ItalyUpdate

Mantova (Lombardy), a listed UNESCO World Hertage Site, is this year's Italian Capital of Culture and the city has prepared a programme of over 1000 special events between March and December 2016 to satisfy all interests, ages and tastes.

Italy's State Property Agency (il Demanio) has announced plans to put some 30 case cantoniere (houses once rented to the roadmen responsible for maintaining a certain section of road) on the market. The buildings, familiarly referred to as the red houses because of their distinctive Pompeiian red painted walls, were originally set up in 1830 and are now managed by ANAS (Azienda Nazionale Autonoma delle Strade), the state road management agency.

Art works by the famous Italian film director, Michaelangelo Antonioni, are on show at the Galleria Piazza di Pietra, Rome, until the 29^th February 2016. The exhibition, a selection of abstracts in acrylic on canvas or cardboard canvas, is curated by the artist's wife, Enrica, and by the Gallery director Francesca Anfosso.

The historic city of Siena (Tuscany) is dedicated to art and culture during the entire month  of February. The many initiatves involve the Civic Museum (one of the most important examples of Gothic architecture in the world), the Town Hall (Palazzo Comunale), the ancient hospice of Santa Maria della Scala, the Cathedral, the Jewish Sinagogue, the Accademia Musicale Chigiana and the Botanical Gardens.

In Italy, gastronomy, wine and art are never far apart. The 19^th February 2016 will see the opening of the first major exhibition dedicated to the Vivarini, the Venetian family of artists of the '400 and '500 who ushered in the Renaissance artistic revolution.

The Canapa Mundi fair, programmed for the 19^th - 21^st February 2016 at the PalaCavicchi venue near Ciampino Airport, Rome, aims to promote the many uses of the hemp plant as a health and eco-sustainable product of the future.

This year's Doge's Ball (6^th February 2016), considered to be the most sumptuous event of the Venice Carnival, takes as its theme: The Secret Garden of Dreams. The guests will reconstruct the atmosphere of the celebrated Venice Carnival of the Casanova epoch, wearing the period costumes designed by  Antonia Sautter, designer and events organizer.

An important international meeting of archaeologists, organized by the Belgian Academy of Rome, runs between the 3^rd - 5^th February 2016.

A full-immersion experience of life at the time of Charlemagne is on the way to completion at Poggibonsi, near Siena (Tuscany). Since it opened in 2014, the Archeodromo village has become one of the main attractions in the Fortezza Medicea (Medici Fortress) Park, reconstructing the typical way of life in the 9^th - 10^th century AD.

The Luminaria – the picturesque candlelit procession in honour of San Costanzo, the patron saint of Perugia (Umbria) – will take place on the 28^th - 29^th January 2016. This festival dates back seven centuries and involves the entire population.