ITALY

officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is

a unitary parliamentary republic in Southern Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardiniathe two largest islands in the Mediterranean Seaand many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.8 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world. Rome, the capital of Italy, has for centuries been a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance. Through much of its post-Roman history, Italy was fragmented into numerous city and regional states (such as the Republic of Venice and the Church State), but was unified in 1861. In the late 19th century, through World War I, and to World War II, Italy possessed a colonial empire. Modern Italy is a democratic republic. It has been ranked as the world's 24th most-developed country and its Quality-of-life Index has been ranked in the world's top ten in 2005. Italy enjoys a very high standard of living, and has a high GDP per capita. It is a founding member of what is now the European Union and part of the Eurozone. Italy is also a member of the G8, G20 and NATO. It has the world's third-largest gold reserves, eighth-largest nominal GDP, tenth highest GDP (PPP) and the sixth highest government budget in the world. It is also a member state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, the Council of Europe, the Western European Union and the United Nations. Italy has the world's ninth-largest defence budget and shares NATO's nuclear weapons. Italy plays a prominent role in European and global military, cultural and diplomatic affairs. The country's European political, social and economic influence make it a major regional power. The country has a high public education level and is a highly globalised nation.

Italian cuisine
Modern Italian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BCE. Italian cuisine in itself takes heavy influences, including Etruscan, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Byzantine, and Jewish. Significant changes occurred with the discovery of the New World with the introduction of items such as potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers and maize, now central to the cuisine but not introduced in quantity until the 18th century. Italian cuisine is noted for its regional diversity, abundance of difference in taste, and is known to be one of the most popular in the world, with influences abroad.

Italian cuisine is characterized by its extreme simplicity, with many dishes having only four to eight ingredients. Italian cooks rely chiefly on the quality of the ingredients rather than on elaborate preparation. Dishes and recipes are often the creation of grandmothers rather than of chefs, which makes many recipes ideally suited for home cooking. This is one of the main reasons behind the ever increasing popularity of this cuisine, as cooking magazines in foreign countries popularize Italian recipes targeted at the home cook. Ingredients and dishes vary by region. Many dishes that were once regional, however, have proliferated with variations throughout the country. Cheese, ham and wine are a major part of the cuisine, with many variations and Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) (regulated appellation) laws. Coffee, specifically espresso, has become important in Italian cuisine.

Grand Canal (Venice)

The banks of the Grand Canal are lined with more than 170 buildings, most of which date from the 13th to the 18th century, and demonstrate the welfare and art created by the Republic of Venice. The noble Venetian families faced huge expenses to show off their richness in suitable palazzos; this contest reveals the citizens pride and the deep bond with the lagoon. Amongst the many are the Palazzi Barbaro, Ca' Rezzonico, Ca' d'Oro, Palazzo Dario, Ca' Foscari, Palazzo Barbarigo and to Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, housing the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. The churches along the canal include the basilica of Santa Maria della Salute. Centuries-old traditions, such as the Historical Regatta, are perpetuated every year along the Canal. Because most of the city's traffic goes along the Canal rather than across it, only one bridge crossed the canal until the 19th century, the Rialto Bridge. There are currently two more bridges, the Ponte degli Scalzi and the Ponte dell'Accademia. A fourth, controversial bridge (Ponte della Costituzione) designed by Santiago Calatrava was recently erected, connecting the train station to the vehicle-open area of Piazzale Roma. As was usual in the past, people can still take a ferry ride across the canal at several points by standing up on the deck of a simple gondola called a traghetto. Most of the palaces emerge from water without pavement. Consequently, one can only tour past the fronts of the buildings on the Grand Canal by boat.

Colosseum
The Colosseum's original Latin name was Amphitheatrum Flavium, often anglicized as Flavian Amphitheater. The building was constructed by emperors of the Flavian dynasty, hence its original name, after the reign of Emperor Nero.[8] This name is still used in modern English, but generally the structure is better known as the Colosseum. In antiquity, Romans may have referred to the Colosseum by the unofficial name Amphitheatrum Caesareum; this name could have been strictly poetic [9][10] as it was not exclusive to the Colosseum; Vespasian and Titus,

builders of the Colosseum, also constructed an amphitheater of the same name in Puteoli (modern Pozzuoli).[11] The name Colosseum has long been believed to be derived from a colossal statue of Nero nearby (the statue of Nero was named after the Colossus of Rhodes). This statue was later remodeled by Nero's successors into the likeness of Helios (Sol) or Apollo, the sun god, by adding the appropriate solar crown. Nero's head was also replaced several times with the heads of succeeding emperors. Despite its pagan links, the statue remained standing well into the medieval era and was credited with magical powers. It came to be seen as an iconic symbol of the permanence of Rome. In the 8th century, a famous epigram attributed to the Venerable Bede celebrated the symbolic significance of the statue in a prophecy that is variously quoted: Quamdiu stat Colisus, stat et Roma; quando cadet colisus, cadet et Roma; quando cadet Roma, cadet et mundus ("as long as the Colossus stands, so shall Rome; when the Colossus falls, Rome shall fall; when Rome falls, so falls the world"). This is often mistranslated to refer to the Colosseum rather than the Colossus (as in, for instance, Byron's poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage). However, at the time that the Pseudo-Bede wrote, the masculine noun coliseus was applied to the statue rather than to what was still known as the Flavian amphitheatre. The Colossus did eventually fall, possibly being pulled down to reuse its bronze. By the year 1000 the name "Colosseum" had been coined to refer to the amphitheatre. The statue itself was largely forgotten and only its base survives, situated between the Colosseum and the nearby Temple of Venus and Roma. The name further evolved to Coliseum during the Middle Ages. In Italy, the amphitheatre is still known as il Colosseo, and other Romance languages have come to use similar forms such as le Colise (French), el Coliseo (Spanish) and o Coliseu (Portuguese).

Santa Maria del Fiore

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (English: Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower) is the main church of Florence, Italy. The Duomo, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th century Gothic Revival faade by Emilio De Fabris. The cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile. The three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major attraction to tourists visiting the region of Tuscany. The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until development of new structural materials in the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.

The cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, whose archbishop is currently Giuseppe Betori.

Piazza del Campo

Piazza del Campo is the principal public space of the historic center of Siena, Tuscany, Italy and is regarded as one of Europe's greatest medieval squares. It is renowned worldwide for its beauty and architectural integrity. The Palazzo Pubblico and its Torre del Mangia, as well as various palazzi signorili surround the shell-shaped piazza. At the northwest edge is the Fonte Gaia. The twice-a-year horse-race, Palio di Siena, is held around the edges of the piazza.

Pompeii
Romans took control of Pompeii around 200 BC. On August 24, 79 AD, Vesuvius erupted, burying the nearby town of Pompeii in ash and soot, killing 20,000 people, and preserving the city in its state from that fateful day. Pompeii is an excavation (It: scavi) site and outdoor museum of the ancient Roman settlement. This site is considered to be one of the few sites where an ancient city has been preserved in detail - everything from jars and tables to paintings and people was frozen in time, yielding, together with neighboring Herculaneum which suffered the same fate, an unprecedented opportunity to see how the people lived two thousand years ago. The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was partially destroyed and buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Pompeii was lost for nearly 1700 years before its rediscovery in 1748. Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city during the Pax Romana. Today, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italy, with approximately 2.5 million visitors every year.

Positano
Positano has been featured in several films, including Only You (1994), and Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), as well as being mentioned in the 2009 musical film Nine in the song "Cinema Italiano". Positano is also the setting for the romantic adventure novel, "Finding Positano, A Love Story" (2010), by William James. It also hosts the annual Cartoons on the Bay Festival, at which Pulcinella awards for excellence in animation are presented. From July 1967 and through most of the 1970s, Positano was home of singer-songwriter Shawn Phillips and was where most of his best known work was composed. Also, Mick Jagger and

Keith Richards from The Rolling Stones wrote the song "Midnight Rambler" in the cafes of Positano while on vacation. Today tourism is by far the major industry in Positano. Positano is also very popular for Limoncello and for "L'Albertissimo", an alcoholic tipple that can only be found at a small stall at the main harbour.

Lake Como
Lake Como (Lago di Como in Italian, also known as Lario, after the Latin name of the lake; Lach de Comm in Insubric; Latin: Larius Lacus) is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km, making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over 400 m (1320 ft) deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe, and the bottom of the lake is more than 200 metres (656 ft) below sea-level. Lake Como has been a popular retreat for aristocrats and wealthy people since Roman times, and a very popular tourist attraction with many artistic and cultural gems. It has many villas and palaces (such as Villa Olmo, Villa Serbelloni, and Villa Carlotta). Many famous people have or have had homes on the shores of Lake Como, such as Matthew Bellamy, Madonna, George Clooney, Gianni Versace, Ronaldinho, Sylvester Stallone, Richard Branson, Ben Spies, and Pierina Legnani. Lake Como is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful lakes in Italy.

Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italian: Torre pendente di Pisa) or simply the Tower of Pisa (Torre di Pisa) is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its unintended tilt to one side. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) after the Cathedral and the Baptistry. The tower's tilt began during construction, caused by an inadequate foundation on ground too soft on one side to properly support the structure's weight. The tilt increased in the decades before the structure was completed, and gradually increased until the structure was stabilized (and the tilt partially corrected) by efforts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The height of the tower is 55.86 m (183.27 ft) from the ground on the low side and 56.70 m (186.02 ft) on the high side. The width of the walls at the base is 4.09 m (13.42 ft) and at the top 2.48 m (8.14 ft). Its weight is estimated at 14,500 metric tons (16,000 short tons). The tower has 296 or 294 steps; the seventh floor has two fewer steps on the north-facing staircase. Prior to restoration work performed between 1990 and 2001, the tower leaned at an angle of 5.5 degrees, but the tower now leans at about 3.99 degrees. This means that the top of the tower is displaced horizontally 3.9 metres (12 ft 10 in) from where it would be if the structure were perfectly vertical.

Manarola
Manarola may be the oldest of the towns in the Cinque Terre, with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338. The local dialect is Manarolese, which is marginally different from the dialects in the nearby area. The name "Manarola" is probably dialectical evolution of the Latin, "magna rota". In the Manarolese dialect this was changed to "magna roea" which means "large wheel", in reference to the mill wheel in the town. Manarola's primary industries have traditionally been fishing and wine-making. The local wine, called Sciacchetr, is especially renowned; references from Roman writings mention the high quality of the wine produced in the region. In recent years, Manarola and its neighboring towns have become popular tourist destinations, particularly in the summer months. Tourist attractions in the region include a famous walking trail between Manarola and Riomaggiore (called Via dell'Amore, "Love's Trail") and hiking trails in the hills and vineyards above the town. Manarola is one of the five villages. Mostly all of the houses are bright and colourful. Manarola was celebrated in paintings by the artists Llewelyn Lloyd (1879-1949) ("I ponti di Manarola" [:The Bridges of Manarola, 1904] and "Tramonto a Manarola" [:Sunset at Manarola, 1904] and Antonio Discovolo (18741956).

San Gimignano
San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, northcentral Italy. Known as the Town of Fine Towers, San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses,[1] which, with its hilltop setting and encircling walls form "an unforgettable skyline".[2] Within the walls, the wellpreserved buildings include notable examples of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with outstanding examples of secular buildings as well as churches. The Palazzo Comunale, the Collegiate Church and Church of Sant' Agostino contain frescos, including cycles dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. The "Historic Centre of San Gimignano", is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town also is known for the white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, produced from the ancient variety of Vernaccia grape which is grown on the sandstone hillsides of the area.

Want to come to Italy??? Heres How

Italian Sojourn Mumbai to Italy Holiday Package for 6 nights and 7 days for Rs. 1,05,600 Package Inclusions: Return economy class airfare Current applicable taxes Accommodation for 2 nights in Venice Accommodation for 2 nights in Florence Accommodation for 2 nights in Rome Daily breakfast Murano, Burano and Torcello tour on seat-in-coach basis Florence Panoramic Tour on seat-in-coach basis Rome bus and boat pass valid for 1 day Venice station to hotel transfers on private basis Rome hotel to airport transfers on private basis Second class Itlay train pass (usage of 3 days) valid for 1 month Travel Insurance and Visa included

Package Itinerary Day 1: India - Rome - Venice Meals: Breakfast

Upon arrival in Rome, take a transfer to Rome station to board train to Venice Mestre. After arriving Venice Mestre, take a transfer to the hotel by private car. Spend the rest of the day exploring the city on your own. Stay overnight in the hotel. Day 2: Venice - Murano, Burano and Torcello Tour Meals: Breakfast After enjoying breakfast, you will visit Murano Burano and Torcello. To enjoy this tour, you need to reach Serenissima boat station. After sailing past the isle of San Giorgio Maggiore, the Public Gardens, the tip of Sant'Elena and the famous Lido beach resort, the boat arrives in Murano, known throughout the world for its glass manufacturing industry. Here, we stop for around 40 minutes to visit one of the factories. The second stop is at the picturesque island of Burano, famous not only for its lace but also for the fishermen's houses painted in bright colours. The stop will last about 30 minutes. Then after a short cruise, you reach Torcello, the earliest centre of civilization in the estuary. Only the Cathedral with its magnificent mosaics and the church of Santa Fosca remain as testimony of its former glory. The stop will be for about 30 minutes after which you will return to St.Mark's Square. Stay overnight in the hotel. Day 3: Venice - Florence - Florence Panoramic Tour Meals: Breakfast After enjoying breakfast, take a transfer to Venice Mestre station to board train to Florence. After arriving in Florence, take a transfer to the hotel on your own. Late afternoon at 1600 hours, start your Florence Panoramic Tour. Leaving Piazza Stazione, the coach goes via della Scala up to Santa Maria Novella; crossing the Arno river you will reach Porta San Frediano and Porta Romana. Then up to Piazzale Michelangelo where you will enjoy a breathtaking overview of the town. The tour continues towards Prati di Belvedere and the beautiful church of San Miniato al Monte. After this, you will reach Santo Spirito area passing nearby Ponte Vecchio. The duomo, the Baptistery and the wonderful Giotto's bell tower. Visit the church of San Marco and Santa Annunziata. Passing by Porta la Croce, you will then proceed to Fiesole with the Cathedral of San Romolo. Then, head back to Piazza della Stazione, passing by the Cemetery of English soldiers, the Synagogue and the Santa Croce church. Stay overnight in the hotel. Day 4: Florence - optional tour - excursion to Pisa Meals: Breakfast After enjoying breakfast, you can opt for an optional full-day tour to Lucca and Pisa. This tour will take you to a pleasant walk in Lucca, an enchanting historical centre where you will have the chance to admire the amazing Piazza Anfiteatro, the Torre Giunigi, the San Marino Church and the typical antique dealers street. After this, depart for Pisa, famous for its architectural masterpieces. Upon arrival in Pisa, you can enjoy lunch (not included). Then go on a guided walking tour of Piazza dei Miracoli, with the celebrated Leaning Tower (outside view), the Baptistery (outside view) and other important monuments. This is followed by a visit to the

interior of the Cathedral. You will be given some free time at your disposal before finishing the tour with a pleasant walk to Piazza dei Cavalieri. ** Tour operates only on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays ** Stay overnight in the hotel. Day 5: Florence - Rome - Rome bus and boat pass for 1 day Meals: Breakfast After enjoying breakfast, take a transfer to Florence station to board train to Rome. After arriving at Rome station, take a transfer to the hotel on your own. With 1-day bus and boat pass, explore Rome at your own pace on an extensive hop-on hop-off itinerary through the heart of Rome. The buses are open-top which allow you to enjoy panoramic views as you travel along your route. During the tour, you can choose the option to discover part of the itinerary by a cruise on the Tiber River. You can start the cruise from Isola Tiberina (embark at Calata degli Anguillara) and proceed up to Ponte Sant'Angelo. Then, you can choose to continue by open bus for the rest of the route. Stay overnight in the hotel. Day 6: Rome - Optional prestige Vatican City Tour Meals: Breakfast After enjoying breakfast, you can opt for optional tour of Prestige Vatican City Tour. Tour starts with crossing the park of Villa Borghese, then reach the Vatican City, the smallest independent sovereign state in the world. In the Vatican Museum, you will see a fine collection of antiquities, including the Sculpture Museum, the fascinating Tapestry Gallery, the Gallery of Maps and the world famous Sistine Chapel decorated by Michelangelo. The tour will then proceed to the Basilica of St. Peter, where you will see the art treasures of the largest Roman Catholic Church in the world, including Michelangelo's Pieta'. Stay overnight at the hotel. ** St. Peter's Basilica may be closed for the public during religious ceremonies or on Wednesdays in case the Papal Audience takes place in front of the Basilica. Appropriate dress should be worn in places of worship. During high season there might be queues at the entrances of the museums. Tour does not operate on Sundays ** Day 7: Departure Meals: Breakfast After enjoying breakfast, check-out of your hotel and proceed to the FCO airport in private car to board the return flight. Hotel Details Hotel: Hotel Trieste (or similar hotel) City: Venice

Star Category:3 Just a 2-minute walk from Mestre Bus and Railway Stations, Hotel Trieste features free Wi-Fi and on-site parking. It offers air-conditioned rooms with wood floors, a minibar and satellite TV. Some rooms at the Trieste Hotel are decorated in a contemporary style. Others have traditional Venetian furniture and wood-beamed ceilings. Staff at the Trieste provides a continental breakfast in the dining room. The marble bar serves coffee, Italian beer and wine from the Veneto region. Venice is a 10-minute train ride from Mestre Station. Venezia Marco Polo Airport is 17 km away, and Padua is 35 minutes drive from the hotel. Hotel Facilities Bar | 24-Hour Front Desk | Non-Smoking Rooms | Elevator | Express Check-In/Check-Out | Safety Deposit Box | Heating | Luggage Storage | All Public and Private spaces non-smoking | Air Conditioning Room Amenities Rooms: Single, Double Safety Deposit Box | Air Conditioning | Desk | Heating | Wooden / Parquet floor | Hairdryer | Free toiletries | Toilet | Bathroom | Bath or Shower | TV | Telephone | Satellite TV | Mini bar | Wake up Service/Alarm Clock Dining 1 Dining Room | 1 Bar The hotel has a dining room that serves a continental breakfast. It also has a bar that serves coffee, and Italian beers and wines. Internet: Free Wi-Fi Internet | Parking: At EUR 10 per day Hotel: Hotel Andrea (or similar hotel) City: Florence Star Category:3 Hotel: Hotel Augustea (or similar hotel) City: Rome Star Category3

Destination details Venice Often described as one of the most romantic cities in the world, Venice lives up to that appellation. However, this does not mean that the city is only for lovers. Somewhere between dream and reality, present and past, it is romantic in the imaginative sense, its beauty somehow more, and less than real. It is also one of the most historic cities in Italy, and its varied architecture and rich culture offer plenty to see and explore, even to the most intrepid traveller. A city of canals, it is literally on water, and people own boats instead of cars, and maybe flippers instead of boots! Venice is built on an archipelago of 118 islands formed by about 150 canals in a shallow lagoon. These islands are connected by about 400 bridges. The resulting waterways and walkways are the chief circulatory systems of beautiful Venice, and to facilitate smooth and ordered movement, certain speed limits are enforced on boats. Venice is one of the few European cities to remain largely unchanged with the turn of the century, and for this reason the feeling of displacement with reality never seems to quite fade away. Gothic, Roman, and Venetian architecture impose themselves on you, and the canals' coruscating light reflects magically on the edifices. World renowned for its superior and artfully created glass, Venice's masks are also a highlight, and they can be seen everywhere during the Carnival. Things to Do There is a lot to do and see in Venice, and what follows is a list of experiences that are definitely worth your while. Visit the opulent expanse of the St. Mark's Square (San Marco Square) and feed the pigeons. Take a gondola cruise to the beautifully designed Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto), and the Bridge of Sighs, and truly enjoy the waterways the way the city's builders did. One should also visit the Galleria dell'Accademia, where famous works of art like Leonardo Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man are displayed. Sample the fresh sparkling wine, and Venetian cuisine in one of the many cafes, inns and restaurants. Many restaurants serve excellent fish of the Adriatic including the sea bass, mackerel, mullet and soft-shelled crabs. For those who want to pick up a simple snack while they are making their way around the city to see all the sights then cichetti or bar snacks are highly recommended. On the nightlife front, Venice is a relatively quiet town in the early evenings, after which the party starts, centred around the many bars and cafes around the Piazza San Marco. Shopping: As with every major Italian city, there will be streets filled with all the major brands of high fashion and other luxury products. However, the city of Venice has many unique industries of its own, such as glassmaking, lace-making, and mask-making. Venetian glass, famous across the world, is best made in Murano, an island of Venice. Take a vaporetto (ferry or water bus as it is called) down to the island, and then a conducted tour of one of the factories. It is quite an educational and beautiful experience, seeing the artisans at work upon the sublime material. Souvenirs are of course, available. Lace-making can best be observed at Burano, another island

of Venice. The intricate lace that is produced is sheer and priceless, desired across the world. Oil and watercolour paintings of the city can be found all over the place, often freshly produced by the artist, right in front of your eyes.

Rosary College Of Commerce And Arts

Seminar on general topics 3

Topic: Holiday Destinations ITALY

Done and Submitted By

Deepesh Faldessai R1013 Salik Shaikh R1034 BBA 2010-13