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The culture of Italy can be found in the Roman ruins remaining in much of the country, the precepts of the Roman Catholic Church, the spirit of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, the architecture. It can also be tasted in Italy's food. For other uses, see Culture (disambiguation). ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... For the architectural structure, see Church (building). ... This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ... The Age of Enlightenment (French: ; Italian: ; German: ; Spanish: ; Swedish: ) was an eighteenth-century movement in Western philosophy. ... This article is about building architecture. ... Italian cuisine is characterized by its flexibility, its range of ingredients and its many regional variations. ...

Education

Main article: Education in Italy

Italy has a countrywide educational system, with a five-year primary stage and an eight-year secondary stage, divided into first-grade secondary school and second-grade secondary school (or high school Educational oversight Ministro dellistruzione Ministro delleducazione Ministero delluniversità e ricerca Ministero della pubblica istruzione Paolo Ferrero Luigi Fioroni National education budget 66 millions (euro) (2005) Primary languages Italian Public system Compulsory primary education 1859 Literacy (2005)  â€¢ Men  â€¢ Women 98,5%% 98,5%% 98,5%% Enrollment  â€¢ Primary  â€¢ Secondary... A primary school in ÄŒeský Těšín, Czech Republic. ... Secondary school is a term used to describe an institution where the final stage of compulsory schooling, known as secondary education, takes place. ... For other uses, see High school (disambiguation). ...

Literature

Main article: Italian literature

Italian literature began after the founding of Rome in 753 B.C. Italian literature is literature written in the Italian language, particularly by citizens of Italy. ...

Religion

Main article: Religion in Italy

Roman Catholicism is the major religion of Italy. 95% of native-born citizens are nominally Catholic. There are mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim community, the latter made up primarily of new immigrants. All religious faiths are provided equal freedom by the constitution. Before the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the state, in the fourth century, the country was officially pagan and worshipped the Roman gods, although there was great religious tolerance. As Edward Gibbon said in his The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, "The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful."^[1] hbgi3rbtgirebt khoihwefjioeghijh tyhidss is dsoso gay italy sox shittwrtoeiuhdgouerghiroeghergjnbjhhhhhhhhjhbgi3rbtgirebt khoihwefjioeghijh tyhidss is dsoso gay italy sox shittwrtoeiuhdgouerghiroeghergjnbjhhhhhhhhjhbgi3rbtgirebt khoihwefjioeghijh tyhidss is dsoso gay italy sox shittwrtoeiuhdgouerghiroeghergjnbjhhhhhhhhjhbgi3rbtgirebt khoihwefjioeghijh tyhidss is dsoso gay italy sox shittwrtoeiuhdgouerghiroeghergjnbjhhhhhhhhjhbgi3rbtgirebt khoihwefjioeghijh tyhidss is dsoso gay italy sox shittwrtoeiuhdgouerghiroeghergjnbjhhhhhhhhjhbgi3rbtgirebt khoihwefjioeghijh tyhidss is dsoso gay italy sox shittwrtoeiuhdgouerghiroeghergjnbjhhhhhhhhjhbgi3rbtgirebt khoihwefjioeghijh... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Roman mythology can be considered as two parts. ... Edward Gibbon (1737–1794). ... Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) // This is an outline of the six-volume work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, authored by the celebrated English historian Edward Gibbon (1737-1794). ...

The adoption of Christianity by Constantine in the fourth century led to its becoming the majority religion of the Roman Empire and Italy. The head of the Roman Catholic church, the bishop of Rome, known as the pope, resides in Vatican City, a part of Rome. For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Pope (disambiguation). ...

Islam, though historically present in Sicily during the Arab occupation in the Middle Ages, was almost entirely absent in Italy from the time of that country's unification in 1861, until the 1970s, when the first North African immigrants began to arrive. These North Africans, mostly of Berber or Arab origin, came mainly from heavily Islamic Morocco, though they have been followed in more recent years by Tunisians, Albanians and to a lesser extent, Libyans, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Middle Eastern Arabs, and Kurds. For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... Italian Unification (Italian: il Risorgimento, or The Resurgence) was the political and social movement that unified different states of the Italian peninsula into the single nation of Italy. ... The Great Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya or Libya (Arabic: ليبيا) is a country in North Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, located between Egypt on the east, Sudan on the southeast, Chad and Niger on the south and Algeria and Tunisia to the west. ... Population Data Demographics of Pakistan, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands. ... Kurds are one of the Iranian peoples and speak Kurdish, a north-Western Iranian language related to Persian. ...

Visual art

Main article: Art of Italy

Italian art describes the visual arts in Italy from ancient times to the present. In Ancient Rome, Italy was a centre for art and architecture. There were many Italian artists during the Gothic and Medieval periods, and the arts flourished during the Italian Renaissance. Later styles in Italy included Mannerism, Baroque and Rococo. Futurism developed in Italy in the 20th century. Florence is a well known city in Italy for its museums of art. The Sistine Chapel ceiling in Rome painted by Michelangelo, one of the most famous examples of Italian art Italian art describes the visual arts in Italy from ancient times to the present. ... The Mona Lisa is one of the most recognizable artistic paintings in the Western world. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... The Western (Royal) Portal at Chartres Cathedral ( 1145). ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 14th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe. ... In Parmigianinos Madonna with the Long Neck (1534-40), Mannerism makes itself known by elongated proportions, affected poses, and unclear perspective. ... For other uses, see Baroque (disambiguation). ... A style of 18th century French art and interior design, Rococo style rooms were designed as total works of art with elegant and ornate furniture, small sculptures, ornamental mirrors, and tapestry complementing architecture, reliefs, and wall paintings. ... Futurism was a 20th century art movement. ...

Cinema and theatre

Main article: Cinema of Italy

The history of Italian cinema began a few months after the Lumière brothers began motion picture exhibition. The first Italian film was a few seconds long, showing Pope Leo XIII giving a blessing to the camera. The Italian film industry was born between 1903 and 1908 with three companies: the Roman Cines, the Ambrosio of Turin and the Itala Film. Other companies soon followed in Milan and in Naples. In a short time these first companies reached a fair producing quality and films were soon sold outside Italy too. The cinema was later used by Mussolini as a form of propaganda during World War II. The history of Italian cinema began just a few months after the Lumière brothers had discovered the medium, when Pope Leo XIII was filmed for a few seconds in the act of blessing the camera. ... Auguste (left) and Louis Lumière. ... Type Anti-tank Nationality Joint France/Germany Era Cold War, modern Launch platform Individual, Vehicle Target Vehicle, Fortification History Builder MBDA, Bharat Dynamics (under license) Date of design 70s Production period since 1972 Service duration since 1972 Operators 41 countries Variants MILAN 1, MILAN 2, MILAN 2T, MILAN 3, MILAN... Location of the city of Naples (red dot) within Italy. ... Benito Mussolini created a fascist state through the use of propaganda, total control of the media and disassembly of the working democratic government. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

After the war, Italian film was widely recognised and exported until an artistic decline around 1980. World-famous Italian film directors from this period include Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Michelangelo Antonioni and Dario Argento. Movies include world cinema treasures such as La dolce vita, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo and Ladri di biciclette. The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... Vittorio De Sica (July 7, 1902–November 13, 1974) was an Italian neorealist director and actor. ... Federico Fellini (January 20, 1920 – October 31, 1993) was one of the most influential and widely revered film-makers of the 20th century. ... Sergio Leone (January 3, 1929 – April 30, 1989) was an Italian film director. ... Pier Paolo Pasolini (March 5, 1922 – November 2, 1975) was an Italian poet, intellectual, film director, and writer. ... Michelangelo Antonioni (September 29, 1912 - July 30, 2007) was an Italian modernist film director whose films are widely considered as some of the most influential in film aesthetics. ... Dario Argento (born September 7, 1940) is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. ... Dolce Vita redirects here. ... The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo) is a 1966 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood (the Good), Lee van Cleef (the Bad), and Eli Wallach (the Ugly). ... Ladri di biciclette (literally translated as Bicycle Thieves) is a 1948 Italian neorealist film known in its US English release as The Bicycle Thief. ...

In recent years, the Italian scene has received only occasional international attention, with movies like La vita è bella directed by Roberto Benigni and Il postino with Massimo Troisi. Life Is Beautiful (originally La Vita è bella) is a 1997 Italian language film which tells the story of an Italian Jew, Guido Orefice (played by Roberto Benigni), who lives in a romantic fairy tale, but must learn how to use that dreamy quality to survive a concentration camp with his... Roberto Remigio Benigni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI[1] (born October 27, 1952) is an Academy Award-winning Italian film and television actor, writer and director. ... Movie poster for Il Postino Il Postino is a 1994 Italian language film directed by Michael Radford which tells the story of real-life Chilean poet Pablo Neruda and his relationship with a simple postman who learns to love poetry. ... Massimo Troisi. ...

Italian theatre can be traced back into the Roman which was heavily influenced by the Greek tradition, and, as with many other literary genres, Roman dramatists tended to adapt and translate from the Greek. For example, Seneca's Phaedra was based on that of Euripides, and many of the comedies of Plautus were direct translations of works by Menander. During the 16th century and on into the 18th century Commedia dell'arte was a form of improvisational theatre, although it is still performed today. Travelling teams of players would set up an outdoor stage and provide amusement in the form of juggling,acrobatics, and, more typically, humorous plays based on a repertoire of established characters with a rough storyline, called Canovaccio A statue of Euripides. ... Comedy is the use of humour in the performing arts. ... Titus Macchius Plautus, generally referred to simply as Plautus, was a playwright of Ancient Rome. ... Bust of Menander Menander (342–291 BC) (Greek ), Greek dramatist, the chief representative of the New Comedy, was born in Athens. ... Commedia redirects here. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Juggling is a form of skillful, often artful, object manipulation. ... High wire act Acrobatics (from Greek Akros, high and bat, walking) is one of the performing arts, and is also practiced as a sport. ... This article discusses humour in terms of comedy and laughter. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Canovaccio was mainly used in the Commedia dellArte and consisted of the disposition of acts and scenes: a vague plot, and not much more. ...

For more information see: History of theater and Commedia dell'arte This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Commedia redirects here. ...

Music

Main article: Music of Italy

Main article: Music history of Italy

Music has traditionally been one of the great cultural markers of what it means to be “Italian” and holds an important position in society, in general, and even in politics. The music of Italy range across a broad spectrum, from her renowned opera to modern experimental classical music; and from the traditional music of the many ethnically diverse region to a vast body of popular music drawn from both native and imported source. Historically, musical developments in Italy in the Middle Ages and Renaissance helped create much music that spread throughout Europe. Innovation in the use of musical scales, harmony, notation, as well as experiments in musical theater led directly not just to opera in the late 16th century, but to classical music forms such as the symphony and concerto, and to later developments in popular music. Today, the entire infrastructure that supports music as a profession is extensive in Italy, including conservatories, opera houses, radio and television stations, recording studios, music festivals, and important centers of musicological research. Musical life in Italy remains extremely active. The music of Italy ranges across a broad spectrum of opera and instrumental classical music, the traditional styles of the countrys different regions, and a body of popular music drawn from both native and imported sources. ... The modern state of Italy did not come into being until 1861, though the roots of music on the Italian peninsula can be traced back to the music of Ancient Rome. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ... In music, a scale is a set of musical notes that provides material for part or all of a musical work. ... Harmony is the use and study of pitch simultaneity, and therefore chords, actual or implied, in music. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For album by Prince, see Musicology (album). ...

Fashion

Fashion is another important part of Italian society. Italian designers such as Armani, Prada, Gucci, Versace, and Valentino (just to name a few), are considered to be some of the finest in the world. The city of Milan takes its place amongst the most prestigious and important centers of fashion in the world. This article is about the fashion company. ... Prada, S.p. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into articles entitled Guccio Gucci and Gucci, accessible from a disambiguation page. ... Type Anti-tank Nationality Joint France/Germany Era Cold War, modern Launch platform Individual, Vehicle Target Vehicle, Fortification History Builder MBDA, Bharat Dynamics (under license) Date of design 70s Production period since 1972 Service duration since 1972 Operators 41 countries Variants MILAN 1, MILAN 2, MILAN 2T, MILAN 3, MILAN...

Folklore

It's difficult to individuate an Italian folklore, because of the vast differences between regions. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In Italy, the following are very important in tradition:

• Proverbs and tales
• Works and consuetudes
• Traditional dresses
• Moral values

In 1956, Italo Calvino selected and recorded a collection of folktales in Italian Folktales. Italo Calvino, on the cover of Lezioni americane: Sei proposte per il prossimo millennio Italo Calvino (October 15, 1923 – September 19, 1985) (pronounced ) was an Italian writer and novelist. ... Italian Folktales (Fiabe Italiane) is a collection of 200 Italian folktales published in 1956 by Italo Calvino. ...

References

See also

• Architecture of Italy