Italy

Italy

The country of Italy began 2600 years ago and their leader was Julius Caesar. In Ancient Rome they spoke Latin, and then their language later transferred to Italian. The major religion is in Italy is Roman Catholicism. The population today is 67.5 million. The main language spoken is Italian but there is also Spanish and Arabic. The religion is Roman Catholicism.

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The country is located near the Mediterranean Sea. The capital city is Rome, and other major cities are Milan, Florence, and Venice. Other bodies of water that border the country are The Adriatic Sea, The Tyrrhenian Sea, and The Ionian Sea. If you ever want to locate Italy you will very easily find it in Europe because it is in the shape of a boot. One famous landform is the Apennines Mountains.

The climate of the country is different in the mountains and in the country. The climate is affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides and volcanoes.

City people live in small apartments and stone buildings. They wear the same clothes we wear - like pants, shirts, and designer clothes. They eat sea food (which is caught fresh), cheese, soups, pasta, meat, fish and salad. Some other Italian foods are pizza and pasta. In Italy they also like to drink coffee. The currency (type of money used) are the lira and the euro. The main jobs include farming and fishing. They shop at markets. Transportation is by bikes, cars, scooters, and boats. Gondolas, or long, flat-bottomed boats are used to travel along the canals in Venice. In Italy they like to play a lot of soccer. (soccer is a European sport).

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They have elementary, high school, university and college. Children start to go to school when they are three, four, and five. They go to school at 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. They learn Science, Language Arts, Math, Music, History and Religion.

Italy has a number of very large churches called cathedrals where Italians celebrate baptisms, first communisms, confirmations and weddings. Special holidays in Italy are Jubilee (where Christians visit Rome), Christmas, Befana (which celebrates the arrival of the three wise men), and Carnevale (which is a 40-day period where Roman Catholics do not eat meat or rich foods).

A specific art in Italy is ‘Rinascimento’ or the Renaissance, which is the rebirth of art by people such as Michaelangelo. The traditional music of Italy is opera and the Tarantella (it’s an Italian folk dance). Some Italian entertainers are Luciano Pavarotti and Gaetano Donizetti (famous entertainers). Some famous people from Italy’s past are Julius Caesar, Galileo, and Marco Polo.

Italian cities usually have piazzas, which are large public squares very often with a fountain. Some famous structures are the Coliseum and St. Peter’s Square in Rome. A famous statue is the Boccaccio. A famous building is the St. Peter’s Basilica and it is located in Vatican City. Milan has a ‘duomo’ which is a huge marble cathedral that took over 500 years to build. The Castel Santa is located in Rome. The Dance of Traunjuiis a famous statue located in Rome.