(ANSA) - Treviso, May 2 - Born under the late Roman Empire
to defend the Via Claudia Augusta, Castelbrando is an imposing,
newly restored early medieval fortress perched on a rocky
promontory overlooking the undulating hills, vineyards, church
towers and cypresses of the Valmareno valley, the birthplace of
Prosecco wine.
(ANSA) - Bormio, April 30 - Rain and snowfall expected at
high altitudes in the western Italian Alps have caused an
increased risk of landslides, Lombardy's environmental
monitoring agency Arpa said on Monday.
Arpa warned winter sports fans that late season storms
throughout Europe have deposited snow as spring temperatures
begin to rise and advise caution for those taking part in
mountain-bound activities.
(ANSA) - Naples, April 27 - NTV, a new high-speed rail
company that promises to compete with the Italian FS state
railway monopoly, will have its maiden voyage on Saturday, CEO
Giuseppe Sciarrone said on Friday.
Its first Naples-Rome public run will clock in at one hour
and five minutes, but by 2013 take less than one hour, Sciarrone
said.
The state railway currently times in at one hour and ten
minutes.
The group's objective is to shorten the Naples-Rome
commute, uniting the two hubs into "one big city," added
Sciarrone.
(ANSA) - Rome, April 25 - Despite recently passed municipal
bans, costumed gladiators took advantage of distractions caused
by the April 25th Liberation Day holiday and infiltrated the
square around Rome's Colosseum on Wednesday before being removed
by police.
In March, a city task force was launched to keep the
impersonators in leather tunics and armour who take pictures
with tourists for a fee away from the capital's world-famous
monument.
(ANSA) - Roma, April 23 - Italians will be vacationing
closer to home this summer and will be 7-10% fewer than last
year, said the Italian tourism association Trademark on Monday.
An estimated 36 million travellers, slightly less than
2011's summer vacationers, will take shorter holidays and less
than half of those will leave the country.
(ANSA) - Rome, April 20 - An Italian expert said on Friday
that she had identified a sculpture in Cairo's Egyptian Museum
as depicting the twin children of Cleopatra and Mark Antony.
Egyptologist Giuseppina Capriotti of the Italian National
Research Council (CNR) said that an approximately one-metre-high
sculpture of a boy and girl embracing is of is the ancient
lovers' offspring, Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene II.
(ANSA) - Rome, April 19 - Qatari emir Hamad Bin Khalifa
Al-Thani has sealed a deal for the acquisition of luxury
properties on Sardinia's Costa Smeralda, ANSA sources said on
Thursday.
Qatar Holding, the Gulf country's 46-billion-euro sovereign
wealth fund, now reportedly holds over 51% of the indebted
Smeralda Holding, which manages five-star hotels, the majority
of the yacht marina, the famed Porto Cervo villa, the Pevero
Golf Club and 2,400 hectares of seafront land.
The properties were built in the 1960s by the hugely
wealthy businessman Aga Khan.
(ANSA) - Naples, October 21 - A young woman was killed
Friday when her car was swept away in a mudslide, the second
life claimed in torrential downpours across central and southern
Italy.
The 23-year-old and a friend were driving in an area around
Mount Vesuvius when a river of mud and debris consumed their
vehicle. The friend apparently survived by clutching a street
light.
Heavy storms wreaked havoc in Rome Thursday, drowning a
32-year-old man from Sri Lanka in his underground apartment.
(ANSA) - Genoa, October 7 - Italian divers on Friday located
in the waters off Genoa the wreck of a luxury British
transatlantic liner sunk by a German submarine during the First
World War when it was being used by the Royal Navy as a troop
ship.
The wreck of SS Transylvania, split in two and pointing
upwards, was found on the Ligurian coast at a depth of 630
metres near the island of Bergegi.
"This is an extraordinary find," the divers said.
It was located after local fishermen complained of losing
hooks in the area, they said.
(ANSA) - Rome, October 4 - Special events will be banned at
Rome's iconic tourist attractions Piazza Navona and the Trevi
Fountain until the end of the year because of a rash of recent
attacks by vandals.
Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno released a statement on Tuesday
saying the decision was taken "to protect the public assets of
the city of Rome and in particular the artistic and monumental
heritage of the historic centre as recognised by UNESCO's world
heritage status".
(ANSA) - Rome, September 21 - Tourism boomed in Italy during
the first six months of the year, Tourism Minister Maria
Victoria Brambilla said Wednesday.
The number of foreign visitors rose by 6.6%, she said.
Some 24.5 million Italians went on holiday in Italy in the
three summer months - June, July and August - while so-called
green tourism surged with an 11% rise in July and a 13% leap in
August, a visibly pleased Brambilla told a media conference.
''The growth and development goal for tourism (this year)
has already been met," she said.
(ANSA) - Naples, September 19 - The Miracle of San
Gennaro was repeated on Monday when the blood of Naples' patron
saint liquefied at 9.30am.
The event was announced to the thousands packing the city's
cathedral and square outside, who cheered and let off
firecrackers.
A visibly moved Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the Archbishop
of Naples, held up a phial containing the blood of the
3rd-century saint while a traditional white handkerchief was
waved.
(ANSA) - Rome, September 16 - The Minneapolis Institute of
Arts (MIA) has agreed to return to Italy a 5th-century BC Greek
wine-mixing vase as part of a significant programme of
restitution and swaps between the US and Italy.
The bowl, or 'krater', is believed to have come from an
archaeological site at Rutigliano near Bari.
Italian Culture Minister Giancarlo Galan thanked the MIA,
saying "this success has been made possible by the fact that
Italy decided to go the diplomatic route".
(ANSA) - Rome, September 14 - Italy's tourism industry
received a boost in August as hotels recorded a spike in
visitors in the holiday season.
Federalberghi, the association which represents 34,000
hotels from budget to luxury accommodation, said there was a
3.5% increase in visitor hotel stays in the month of August.
While the number of Italians rose only 0.6%, there was an
8.4% rise in the number of foreigners staying at Italian hotels
in August, the organisation said.
