Presentation: About Italy

Italy

It has been the member of European Union since 1958. It is one of 6 founding countries. The capital city is Rome, it is also the capital city of region Lazio. The country lies on the peninsula, there are also some islands belonging to Italy. The biggest ones in the Mediterranean near sea are Sicily and Sardinia, then Elba, Capri, Stromboli, Vulcano.

Italy is divided into 20 regions. Each region, exept the Aosta Valle is divided into provinces. For our presentation we have chosen these 3 regions : Apulia, Tuscany and Sicily.

Apulia – in this region we are right now, the capital city is Bari, another important city is historical town Alberobello. This region is also called the region of 2 seas: in the east there is the Adriatic Sea and in the west the Ionian Sea.

Tuscany – is one of the most beautiful regions, attractive for tourists because of plenty historical sights and masterpieces by Michalangelo, Da Vinci. The capital city is Florence.

Sicily – this region is situated on the island Sicily, as well as some other islands, e.g. Lipari islands. The capital city is Palermo. The region is famous for still active vulcano Etna. A lot of Slovaks spend their summer holidays on this island.

Italian cities

Rome: old historical city which can be considered one of he most beautiful cities in Europe. We can find there a lot of historical sights, such as St. Peter´s square, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, St. Peter´s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel with fresos by Michalangelo, Trevi fountain.

Florence: the city is famous for its historical sights, churches, museums. People can admire there works by Michalangelo, Da Vinci. The city is considered to be a cradle of the Renaissance. In the local museum Galleria delle Academia visitors can see the statue of David by Michalangelo.

Milan: is the capital city of province Milan, in the north of Italy. It can be described as a city of business and fashion. There are also many importatnt buildings like the opera house La Scala, Milan cathedral, the church of Santa Maria delle grazie wifa.

Italian literature

Italy has a lot of significant writers. We have chosen three of them, about whom we also learn at school. They are Alberto Moravia, Umberto Ecco and Dante Alighieri. The first and second one lived in the 20th century.

Alberto Moravia: born as Alberto Pincherle, was an Italian novelist, journalist awarded by Oscar for his film 5 women ( plus director Vittorio de Sica and actress Sophia Loren).

Umberto Ecco: his first novel The Name of the Rose became famous all over the world. Another success was a novel Foucalt´s Pendulum. He was still active even in the beginning of the 21th century . His last novel Numero Zero was published in 2015.

Danke Alighieri: was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages. His Divine Comedy is widely considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of wored literature.

Italian Art

We focused on 3 representatnts of Italian art: painter, sculptor and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci, music composer Verdi and opera singer Pavarotti

Leonardo Da Vinci: was an Italian Reneissance polymath, universal genius. He was an architect, painter, sculptor, musician and inventor. Among his works the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper are the most famous. He is buried in France.

Guiseppe Verdi: music composer, he became popular during his lifetime. He wrote mainly operas. His most famous operas are: Aida, La Treviata, Rigoletto, Otello, Don Carlos.

Luciano Pavarotti: was an Italian opera singer, one of the most successful tenors of all time. As of the Three Tenors ( plus Jose Charreras, Placido Domingo) Pavarotti became well known for his concert on television. He made numerous recordings of complete operas and individual arias.