Things To Do In Italy

Top 25 Things to do In Italy from Open Travel Vacations

A motherland of artists and scientists that changed the shape of the world, home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites, and a kaleidoscope of bewitching vistas – Bella Italia! On the basis of user ratings, Open Travel has compiled a list of top 25 things to see or do on your Italy Vacations.

1. Valley of the Temples (Valle dei Templi)

2. Cinque Terre

3. Uffizi Gallery

4. Colosseum

5. Sassi di Matera

6. Ancient Pompeii

7. Amalfi Coast to Capri Boat Excursion

8. Historic Centre of Siena

9. Vatican

10. Saint Mark’s Basilica

11. Roman Forum

12. Blue Grotto

13. Grand Canal

14. Leaning Tower of Pisa (La Torre di Pisa)

15. The Last Supper

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Etymology

The origin of the term Italia, from Latin: Italia, is uncertain. According to one of the more common explanations, the term was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning “land of young cattle” (cf. Lat vitulus “calf”, Umb vitlo “calf”). The bull was a symbol of the southern Italian tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Samnite Wars.

The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy—according to Antiochus of Syracuse, the southern portion of the Bruttium peninsula (modern Calabria). But by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name “Italia” to a larger region, but it was not until the time of the Roman conquests that the term was expanded to cover the entire peninsula.

Genoa

Genoa (Genova, pronounced [ˈdʒɛːnova], in Italian; Zena [ˈzeːna] in Genoese and Ligurian; Genua in Latin and, archaically, in English) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000. It is also called la Superba (“the Superb one”) due to its glorious past

Cagliari

Cagliari [read: kaljari] (sard. Casteddu – castle) – the town and municipality in Italy, the capital of the autonomous region of Sardinia and the province of Cagliari. This is the biggest economic and cultural island.

Cagliari is a city on the southern coast of Sardinia, on the bay of the same name and in the plain Campidiano.

According to data for the year 2004, the municipality live in 158 351 people, 1 863 Pers. / km ².

Naples

Naples (including Napoli, Lac. Neapolis with gr. He nea policies, TT new city) – a town in southern Italy in the region of Campania, which is the capital, as well as the administrative center of the province of Naples. Founded by the Greeks as Partenope.

Naples is located tarasowo the Gulf Neapolitańską (Sea Tyrreńskie) at the foot of Wezuwiusza.

In the near Naples are:

* Isle of Capri and Ischia lying at the entrance to the Bay of Naples,
* Sorrento peninsula.

Population: 993 386 (2004), a conurbation of more than 3 million. This is the third city in terms of population in Italy. This is also one of the three Italian cities with metro, the so-called. Metropolitana di Napoli (currently has 6 line, but plans to increase their number to 10).

Background

Italy was in 1861 a nation, when the small states on the peninsula, including Sicily and Sardinia under King Victor Emmanuel II united. The era of democracy took place after the establishment of fascism under Benito Mussolini in the 1920s its end. The alliance with Germany led the country then in the Second World War. After the 1946 defeat sparked a republican form of government from the monarchy, while there was an economic upswing. Italy was a founding member of NATO and the European Community. It was one of the pioneers of European unification and took 1999 to the monetary union. Today the south of the country with illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment and low growth rates in contrast to the prosperous north.

Unification

The creation of the Kingdom of Italy was the result of the efforts by Italian nationalists and monarchists loyal to the House of Savoy to establish a united kingdom encompassing the entire Italian Peninsula. In the context of 1848 liberal revolutions that swept through Europe an unsuccessful war was declared on Austria. Giuseppe Garibaldi popular amongst southern Italians led the Italian republican drive for unification in southern Italy , while the northern Italian monarchy of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia whose government was led by Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour, had the ambition of establishing a united Italian state under its rule. The kingdom successfully challenged Austrian Empire in the Second Italian War of Independence with the help of Napoleon III, liberating the Lombardy-Venetia. In 1866 Victor Emmanuel II aligned the kingdom to Prussia during the Austro-Prussian War waging the Third Italian War of Independence which allowed Italy to annex Venice. In 1870, as France during the disastrous Franco-Prussian War abandoned its positions in Rome, Italy rushed to fill the power gap by taking over the Papal State from French sovereignty. Italian unification finally was achieved, and shortly afterwards Italy’s capital was moved to Rome.

Bari

Bari may still be considered the Bronx of southern Italy, but that old reputation is wearing thin these days. Michele Emiliano, the city’s tough anti-mafia mayor, claims Bari is the next Barcelona: a city on the sea attracting big business and tourists alike. And he’s right: Bari has potential.

Weather

Italy’s climate varies from north to south and from lowland to mountain top. Temperatures at sea-level tend to be similar around the country, with altitudes creating steep changes between summer and winter. Winters are long and severe in the Alps, with snow falling as early as mid-September. Storms develop in spring and tend to last to autumn, making summer the wettest season. The northern regions experience chilly winters, hot summers and regular even rain distribution, while conditions become milder as you head south. The sirocco, the hot and humid African wind that affects regions south of Rome, produces at least a couple of stiflingly hot weeks in summer.