Fun Facts About Italy

Fun Facts About Italy: all 30, explained

1. Italy completely surrounds two other countries.

   Vatican City, the world’s smallest country, sits inside Rome, and San Marino is entirely surrounded by Italian territory in the north.

   Source: Enclave and exclave (Wikipedia) · Fact card

2. The Leaning Tower of Pisa started leaning while it was still being built.

   Construction began in 1173 on soft ground, and the tower began to tilt within a few years. Engineers reduced the lean between 1990 and 2001, and it is now considered stable for at least 200 years.

   Source: Leaning Tower of Pisa (Wikipedia) · Fact card

3. Italy has more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than almost any other country.

   Italy and China have competed for years for the most sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Italy’s include the historic centers of Rome, Florence and Venice, and Pompeii.

   Source: List of World Heritage Sites in Italy (Wikipedia) · Fact card

4. An Italian bank accepts wheels of Parmesan cheese as security for loans.

   Credem, a bank in the Emilia-Romagna region, has long accepted aged wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano as collateral, storing them in its own climate-controlled warehouses while they mature.

   Source: Parmigiano Reggiano (Wikipedia) · Fact card

5. Italy is shaped like a boot.

   The "heel" is Apulia and the "toe" is Calabria, with Sicily at the tip.

   Source: Italy (Wikipedia) · Fact card

6. Italy became a single country only in 1861.

   Before that, the peninsula was split into many states. Rome became the capital in 1871.

   Source: Italian unification (Wikipedia) · Fact card

7. Italy became a republic in 1946.

   Italians voted to abolish the monarchy in a referendum after World War II.

   Source: 1946 Italian institutional referendum (Wikipedia) · Fact card

8. The Vatican City, inside Rome, is the smallest country in the world.

   It covers about 0.44 square kilometers and is home to the Pope.

   Source: Vatican City (Wikipedia) · Fact card

9. San Marino claims to be the oldest surviving republic in the world.

   Tradition dates its founding to the year 301.

   Source: San Marino (Wikipedia) · Fact card

10. Mount Etna in Sicily is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth.

    It is the highest active volcano in Europe outside the Caucasus.

    Source: Mount Etna (Wikipedia) · Fact card

11. Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii in the year 79.

    Volcanic ash preserved the Roman town so well that visitors can walk its streets today.

    Source: Pompeii (Wikipedia) · Fact card

12. Venice is built on more than 100 small islands.

    Canals separate the islands and hundreds of bridges connect them.

    Source: Venice (Wikipedia) · Fact card

13. There are no cars in central Venice.

    People get around on foot and by boat, including water buses called vaporetti.

    Source: Venice (Wikipedia) · Fact card

14. Modern pizza comes from Naples.

    The art of Neapolitan pizza-making is on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

    Source: Neapolitan pizza (Wikipedia) · Fact card

15. There are hundreds of pasta shapes.

    Each region has its own, often designed to hold a particular sauce.

    Source: List of pasta (Wikipedia) · Fact card

16. Espresso was developed in Italy.

    Early espresso machines appeared in Turin and Milan around 1900.

    Source: Espresso (Wikipedia) · Fact card

17. Italy is one of the world’s largest wine producers.

    It often trades the top spot with France.

    Source: Italian wine (Wikipedia) · Fact card

18. The Colosseum could hold around 50,000 spectators.

    Completed in the year 80, it hosted gladiator fights and public shows.

    Source: Colosseum (Wikipedia) · Fact card

19. People throw thousands of euros a day into the Trevi Fountain.

    The coins are collected and given to charity.

    Source: Trevi Fountain (Wikipedia) · Fact card

20. The Renaissance began in Italy.

    It started in Florence in the 1300s and 1400s, home to artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

    Source: Renaissance (Wikipedia) · Fact card

21. The Mona Lisa was painted in Italy but hangs in Paris.

    Leonardo da Vinci began it in Florence in the early 1500s and took it to France, where it stayed.

    Source: Mona Lisa (Wikipedia) · Fact card

22. Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati are all Italian.

    The area around Modena and Bologna is sometimes called "Motor Valley".

    Source: Motor Valley (Wikipedia) · Fact card

23. The University of Bologna is the oldest university in continuous operation.

    It was founded in 1088.

    Source: University of Bologna (Wikipedia) · Fact card

24. Standard Italian is based on the dialect of Florence.

    Writers like Dante made Tuscan the model for the national language.

    Source: Italian language (Wikipedia) · Fact card

25. The piano was invented in Italy.

    Bartolomeo Cristofori built the first pianos in Florence around 1700.

    Source: Bartolomeo Cristofori (Wikipedia) · Fact card

26. Gelato has less air than American ice cream.

    It is churned more slowly and usually served slightly warmer, giving a denser texture.

    Source: Gelato (Wikipedia) · Fact card

27. Rome is nicknamed the Eternal City.

    Legend says it was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus.

    Source: Rome (Wikipedia) · Fact card

28. Italy’s one-euro coin shows Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.

    Each euro country chooses its own designs for one side of its coins.

    Source: Italian euro coins (Wikipedia) · Fact card

29. The Dolomites are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

    These pale, jagged mountains in northeastern Italy turn pink at sunset.

    Source: Dolomites (Wikipedia) · Fact card

30. Tiramisu means "pick me up" in Italian.

    The dessert of coffee-soaked sponge and mascarpone became popular in the Veneto region.

    Source: Tiramisu (Wikipedia) · Fact card