History & culture
Cults, Catacombs and Crypts
January 2024 | Diana Lucarino-Diekmann
L'articolo tratta di catacombe, tombe, delle cripte e del culto delle reliquie presenti ovunque in Italia. Descrive alcune catacombe e cripte esistenti fin dal Medioevo. Tombe e reliquie si trovano anche in Vaticano. Questi luoghi e ossari vari...
From the Italian American Press: "Double Murder at the Grand Hotel Miramare"
January 2024 | Janice Therese Mancuso
The Italian Riviera sets the scene for a murder mystery, with Deputy Assistant Chief of Police Luigi Berté, recently transferred from Milan to the coastal town of Lungariva, taking the lead in the investigation. Easter Monday is the traditional...
A Book Review: “The Fortunate Pilgrim”
January 2024 | William Giovinazzo
The movie “The Godfather” was released when I was 16-years-old. At the time, I didn’t care much about it. But my mother! Although you would not describe her as a moviegoer, she insisted we see it when she heard they sang “Che La Luna” during the...
“The Divine Comedy”
January 2024 | William Giovinazzo
Imagine for a moment being lost, not just I-took-the-wrong-exit-off-the-freeway-in-the-middle-of-the-day lost, but good and lost. Imagine it is the middle of the night. And you are in a dark forest, a really, really dark forest. You have no cell...
A Book Review: “A Bell for Adano”
December 2023 | William Giovinazzo
L'articolo descrive il libro A Bell for Adano di John Hersey. Il libro descrive la vita di Victor Joppolo, un italo-americano nell'esercito americano. Joppolo deve governare e controllare il paese di Adano durante la guerra. Anche se la storia è...
Saint Benedict and Montecassino
December 2023 | Janice Therese Mancuso
Overlooking the ancient pre-Roman town of Casinum, now Cassino, the first Benedictine monastery sits atop a flat mountain ridge of the Central Apennines with spectacular views of the valleys below and the mountain ranges in the distance.
Casinum,...
In-Church Altars
December 2023 | Diana Lucarino-Diekmann
L'articolo descrive i vari altari esistenti nelle diverse religioni. Ad esempio, i romani pagani usarono un altare chiamato lararium. Si trovano nelle case e hanno sempre una candela accesa. Fu un altare per il dio Lares. Gli altari cristiani...
Hell on Earth: The Sulfur Mines of Sicily
November 2023 | Joanna Lucarino
After viewing the documentary film, “La Porta dell'Inferno” (“The Door to Hell”) by Michael Cavalieri, I felt compelled to delve deeper into the history of the Sicilian sulfur mines and the zolfo (sulfur) workers from the end of the 1700s until...
Is it a Monument, Statue, Memorial, or Public Art?
November 2023 | Richard Leto
Researching and trying to find the most accurate definition that would answer the question posed in my article title, I found some differences and commonalities. However, in my humble and novice (and slightly biased) opinion, I feel all the noted...