Italy is a European country located in the southern part of the continent. Her northern neighbors include Austria, Switzerland and France. These countries are all located along the Alp regions Sardinia and Italian Peninsula among other islands border Italy to the south. Additionally, Italy encloses the Vatican City and San Marino states. This part paper explores the various elements of the Italian culture dating back from pre historic times to modern civilization (Somigli & Moroni 20).
The major religion in Italy is the Roman Catholic which makes up 90% of the populace. The Eastern Rite Catholics and the Jews among other religions such as Islam and the Orthodox makes up the other 2%.as already mentioned, the Roman Catholic is the major religion in Italy and therefore it also dominates the belief system of the country having been integrated from the belief patterns of other minor groups such as the Greek and Arabic (Somigli & Moroni 145). However, there are also traditional belief systems that deviate from main stream religions like Christianity, Islam and Judaism. For instance there are those who believe in omens, realization of dreams, messages from diviners, use of charms for protection as well as the existence of evil eye.
Food is a major component in any Italian home since it creates close ties among friends and other close acquaintances. An Italian breakfast is typically made up of fruit juice, strong coffee and a hard roll. The noon meal marks an Italian lunch which mainly consists of pasta. Eaten together with pasta include fish or meat, bread and soup (Barański 5). In other words this has acted as staple food for centuries. However leftovers were reserved for dinner. Due to the changing times coupled with civilization, the heavy traditional lunch is hardly taken with most people preferring light meals. Nonetheless there are some apparent differences in the way food is either prepared or eaten depending on the geographical region within Italy.
One of the outstanding pieces arts in Italy is the Moscow House of Photography. Most of the fashion and art exhibitions are carried out in this landmark building. For example the neo-realism of the Italian culture festivities is conduced here. The Marlene Dietrich and the Pirelli nudes are common appearances during the fashion shows. The Manezh exhibition hall is another prominent venue where other spectacular art shows are conducted.
The onset of religion and especially Christianity marked the beginning of music in Italian culture. Both classical instrumental music and opera are common and highly valued genres of music in Italy (Barański 326).Both types of Italian music incorporates imported and native sources making up the pop music culture. Music cuts across the society and is a major companion during special events in traditional ceremonies and political meetings. During the 16th century, the development was as a result of myriad of music compositions such as notations, harmony any musical scales.
The major sporting activity is soccer. Besides, the Italian society engages itself in other leisurely activities such as sports tourism, fishing, basketball, roller-skating, cycling and hunting.
One of the earliest architectural landmarks in Italy is the Gothic architecture. It dates back before the close of the 12th century. It is markedly different from the France architecture in spite of the fact that its origins can be traced back from France (Bouchard 221).The Gothic architecture had four development phases beginning with the Cistercian architecture and ending with the late Gothic phase. Three centuries later, renaissance came into being in the city of Florence which witnessed the growth of Gothic architecture into Romanesque. Hence, the period marked by renaissance was significant in the growth and development of Italian architecture.
The existence of palaces in Italy came to an end in mid 1940s when the monarchy system was replaced by the democratically elected government (Bouchard 143).There were a total of ten principle palaces spread across Italy. For instance, the royal palace was located in Torino in Caserta as well as Milano and Monza cities. The castles such as castle de Monte and Fenis were located alongside the palaces.
The typical Italian family is the root of all traditions and customs practiced and valued in an Italian society. Both the extended and nuclear families are embraced. There are also small community-based organizations and institutions that form part and parcel of the family structure (Barański 265). Traditionally, the extended family used to be formed by people living close together within a given locality. Besides, conventional practices at either workplace or homesteads are largely cushioned by the traditions adopted by the family.
Profound Italian plays and other theatre works dates back as early as 15th Century when there was renaissance in the writing of Italian plays from Roman original compositions (Somigli & Moroni 145). There were several productions that were made in teatro olympico before the close of the 15th Century and to date, Italy remains as one of the outstanding theatre hubs in Europe. Both music and dance are used to mark theatrical presentations, festivals and ceremonies.
Works Cited
Barański, G. Zygmunt. The Cambridge companion to modern Italian culture, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Bouchard, Norma. Risorgimento in modern Italian culture: revisiting the nineteenth- century past in history, narrative and cinema, NJ: Associated University Presses,2005.
Somigli, Luca & Moroni, Mario. Italian modernism: Italian culture between decadentism and avant-garde, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.