ItalyUpdate

VENERABLE ENGLISH COLLEGE OPENS ITS DOORS

VENERABLE ENGLISH COLLEGE OPENS ITS DOORS

The Venerable English College, an institution that dates back to the Middle Ages, is now open for guided tours every Saturday throughout 2026.

The College, which is still a seminary training Roman Catholic priests from England and Wales, is situated in the heart of Rome near the historic Campo di Fiori market, houses important works of art from the 16^th and 17^th century by Durante Alberti, Andrea Pozzi, PierLuigi Pozzi and Pomarancio inside the College Church of St. Thomas of Canterbury, while the crypt contains an important crucifix by the school of Antoniazzo Romano.

First founded in 1362 as a hospice to provide lodgings for English and Welsh pilgrims visiting the Holy City of Rome, distinguished guests over the centuries have included John Milton and Thomas Cromwell. During Holy Year of 1500, it gave hospitality to 750 pilgrims. In 1579 the seminary was founded and continues in this role to the present day.

The tour contains many points of interest, including the Refectory with a monumental painting depicting “Christ in the House of the Pharisee” and a fresco of St. George and the Dragon” by Andrea Pozzo, the labyrinth al medieval crypt and remains of a tract of the ancient Roman Via Triumphalis consular road which ran under the building foundations.

Guided tours in English at 10.30 on Saturday mornings, in Italian at 11.30, run the Mirabilia Art Wonders organization.

Info: www.artwonders.it

PARADICE....ITALY'S “COOLEST” MUSIC FESTIVAL

The Paradice Music Festival, held in an igloo-style concert hall on the slopes of a glacier at the popular Italian Alpine ski resort of Ponte di Legno, starts on the 10^th January 2026. The Festival venue is situated 2,600m up the mountainside. It is accessible by a 7-min. cable car ride, plus a 250m trudge up the glacier but the effort is guaranteed worth it for the rare experience of a rock-pop band performing on instruments carved out of ice.

The performers are led by musician-artist Lino Mosconi, who also designs and makes the musical instruments, which are exact reproductions in ice of guitars, violins, bass, violoncellos and so on, as well as a drum-kit.

The concert series runs through the months of January, February and March until the beginning of April.

Info: Tel.+39.0364.92097 https://www.pontedilegnotonale.com

L'AQUILA TRIUMPHS AFTER EARTHQUAKE

The city of L'Aquila, devastated by the 2009 earthquake that shattered a swathe of Central Italy, has scooped the Italian Capital of Culture nomination for 2026. The historic capital of the Abruzzo region was badly hit by the series of earth tremors which swept through the spinal Apennine mountain chain, causing extensive damage to historic monuments and works of art, along with private homes and businesses. For several years enclosed in a forest of scaffolding, reinforcements and props, it has now regained most of its former artistic and historic splendour.

The L'Aquila 2026 Capital of Culture programme lists over 300 events, spread over the year, as well as the surounding comunities, and is expected to stimulate a return of tourism to the entire region.

Info; Tel. 0039.0862.6451 www.laquila2026.it

Sincere Good Wishes

from Italyupdate

 ST. PETER'S TREE OF PEACE

Last Sunday, 15^th December, the lights were lit on the Vatican Christmas Tree and the Nativity creche nestling under its branches, signalling the official start to the 2025-2026 religious Christmas festivities in Rome, as well as the end of the Jubilee Year of Hope launched by the late Pope Francis.

The 25m-tall red pine tree came from the Val d'Ultimo in the Dolomite mountains, gifted by Bolzano, capitol of the Alto Adige (South Tyrol) Region. The Nativity Scene, unusually set under an open-sided dome, was donated by the town of Nocero Inferiore Sarno near Salerno (Campagna) in the south of Italy.

The tree, nominated the Tree of Peace by Pope Leone, will remain in place until Epiphany on the 6^th January and beyond. Vatican officials have announced that every part of both the tree and the Nativity scene will be recycled, transformed and reused. The pine tree resin, for example, will be collected to make healing essential oils, while the wood will be turned over to charitable organizations. The materials used in creating the crib will likewise be reused for various purposes, in accordance with the new waste management agreements signed by the Vatican with the Hera multi-utility group of Bologna, specialized in recycling and transformation of various materials.

Source: https//:www.vaticannewsletter.va

NEW METRO FOR A ROMAN XMAS

Rome has had a special Christmas gift in the form of two long-awaited underground stations linking the historic centre. The new Metro C line opens two new stations at Porta Metronia and the Colosseum, thus amplifying a much-needed network connecting the city's historic heart with its densely populated eastern suburbs.

The two stations are planned as showcase museums, displaying many archaeological treasures found during construction. The new Colosseum stop, which created infinite difficulties in construction work that had also to respect conservation, is situated at a depth of 20 metres under the Roman Forum. The line is planned to continue on to the very heart of Rome at Piazza Venezia, which is planned as a major hub on nine levels and with three entrances. The Colosseum already serves the historic Metro B line inaugurated in 1955 and originally intended by Mussolini to connect the centre with his ambitious new EUR district.

Rome's mayor Roberto Gualtieri (elected in 2021) had promised that the connecting line and stations would be ready during the Holy Year 2025 influx of tourists to Rome. Just in Time!

Source: ANSA news agency

ITALY SCOOPS 61^st UNESCO NOMINATION

Italy celebrated the entry of its national cuisine in the UNESCO list of Global Intangible Cultural Heritage with a triumphant banner projected onto the side of the Colosseum. This is Italy's 61^st nomination in the UNESCO lists of cultural heritage and confirms its position of total leadership on the world heritage stage.

Oscar Farinelli, founder of Eataly, in a TV interview, explained that although a few characteristic dishes of some other countries have had their national signature specialities already listed, Italy is unique in that it has been nominated for its entire regional culinary traditions, based on the inventive use of sustainable local produce, few ingredients and centuries of traditional cooking handed down through generations and variating from region to region.

The nomination received a unanimous vote at the New Delhi 20^th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Global Intangible Heritage, as reported by “La Cucina Italiana”, part of the Conde Nash group.

Info: Tel. +39.02.868080 https//:www.lacucinaitaliana.it

EXPLORING THE CAVES OF THE CYCLOPS

Geologists exploring new areas deep in the Pertosa-Auletta caves near Salento (Campania) in the heart of the Alburne Mountains, have uncovered new evidence of human habitation deep inside the heart of the string of grottos famous for their spectacular display of stalactites and weirdly-shaped rock formations.

The remains of a prehistoric stilt village inside the caves has been informally baptized: “The Home of Polyphemus”, after the one-eyed Cyclops who captured the Greek hero Ulysses and his crew, as described in Homer's celebrated “Odessey.”

The similarities with the description in the epic poem are striking. The opening of the grotto is in the wall of a steep rocky cliff 263 above sea level, where it is easy to imagine the enraged giant standing hurling his rocks blindly at the Greek hero's escaping ships.

Recent explorations by a team of Italian, French and British scientists have uncovered new evidence of the life led by the prehistoric inhabitants of the stilt village, including the expansion of the stilt village deeper into the caves. Other clues into life style have come to light in the form of ceramic fragments, bronze implements and traces of food like cereals, berries, figs and the seeds of grapes dating back 3,500 years

The Pertosa-Auletta caves are protected by the Mida Foundation which also runs boat trips along the underground river that traverses the caves.

Info: Tel. +39.0979.397037 info@fondazionemida.it

A TRIUMPH OF NEOCLASSICISM

Canova's Colossal Horse is stealing the show at the current exhibition “Eterno e Visione” (“Eternal and Visionary”) in the Galleria d'Italia museum in Milan.

The Horse, a towering 4m-high gilded plaster cast model, was originally intended by Canova to be the prototype of a heroic statue of the Emperor Federico Bourbon of Naples but the finished work was never carried out, due to the shifting political patterns of the era.

The Colossal Horse was divided into sections and stacked away in the basement of the Civic Museum of Bassano del Grappa, where it languished forgotten until it was recently “rediscovered”.

The subsequent restoration, accomplished by a team of highly skilled experts, has been hailed as a “brilliant achievement”.

The “Eternal and Visionary” exhibition, organized together with the City of Milan and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, contains over a hundred paintings, sculptures, drawings, and marble reliefs dating to the Napoleonic golden era in which both Paris and Milan were the Neoclassical capitals of Europe, attracting artists and artisans from all over.

Intesa Sanpaolo is Italy's biggest banking group, with a long tradition in art and culture sponsorship. The bank also possesses a network of museums in Italy's major cities.

The exhibition “Eterno e Visione: Roma e Milan” runs until the 6^th April 2026.

Info: Tel. +39.800.167610 https://gallerieditalia.com

RAIL TRAVEL REVOLUTION

Italian rail travel is taking on a new dimension with the focus gradually shifting from straightforward transportation to ways of making the trip more pleasurable. A new idea of travel for families was presented recently by Trenitalia (the Italian national rail company) that recently launched its Intercity Zootropolis train inspired by the latest Disney film, which will have a new family area on board offering a selection of board games to alleviate the tedium of long journeys.

The “ La Dolce Vita Orient Express”, Italian owned companion of the fabled Venice-Simplon-Orient Express, launched in the spring of 2025, offers exclusive VIP travel within Italy, linking the most celebrated art cities and places of scenic beauty. The carriages have been meticulously restored to revoke the atmosphere and glamour of the fabulous '60s when Italy was unrivalled world leader of design and luxury. The catering in the Restaurant car is in the hands of celebrated Michelin-starred chef Heinz Beck.

The cost of a trip? As someone (believed to have been USA financier J.P.Morgan) once said: “If you have to ask the price you can't afford it!” Let's leave it at that!

MStenhouse

Info: Tel. +39.0281480333 https://www.orient-express.com ladolcevita@orient-express.com