Italy
Situated in Mediterranean Europe, Italy has land frontiers with
France in the north-west, Switzerland and Austria in the north and
Slovenia in the north-east. The peninsula is surrounded by the
Ligurian Sea, the Sardinian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west,
the Sicilian Sea and the Ionian Sea in the south and the Adriatic Sea
in the east. Italian is the language of the majority of the population
but there are minorities speaking German, French, Slovene and Ladino.
Geographical Profile
There is a great deal of variety in the landscape in Italy,
although it is characterized predominantly by two mountain chains: the
Alps and the Apennines. The former extends over 600 miles from east to
west. It consists of great massifs in the western sector, with peaks
rising to over 14,000 feet, including Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc), Monte
Rosa and Cervino (the Matterhorn). The the chain is lower in the
eastern sector, although the mountains, the Dolomites, are still of
extraordinary beauty.
At the foot of the Alpine arc stretches the vast Po Valley plain,
cut down the middle by the course of the river Po, the longest in
Italy (390 miles), which has its source in the Pian de Re (Monviso)
and flows into the Adriatic through a magnificent delta. The Alpine
foothills are characterized by large lakes: Lake Maggiore and the
lakes of Como, Iseo and Garda. The Apennines form the backbone of the
peninsula, stretching in a wide arc concave to the Tyrrhenian Sea. The
Corno Grande (Gran Sasso d'Italia) is the highest peak. A large part
of central Italy is characterized by a green hilly landscape, through
which the rivers Arno and Tevere (Tiber) run. The southern section of
the chain pushes out to the east forming the Gargano promontory and,
sloping down further south, the Salentine peninsula. It then proceeds
to the west with the Calabrian and Peloritano massif stretching across
the Strait of Messina into Sicilia. The principal islands are Sicilia,
rising up to the great volcanic cone of Etna (10,860 feet) and
Sardegna. The main archipelagos are the Tremiti Islands in the
Adriatic Sea, the Tuscan Archipelago, the Pontine Islands, the Aeolian
Islands and the Egadi Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of
Sicilia.
The region stretches over the slopes of the Apennines, in front of
the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Tuscan landscape is mainly mountainous and
hilly, with a flat area beside the sea (the Maremma). The coastline
presents different aspects, offering both long sandy expanses and
headlands. In front of the coast there are the small enchanting
islands of the Tuscan archipelago.
Cities: Florence is the capital of Tuscany. Other important
cities are Siena, Pisa, Arezzo, Pistoia, Lucca, Livorno, Grosseto,
Massa Carrara.
Art: Tuscany is unrivaled as a cradle of all-time art. One
can find examples of every age and style: from the Etruscan
civilization (Fiesole, Chiusi, Volterra, Populonia) to Roman monuments
and ruins; from the Romanesque architecture to the impressive Gothic
cathedrals, to the exceptional artistic explosion of the Renaissance.
Museums: Florence has preserved its masterpieces and great
works of architecture over the centuries. The most important
collection of paintings in the world is offered by the Uffizi Gallery;
visitors can enter the very interesting Designs and Print Room; the
collection of self-portraits. Great paintings can be seen in the
Gallery of Palazzo Pitti, with Tiziano’s and Raffaello’s masterpieces.
Florence also has the Museum of the Costume and the Museum of the
Carriages; the beautiful Italian gardens can be admired in the
Giardino di Boboli. In the Museum of the Opera del Duomo the famous "Pietà"
by Michelangelo can be admired. Then, there are the Museum of the
Bargello, St. Mark’s Museum, the Academy Gallery and the Ethnologic
Museum Stibbert. Pisa, an ancient Roman naval base and maritime
republic, has the Museum of the Sinopie, which holds the preparatory
drawings for the frescoes, and the National Museum of St. Matteo.
Siena is a well-preserved medieval city; here there are the Civic
Museum, which houses the Histories of Alexander III, the Museum of the
Opera Metropolitana and the Pinacoteca Nazionale, with Senese
painting. Tradition and art are strong everywhere: in Arezzo the
Gallery and the Medieval and Modern Museum can be visited.
Sicily
It is the biggest island in the Mediterranean, separated from the
Italian peninsula by the strait of Messina. It has important mountain
groups: Peloritani, Nebrodi, Madonie, Iblei. The plains are scanty,
with the exception of the area around Catania. The coasts offer a
landscape of fascinating beauty almost everywhere; groups of
marvellous smaller islands are scattered round the coast (the Eolie or
Lipari, Ustica, the Egadi. the isle of Pantelleria and the Pelagie).
The Etna, rising in the center of a volcanic area of Sicily, is the
highest active volcano in Europe (3,323 meters). The isles of
Stromboli and Vulcano are also active volcanoes.
Cities: Palermo is the regional capital of Sicily, which is
ruled by a special statue. Other important cities are Messina,
Catania, Agrigento, Syracuse, Trapani, Ragusa, Enna, Caltanissetta.
Art: Sicily was a Greek colony during the Classic Age, the
Hellenic heritage is remarkable (Syracuse, Gela, Agrigento, Selinunte
and Eraclea). Important Roman remnants can be seen at Taormina,
Syracuse, Tindari, Solunto, Eloro and Patti. The next artistic
development took place during the Norman period, which left churches
and palaces of Arab-Byzantine influence. The Gothic style can be seen
in the imperial castles of Catania and Syracuse; the Catalonian
influences produced elaborated architectural forms during the
fifteenth century. The Baroque style, of exceptional wealth, thrived
in Palermo, Catania, Ragusa, Noto and Comiso.
Museums: In Palermo the Archaeological Museum, which
displays a noteworthy Etruscan collection, sculptures and metopes of
the temples of Selinunte; the Regional Gallery of Sicily, with the
most important artistic collection of the island. The Civic Museum of
Catania houses archaeology, ancient and modern art, relics of local
history. In Syracuse, tourists can visit the Regional Museum and the
Regional Gallery, with very rich archaeological and pictorial
collections. In Agrigento, there is the Regional Archaeological
Museum.
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean and is
formed by a series of mountainous massifs, hills and narrow highlands.
The coasts are jagged and rocky, interspersed with marvellous beaches
of very fine sand and countless inlets.
Cities: Cagliari is the capital of Sardinia, ruled by a
special statute. Other important cities are Sassari, Nuoro and
Oristano.
Art: Very ancient and peculiar remains of the prehistoric
and protohistoric eras are the megalithic "Tombs of the Giants"; the "domus
dejanas" (houses of the witches), tombs dug into the rock; and the "nuraghi".
The nuraghi, truncated cone towers in huge stone and fortified
dwellings of the earliest inhabitants, number about 7,000 and can be
found all over the island. Phoenician and Roman remains have come to
light at Tharros and Nora; there are Roman relics at Porto Torres and
Cagliari.
Calabria
It is the extreme south-western region of Italy, washed by the
Tyrrhenian Sea and the lonian. It is an essentially mountainous
region, with a high central Apennine ridge, which crosses it
lengthwise. The mountain slopes are overgrown with thick woods. The
coastlines present landscapes of wild beauty.
