Internazionale - football superpower

Famous club that broke away from rivals AC Milan

Internazionale's famous logo, designed
by club founder Giorgio Muggiani

Internazionale, one of Italy's most successful football clubs, came into being on this day in 1908.

The winner 20 times of lo scudetto - the Italian championship - the club known often as Inter or Inter-Milan was born after a split within the membership of the Milan Cricket and Football Club, forerunner of the club known now as A C Milan.

The original club was established by expatriate British football enthusiasts with a membership restricted to Italian and British players. It was after a dispute over whether foreign players should be signed that a breakaway group formed.

Plans for a new club were drawn up at a meeting at the Ristorante L'Orologio in Via Giuseppe Mengoni in Milan, a short distance from the opera house, Teatro alla Scala.  It was a restaurant popular with theatregoers and artists, among them Giorgio Muggiani, a painter who would become renowned for his work in advertising, where he designed iconic posters for such clients as Pirelli, Cinzano, Martini and Moto Guzzi.

Muggiani, who had developed an enthusiasm for football while studying in Switzerland, was the driving force behind the new club and it was he who designed the club's famous logo, featuring the colours blue, black and gold.  He was appointed the club's first secretary.

A statement issued to announce the birth of the new club romantically proclaimed:

Giorgio Muggiani (second left) pictured in 1912 with
some of his fellow founding members of Internazionale

"This wonderful night will give us the colours for our crest: black and blue against a backdrop of gold stars. It will be called Internazionale because we are brothers of the world."

The new club had to wait only two years to win their first scudetto in 1910.  Their total of 20 titles is one more than that of the city rivals from whom they broke free and with whom they share the colossal Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, which holds 75,000 spectators.  Only Juventus (36 titles) have been champions more often.

Also known as San Siro, after the district of Milan in which it is situated, the stadium was named in honour of Giuseppe Meazza, the inside forward who is Internazionale's all-time record goalscorer with 241 league goals and who was captain of the Italian national team that won the World Cup in 1934 and 1938.

Inter's history features two peaks of dominance in Italian football, the first in the 1960s, when they won three Serie A titles in four years as well as two consecutive European Cups, and the years between 2005 and 2010, when a record-equalling run of five consecutive titles culminated in an unprecedented treble in 2010. They are also the only Italian club that has never been relegated from the top division.

The inside forward Giuseppe Meazza
scored 241 league goals for Inter

The Argentine coach Hellenio Herrera, famous for his belief in the catenaccio tactical system, with its strong emphasis on defence, was behind the first golden era.

The more recent one was started by the current manager, Roberto Mancini, after he was appointed for the first time in 2004, and continued by Jose Mourinho, who steered the team to a domestic double of Serie A and Coppa Italia in 2010 as well as winning the European Cup for Inter for the first time in 45 years.

Inter benefited during that period from the penalties imposed on Juventus and AC Milan following the calciopoli corruption scandal.  They were given the 2005-06 title by default, having actually finished third, and by the time their two rivals recovered -- Juventus were punished with relegation to Serie B, AC Milan with a points deduction -- they had developed a winning momentum that remained with them until Mourinho left, bound for Real Madrid.

Inter's fortunes dipped after their 2010 title and it was 11 years before the club reclaimed their place at the top of the pile when Antonio Conte led them to scudetto number 19 in the 2020-21 season, ending a nine-season title-winning streak by Juventus. The 20th came in 2024 under Simone Inzaghi, whose six trophies in four seasons put him one behind Herrero and Mancini as the club's most successful head coaches.

This article was updated in March, 2026.

The Arena Civica in Milan as it originally looked

Travel tip:

For many years, Internazionale's home ground was the Arena Civica, in the heart of Milan. Opened in 1807 in the city's Parco Semp-ione, behind the Castello Sforzesco, the arena is one of Milan's main examples of neoclassical architecture, an elliptical amphitheatre commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte soon after he became King of Italy in 1805.  Napoleon wanted it to be Milan's equivalent of the Colosseum in Rome, although there are Greek influences too.  The structure was built using stone reclaimed from the destruction of the Spanish fortifications at the Castello Sforzesco and from the castle at Trezzo sull'Adda. The first event to be staged there, fittingly, was a chariot race.  It was adapted for football in the early part of the 20th century and was Inter's permanent home until the move to San Siro in 1947, although they continued to play some matches there until 1958.

Milan's Piazza del Duomo is near Via Giuseppe Mengoni,
where Inter's founders met in a restaurant

Travel tip:

Although the Ristorante L'Orologio in Via Giuseppe Mengoni no longer exists, the street is at the centre of Milan, running parallel with the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and opening out into the cathedral square Piazza del Duomo.  The Castello Sforzesco and Parco Sempione are a 15-minute walk or two stops on Metro Linea 1 from the Duomo.

More reading

Roberto Mancini, skilful player turned successful coach

Giuseppe Meazza, Italian football's first superstar

Genoa Football and Cricket Club - where it all began

Also on this day:

1454: The birth of explorer Amerigo Vespucci

1809: The birth of politician and winemaker Bettino Ricasoli

1842: Verdi's Nabucco premieres in Milan

1935: The birth of 'father of mobile phone' Andrew Viterbi

1948: The birth of radical politician Emma Bonino

(Picture credits: Piazza del Duomo by Katia Gutkowska)

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La Festa della Donna – Women’s Day

Bright fragrant mimosa signals respect 

Mimosa flowers are the traditional
gift to mark La Festa della Donna

La Festa della Donna - Women’s Day - is celebrated in Italy on this day every year and is an occasion for men to show their appreciation for the women in their lives.

All over Italy today men will be seen carrying bunches of prettily wrapped mimosa to give to women who are special to them.

The flowers might be for their wives, girlfriends, mothers, friends or even employees and are meant as a sign of respect for womanhood.

The custom of men giving mimosa to their ladies began in the 1940s after the date 8 March was chosen as the Festa della Donna (Festival of the Woman) in Italy.

The date, which coincides with International Women's Day, has a political significance for campaigners for women's rights in Italy, marking the anniversary of a strike by female textile workers in New York in 1857 and the so-called 'bread and peace' strike by women in Russia in 1917, but has more recently become a celebration similar to Mothering Sunday or St Valentine's Day.

Yellow mimosa was chosen as the flower to give because it is in bloom at the beginning of March, it is relatively inexpensive,and the scent of it in the atmosphere is a sign that primavera (spring) is just round the corner.

Continuing with the theme of mimosa, you might see on restaurant menus at this time of the year variations of dishes such as risotto mimosa, or pasta mimosa (made with finely scrambled eggs). Many restaurants will have a special menu just for today to celebrate the occasion.

And some cake shops will have Torta Mimosa in their windows, a concoction made with sugar, orange juice, whipped cream and orange liqueur.

Buona Festa!

Ristorante La Ciotola in Bergamo has a special
menu to celebrate La Festa della Donna

Travel tip:

In Bergamo in Lombardy a special menu to celebrate La Festa della Donna has been devised by Ristorante Pizzeria La Ciotola in the lower town. The restaurant in Via Papa Giovanni XXIII invites people wishing to celebrate the occasion to share 'a peaceful and relaxing evening with friends’ and enjoy some Bergamo specialities, such as casoncelli alla bergamasca and polenta taragna.

Hotels in Bergamo by Booking.com

The Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo, built in the 1780s, was
renamed in 1897 to mark the centenery of the composer's birth

Travel tip:

After enjoying a special meal to celebrate La Festa della Donna in Bergamo, why not enjoy a walk along Via Sentierone in the lower town, past Teatro Donizetti, to the monument to Bergamo’s celebrated composer. It was erected in 1897 in Piazza Cavour, off the Sentierone, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Donizetti’s birth. An imposing structure in white marble, it depicts the composer sitting on a bench gazing at the figure of a female playing the lyre. Set in the middle of a pond and surrounded by plants and trees, the monument is inscribed simply ‘A Gaetano Donizetti’. You could almost imagine the prolific composer of operas is looking longingly past the mythical musician in the direction of the nearby theatre, which was renamed Teatro Donizetti in 1897.

Search Bergamo hotels with Tripadvisor

More reading:

The Festa di Santa Lucia

The Festa della Liberazione

The poor beginnings of composer Gaetano Donizetti

Also on this day:

1566: The birth of composer - and wife killer - Carlo Gesualdo

1949: The birth of evergreen singer-songwriter Antonello Venditti


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Alessandro Manzoni – novelist

Writer who produced the greatest novel in Italian literature

A lithograph of the writer Alessandro Manzoni

Italy’s most famous novelist, Alessandro Manzoni, was born on this day in 1785 in Milan.

Manzoni was the author of I promessi sposi (The Betrothed), the first novel to be written in modern Italian, a language that could be understood by everyone.

The novel caused a sensation when it was first published in 1825. It looked at Italian history through the eyes of the ordinary citizen and sparked pro-unification feelings in many Italians who read it, becoming a symbol of the Risorgimento movement.

I promessi sposi is now considered to be the most important novel in Italian literature and is still required reading for many Italian schoolchildren.

Manzoni spent a lot of his childhood in Lecco, on Lago di Lecco, where his father’s family originated, and he chose to set his great work there.

Lago di Lecco is an arm of Lago di Como and is surrounded by dramatic mountain scenery that is so stunning it is said to have inspired Leonardo da Vinci for settings for his paintings.

More than two centuries later, fans of Manzoni’s novel continue to visit Lecco to see the places he described and the buildings featured in the book that remain.

The excellent Trattoria Vecchia Pescarenico
in the fisherman's quarter in Lecco that
featured in Manzoni's I promessi sposi

When visiting Lecco it is well worth taking the time to visit the historic fishermen’s quarter of Pescarenico, which was immortalised in I promessi sposi. It was the setting for Padre Cristoforo’s convent in the book and it was also from Pescarenico’s shore that one of the main characters, Lucia, set off in a boat to escape the clutches of the evil Don Rodrigo.

The village grew from a cluster of fishermen’s homes at the side of Lago di Lecco and an inn became established there in the 19th century.

Now named Trattoria Vecchia Pescarenico, the inn is at number eight in Via Pescarenico, a small street leading down to the side of the lake. Today it is an excellent restaurant specialising in seafood.

I promessi sposi created expressions and sayings that are still commonly used in Italian today, the most famous being: “Questo matrimonio non s’ha da fare…” (This marriage is not to be performed.)

This famous quote from the novel is still regularly used by Italians, in an ironic manner, when they are talking about weddings.

Manzoni died at the age of 88 after having had a fall on the steps of the church of San Fedele in Milan. There is now a statue of Manzoni in Piazza San Fedele.

Travel tip:

When you arrive in Lecco, it is a short walk from the railway station to the side of the lake. If you visit the Ufficio Informazione Turistiche (Tourist Information Office) in Via Sauro, just before you reach the lake, the staff will give you a free map of Lecco with places mentioned in the novel marked on it, such as Lucia’s house, Don Rodrigo’s castle and the famous marriage church. For more information about Lecco visit www.turismo.provincia.lecco.it.

  

The Casa Manzoni in Milan, where the author
lived until his death in 1873

Travel tip:

You can visit Casa Manzoni in Via Morone in Milan, where the author lived until his death in 1873 after his fall on the steps of the San Fedele church. The house is now used as the Centre for Manzoni Studies. The novelist’s tomb is in the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan. 

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Also on this day:

1274: The death of philosopher Saint Thomas Aquinas

1481: The birth of architect and painter Baldassare Peruzzi

1678: The birth of architect Filippo Juvarra

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La traviata - the world's favourite opera

Verdi's masterpiece performed for the first time

The poster advertising the first performance of Verdi's
famous opera at Teatro La Fenice in Venice

Giuseppe Verdi's opera, La traviata, was performed in front of a paying audience for the first time on this day in 1853.

The premiere took place at Teatro La Fenice, the opera house in Venice with which Verdi had a long relationship, one that saw him establish his fame as a composer.  La traviata would ultimately cement his reputation as a master of opera after the success of Rigoletto and Il trovatore.

La traviata has become the world's favourite opera, inasmuch as no work has been performed more often, yet the reception for the opening performance was mixed, to say the least.

Reportedly there was applause and cheering at the end of the first act but a much changed atmosphere in the theatre in the second act, during which some members of the audience jeered.  Their displeasure was said to be aimed in part at the two male principals, the baritone Felice Varesi and the tenor Lodovico Graziani, neither of whom was at his best.  There was also criticism of the soprano Fanny Salvini-Donatelli, the first to be given the role of Violetta, the opera's heroine.

Although an acclaimed singer, Salvini-Donatelli was 38 years old and somewhat overweight, whereas Verdi's character was both young and slight and, of course, would ultimately die from consumption.  Verdi had tried in vain to persuade the manager at La Fenice to re-cast the role with a younger singer.  He had also been overruled over his wish to give the opera a modern setting, in which he had the support of the librettist, Francesco Maria Piave, because the management insisted that the story be set in the past, in around 1700.

Dismayed, Verdi condemned the premiere as a failure, making it clear that he blamed the choice of singers.  Impresarios from other cities were eager to put on their own productions but Verdi was reluctant to allow the opera to be staged anywhere if he could not be given assurances over the casting.

In the end, more than a year after its debut, he allowed the opera to be performed again at Teatro San Benedetto, also in Venice, with the much younger Maria Spezia-Aldighieri in the role of Violetta. This time it was a huge success.

La traviata -- generally translated as 'the fallen woman' -- is the story of the ailing courtesan Violetta, who initially resists but then falls for a young admirer, Alfredo, for whom she gives up her party life in Paris to settle in the countryside.

Their blissful relationship is shattered, however, when Violetta is persuaded by Alfredo's father to turn away from his son for the sake of his daughter, whose own engagement is threatened because of the family's links with a courtesan.

Plácido Domingo, who has sung both
tenor and baritone roles in La traviata
Photo: Rmm413 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Unaware of the truth, Alfredo suspects Violetta's former lover, Baron Douphal, of being behind her change of heart, and confronts the two at a party in Paris.  Ultimately, having got the better of the Baron at the gaming table, Alfredo insults Violetta by throwing his winnings at her feet as payment for her services.

They are reconciled only when Violetta falls gravely ill with tuberculosis, or consumption as it was then called, and Alfredo's father tells him the truth just in time for him to arrive at her bedside and ask for forgiveness moments before she dies in his arms.

Verdi based the story of that of a real Parisian courtesan, Marie Duplessis, who similarly died from consumption but was immortalised by Alexandre Dumas fils, the French writer and dramatist, in his novel, La Dame aux Camélias, based on the relationship he had with Duplessis.

A huge success after it was published just eight months after her death, the novel was turned into a stage drama by Dumas and Verdi is said to have seen it while staying in Paris with his lover, the singer Giuseppina Strepponi.

As well as being performed at opera houses around the world, La traviata has twice been made into a film, notably by Franco Zeffirelli in 1982, when Plácido Domingo starred as Alfredo opposite the Canadian soprano, Teresa Stratas.  Domingo, then only 41, has in more recent years taken the role of Alfredo's father, Giorgio, which is normally assigned to a baritone.

A lavish new production, directed by the American film director Sofia Coppola with the support of the fashion designer, Valentino, is to be staged at the Opera of Rome in May of this year.

The Teatro San Benedetto, which is nowadays a cinema,
was Venice's major opera venue before La Fenice

Travel tip:

The Teatro San Benedetto, which was situated just 200 metres away from La Fenice's location in the San Marco district of Venice, predates La Fenice and itself staged the premieres of more than 140 operas but after a legal battle in the late 18th century forced a change of ownership the theatre declined in importance.  Its name changed to Teatro Venier, Teatro Gallo and finally Teatro Rossini, in honour of the opera composer Gioachino Rossini but as La Fenice flourished it never regained its position as Venice's major opera venue.  In the 1930s it was remodelled as a cinema and although the original building was demolished in 1951 the theatre was reconstructed on the same site in Salita del Teatro and now forms part of the Multisala Rossini, which is Venice's largest cinema.

The statue of Verdi in Busseto
Photo: Viva-Verdi (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Travel tip:

Giuseppe Verdi was born at Le Roncole, a village in the Parma province of Emilia-Romagna in 1813 and moved in 1824 to the nearby town of Busseto, which stages an annual opera competition, Voci Verdiane (Verdian Voices), and has a number of monuments to the composer, including the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi.  The Casa Barezzi, close to Busseto's main square, was the home of Antonio Barezzi, Verdi's first patron.  Since 2001 it has housed a permanent exhibition of objects and documents relating to Verdi, including his first portrait and a number of letters.  For more information, visit www.museocasabarezzi.it

Busseto hotels from Booking.com

More reading:

Verdi - Italy's mourning for the death of a national symbol

Rigoletto's debut at La Fenice

How rival fans wrecked the premiere of Rossini's Barber of Seville

Also on this day:

1483: The birth of historian Francesco Guicciardini

1933: The birth of Augusto Odone, inventor of 'Lorenzo's oil'

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