Springtime is a very popular time to visit Rome and the Vatican City. And for good reason. The weather is warmer. The gardens and parks are in bloom, with huge pots of azaleas providing a burst of color on the Spanish Steps. And for the thousands of churches, it is time to celebrate Easter.

Of course, the most popular place to visit during Easter is St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Square (Piazza San Pietro). The Pope presides over several services at the basilica during Holy Week, including morning and evening masses on Holy Thursday, an afternoon vigil on Good Friday, and an evening mass on Holy Saturday. The big event, Easter Sunday mass, is celebrated in St. Peter’s Square, where thousands gather to watch the Pope bless an icon of the risen Christ and hear the Pope’s “Urbi et Orbi” message delivered from the balcony of the papal apartments.

The Pope also travels to other churches in Rome during Easter time to perform holy rites. On Maundy Thursday, the Pope typically delivers the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at St. John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano), the church for the Bishop of Rome – the Pope’s other official title. After St. Peter’s, this is the second-most important basilica in Rome and worth a visit even if you aren’t in town during Easter. (Also in this area is the Scala Santa, purported to be the “holy stairs” that led to the throne of Pontius Pilate. Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, brought these stairs to Rome from Jerusalem in 326 A.D. and Christians have been venerating them ever since.)

The Stations of the Cross Vigil in the Colosseum

Click here if you are unable to see the video above.

Another intriguing site to visit during Easter is the Colosseum, where the Stations of the Cross are held during an evening vigil on Good Friday. The Pope presides over this rite in the arena where many ancient Christians are said to have been “thrown to the lions.” The Colosseum was consecrated as a church in 1749 to commemorate these early persecutions of Christians and stem the pillaging of the structure’s building materials.

Note that seating at the Colosseum on Good Friday and in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday is very limited. Free tickets for these events must be reserved well in advance with your local diocese.

Leading up to Holy Week, there are several other opportunities to see and/or hear a blessing from the Pope, including on Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is also the the typical day on which World Youth Day, a celebration initiated by Pope John Paul II, is held in St. Peter’s Square. The Pope also delivers a blessing to general audiences each Wednesday throughout the year. For more information about applying to participate in a general audience with the Pope, review this information from the Prefecture of the Papal Household.

For more ideas on visiting holy Rome, have a look at the links below. You may also visit the official website of the Vatican for information on the Pope, the Holy See, and liturgical services.

Papal Basilicas of Rome
Santa Maria Maggiore
San Giovanni in Laterano
San Paolo Fuori Le Mura

Additional links of interest
Getting Into the Vatican Museums
Italy’s Most Unusual Religious Relics
Angels and Demons Tourism

Photo © WiltshireYan

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Continuing on the topic of New Year’s resolutions: one of the things that people resolve to do with the arrival of a new year is improve themselves by learning a new skill. Italy holds numerous possibilities for the traveler looking for self-improvement (and not just fitness-wise). So here are a few ideas and tours to get your imaginative juices flowing.

Culinary Travel
I’m going to paraphrase a very famous saying here: “If you give a man an Italian meal, you will feed him for today. Teach a man to cook an Italian meal, and you will feed him for a lifetime.” Indeed, eating your way through Italy is easy. But mastering the art of la cucina italiana is a gift that will keep on giving. I’ve profiled a few cooking schools on this site before, but there are a number of culinary travel packages and food-focused tour companies that you should know about.

Cooking Vacations, with headquarters in Boston, MA, and Positano, has several dozen Italy cooking and travel programs, from a 6-day program in Bologna and Emilia-Romagna (Italy’s culinary hub) to a one-week Kids Cooking Program in Positano (a great way to get the whole family involved). Cooking Vacations has women-only programs, tours that pair cooking with driving a Ferrari around Tuscany (!), and combination art and food tours.

The International Kitchen, which has been featured on The Food Network and CBS News among others, has cooking classes with both top chefs and Italian home cooks; wine-tasting experiences; and culinary walking tours that you can fit into your regular touring itineraries of Rome, Florence, Siena, or almost anywhere you happen to be.  In addition to International Kitchen’s daily a la carte programs, there are cooking vacations to 12 of Italy’s 20 regions, including the Villa d’Este Italian Cooking Holiday (Lombardy), Gourmet Sicily, and All About Umbria, a program that has been mentioned in the New York Times.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Divina Cucina, a cooking school in Florence run by cooking diva Judy Witts Francini. Even though she’s American, Judy is something of a real Renaissance woman, not only running her cooking school but writing her own cookbook and dispensing food advice and tips on her blog Over a Tuscan Stove. Judy offers one-week courses at her kitchen in Certaldo, Tuscany, and daily programs in Florence and Chianti.

Language Schools
Immersing yourself in la bella lingua is also a terrific way to organize your Italian vacation. You could just wing it by trying to speak Italian at every turn. Or, you could take a language class. Just about all the major tourist centers (Rome, Milan, Florence, Chianti, etc.) have schools or classes for tourists eager to learn Italian. So the hard part is choosing where you want to study.

For the serious student, there’s the Istituto Linguistico Mediterraneo, a school with campuses in Pisa and Viareggio and courses ranging from a one-week holiday course to intensive programs geared towards receiving Italian language certification. Centro Puccini, also based in Viareggio (on the Tuscan coast), has short- and long-term courses, including Italian classes for professionals, such as Italian for banking, law, or singing opera.

Less studious travelers may want to try some basic courses that can be easily integrated into an Italy holiday. The Dilit International House in Rome has individual and group programs for university students through the 50+ set. One of the best known schools, with campuses in Rome, as well as Florence, Siena, and Milan, is Scuola Leonardo da Vinci, which also has a blog.

Art Lessons
Combining travel with art or photography lessons is a no brainer, especially when you’re visiting a country as aesthetically pleasing as Italy. Painting, sculpture, ceramics, and photography courses are just a few of the options to engage the right side of your brain.

If you want a more urban experience, there are several programs and workshops to satisfy. The Venice School of Photography, run by British photographer Jonathan Maher, has workshops that concentrate on Creative Seeing in Venice and the Art of Street Photography. In Florence, the Accademia d’Arte has short (2-week) to long (3 year) painting courses and photography workshops. You can also try the Scuola Lorenzo de’ Medici for creative courses as diverse as art restoration and archaeology. If Rome is where you want to be, the Artist Retreat villa in Trastevere offers a handful of art courses for its guests, including painting, photography, and lace-making.

Bucolic settings are often best for getting in the artistic mood. The Abruzzi Mountain Workshop in the village of Anversa will operate eight one-week sessions in 2010, from “Reinventing the Still Life: Painting an Italian Kitchen” to Digital Photography for Artists. Meanwhile, Il Chiostro, a full-service artistic travel company with courses across the country, has jewelry making classes in Lake Garda; clay sculpture (and about a dozen other) classes at its Tuscan Renaissance Center in Chianti; and travel photography program during its Autumn Arts Festival (also in Chianti).  Artist in Italy is another option in Tuscany, where artists-to-be can learn about botanical and landscape painting. Located in a gorgeous old farmhouse halfway between Rome and Florence, Artist in Italy offers several 10-day programs, and looks like a very relaxing setting in which to spend a holiday (which you can see in the video below):

Writing Italy
I don’t even want to get into the many creative writing and travel writing courses that you can take in Italy. Think I’ll save that for another post. Though, writers and film buffs may be interested to know that from from August 12-25, 2010, you can attend a screenwriting school in Spoleto (Umbria).

Photos © The International Kitchen, majamaja, Thompson Photography

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Zaha Hadid's MAXXI Museum, Rome

Italy’s modern art museums are often overlooked by the masses, who prefer, not surprisingly, to examine the country’s ancient and Renaissance-era treasures. But with the debut of Rome’s new, Zaha Hadid-designed MAXXI Museum, the capital now has a very high profile exhibition space that is itself a work of art.

New York Times’ The Moment magazine describes the museum, which is dedicated to exhibitions on 21st century art, this way:

[It is a] series of sky-lighted concrete canyons that tilt and swell, swerve like a velodrome and twist into what appears from the exterior to be a monumental hard-shelled calla lily, a pliable mausoleum that seems to play the sobriety of a de Chirico off the cooling, warping effects of a work by Anish Kapoor. Otherworldly in some respects, the museum also resonates with the character of Rome. The MAXXI could easily be a composite sketch of Rome’s contradictory but fluid, theatrical, and sweeping architectural personality — which is not unlike its architect’s.

Such excitement over a new building in the Eternal City made me think that others may wish to know more about some other modern art museums in Italy. Here’s a brief list:

Rome and Lazio
Before the MAXXI, Rome had the National Gallery of Modern Art. This museum is housed in a late 19th century building in the Villa Borghese and features art from Pirandello, De Chirico, Kandinsky, and more. There’s also the MACRO, a museum occupying two reclaimed buildings (and a new wing in 2010) in the Porta Pia neighborhood. It features “some of the most significant expressions characterizing the Italian art scene since the 1960s.” Other places in Rome to see modern art include the PalaExpo in the Quirinale district (which has, by the way, a great cafeteria); the Auditorium Parco della Musica, a music hall and occasional exhibition space in Flaminio which was designed by the celebrated architect Renzo Piano and opened in 2002; and the Giorgio de Chirico House-Museum near Piazza di Spagna.

Elsewhere in Rome’s region of Lazio, check out the town of Anticoli Corrado, located about 40 km northeast of the capital and featuring a trove of artist studios and the Civic Gallery of Modern Art. The best write-up about this little town can be found on the Vagabondo-Italy website.

Venice

A work by Picasso at the Guggenheim, Venice

Venice is on this list for one museum only: the Guggenheim. Located in Peggy Guggenheim’s former palazzo on the Grand Canal, the museum “is the most important museum in Italy for European and American art of the first half of the 20th century.” What does that include? Some of the famous names in Mrs. Guggenheim’s collection include Braque, Duchamp, Modrian, and Giacometti. Ernst, Pollock, and Magritte. Calder, Brancusi, Klee, and Picasso. Just about anyone you can think of from the world of contemporary art is there. The Guggenheim also attracts numerous big-name exhibits. Currently, it is hosting the Masterpieces of Futurism (through Dec. 31, 2009). See my article on Planning a Visit to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection for About.com.

Of course, Venice also is the host city for the Biennale. Despite its name, this celebration of contemporary art is happening almost all of the time. This year (2009), saw the Venice Biennale of Art, Cinema, Theatre, and Music. However, in August 2010, the 12th Biennale for Architecture will kick off in the Lion City.

Tuttomondo by Keith Haring

Florence and Tuscany
Finding modern art in Renaissance-heavy Tuscany is a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack. But modern art is there. In Florence, try the Marino Marini museum, which features the Italian artist’s works, including numerous sculptures of horses. Also, what could be more modern than fashion? Even if you can’t afford to shop until you drop, you can enjoy looking back – and forward – at the styles created by Florentine Salvatore Ferragamo in the Museo Ferragamo. (As of this writing, the Museo Ferragamo is sponsoring a shoe design contest for artists. Deadline Dec. 10, 2009!)

There are several more opportunities in Tuscany to enjoy modern art. Just north of Florence, in the city of Prato, is the Luigi Pecci Contemporary Art Museum. It features mid- to late-20C art, including photography, from Italian and international artists. If you’re in Pisa, you can savor some pop art with Keith Haring’s Tuttomondo mural. It’s one of the last works ever created by the American artist. Two more outdoor modern art spaces in Tuscany are gardens. In Chianti, check out the Chianti Sculpture Park, whose name says it all, and the Tarot Garden (Il Giardino dei Tarocchi), an unusual project of sculptures based on tarot cards that was the vision of artist Niki de Saint Phalle. The Tarot Garden is located in Capalbio in the province of Grosseto.

Torino (Turin)

Torino's Mole Antonelliana

Our final stop on this modern art tour of Italy is in Torino (Turin), whose skyline is a work of contemporary art. The spire of the Mole Antonelliana, gives Torino its distinctive look and today houses Italy’s National Museum of Cinema (Museo Nazionale del Cinema). The moving image is, to some, the ultimate in contemporary art, and the MNC contains a vast collection of archival film footage, books and magazines about film, scripts, costumes, and a cinema. Among the masterpieces in the collection are an 18C movie camera (the first?), Peter O’Toole’s costume from Lawrence of Arabia, an original poster from the Rita Hayworth classic Gilda, storyboards from Star Wars, and a script of the Italian dialogues from the 1933 version of King Kong.

While Venice has the Biennale, Torino has the Torino Triennale Tremusei, a triennial exhibition of emerging artists at three of Torino’s contemporary art spaces: the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, the Castello di Rivoli, and the Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, also known as the GAM. The last Triennale in Torino was in 2008 (the 2nd incarnation). So, if my calendar and math serve me right, T3 will take place in 2011. Stay tuned.

I know I’ve missed a ton of other fine contemporary art museums in Italy. So if you have suggestions for what else should be on this list, please add your comments below.

Photos by MAXXI, Guggenheim, Comune di Pisa, Comune di Torino

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Examining the ampoule of San Gennaro's blood

No matter if you’re a devout Catholic or a curious non-believer, you should make a point to check out a few of Italy’s many religious relics. More than 2,000 years of Christianity has produced numerous fascinating, if not gruesome, stories. And it seems that for every Biblical tale, there is a relic housed in Rome, the Vatican, or in one of Italy’s thousands of churches. Here are a few unusual relics that you can put on your next Italy itinerary.

The Shroud of Turin
This is perhaps Italy’s most famous relic, housed in the Cathedral of Turin (Duomo di Torino) in the Piemonte region. The Shroud is a linen cloth that bears “the image of a man who appears to have been physically hurt in a manner consistent with crucifixion,” according to Wikipedia. In short, the image on the Shroud bears a striking resemblance to the collectively agreed upon image of Jesus Christ and is thought to be Christ’s burial shroud – thus, the relic’s significance among Christians.

As with all religious relics, the Shroud’s authenticity has been doubted. Even the Catholic Church has yet to formally endorse the Shroud. And a recent scientific study confirms the shroud as a relic of the Middle Ages (i.e., NOT 2,000 years old). Nevertheless, this sacred relic (called Santa Sindone in Italian) is well-protected by the Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud.

Because of the Shroud’s delicate nature, it is not always on display. However, in 2010, Turin will host an exhibition for the Shroud. From April 10 to May 23, 2010, the Shroud of Turin will be on exhibit for thousands of visiting pilgrims. As of this writing, online tickets have yet to go on sale. So check back with the Torino Tourism website for more information.

The Blood of San Gennaro
It’s hardly surprising that a hot-blooded place like Naples would have a relic made of blood (see main photo above). Each year, the city of Naples awaits the liquefaction of the blood of Saint Januarius (San Gennaro), which is stored in an ampoule in a reliquary in the Naples Cathedral. An early saint of the church, having been beheaded during Emperor Diocletian’s anti-Christian raids in the 4th century, San Gennaro is the patron saint of Naples. The liquefying of his blood, which can happen up to 18 times per year, is thought to signify a miracle and helps protect Naples from calamities, such as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Michelle Fabio explains more about the Feast of San Gennaro for Italy Magazine. She has also posted a link to the video of the Procession of San Gennaro, which you can watch below:

The Holy Foreskin (Currently Missing)
David Farley’s book An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church’s Strangest Relic in Italy’s Oddest Town was one of the inspirations for this post. In his book, Farley writes about the town of Calcata, located in the region of Lazio (Rome’s region), where the Holy Foreskin – yes, the skin from Jesus Christ’s circumcised penis – was kept for centuries until its disappearance in 1983. Farley has devoted himself to this subject, so you’d do well to read his book to learn about the relic and Calcata, which is known as a “village of freaks.” But here’s an interesting tidbit: apparently Saint Catherine of Siena wore the Holy Foreskin as a ring. Now that’s some devotion.

Mary’s Holy Belt
The Virgin Mary didn’t leave behind a piece of her body for future Christians to revere. But she did leave behind a belt. The story goes that Mary gave this sacred accessory to Apostle Thomas as she ascended to heaven. The Prato Cathedral acquired the relic in the 14C and has kept it in a precious silver reliquary ever since. In fact, a special chapel was built to house the relic and the church also commissioned artists Michelozzo and Donatello to build an exterior pulpit, from which the relic is ceremoniously displayed to crowds below.

Unlike the Shroud of Turin, the Sacra Cintola is made of a more durable material – green wool – so the church readily displays it five times a year: Christmas, Easter, May 1, August 15, and September 8. Prato is located in Tuscany, just north of Florence, so it is hardly off the beaten track should you wish to visit.

Relics in Rome
Being the center of the Christian universe, Rome has, perhaps, the most holy relics per square mile of any other city in Italy. And here you will find some wonderfully odd ones, including Saint John’s severed head in the church of San Silvestro in Capite (also the National Church of Great Britain in Rome); the “doubting finger” of Saint Thomas (in Santa Croce in Gerusalemme); papal innards in the church of SS. Vincenzo e Anastasio near the Trevi Fountain; the Santo Bambino in Santa Maria Aracoeli; and “evidence” of souls trapped in purgatory at the Museo delle Anime del Purgatorio (nicely explained by Jessica at WhyGo Italy).

I’m sure I’ve missed a ton of unusual relics in Italy. So, what’s your favorite?

Photos (top to bottom): sangennarofeast.org,Torino Turismo, Gwilbor.

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Beffi Triptych from Abruzzo

In the wake of Abruzzo’s devastating earthquake of April 2009, many companies and countries have pulled together to aid the tremor-stricken region. The other day, while visiting the National Gallery in Washington, DC, I learned that this aid has been extended to the art world.

Since June 15, 2009, the National Gallery’s grand rotunda has been the home of the Beffi Triptych, a treasure from the National Museum of Abruzzo. The work is on loan “in gratitude to the United States for being among the first to offer assistance to the region after the earthquake and as testimony to the Italian commitment to restore fully the cultural heritage of the region.”

The triptych is quite a beautiful site, and I’m delighted that people in the U.S. are able to see this masterpiece on such an exclusive stage. However, I should also point out that while much of Abruzzo’s art has found a home, some tent cities still exist outside of L’Aquila. Let’s hope the Italian government – or another generous entity – is able to provide these people shelter before the cold really sets in.

Photo from the National Gallery website

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As part of the 53rd Venice Biennale, there is an online video-making competition aimed “at young people from around the world aged between 18 and 26 years of age for video-works made using mobile phones.” To enter Pocket Film Prize: I Make My World,” participants must submit a video of any genre no longer than 1 minute in length and pay a €5 entry fee. Uploads will be accepted until September 30, and prizes will be awarded on October 30.

If you’re a young videographer between 18-26, this is your chance to make history and have your video featured on La Biennale Channel, the video website for the Venice Biennale. Additional details about the competition are available here.

Photo by Fensterbme

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Here is a sampling of exhibits beginning or ending this fall in Italy. For a longer list, check out Ansa, the Italian news service, or visit our tourism boards page and click on the area you are interested in.

BOLZANO – Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige: Iceman joined by more than 60 mummies from Ancient Egypt, Asia, South America and Oceania; until October 25.

FLORENCE

-Medici Chapels: show on life and times of Ferdinand I de’ Medici, powerful third grand duke of Tuscany (1549-1609), marking 400th anniversary of his death; until November 1.

-Palazzo Strozzi: Galileo show marking 400th anniversary of his first observations of the night sky; 250 exhibits including the middle finger from Galileo’s right hand; until August 30.

MARSALA – Convento del Carmine: Monochrome; 70 works from post-war Italy to the 1970s by artists including Alberto Burri, Lucio Fontana and Mimmo Rotella; until October 18.

MILAN

Palazzo Reale: 250 paintings from influential 19th-century Scapigliatura movement; until November 22.

- same venue: Robert Wilson’s ‘Voom Portraits’, celebrities like Mikhail Baryshnikov, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey, Salma Hayek, Isabelle Huppert, Jeanne Moreau, Brad Pitt and Princess Caroline of Monaco; but also ordinary people and animals; until October 4.

- same venue: 20 Monet water lily works from Musee’ Marmottan in Paris; until September 27.

- same venue: 36 years of cartoons by political satirist Giorgio Forattini; until September 27.

ROME

- Palazzo Venezia: The Mind of Leonardo, The Universal Genius at Work; acclaimed exhibit already seen at Uffizi and in Tokyo; until August 30. HURRY!

- Palazzo delle Esposizioni: Bulgari, Between Eternity and History, 1884-2009; 125 Years of Italian Jewels; the first retrospective in the brand’s history, featuring 400 pieces; until September 13. HURRY!

VENICE – Biennale: 53th and biggest-ever edition of world’s oldest arts festival; 90 artists at 77 national pavilions, including Joan Jonas, Lygia Pape, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Xu Tan, Thomas Saraceno, Nikhil Chopra and Anawana Haloba; until November 22.

Photo from the Venice Biennale website

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According to About.com, the Vatican Museums are going to be open late to visitors on July 24.

Visitors will be admitted from 7 pm until 9:30 pm with the museums closing at 11 pm and booking is required, according to Cultural Italy (tickets can be reserved through their site for a fee).

Sounds like a great way to spend a summer evening in Rome!

Photo by Malouette

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Today begins Culture Week throughout all of Italy. Through April 26,  state-run museums will be open for free and many will be extending hours. Tons of special events and exhibitions are part of Culture Week. To see what’s on, visit the Italian Culture Ministry’s website.

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Staying on the subject of food today, here is a wonderfully comprehensive guide to cooking schools throughout Italy (not just Tuscany) for anyone thinking of taking a culinary vacation. Thanks for all your research, Jessica!

Cooking Schools in Italy | Italy Travel Guide.

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