Good Things From Italy - Le Cose Buone d'Italia

Here is the mystery. ... there was a dramatic discovery in 1492 made while workers were repairing mosaics inside the church [of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme]. What they found was a brick inscribed with the words Titulus Crucis, meaning Title of the Cross. This refers to the wooden title nailed above the cross of Christ. [...]

More than 2,000 satisfied Romans, the majority lawyers working at the nearby legal offices and courts, make a daily stop at the historic Sciascia Caffe 1919 in the Prati neighborhood.
It is a Roman institution, but it is rarely mentioned on lists of “musts” for visitors, and one could pass by without even noticing the entrance....Rome’s best cappuccino is served in delicate Richard Ginori porcelain cups...

There's something hallowed about visiting a place of legend. To think that thousands of people over dozens of centuries have kissed the same stone, or climbed the same bell tower, or petted the same bronze boar-turned-pig as you, hoping for their own wishes to come true, brings a deeper meaning to travel.
Invite a little luck -- and a lot of superstition -- into your trip at these places where myth meets mystery.

1. Thousands of tourists throw coins (with their right hands, over their left shoulders) into the Trevi Fountain every day with the hope of returning to Rome. Their tosses totaled over $3,000 per day in 2012... 
2. Il Porcellino -- aka "the piglet" -- is a bronze boar that lives in Florence's open-air market. Feed him a coin for good luck, and then rub his snout to ensure a return to Florence. 
3. Casa di Giulietta is supposedly the Shakespeare-inspired courtyard home to Romeo's Juliet. If you write a letter to the star-crossed lover and post it on the wall beneath her balcony, she'll help you in love (an official response, though, might come from a club of secretaries who read and personally respond to as many letters as they can).
4. The Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin, a little church in Rome, is home to the Mouth of Truth. If you tell a lie with your hand in his mouth, this stone creature will bite your hand off...
5. Want love that lasts forever? Secure a lock to Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence and throw the key into the river below.

Who came up with those six words, neatly and cleverly bound for all time?

As it turns out, neither an Italic, an Etruscan nor a city planner from ancient Rome coined or uttered the phrase. Shockingly, it was a 12th century French-speaking cleric in the court of Phillippe of Alsace — the Count of Flanders — who gets the credit for dreaming up the immortal line, in French – Rome ne s’est pas faite en un jour – that the rest of the world has been using ever since.

In 1895, Adolf Tobler, a Swiss linguist, published Li Proverbe au Vilain, a collection of Medieval French poems based upon the original Old French writings of 1190. It is in this original body of work that the catchphrase about the Eternal City not being quickly constructed over a 24-hour period is first documented.

The occasionally bawdy language, coupled with the earthy subject matter, provides the modern-day reader with colorful glimpses into 12th century France through the eyes and ears of the common man.

The catchphrase was first chronicled in English in 1538 when John Heywood authored A Dialogue Containing the Number in Effect of all the Proverbs in the English Tongue.

Next time you say or write, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” better preface it with, “Or so the peasant says.”

After all, let’s give credit where credit is due. In this case, the wise, but anonymous, poet laureate who penned it first for the Count of Flanders.

Too bad he didn’t have it copyrighted. Can you just imagine the royalties?

August 19 marks the 2,000th anniversary of the death of Rome’s first emperor Augustus, who ruled from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.

To commemorate the date, a series of special events and openings will be launched in the Italian capital [...]

One of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic: the Ancient Appian Way

Rightly called the Regina Viarum, or queen of roads, it was constructed towards the end of the 4th century B.C. in order to set up a fast communication between Rome and Capua. In my opinion, a visit on this road is one of the best ways of how to reminisce the roman past. I like to imagine the Roman empress riding their horses on this path to arrive at their summer abode on the hills around Rome. [...]

Non è una buona idea andare a fare un week end a Roma, magari con il treno? Con le nuove velocità Le Frecce vi ci portano col massimo del comfort, a prezzi competitivi e in poche ore. Visitare la capitale con un pretesto in più è l’ideale in questo periodo di minore afflusso turistico, anche perché una miriade di appuntamenti culturali e musei sbocciano come la primavera. Il Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale Giuseppe Tucci, al Palazzo Brancaccio di Roma, che raccoglie dal 1958 oggetti artistici e archeologici provenienti dai Paesi asiatici, promuove la conoscenza delle culture orientali, al fine di conservare e non disperdere collezioni pubbliche o private, per far conoscere meglio culture così diverse da noi, ma che si rivelano profondamente affini. [...]