Italy

Travels in Italy:

Basic Climb Course Lake Garda (8 days)
Basis in a comfortable mountain inn at 2,295 m

Rock Climbing Week in the Dolomites (7 days)
From Catinaccio to Le Odle

Dolomites Gourmet Trekking (8 days)
Magical variety amongst the Dolomites, vineyards and Garda lake

Hiking: Cortina - Marmolada - Tre Cime di Lavaredo (8 days)
On the traces of World War I in the Dolomites

The Great Dolomite Traverse (8 days)
From the Sciliar to the Dolomites of Sesto

Tre Cime di Lavaredo - Dolomiti di Sesto (7 days)
From mountain lodge to mountain lodge in the heart of the Dolomites

Ski Safari Dolomites South (8 days)
Latemar - Pala Group - Marmolada

Above 3,000 in the Dolomites (8 days)
Trekking to the most famous peaks of the Dolomites

Gourmet Ski Safari (8 days)
Between the Dolomites and the vineyards

Dolomites Ski Traverse (8 days)
A ski traverse with short ascents and long descents

In the Heart of the Dolomites (8 days)
Combined off-piste and ski touring instructional week

Sella - Tofana - Marmolada (8 days)
Vie ferrate in the Dolomites

Ski Safari Dolomites North (8 days)
Alpe Siusi - Cortina - Marmolada

Quick Facts:

Official Name:	Italian Republic
Capital:	Rome
Area:	301,230 sq km / 116,346.5 sq mi
Languages:	Italian; South Tyrol (German, Ladin); Aosta Valley (French); Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Slovene)
Currency:	Euro
Population figure:	2006 est. 58,751,711
Religions:	Roman Catholic: over 90 %; Muslim: approx. 1,000,000; Hindu: 75,000; Buddhist: 60,000; Protestant: 50.000;Jewish: 30.000
National holiday:	June 2nd (Foundation of the republic, 1946)
Government type:	Republic, parlamentarian democracy

Climate

Northern parts: central European; central and southern parts: mediterranean

Geography

It comprises of the Italian Peninsula, the Po River valley, and two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia, and shares its northern alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. The independent countries of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italian territory.

Culture

Italy has been a seminal place for many artistic and intellectual movements that spread throughout Europe and beyond, including the Renaissance and Baroque. Perhaps Italy's greatest cultural achievements lie in its long artistic heritage, of which is often validated through the names of Michelangelo, da Vinci, Donatello, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Bernini, Titian and Raphael, among many others. Some of the instruments that we often associate with classical music, including the piano and violin, were invented in Italy, and many of the existing classical music forms can trace their roots back to innovations of 16th and 17th century Italian music (such as the symphony, concerto, and sonata). Some of Italy's most famous composers include the Renaissance composers Palestrina and Monteverdi, the Baroque composers Corelli and Vivaldi, the Classical composers Paganini and Rossini, and the Romantic composers Verdi and Puccini.

History

Excavations throughout Italy have found proof of life in Italy dating back to the Paleolithic period (the "Old Stone Age") some 200,000 years ago. The first Greek settlers, who arrived in Italy from Euboea island the 8th century BC, possibly named their new land "land of bulls". Italy has influenced the cultural and social development of the whole Mediterranean area, deeply influencing European culture as well. As a result, it has also influenced other important cultures. Such cultures and civilizations have existed there since prehistoric times. Modern Italy became nation-state belatedly ? on March 17, 1861, when most of the states of the peninsula were united under king Victor Emmanuel II of the Savoy dynasty, which ruled over Sardinia and Piedmont. The architects of Italian unification were Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the Chief Minister of Victor Emmanuel, and Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and national hero. Rome itself remained for a little less than a decade under the Papacy, and became part of the Kingdom of Italy only on September 20, 1870. The Vatican is now an independent enclave surrounded by Rome. Italy is currently a republic. The Italian Republic was created by popular referendum in 1946 after World War II and the fall of Mussolini's regime.

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