Travel Destinations Italy

Winter Sports (Sport invernali) gave many good results to Italy. Among them, Italians excel in cross country skiing (sci di fondo) and lug (slittino), with the three time Olympic gold medal winner Armin Zoeggler.
Football (calcio) is the most popular spectator and participation sport. The Italian national team has won the World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006) Other popular sports are Rugby union, cycling, motor sports and basketball.

Facts, Icons and Landmarks

In modern times Italy's most important architect was Pier Luigi Nervi (1891 -1979) an engineer who greatly developed the use of reinforced concrete. The Pirelli building in Milan is a fine example of his work.
Italy has many islands: the largest of them is Sicily. Sardinia, Elba and Capri are also important. Italy also includes two separate principalities: Vatican City in Rome and San Marino.
In the North, Italy shares the Alps with France, Austria and Switzerland. A major mountain chain, the Apennines, runs down the centre of the country. Vesuvius, close to Naples, is the only active volcano on the European mainland; Etna on Sicily is one of the world's largest volcanoes.
The largest river in Italy is the Po, which begins in the Alpine region in the west of the country and ends in an extensive delta on the Adriatic. The Tiber and the Arno are the other major rivers.
Italian food is very popular throughout the world. Pasta comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and is served with many different types of sauce. Pizza also comes in different varieties.
Italian-style cappuccino and espresso coffee is drunk in many countries and Italian wines are popular worldwide.