Ita Airways is revving up its engines on the new route from Rome Fiumicino to Rio de Janeiro, with the official opening of ticket sales. 

A growing intercontinental network 

The Brazilian metropolis expands the airline's long-haul network, which already includes New York - operated from both Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa - Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, New Delhi and Malè, as well as Washington and San Francisco, which will take off during the summer of 2023. 

Rome-Rio flights with Airbus A330s

An Airbus A330 will operate on the new route from next 29 October with daily flights departing from Rome airport at 21:50 and arriving in Rio de Janeiro at 6:05, local time. The Rio de Janeiro flights will depart from 30 October 2023 at 15:45, landing at Fiumicino at 6:45, local time. ITS thus consolidates its presence in South America, where it already operates to Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo: the Latin American market together with that of the United States representing a focal point for both business and cargo traffic with Italy.

“We already added Washington and San Francisco” 

"The opening of Rio de Janeiro route is part of the development and growth strategy of our airline on intercontinental routes - said Emiliana Limosani, CCO ITA Airways and CEO of Volare. – In line with this expansion this year we already added to our United States services with new direct flights from Rome Fiumicino to Washington, operating from June, and to San Francisco, operating from July and now on sale on our website, at the call centre and in airport ticket offices and travel agencies”.

Wellness from Qc Terme takes on a new dimension as the Renaissance residence opens in Calvagese della Riviera, overlooking Lake Garda. 

“Our mission has always been in the direction of well-being”

The former Palazzo Arzaga was built in the 15th century and consists of three residences nestled among the hills, each with 78 rooms with direct access to a sensory journey and the green meadows of the Arzaga Golf.

“Our mission has always been in the direction of well-being,” says CEO Andrea Quadrio Curzio, CEO of the group, announcing the new opening. “This Lake Garda property is a significant step for our company, and a positive sign that shows how Italian entrepreneurship continues to innovate and forge ahead.”   

The wellness programme celebrates nature

At Qc Termegarda, modernity blends with tradition. In the welcoming and bright rooms comfort blends with frescoes and exposed beams. Marble stairwells lead to a wellness programme that celebrates nature, inviting guests to discover ancient farm practises, from the steam bath in the hay loft on the hill to the Barrel Room and biosauna in the vineyard. The Riva programme celebrates the magic of water and is inspired by local legends.

Italy swept the boards in a recent Bounce survey of Europe’s ten most cultural cities, taking three of the top five places. First past the post was Venice, topping the ten European cities with an overall cultural score of 8.77/10. Florence took fourth place and Milan fifth, with Rome coming in at number ten.  

Venice’s numbers are truly eye-popping. It has Europe’s highest number of museums (37.94), libraries (12.77) and concert halls (10.45) per 100,000 inhabitants.  While Rome, considered by many to be the ne plus ultra of the world’s great art cities, has a woeful 0.26 concert halls (the lowest of all the top ten rankings) and a meagre 3.41 libraries per 100.000.

Placing overall second and third of the cultural cities were Edinburgh and Amsterdam. And the Dutch capital topped the list for the highest number of cultural searches, scoring 887,350 per year, with most of the clicks going to the sites of its great museums.  

Pamela McCourt Francescone
Executive Editor

Rome's S. Pietro in Vincoli church houses precious relics and a Renaissance masterpiece which is one of the greatest expressions of Italian art of all time.

The chain that bound St. Peter in Jerusalem

The church is the 16th-century St. Peter in Chains in Rome's busy Monti district, not far from the Coliseum, and it was founded in the 5th century by the Empress Eudoxia. The aim being to guard a very precious relic: the chain with which St Peter, a prisoner in Jerusalem, had been bound. Today the chain is kept in a reliquary under the main altar of the church and is displayed to the faithful on 1 August each year. 

Michelangelo’s marble Moses is eight feet tall

The great masterpiece to be found in the right transept of the church is the colossal, and arresting statue of Moses. It was sculpted in 1515 by Michelangelo Buonarotti for the funeral monument that had been commissioned by Pope Julius II. At eight feet tall, it was intended to be part of a grand two-story tomb for the pontiff. But due to disagreements between the pontiff and the great sculptor (no doubt part of the ongoing altercations that flared up constantly between them during the five years Michelangelo spent painting the Sistine Chapel) the statue of Moses intended for St. Peter's ended up in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli. 

Vasari said the statue was perfection

The work, for which Michelangelo drew inspiration from Raphael and Donatello, shows a majestic, seated Moses with the Tablets of the Law under his right arm.  With this same hand he is caressing his long beard, which according to Vasari was sculpted with such perfection that Michelangelo’s "iron chisel must have become a brush." The sculptor has depicted Moses who had just given the Commandments on Mount Sinai, when he sees the Israelites worshipping the golden calf. The statue expresses all Moses’ anger, which the artist expressed in the swollen veins and tense muscles that stand out on the smooth marble, and the sensation that Moses is about to rise to his feet.   Apparently this was one of Michelangelo's favourites, and the one he considered the most lifelike of all his works. So much so, as chronicles of the time recount, that having finished the work the artist struck it with his hammer and ordered it to speak.

For information: https://www.turismoroma.it

Not many people know that the middle finger of the great Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei is on view in the Galilei Museum in Florence.

A fascinating science museum

The Galilei Museum is one of Italy’s most interesting science museums with, of course, a section dedicated to the great astronomer and scientist who was born in Pisa in 1564. Here you can admire many scientific collections linked to the Medici and other ancient noble dynasties and works, objects and memorabilia linked to Galileo. And then there is an object you would not normally expect to find in a museum: a middle finger. 

Galileo was under house arrest for life

When Galileo died in 1642, the Grand Duke of Tuscany wanted to bury him in the Church of Santa Croce in Florence but, as the scientist was considered a heretic – and this is why the finger should not be called a relic – and an enemy of the Church that had placed him under house arrest for life, he was buried next to the novices' chapel. Almost a century had to pass before the Church, in 1737, allowed the remains to be moved to the Church of Santa Croce. And at some stage, either during the exhumation of the skeleton and its transfer to the crypt, or at another time, the thumb, index and middle fingers of the great scientist’s right hand, together with a vertebra and a tooth were removed. 

The three fingers have since been reunited

The vertebra ended up in the University of Padua, where it can still be seen today. The middle finger remained in Florence, while the thumb, index finger and tooth disappeared. It was only in 2009 that Galileo’s fingers turned up at an auction, and they are now in the Galilei Museum together with the middle finger which sits in a small glass egg, while the index finger, thumb, and tooth are preserved there in a jar.  

What would Galileo think? 

Who can tell how Galileo would have felt about the final resting place of his finger? Would be see it pointing upwards to the sky in triumph, as he was the one who discovered that the earth revolves around the sun? Or is the pointing finger a gesture of defiance to the Church that condemned him? We will leave this for the visitor to decide.

For information: https://www.museogalileo.it

Up to the end of February the panoramic Vigezzina-Centovalli railway is offering half-price travel between Italy and Switzerland.

Discovering Domodossola and the Vigezzo Valley

This special half-price offer is designed to introduce travellers to enchanting landscapes along a mid-mountain route with views of the peaks of the Vigezzo Valley and the historic villages nestling between Italy and Switzerland. In the year of its centenary, the Ferrovia Vigezzina-Centovalli railway is offering two tickets for the Domodossola-Locarno or Locarno-Domodossola route (valid for one or two days, with the possibility of an intermediate stop) at half price, which is to say two for the price of one.

A new pedestrian area in the old centre of Domodossola

Domodossola has just renovated part of its historic centre, extending the area closed to vehicular traffic from Piazza Mercato, the beating heart of the town with its historic buildings and characteristic alleyways. The pedestrianised Via Rosmini brings you to the UNESCO site of Sacro Monte Calvario, and visitors should not miss the Civic Museums of Palazzo San Francesco and the Collegio Rosmini.

A paradise for winter sports enthusiasts

The Vigezzo valley is the home of winter sports, thanks to the Piana di Vigezzo resort, at an altitude of 1700 metres. Thanks to a recent agreement, travellers on the Ferrovia Vigezzina-Centovalli (Vigezzina-Centovalli railway) can enjoy particularly advantageous discounts for venturing onto the Vigezzo slopes and skiers can take advantage of promotions for boarding the little trains. 

The Feminis-Farina museum of perfume is well worth a visit

The main town in the valley, Santa Maria Maggiore, welcomes the visitor with a truly unique museum, the Feminis-Farina Perfume House, which is open on weekends and tells the all-Italian story of one of the oldest and most famous perfumes in the world, Eau de Cologne which was created here. For lovers of slow outdoor activities, the Vigezzo Valley has a 15-kilometre trail through a pine forest of spruce trees, which can also be enjoyed on snowshoes.  

For information: www.vigezzinacentovalli.com   

Underground Naples brings you back through 2400 fascinating years of history, and is a must-see for anyone visiting the capital of the Campania region.

The underground is 40 metres deep

The substratum of the southern Italian city is rich in history from the Greek era to modern times, and is to be found 40 metres deep through a labyrinth of tunnels, caves and passages, and contains from works of great civil engineering to the remains of the ancient Greco-Roman aqueduct and Second World War air-raid shelters. You can also visit the War Museum, the Hypogean Gardens (www.ortipogei.it), the Arianna Seismic Station that measures and monitors earthquake updates every three minutes, and much more, long left abandoned and now restored to new life. 

Ph Credits: Sergio Siano

The Greeks started the excavations

The history of underground Naples is a fascinating one, and began with the first underground excavations some 5,000 years ago, almost to the end of the prehistoric era. Later, in the 3rd century B.C., the Greeks opened the first underground quarries to extract the blocks of tufa needed to build the walls and temples of their Neapolis, and excavated numerous rooms to create a series of funerary hypogea. 

From ancient Romans to WWII

In Roman days, under the Emperor Augustus, the Romans provided the city with road tunnels and a complex network of aqueducts fed by underground conduits from the Serino springs, 70 km away from the centre of Naples.  Just wide enough for a man to pass through, the tunnels of the aqueduct branched off in all directions to supply fountains, businesses and dwellings, and in places traces of the hydraulic plaster used by the engineers in antiquity to waterproof the tunnels, can still be seen on the walls. During WWII the ancient passageways were used as air-raid shelters to protect against the disastrous bombing of the city.  Remains of furniture and graffiti in an excellent state of preservation still testify today to those terrible days for the city and its residents. 

Guaranteeing high levels of safety

The official authorized route of the Associazione Napoli Sotterranea – the tour lasts about two hours -  is the only site where the highest safety standards are guaranteed. The entrance is in the heart of the historic centre of Naples at Piazza San Gaetano 68.  Comfortable shoes and a sweatshirt are advised for the summer months, and for anxious visitors narrow paths, such as tunnels, are optional.  

Find out more about Underground Naples

Book the skip-the-line ticket for Underground Naples

At the start of 2023 Italy was the 2nd most searched country by Europeans wanting to travel, according to a Jetcost survey.

Italian cities were hot favourites for end-of-year breaks 

Flight searches for the end of 2022 increased by 230% compared to last year says Jetcost, and Rome, Milan, Naples, Venice, Catania, Florence, Bologna and Turin were top choices for end-of-year breaks  With the recovery of tourism in Italy the flight and hotel search engine www.jetcost.it found that flight searches for the end of 2022 were up 230, while hotel searches were up 180% compared to last year.

The nightlife in Milan and Venice is a big attraction

Italy’s art cities, rich culture, small towns, food and wine, good hotels, and cheaper prices than other European countries, made it the second most searched country on Jetcost for spending the start of 2023, coming in just behind Spain but ahead of Portugal, France and the UK. Jetcost.co.uk’s analysis of flight searches from 26 December 2022 to 4 January 2023, indicate that many people opted for destinations with cultural richness, as well as good food and wine and an intense nightlife. Milan and Venice were particularly popular for their culture, and also their lively night life, with Milan proving the most popular city for British travellers, and the second most popular for the Germans, French, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese.

The Eternal City is second favourite for the UK market 

Rome, a symbol of Italy’s history and culture, but also a favourite for its gastronomy and fashion, excellent clubs and restaurants was a favourite with the Germans, French, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese, and the second most popular destination for the UK market. Naples, another monumental city rich in history, ranked as the third most popular destination for German and Dutch travellers, fourth for the French and sixth for the British, Spanish and Portuguese.

The Italian islands are also popular choices

Catania in Sicily is the fourth most popular city for German and British travellers, and fifth for the Dutch, while Palermo is the fifth choice for Germans and sixth for the French. Another popular island where one can enjoy the sun is Sardinia, with Cagliari the tenth most popular city for German, French and Dutch travellers and Olbia the 13th most popular destination for Germans. In addition Florence, Bologna, Genoa, Bari, Brindisi, Turin, Lamezia Terme, Perugia and Ancona were also chosen to spend this special time of year.

Mount Vesuvius, the only active volcano on the mainland of Europe, forms a dramatic backdrop for the city Naples and its famous bay. 

The volcano’s lava and hot ash destroyed two ancient cities

For visitors to Naples this instantly recognizable landmark is the smallest active volcano in the world, and on and off to remind us it is merely slumbering, it spouts sulphur steam and trails of smoke high into the sky above its main crater. 

Vesuvius’s most famous eruption occurred in 79 A.D. when it literally blew its top, pouring horrifying flows of burning lava and ash onto the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, burying them and all who lived in them. Today these ancient ruins – and the perfectly-conserved bodies of many of their inhabitants - are among the Campania region’s most visited attractions and should not be missed.   

Thousands of visitors climb to the top every year

The highest point of Naples’ landmark active volcano is Mount Summa at 1,149 metres asl. It also has the main cone, or Cono Grande with a huge crater and a smaller cone.  Considered one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes, it has a recorded eruption cycle of about every 20 years, though the last important eruption was in 1944.  Thousands of visitors climb up to its main crater every year but this is not a Disney ride. Vehicles have to be left at 1,000-metres and climb on up on foot to a moon-like landscape. But of course it is well worth the climb, as the views from the top over the Gulf of Naples, from Sorrento to Salerno, the islands of Procida and Ischia and  the sprawling city of Naples, are simply stunning.

Free tours with volcanology guides 

A trip to this active volcano is a perfect half-day excursion from Naples which is just six kilometres away. The point where cars have to stop (there is a large car park for which there is a fee) ends about 250 metres from the edge of the crater. Of the nine trails, number 5 is the one most tourists take, walking up slopes that are marked by lava flows. This can take from 15 to 30 minutes (the average gradient is just 14%) and once at the top it is a good idea to take one of the scheduled tours with a local volcanology guide. They only last ten minutes, but they give an excellent overview of what you are seeing, and they are free.    For information: https://www.parconazionaledelvesuvio.it

Magnificence and history combine in the Castle of Grinzane Cavour which stands on a hilltop above the little town of the same name in the province of Cuneo, about 75 kilometres by car from the regional capital, Turin. 

Cavour, a hero of the Risorgimento

The castle is just a few kilometres from the truffle capital of Alba, and on the road that leads to the home of the world-famous Barolo wine.  Built in the middle of the 11th century, the historical castle dominates the beautiful Langa hills which, together with the Langhe-Roero and Monferrato wine-growing region are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Down the centuries the castle has belonged to various noble families, including the Counts Benso di Cavour, whose most famous son was Camillo Benso, the celebrated hero of the Risorgimento, who lived here and was mayor of the small village of Grinzane for 17 years.

The Langhe Museum and beautiful landscapes

Today the historical castle is home to the Langhe Museum and has fascinating rooms that reveal the arts and crafts of times long past with an exhibition of the tools of rural life, while fascinating memorabilia from the times of  Count Camillo Benso is kept in what were his private apartments. Strolling through the charming streets of the little town with its low, spaced-out houses which are typical of the region and its little squares, the atmosphere is one of tranquility. The surrounding landscapes are some of the most beautiful in Italy with the Langhe’s rolling hills, perfectly aligned vineyards and medieval villages perched on hilltops.

Since 1999, every year at the beginning of November, the Castle of Grinzane Cavour hosts the World Alba White Truffle Auction, an event that draws great chefs and famous personalities for the non-profit event. The proceeds from the sale are donated to charities in Italy and around the world, and to date have raised well over €5million.  For anyone who loves truffles this chance to taste the precious Alba white variety is an occasion not to be missed!  Chef Marc Lanteri's Cucina di Confine restaurant in the castle takes its inspiration from his childhood spent in the small village of Tenda, just over the border with France.  The restaurant's rooms have exposed brickwork, terracotta floors, and coffered ceilings, and Lanteri’s cuisine, with true esprit français, is inspired by Piedmontese and Provençal traditions; a border cuisine that blends the best of both traditions with locally grown products of excellence.   For information: https://www.castellogrinzane.com