1861- 2011: 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy

Roberta Niccacci in her 1800s costume
for the cortege in Piegaro (PG) celebrating
the 150th Anniversary of Italy. 

Italy became one country as we know it in the shape of a boot with the islands of Sardinia and Sicily in 1861. Next year we are celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy.

Italy was originally a Kingdom, the so-called Kingdom of Italy. It was a constitutional Monarchy. This Monarchy lasted in Italy until June 2^nd 1946 when the existing Italian Republic was constituted and the Monarchy abolished.

Umbria is one of the 20 regions of Italy which were formally recognized for the first time in 1947. Italy nowadays has about 60 million inhabitants from the Alps to Sicily with about 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) of beautiful coastline. From Umbria, it takes 2 hours to get to either coast.

There are several theses about the origin of the name “Italy” both from Latin and from the Etruscan language. Its meaning goes back to Veal and/or cow. Italy has always been an agricultural country with a strong tradition in breeding animals for meat and for working the fields.

Latin was the language of the Romans and of the Ancient Roman dominion from the 8^th Century B.C. to 476 A.D. with its last Roman Emperor. The Roman culture gave birth to the Italian language through Latin, influenced other languages like French and Spanish and lent many words to the English language.

All the words in English that are similar to Italian are called “false Friends” and there are dictionaries in the market in order to learn how not to get confused between the meaning ("significato") and the writing of the word itself ("significante"). When you are aware of false friends that really means you know the Italian language or reverse. Though it is always easy to get trapped by false friends, just like in real life.

From my lecture "Welcome to Umbria, the green heart of Italy" for the art classes of Mr. Tony Turpin "Learn to Paint in Umbria, Italy May 9 – 20, 2010".