Italian values – Italy at Hand (2024)

Flavours, good food and culinary art are without doubt the exponents of Italian identity with gastronomic traditions and fine wines as its bastions around the world.

Love in Italy is also friendship, attention, solidarity and the ties that bind both traditional and newly-minted. Love and attachment to people, to nature, art, culture and to work ennobles and energises the best of Italy.

Skill, dexterity and craftsmanship are the instantly recognisable signs of our national identity. Italian heritage is transmitted through the creative and manual talents of artisan ateliers. Ancient know-how is handed down from father to son to reach new markets while safeguarding the uniqueness of Italian products.

Beyond its immense artistic heritage, Italy is also a boundless source of natural and landscaped beauty – from the magnificent coastal areas to the lakes and volcanoes, from national parks to the marine reserves. Everything in Italy inspires.

Italian style over the years has become the epitome of elegance and good taste. Style has always been associated with Made in Italy from cars to high fashion. Italy excels in these fields through the perfect union between tradition, innovation and creativity.

The home of art and culture because Italy is the country with the most UNESCO heritage sites in the world. It is here that art reached its peak historically and it is also here that we find an artistic heritage with its greatest expressions and which continue to transform and grow.

When all the elements in a territory come together, beauty and balance flows forth and harmony is born. It is thus with Italy where the scenery, architecture and traditions so different from each other up and down the peninsula give life to a country unique in the world.

Pleasure, performance and culture unfold and take shape in many different forms around Italy. Classical and contemporary stage productions, the biennial and triennial exhibitions on art and architecture, celebrations of cinematic art and of opera, expositions and international exhibitions are all not to be missed events.

Participation, team spirit and tradition play an important role in the popular culture of the ‘Belpaese’. Action and sentiment are blended together creating the perfect ingredient for your recreation and entertainment.

There is no country as varied and diversified, no place in the world that has absorbed, welcomed and integrated so many different peoples as Italy has in its 3000-year history. Hospitality is an intrinsic trait of the Italian character, the outcome of contamination of languages, cultures and ideas.

Passion is a key component of the Italian character. One of Italy’s biggest resource is without doubt the passion that Italians put into all fields. It comes naturally to Italians in applying themselves to diverse activities with complete participation and dedication.

Italian fashion is synonymous with elegance, originality and sublime quality. Italy celebrates fashion in its colours, in finely-worked textiles and in sophisticated design. From sketch to artisanal execution, the attention and care to detail is what makes Italy eminent in the world.

Home to some of humankind’s greatest discoveries, it has never ceased to be a cradle of ideas. Italy is a laboratory for clear-eyed concepts and perspectives. Here research and innovation have never ceased and continue in the search for perfection.

It is in ancient traditions, small rituals and propitiatory gestures for good luck which Italy identifies with and that help turn it into a unified great nation. Italian weddings, religious feast days and strong family ties all have their roots in centuries of customs and make up our identity.

Italy is everything. A whole with many nuances: greatness and beauty; art, history and culture; the past as well as the present; nature and technology; craftsmanship and industry. It is passion and creativity as well as heritage, myth and perfection.