Italy is considered the birthplace of Western civilization and a cultural superpower.

Italy is considered the birthplace of Western civilization and a cultural superpower. Italy has been the starting point of phenomena of international impact such as the Magna Graecia, the Roman Empire, the Roman Catholic Church, the Renaissance, the Risorgimento and the European integration. During its history, the nation gave birth to an enormous number of notable people.

Both the internal and external faces of Western culture were born on the Italian peninsula, whether one looks at the history of the Christian faith, civil institutions (such as the Senate), philosophy, law, art, science, or social customs and culture.

Italy was home to many well-known and influential civilizations, including the Etruscans, Samnites and the Romans, while also hosting colonies from important foreign civilizations like the Phoenicians and Greeks, whose influence and culture had a large impact through the peninsula.

1. Italian Culture: Facts, Customs & Traditions.
   1. The famous elements of Italian culture.
   2. The country boasts several world-famous cities. 
   3. Labels.

Italian Culture: Facts, Customs & Traditions.

Etruscan and Samnite cultures flourished in Italy before the emergence of the Roman Republic, which conquered and incorporated them. Phoenicians and Greeks established settlements in Italy beginning several centuries before the birth of Christ, and the Greek settlements in particular developed into thriving classical civilizations.

The Greek ruins in southern Italy are perhaps the most spectacular and best preserved anywhere.

For more than 2,000 years Italy experienced migrations, invasions and was divided into many independent states until 1861 when it became a nation-state. Due to this comparatively late unification, and the historical autonomy of the regions that comprise the Italian peninsula, many traditions and customs that are now recognized as distinctly Italian can be identified by their regions of origin.

Despite the political and social isolation of these regions, Italy's contributions to the cultural and historical heritage of Europe and the world remain immense.

Read also: Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, chronologically it is the first great basilica in Florence.

The famous elements of Italian culture.

The famous elements of Italian culture are its art, music, style, and iconic food. Italy was the birthplace of opera, and for generations the language of opera was Italian, irrespective of the nationality of the composer.

Popular tastes in drama in Italy have long favored comedy; the improvisational style known as the Commedia dell'arte began in Italy in the mid-16th century and is still performed today. Before being exported to France, the famous Ballet dance genre also originated in Italy.

The country boasts several world-famous cities. 

Rome was the ancient capital of the Roman Empire and seat of the Pope of the Catholic Church. Florence was the heart of the Renaissance, a period of great achievements in the arts at the end of the Middle Ages.

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Other important cities include Turin, which used to be the capital of Italy, and is now one of the world's great centers of automobile engineering.

Milan is the industrial, financial and fashion capital of Italy. Venice, with its intricate canal system, attracts tourists from all over the world especially during the Venetian Carnival and the Biennale.

Italy is home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites to date,and according to one estimate the country is home to half the world's great art treasures.

Overall, the nation has an estimated 100,000 monuments of any sort (churches, cathedrals, archaeological sites, houses and statues.

Labels.

ART & CULTURE.
So what have Leonardo and Shakespeare got that other Renaissance artists and writers have not? Why don’t we get similarly excited about Raphael or Edmund Spenser? The answer is that they are artists of the people. Neither went to university; both were in many ways self-taught, their capacious minds not limited by the elitist culture of Renaissance humanism. They embraced popular culture, popular ways of thought, and that speaks to our democratic age.
The Renaissance was an intellectual revolution kickstarted by scholars rediscovering the classic texts of ancient Greece and Rome. The wisdom of these pagan authors gave a licence to explore the human condition in a new and richer way. 

BOTANICAL GARDENS.

The Royal Palace of Caserta is a former royal residence in Caserta, southern Italy, constructed for the Bourbon kings of Naples. It is one of the largest palaces erected in Europe during the 18th century. In 1997, the palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its nomination described it as "the swan song of the spectacular art of the Baroque, from which it adopted all the features needed to create the illusions of multidirectional space".

CASTLES.

The Castle De Cesaris of Spoltore (Abruzzo) is an ancient building, whose foundation is shrouded in mystery. It is now a private residence.

It consists of a courtyard, a stable for twelve horses, the cellar, the barn and the dungeons.

Some properties are due to the restructuring of the '500 and '700 presuppose an existing structure, probably related to the fortress on top of the hill on which the village stands. 

CHURCHS & CATHEDRAL.

Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated just across from the main railway station which shares its name. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. 
The church, the adjoining cloister, and chapterhouse contain a store of art treasures and funerary monuments. Especially famous are frescoes by masters of Gothic and early Renaissance. 
They were financed through the generosity of the most important Florentine families, who ensured themselves of funerary chapels on consecrated ground.

CULTURA.

In the heart of Apulia more beautiful, suspended between the blue Adriatic and the green hills of olive trees.

Ostuni the White City famous in the world, is home to the "White City Resort" incomparable setting for relaxation, entertainment and quality restaurants.

Words are a pretext to peek at the photos, which are an excuse to talk of Ostuni. Because of Ostuni the author might say, the White City.

Under the faces, in the porticoes, in the shadow of clothes hanging. 

FESTIVALS.

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges.

It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline, between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers.

Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. The city in its entirety is listed as a World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.

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