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Italy (Italian : Italia [iˈtaːlja] ⓘ ), officially the Italian Republic (Italian : Repubblica Italiana [reˈpubblika itaˈljaːna] ), is a country in Southern and Western Europe . Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea , it consists of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands .
Italy shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino . It has a territorial exclave in Switzerland (Campione ) and an archipelago in the African Plate (Pelagie Islands ). Italy covers an area of 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi), with a population of nearly 60 million; it is the tenth-largest country by land area in the European continent and the third-most populous member state of the European Union . Its capital and largest city is Rome .
The Italian peninsula was historically the native place and destination of numerous ancient peoples . The Latin city of Rome in central Italy, founded as a Kingdom , became a Republic that conquered the Mediterranean world and ruled it for centuries as an Empire . With the spread of Christianity, Rome became the seat of the Catholic Church and of the Papacy . During the Early Middle Ages , Italy experienced the fall of the Western Roman Empire and inward migration from Germanic tribes. By the 11th century, Italian city-states and maritime republics expanded, bringing renewed prosperity through commerce and laying the groundwork for modern capitalism . The Italian Renaissance flourished in Florence during the 15th and 16th centuries and spread to the rest of Europe . Italian explorers also discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World , helping to usher in the European Age of Discovery . However, centuries of rivalry and infighting between the Italian city-states among other factors left the peninsula divided into numerous states until the late modern period. During the 17th and 18th centuries , the Italian economic and commercial importance significantly waned. (Full article... )
Early, tinted 20th-century photograph of the Palazzo Pitti, then still known as La Residenza Reale following the residency of King Victor Emmanuel II between 1865 and 1871, when Florence was the capital of Italy The Palazzo Pitti (Italian pronunciation: [paˈlattso ˈpitti] ), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace , is a vast, mainly Renaissance , palace in Florence , Italy . It is situated on the south side of the River Arno , a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio . The core of the present palazzo dates from 1458 and was originally the town residence of Luca Pitti , an ambitious Florentine banker.
The palace was bought by the
Medici family in 1549 and became the chief residence of the ruling families of the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany . It grew as a great treasure house as later generations amassed paintings, plates, jewelry and luxurious possessions. (
Full article... )
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Acquacotta (
pronounced [ˌakkwaˈkɔtta] ; Italian for "cooked water") is a hot broth-based
bread soup in
Italian cuisine that was originally a peasant food. Its preparation and consumption dates back to ancient history, and it originated in the coastal area known as the
Maremma in southern
Tuscany and northern
Lazio . The dish was invented in part as a means to make hardened, stale bread edible. In contemporary times, ingredients can vary, and additional ingredients are sometimes used. Variations of the dish include
acquacotta con funghi and
acquacotta con peperoni . (
Full article... )
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The following are images from various Italy-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1 William Shakespeare is an example of an Italophile of the 16th century. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 3 Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in Rome is a perfect example of modern Italian architecture. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 4 Pietà , by Michelangelo is a key work of Italian Renaissance sculpture. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 5 The Colosseum , originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 7 The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. , reflects the president's admiration for classical Roman aesthetics (from Culture of Italy )
Image 10 A wooden puppet depicting the Befana (from Culture of Italy )
Image 11 The cover of the Corriere dei Piccoli on 11 July 1911 carries a cartoon strip in the Italian style without speech bubbles. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 13 Dante Alighieri , one of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages . His epic poem The Divine Comedy ranks among the finest works of world literature . (from Culture of Italy )
Image 15 Alessandro Manzoni is famous for the novel The Betrothed (1827), generally ranked among the masterpieces of world literature . (from Culture of Italy )
Image 18 The historic seat of the Corriere della Sera in via Solferino in Milan (from Culture of Italy )
Image 19 David , by Michelangelo (Accademia di Belle Arti , Florence , Italy) is a masterpiece of Renaissance and world art. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 20 The Altare della Patria in Rome, a national symbol of Italy celebrating the first king of the unified country, and resting place of the Italian Unknown Soldier since the end of World War I. It was inaugurated in 1911, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy . (from Culture of Italy )
Image 21 The Forum of Pompeii with Vesuvius in the distance (from Culture of Italy )
Image 22 Scrovegni Chapel . The chapel contains a fresco cycle by Giotto , completed about 1305 and considered to be an important masterpiece of Western art . (from Culture of Italy )
Image 23 Clockwise from top left: Thomas Aquinas , proponent of natural theology and the Father of Thomism ; Giordano Bruno , one of the major scientific figures of the Western world; Cesare Beccaria , considered the Father of criminal justice and modern criminal law; and Maria Montessori , credited with the creation of the Montessori education (from Culture of Italy )
Image 24 Sandro Botticelli , The Birth of Venus (c. 1486). Tempera on canvas. 172.5 cm × 278.9 cm (67.9 in × 109.6 in). Uffizi , Florence. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 25 The Roman Empire provided an inspiration for the medieval European. Although the Holy Roman Empire rarely acquired a serious geopolitical reality, it possessed great symbolic significance. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 26 The espresso comes from the Italian esprimere, which means "to express," and refers to the process by which hot water is forced under pressure through ground coffee. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 27 Traditional pizza Margherita , whose ingredients, tomato (red), mozzarella (white) and basil (green), are inspired by the colours of the national flag of Italy . (from Culture of Italy )
Image 28 Folkloristic reconstruction of the Company of Death led by Alberto da Giussano who is preparing to carry out the charge during the battle of Legnano at the Palio di Legnano 2014 (from Culture of Italy )
Image 29 Luciano Pavarotti , considered one of the finest tenors of the 20th century and the "King of the High Cs " (from Culture of Italy )
Image 30 Giorgio Moroder , pioneer of Italo disco and electronic dance music , is known as the "Father of disco". (from Culture of Italy )
Image 32 St Mark's Basilica in Venice , one of the best known examples of Italo-Byzantine architecture (from Culture of Italy )
Image 34 Entrance to Cinecittà in Rome, the largest film studio in Europe (from Culture of Italy )
Image 36 Royal Palace of Caserta , the largest royal residence in the world (from Culture of Italy )
Image 37 The Creation of Adam is one of the scenes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, painted by Michelangelo sometime between 1508 and 1512. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 39 Regional seat of RAI in Cosenza (from Culture of Italy )
Image 40 Antonio Vivaldi , in 1723. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons . (from Culture of Italy )
Image 42 Leonardo da Vinci 's Mona Lisa is an Italian art masterpiece worldwide famous. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 43 The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, possibly one of the most famous and iconic examples of Italian art (from Culture of Italy )
Image 44 Ferragosto fireworks display in Padua on 15 August 2010 (from Culture of Italy )
Image 47 Romulus and Remus , the Lupercal , Father Tiber , and the Palatine on a relief from a pedestal dating to the reign of Trajan (AD 98–117) (from Culture of Italy )
Image 48 Teatro di San Carlo , Naples . It is the oldest continuously active venue for opera in the world. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 50 Federico Fellini , considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers in the history of cinema (from Culture of Italy )
Image 53 Gelato is Italian ice cream. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 54 John Florio is recognised as the most important Renaissance humanist in England (from Culture of Italy )
Image 56 The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 60 Dario Fo , one of the most widely performed playwrights in modern theatre, received international acclaim for his highly improvisational style. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997. (from Culture of Italy )
Image 62 The Sagra dell'uva in Marino , celebrating grapes (from Culture of Italy )
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