Italian Conversation and Culture

The Exile and Author Who Journeyed Through Hell – Dante Alighieri (1265–1321)
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As a political exile, Dante wrote a story that would immortalise him forever - one in which he journeyed through Hell, into Purgatory, and ascended to Heaven, where his soul was saved, in part, by his beloved Beatrice.
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In writing The Divine Comedy, Dante broke convention. He chose not to write in Latin - the norm at the time - but in the Tuscan dialect spoken in his native Florence. His work would go on to shape much of our modern imagination of Hell.
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He now stands, ever watchful over Florence’s Piazza Santa Croce - an ever-present figure in the city to which he was never allowed to return.
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Dante is a monumental figure, not only in Italian culture, but in Western culture and literature as a whole.

🏛️ The Colosseum – Rome’s Ancient Spectacle 🇮🇹

The Colosseum, originally called the Flavian Amphitheatre, was built in Rome between AD 70 and 80 under Emperors Vespasian and Titus as a grand public arena. It replaced Nero’s private palace lake with a space for free entertainment, helping the Flavian rulers win popular support and symbolise Rome’s power.

This vast stone and concrete amphitheatre held up to ~65,000 spectators for gladiatorial games, wild animal hunts, mock battles and shows that celebrated Roman engineering and imperial generosity.

After centuries of use, it fell out of active entertainment by the medieval era, later serving various roles before becoming one of the world’s most iconic relics of ancient history.

Santa Maria del Fiore or Il Duomo di Firenze
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A now iconic feature of the Florentine skyline, its dome serving as the crowning jewel of the city, it wasn’t, however, always this way.
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The cathedral took almost 150 years to complete in its entirety, spending many of those years absent of its iconic dome.
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The cathedral itself was the product of an ambitious city wanting to prove its worth, but it was found wanting, that was until Filippo Brunelleschi stepped in to help.
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The Florentines built their huge cathedral, but found that when the time came to build the dome, they were unable to. The structure was too big to be supported by timber scaffolding, which was how domes were built at the time, and they didn’t have the knowledge to do it any other way.
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Brunelleschi had spent a decade studying the Pantheon in Rome, its features, its secrets, and more importantly, its dome. Florence went on to employ Brunelleschi, and he went on to create what is still one of the largest domes in the world, a spectacle and testament to his genius that we can still enjoy to this day. In

Spectacle, Decadence and Indulgence
The Venice Carnival 🎭
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The medieval celebration is thought to have begun in the 12th or 13th century and was traditionally a way for Venetians to shake off the shackles of conformity and the pressures of society — allowing them to revel in anonymity and indulgence in the lead-up to Lent.
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The carnival isn’t simply a party; it is seen as an event that strengthens the city and public cohesion. Allowing citizens to blow off steam helped peace to be maintained.

The Colosseum, Rome
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Impressive, imposing, and ancient – a testament to the name of the city, La Città Eterna (“The Eternal City”).

🏛️ The Duomo of Florence - one of the greatest architectural masterpieces ever created.

Construction began in 1296 under Arnolfo di Cambio and was completed in 1436 when Filippo Brunelleschi finished his breathtaking dome - still the largest masonry dome in the world.

Built without scaffolding, the dome’s double-shell design and herringbone brick pattern changed architecture forever.

The cathedral’s marble façade in green, pink, and white makes it one of Europe’s most iconic sights - and inside, vast frescoes of The Last Judgment fill the dome with colour and awe.