PAESTUM TEMPLES FROM A NEW ANGLE

The celebrated archaeological site of Paestum offers an exciting new viewing experience between the 27^th Sept – 9^th October 2025 with the 14^th Festival della Mongolfiera (Balloon Festival) in which visitors can soar air-bound over the tops of the three 2,500 year old Greek Temples.

The hot air balloons are assembled in the Balloon Park next to the archaeological site, surrounded by street performers, children's side shows and a display of giant kites.

Two kinds of flights are available: the Volo Vincolato (Captive Flight) is geared towards families and the less daring tourists. It is tethered to the ground by a 120m- long cable that allows the balloon to hover over the treetops and the temples. The “Free Flight” instead is for the more adventurous: it allows passengers to float off freely in the company of a pilot who guides it back to earth at some designated spot.

Info: Tel. +39.333.5601504 www.paestumballoon.it

STAR GAZING WITH THE VATICAN

The recent visit of Pope Leone XIV to the Specula Vaticana during his summer sojourn in the hilltop town of Castelgandolfo on Lake Albano has rekindled interest in the historic papal astronomical observatory situated in the palace precincts.

The observatory is one of the oldest astronomical institutions in Europe, linking its history to the scientific research facility set up in 1578 by Pope Gregory XIII, who also substituted the inaccurate Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar still in use today.

The Vatican observatory was in use until the 1930s when the light pollution of the city of Rome began to limit the range of star viewing and Pope Pius XI decided to have it transferred to Castelgandoldo. In 1981, a corresponding research laboratory (the Vatican Observatory Research Group VORG) was set up in collaboration with the Mt. Graham observatory in Tucson Arizona USA.

Meanwhile, the historic Specula Vaticana continues to operate under the supervision of a team of Vatican scientists. It also runs a summer school every second year for international astronomy students, now into its 19^th edition.

Guided tours are available that include the historic viewing cupola in which the Schmidt star viewing telescope is installed, the meteorite collection and the “carte du ciel” camera used in the international mapping project of the stars to which the Vatican contributed between 1910 and 1921.

Info: prenotazione polomusealecastelgandolfo@scv.va

WHEN FAIRYTALES BECOME TRUE

The Museum of Civilization (MUCIV) in Rome's EUR district is offering an exclusive exhibition of Italian traditional folklore and traditions with the title “Le Fiabe Sono Vere” (Fairytales are True) with over 5000 exhibits ranging from processional masks, Sicilian puppets, magic potion cups and containers, books of spells, historic paintings and illustrations, costumes and amulets, toys, musical instruments, ex votos and so on, all pertaining to the enchanted world of the collective imagination when country people struggled to come to terms with their environment and the caprices of Nature.

The exhibition aims to present the symbolic structure of traditional fairytales and their relationship to the environment in different geological areas, such as the wilderness and forest, the sea and the village.

The ground floor has been set up like a traditional village piazza, with live performances and visual aids.

“Le Fiabe Sono Vere” runs until the 1^st March 2006

Info: Tel. +39.06.549521 www.museodellecivilta.it

Night Visits To Wonder Rooms

Rome continues into the autumn with a packed programme of cultural events.

The 1^st September Sunday offers a night visit to the unique Wunderkamen Artificialia House Museum, set up by musicianand composer Marco Lo Musico in five rooms of his home, followed by a musical recital. Maestro Lo Musico began to create his museum during the Covid pandemic, when he was unable to travel and go on tour as usual, taking inspiration from the great collections of curious of the 16^th-18^th century belonging to noble families like the Hapsburg, the Gonzago and the Medici. They were made up of a wide variety of objects, like exotic plants, preserved anatomical deformations, strange shaped rocks and shells and all kinds of artefacts. These collections were virtually the forerunners of modern museums. The Wunderkammer House Museum follows this tradition, creating a world of fantasy and curiosity.

Info: Tel. +39.349.4030660 https://wunderkammer-roma.com

IT'S SUMMER!

We'll be stopping now

for the summer break!

Back again in September!

CALABRIA in ALBANIAN STYLE

The holistic Oniriko Festival (1-3 August 2025) in Civita, a historic town in the heart of the Pollino National Park, Calabria,

offers a perfect opportunity to explore some of the unique and intriging features of one of Italy's least known regions.

Apart from a handful of famous coastel resorts, Calabria is little known to foreign visitors. The rugged mountains of the Sila that occupy

much of the interior, the ancient villages, the works of art, churches and monuments are not on the well-trodden tourist tracks.

The Oniriko Festival will highlight Civita's centuries-long tradition as an ancient Albanian colony, dating back to the 16^th - 18^th century

when Albanian refugees arrived from Greece, seeking refuge during the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans. The Colony has survived and thrived since then,

conserving its own language, known as “Arberisht”, and its own traditions. The “Arbereshe” have been officially recognized by the Italian state as a l

inguistic and cultural minority.

Civita is listed as one of the “Most Beautiful Borghi (historic small towns) in Italy”. Among its unique features are the “Bridge of the Devil”

spanning the Raganello ravine, the ornamental chimneys that adorn the roofs of several of the old buildings, as well as the Kodra “Talking Houses,”

named after the Albanian post-cubist artist Ibrahim Kodra, who was fascinated by the curious facades where the position of the doors and windows

recalled stylized human faces.

Info: Tel. +39.338.10.48800/333.2904534 jblasa@jblasa.com https://calabrianellanima.com

ARIAS FLOAT DOWN THE TIBER

The Tiber river was the unusual setting for opera performances of Giacomo Puccini's evergreen“Tosca” between the 21^st - 27^th July 2025. Jubilee visitors to Rome crowded the river embankments and the Ponte Sant'Angelo (Bridge of the Angel) to listen to soprano Elena lo Forte, together with baritones Fabio Andreotti and Alessio Quaresima, singing the celebrated arias from Puccini's tragic tale that was set in nearby Castel Sant'Angelo. The singers floated by on a boat which plied the tract of river in the city centre between the Vatican and Ponte Garibaldi under the Aventine Hill.

“Tosca lungo il Tevere” was part of the initiative “Lungo il Tevere Roma...un fiume di Cultura” (along the Tiber...a river of culture”) an initiative sponsored by the Lazio regional council and launched in 2018, but then suspended. This edition is also enhanced visually with projections of videos depicting “Tosca's Rome” on the embankment walls.

Organizers hope that the initiative will become a regular feature of the Roman summer festivals.

M.STENHOUSE

Source: “OggiRoma” www.oggiroma.it

CARUSO AT HOME

Enrico Caruso, hailed one of the greatest tenors of all time, has had to wait almost a century to receive appropriate homage in his home city, Naples. However, in compensation, he now has two museums dedicated to his memory. One is in the prestigious seat of the Royal Palace of Naples, where a collection of memorabilia is on display in a suite of rooms dedicated to him. By contrast, the other is in the humble house in a crowded street spanned by a modern flyover where he was born. The Casa Museo Caruso (Caruso House Museum) was inaugurated in 2021, after extensive efforts on the part of his great grandson and a group of eminent local music lovers as part of the 150^th anniversary celebrations of his birth in 1873.

The compact collection displays items, some of which came from the Enrico Caruso Museum of America in Brooklyn, New York, as well as important donations from collector Luciano Pituello, with vintage gramophones, original autographed music scores his walking stick and some watercolours painted by Caruso who was also a gifted artist. The Casa Museo Caruso is active, not only as a place of memory, but also organizes regular concerts and international singing contests.

Caruso died young, at the age of 48, while he was staying at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria in Sorrento, hoping that the mild climate and the sea air would help him to recover his health. The suite of rooms he stayed in has been preserved and modern singer and musician Lucio Dalla was inspired to compose the modern hit “Caruso” there.

2025 is being hailed as the 2500^th anniversary of the city of Naples, which was founded sometime around 600 BC by Greek colonists and celebrations will focus on the city/s rich artistic and musical heritage

M. STENHOUSE

Info: Caruso Casa Museo: Tel. 39.3404844132/3809070300   Museo Caruso in Palazzo Reale, Naples: 0815808255

ITALY'S BEST BREAD OF THE YEAR

The Gambero Rosso, Italy's leading authority on food and wine, has awarded a little known bakery in Milazzo, Sicily, the prestigious nomination of “Best Bread of the Year.”

The bakery, run by Antonio Palana and Michela di Rubbo – both relatively knew to the bakery business, triumphed over hundreds of rivals all over Italy with their new formula of “pane cunzato” (dialect for a “filled roll”).

Their loaf, weighing a ponderous 4-5 kilos, has a dark crust, flavoured with sun-dried tomatoes and strictly local olive oil from Nocellara del Belice.

Neither Antonio or Michela come from the traditional bakery trade. Antonio was a railway employee and Michela was involved in the administration of theatrical companies. They took the plunge to invest in their bakery cum bar, the Frangipane Forno e Cucina, in 2024.

Info: Tel. +39.3514245615 (Gambero Rosso): +39.06.55112211 www.academy@gamberorosso.it

ORESTIADI: UNIQUE FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE

The Orestiadi, one of the world's most unusual and innovative arts festivals, is now in full swing, enlivening the nights at Gibellina (Ragusa) in the Bellice Valley of Sicily.

The Festival, created in 1918 by the town's visionary mayor Ludovico Corrao, is a two month-long feast of contemporary culture, with a programme of theatre, music, literature and cinema that runs until the beginning of August in the unique setting of the re-created town of Gibellina, which was destroyed in an earthquake in 1968.

The Festival takes its name from the trilogy by the innovative Vth century BC Greek writer Aeschylus, which is believed to have been written and first performed in the area.

The highlights of the Festival are programmed between the 4^th-18^th July 2025 and close on the 25^th July with a special tribute to Sicilia author Andrea Camilleri, creator of the Montalbano series, whose birth centenary falls this year. David Lynch, innovative American film producer, who died at the beginning of this year, has another tribute on the 27^th July.

The Grand Finale, however, will be staged in the unique setting of the Cretto di Burri, the massive concrete reconstruction of the original street plan and buildings of the lost village, which was reconstructed some miles away. Controversial at the time, the revolutionary 85,000 sqm coalina and vinavil monument is now recognized as one of the most original and extraordinary 20^th century works of art.

Gibellina has been elected the first Italian Capital of Contemporary Art 2026.

Info: Tel. +39.0924..67844 www.fondazioneorestiadi.it

ORESTIADI: UNIQUE FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE

The Orestiadi, one of the world's most unusual and innovative arts festivals, is now in full swing, enlivening the nights at Gibellina (Ragusa) in the Bellice Valley of Sicily.

The Festival, created in 1918 by the town's visionary mayor Ludovico Corrao, is a two month-long feast of contemporary culture, with a programme of theatre, music, literature and cinema that runs until the beginning of August in the unique setting of the re-created town of Gibellina, which was destroyed in an earthquake in 1968.

The Festival takes its name from the trilogy by the innovative Vth century BC Greek writer Aeschylus, which is believed to have been written and first performed in the area.

The highlights of the Festival are programmed between the 4^th-18^th July 2025 and close on the 25^th July with a special tribute to Sicilia author Andrea Camilleri, creator of the Montalbano series, whose birth centenary falls this year. David Lynch, innovative American film producer, who died at the beginning of this year, has another tribute on the 27^th July.

The Grand Finale, however, will be staged in the unique setting of the Cretto di Burri, the massive concrete reconstruction of the original street plan and buildings of the lost village, which was reconstructed some miles away. Controversial at the time, the revolutionary 85,000 sqm coalina and vinavil monument is now recognized as one of the most original and extraordinary 20^th century works of art.

Gibellina has been elected the first Italian Capital of Contemporary Art 2026.

Info: Tel. +39.0924..67844 www.fondazioneorestiadi.it