Italy Panorama

Santa Casa in Loreto, Marche is a jewel just off the A14 south of Ancona.

What is an agriturismo?
If rolling hills, silent nights, and starry skies are your idea of the perfect vacation location, then an agriturismo is the place for you.  While “agriturismo” means farm-stay, it doesn’t mean you have to work the fields or slave for your supper.  It means you get to stay in bed-and-breakfast accommodations on [...]

Basilicata
Rocco Gallicchio is a soft-spoken man.  His eyes flit embarrassedly when paid a compliment and his hands seem to have permanently taken on the dusty-white hue of the clay that they are immersed in daily.
Rocco is the remaining artisan of ceramics in a town once brimming with them.  He ardently carries on, hoping to revive [...]

If there is anything hotter than Calabria in July and August … it is Diamante in September. Every September the Accademia Italiana del Peperoncino holds its annual Festa del Peperoncino, a five-day event featuring, you guessed it, chili peppers.

This year’s event is scheduled for September 8-12, 2010 and as always will center on art, culture [...]

Palio delle Botti
While the famous Palio race of Siena pits neighborhoods against each other on horses, the Palio delle Botti in Corropoli (Abruzzo) gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, “roll out the barrel”.
A village tradition since the 1450s, the ten contrade (neighborhoods) roll out their strongest competitors to push a 150-pound barrel through [...]

Offida in Marche is famous for lace and wine, but they also have a sweet treat you find once a year.

Acerenza is a pretty place. Set up on a massif high at the end of a squiggly road, its position above the Bradano River has been enviable and strategic since before the Roman age. Like many towns in this area, it was the Middle Ages that left the most lasting features on Acerenza, endowing it [...]

Sweet describes not only the famous confetti candy of Sulmona but the town itself.

Long before there was Rome, large parts of southern Italy were part of Magna Grecia.

Cherrye Moore shares the fiery flavors of southern Italy’s Calabria region