Italy is many people’s dream European holiday location. Italy has so much to offer, from the Colosseum, the Pantheon and the canals of Venice, yet there are so many more hidden facts about Italian culture, that you probably didn’t know!
Italy as a country did not exist until the 17 March 1861, under King Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy, who were the kings of Piedmont-Sardinia. Before that, Italy had been divided up into several duchies, small kingdoms and counties.
Italy was a monarchy between 1861 and 1946, where the country then became a republic after the end of world war two.
10. Italian isn’t really a language
Ok, Italian as we know it, is definitely a real language, but it is partially a construct language. If you were to go back in time, say to maybe 1800, with your 21st century Italian, it would count for nearly nothing. Absolutely no one would know how to speak your ‘weird’ tongue.
After unification, the newly-formed Italian government wanted to make it so that everyone spoke the same language, no matter where in Italy you travelled. As such, the modern Italian language was created.
It was designed to take one ‘base’ Italian dialect, and add new words based off the consensus of the other Italian dialects.
This means that, especially the older generations, speak a different, yet slightly similar language, and these languages are alive as well! This is one of the most interesting facts about Italian culture as, we aren’t talking about somewhere that’s known for its linguistic diversity, yet it does have some!
9. Language diversity in Italy
That being said, there’s also a large diversity in languages in Italy. Some, are neighbouring languages from nearby countries, and are only spoken by perhaps one or two regions, others are from empires long gone.
Languages like:
- Albanian
- Catalan
- German
- Greek
- Slovene
- Croatian
- French
- Franco-Provençal
- Friulian
- Ladin
- Occitan
- Sardinian
Some languages, like Albanian, French, Croatian, Slovene and Occitan are from neighbouring countries, that are present in Italy merely due to happenstance. Other languages, such as Catalan are present thanks to the Spanish Empire, which was headed by many Catalan generals and admirals, which led to their families settling there, speaking Catalan, and it becoming ingrained in the local area.
This is one of the interesting facts about Italian culture for me personally. This is because I never really knew that Italy was so diverse in terms of its languages!
8. Italian stereotypes
Italy is known for its pizza and pasta, what you probably didn’t know, is it is so ingrained in the national culture, that it has even gone into the country’s folk tales.
Whilst we know that this folk tail can’t be true, as pizza wasn’t invested until after the colonisation of the Americas- and the subsequent introduction of the tomato to Europe, we do believe that certain parts of it are true.
There is a story talking about the first people to settle Italy. They were warriors from the army of Troy, who were defeated after the infamous Battle of Troy. They sailed towards Italy, and when they arrived, they sat on the beach, next to their ship and ate pizza!
This is one of the coolest facts about Italian culture in my opinion as it seldom is that a country’s favorite dish enters into folk lore that is passed on from generation to generation!
7. Descendants of Italians outnumber Italians in Italy!
It’s well known that Italy had two major diasporas in Italian history. One was after the unification of Italy, in the 1880s and one during the rise of fascism in the 1920s, 30s and 40s.
Many of these Italians travelled to the US, UK and South America. These Italians made their new countries their home, they got married, they had kids, they grew old there, and finally, they passed from this life into the next.
Their descendants made up huge portions of the minority races in many of these countries. In the US, they organised into the Italian-American mob, or became singers and muscians, or famous actors and directors. Leonardo DiCaprio, Quentin Tarantino and Robert de Niro come to mind.
This is probably one of the most shocking facts about Italian culture sheerly due to the numbers present. Italy has 61 million people- that means that there are more than 61 million descendants of Italians throughout the world!
6. Gelato is healthier than the stuff we get in the supermarket
Probably one of the most intriguing facts about Italian culture, is that their famed Italian gelato is healthier than the supermarket-bought ice cream we get!
This is due to the fact that the gelato in Italy is often made fresh each day, which means that they can cut down on preservatives, added sugars and fats, and focus on giving it the best flavour possible.
This is in contrast with the shop-bought, high-sugar, high-fat, high-preservatives ice cream that we can buy in the local supermarket!
This was certainly one of the more surprising facts about Italian culture, but nevertheless, expected facts. It is often said that cooking from fresh is healthier than cooking from a box, I just never really thought about the international consequences!
5. Italian Lamborghini police cars
It’s not just the UAE police who have luxury sports cars, the Italians have it too.
Italian is well known for producing an array of luxury sports cars- Lamborghini, Ferrari and Porsche to name the most famous brands.
Whilst most Italian police use Italian-made Fiats and Alfa Romeos, the Polizia di Stato (state police) use Lamborghini Gallardos, these super cars are used for emergency intervention and for the transportation of organs.
This is one of the most shocking facts about Italian culture as Italy doesn’t have a reputation for splurging out on its police force. Which is a correct statement- Italy didn’t buy these super cars, they were donated by Lamborghini to celebrate the state police’s 152nd anniversary!
4. Religion in Italy
The main religion of Italy is of course Roman Catholicism. Rome is both the seat of the Italian government, but also home of the Vatican City- the seat of the Holy See and the Pope.
However, one of the more surprising facts about Italian culture is that Italy is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in Europe! Combined with other minorities like atheists, agnostics, other Christian denominations, it makes up 20% of the Italian population!
In Italian schools, the only religion that is taught in schools is Catholicism. Other major religions like Islam, Judaism or Hinduism aren’t taught in most state-ran schools.
This was one of the most obscure facts about Italian culture as it is the complete opposite of most European cultures. Countries like France do not allow religion in its entirety in schools, but Italy only teaches one rather than many of them.
3. Home of the Renaissance shapes the country
Italy was the home of the Renaissance, the rebirth of Western European culture. Despite the fact that this rebirth happened almost 500 years ago, it is everywhere in Italy, and shows no signs of going away…
Renaissance buildings are everywhere in Italy, whilst buildings like the Sistine Chapel, Palazzo Ducale di Urbino and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore are the most famous, there are thousands more throughout Italy. Many Italians have homes that were built during the Renaissance or live in homes that were inspired by renaissance architecture.
Many public buildings too have renaissance-inspired architecture. Many Italians, including many younger Italians are willing to pay a slight premium for renaissance-style houses, as they are a sign of wealth and a symbol of power, especially in the south of Italy.
This too is one of the more intriguing facts about Italian, as many know that the renaissance shaped Italy, however many aren’t aware that the renaissance is still a large part of Italian culture!
2. North-South divide
In many countries, there is a main divide between two halves of the country. With Germany, it is an east-west divide, in Belgium, it is a North-south divide. Italy is no different.
North Italy is everything above Rome, and is the industrial and economic centre of the country. Northern Italy is home to Italy’s two richest regions and is generally the more ‘modern’ of the two halves.
The South includes everything south of Rome and all of the Italian islands. Southern Italy is the opposite of its northern neighbour. The South is very traditional, and is often skeptical or unaccepting of change. The South is much poorer as well, when compared to its northern neighbour.
This is one of the most shocking facts about Italian culture as even though many countries have a north-south divide. However, many of those countries have it the opposite of Italy, the south is richer than the north. The UK, France and Spain are some of the most famous examples
1. €1,000,000 is thrown in the Trevi fountain each year
Yep, that means that almost €3000 is thrown in each day!
The Trevi fountain is located in Rome and serves as a monument to Roman engineering- it was built at the end of a Roman aqueduct, and was built during the renaissance as a monument to that aqueduct and how it had been able to stand for so long!
Although this money is enough to make someone rich, it is rare that people try to steal from the fountain as it is 1) a crime and 2) highly discouraged and 3) there’s a lot of superstition about what will happen to those who steal from it.
All of the money thrown into the Trevi fountain is automatically donated to local charities!
This is one of the nicer facts about Italian culture- instead of the Italian government choosing to commercialise it, they have chosen to use it as a force for good!
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