Italy, officially the Italian Republic[a] or the Republic of Italy, is a country in

Southernand Western Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, it

consists of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands; its
territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region. 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 some islands in the African Plate. Italy covers an area
of 301,230 km2 (116,310 sq mi), with a population of about 60 million. It is the
third-most populous member state of the European Union, the sixth-most populous
country in Europe, and the tenth-largest country in the continent by land area.
Italy's capital and largest city is Rome

The music of Italy ranges across a broad spectrum from opera to classical instrumental music to
popular music. Italian innovations enabled the development of opera in the 16th century,
influencing much of European classical music. Opera is an integral part of Italian musical culture,
and has become an important segment of popular music internationally.

Italy has been home to many different famous people such as

Galileo (1564-1642)
Galileo is one of the greatest European scholars of physics, mathematics,
astronomy, and geometry. Born in 1564 in Pisa and died in Arcetri in 1641, Galileo
(Galileo Galilei) was a pioneer of physics. In fact, since 1680 he’s been considered
the founder of the discipline. Furthermore, he established the foundations of
modern mechanics.

Dante Alighieri (real name Durante degli Alighieri) was a Florentine poet, writer,
and politician. He was born in Florence in 1265 and died in Ravenna in 1321. He’s
most famous for his epic poem La divina commedia, or The Divine Comedy.

Dante's literature didn't just enrich modern Italian, it practically constructed it. At the
beginning of the 14th century (around the time that Dante was writing), the Italian
language contained just sixty per cent of the vocabulary which is essential to
modern-day communication in Italian, whereas, by the end of the same century,
ninety per cent of the language spoken in Italy was considered essential to
modern-day Italian speaking.

Michelangelo (1475 – 1564)

Michelangelo was a Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet and artist. In
1488, Michelangelo became an apprentice to the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio
and his primary artworks were in the form of sculpture. In 1505, he was summoned
back to Rome by Pope Julius II in order to design Julius' own tomb. Things didn't
work out but Michelangelo did produce a sculpture of Moses for the tomb.
Michelangelo's next major commission was the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the
Vatican (1508-1512), which made him rise in popularity and what has made him
most famous until this day. Michelangelo additionally designed monuments to
Giuliano and Lorenzo de' Medici in the Medici Chapel in San Lorenzo. In 1534, the
artist returned to Rome once again where he was asked to paint 'The Last
Judgement' on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel (1537-1541). The following
decade, however, he was increasingly active as an architect as opposed to a
creative painter.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Leonardo da Vinci (or Leonardo di serPiero da Vinci, to use his full name) was a
genius you’ll probably hear about in your Italian lessons. He was born in 1452 in
Vinci, Italy and died in 1519 in Amboise, France.

Nowadays he is seen as a symbol of the Renaissance. A Jack of all trades, and

seemingly a master of all, too, Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, scientist, architect,
mathematician, poet, diplomat, astronomer, and even a sculptor.

Leonardo da Vinci is arguably one of the most talented people to have ever lived.
He is probably most famous as the artist of the world's most famous painting, the
Mona Lisa, but in addition to this, he is also remembered as a major figure in the
history of science. With so many credits as a driver of the understanding of the
universe, Da Vinci is still regarded as being ahead of his time.

Da Vinci theorisedaeroplanes, cars, submarines, and helicopters, as well as

making critical discoveries in the fields of optics, anatomy, hydrodynamics, and civil
engineering.

A star of Italian culture, Da Vinci's love of art did not conflict with his scientific
interests, in fact, he sought to explain scientific phenomena through depicting his
scientific observations by putting pencil to paper so he could study phenomena in
even further detail.

Italian Musicians And Composers

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Antonio Vivaldi was a famous composer and violin genius. Born in Venice in 1678
and died in Vienna in 1741, Vivaldi left his mark on classical music. He was one of
the most important composers of the Baroque period.

Vivaldi's music is recognised for its bright and lively style, and in his time as a
composer,
Many people don't know that aside from being a musical genius, Vivaldi was also a
music teacher at an all-girls school, and in addition to this, Vivaldi was also an
ordained priest! However, although he had been working towards his priesthood
from the age of 15, he was forced to give up this venture due to a decline in his
health.

Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007)

Luciano Pavarotti was a famous Italian singer. Born in 1935 and died in 2007 in
Modena, Pavarotti was known as one of the greatest opera singers of his
generation.

With over 100 million albums sold worldwide, he not only famous for his voice but
also his success in bringing the classical style of opera to popular culture. The
tenor also collaborated with plenty of other famous artists including Mariah Carey,
U2, and Barry White for humanitarian causes such as War Child. However, it was
not just his crossover into pop with help from other famous names which made
Pavarotti a household name; the distinctive quality of his voice made a legend in
the world of opera. In fact, Pavarotti is hailed by many as one of the best tenors of
the 20th century.

Andrea Bocelli (1958 - )

Another one of the world's most famous singers is also an Italian export. Andrea
Bocelli is an Italian singer born in Lajatico in 1958. Having performed many operas
as well as releasing a plethora of albums which were popular in the classical
community as well as being incredibly successful in the music charts, the tenor,
Andrea Bocelli is known around the world for his vocal talent.

The singer (who has been blind since the age of 12) has sold over 80 million
albums around the world. Bocelli has risen to fame not only in the world of classical
music, but he is also known for his pop music, too. You should check out Con
tepartirò, Vivo per lei, or Romanza.

Maria Montessori (Chiaravalle, 1870 – Noordwjek, 1952) was an Italian educator

who renewed education by developing a particular method known as the
Montessori Method, which would initially be applied in Italian primary schools and
later all over the world. Aimed particularly at preschool children, it was based on
encouraging the initiative and response capacity of children through the use of
specially designed teaching material. The method proposed great diversification of
work and as much freedom as possible, so children would learn by themselves, in
line with the rhythm of their own discoveries.
Montessori received a degree in Medicine in 1896 from the University of Rome.
The following year, she started working as an assistant in the Department of
Psychiatry at the same university. There, she was driven by her profound instinct to
study special-needs children and warned immediately that their problem was
educational, not medical. She expounded her ideas on this subject at the
Education Conference of 1898 in Turin. Minister Baccelli put her in charge of a
course for teachers on the education of special children of Rome, a course that
later became an Orthophrenic School, led by Montessori for two years.

Monica Bellucci (1964 - )

The Italian model and actress MonicBellucci was born in Città di Castello in 1964.
She is famous for her roles in films such as The Matrix, The Passion of the Christ,
and Spectre.
Interestingly, Monica Bellucci never intended to follow an acting career, in fact, she
was originally pursuing a career in law. Whilst studying for her law degree, Bellucci
worked as a model to earn some extra money to help her through university,
however, this turned into a full-time career, and after her television debut in 1990,
Bellucci's acting career was born.

• The colors of the Italian flag–green, white, and red–have special meaning.
Green represents hope, white represents faith, and red signals charity.
Interesting Facts About Italy: Language
• Many musical terms are written in Italian because early composers from the
Renaissance era were Italian.
• Of all the Romance languages, Italian is the closest to Latin.
• From Venetian to Sicilian, there are dozens of Italian dialects used
throughout the country.
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• Italy is home to the world’s oldest university, the University of Bologna
founded in 1088.
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