourist attraction, on par with the city's celebrated churches and monuments. The Ospedale delle Bambole (Doll's Hospital) with its incorporated laboratory welcomes some 60,000 visitors yearly, as it carries on meanwhile with its work of repairing and restoring dolls, teddy bears, rocking horses and other traditional and well-loved toys.

The entire operation is run by one family – the Grassi family, now into the fourth generation. It began in 1895, when the founder, Luigi Grassi, a scenographer and stage designer specialized in repairing marionettes for the traditional puppet theatres, set up his repair shop in the heart of the Spaccanapoli district, where it became known as “the Doll's Hospital”.

Today, the business is carried on byTiziana, Luigi's great grand-daughter.

Situated in the courtyard of the imposing Marigliano Palace in the street of San Biagio dei Librai, the booksellers' street, “L'Ospedale delle Bambole” has now become one of the most visited and photographed sights of Naples.

Info:Tel. 39.081.18639797

PADUA'S LAVENDER LABYRINTH OF THE TEMPLARS

A kilometre of circular track leads through the perfumed world of the Lavender Labyrinth in the countryside near Padua. This new visitor draw has been created by Valentina Galesso, proprietor of the “Va Oltre” farm at Bovolento.

Claimed to be the “biggest labyrinth in Italy, “ its design is inspired by the mystical circular maze traced out on the floor of the medieval Cathedral of Notre Dame des Chartres, some 80 kms from Paris, noted for its connections with the Order of the Knights Templar. For the Order, the labyrinth represented the mystery path to initiation and revelation.

Visitors are usually more captivated by the heady perfume of the lavender flowers which are harvested and transformed by Valentina into curative lotions and beauty aids.

Info: +39.329'2253700 www.vaoltrelatenuta.it

A TRIBUTE TO TWO POLISH QUEENS

Rome's Capitoline Museum is launching a series of special exhibitions focussed on international events and personages that have made a particular impact on the city of Rome.

The first, launched on the 11^th June, concentrates on two royal women who lived for a long period in a kind of self-imposed guilded exile in the Eternal City, leaving permanent traces of their passage.

“A Polish Queen on Capitol Hill: Maria Casimira and the Royal Sobiesky family in Rome” is the title of the first appointment, which also encompasses her grand-daughter Maria Clememntina, who married the exiled Stuart Pretender to the British throne, James I11 or V111.

Both women were highly educated and cultured and left many visible traces of their long sojourns in Rome.

Maria Casimira was the widow of the hero King of Poland, James III Sobieski, who defeated the Turkish forces at the gates of Vienna, thus saving Christian Europe from an Islamic takeover. She was also the first woman to be accepted into the Roman “Arcadia”, a highly selective “club” dedicated to poetry and music.

Maria Clementina had two sons, the eldest of which (“Bonnie Prince Charlie”) expected to recapture the “usurped” London throne from their Protestant German cousin George of the Royal House of Hannover. George had been nominated King by the British Parliament to stave off threats of a return of the Roman Catholic Stuarts.

The exhibition, correlated by the Polish Embassy, the Polish Institute and the Polish Academy of Science in Rome, contains some 60 works, many of which from private collections and on view to the public for the first time. They include paintings and portraits, prints, sculptures and various memorabilia.

“Una Regina polacca in Campidoglio: Maria Casimira e la Famiglia reale Sobieski a Roma” runs until the 21^st september 2025.

Info: Tel,+39.060608 https://www.museicapitolini.org

ITALY GROOMS TOMORROW'S TENNIS CHAMPIONS

The Italian Tennis Foundation, a charity founded in 2018 by a group of Italian professional players, is expanding its operations to include the Balkan states of Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro, with the aim of giving promising young athletes from those countries, in addition to Italians, the chance to train for a year with top level coaches and participate in international competitions.

The previous edition, entitled “Little Tennis Champions”, sponsored by a leading Italian bank, guided participants through 42 international tournaments in which they won 33 titles, 23 finals and reached 46 semi-finals over the three-year course.

The new edition, entitled “Little Tennis Champions 2025-2026”, which is sponsored by the Piedmont Region, the City ofTurin, the Sport for Health organization and a group of local and international industrialists, aims to concentrate on emerging male and female talents, in which the priority choice will be given to potential players of par standard whose financial situation would not allow them to train at such a high level.

Info: Tel. 011.03733510     www.itennisfoundation.com

THE GARDENS OF POMPEII

Archaeologists are no longer concentrating exclusively on unearthing and reconstructing the walls and buildings of the buried city of Pompeii. The emphasize is now on examining and representing the buildings in their contest, their relationship to each other and their surroundings.

A recent addition to visitor experience is the recreation of gardens, vineyards and the plant life that flourished before the fatal eruption. Thanks to research carried out, by the Association Romeantiqua the garden of the so-called Villa of Hercules has been planted out

as it was in the past.

The III BC House was given this name because a marble statuette of the mythical Greek hero Hercules that was found in the garden. The villa is now believed to have been a commercial enterprise, with flower cultivation and a perfumery.

The garden has been recreated as it was, thanks to botanical research carried out on seeds and organic remains in the soil. The work involved the planting of 800 antique roses, 1,200 violas, 1000 plants of butcher's broom, plus a pergola of vines, and an orchard of cherry trees, quinces and other fruits typical of the ancient Roman world.

For the moment, the garden can be visited once a week, in rotation with other important villas in the Pompeiian site.

Info: Tel. +39.081.8575347 https://pompeiisites.org

ROME JUBILEE A MAGNET FOR TOURISM

According to latest figures published by the organization “Cattolica per il Turismo” the “Jubilee of Hope 2025 “has already attracted 5.5 million visitors to Rome in the first five months of this year. In the course of the conference “Giubileo 2025. Pratiche di viaggio spirituale e impatto sui territory” (Spiritual Travel Practices and their Impact on the Territory), organised by the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, aspects of the pilgrimage to Rome were examined, as well as the effects of tourism in general.

Results revealed that the classic spiritual journey had a far-reaching impact on surrounding areas. in particular, Viterbo and the area of La Tuscia as well as Naples and Assisi in Umbria.

The report divided the Holy Year tourists into four categories:

1. the classic pilgrim coming to Rome especially to visit the four basilicas

2. those seeking peace and meditation in harmony with Nature

3. travel enthusiasts seeking new stimulation

4. the “mindful explorer” seeking exclusive and authentic experiences

The travellers converge on the Via Francigena, the ancient pilgrim route connecting the four countries of Britain, France, Switzerland and Italy, and on average cover 20 kms per day and sleep in religious houses or hostels along the way. Not all travel the entire route on foot but most walk the last 100 kms from Viterbo or the municipality of Montefiascone (Lazio) to Rome and the Vatican.

The “Pilgrims of Hope” symbol that indicates the pilgrims' path was designed by Giacomo Trevisan from Apulia and was chosen personally by the late Pope Francis. It depicts four stylized figures wrapped in different coloured pilgrims' capes, representing the four corners of the earth. They are leaning on each other, with the leading figure carrying the cross of salvation.

info: vaticannews.va/it/mondo/news/2025

BOCELLI's TEATRO DEL SILENZIO

One of the world's most unusual theatres recently held its once yearly performance, starring celebrated tenor Andrea Bocelli, its creator, together with architect Alberto Bartolini, known as “the Architect of Dreams”.

The Theatre of Silence only exists for one concert performance per year before it is dismantled – stage, backdrops and audience seating for 5000, leaving the natural setting of a hollow in the hills with a small lake at the bottom and the uninterrupted 180 degree view of the surrounding hills and valleys of the village of Lajatico, near Pisa, where Bocelli was born.

The first performance, which Bocelli dedicated to his late father, was held in 2006, with the centre stage dominated by the sculpture of “the Great Absentee” by Polish artist Igor Mitojar.

The “Theatre” venue is a natural amphitheatre and the main priority of the two creators was conservation of the natural environment.

The world's stars of international music have performed on the stage at the one yearly show, including Jose Carreras, Plaido Domingo, Noa, Roberto Bolle, Lindsay Kemp, Laura Pausini, Kenny G, Dua Lipa, Gianna Nannini and many others.

1000. STENHOUSE

Info: Tel. +39.334.7957670 https://teatrodelsilenzio.it

ITALY'S BIG CARNIVORES ARE BACK!

Hunted and harried almost to extinction up till the first half of the 19^th century, the Italian wolf and bear populations virtually disappeared. However, they are now back, thanks to a number of initiatives promoted by the EU in concordance with the Italian regional authorities. The latest report issued by ISPRA (Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), as part of the Life WolfAlps EU Project estimates the current population of wolves in Italy at 3,300, with around 950 wolves in the Alpine Regions and some 2,400 distributed in the mountainous regions of the peninsula. The Alpine region of Trentino alone has registered 27 wolf packs and the situation is now considered “stable”.

Research on the elimination of wolves in Yellowstone National Park in the USA has demonstrated that wolves are an essential part of the food chain and that without their help in controlling the activity of grazing animals, forests and waterways are endangered.

The total number of wolves in continental Europe is estimated at 23,000 (without counting Russia and Bielorussia).

The same success story regards bears. In 1999 only 3 males were left in the Trentino Alps, making the species doomed to extinction. However, 10 animals were introduced from Slovenia as part of the Project Life Ursus scheme. Those have prospered and numbers (monitored) have increased to 98 adult bears plus 12 cub litters.

Relations with the human population is not always idyllic although compensation for damages to property and livestock have alleviated resentment. Great damage is caused by bears in trout fish farm. In one case, a bear wallowed in the pond and threw out almost all the fish, causing a bill for damages that was reimbursed at 31,500 euro.

Domestic animals killed by bears and wolves include cattle, horses, sheep, dogs, hens, rabbits, geese, quails etc.

Fatal episodes involving humans are rare. In July 2024, Andrea Papi, a solitary hiker, was killed by a she-bear defending two cubs. The incident caused an uproar of protests in the nearby villages, where the inhabitants had been accustomed to the peaceful presence of bears in their midst.

However, it is the bears and wolves that are usually the victims. Every year, a number are killed or injured by cars driving carelessly round the mountain roads.

Info: Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe https://www.lcie.org

SAINT OF THE ROSES & PATRON OF ABUSED WOMEN

RITA DA CASCIA - IL MUSICAL

The work, which has already been performed to enthusiastic audiences in a number of towns in Sicily over the past few years, tells the story of the life of the medieval saint who was, unusually, a

A musical, based on the life of St. Rita of Cascia, patroness of Lost Causes and one of Italy's best loved saints, will be performed at the small mountain town of Cascia (Umbria) on the 26^th July 2025.

The work, which has already been performed to enthusiastic audiences in a number of towns in Sicily over the past few years, tells the story of the life of the medieval saint who was, unusually, a widow with two sons when she was admitted into the Augustine convent of St. Mary Magdalene

in Cascia, where she died on the 22 May 1457.

St. Rita is also the protectress of abused women. Her husband, Paolo Mancini, whom she married when she was twelve, was a violent man who ill-treated her till he was killed by a rival member of his family.

On her feast days her image is surrounded by roses, thanks to a tradition claiming that a rose in the convent garden miraculously bloomed in mid winter after her death.

Rita da Cascia – Il Musical (26 July 2025).

Info: Tel. (Info. Monastero) +39.07437.5091 leonardo.beccaria@pec.it