ItalyUpdate

The world famous art installation Floating Piers on Lake Iseo (Lombardy) by Bulgarian artist Christo Javacheff,  one of the major figures of the Land Art movement, is near completion and has already attracted thousands of queries from intrepid visitors keen to walk on water to  reach the Island of San Paolo. The floating walkway will be in operation between the 18^th June to the 3^rd July.

The historic cellars of the Florio vintners of Marsala (Sicily) throw open their doors to visitors as part of the annual Open Cellars event. Special treats include the new 4D cinema recounting the story of wine, tastings of world famous wine brands Corvo and Duca di Salaparuta, which are part of the Florio Group,  and a sunset drink on the Florio Terrace, where you can enjoy one of the finest views in Sicily.

Ortisei, Santa Cristina and Selva Gardena, the three towns of the Gardena Valley (Alto Adige) famed for their hospitality, will be holding their spectacular Sky Dinner once more this year.

For the next eight months, visitors to Pompeii can admire the 30 gigantic bronzes by Igor Mitoraj set among the ruins of Italy's most famous dead city.

Lazio's fifteen Nature Museums, grouped together under the Resina Museum System, have produced a group programme that extends over 2016 and beyond, to encourage visitors to explore the multiple facets of the area. The city of Rome is surrounded by bucolic farmland, wooded hills and unspoiled nature reserves, while the entire region has a variety of environments that range from sea to mountains and lakes to wetlands, each with its own specific ecosystem.

Signora Emma Morano from Ciavasco (Piedmont) celebrated her 116^th birthday on the 29^th November last winter, making her the world's oldest living person after the recent decease of the Afro-American Susanna Mushatt Jones, who was born 4  months before her in 1899.

The annual award for Italy's most beautiful garden reaches its 14^th edition this year 2016.

Ten parks and gardens are competing for the top places in Il Parco Piů Bello d'Italia contest. The competition, introduced in the year 2000, spotlights Italy's vast patrimony of private and public green spaces, featuring not only world famous Italian gardens, but also lesser known villas and residences in all Italian regions.

The model village of Crespi D'Adda, built by industrialist Benigno Crespi in 1877 to house the workers employed in his textile factory, can be visited on Sundays and holidays up till October 2016.

The Vatican Museums have announced this year's programme of special events, featuring concerts by the orchestra of the Academmia di Santa Cecilia in the splendid venue of the Raphael Rooms, as well as recitals by young talented musicians from three Italian Conservatories in the Gregorian Profane Museum,  in collaboration with the Italian National Music Committee (CIDIM), and a series of musical performances in the Pine Cone Courtyard, ranging from  the Moscow Russian Choir, Argentinian Tango, jazz and brass bands.

All the monuments and archaeological sites on the Appia Antica, Rome's celebrated Queen of Roads, will be thrown open to the public free of charge on the up-and-coming Appia Day, proclaimed for Sunday, the 8^th May 2016.