Portal:Italy

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The Italy portal
Portale Italia

Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern and Western Europe. It consists of a peninsula, which extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land border, as well as nearly 800 islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares land borders with France to the west; Switzerland and Austria to the north; Slovenia to the east; and the two enclaves of Vatican City and San Marino. It is the tenth-largest country in Europe by area, covering 301,340 km² (116,350 sq mi), and the third-most populous member state of the European Union, with nearly 59 million inhabitants. Rome is the capital of Italy; other major cities include Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Bologna, Florence, Genoa, Bari, and Venice.

The history of Italy goes back to numerous Italic peoples, notably including the ancient Romans, who conquered the Mediterranean world during the Roman Republic and ruled it for centuries during the Roman Empire. With the spread of Christianity, Rome became the seat of the Catholic Church and the Papacy. Barbarian invasions and other factors led to the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire between late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. 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 during the 15th and 16th centuries and spread to the rest of Europe. Italian explorers discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, contributing significantly to the Age of Discovery. (Full article...)

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The 2006 Winter Olympics (Italian: 2006 Olimpiadi invernali), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games (Italian: XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. Turin was selected as the host city for the 2006 Games in June 1999.

This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter Olympics, the first being in 1956 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, and the third would be the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo which was 20 years after the 2006 event. Italy had also hosted the Summer Olympics in 1960 in Rome. (Full article...)

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Image 1Porta Soprana is the best-known gate of the ancient walls of Genoa.
Image 2Sellajoch, South Tyrol and Trentino (seen from Pordoi Pass), Langkofel on the left, Piz Ciavazes on the right
Image 3Interior of the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome
Image 4Dome of Florence Cathedral
Image 5A section of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo
Image 6South face of the Tofana di Rozes in the Parco naturale regionale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo
Image 7The Forma Urbis Romae is a massive marble map of ancient Rome, created under the emperor Septimius Severus between 203 and 211.
Image 8Youth of Moses by Sandro Botticelli, 1481-82, Sistine Chapel
Image 9View of Piazzetta San Marco toward Grand Canal of Venice, at dawn, with Doges' Palace on the left and Biblioteca Marciana on the right.

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First Italian balloon flight medal

...that the first Italian public balloon flight (see medal) was organised by Count Andreani in Brugherio?

...that the Monte Viso Tunnel is the most ancient tunnel dug through a mountain in Italy?

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The cuisine of ancient Rome changed significantly over the duration of the civilization's existence. Dietary habits were affected by the political changes from kingdom to republic to empire, and Roman trading with foreigners along with the empire's enormous expansion exposed Romans to many new foods, provincial culinary habits and cooking methods.

In the beginning, dietary differences between Roman social classes were not great, but disparities developed with the empire's growth. (Full article...)

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