What’s On in Italy: March

It’s time again for the rundown of the upcoming month’s events. March is unofficially the beginning of the tourist season in Italy, as the weather warms up and Easter festivities get underway.

Photography Exhibitions for Pilgrims, Rome. Rome’s March agenda is packed, though two photography exhibits seems quite interesting. At the Museo di Roma Palazzo Braschi is the San Pietro from 1850 to today, which features approximately 90 photographs of the basilica. We’re not sure if the exhibit merits the €9 admission price tag (especially since visiting the real thing is free), but for those tourists who are in Rome for Easter, this may be a unique way to learn more about Catholicism’s mother church. The exhibition runs through March 30. Another noteworthy photography show taking place in Vatican City’s Il Braccio di Carlo Magno museum is Roma-Santiago/Santiago-Roma. Itineraries, signs, and memories of Europe as a pilgrimage site. As the name implies, this show focuses on Europe’s major pilgrimage sites of Rome and Santiago de Compostela in Spain with photographs depicting landscapes, buildings, bridges, and other infrastructures that have enhanced the pilgrim experience. The Roma-Santiago exhibition runs from March 13 to April 13.

Easter Programs in Assisi. It’s hard to speak of Catholic pilgrimages without speaking of Assisi, the holy town made famous by St. Francis and his namesake church. Now through Good Friday (March 21), Assisi will be hosting Holy Vespers every Friday in the lower basilica of St. Francis. To see the entire calendar of Lenten activities in and around Assisi, visit assisionline.com.

Pintoricchio in Umbria. If you’re in Assisi for Easter, you may as well take some other day trips around the region to Pintoricchio exhibition taking place at the Museo Nazionale dell’Umbria in Perugia and other small towns throughout Umbria. Though the Perugia-born artist left his mark in the Vatican’s papal apartments and in Rome’s Santa Maria del Popolo church, this is the first major retrospective of the work he did throughout Umbria. No need to rush, however - the exhibit goes through June 29th.

There are a ton of other programs happening in Italy in March, including the start of the classical music extravaganza Bologna Festival (March 11th); jazz music at the Veneto Jazz Winter Festival; a Titian exhibit at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice; and a Good Friday “Procession of Mysteries” in Trapani, Sicily. For some more ideas, check out the event calendar at the Italy Tourist Board’s website.