Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola - architect

Legacy of beautiful Renaissance buildings throughout Italy

Vignola's Villa Farnese at Caprarola, near Viterbo in Lazio,
which is acknowledged as one of the architect's masterpieces

One of the great architects of the 16th century, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, died on this day in 1573 in Rome.

Often referred to simply as Vignola, the architect left the world with a wealth of beautiful buildings and two acknowledged masterpieces, the Villa Farnese at Caprarola and the Church of the Gesù in Rome.

Along with Andrea Palladio and Sebastiano Serlio, Vignola was responsible for spreading the style of the Italian Renaissance throughout Europe.

He was born at Vignola near Modena in Emilia-Romagna in 1507. He began his career as an architect in Bologna and then went to Rome to make drawings of Roman temples. He was invited to Fontainebleau  to work for King Francois I, where it is believed he first met the Bolognese architect, Serlio.

Back in Italy he designed the Palazzo Bocchi in Bologna and then moved to Rome to work for Pope Julius III. He later worked alongside the artist Michelangelo, who greatly influenced his architectural style.

From 1564 onwards, Vignola worked on the new St Peter’s Basilica, following the plans Michelangelo had drawn up for the domes.

Vignola died in Rome at the age of 65. His remains were reburied in the Pantheon as recently as 1973.

Travel tip:

Villa Farnese, which is also sometimes known as Villa Caprarola, is a beautiful house in the town of Caprarola in the province of Viterbo in Lazio, about 50 kilometres north west of Rome. Cardinal Alessandro Farnese commissioned Vignola to design his residence and it is now recognised as one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in Italy. The architect worked on it until his death in 1573.

The Chiesa del Gesù in Rome was built to Vignola's design

Travel tip:

The Church of the Gesù, Chiesa del Gesù, is the mother church of the Jesuits in Piazza del Gesù in the Campo dè Fiori area of Rome. The church was built in 1568 to Vignola’s specifications and its baroque façade is believed to be the first of this style ever designed.

(Photo of Villa Farnese by Livioandronico2013 CC BY-SA 4.0)
(Photo of Chiesa del Gesù by Jebulon CC0 1.0)

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Goffredo Mameli - writer

Young poet wrote the stirring words of Italian national anthem

Goffredo Mameli, as depicted in a portrait on
display in the Museum of the Risorgimento

Patriot and poet Goffredo Mameli died on this day in 1849 in Rome.

A follower of political revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini and a supporter of the Risorgimento movement, Mameli is the author of the words of the Italian national anthem, Fratelli d’Italia.

Mameli was the son of a Sardinian admiral and was born in Genoa in 1827 where his father was commanding the fleet of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

As he grew up he became interested in the theories of Mazzini and he joined a political movement that supported the idea of a united Italy.

Mameli was a 20-year-old student when he wrote the words that are still sung today by Italians as their national anthem.  They were sung to music for the first time in November 1847 to celebrate the visit of King Charles Albert of Sardinia to Genoa.

The anthem is known in Italian as L’inno di Mameli or Mameli’s hymn.

Mameli became involved in the movement to expel the Austrians from Italy and joined Garibaldi’s army. He also became director of a newspaper that launched a press campaign urging the people to rise up against Austria.

He died after being accidentally injured in the leg by the bayonet of one of his colleagues during a battle. The wound became infected and his leg had to be amputated. He died as a result of the infection two months before his 22nd birthday.

Mameli’s Hymn, or Fratelli d’Italia as it is sometimes referred to because of its opening line, is played on Italian state occasions and embraced by Italian sports fans and competitors with great enthusiasm at events all over the world.

Football commentators noted how passionately Italy's footballers sang the words before their matches at Euro 2016.

After Italian unification, the official hymn of the House of Savoy, Marcia Reale - Royal March - was adopted as the Italian national anthem.

But after Italy became a republic in 1946, L’inno di Mameli was chosen as the new national anthem. This was made official by a law passed in November 2012.

Mameli's original manuscript

Travel tip:

The first manuscript of the words to the anthem is preserved at the Istituto Mazziniano, part of the Museum of the Risorgimento which is located within the house where Mazzini was born in Via Lomellini in Genoa. It appears in a book belonging to Mameli in which he recorded his notes, thoughts and writing. There is also a copy of the first printed version of the hymn with hand annotations by Mameli himself.

Travel tip:

Mameli’s tomb is in the Cimitero Monumentale del Verano in Piazzale del Verano near the Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura in Rome, but his remains were transferred during the Fascist era to the mausoleum for Garibaldi soldiers on the Gianicolo hill in Rome.

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Paolo Rossi's World Cup hat-trick

Spain 1982: Italy defeat Brazil in classic match

Paolo Rossi kisses the World Cup
trophy on the plane back to Italy

Italians were celebrating up and down the country on this day in 1982 as striker Paolo Rossi turned from villain to hero with a magnificent hat-trick to knock hot favourites Brazil out of the World Cup finals in Spain.

The Juventus forward had served a two-year suspension for his role in an alleged match-fixing scandal while on loan with Perugia and was controversially selected for the World Cup by Italy coach Enzo Bearzot.

He had returned to action in Serie A late in the 1981-82 season after his ban was lifted less than six weeks before the finals were due to begin. Critics argued that with so little preparation time he could not possibly be match fit.

Boasting stars such as Zico, Falcão, Éder and Sócrates, the 1982 Brazil side was reckoned to be at least the equal of the team of Pelé, Rivellino, Tostão and Jairzinho that won the 1970 World Cup in such flamboyant, thrilling style.

Some say the 1982 vintage was even better. What is true is that they needed only to avoid defeat against Italy in their final match in the second group phase in the Estadio Sarrià in Barcelona to reach the semi-finals.  Italy, by contrast, had been uninspiring, scraping through their first-round group without winning a match.

They kept their hopes alive, however, by beating Argentina 2-1 in the first of their two second-round matches and against Brazil, inspired by Rossi, produced one of the most memorable performances by the Azzurri in a match regarded by some football watchers as the greatest World Cup match of all time.

Italy were ahead after just five minutes when Rossi justified the faith of manager Bearzot by heading in Antonio Cabrini's cross.  From that point on, the game consisted of Brazil pushing forward and Italy defending superbly while looking to sting the South Americans on the counter-attack.

Within seven minutes, however, the scores were level as Sócrates played a one-two with Zico and drove the ball in at goalkeeper Dino Zoff's near post.

Paolo Rossi had been a controversial choice in the
Italy squad after his ban for alleged match fixing 

Brazil looked to have momentum and Italy seemed in danger of collapsing under pressure but then a casual pass by Cerezo towards Junior after 25 minutes presented the opportunity for Italy to regain the lead. Rossi, rediscovering his old poacher's sharpness, latched on to the stray ball and shot past goalkeeper Waldir Peres.

The lead held this time until well into the second half, when Rossi could have made it 3-1 but sent an easy chance wide. Two minutes later, Italian fans were stunned when Falcão, given too much time and space, equalised with a powerful drive.

Brazil could have settled then for keeping the scores level but in their desire to win the game they left themselves vulnerable. An Italian attack won a corner, which was only half cleared.  Marco Tardelli's shot was not strong enough to beat Peres but Rossi, his predatory instincts kicking in again, diverted the ball into the net to complete his hat-trick and take Italy into the last four.

With renewed confidence, Italy went on to defeat Poland 2-0 in the semi-finals with Rossi scoring both goals, and overcame West Germany 3-1 in the final.  Rossi scored the opening goal to take his tally to six, which earned him the Golden Boot as the tournament's leading marksman.

Rossi, who was born in Prato in Tuscany and played for Juventus, Vicenza, AC Milan and Hellas Verona in domestic football, retired in 1987. Now 59, he regularly appears on Italian television as a football pundit.

UPDATE: Sadly, Paolo Rossi died in December 2020 at the age of only 64, having been diagnosed with lung cancer.

The Castello dell'Imperatore in Prato

Travel tip:

Paolo Rossi's home town of Prato is situated around 25km north-west of Florence.  Its main sights include the 13th century Castello dell'Imperatore and the Church of Santa Maria delle Carceri, which can both be found adjoining the wide Piazza Santa Maria delle Carceri in the centre of the town.

Travel tip:

Paolo Rossi's final club before he retired, Hellas Verona, was founded in 1903 by a group of students, who called the club Hellas, which is the Italian word for Greece, at the suggestion of their classics professor.  In 1906, the team attempted to raise their profile by playing a match inside Verona's famous Roman amphitheatre, the Arena di Verona, nowadays famous for its outdoor productions of opera.

(Photo of Castello dell'Imperatore by Massimilianogallardi CC BY-SA 3.0)

More reading:

Dino Zoff: Italy's 40-year-old World Cup winning captain

Marcello Lippi and Italy's 2006 World Cup triumph

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Gina Lollobrigida – actress

Movie star who became photo journalist

Gina Lollobrigida at the peak of her
fame in the 1960s

Film star Gina Lollobrigida was born Luigina Lollobrigida on this day in 1927 in Subiaco in Lazio.

At the height of her popularity as an actress in the 1950s and early 1960s she was regarded as a sex symbol all over the world.

In later life she worked as a photo journalist and has supported Italian and American good causes. In 2013 she sold her jewellery collection and donated the money she raised, in the region of five million dollars, to fund stem cell therapy research.

One of four daughters of a furniture manufacturer and his wife, as a young girl, Lollobrigida did some modelling, entered beauty contests and had minor roles in Italian films. She studied painting and sculpture at school and claimed in later life that she became an actress "by mistake".

When she was 20 she entered the Miss Italia competition and came third. The publicity she received helped her get parts in European films but she turned down the chance to work in America after initially agreeing a seven-year contract with the American entrepreneur Howard Hughes. After she refused the terms of her contract, it took nine years for a legal dispute to be resolved.

She received a BAFTA nomination and won a Nastro d’Argento award for her performance in Bread, Love and Dreams (Pane, amore e fantasia), a comedy directed by Luigi Comencini, in 1953. She later starred in the English language film Beat the Devil, which was shot in Italy, and she also worked in the French film industry.

Lollobrigida's looks brought her much work 
but she was also a talanted actress

Her appearance in The World’s Most Beautiful Woman (1955), a French-Italian comedy also known as Beautiful But Dangerous led to her receiving the David di Donatello - the award presented by the Academy of Italian Cinema - for Best Actress. She played the part of Italian soprano Lina Cavalieri and sang arias from Tosca herself.

In the 1950s and '60s, her talent and vivacious good looks put her in demand with the major studios and she was cast alongside many of the big box-offices names of the era, including Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Anthony Quinn, Yves Montand, Marcello Mastroianni, Frank Sinatra, Yul Brynner, Sean Connery and Rock Hudson.

More awards came in the shape of a Golden Globe for the romantic comedy Come September (1961), a Nastro d'Argento and David di Donatello awards for the historical drama Venere Imperiale (1962), and a third David di Donatello for another comedy, Buona Sera, Mrs Campbell (1968), which also starred Shelley Winters, Phil Silvers, Peter Lawford and Telly Savalas. 

In the mid 1980s her role in the American television series Falcon Crest earned her a Golden Globe nomination. By then, she was making only occasional movie appearances, her last coming in 1997.

At the end of the 1970s Lollobrigida started working as a photojournalist as well as continuing with acting. She obtained an exclusive interview with Cuban leader Fidel Castro and also photographed many famous film stars, as well as publishing a number of books of her photographs.

Married twice, she has one son, Andrea Milko, by her first marriage to a Slovenian physician. In retirement, she divided her time between her country house in Sicily, her home in Via Appia in Rome and her villa in Monte Carlo.

UPDATE: Gina Lollobrigida died in Rome in January, 2023 at the age of 95.

The Abbey of Santa Scolastica near Subiaco, Lazio,
home town of actress Gina Lollobrigida

Travel tip:

Subiaco, where Gina Lollobrigida was born, is a town in Lazio, about 40km (25 miles) to the east of Tivoli, alongside the Aniene river. It is famous for its two ancient abbeys, St Benedict’s and Santa Scolastica. The area has had a monastic community since the sixth century. The first printed books in Italy were produced on a printing press set up in the town in the 15th century.  Subiaco is also the birthplace of 16th century femme fatale Lucrezia Borgia.

Stretches of the original Via Appia are
preserved as the Via Appia Antica

Travel tip:

Gina Lollobrigida’s home in Rome is in Via Appia, the Appian Way, which is one of the earliest and most important of the Roman roads. It connects Rome to Brindisi in southern Italy. The road is named after Appius Claudius Caecus, who directed the construction of its first section in 312 BC after it was deemed that a road was needed to ease the movement of military supplies and troops to and from Rome. Stretching for approximately 400 miles (645km), it was the first long road made for this purpose. Today, following the route is an ideal way to see several major monuments of ancient Rome, including the Tomb of Priscilla, the Catacombs of Callixtus and St Sebastian, the Circus of Maxentius, the baths of Capo di Bove and the Villa dei Quintili. Today a modern road, the Villa Appia Nuova, runs close to the original route, while there are many stretches of the original route preserved, known ad the Villa Appia Antica.

Also on this day:

1742: The death of monk and philosopher Luigi Guido Grandi

1914: The birth of car designer Giuseppe 'Nuccio' Bertone

(Photo of Gina Lollobrigida by Ivo Lollobrigida CC BY-SA 3.0)
(Photo of the Abbey of Santa Scolastica by Livioandronico2013 CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Ulisse Stacchini - architect

Designer behind two famous Milan landmarks

Ulisse Stacchini

Ulisse Stacchini, the architect who designed two of Milan's most famous 20th century landmarks, was born on this day in 1871 in Florence.

A champion of Liberty style Art Nouveau designs, Stacchini's defining work was the gargantuan Stazione di Milano Centrale - the city's main railway terminal.

He also designed the stadium that evolved into the city's iconic Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, joint home of Milan's two major football clubs, Internazionale and AC Milan.

Stacchini studied in Rome and moved to Milan soon after graduating, setting up a partnership with the engineer Giulio de Capitani, building houses, offices and shops for private clients

Among his early projects was the Savini Caffè in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.  His style can be seen in a number of town houses commissioned by wealthy patrons, including Via Gioberti 1 at Via Revere 7, which feature linear designs.

He became involved with the Milano Centrale project when he won a design competition in 1912, although construction was delayed by more than a decade because of the crisis in the Italian economy that followed the First World War.

This 1964 photo of  Milano Centrale illustrates the
enormous size of the building

The project gained momentum only after Benito Mussolini became Prime Minister, with consequences for Stacchini's designs.  It was originally modelled on the Union Station in Washington but Mussolini wanted the new station to represent the power of the Fascist regime and encouraged Stacchini to create a majestic building that would have a huge presence.

To some critics, the end result was an incongruous mix of Liberty, Art Deco and classical features, adorned with numerous sculptures, yet it was impressive for its sheer scale.  Its façade spans 660 feet (200mt) and is 90 feet (27mt) high with three enormous porticos, each almost 30 feet (9mt) wide and 53 feet (16mt) high. It dominates the Piazza Duca D'Aosta.

It was while the station project was under way that Piero Pirelli, the president of AC Milan, commissioned Stacchini to design a new stadium for the club on a site in the San Siro district of the city.

Stacchini's original stadium bore little resemblance to the instantly recognisable structure of today, with its 11 cylindrical towers, three tiers of seats and a vast roof, but was impressive at the time, consisting of two grandstands, one of which was partially covered, and two end terraces, with a capacity of 35,000.  The first match there was staged in September 1926, a friendly between AC Milan and rivals Internazionale that the latter won 6-3.

It underwent several expansions and reconstructions and became home to both Milan clubs in 1945.  It was named after the footballer Giuseppe Meazza in part because he played for both AC Milan and Inter. He spent much the larger part of his career with Inter, however, hence AC Milan fans prefer to describe the stadium as the San Siro.

Stacchini went on to design many more buildings, especially for the banking sector, before spending the latter part of his working life teaching architecture at the Milan Polytechnic.  He died in Sanremo, Liguria, in 1947, aged 75.

Travel tip:

Milano Centrale has 24 platforms and handles about 320,000 passengers per day, using approximately 500 trains. The station is a major hub on the north-south route between Bologna and Salerno and also has trains running daily to international destinations including Bern, Lugano, Geneva, Zürich, Paris, Vienna, Barcelona and Munich.

The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza today

Travel tip:

The new M5 metro line has made access to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza easy to reach, with a new station (San Siro Stadio) situated directly outside the ground.  The line does not pass directly through the city centre but travellers using line M1 can change at Lotto, or at Garibaldi on line M2.   The Line 16 tram still runs from west of Piazza Duomo to the stadium, where the route terminates.  The journey by metro takes about 20 minutes, by tram half an hour.

(Old photo of Milano Centrale by Albertomos CC BY-SA 3.0)

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Palio di Siena

First of two annual races is contested today

The Palio is run at a furious pace around the perimeter
of the Piazza del Campo in Siena

The first of the two annual contests for the historic Palio di Siena takes place in Piazza del Campo in the Tuscan city this evening.

The passionately competitive horse race, first run in 1656, is staged on July 2 and August 16 each year. The first race is in honour of Siena's Madonna of Provenzano, the second forms part of the celebrations marking the Feast of the Assumption.

A colourful pageant, the Corteo Storico, precedes the race, which sees the square filled with spectators from many parts of the world.

The Palio features 10 horses, each representing one of Siena's 17 contrade, or wards, ridden bareback by riders wearing the colours of the contrada they represent.   They race for three circuits of a dirt track laid around the perimeter of the Piazza del Campo.

It is an event with no holds barred.  Riders are allowed to use the whip to encourage their own mounts but also to hamper their rivals and falls are frequent.  The winner is the horse that crosses the finishing line first, even if its rider is no longer on board.

Horses are trained specifically with the Palio in mind and 10 judged to be of approximately equal quality are chosen four days before the race by the heads - capitani - of each contrada.  A lottery then takes place to determine which contrada each will represent.

The rules are complex.  The first nine horses are called into the starting area, known as the Mossa, in the order in which they are drawn and the race begins only when the rider of the 10th horse chooses what he judges to be the right moment tactically to join them.

Packed crowds line the narrow circuit

Winning is down to the skill of the rider, but with as much emphasis placed on preventing other contenders from finishing first as on actually crossing the line in front it can sometimes be a confusing event.  In the celebrations that follow, supporters of the winning contrada will naturally be seen enjoying their own success, but others might be equally joyful because their traditional rival has lost.

The 17 contrade are: Eagle, Snail, Wave, Panther, Forest, Tortoise, Owl, Unicorn, Shell, Tower, Ram, Caterpillar, Dragon, Giraffe, Porcupine, She-Wolf and Goose.

The race is limited to 10 for safety reasons (although accidents are still commonplace along the narrow or steeply banked parts of the circuit).  Seven of the runners are those who did not participate in the immediately preceding race, with the other three chosen in a draw.

The winner receives a decorated Drappellone - a large drape - which is paraded around the track and then goes on display in the contrada's museum.  The most successful contrada in the history of the race has been Oca - the Goose - with 63 wins, followed by Chiocciola - the Snail - with 51, and Tartuca - the Tortoise - with 46.

The race begins at some point after 7pm but spectators are advised to arrive in the Piazza by 4pm.  Police close the entrances to the square once they consider it to be full and the Corteo Storica parade arrives at 5pm.

Spectators can watch free of charge from the public space in the centre of the Piazza but because of the large numbers that inevitably want to attend the crowd will become tightly packed and the local tourist office advises against bringing small children.  There are also no public toilets and bottles of water and sun hats are considered to be essential.

Balcony positions and some private boxes can be obtained but they attract premium prices and tend to be booked up months in advance.

The beautiful Piazza del Campo in Siena is one of the
finest squares in Italy

Travel tip:

The shell-shaped Piazza del Campo, established in the 13th century as an open marketplace on a sloping site between the three communities that eventually merged to form Siena, is regarded as one of Europe's finest medieval squares, looked over by the Palazzo Pubblico and the Torre del Mangia.  The red brick paving, fanning out from the centre in nine sections, was put down in 1349.

Travel tip:

Plans for an enormous basilica, which would have been the largest in the world, in Siena had to be abandoned because of lack of funds due to war and the plague but the smaller Duomo (cathedral) built in its place is nonetheless considered a masterpiece of Italian Romanesque-Gothic architecture.  It contains a 13th century pulpit designed by Nicola Pisani.

(Photos of the Palio by Roberto Vicario CC BY-SA 3.0)


(Photo of Piazza del Campo By Ricardo André Frantz CC BY-SA 3.0)

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Claudio Saracini – musician

Baroque songs have survived till modern times

Composer Claudio Saracini was born on this day in 1586 in or close to Siena in Tuscany.

He is one of the most highly regarded composers of his time and is known also to have played the lute and been a singer.

An example of Saracini's surviving music:


He became famous for composing monody, which is secular music for a single voice, and 133 of the songs he wrote in this style have survived till today.

Some of Saracini’s compositions are still recorded, often in collections along with works by other composers of the same era, such as Monteverdi, who is said to have admired him.

Saracini travelled widely and seems to have established useful connections abroad as he dedicated a lot of his music to foreign aristocrats. He also appeared to have absorbed some of the musical styles of the lands he visited in his own compositions.

A unique feature of his work is the influence of folk music, particularly music from the Balkans, which is rarely heard in early Baroque music. 

Saracini’s music was all published in Venice between 1614 and 1624, before his death in 1630.

During the 20th century there was renewed interest in his work after it had been neglected for a long time.

The Piazza del Campo in Siena

Travel tip:

Siena is a beautiful old Tuscan town with a fan-shaped, central piazza, the Piazza del Campo, where the famous Palio, or horse race, is held twice every year. 

Travel tip:

When visiting Venice there are many opportunities to hear Baroque music played by orchestras in concerts held in some of the churches. To find out about concerts in Venice during your stay visit www.musicinvenice.com.

(Photo of Siena by Ricardo André Frantz CC BY-SA 3.0)

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