The country of Italy sits at the southern tip of Europe, jutting into the Mediterranean Sea, which separates the continent from Africa. During the era of the Roman Empire, Italy served as the de facto capital of the so-called civilized world. The echoes of Roman civilization reverberated throughout Europe into North Africa and the Middle East. After the fall the Roman Empire in 462 A.D., Western Europe descended into governmental chaos and disorganization, which lasted more than 1,000 years. It was quite fitting that Italy also served as the birthplace of the Renaissance of Western European culture. Italian artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Boccaccio, and Botticelli all helped revitalize the Western humanist tradition. Other Italians, such as Dante, Petrarch, and Machiavelli, introduced radical new literary forms and philosophies to the world. In the 19th-century, Italian composers and musicians developed some of the most enduring classics of all time. Giacomo Puccini, for instance, penned such masterful operas as "Turandot," "Madame Butterfly," and "La Boheme." Vivaldi, Monteverdi, Giuseppe Verdi, and Rossini all composed amazing music and added to the enormous and profound Italian musical canon. Italian food, wine, culture, architecture, painting, and cinema have all had profound effects on the world's artistic movements. Italy has also long served as the seat of the Roman Catholic Church. Vatican City, which is ensconced in Rome, houses the Pope, the religious leader of the world's one billion Catholics. |
