Rome Italy Travel: Ancient Roman Forum House of the Vestal Virgins Opens

House of Vestal Virgins Rome Forum

Great news for Rome Italy travelers and for those on a cruise around Italy. After twenty years, Rome has reopened the House of the Vestal Virgins, remains of an ancient Roman palace flanking ruins of the imperial seat of government in the Roman Forum.

The House of the Vestal Virgins, (Atrium Vestae), was the residence of the Vestal Virgins, the high priestesses of the cult of Vesta. The cult of Vesta is dates back to its founder Numa Pompilius (753-673 BC; king of Rome, 715-673 BC) who was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus.  The Vestal Virgins had their residence in the same location from the 6th century BCE to the end of the 4th century CE. It is located on the Forum Romanum, just behind the Temple of Vesta, between the Regia and the Palatine Hill.

Statues of the vestals surround pool in House of Vestal Virgins

Major renovations to the structure were inaugurated with the opening of a new visitors' route through the ruins called Via Nova, which traverses the northwest slope of the Palatine Hill overlooking the Forum and ends at the Atrium Vestae, or ancient palace.

The configuration of Via Nova is believed to date back to urban planning made in the wake of a blaze that razed much of Rome in 64 AD, but may be older.

More than 4,000 meters were refurbished along the route, of which the Atrium Vestae occupies 1,568 square meters. Work focused on restoring the structural stability and integrity of the ruins.

The Atrium Vestae was once a 50-room palace built around an elegant, rectangular garden, decorated with statues and two pools. It housed the priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth, who were entrusted with keeping a flame eternally lit in the Temple of Vesta, located next door.

The high priestess selected six initiates between the ages of six and 10 from Roman patrician families. Physical perfection was an important criteria. The girls took vows of chastity and served the Cult of Vesta for 30 years.

Vestal priestesses were revered, lived in luxury and relative independence, and were free from obligations to marry and rear children. At the end of their 30-year service they could choose whether to marry or remain with the cult.

The renovation and reopening of the House of the Vestal Virgins was conducted as part of a larger program for the rehabilitation of the Roman Forum, funded with 19 million euros from private and public funds, according to Rome councilor Dino Gasperini.

Gasperini called the opening of Via Nova and the House of the Vestal Virgins "a goal that waited too many years."

"It is another place that has been returned to the city and to tourists who come to Rome to admire the archeology," said Culture Undersecretary Francesco Giro.

Visit Italian Tourism website for more about Rome holidays.  Click Rome Cruise 2011 for full listing of cruises around Italy from Rome.  Or, plan an Amalfi Coast holiday and visit Rome as well.  Italian Tourism also has full selection of Italy pre cruise tours and Italy post cruise tours. Whatever your Italy travel plans Italian Tourism has the Italy travel package and Italy tour package for you.

Italy Cruises Top 10 Ports of Call and Italy Cruise Shore Excursions

Italy cruises from Rome and Venice cruise around Italy to the Eastern Mediterranean with ports of call in Athens, Croatia, the Dalmatian Coast, Greek Isles, Turkey and even Egypt and Israel are often on the Eastern Mediterranean Italy cruise Itinerary. Italy cruises also cruise around the Western Mediterranean to France, Spain, Morocco, including ports of call in Barcelona, Valenica, Mallorca, the Italian Riviera , the French Riviera, the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, and North Africa.

When considering a cruise from Rome or a cruise from Venice one should consider the shore excursions that each Italy cruise itinerary offers.  Cruising around Italy to the Eastern and Western Mediterranean is a delight and all the Mediterranean ports on a Italy cruise offer wonderful historic sights, culture and food. And many port cities are on the cutting edge of modern and contemporary design, all of which offers the Italy cruise tour traveler no shortage of history-themed and contemporary -themed shore excursions to choose from when on an Italy cruise.

Western civilization flourished on the shores of the Mediterranean so the ports of call on a Italy cruise are ports that have been welcoming visitors for thousands of years. It is lots of fun to arrive in the various Mediterranean ports because it affords a view of the city just like when the earliest cultures sailed around the Mediterranean trading spices, wine, herbs, and more.

We suggest that before or after an Italy cruise you do either an Italy pre cruise tour or Italy post cruise tour, or if your Italy cruise itinerary is a cruise from Rome to Venice or a cruise from Venice to Rome why not do both an Italy pre cruise tour and Italy post cruise tour in each city.

Below are our favorite ports of call for big ship Italy cruise itinerary. Smaller ships will fit into ports along the Dalmatian Coast, Italian Riviera and French Riviera that big ships will not.

Italy Cruise Top 10 Port of Call - Rome
A Rome pre cruise or Rome post cruise tour may be ranked top of the list of Mediterranean shore excursions. And as such, we suggest two nights or ideally four nights in Rome to get a taste of the eternal city.  There is so much to see and do in Rome that two nights will provide a nice overview and four nights will give you enough time to walk around the city taking in most of the sights. Of course, a lifetime in Rome may not be sufficient time for some Italy travelers but a Rome pre cruise tour or Rome post cruise tour is the next best thing to a lifetime in Rome.  After this Rome pre cruise tour and Rome post cruise tour you may want to plan a Italy vacation in the future. Or if you have time plan to spend a week or more in Rome - you'll never got bored in Rome.

When in Rome we suggest staying around the Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiori area in Rome's centro storico.  In this area you'll have access to Rome's fabulous sights including Piazza Navona, which is the center of Rome's centro storico and a must visit. With fountains by Bernini, caffes surrounding the piazza and some of Rome's most famous streets off of this piazza you will love this area. From Piazza Navona you may stroll less than 5 minutes to visit the Pantheon.  And from the Pantheon and Piazza Navona it is a 5 minute stroll to Campo de' Fiori. This golden triangle of Rome's centro storico is full of action. Around here there are plenty of place ot enjoy an espresso, a gelato, a pizza or a traditional Roman lunch or dinner. For shopping and restaurants a nice street to explore is Via del Governo Vecchio.

For a serene retreat, stroll the 148-acre Villa Borghese gardens, the second-largest public park in Rome. You’ll see sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, well-tended gardens and tranquil lakes. Within the park is the Galleria Borghese, an art museum featuring the works of Bernini, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Tiziano Vecelli (Titian) and Raphael.

Italy Cruise Top 10 Port of Call - Venice

The Republic of Venice was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain and spice trade) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century. This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period. Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi. There is nor shortage of things to do in Venice for a few days during your Italy cruise and you may consider a stay in Venice on a Italy pre cruise tour or Italy post cruise tour.

Italy Cruise Top 10 Port of Call - Naples Italy Italy Cruise Shore Excursion
A Italy cruise to Naples offers so much that if the cruise ship is in Naples for one day you must choose between the sights and natural beauty of the Amalfi Coast and Capri, visiting Pompeii, or exploring the hustle and bustle of Naples.  Regardless of the itinerary you choose you will not be disappointed around Naples, Sorrento and the Amalfui Coast thus we rank it #1 on our list of top Italy cruise shore excursions.

When visiting Naples and Amalfi Coast consider the following shore excursions:

• Naples Archaeology Museum 
• Spaccanapoli and Via Gregoria Armena
• Pompeii
• Capri
• Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast

Naples shore excursion secret tip: visit the ancient mansions in Stabiae for an authentic look at how the ancient Roman plutocrats lived.

Italy Cruise Top 10 Port of Call - Athens, Greece Italy Cruise Shore Excursion

This ancient city can be noisy and full of traffic congestion and provides too much hustle and bustle for some. Escape it all with a pleasing stroll up to the Acropolis, which offers a spectacular view over the city and the Mediterranean. Archaeological remains there include the Parthenon, the Erechtheum and the Temple of Athena Nike.

 Italy Cruise Top 10 Port of Call - Barcelona, Spain Italy Cruise Shore Excursion

The architect Antoni Gaudi left his mark across Barcelona. His most famous work is the enormous yet unfinished church of the Sagrada Família, which has been under construction since 1882. Art lovers can also explore the whimsical Park Güell, a garden complex with architectural elements designed by Gaudi. Check out the multicolored mosaic dragon fountain at the main entrance. He also built Casa Milà, a residential building with an amorphous shape based on an art style called biomorphism. 

Italy Cruise Top 10 Port of Call - Istanbul, Turkey Italy Cruise Shore Excursion

Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural, economic, and financial center of Turkey. It is the largest city in Turkey and 5th largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.8 million, also making it the largest metropolitan city proper in Europe and the second largest metropolitan area in Europe by population. It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbor known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on both the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents. During its long history, Istanbul had previously served as the capital of the Roman Empire (330–c.395), Byzantine Empire (c.395–1204 & 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). Thereafter, the new Republic of Turkey, moved their capital to Ankara during the Turkish War of Independence.

Italy Cruise Top 10 Port of Call - Alexandria, Egypt Italy Cruise Shore Excursion

In ancient times, Alexandria was one of the most famous cities in the world. It was founded around a small pharaonic town c. 331 BC by Alexander the Great. It remained Egypt's capital for nearly a thousand years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 641, when a new capital was founded at Fustat (Fustat was later absorbed into Cairo). Alexandria was known because of its Lighthouse of Alexandria (Pharos), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; its library (the largest library in the ancient world); and the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages. Ongoing maritime archaeology in the harbor of Alexandria, which began in 1994, is revealing details of Alexandria both before the arrival of Alexander, when a city named Rhacotis existed there, and during the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Italy Cruise Top 10 Port of Call - Greek Isles

The Greek Islands are a collection of over 6,000 islands and islets that belong to Greece. Only 227 of the islands are inhabited, and only 78 of those have more than 100 inhabitants.  The largest Greek island by area is Crete, located at the southern edge of the Aegean Sea. The second largest island is Euboea, which is separated from the mainland by the 60m-wide Euripus Strait, and is administered as part of the central Greece periphery. After the third and fourth largest Greek Islands, Lesbos and Rhodes, the rest of the islands are two-thirds of the area of Rhodes, or smaller.


Italy Cruise Top 10 Port of Call - Dubrovnik Croatia














The prosperity of the city of Dubrovnik has always been based on maritime trade. In the Middle Ages, as the Republic of Ragusa, also known as the fifth Maritime Republic (together with Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa and Venice), it became the only eastern Adriatic city-state to rival Venice. Supported by its wealth and skilled diplomacy, the city achieved a remarkable level of development, particularly during the 15th and 16th centuries. Although demilitarised in the 1970s with the intent of forever protecting it from war devastation, in 1991, after the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was besieged by Serb-Montenegrin forces for 7 months and heavily damaged by shelling.

Italy Cruise Top 10 Port of Call - Messina Sicily

Founded by Greek colonists in the 8th century BC, Messina was originally called Zancle, from the Greek meaning "scythe" because of the shape of its natural harbor (though a legend attributes the name to King Zanclus). A comune of its province, located at the southern entrance of the Strait of Messina, is to this day called 'Scaletta Zanclea'. In the early 5th century BC, Anaxilas of Rhegium renamed it Messene in honor of the Greek city Messene. The city was sacked in 397 BC by the Carthaginians and then reconquered by Dionysius I of Syracuse.




Italy Cruise Top 10 Port of Call - Izmir Turkey

The city is one of the oldest settlements of the Mediterranean basin, dating to 7000 B.C.  The Greek settlement in Old Smyrna is attested by the presence of pottery dating from about 1000 BC onwards and the most ancient ruins preserved to our day date back to 725-700 BC.

To find the best Italy travel deals visit Italian Tourism and Italy Cruise.

Thinking of visiting Southern Italy.  Visit Italian Tourism Amalfi Coast vacation packages for the lowest prices on Amalfi Coast holidays.

For more about Italy vacations visit Italian Tourism for authentic Italy travel packages and Italy tour packages. Italian Tourism also offers Italy cruise tours, which includes a cruise from Italy and an Italy tour all in one low price.

For a cruise around Italy be sure to visit ItalyCruise.us for Rome cruise 2011 and Venice cruise 2011.  Italian Tourism Italy pre cruise tours and Italy post cruise tours include Italy port transfers and hotels at greatly reduced rates so you may travel around Italy before or after your Italy cruise.


Italy Cruise guarantees the lowest rate on all cruises from Italy and shore excursions during your Italy cruise.  Italy cruise will always beat or meet the best rates, even beating the prices cruise lines rates if you shop direct. And we offer friendly service by an Italy cruise expert to guide you on a Italy cruise.  So before you buy direct, shop around then contact Italy Cruise for your next cruise from Italy.

Authentic Pesto Sauce - International Day of Italian Cuisine January 17, 2011

Authentic Pesto Sauce from Liguria

Today is the 4th Annual International Day of Italian Cuisine.  To honor the date Genovese pesto was chosen as the official dish of the IDIC 2011, a worldwide celebration of authentic Italian food.

Pesto sauce of Genoa Italy, in the region of Italy is made with 7 ingredients: PDO Genovese basil, garlic, olive oil Riviera Ligure PDO, salt, pine nuts, pecorino and grana padano cheese. Pesto, an oily green sauce beloved by Italian food fans the world over may also soon have its own certification. Italy's Liguria region is seeking a European Union "STG" (Guaranteed Traditional Speciality) mark for pesto meeting strict criteria for genuine, Ligurian ingredients.

The seven ingredients of true pesto are all native to the liguria region.  PDO stands for Protected Designation of Origin, a European certification the Liguria region has already secured for locally produced basil and extra-virgin olive oil.

"With the STG designation we want to protect the seven ingredients of true pesto: PDO Genovese basil, garlic, olive oil Riviera Ligure PDO, salt, pine nuts, pecorino and grana padano cheese," said agricultural councilor Giovanni Barbagallo. "Defending the traditional pesto recipe from imitations is a priority for Liguria."

"We want to unite the name of Liguria with the territory's quality products, like pesto, as a fundamental strategy for tourism development through Ligurian culinary specialties," declared Genoa's tourism councilor Angelo Berlangieri.

The word "pesto" comes from "pestare", or to crush with a pestle and mortar, a reference to the original method for creating the Genovese sauce. Hence pesto is also known as "battuto genovese" or Genovese mince or mash. The pasta condiment was still rare in the days of legendary Genovese explorer Christopher Colombus, but had become well established by the 19th century.

IDIC's Pesto Day is officially sponsored by the Liguria Region, Grana Padano cheese, Genova Pasta and a consortium of olive oil makers, among others.

Over 2,000 participating restaurants in roughly 40 countries will honor real Genovese pesto January 17, and will even see pesto-based Ligurian specialties served on 14 ships of the Italian cruise company Costa Crociere. So get out and visit your local Italian restuarant for authentic pesto. And if you are lucky enough to be cruising with Costa this week, well buon appetito!

For more on authentic Italian food visit WebVisionItaly's Italian Cooking shows, including a video of how to make pesto sauce.

For more about cruises around Italy including Costa cruise itinerary click Italy cruises. To visit Cinque Terre, Genoa and other Ligurian destination click Italian Tourism Italy travel packages for independent Italy travel deals or click Italy tour packages for guided tours of Italy.

Italy Travel Agent Sells More Than Best Italy Tour Packages

While growing up in Providence, Rhode Island, in a family of proud Americans I was
introduced to the Italian culture and Italy from my family, having one great-grandmother from Ischia, a great-grandfather from Roccamonfino, a grandfather from Naples, a grandmother Mimi from Abruzzo, and another grandmother Mina from Rome.

Justin Del Sesto at a Prosciutto di Parma factory

As a child I was given the best of Italian culture, which included waking weekend mornings to an opera filled home with the smell of garlic and onions on the stove ready for the tomatoes wafting through the halls. Our family culture also included learning to play piano and cello with Mina, Mimi teaching me to recite poetry, learning to play baseball and golf from my grandfather who also spoke five languages, going with my dad every Sunday to buy fresh ravioli, meat and freshly baked bread, with one extra loaf to eat on the way home as our little secret, then learning to cook every Sunday afternoon from Mimi, Mina and my Mom before sitting down at the extended dining room table for long and delicious lunches around which I learned about art, literature, poetry, politics and the world.

Ron Del Sesto and Andrea Bocelli

It was on my first Italy tour with my dad, who is also an Italian diplomat, that I knew I wanted to pursue a career in Italy travel. We are not only proud Americans but we are also Italians - dual passport-holding citizens of both the USA and Italy (I am also a resident of Argentina and hold a Mercosur passport).

Prime Minister Romano Prodi & Ron Del Sesto

Arriving in Rome on my first Italy tour 30 years ago I followed my dad around Italy like a little duck.  Our family Italy tour started in Rome, where we strolled slowly through the streets of Rome's centro storico as if we had lived there for a lifetime. Zig-zagging our way through the ancient streets, just when I thought we were lost out came a story for what seemed every ancient cobblestone as we made our way to one hidden sight after the next, the Rome walking tour only pausing along the way when we stopped for an espresso, a new scarf, or a plate of pasta at a Roman trattoria on some tiny street where everyone was a local, and where we would meet family that still lives in Rome for a 3 hour lunch.

Getting Ready for a Tour of Tuscany

 I knew then I wanted to learn the streets, sights and stories as well as he. I knew that I wanted to bring others to Italy to experience a unique authentic insider's view of Italy. From Michelangelo's facade on Palazzo Spada to Borromini's trick hallway inside Palazzo Spada, just off the Campo de' Fiori, to the stories of Via Giulia, to the false dome inside Sant'Ignazio, to Chiesa di San Pietro and Bramante's Tempietto a perfect example of Renaissance Classic revival and High Renaissance architecture in Rome, to Bernini's and the Pope's Rome I wanted to learn the stories and share the stories with others on an Italy tour. 

I returned to Italy dozens of times since that first Rome holiday, experiencing every month and every season

Italian Tourism Cinque Terre Boat Tour

of the year, the smells. skies, and the seasonal menus, enjoying Piazza Navona at Christmas time and in July for the fashion shows, while taking cover from the rain and the sun inside the Pantheon while also seeing how the weather in Rome changes the hole in the center of its dome and learning how it inspired Brunellschi's Florence Duomo, eating lots of Gelato and taking many espresso searching for the best while enjoying the present, always visiting Pasquino on Via del Governo Vecchio for a reminder that politics and leaks are as old as people, insiders, and society. I've visited Cinque Terre in the pouring rain and the blazing sun, which weather paints a unique picture both beautiful in their own way. I knew that since my first tour of Italy Rome was a city I had to return and also would love to share its Italy's inside secrets, its gems, with others. But I also knew that although Rome had enough sights for a lifetime Italy is a country full of destinations to share with other travelers.

Dad doing interview for WebVisionItaly.com

I felt that others traveling to Italy would appreciate the enriched experience with unique local experiences our Italy travel agency would provide. And I felt that including the vast hidden treasures to off the beaten track destinations away from Rome's crowds is something people would value on an Italy tour.  So, we've designed our Italy tours to provide freedom and flexibility because to experience Italy properly it must be done slowly otherwise a traveler will miss the authentic Italian experience. Whether it is a 7 day tour or a 10 day Italy tour or three weeks on a grand Italy tour, Italian Tourism Italy tours are not a sprint through Italy. Our Italy tours are focused on sharing Italy so our travelers experience the sights of Italy and feel la dolce vita.

Planning an Italy vacation is an investment of time and money.  When you plan your Italy vacation or Italy

Justin Del Sesto filming interview for WebVisionItaly.com

cruise with Italian Tourism you have access to a family owned and operated Italy travel agency that will help you maximize your investment and protect your investment in your Italy vacation.  With Italian Tourism you have access to Italy travel agents that know Italy from the inside and know how to plan an Italy tour so that your Italy vacation gives you an authentic unique insider's view of Italy. Italian Tourism will guide you to visit Italy's hidden treasures to off the beaten track destinations away from crowds. You will experience Italy from the inside, taking away an enriched experience with unique local authentic experiences.  That is our promise and that is why when you contact Italian Tourism 305.914.0220 or by email (travel at italiantourism dot us) you are contacting an Italy travel agency that sells more than Italy cruises and Italy tour packages.

Trento Italy Art Travel - Modigliani Scultptures Brought Together in Trento

Trento Italy travelers will be lucky enough to have the opportunity to see the sculptures by Amedeo Modigliani that remain today in museums around the world united by the Trento and Rovereto Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MART) for the first show of its kind since the Italian artist's death in 1920. The exhibit near the northern city of Trento, outside Venice, which runs until March 27, displays about a third of his known sculptural works, featuring loans from museums such as Washington's National Gallery of Art, London's Tate and the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

Modigliani, born in Livorno in 1884 in the Italian port city of Livorno, famous for its canals on Tuscany's coast known by Italy cruise travelers for its Italy cruise port, where Italy cruise shore excursions typically visit Florence and Pisa, is far better known for his portrait paintings, which are identifiable by their mask-like, asymmetrical faces and elongated form. For a brief interval though, from 1911 to 1913, Modigliani dedicated himself entirely to sculpture.

In 1909, Modigliani returned home from Paris to Livorno. Modigliani was sickly and tired from his wild lifestyle. Soon he was back in Paris, this time renting a studio in Montparnasse. He originally saw himself as a sculptor rather than a painter, and was encouraged to continue after Paul Guillaume, an ambitious young art dealer, took an interest in his work and introduced him to sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi.

Although a series of Modigliani's sculptures were exhibited in the Salon d'Automne of 1912, by 1914 he abandoned sculpting and focused solely on his painting, a move precipitated by the difficulty in acquiring sculptural materials due to the outbreak of World War I, and by Modigliani's physical debilitation.

MART museum curators argue his sculptures represent an under-recognized, seminal period of artistic development, when Modigliani evolved beyond the post-impressionism of his early work to the distinct expressionism that characterized his pieces after 1913. The exhibit features a series of elongated stone heads that bear a striking resemblance to archaic, oriental and tribal art in their simple, highly stylized form. The curators, who worked for six years on the exhibit, verified through extensive research that Modigliani completed 28 sculptures, three more than previously ascribed to him. The show also strives to reconstruct Modigliani's life and influences, retracing the marks of critics, collectors and other artists as well as cultural fashions of his time. Drawings, paintings and sculptures place Modigliani's heads in context, such as an early version of Constantin Brancusi's sculpture The Kiss, oriental sculptures of gods from the seventh and eighth centuries, and a 15th-century marble bust of Battista Sforza by Francesco Laurana, which Modigliani used as a model. Modigliani's portrait of Pablo Picasso, completed in 1915, is also on display, as is a nude by Picasso from 1907.

In life, Modigliani exhibited his sculptures only once, selecting a group of seven heads for the Salon d'Automne of 1912.

To many, Modigliani came to represent the tragic figure of the Bohemian artist. His life inspired nine novels, a play, a documentary and three feature films. Although he frequented the artistic avante-gard in Paris, where he lived from 1906 to 1920, Modigliani developed a style entirely his own, never falling in step with Fauvism or Cubism.

Modigliani, Picasso & Salmon

Friends who posed for Modigliani's characteristic portrait paintings include Picasso, Jean Cocteau and Diego Rivera, although Modigliani's reputation as a major artist soared only after his premature death from tubercular meningitis at the age of 36. Prey to self-destructive indulgences in hashish and alcohol, Modigliani was as well known during his life for erratic behavior as he was for his talent. He died destitute, when his young lover, Jeanne Heburterne, was nine months pregnant with their second child. Two days after his death, she plunged from a fifth-storey window, killing herself and their unborn child. During his career, Modigliani only pulled off a single one-man show, which was shut down for obscenity shortly after opening, as it featured a number of nudes. A Modigliani nude fetched $42.7 million (42.7 million euros) at auction last November in New York City, setting a new price record for his work. Other Modigliani paintings have recently sold for tens of millions of dollars.

The MART exhibit represents the first major effort to rehabilitate Modigliani's sculptural work since four high school students and a dockworker dumped fake Modigliani heads in a Livornese canal in 1984. The falsified sculptures were found by workers dredging for lost work by the artist, who was rumored to have tossed away pieces in a moment of despair. Art critics who embraced the discoveries saw their reputations dented when the hoax was revealed, and Modigliani's sculptures have suffered a dearth of attention since.

For more on the Italian Arts click WebVisionItaly Italy Arts channel. Click to sign up for our Italy travel newsletter by entering email address in left column below the Italy destinations. If you would like to visit Trento for the Modigliani exhibit contact Italian Tourism Italy travel agents who have all inclusive Italian vacation packages to visit Venice and Trento, as well as Florence and Rome.  If you prefer a Italy cruise contact our Italy travel agents for a cruise from Venice that includes the Modigliani exhibit in its Italy cruise tour.

Cruises Around Italy Cruise Rome to Venice 3-Day Sale

Cruise around Italy Rome to Venice Italy cruise $ale!

Italy cruise Rome to Venice cruise ports of call include Monte Carlo, Florence, Naples, the Greek Isles including Santorini and Mykonos, on to Athens, Olympia, and Corfu then cruise the Adriatic sea to Split Croatia and finally Venice Italy. This Rome cruise around Italy to Venice is on sale for 3 days.

Cruise from Rome enjoying FREE balcony upgrades and up to $100 cash back when this Rome cruise around Italy is booked between December 15-17. Book your 2011 Rome cruise today!

Call Italian Tourism 305.914.0220 to book your Cruise from Rome to Venice cruise around Italy.

Cruise around Italy cruise sale good for May – November 2011 sailings

Cruise around Italy - Cruise Rome to Venice sale for the following sailings:

May 30 Cruise around Italy Cruise Rome to Venice
Schedule: Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy (30 May d1800); Monaco (31 May 0700-1800); Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy (01 Jun 0600-1800); Naples, Italy (02 Jun 0800-1900); Santorini, Greece (04 Jun 0800-1900); Mykonos, Greece (05 Jun 0100-1800); Piraeus (Athens), Greece (06 Jun 0600-1745); Katakolon (Olympia), Greece (07 Jun 0800-1700); Corfu (08 Jun 0700-1600); Split, Croatia (09 Jun 0900-1800); Venice, Italy (10 Jun a0900(+1)disembark)

Call Italian Tourism 305.914.0220 to book your Cruise from Rome to Venice cruise around Italy.

June 23 Cruise around Italy Cruise Rome to Venice
Schedule: Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy (23 Jun d1800); Monaco (24 Jun 0700-1800); Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy (25 Jun 0600-1800); Naples, Italy (26 Jun 0800-1900); Santorini, Greece (28 Jun 0800-1900); Mykonos, Greece (29 Jun 0100-1800); Piraeus (Athens), Greece (30 Jun 0600-1745); Katakolon (Olympia), Greece (01 Jul 0800-1700); Corfu (02 Jul 0700-1600); Split, Croatia (03 Jul 0900-1800); Venice, Italy (04 Jul a0900(+1)disembark)

Call Italian Tourism 305.914.0220 to book your Cruise from Rome to Venice cruise around Italy.

July 17 Cruise around Italy Cruise Rome to Venice
Schedule: Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy (17 Jul d1800); Monaco (18 Jul 0700-1800); Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy (19 Jul 0600-1800); Naples, Italy (20 Jul 0800-1900); Santorini, Greece (22 Jul 0800-1900); Mykonos, Greece (23 Jul 0100-1800); Piraeus (Athens), Greece (24 Jul 0600-1745); Katakolon (Olympia), Greece (25 Jul 0800-1700); Corfu (26 Jul 0700-1600); Split, Croatia (27 Jul 0900-1800); Venice, Italy (28 Jul a0900(+1)disembark)

Call Italian Tourism 305.914.0220 to book your Cruise from Rome to Venice cruise around Italy.

August 10 Cruise around Italy Cruise Rome to Venice
Schedule: Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy (10 Aug d1800); Monaco (11 Aug 0700-1800); Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy (12 Aug 0600-1800); Naples, Italy (13 Aug 0800-1900); Santorini, Greece (15 Aug 0800-1900); Mykonos, Greece (16 Aug 0100-1800); Piraeus (Athens), Greece (17 Aug 0600-1745); Katakolon (Olympia), Greece (18 Aug 0800-1700); Corfu (19 Aug 0700-1600); Split, Croatia (20 Aug 0900-1800); Venice, Italy (21 Aug a0900(+1)disembark)

Call Italian Tourism 305.914.0220 to book your Cruise from Rome to Venice cruise around Italy.

September 3 Cruise around Italy Cruise Rome to Venice
Schedule: Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy (03 Sep d1800); Monaco (04 Sep 0700-1800); Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy (05 Sep 0600-1800); Naples, Italy (06 Sep 0800-1900); Santorini, Greece (08 Sep 0800-1900); Mykonos, Greece (09 Sep 0100-1800); Piraeus (Athens), Greece (10 Sep 0600-1745); Katakolon (Olympia), Greece (11 Sep 0800-1700); Corfu (12 Sep 0700-1600); Split, Croatia (13 Sep 0900-1800); Venice, Italy (14 Sep a0900(+1)disembark)

Call Italian Tourism 305.914.0220 to book your Cruise from Rome to Venice cruise around Italy.

November 2 Cruise around Italy Cruise Rome to Venice
Schedule: Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy (02 Nov d1800); Monaco; Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy; Naples, Italy; Santorini, Greece; Mykonos, Greece; Piraeus (Athens), Greece; Katakolon (Olympia), Greece; Corfu; Split, Croatia; Venice, Italy

Call Italian Tourism 305.914.0220 to book your Cruise from Rome to Venice cruise around Italy.

This cruise around Italy cruise Rome cruise to Venice includes a free balcony upgrade and up to $100 cash back. Start planning a relaxing getaway to Europe.

Contact Italian Tourism Italy Cruise travel agent today for a quote. This is the perfect Italy cruise to include a Italy pre-cruise tour in Rome and Italy post-cruise tour in Venice.

Italian Tourism has the low priced Italy airfare for flights to Rome and returning from Venice to make this Italy cruise tour a special Italy vacation to remember.

Detailed Cruise Around Italy itinerary:

Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy: 6:00 PM Embark
Monte Carlo, Monaco: 7:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy: 6:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Naples/Capri, Italy; 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
At Sea
Santorini, Greece: 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Mykonos, Greece: 1:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Athens (Piraeus), Greece: 6:00 AM - 5:45 PM
Katakolon (Olympia), Greece: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Corfu, Greece: 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Split, Croatia: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Venice, Italy: 9:00 AM - Overnight
Venice, Italy: 5:00 AM

Call Italian Tourism 305.914.0220 or email us "travel @ italiantourism.us" to take advantage of the Italy cruise sale.

Italy cruise sale begins Monday December 13. Book your Italy cruise tour Rome cruise to Venice and enjoy a cruise around Italy.

Italy Vacations: Arts Guide for your Italy Travel

Italian Tourism Italy vacations should include a visit to a museum oin Italy. Whether you are on a Italy cruise vacation or a Italy tour do make time to visit Italy's fabulous arts on your Italy vacation.



The following is a city-by-city guide to some of Italy's art exhibitions:



ALBA - Fondazione Ferrero: Giorgio Morandi, The Essence of Landscape; 70 works; until January 16.



BARLETTA - Palazza Marra: Giuseppe De Nittis, 43 engravings; until January 16.



FERRARA - Palazzo dei Diamanti: French 18th-century still-life master Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin; 50 loans from major international museums in first-ever Italian show; until January 13.



FLORENCE ART- Palazzo Strozzi: 'Bronzino, Painter and Poet at the Medici Court'; 90 works in world's first monographic show; to January 23.- Palazzo Pitti: Vinum Nostrum. The Art, Science and Myths of Wine in Civilisation; from prehistoric winegrowing to Dionysus cult, Etruscan, Roman use; show features oldest surviving wine container, on loan from Georgia; until April 30.- Bargello: Giovanfrancesco Rustici and Leonardo, first show examining links of 15th-century sculptor with da Vinci, Verrocchio and others; until January 10. For the best deals on Italy travel to Florence visit Italian Tourism for its Florence vacation packages.



FORLI' - Musei Civici di San Domenico: 400 ancient Egyptian artefacts gound by great Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli (1856-1928) including works from Queen Nefertari's tomb; until January 9.



MAMIANO DI TRAVERSETOLO (PARMA ARTS) - Fondazione Magnani Rocca: Renato Guttuso, Passion and Reality, 65 works until December 8. Visit WebVisionItaly Parma video and when ready for a vacation visit Italian Tourism to plan the perfect Italy vacation.



MILAN Travel - Palazzo Reale: 'Salvador Dali', The Dream Draws Near'; 50 works, until January 30.- Museo Poldi Pezzoli: Sandro Botticelli, all of his works in Lombardy museums brought together for first time; until February 28.



PADUA ART - Palazzo Zabarella: "From Canova to Modigliani, the Face of the 19th Century"; 100 portraits and sculptures; until February 27. Looking for vacation to Veneto and Venice then vist Italian Tourism Venice vacation packages or for a Italy cruise click Venice cruise.



PASSARIANO (UDINE) - Villa Manin: 'Edvard Munch and the Spirit of the North'; 122 works; until March 6.


PERUGIA - Galleria Nazionale: 'Theatre of Dreams from Chagall to Fellini', 100 works; until January 9. For more Umbria visit WebVisionItaly Umbria travel channel. Looking for a Umbra vacation check out Italian Tourism Umbria vacation packages.

RIMINI - Castel Sismondo: The Marvelous Years: Impressionism; 100 works from international museums including Monet and Pissarro, Sisley and Degas, Bazille and Renoir, Cezanne and Guillaumin, Morisot and Fantin-Latour, Gauguin and Van Gogh; until March 27.- same venue: Caravaggio's first religious painting, The Ecstasy of St Francis, back in Italy for first time in 25 years from Wadsworh Museum, Hartford, as well as several contemporaries; until March 27.



ROME ARTS - Palazzo Venezia: The Two Empires, The Eagle and the Dragon; more than 400 works on Roman (up to Trajan) and Chinese (Qin and Han) empires, spanning second century BC to fourth century AD; marks Year of Chinese Culture in Italy and is paired with other section at Roman Forum; until January 9.- Palazzo delle Esposizioni: The City of the Gods, 450 artefacts from ancient Mexican site of Teotihuacan (2nd-century BC to 5th-century AD), once the largest city in pre-Columbian Americas; until February 27.- Musei Capitolini: Michelangelo 'Two Wrestlers' loaned from Casa Buonarroti in Florence; until December 5.- Galleria Borghese: Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Other Renaissance; 45 works from major international museums; until February 13.- Chiostro del Bramante: Greats from the Veneto, 15th- 18th Century; Bellini, Lotto, Titian, Veronese, Tiepolo, Canaletto; 80 works from Accademia Carrara in Bergamo; until January 30.- Vittoriano: 'Vincent Van Gogh, Timeless Landscape, Modern City'; 110 masterpieces in first major Rome show in 22 years; until January 30.- Scuderie del Quirinale: '1861: The Painters of the Risorgimento', war scenes, Garibaldi's Red Shirts, leaders' portraits; to January 16.- Curia Iulia, Roman Forum: 'The Two Empires, The Eagle and the Dragon'; 450 works; until January 9.- Museo di Roma (Palazzo Braschi): The Risorgimento in Colour: Patriot Painters; to January 9.

SAN MARINO - Palazzo Sums: 25 Impressionist works including Monet, Cezanne and Renoir; until March 27, in tandem with Rimini show.

SAN SEVERINO MARCHE - Pinacoteca Civica, Palazzo Servanzi Confidati and Chiesa della Misericordia: 'Baroque Marvels', 90 works including Bernini, Guercino, Pomarancio, Orazio Gentileschi, Valentin de Boulogne, Baciccio: until December 12.

TURIN - Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Chiablese, Castello di Racconigi: "Vittorio Emanuele II: The Gentleman King"; new documents, pictures on life of Italy's first post-unification king; until March 13. Visit Turin with an Italian Tourism Italy vacation.

VENICE ARTS - Fondazione Cini: 'The Arts of Giambattista Piranesi - Architect, etcher, antiquarian, vedutista, designer'; 300 original prints plus 33 photos by Gabriele Basilico of Rome sites in 1960s; until November 21. Visit the arts of Venice like the Doge's Palace and the Basilica of St. Marks. Looking to visit Venice click for complete listing of cruises from Venice and click Venice vacation packages for a land-based Venice vacation by Italian Tourism discount Italy vacations.

Click WebVisionItaly.com for Italy travel video. Click Italian Tourism for Italy vacation packages and Italy cruise for cruises from Italy and cruises around Italy.

How to Ride the Italy Rail: Guide to Train Travel in Italy

Train travel in Italy is made easy in the Italy rail guide, one of WebVisionItaly.com's most popular videos. The Train Italy video is a guide to riding trains in Italy. So for Thanksgiving when many of are on trains, planes, and automobiles, we're publishing 10 Tips to riding the train in Italy.

Motorino Man's Top 10 Tips to ride Italy's rails from the big three like Rome trains, Florence trains, and Venice trains to tips for buying Italy rail tickets in small stations in towns outside Italy's big three that may not be manned at all times by ticket sellers.

Click to see the video how to buy a train ticket in Italy for important tips and tricks to navigating the Italy train ticket vending machine so you may buy a train ticket in Italy without hassle when traveling Italy. Motorino Man suggests buying train tickets in Italy as itineraries change and trains do get cancelled.

Click for a full listing of Italy train travel vacations by Italian Tourism.

Motorino Man's Top 10 Tips to Ride Train in Italy.

10. Save money by buying bread and prosciutto before arriving at station for food on train. If you don't bring food the dining car is a very nice place to have a snack.

9. Arrive 30 minutes before departure for stress-free travel.

8. Trains in Italy are used by Italian commuters at rush hour so try to plan your travel off rush-hour and do plan accordingly. Train ticket in Italy will be less expensive off rush hour.

7. In Italy's big three Rome, Florence, Venice and all Italy's big-city stations like Naples, Milan, Bari, Genoa etc. if standing on line or at vending machine to buy ticket beware of pick pockets and other thieves and do always keep an eye on your baggage by keeping it eyesight next to you.
6. Gather belongings before destination so exiting is smooth and efficient - especially important when exiting before end of line because Italian trains only stop long enough for exiting and entering passengers. Every time you stand up on train in Italy glance back to see what you left behind.

5. Carry change to buy ticket at vending machine in small stations where there is no attendant.

4. Carry-on bags: Keep your bag under your seat or between your legs. If you are going to place it in the overhead compartment, try to place it ahead of your seat location, so you can see whoever reaches into the compartment.

3. If catching the train outside major cities like Italy's big three Rome, Florence, and Venice be sure to check that the Italian train you get on is the one you want. Many travel same track.

2. ALWAYS validate Italy train ticket by stamping it in CONVALIDA yellow box in the station or along the track platform.

1. Keep an eye on things at all times in stations and on Italy's trains. YOU carry your luggage onto the bus, train, truck, or taxi with you. Don’t allow a porter or stranger to take your bag for you. You might not ever see it again.

And finally, when you buy a train ticket in Italy be sure you actually receive a ticket for a Italy train.

Buon Viaggio!

Now that you know how to ride the Italy rail check out these great Italy train travel vacations. Or click to see a full listing of cruises around Italy including cruises from Rome and cruises from Venice.

For more about riding trains in Italy visit WebVisionItaly's video how to train travel in Italy.

Italy Travel and Italy Tours: Rome's biggest temple reopens

Ancient Rome's most imposing shrine, the Temple of Venus and Rome, has reopened after a restoration lasting almost 30 years in welcome news for a government under pressure since last weekend's collapse of Pompeii's Gladiator School.

Facing East and West to symbolize the sweep of the empire, the temple was built in the second century AD by Hadrian on the vestibule of Nero's Golden House, shifting the Colossus of Nero close to the Flavian Amphitheatre so that it got its better-known name, the Colosseum.

"We have restored to Rome one of the most powerful symbols of the power and greatness of the Roman Empire," said restoration chief Claudia Del Monti, who has been on the job for all but three years of its 26-year duration.

"My project was aimed at reading the temple as far as possible in its entirety," she said, recalling that it had once been split in two and was used as a car park until the 1980s.

Rome's archeological superintendent, Anna Maria Moretti, said the revamped temple "affords an extraordinary view, walking up from the Colosseum".

With majestic pillars and soaring arches, the Temple of Venus Felix (Venus the Bringer of Good Fortune) and Aeterna Roma (Eternal Rome) was designed by Hadrian in 121 AD, inaugurated by him in 135, and finished by his successor Antoninus Pius in 141.

Damaged by fire in 307, it was restored with changes by Maxentius.

The temple restoration is part of the government's plans to open up more ancient sites, said Culture Undersecretary Franco Giro, deputising for Culture Minister Sandro Bondi who was fielding a fusillade of questions in parliament over Saturday's collapse of the school in Naples where gladiators trained. Giro noted that the pits under the Colosseum where gladiators prepared for mortal combat have recently been unveiled and other temples, such as that of Antoninus and Faustina, are set to be reopened within the next year.

"We are respecting the schedule we set for the Forum and we are proceeding with a restoration of an area that was in deep decay, having been abandoned by governments of all colors," Giro said.

He rejected criticism of Bondi's handling of Italy's artistic heritage which began with his allegedly supine acceptance of budget cuts that led to Italy's museums staging a mass closure Friday.

The undersecretary also defended the minister from what he described as "unfair" attacks over the situation in Pompeii, calling the center-left opposition "ill-informed".

Visit Rome travel video by WebVisionItaly.com for more about Rome.

To plan your vacation to Rome click for Rome holidays. Italian Tourism has the best pre-cruise and Italy post-cruise tours. Italian tourism also specializes in Italy cruise tours from Rome. For a Italy cruise from Rome click Rome cruise. If you'll be on a Rome cruise 2011 be sure to visit the Roman forum. Click for January Rome cruises 2011.

$999+ Air and 8-Day Rome, Florence, Venice Italy Travel Deal

$999+ 8-Day Independent Italian Tourism Italy travel package to 3 of Italy's enchanting cities Rome, Florence and Venice Italy vacation.

Visit Rome, Florence & Venice 2 nights in each city traveling by Italy rail between cities.

Lead Price Travel Dates:
Dec 7 '10; Jan 11, Jan 18, & Jan 25 '11
Italy travelers also were interested in these Italy travel packages:

8 Day Venice, Florence & Rome by Rail
10 Day Rome, Florence & Venice by Rail
10 Day Venice, Florence & Rome by Rail

Italy Travel Deal

This 8 day Italy rail package makes it easy to see three of Italy's most captivating cities on one trip. Explore independently or join an assortment of convenient and affordable optional tours such as an evening tour of illuminated Rome, a walking tour of the dazzling renaissance city of Florence, or a romantic gondola serenade along the canals of Venice. Whether it's your first trip to Italy or a return visit to old favorites, this tour offers an ideal opportunity to spend a great vacation in bella Italia while we take care of the details, with flights, hotels, and reserved rail seats all prearranged for you.

Italy Travel Package Includes:
Flights NYC – Rome, Venice – NYC. Other departure cities available
Airline fuel surcharges
6 nights accommodations in your choice of hotels
2 nights Rome
2 nights Florence
2 nights Venice
Breakfast daily

Transportation between cities via First Class Italy rail (Plan A, B or C) or Standard Italy rail (Plans D,E) with reserved seats.

Follow this 8-day Italy travel package with a Italy cruise or check out one an Italian Tourism Italy cruise tour that includes Italy tour followed by a Italy cruise.

How to Book:
Click here to book or call 305.914.0220 to with an Italian Tourism Italy travel reservation specialists.

Click Italy travel for Italy tour and Italy cruise video.

When you are ready for an Italy tour visit Italian Tourism for Italy travel packages including air and hotel including the best deals on Amalfi Coast holidays, or for a Italy cruise click Rome cruise and Venice cruise Italy cruise listings.

$899 Italy travel package: Tuscany: Luxury Vineyard Estate Vacation w/Car & Air

Italian Tourism Italy travel packages presents the ultimate in Italy travel with a Luxury Tuscany Italy travel package. This travel package includes roundtrip air to Italy, car rental and 6-nights is a Tuscany farmhouse. Enjoy Italy with this travel package by Italian Tourism. Don’t wait, this Italy travel deal will sell out early and there are limited spaces available.

Travel to Italy through March 31, 2011 to receive this Tuscany travel deal when you book by November 19 and while air seats and vineyard rooms last. Brag to friends about staying in Tuscany 5-star luxury for practically the price of airfare alone.


Live la dolce vita for six nights at the uber-luxurious Il Borro Estate for $899 per person including air and car.


Beautifully restored by the famous Ferragamo family of the Italian fashion world, this 1000-year-old authentic country estate typically commands rates of $400 per night for the room alone.

This Italy travel package, based on four travelers, consists of:


1) Roundtrip airfare to Pisa, Italy from New York City or Newark; +$30 Boston; +$150 Chicago 2) Six nights in a two-bedroom Tuscan farmhouse

3) Full-size weeklong car rental in Tuscany

4) Complimentary bottle of wine from the Il Borro Vineyard

This rate is available only while air seats and vineyard rooms last and with a departure Monday-Wednesday Nov. 1 - Feb. 20. Early spring departures are available for $50 more per person.

Il Borro's accommodations feature a mix of medieval and modern: antique furniture, marble bathrooms, flat-screen TVs, wireless Internet and original artwork. Wine tasting tours, cooking classes, fishing, archery and more are offered on-site.


Blackout dates: Dec. 18 - Jan. 2 Note: Pricing during Christmas Italy travel and New Years Italy travel holiday periods (i.e. Nov. 21- 28) is slightly higher.


Italy Travel Package Options:

Upgrade to Medieval Village for $50 per person:
Enhance your Il Borro experience by upgrading to the cozy Medieval Village located right in the heart of Il Borro offering easy access to the restaurants and Spa.

Wine Tour & Tasting for $20 per person:
Enjoy a guided tour of the cellar for an illustration of the wine-making process from harvest to bottling concluding with a tasting of Il Borro's wines.

Tuscan Cooking Class for $99 per person:
Learn the art of traditional Tuscan cooking at a cookery course. For approximately 2 hours you will experience cooking with local ingredients and enjoy your prepared meal in the restaurant.

Add a 7th night stay from $79 per person: Spend an additional night with car rental at 5-star Il Borro Estate! Spa Treatment for $139 per person (Save 40%)

About Tuscany:

Tuscany is known for its beautiful landscapes, its rich artistic legacy and vast influence on high culture. Tuscany is widely regarded as the true birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, and has been home to some of the most influential people in the history of arts and science, such as Petrarch, Dante, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Amerigo Vespucci and Puccini. Due to this, the region has several museums (such as the Uffizi, the Pitti Palace and the Chianciano Museum of Art). Tuscany has a unique culinary tradition, and is famous for its wines (most famous of which are Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino).


Six Tuscan localities have been designated World Heritage Sites: the historic centre of Florence (1982), the historical centre of Siena (1995), the square of the Cathedral of Pisa (1987), the historical centre of San Gimignano (1990), the historical centre of Pienza (1996) and the Val d'Orcia (2004). Furthermore, Tuscany has over 120 protected nature reserves. This makes Tuscany and its capital city Florence very popular tourist destinations, attracting millions of tourists every year. Florence itself receives an average of 10 million tourists a year by placing the city as one of the most visited in the world.

Experience the ultimate Tuscany vacation at an unbeatable price with this Italy travel deal. If you were to put this package together you’d pay over $1799. Save over $1000 on this Tuscany holiday by traveling to Italy with Italian Tourism Italy travel packages.

Italian Tourism: Italy Cruise and Italy Tour Italy Art Guide

Italy cruise travelers and Italy travel package Italian tourists who will be on an Italy tour in December here is the following is a city-by-city guide to some of Italy's art exhibitions:

ALBA - Fondazione Ferrero: Giorgio Morandi, The Essence of Landscape; 70 works; until January 16.

BARLETTA - Palazza Marra: Giuseppe De Nittis, 43 engravings; until January 16.

FERRARA - Palazzo dei Diamanti: French 18th-century still-life master Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin; 50 loans from major international museums in first-ever Italian show; until January 13. Click for Emilia Romagna travel video.

FLORENCE ART - Palazzo Strozzi: 'Bronzino, Painter and Poet at the Medici Court'; 90 works in world's first monographic show; to January 23.- Palazzo Pitti: Vinum Nostrum. The Art, Science and Myths of Wine in Civilisation; from prehistoric winegrowing to Dionysus cult, Etruscan, Roman use; show features oldest surviving wine container, on loan from Georgia; until April 30.- Bargello: Giovanfrancesco Rustici and Leonardo, first show examining links of 15th-century sculptor with da Vinci, Verrocchio and others; until January 10. Click for Florence Italy cruise departures and Italy cruise itinerary through Florence Livorno cruise port and for a Italy tour by land click Florence vacation packages.

FORLI' - Musei Civici di San Domenico: 400 ancient Egyptian artefacts gound by great Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli (1856-1928) including works from Queen Nefertari's tomb; until January 9.

MAMIANO DI TRAVERSETOLO (PARMA ART) - Fondazione Magnani Rocca: Renato Guttuso, Passion and Reality, 65 works until December 8. Click for Parma travel video. For a Parma vacation Call Italian Tourism 305.914.0220 who will plan a Italy tour that includes the beautiful city of Parma.

MILAN - Palazzo Reale: 'Salvador Dali', The Dream Draws Near'; 50 works, until January 30.

PADUA ARTS - Palazzo Zabarella: "From Canova to Modigliani, the Face of the 19th Century"; 100 portraits and sculptures; until February 27.

PASSARIANO (UDINE) - Villa Manin: 'Edvard Munch and the Spirit of the North'; 122 works; until March 6.

PERUGIA - Galleria Nazionale: 'Theatre of Dreams from Chagall to Fellini', 100 works; until January 9.

RIMINI - Castel Sismondo: The Marvelous Years: Impressionism; 100 works from international museums including Monet and Pissarro, Sisley and Degas, Bazille and Renoir, Cezanne and Guillaumin, Morisot and Fantin-Latour, Gauguin and Van Gogh; until March 27.- same venue: Caravaggio's first religious painting, The Ecstasy of St Francis, back in Italy for first time in 25 years from Wadsworh Museum, Hartford, as well as several contemporaries; until March 27.

ROME ARTS - Musei Capitolini: Michelangelo 'Two Wrestlers' loaned from Casa Buonarroti in Florence; until December 5.- Galleria Borghese: Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Other Renaissance; 45 works from major international museums; until February 13.- Chiostro del Bramante: Greats from the Veneto, 15th- 18th Century; Bellini, Lotto, Titian, Veronese, Tiepolo, Canaletto; 80 works from Accademia Carrara in Bergamo; until January 30.- Vittoriano: 'Vincent Van Gogh, Timeless Landscape, Modern City'; 110 masterpieces in first major Rome show in 22 years; until January 30.- Scuderie del Quirinale: '1861: The Painters of the Risorgimento', war scenes, Garibaldi's Red Shirts, leaders' portraits; to January 16.- Curia Iulia, Roman Forum: 'The Two Empires, The Eagle and the Dragon'; 450 works on Roman and Chinese empires; marks Year of Chinese Culture in Italy; until January 9.- Palazzo Barberini: permanent exhibition of ancient art back on show after long restoration; also at Galleria Corsini, Villa Farnesina Chigi and Orto Botanico.- Museo di Roma (Palazzo Braschi): The Risorgimento in Colour: Patriot Painters; to January 9. Click for Rome holiday travel packages and cruises from Rome.

SAN MARINO - Palazzo Sums: 25 Impressionist works including Monet, Cezanne and Renoir; until March 27, in tandem with Rimini show.

SAN SEVERINO MARCHE - Pinacoteca Civica, Palazzo Servanzi Confidati and Chiesa della Misericordia: 'Baroque Marvels', 90 works including Bernini, Guercino, Pomarancio, Orazio Gentileschi, Valentin de Boulogne, Baciccio: until December 12.

SIENA - Santa Maria della Scala: Life of Michelangelo; letters, poetry, working sketches; until November 14.

TRENTO - Buoncastiglio Castle; The Adventure of Glass: From the Renaissance to the 20th Century between Venice and Distant Worlds; brings together over 700 masterpieces celebrating glass production on the Venetian island of Murano; until November 7.

TURIN - Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Chiablese, Castello di Racconigi: "Vittorio Emanuele II: The Gentleman King"; new documents, pictures on life of Italy's first post-unification king; until March 13.

VENICE ARTS - Fondazione Cini: 'The Arts of Giambattista Piranesi - Architect, etcher, antiquarian, vedutista, designer'; 300 original prints plus 33 photos by Gabriele Basilico of Rome sites in 1960s; until November 21. Click for Venice tour packages and cruises from Venice.

Click Italy travel video for WebVisionItaly.com Italy arts video.

For a Italy art tour call Italian Tourism for Italy Art tours.

Italian Tourism also offers a variety of cruises around Italy with onboard workshops about the history of art in Italy. Call us 305.914.0220 or click Italy cruise 2011 for Rome cruise itinerary and Venice cruise itinerary.