Culture: January 2004 Archives

Dating back to 500 B.C., the bronzes of Riace were discovered off the east coast of Calabria in August 1972 at a depth of only 8 meters and 300 meters from the shoreline. The complete restoration of the two bronzes lasted five years and finally on August 3, 1981 (after a first exhibition in Florence and a second in Rome), the two statues are now exhibited in the National Museum of Reggio Calabria.

In 1855, Guy de Maupassant wrote in "La Vie Errante": if somebody might pass one day only in Sicily and asked: "What should I visit?" I would answer without hesitate: Taormina.

The Villa Romana del Casale is the largest collection of late Roman mosaics in the world.

The great collection of the Capitoline Museum is housed in two buildings, the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Palazzo Nuovo. They face each other at the top of the Capitoline Hill, the highest of the hills of Rome.

This 37,000 square foot villa which dates from the third or fourth century has beautiful mosaic pavements covering most of the building’s galleries, peristyles, courtyards and thermal baths. The tilework, including the mosaics of the Labors of Hercules in the banquet hall and the mosaics illustrating the Roman circus in the baths, are of the Roman African school and date from the fourth century.

The temple is located 32 km east of Trapani beyond the town walls of Segesta. It is isolated on a low rise, and stands as one of the best preserved of all the Greek temples.

Rapallo Golf Club is one of the oldest courses in Italy, located in the hills of the Italian Riviera.

Delicate sculptures to simple boxes are carved from alabaster by the renown artisans of Volterra.

Silks by Valentino, Dior, Givenchy, Celine, and Leonard.