ItalyUpdate

MARCO POLO RELIVES IN VENICE CARNIVAL 2024

This year's Venice Carnival is dedicated to its celebrated son Marco Polo, the intrepid explorer and the first recorded European who opened up the mysterious world of the Orient.

The event also celebrates the 700^th anniversary of Marco's death, after he had returned safely to Venice and had written his fascinating travelogue, commonly called “The Million”.

Throughout the Carnival period (27^th January - 13^th February 2024), the call and campi of Venice and its satellite city Mestre will be transformed into a fabulous stage set recounting his journey, with the Darsena Grande, the historic dock at the Arsenal staging the special event “Terra Incognita” (Unknown Land – the Amazing Journey of Marco).

This year's Carnival also coincides with Chinese New Year (2^nd - 13^th February), so there will be dual celebrations in many parts of the city and the lagoon islands.

Info: Tel. +39.041.5939979 www.venice-carnival-italy.com

OF MICE AND ROME....

Archaeologists excavating in a recently unexplored area in the outskirts of the buried city of Pompeii have uncovered previously little known aspects of daily life in the 1^st century AD.

Pompeii is celebrated for the magnificent wall paintings, fountains and gardens belonging to the rich upper classes, but not much had come to light that revealed the realities of the life of the less fortunate slave workers.

In 2021 digs started around the suburban villa of Civita Giuliana, uncovering a stable with the remains of a horse and a richly decorated parade chariot. However, what really fascinated archaeologists was the discovery of a couple of small rooms where the household slaves lived in bare and spartan conditions - in stark contrast to the luxury accommodation enjoyed by their owners. The solidification of the hot gas erupted from the volcano had preserved the outline of the furniture, the bed linen and household objects and thus enabled precise plaster cast reproductions to be made.

One of the most unexpected discoveries was the remains of two mice inside an amphora that had been stored under one of the beds, plus a black rat inside a clay jug where it had obviously been trying desperately to climb out. Although we know from ancient sources that rodents were present in Ancient Rome, the presence of three in one small room shows how common they must have been and casts new light on the hygienic standards and the spread of disease, despite the Romans' well-known penchant for baths.

Info: Tel. Infopoint +39.0818575347 www.pompeiisites.org

THE 485^th CARNIVAL FOR FOIANO DELLA CHIANA

The small town of Foiano della Chiana (Arezzo, Tuscany) launches its 485^th Carnevale celebrations on the 28^th January 2024 with the traditional parade of colossal floats wending their laborious way down the narrow medieval streets of the historic centre.

Foiano, in fact, claims to have the oldest pre-Lenten Carnival in Italy, on document since 1539. This year's theme is “Fantasy” and the four competing float creators will focus on fairytale themes and traditional Disney film characters. The winner will be announced by Re Giocondo (King of Merriment) at the concluding event on the 25^th February which heralds in Lent and the end of all the fun. The 9000 inhabitants of the town all pitch in to help with the construction of the gigantic papier mache figures and Foiano, in fact, has a special school that teaches local children the art in order to carry on the long tradition. The floats will be paraded through the town every Sunday throughout February, accompanied by street entertainers, music, games, tricks and fireworks displays.

The little town of Foiano has an illustrious past dating back to the times of the Medici takeover. Its Town Hall dates from the 14^th century and its churches are graced with works by prestigious artists of the renaissance period like Signorelli, Andrea della Robbia, Pomarancio and .Circignani.

Carnival Sundays: 28^th Jan., 4^th ,11^th 18^th 25^th February 2024

Info: Tel. +39.0575.642100/+39.3395981439 www.carnevaledifoiano.it

ANCIENT ROME CITY PLAN RECOVERED

A fascinating museum has just reopened on the previously neglected Celio Hill exhibiting a unique collection of archaeological remains that had been shut away and virtually forgotten for almost a century.

The Celio Hill is one of the fabled Seven Hills, situated between the Palatine and the Colosseum. It contained an Antiquarium (collection of antiquities), with a vast store of finds from excavations in the area during the 1890s. However, the building was undermined by work during the construction of the Metro A line and closed to visitors for security reasons in 1939. The area, which also included a botanical garden, also hosted the former Fascist Palestra di GIL (a Youth Sports and Cultural Centre) and the 1835 Casina dei Salvi coffee house.

The latter two buildings have now been restored and converted into museum and study areas. The Palestra di GIL has been re-named il Museo della Forma Urbis (known in English as the Severan Marble Plan), a 3^rd century AD gigantic city map of Ancient Rome that was once fixed on the wall of the Temple of Peace in the Roman Forum area. Originally the map measured 235 sqm and was engraved on 150 marble panels. Only about a tenth of the original map has survived. These can now be seen, laid out in accordance with the plan recreated in 1748 by cartographer-engineer Giovanni Battista Nolli. on the pavement of the main hall of the museum.

The surrounding park has been transformed into an open air museum, strewn with archeological fragments of sculptures, cornices, inscriptions and tombstones, from the former Antiquarium.

The Archeological Park and Museum are open every day except Monday.

MSTENHOUSE

Info: Tel. 060608 www.sovraintendenzaroma.it

DACIA: THE ANCIENT LAND OF GOLD

The exhibition “Dacia the Last Frontier of the Roman World” offers a rare opportunity to admire the art wonders of ancient Dacia (region corresponding to much of modern Romania and Moldova) at the Museo Nazionale Romano in the Roman Baths of Diocletian and the nearby Palazzo Massimo Museum. Celebrating a double anniversary of bilateral relations between Italy and Romania, over 1000 art works have been loaned to Italy for the first time from museums in Romania and the Moldova Republic, giving a penetrating insight into the lifestyle, customs and artistry of the ancient peoples who transited and inhabited the region between the Black Sea and the Carpathian Mountains

Dacia was rich in gold, which was one of the reasons it was so coveted by the Romans, who conquered it in 101-106 AD under the Emperor Trajan. He celebrated his victory with the majestic sculptured Column that stands to this day beside the modern Piazza Venezia.

Objects in gold, in fact, feature significantly in the exhibition and include the celebrated golden helmet of Cotofenestri, dating from the 4^th century BC, as well as gold bracelets, jewellery and shoulder clasps and golden caparison decorations for parade horses. Other arresting exhibits also include the bronze helmet surmounted by an eagle found in the tomb of a Celtic warrior at Ciumnesti, Transylvania, and the spectacular coiled snake sculpture of the serpent god Glykon of Tomis (Costantia), where the disgraced poet Ovid spent his last days in exile.

The underlying theme throughout the exhibition is the rich mixture of cultures created by the various peoples who settled in the area. Running till the 21^st April 2024.

1000. STENHOUSE

Info: Tel. +39.06.480201 www.museonazionaleromano.beneculturali.it

ST. PETER'S TRIBUTE TO ST. FRANCIS

The 8^th January sees the official end of this year's Christmas festivities, with the gradual dismantling of the street decorations and the removal of the Christmas Tree and the Presepio (Christmas Crib) from the centre of St. Peter's Square.

This year's Presepio was a special homage to St. Francis of Assisi who recreated the first Nativity re-enactment at the clifftop monastery of Greccio (Lazio) 800 years ago in order to bring the Christmas message of peace to his followers. The St. Peter's Crib is therefore a reconstruction of the Greccio grotto, complete with copies of the 1409 wall paintings that can still be seen in situ today.

In addition, the Infant Jesus is not in his mother's arms or lying in the manger, but is held instead by St. Francis of Assisi while a group of Franciscan friars take the place of the usual shepherds.

Other unusual – and sometimes whimsical – interpretations of the Nativity are on show at the Presepio exhibition under the Basilica colonnade.

M.STENHOUSE

Info: www.vaticannews.va

MR.OK'S LAST DIVE

A great New Year disappointment for Rome this year when the fabled Mr. OK renounced his regular dive into the Tiber to herald in 2024.

Mister OK (real name Maurizio Palmulli) had been launching himself on the 18m-high dive into the river from Ponte Cavour bridge near Castel Sant'Angelo on the morning of the 1^st January for the past 35 years. This time, however, backache forced 71-year old Palmulli to forego his annual feat.

The Mr. Okay dive tradition was started in 1946 by Italian-Belgian Rick De Sonny, a flamboyant character who took the plunge wearing a bathing suit and a top hat. He was used to making the OK gesture with his thumb when he emerged from the waters, thus giving him the nickname that stuck when his successor, Palmulli, took over.

Palmulli now hopes that a new, younger Mister Okay will emerge to take his place and carry on the tradition.

Info: www.fanpage.it

ITALY'S HISTORIC HOSPITALS COMMEMORATION STAMPS

The Italian Ministry of Work and Made in Italy has commissioned a new series of stamps honouring five of Italy's historic hospitals, as part of its “public spirit” series.

The stamps illustrate iconic features in each institution, all founded several centuries ago but still functioning as modern hospitals, fully equipped with avant-guard instruments for diagnosis and treatments.

The series, which was issued on the 24^th November 2024, are veritable historic documents, reproducing images of the unique elements of each hospital, such as the historic archive of the Polyclinic (General Hospital) of Milan, founded in 1456, and with one of the most important historic archives in Europe as well as numerous works of art by celebrated artists, the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova of Florence, first founded in 1285, allegedly on land belonging to the Portinari family to which Dante's Beatrice belonged), the renaissance Civic Hospital of Saints John & Paul of Venice (which also incorporates a series of scientific and medical museums), the Santo Spirito in Sassia (Holy Spirit Hospital) in Rome, situated near the Vatican and believed to be one of Europe's oldest hospitals, dating back to the Dark Ages when it catered to “Saxon” pilgrims, and lastly, the Hospital of Santa Maria del Popolo degli Incurabili (the “Hospital of the Incurables”) in Naples founded in 1522 in the heart of the city.

Info: https:/filatelia.poste.it

GOOD WISHES OF PEACE AND JOY to ALL OUR READERS and FOLLOWERS

FROM  ITALYUPDATE

THE BOLOGNA “GARDEN OF WONDERS”

The renaissance Palace Albergati in Bologna offers a special family Christmas treat with the world premiere of the exhibition : “Fantastic Animals, the Garden of Wonders” where 23 contemporary Italian artists have transformed two floors of the villa into an imaginary zoological garden, peopled by some 90 strange and colourful creatures, creating a magical landscape of dreams, colours and fantasy.

The exhibition is the creation of the Arthemisia company that specializes in novel forms of entertainment and exhibition design. The show runs throughout the holiday season, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve and the Befana holiday on the 6^th January, and will continue until the 5^st May 2024.

Info: Tel. +39.051.030141 www.culturabologna.it