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Italy
Italy is a land celebrated for the arts, and not the least
among the arts that have attained their highest expression
in Italy is the art of hospitality. The Italian welcome
is as warm and traditional as a glass of fine wine. This
comparison is apt, for travelers in ancient times gave the
country its first name: Land of Wines. Italians are such
good hosts because they get so much practice welcoming visitors
from all over the world.
Italy is one of the most popular vacation countries in
Europe, all seasons being good for a visit. In summer, Italy
is an international playground, with visitors from all continents
mingling with vacationing Italians at the famous resorts.
Spring comes early to Italy and autumn lingers - and so
will the wise traveler who wants to enjoy at a more leisurely
pace the art centers, the large cities and the holiday resorts
such as those in the Lombardian lake region where spring
and fall are ideal seasons.
In winter, the Italian Alps are unequaled for scenery and
skiing. In northern Italy are some of the world's most renowned
winter sports resorts, easily reached from such centers
as Torino, chief city of the westernmost Piemonte region;
from Milano, hub of the central mountain and lake district;
and from Venezia, leading city of the eastern region. Skiing
is also a summer sport in the Torino Alps and the lofty
mountains surrounding the Valle d’Aosta.
From the sunny southern slopes of the Alps to the lush
orange groves of Sicilia, Italy offers enormous variety
in its natural scenery and historical backgrounds. Because
a good part of Italy grew up as a collection of independent
city-states, customs and food vary greatly from region to
region. This rich history is preserved in the colorful folklore
festivals that take place in all of Italy's regions throughout
the year.
Most of the year the beaches are sunny, with 5,310 miles
of shoreline bordering Italy and its islands. You can usually
find waters where the temperature is right for swimming.
And history is always in season: choose any time of year
to tour historic buildings and view the world's greatest
art treasures, for this is a land that has been writing
and preserving its history for over three thousand years.
Situated in Mediterranean Europe, Italy has land frontiers
with France in the north-west, Switzerland and Austria in
the north and Slovenia in the north-east. The peninsula
is surrounded by the Ligurian Sea, the Sardinian Sea and
the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west, the Sicilian Sea and the
Ionian Sea in the south and the Adriatic Sea in the east.
Italian is the language of the majority of the population
but there are minorities speaking German, French, Slovene
and Ladino. Sixty-seven percent of the population live in
cities.
Geographical Profile:
There is a great deal of variety in the landscape in Italy,
although it is characterized predominantly by two mountain
chains: the Alps and the Apennines. The former extends over
600 miles from east to west. It consists of great massifs
in the western sector, with peaks rising to over 14,000
feet, including Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc), Monte Rosa and
Cervino (the Matterhorn). The the chain is lower in the
eastern sector, although the mountains, the Dolomites, are
still of extraordinary beauty.
At the foot of the Alpine arc stretches the vast Po Valley
plain, cut down the middle by the course of the river Po,
the longest in Italy (390 miles), which has its source in
the Pian de Re (Monviso) and flows into the Adriatic through
a magnificent delta. The Alpine foothills are characterized
by large lakes: Lake Maggiore and the lakes of Como, Iseo
and Garda. The Apennines form the backbone of the peninsula,
stretching in a wide arc concave to the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The Corno Grande (Gran Sasso d'Italia) is the highest peak.
A large part of central Italy is characterized by a green
hilly landscape, through which the rivers Arno and Tevere
(Tiber) run. The southern section of the chain pushes out
to the east forming the Gargano promontory and, sloping
down further south, the Salentine peninsula. It then proceeds
to the west with the Calabrian and Peloritano massif stretching
across the Strait of Messina into Sicilia. The principal
islands are Sicilia, rising up to the great volcanic cone
of Etna (10,860 feet) and Sardegna. The main archipelagos
are the Tremiti Islands in the Adriatic Sea, the Tuscan
Archipelago, the Pontine Islands, the Aeolian Islands and
the Egadi Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of
Sicilia.
The miracle of Italy is that all its treasures come packaged
in a gorgeous country of majestic mountains, placid lakes,
idyllic islands, splendid cities and wonderful walled villages.
An ideal climate plus warm and gracious people make Italy
a perfect destination for an active vacation, the art lover,
the gourmand, the hedonist combined, why not, with business.
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