Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Italy

The Passage of Commodus was used by Roman emperors.

You Can Now Walk Through the Colosseum’s Secret Tunnel Once Used by Ancient Roman Emperors

Experts say the notorious emperor Commodus may have survived an assassination attempt inside this tunnel, which is now open to the public following extensive restorations

The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, Claude Monet, oil on canvas, 1908

Claude Monet’s Beautiful Paintings of Venice Are Headlining an Exhibition for the First Time in More Than a Century

The paintings came from the French Impressionist’s time in Italy with his wife, Alice, in 1908

The stone is dedicated to soldier Sextus Congenius Verus.

Cool Finds

A Married Couple in New Orleans Found a Stone in Their Backyard. It Turned Out to Be an Ancient Roman Soldier’s Gravestone

The piece bears a Latin inscription describing the legionary’s service aboard a warship

Archaeologists think the bench may have been used by visitors who came to meet with the villa's owner.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Pompeii Discover Ancient Bench Where Hopeful Clients Waited to Be Seen by an Elite Roman

The seat is across from the entrance to the Villa of the Mysteries, a large property full of beautiful frescoes located just outside the ancient city’s walls

Susanna and the Elders was bought for an undisclosed sum after being put up for sale this summer by New York art dealer Nicholas Hall.

This Tiny Museum in Coastal Denmark Just Surpassed the Louvre in One Big Way

Following its latest acquisition, the Nivaagaard Collection has become a global leader in Renaissance and Baroque-period female painters

Medical supplies for the front are piled up at a railway station in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1935. Back in America, Black educator Melva L. Price rallied support for Ethiopian refugees fleeing the violence of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.

During the Great Depression, This Black Educator Looked to Conflicts Abroad for Lessons on Fighting Racism at Home

The Second Italo-Ethiopian War and the Spanish Civil War offered Melva L. Price and her fellow female activists an opportunity to examine the links between racism and fascism

Located nearly 60 feet below the surface, the statue is cleaned every year.

See How Divers Clean This Statue of Jesus Christ Submerged Nearly 60 Feet Below the Surface of the Mediterranean

Located off the coast of northern Italy, “Christ of the Abyss” was installed in 1954 to commemorate lives lost at sea. The statue receives a routine cleaning every year

The lion may have been brought from China in the mid-1260s and modified in Venice between 1270 and 1290.

New Research

Was Venice’s Iconic Winged Lion of St. Mark’s Square Made in Ancient China?

New research suggests that the famous bronze statue may have originally guarded a Chinese tomb before arriving in Venice in the late 13th century

The Uan Muhuggiag mummy is housed at Libya's National Museum, where it rests in a glass case on a cushion of cotton.

Africa’s Oldest Mummy Is a Toddler Who Died 5,400 Years Ago, Nearly a Millennium Before the Egyptians Started Mummifying Their Dead

Libya’s civil war has placed the Uan Muhuggiag mummy at risk. But negotiations are underway to transport the rare artifact from Libya to Rome, where it will undergo restoration and scientific analysis

The flip-flop mosaic decorated the floor of a cold pool room in the villa's bath complex.

Archaeologists Are Investigating an Ancient Mosaic Depicting Sandals That Look Strangely Like Modern Flip-Flops

The colorful artwork decorates the frigidarium of the Villa Romana del Casale, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Sicily

Italian officials with the five stones and brick fragment

Italian Police Catch Tourist Stealing Stones From the Ancient City of Pompeii

According to legend, travelers who remove artifacts from the historic Italian city are cursed to endure hardship. Many have even returned the stolen items years later

A digital rendering of the bridge

Italy Plans World’s Longest Suspension Bridge to Connect Mainland With Sicily

The bridge, expected to cost more than $15 billion, would stretch more than two miles across the Messina Strait

Insula Meridionalis, the neighborhood in ancient Pompeii where the excavations were conducted

Cool Finds

After Mount Vesuvius Erupted, Pompeii’s Poorest Survivors Lived Amid the Rubble of the Ancient City for Hundreds of Years

Some residents who couldn’t afford to resettle elsewhere returned to the city, where they occupied the upper floors of buildings that had been buried in ash, according to new research

Kulfi is the perfect cool-down in Delhi's sweltering heat.

Fancy a Kulfi? From Granita to Queso Helado, Cool Down With These Seven Frozen Desserts Found Around the World

Shaved ice, stretchy ice cream and other cold treats can transport you in time and place

In the 1950s, archaeologists found bronze jars in an underground shrine (left). They contained a mysterious sticky residue (right).

Scientists Found Sticky Goo Inside a 2,500-Year-Old Jar. Seventy Years Later, They Finally Know What It Is

By studying the mysterious substance’s chemical makeup, scientists determined the pot was once full of honey

Migrant Child depicts a shipwrecked young child in a life jacket holding up a flare emitting bright pink smoke.

Venice Breaks Ground on Controversial Banksy Mural Restoration

“Migrant Child” is being removed for restoration after years of water and salt damage, despite concerns from artists and community members

Entrepreneurs are remaking these 16th to 18th century farmhouses into intimate retreats and luxury hotels.

The Centuries-Old Abandoned Farmhouses of Puglia Are Having a Renaissance Moment

Supporting sustainability and local economies, these out-of-the-way structures known as masserie are offering a new type of rustic luxury

The ancient artwork is now on display at Pompeii.

Ancient Erotic Mosaic Stolen From Pompeii During World War II Finally Returns Home

A Nazi captain gave artwork, which depicts an intimate Roman romance, to a civilian. When he died, his heirs decided to return the piece to Italy

The Hall of Constantine's Vision of the Cross depicts the emperor ahead of his battle with Maxentius.

The Vatican’s Newly Restored Raphael Rooms Spotlight the Great Artist Who Died Before Finishing His Final Project

As specialists cleaned and studied the rooms in the Apostolic Palace, they learned new information about the Renaissance painter’s experimental techniques

 Cards from the Sola Busca, the earliest extant example of a complete 78-card tarot deck, made in Italy in the late 1400s.

The Colorful History of Tarot Is as Mesmerizing as the Decks Themselves

The original meaning behind the cards, first created 500 years ago, still remains elusive. But that didn’t stop our reporter from traveling to Milan in an effort to find out

Page 4 of 28