ItalyUpdate

Rome city council found an unusual way to celebrate International Women's Day on the 8 March 2012 by bathing some of its most famous female statues....

The city of Venice is to introduce a special waterbus service for tourists from the 1 June 2012. The Art Vaporetto will cover Venice's main cultural sites along the Grand Canal and around the basin of St. Mark's.

The Great Masters seen as never before! Until the 11 March, the National Museum of Science and Technology, Milan, is hosting a fascinating exhibition of some of the most famous works by Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael projected on to a maxi screen.

 
The airport of Pantelleria, Sicily, is in the process of installing a revolutionary solar energy plant that will supply lighting, air conditioning and other energy requirements. The new process, developed by Italian and American scientists, claims to have many advantages over traditional solar and photovoltaic technology, as regards efficiency, costs and recycling processes.

According to a poll carried out by Rome's La Sapienza University on behalf of the magazine Italia Oggi, the lucky citizens of Trento enjoy the best quality of life in Italy.

This year's edition of the BMT (Borsa Mediterranea del Tourismo) will take in the Oltremare Fair at Naples between the 30 March-1 April 2012.

The Club of Italy's Most Beautiful Small Towns, founded in 2001 to encourage tourism to lesser known areas of the Italian peninsula, has grown from year to year and at present counts over 200 members. Modelled on the French organization Les plus beaux villages de France, exclusiveness is guaranteed by a strict list of essential criteria that must be met in order to qualify.

The website Lastminute.com has nominated the Aldrovandi Palace, Rome, as the world's most romantic hotel

BIT (Borsa Internazionale Tourism Exchange), Italy's most important annual tourism mart, takes place at Fieramilano (Milan Fair) between the 16-19 February 2012.