martedì 31 maggio 2011



THE MAIN CITIES OF ITALY






MILAN

Milan is the economical capital of Italy; it was founded by “Liguri” (a population native of the region where Milan is, “Lombardia”), in the 1500 b.C. It is in the heart of the Padana plain, near the Alpi, river Po, river Adda and river Ticino. In Milan there are a lot of famous Italian monuments (for example the Cathedral, the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, where there is the famous painting of Leonardo da Vinci: “The Last Dinner”, the illustrious theatre of the Scala ecc.). Milan is also important for Piazza Affari, the centre of the Stock Exchange of Italy. A famous poet born in Milan was Alessandro Manzoni, who wrote the “Promessi Sposi”, a very important novel of our Italian literature.





VENICE
Situated on the lagoon that makes it famous all over the world, Venice is the “queen of Italy”; together with Pisa, Genova and Amalfi was a Maritime Republic. If you want to go from one place to another, you can go by boat or by “gondola” (a tipical Venice’s boat); the most important artery of town’s traffic is the “Canal Grande”; it is 3.5 km long. Venice is famous for Piazza San Marco, Ponte dei Sospiri (Whispering Bridge), the Carnival and..... the pigeons. Near Venice there are two famous islands: Murano (for the working of glass) and Burano (for the working of lakes). Some renowned men of Venice are Marco Polo (a famous explorer who wrote “the Million”, dealing with his journey to China), Carlo Goldoni (the best Italian XVI century playwright), Giovan Battista Tiepolo (a famous painter) and Antonio Canal (known as Canaletto): he painted tipical Venetian landscapes.







FLORENCE

Florence is the most important city of art in Tuscany; a lot of men of culture lived in Florence: Dante Alighieri (the main Italian XIV century poet who wrote the “Divina Commedia”), his friend Guido Cavalcanti, Giovanni Boccaccio (one of the greatest short story writer), Filippo Brunelleschi (an important architect; his master piece is the “Cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore), Donatello (who made “the David”), Sandro Botticelli (who painted the “Primavera”), ecc. Florence is also known for Piazzale Michelangelo (Michelangelo Square), where you can see all the town, and the “Bell Tower” of Giotto, considered the most beautiful in the world. When we talk about Florence we have to remember the terrible 1966 fload that damaged its artistic patrimony.





ROME
Rome rises on seven hills; it is the capital of Italy and it is considered the “Caput Mundi” (the head-capital of the world). It is rich in history and monuments; among its important monuments we find “Altare della Patria”, “Circo Massimo”, “Colisseum”, “Fountain di Trevi” ecc. But Rome is known for San Pietro Cathedral, the centre of Cristianity and seat of the Pope. Some illustrious men of its history are Leone XII, San Gregorio Magno (two Popes), Cesare Ottaviano Augusto (the first emperor), Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (a famous musican), ecc.







NAPLES


Two things characterize Naples: the Pizza and the Coral; Naples is known for its squares (for example Piazza del Plebiscito, Umberto I’s Gallery, where there is a mosaic floor representing the zodiac) and the gulf. Around Naples there are a lot of interesting places, like Pompei, Ercolano, Cuma (hold Roman harbour), Campi Flegrei (where there are some emissions of steam from the lakes). In Naples there is the Vesuvio (a famous volcano); some illustrious men of this town were Torquato Tasso (a poet),Giordano Bruno (a philosopher), Luigi Vanvitelli (who designed the Royal Palace of Caserta). Finally,it is very famous the hill of Posillipo, where you can see all the gulf of Naples.


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