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The Italy portal | ||||||
Italy, officially theItalian Republic, is a country inSouthern andWestern Europe. It consists ofa peninsula that extends into theMediterranean Sea, with theAlps on its northern land border, as well asnearly 800 islands, notablySicily andSardinia. Italy shares land borders withFrance to the west;Switzerland andAustria to the north;Slovenia to the east; and the twoenclaves ofVatican City andSan Marino. It is thetenth-largest country in Europe by area, covering 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi), and the third-most populousmember state of the European Union, with nearly 59 million inhabitants. Italy's capital andlargest city isRome; other major cities includeMilan,Naples,Turin,Palermo,Bologna,Florence,Genoa, andVenice.
Thehistory of Italy goes back to numerousItalic peoples, notably including theancient Romans, who conquered the Mediterranean world during theRoman Republic and ruled it for centuries during theRoman Empire. With the spread of Christianity, Rome became the seat of theCatholic Church and thePapacy.Barbarian invasions and other factors led to the decline andfall of the Western Roman Empire betweenlate antiquity and theEarly Middle Ages. By the 11th century,Italian city-states andmaritime republics expanded, bringing renewed prosperity through commerce and laying the groundwork for modern capitalism. TheItalian Renaissance flourished during the 15th and 16th centuries andspread to the rest of Europe. Italian explorers discovered new routes to the Far East and theNew World, contributing significantly to theAge of Discovery. (Full article...)

ThePalazzo Pitti (Italian:[paˈlattsoˈpitti]), in English sometimes called thePitti Palace, is a vast, mainlyRenaissance, palace inFlorence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the RiverArno, a short distance from thePonte Vecchio. The core of the presentpalazzo dates from 1458 and was originally the town residence ofLuca Pitti, an ambitious Florentine banker.
The palace was bought by theMedici family in 1549 and became the chief residence of the ruling family of theGrand Duchy of Tuscany. It grew as a great treasure house, for generations amassing paintings, plates, jewelry and luxurious possessions. The Medici also added the extensiveBoboli Gardens to the palace estate. (Full article...)
Italian cuisine is aMediterranean cuisine consisting of the ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed inItaly sinceRoman times, and later spread around the world together with waves ofItalian diaspora. Significant changesoccurred with the colonization of the Americas and the consequent introduction of potatoes, tomatoes,capsicums, andmaize, as well assugar beet—the latter introduced in quantity in the 18th century. Italian cuisine is one of the best-known and most widely appreciated worldwide. In 2025, Italian cuisine was listed asintangible cultural heritage byUNESCO.
The cuisine includes deeply rooted traditions common throughout the country, as well as various diverseregional gastronomies, which are in continuous exchange. Many dishes that were once regional have proliferated with variations throughout the country. Italian cuisine is one of the most popular and copied around the world. Italian cuisine has left a significant influence on several other cuisines around the world, particularly inEast Africa, such asItalian Eritrean cuisine, and in the United States in the form ofItalian-American cuisine. (Full article...)
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