ItalyUpdate

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

PREHISTORIC STILT VILLAGE BELOW CASTELGANDOLFO PAPAL PALACE

On the shore of Lake Albano in the Castelli Romani (Lazio), overshadowed by the palace of Castelgandolfo that was the papal summer residence for almost four centuries, is one of the area's best kept secrets. First discovered in 1984, a Bronze Age stilt village spread over some 2.5 acres, proved that the lake area was inhabited and had prospered some four and a half thousand years ago.

The site has been named “the Village of the Millstones”, due to the large number of grinding stones that have been found on the site, leading to supposition that the settlement may have been a central grain processing point for other communities in the area.

The village came to light during one of the recurrent drops in the lake water level. The area is dominated by the volcano Monte Cavo (Mons Albanus to the Ancient Romans), which is still active and largely accounts for the periodic ebbs and rises in the water level, although no actual eruptions have occurred in living memory.

This periodic process, however, has jeopardized the entire site as most of the wooden piles eroded when exposed to the air. However, a considerable number of the archaeological finds from the site can be viewed in the Civic Museum at the neighbouring town of Albano Laziale.

M.STENHOUSE

Info: Parco dei Castelli Romani: +39.06.9495255 www.parchilazio.it

ITALY'S MOST VISITED “SIGHTS”

Latest visitor statistics, published by the Italian Ministry of Culture, confirm the Colosseum as Italy's top tourist attraction. In combination with the adjoining Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and Nero's Golden House, just under 15 million tourists visited the Ancient Roman sites in 2024.

The Uffizi Museums in Florence come second with 5 million visitors registered last year, closely followed by the excavated city of Pompeii with a total 4,267,233 visitors and the Pantheon in Rome (just over 4 million).

Castel Sant'Angelo (again in Rome) is also popular with visitors and is expected to draw crowds in 2025 with the Passeto di Borgo, a formerly secret passageway running along the top of the wall that connected the fortress with the Vatican. This once served as an escape route for the Popes and papal court during times of trouble. It will shortly be opened for the first time to the general public.

Info: www.sistan.beniculturali.it

AMERICAN ACTRESS WHOOPI GOLDBERG AT TAOBUK FESTIVAL

The annual literary Taobuk Festival at Taormina (Sicily) concentrates on the theme of “Borders” and what they mean in the modern world. Taking inspiration from the figure of Don Quiscotte, the wandering knight of the Cervantes classic, the event attempts to re-define the concept of boundaries as imaginary limits that both divide peoples, but at the same time mark a shared frontier.

The list of international writers and artists in this year's edition is concentrated on the idea of identity in contemporary society. Among the prestigious guests appearing at the Festival are writers Peter Cameron (USA), Amelie Nothomb, (Belgium), Chinese artist Weiwei, Iranian musician Ramin Bahrami , soprano Jessica Pratt (Australia), actress and film producer Whoopi Goldberg (USA) and leading Italian film-makers and actors such as Gabriele Salvatores, Pierfrancesco Favino and Monica Guerritore.

The Festival, now in its 15^th edition, runs from the 18^th – 23^rd June, Taormina 2025.

Info: Tel.. +39.0942557159 www.taobuk.it

APPLES SLEEP IN FORMER DOLOMITE MINES

The former Tassullo mines in the Dolomites (Trentino-Alto Adige) have now become the ideal storage deposit for the apple crop of the Val di Non.

The Tassullo company was founded in 1909 as a miners' cooperative, aimed at creating employment in the remote mountain area. However, after almost a century of extracting stone for building purposes, the company expanded its activities into other fields of construction and restoration and the San Romedio mines were abandoned, leaving much of the maze of underground galleries empty and intact.

They were not, however, forgotten. Thanks to an ingenious and revolutionary project born a dozen years ago, the old mines have seen a new lease of life as ideal storage units for agricultural products.

Since 2012 the Rio Maggiore mine has hosted the vast apple crop of the nearby Val di Non area. The Melinda Consortium, composed of 400 families divided into 16 cooperatives that collectively produce over 400,000 tons of apples, store their annual crop some 300 meters under the orchards in 34 naturally refrigerated cells. The dry and airy, tunnels have turned out to provide the ideal conditions for storage, providing a stable cool temperature in all seasons and Melinda announces plans to expand storage space by another 10,000 tons in the near future.

The project won the Good Energy Award of 2015, assigned by the Bernoni Grant Thornton Institution.

Info: Tel. +39.0463.671111 https://melinda.it

NEW TRIBUTE TO POPE FRANCIS - “FRANCISCUS – THE HOPE”

A mural created by artist aleXandro Palombo, portrays the late Pope Francis on the wall opposite the entrace to the seat of the Caritas Ambrosiana in Milan. The artist has portayed the Pope dressed in the robe of a Franciscan monk, as a symbol of poverty, and weaing an orange life jacket and with a lifebelt on his left arm, an allusion to the drama of the immigrants who brave the sea crossing hoping to find asylum in Italy. Many do not make it, as attested by the lifeless body of the 2 year old Syrian child Alan Kurdi potrayed lying at his feet. The child was found drowned on the beach in 2015 and bcame the symbol of the sad fate of many immigrants.

The artist has declared that the work was inspired by some of the most significant declarations made by Pope Francis on the theme of immigration and the necessity to cultivate a spirit of welcome and compassion.

The Caritas Ambrosiana is a leading charitable organiziation in Milan. Among the many initiatives their volunteers recover unsold food from supermarkets that is distributed to the needy or used to produce free daily prepared in their kitchens. The charity reports that In 2024, 55 tons of unsold food was recovered and used to donate over 27,000 meals.

Info: Tel. +39.02.760371 www.caritasambrosiana.it