Italy, though not large in size, has exerted more influence around the world than any other nation. This is not just because of the diversity of its landscapes, culture, amazing food and wine, unparalleled sense of beauty, and legendary creativity, but because its people are superb guardians of the legacy of their civilization.
Every Italian region is unique, which is part of their fascination. Fred Plotkin, an expert on all things Italian and the author of seven books on Italian themes, is back by popular demand to complete his extremely popular series on the regions of Italy. In illustrated talks, he reveals the history, mysteries, and pleasures of eight extraordinary regions from the Alps to the Mediterranean.
Individual sessions are available for purchase. Click on the session dates below for more information.
Jan. 30 Rome and Lazio
Rome probably has more attractions and cultural treasures than any city in the world. It remains the point of reference for almost everything we think of as civilization. And yet it is the capital of a region more ancient than the city itself. Lazio (Latium) is the mother of Rome. The Etruscans and even earlier peoples lived here and built the foundations of agriculture, road-building, and commerce that created Rome. It is a region with coastline, rivers, lakes, hills, and high mountains that grows many of the remarkable ingredients that are staples in the Roman larder. Lazio, smack in the center of the peninsula, is perhaps the most typically Italian region but among the least known because visitors seldom venture beyond Rome.
Mar. 6 Abruzzo and Molise
Until 1963, Abruzzo and Molise were one region known as the Abruzzi. They have things in common, yet each is quite distinct. Due east of Rome, they are unusual in that they are the last place in Italy the Catholic Church gained a toehold. As a result, they are the most pagan part of the country, filled with pre-Christian festivals, superstitions, and rituals that have been practiced for thousands of years. They are the site of an ancient annual migration of humans and animals from the mountains to the Adriatic called the transhumance. Abruzzo has the highest mountains in central Italy, national parks, wolves, eagles, and a gorgeous coastline. Molise is the nation’s second-smallest region, geographically out of the way and arguably the least-known place in Italy. Its isolation and anonymity means it has a character unto itself.
Apr. 17 Autonomous Alpine Regions: Trentino-Alto Adige and Valle d’Aosta
Five of Italy’s 20 regions have been given autonomous status, allowing them to maintain their distinct languages and traditions and enjoy a greater degree of self-government. They are Sicily, Sardinia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the alpine regions of Trentino-Alto Adige and Valle d’Aosta. Europe’s highest mountains, including Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn, are in the French-speaking Valle d’Aosta, Italy’s smallest region. German-speaking Trentino-Alto Adige, wedged among Lombardy, Veneto, Switzerland and Austria, has glorious scenery, some of Italy’s best wine, and the nation’s highest standard of living. Trentino, Alto Adige, and Valle d’Aosta each have a provincial capital and, despite some commonalities based on their remote alpine settings, are all different in languages, politics, and cuisine. All three supply Italy with its most-admired troops, the alpini, who are deployed all over the nation when natural disasters strike.
May 8 Basilicata and Calabria
These two regions form the instep and toe of the Italian boot. Basilicata (also known as Lucania), is Italy’s third-smallest region. It also has Matera, one of the world’s most unusual cities, because most of its residents have always lived in caves, and continue to do so. It is so otherworldly that it is often used as the setting for films depicting ancient history. The region was dominated by the Greeks, who brought their food and traditions and Aglianico, perhaps Italy’s oldest wine. Calabria has a very long and rugged coastline and dense pine forests filled with wildlife, chestnuts, and mushrooms. It is little-known because it is very self-contained and visited mostly by people whose family roots are there. Yet it has amazing Hellenic and Roman art (including the world-famous Riace Bronzes) and a vibrant cuisine that draws from superb seafood, fruit, and vegetables. Its most famous export is bergamot, the secret ingredient in Earl Grey tea.
Jun. 12 Liguria
The fabulous Italian Riviera, also called Liguria, is famous for its extraordinary beauty in the Cinqueterre and towns such as Portofino and San Remo. But it also has Genoa, one of Italy’s largest and least-known cities, a treasure house of art and architecture, much of it in the largest medieval district of any city in Europe. Genoa launched the First Crusade, gave the world Christopher Columbus, and was crucial to Italy becoming a unified republic in the 1860s. Liguria also has a rocky coastline, hidden coves, high Apennine mountains, and towns older than Rome that are said to be inhabited by witches. Many great writers (including D.H. Lawrence, Dickens, Byron, and Ezra Pound) lived in Liguria and found inspiration there, as did composers such as Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Wagner, and Sibelius. For all of these artists—and Plotkin—Liguria is Italy at its best.
Plotkin was described in The New York Times as “an American who might as well be Italian, given how extensively he has studied and worked in Italy, the subject of many of the books he’s written.”
5 sessions, no February session
