The Compass: Italy ~ Historian Fact

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Italy

The treasures of Italy are both iconic and enchanting: ancient ruins encircled by vibrant city streets, rolling vineyards crowned by medieval hilltop towns, and gondolas bobbing in turquoise canals. Italy also boasts a whopping 51 World Heritage sites—more than any other country in the world. Join us this week as we reveal what really happened to the victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption in A.D. 79, discover Italy’s lesser known UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and journey on a culinary tour across the country.
Let’s explore Italy.

SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT

A group studies body casts in the House of Cryptoporticus while touring the ruins of Pompeii. In addition to this city near modern-day Naples, the port town of Herculaneum and many other sites near Mount Vesuvius were buried by its pyroclastic flows and surges in A.D. 79.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID HISER, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Vesuvius eruption baked some people to death—and turned one brain to glass

A pair of studies reveals more details about what happened to the victims of the infamous event in A.D. 79.

A diver from the Italian army, Carabinieri, collects rocks from one of the newfound volcanoes, Actea, in February 2019. By studying the chemistry of the rocks, the team hopes to better understand the timing of past eruptions and the evolution of the volcanic system.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF EMANUELE LODOLO

Six underwater volcanoes found hiding in plain sight

Lurking below a heavily trafficked waterway, the discovery highlights how many mysteries still simmer under the sea.

The Salento region, in Italy's boot heel, is widely known for its olive oil. But its storied groves face an uncertain future. In 2013, a devastating plant bacterium called Xylella fastidiosa was introduced to the region. To prevent the bacterium from spreading farther, officials made farmers uproot and burn infected trees. Here, olive farmer Rocco Ciurlia sets fire to leaves and branches left behind after he cut away the dead parts of his family's trees.

PHOTOGRAPH BY PATRICIA KÜHFUSS

Italy's olive trees are dying. Can they be saved?

In southern Italy, bacteria are ruining groves and uprooting traditions. But scientists and growers are fighting back.

Wearing thigh-high rain boots, pedestrians cross flooded St. Mark's Square in Venice. An exceptional high tide, seasonal winds, and storms have driven flood levels to a 50-year high.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARCO BERTORELLO, AFP/GETTY

Venice experienced worst floods in 50 years

Exceptional high tides, exacerbated by strong storms and blown by seasonal winds, combined to drive Venetian floodwaters to their second-highest levels since records began.

HISTORY & CULTURE

The Italian village of Civita di Bagnoregio is disappearing. Every year, seven centimeters of land tumbles into the ravine below and only seven people still call the place home. However, one million tourists stopped by to see it in 2019.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CAMILLA FERRARI

Can tourism save Italy’s ‘Dying Town’?

Like many rural villages in Italy, this 300 by 500-foot town was at risk of disappearing—until the world’s curiosity caught up to it.

Valter Conti, strolling through one of Florence’s narrow alleyways, began posing as Leonardo da Vinci in 1990. He enjoys the silent anonymity of working as an impersonator.

PHOTOGRAPH BY PAOLO WOODS AND GABRIELE GALIMBERTI

See where Leonardo da Vinci still walks the streets

Peek inside the world of Renaissance re-enactors who bring Leonardo and his work to life 500 years after the artist's death.

A marble statue of Trajan, who ruled Rome from A.D. 98 until 117.

PHOTOGRAPH BY KENNETH GARRETT, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

This warrior was the best of ancient Rome’s ‘Five Good Emperors’

A powerful military commander born in Spain, Trajan was very good to his imperial subjects—but woe to the foreigners who opposed him.

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Gentileschi’s 1620 “Judith Beheading Holofernes” portrays an Old Testament story of the Israelite widow Judith who saved her people by assassinating the Assyrian general besieging her city. This work is Gentileschi’s second known representation of the biblical story; an earlier version of Judith’s revenge was begun in 1612, the year after the artist had been raped by an instructor. Although the Judith legend was a popular subject with male artists of the period, the decisiveness and strength of Gentileschi’s Judith, as well as the solidarity of her female accomplice, provides a unique feminine perspective of violence and revenge in the early 17th century.

BRIDGEMAN/ACI

This audacious artist shocked 17th-century Italy with her work

Artemisia Gentileschi's paintings were bold, vibrant, and sometimes violent. Her undeniable talent helped overcome prejudice to secure her legacy.

A herd of 300 enters Castropignano, during the last day of a 112-mile, four-day cattle drive from Puglia to summer meadows in Molise, a seasonal migration called a transhumance.

PHOTOGRAPH BY GIUSEPPE NUCCI

What you can learn by following the herd in Italy

Discover sleepy villages and green pastures along ancient migratory routes in Puglia and elsewhere.

A pigeon takes flight in front of Milan’s Duomo. The city’s wealth made it a hub for medieval and Renaissance artists and architects.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHIARA GOIA

Explore tarot’s centuries-old history in Milan

For devotees of this 600-year-old esoteric art, a trip to northern Italy is in the cards.

A worker removes volcanic fragments (lapilli) from the atrium of the House of Orion in Pompeii’s Region V. The decoration being uncovered is characteristic of the so-called First style (200-80 B.C.).

CESARE ABBATE/EPA/EFE

Pompeii's most recent finds reveal new clues to city's destruction

Frescoes and fast-food joints are just a few of the latest discoveries, but a small piece of graffiti is making scholars rethink the date of Pompeii's ruin.

TRAVEL

DREAM NOW, GO LATER

Bright gold and red leaves cover the scenic vineyards of Piedmont, Italy.

PHOTOGRAPH BY SLOW IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES

Italy’s lesser known UNESCO World Heritage Sites

From the awe-inspiring Dolomites to the fairy-tale village of Alberobello, discover Italy’s road less traveled.

The Borgo Finocchieto is a village turned luxe lodging in Buonconvento.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVE YODER

Take a road trip through Tuscany's breathtaking countryside

This scenic route links fairy-tale castles, artistic treasures, picture-perfect vistas, and vineyards galore.

Italy’s volcanic Stromboli island looms behind its uninhabited sister island Strombolicchio in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREA FRAZZETTA

What it’s like to live in the shadow of an active volcano

Beautiful but deadly, Italy’s Stromboli offers more than just a fiery peak.

A farmer harvests the tiny, flavorful olives that make delicious Lucca oil.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREA ASTES, ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES

10 iconic Italian dishes, by the region

When in Rome—or Venice or Sicily—savor the unique flavors of Italy.

Florentines have played calcio storico, or “historic football,” since the 15th century. This year, due to the pandemic, the sport has been postponed as locals ponder the game’s future.

PHOTOGRAPH BY FILIPPO MONTEFORTE, AFP/GETTY IMAGES

In Florence a centuries-old tradition fights for survival

Will the coronavirus pandemic put an end to the bloody yet beloved sport of calcio storico?

An extreme mountain bike trek in the Dolomites is one of many adventures travelers find in northern Italy.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARKUS GREBER, SKYSHOT

How to scale the ‘iron paths’ of the Dolomites

Here’s your ultimate adventure planner for northern Italy.

PHOTO FEATURE

See inside Italy's ghost villages

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