About Me

Name: Isaac Tng Kai Xiang
Age: 18
Interest: Italy
Favourite Food: Pasta
Favourite Game: Assasin Creed

A Student Studying at Temasek Polytechnic, Year 2, Hospitality & Tourism Management. Doing a in-depth research on Italy for a subject on Tourism Culture and Society.

All Images,Videos and Information are credited, I do not own them.

Background of Italy

Location:  Southern Europe, bordering Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City)
3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 232 km, Switzerland 740 km

Capital:   Rome

Climate:  predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south

Population:  58,057,477 (July 2004 est.)

Ethnic Make-up: Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)

Religions:  predominately Roman Catholic with mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community

Government:  republic

Culture of Italy

Italians have a strong culture in fashion. Appearance in Italy matters to the locals a lot. The way they dress indicates their social status, family’s background and their education level. First impressions are very important to Italians, they are considered lasting impressions. Bella Figura means a concept of good image, this is very important to the Italians. When meeting someone for the first time, Italians usually automatically assess the person’s age and social standing in the first few moments before starting a conversation. Clothes are of high importance to Italians, they are very fashion conscious and they judge others on the way they dress. People will be judged based on their clothes, shoes, accessories and the level of charisma the person has. Bella Figura means more than dressing alone, it is also a concept of aura given out by an individual. 

 Italian Models - Men

 Italian Models -Women

Majority of Italians are Roman Catholic. Italy have more Catholic churches per capita than any other country. The influence of these Catholic church remains high even though they have low attendance. Most places in Italy such as office buildings will have a cross or a religious statue in the lobby. There is at least one patron saint , a special guardian of someone, who is associated with the day for each day in the year. It is their culture that every single trade and profession has a patron saint. The names of Italian children has a link to a particular saint and they celebrate their saint’s day as though it was their very own birthday.

A Vatican Counsel

Dance is very important thing to Italy’s culture. Their dance, Tarantella, which originated in the Middle Ages, is one of the most recognized song of all the Italian folklore music. Celebrations, Festivals and street parties are a big part of Italy’s culture. There can always be reasons to celebrate in Italy, it can be a historical event, religious holiday or festivals. Many of their weekends are spent on celebrating food, art and traditional cultures of Italy. Italy, compared to other countries, has the richest heritage and artistic creativity. Music is an important role in Italy’s culture, ongoing trends from classical to folk music. Italy provides a wide foundation of the classical music tradition, musical instruments such as the piano and violin were invented in Italy.

Traditions of Italy

Traditional ways of greeting in Italy are enthusiastic but yet formal at the same time. It is done by a handshake with full eye contact and a smile between people. Greetings with air-kisses on both cheeks and pat on the back are done when relationships further develop. As said, first impressions are very important in their culture, so traditionally most Italians are serious when it comes to first time greetings.

 Greeting with air-kiss

During Holy Week, Settimana Santa, a holy procession, always take place. It is traditional where the Pope leads a procession past the Colosseum and the Roman Forum all the way to the ancient Palatine Hill. On Easter Sunday, the Chief Priest holds a Mass and gives blessing to the people of Italy from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica. The traditions of Italians’ weddings and baptism ceremonies are that they will rent a hall, have music, dancing, special pastries, cordials and especially good wine. 

 Italian Funeral - Earthquake Victims

Funerals held in Italy are considered quite moving. Throughout the wake, candles remain lit all the way. Relatives and friends pay respects by saying prayers at the front of the casket and go to family members to offer their condolences. The traditional way of a burial ceremony is whereby first, a church Mass will be conducted and attended only by family and friends and then followed by sending the deceased to his/her finally resting place.

Indigenous groups in Italy

Three main Indigenous groups in Italy are the Celts, the Etruscans and the Latins.

The Celts are a group of people that originally live in the area stretching from the British Isles to Gallatia. They moved south through the Alps, raiding and marauding and finally reached Rome. Many of the Celts stayed in Italy, occupying the an area from the Alps to south of Milan. They are known as Gauls by the romans. Celts are known to be great story-tellers, great drinkers and great fighters. They have a liking for single combat, fighting till a victor is left standing and displaying the severed head of his opponent proudly. They were counted as Barbarians in some way.

 The Celts

The Etruscans legacy lives on in many ways although their whole civilization disappeared from Europe. They were the first people to build arches and aqueducts in Europe, underground sewers, city planning, iron and bronze working, and hundreds of culture words which includes the calendar. They were the ones that introduced the alphabet to the Romans, combining Phonecian and Greek. Horse and chariot were also introduced by the Etruscans to Italy. They are as a people and a language uniquely and not just another ancient civilization that died off. They unique in customs, religion, language and their specialty in engineering and artistic skills.

 Illustration of Estruscan Warrior

The Latins is a group of Indo-European tribes, they are also known as the Italic Tribes, that occupied the central and south of Italy. Their common language was Latin and they had a common religion. Latins have a close sense of kinship and a myth that they were all descendants of Latinus, who has been worshipped on Monte Albano during every annual festival that were held and attended by all Latins, which also includes Latins from Rome.

 Illustration of a Latin War

Italy Langauge

Italian is the official language of Italy. About 93% of the population in Italy are native Italian speakers and about 50% percent of the population speak a regional dialect as their second language. Friulian is one of the dialects spoken by 600,00 locals in the northeast of Italy, a figure of 1% of the total population of the country. Other less spoken languages are Ladin, Slovene, German and French. Albanian, Croatian and Greek are spoken by 0.2% of the population, mostly in teh Southern part of Italy.

The Italian language is part of the Romance group of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. The language is the closest resemblance to Latin of all major Romance languages. The reason being is because it is the direct offspring of the Latin spoken by Romans. In this modern day, one of the most enjoyable methods of learning Italian is over a meal or in a bar by chatting with native speakers. It helps to brush up individuals Italian skills also for ordering food and drink. A unique fact about their language is that it has to be accompanied by hand signs. It is a way to also expression their emotions while talking.

Italy Mode of Education

In Italy, education is compulsory at the age of six but also can be started at the age of three with preschool nursery training which is not compulsory. The Scuola Elemntare provides a 5 year program for learners ages of six to eleven and the fees and textbooks in the public schools are of no charges. After completing this five years, students are in Italy are awarded the Diploma di Licenza della Scuola Elementare. 

 Students in Scuola Elemntare

Next would be Scuola Media inferior, which is the lower secondary school level. It is for the age of eleven and a 3 years programme with free schooling fee but books have to be bought by the students. Students complete it at the age of fourteen and receives the Diploma di Licenza della Scuola Media.

Following on would be higher secondary school level, also known as scuola secondaria superior, whereby student would have to pass an exam to move up. This would be a 5 years programme, all the way where students are of eighteen or nineteen years old. These schools are voluntary and students must select an option about their education, there are six selections available. They are Liceo scientific (Scientific), Liceo classic (Classic), Liceo linguistic (Language), Istituto magistrale (School for teachers), Istituto tecnico (Technical School) and Istituto professionale (Professional School). Upon decision, it is rare for students to be allowed to change their minds. Upon completing their education, they will receive their Diploma for which ever course they went into.

Lastly would be the university education in Italy, which is highly specialized and severely competitive. Italy has 42 state universities, 6 private universities, 3 technical universities and 12 specialized university institutes. Every single university provides 4 main courses. They are Diploma universitario (University Diploma), Diploma Di Laurea (Bachelor of Arts/Science), Dottorato di Ricerca (Research Doctorate) and Diploma di Specializzazione (Diploma of Specialization). The length of studies at specialized schools are about 2 to 5 years, dependant on the type of specialization.

Palazzo Gallenga Campus - University

The popular subjects chosen are Agriculture, Architecture, Economics, Pharmacy, Law, Engineering, Humanities, Modern Languages and Education, Biomedicine, Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, Natural Sciences, Physics and Mathematics and Political Science.

Types of Leisure Programmes

Italy has a large range of outdoor leisure activities to do. There is golfing in the mountains and beach resorts for relaxation. Fishing, horse riding, sailing, skiing and cycling are also the many types of activities available. Cycling is very popular and it has become a national pastime. Italy offers a quality variety of terrain for cycling from flat land and gentle hills to steep climbs. It is common to have cycling tours organized, which gives peple the rich landscape, history and culture of each region.

Next would be traditional festivals held in Italy to celebrate historical or religious events. They are taken place in all Italian towns and villages. One of the most prominent festival is the Venice Carnival held during February to March every year. People will dress up in the 19^th century costumes and hand-made painted masks for the festivals. There will be street theatres, music and amazing fireworks displays. 

Another festival celebrated  is the Feast of the Redeemer where there is competition between two-oar racing gondolas continued by a procession of decorated boats. Italy is the birthplace of opera and offers a wide choice of operatic performances each year. Italians would go to renowned opera houses like Teatro all Scala of Milan to enjoy skilful performances and imaginative stage sets.

A favourite leisure of Italians is football and they have strong love for the sport. There are also other sports such as the traditional game called brocce which is super popular and the top past time for locals. There are also a variation of cue sports played a on traditional billiard table. Italians usually play five pins, nine pins, boccete and goriziana, the more notable versions of the sport. There is also a famous athletic event, palio di Siena, that is held annually. Auto racing is a sport that have been strongly incorporated in the Italian culture. Cycling, basketball, rugby, volleyball and other winter and sports events are part of Italy’s sporting tradition history.

 

 Team Italy Winning the World Cup in 2006