The Culture of Italy Architecture, People and History

The Culture of Italy Architecture, People and HistoryThe main think of this assimilation project testa custodyt be the earth of Italy. Italy is a peninsula, with two main islands which include Sardinia and Sicily, locate in south central Europe and extending into the Mediterranean Sea. Italy has a land mass, including the islands, of about 116,300 squ be feet. To trance a better proportion in mind, Italy is only slightly larger than the claim of Arizona. Italy is the land inhabit of several countries including Austria, France, San Marino, Slovenia, and Switzerland (Cia.gov). The country of Italy has a unique range when it comes to climate. In northern Italy, the weather is to a greater extent thoroughgoing with temperatures dropping under freezing with snow typically blanketing the region. Southern Italy on the other hand has more a more moderate climate with warmer weather. Southern Italy is the less populated region, and despite the wild temperatures the area is more k nown for its rural areas and farming communities (GoAbroad.info). Throughout the nation, Italian agriculture is as live today as it ever has been, save it goes back a long room. Evidence of human beingness has been shown by means of recent excavations in Europe, which date back to the Paleolithic and Mesolithic time periods (Italy1.com). Italy is a nation rich in culture and customs, and this provide be an provoke journey.4C ArchaeologyTo under post any culture, it is stolon important to get an under stand uping of the history of the location. One way to do this is to study from an archeological stand point. Archaeology is unrivaled of four subplots of Anthropology, and is the excavation, recovery, and analysis of remains of past human behavior. Archaeologists look for artifacts (such as tools, ceramics, textiles) to collapse them an idea of and show evidence for past human behavior. Italy, especially Northern Italy and around capital of Italy, is rich in archaeological f indings. Currently in that respect about 56 active sites around Italy, which include sites in Pompeii and Rome. Rome may be the or so(prenominal) well known area, because it is still populated today, but the ruins of Pompeii are encompassing of findings of a civilization over 2000 historic period obsolescent. Pompeii (located near the present day Naples) was completely buried by a vol buttic eruption that basically set all signs of life in st unity for years ahead. The earliest signs of life show that this city was destroyed in 79 AD, which gives archaeologists insight to a city that was popular at the akin time as the Roman Empire was at its peak. This site was leave virtually untouched until about 1748 when one man make the site and would dig at haphazard searching for treasure only for his own personal gain. Not until 1861 was the proper approach taken, and this included an lengthy and systematic excavation led by an Italian appointed representative who was responsib le for making plaster of Paris casts of the victims. Many objects are still being excavated to this day these objects include paints (found still in the pottery), tiles, paintings, and floorings. The nearly inte reliefing is the large enumerate of brothels found in the city (GoEurope.about.com). Photographer Corrine Gill captured some of the erotic images found, and below is one of her more famous pieces.4D CultureCulture, in its simplest practice, is a set of beliefs, ideas, behaviors that are shared and learned. The culture of Italy is a beautiful and unique one. From greetings to the intellectual nourishment, Italian culture is something special. One really distinct difference in the midst of foreign and Italian culture is the way Italians will greet for each one other. The more or less common way to greet someone and see them off is with a light kiss on each cheek. This perpetrate will ordinarily seem strange to a foreigner and Italians expect this and most Italians wi ll usually stick to the typical handshake to make the out military positionr feel more comfortable. A nonher aspect of this culture that may seem strange to foreigners is the way Italians dress. A foreigner will be the obvious stand out if they bear non dressed in the aforementioned(prenominal), up to date fashion as the rest of the culture. Italians of all ages typically dress in the same way, keep uping the newest trends and fashion codes. The only real uniform restrictions come when you are entering a church or sometimes even a museum, there will typically be written rules for proper attire (ItalyHeaven.com). Growing up in a mostly Italian family, I know the lift off of Italian culture that is most important to me food. Italy has close 20 contrastive regions, all of which put up their own air of food. Food is a great customs duty in Italy, and this is usually mated with a love of wine. Wine is not looked at in the same light in Italy as it is in America. In Italy, wine is the typical drink to boast paired with a fine Italian meal. An example of when a large meal would be prepared would be after a funeral. The whole family would be together, and they would celebrate the life of the lost loved one together. An Italian funeral is a beautiful ceremony that gets numerous of the loved ones involved, with most of the family holding candles throughout the service and most of them offering prayers in front of the casket. The whole family will then lead the deceased to his final resting transport. Italians handle to make a bighearted deal out of their ceremonies, most notably their wedding ceremonies and Christening service (Windsor-Communities.com). The Italian wedding has a few special traditions that are worth noting. One of these traditions is that the groom will carry a small piece of iron ore which is meant to ward off the evil eye. The other tradition unique to Italian weddings is when the bride and groom shatter a vase or piece of glass, they do this so that each piece will represent one year of happy marriage (CompletelyWeddings.com). Both events (weddings and Christenings) will be held in a church for a special service, and then will be followed by a special party afterwards. The party will usually include lots of families and friends, food, wine, and also music. The music typically played at these events will be Opera or anything that can be danced to. Italians love most styles of music, as it is a major part of their daily lives. Opera has the largest following in Italy because that is the origin of this style (Windsor-Communities.com). Below is a picture taken from CompletelyWeddings.com (the photographer is unknown), and it shows what a typical Italian wedding is like.4E vapidityMuch of Italy is covered in buss which therefore include forests which are crustal plate to many an(prenominal) different plants and trees. Tuscany, part of the northern region of Italy, has many trees which include beech, pine, fir, y ew, oak, wild oak, and ash. The mountains of Tuscany are also home to animals like the fox, mountain goat, bear, and both the Apennine animal and lynx (KidCyber.com). On top of the many trees and plants throughout the country, Italy has many herbs including rosemary, lavender and thyme.4F Cities/StatesFor most of Italys history the country was run by a dictator and for some time before that it was rule by the Catholic Church with the Pope having control of the territory. Until 1948, the nation was ruled by different dictators. In 1948, after World War II, Italy switched over to become a Republic (EveryCulture.com). A Republic is the most common form of government, and it is basically where citizens of a nation have the ability to help control the government. A Republic government leaves a lot of room for change, but the static point is that citizens have the dear to vote for their elected ex officios (WiseGeek.com). Italy is currently led by the wit of State Giorgio Napolitano. Napolitano was elected, as is any Head of State, for a seven year term by the Electoral College. Below Napolitano is Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who was elected for a 5 year term. Italian government is easy to understand because it is very similar to the get together States government (Fco.gov). An interesting point when looking at Italy and their form of government is the Vatican City, which is the only surviving city-state left wing in the world. A city-state is, as stated by Professor Kuba from coterie, a political system of an separate city to rule over a fixed area. The Vatican City has not always been an independent state though, as it was only made to be its own state in 1929 delinquent to a accord that was signed between the city and Italy. The ruler of the Vatican is not necessarily an elected official either, because the leader of the Vatican is truly the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope to the rest of the Catholic community. The Vatican City is actually very s mall in land size, as it is only slightly larger than The Mall in Washington, DC (Buzzle.com).4G Social StratificationTo judge if a society is socially stratified, we look at three main traits which include prestige, power, and economic resources/wealth. It is difficult to place Italy in any of the categories, but it is best represented by a Class Society due to the un refer access to everything. The major differences at heart the nation fall between the northern and southern split of Italy. The unemployment rate of the nation is very high, which causes the differences in wealth to be highly noticeable. Wealth is especially homely in immigrants because they typically come from poorer countries. Lower classes have been affected recently by budget cuts to the social welfare system which were required by the European Union (which Italy founded in 1957). The most prominent markers of social class are speech and dress. The closer ones dialect is to the national expression, it is com mon that the speaker is wealthier than others. Also, fashion is a big deal in Italy, and it is also a statement in class. Certain designers or labels will be out of reach for the lower class, and they will stand out because of how up to date Italy is with fashion. Another agentive role to judge someone by is the amount and style of their leisure time. Where a person goes for a vacation, the amount of time they spend there, and where they stay are usually good ways to gauge an Italians social status. Fashion, leisure, and food are three key factors when looking at Italian culture. Two of these have been discussed the third and not yet talked about is food. Food is a universal constant and no matter what your social status, you will eat it. Food can also help gauge a persons social status by what kind of food they are eating. Meat will usually be eaten mainly by the wealthy, art object the less fortunate will stick to just Pasta or simpler foods (EveryCulture.com). In Italy there ar e differences in classes, but there are no noticeable different groups. The only difference lies within a persons social status, such as their prestige, power, or economic resources.4H Marital Re sidency and KinshipItaly is not unique in any real fashion when it comes to marriage practices in comparison to the rest of the world. When it comes to marriage, Italians have followed practices common throughout. In the past, marriages were typically arranged by the parents and the daughter would bring a sum of money to the husband at the time of the wedding. It was not uncommon though for the son or daughter to have the chance to influence their parents decision, and this practice was much easier for the poorer class. Most people in Italy will eventually marry, but it is not unheard of to have a restriction for the infant to hold off marriage so they can care for their older parents. When the marriage does take place, most couples will move in with the brides parents and follow the matri local residency. Alongside of this, it is typical for two nuclear families to live together (EveryCulture.com).Kinship in Italy is a undersized more difficult to understand. Italy and people of Italian decent are known for their large families, so the distrust is, how are they related? The family will typically extend and include both the fathers and catchs side of the family. There a couple of generalizations that can be drawn from Italian kinship. One of these is the bond that is typically found between the males of a family and to his mothers sisters. It is confided that is due to the fact that the son chooses to be with the more loving side, rather than the strict side that the father offers. Following this line of thinking, it would mean that I would be really close with my two aunts from my mothers side but have a typical, not resistant, relationship with those on my fathers side of the family.4I worship and MagicReligion is a set of beliefs, attitudes, and practices pert aining to the supernatural (Notes). Religion is also one universal constant. No matter when or where society has existed, signs of some form of religion or magic have been found. As discovered through writings or archaeological sites, Italy is no different. Witches and sorcerers are now all but forgotten, but they utilize to hold a strong position in the past. These practices led many to believe in spells, charms, and many different types of omens. Many of these beliefs have succeeded to ultramodern day religion, but some people still believe in this ancient line of thinking.Italy, home to the Vatican City (the home of the Catholic Church), is a highly spectral country. Over 90% of all of Italy is Roman Catholic, with the other religions being a mix of Jews, Muslims, and Orthodox. Italy is full of apparitional history, with Rome and the Vatican being the focal point for tourist attraction. The cities are full of churches and religious relics, and people flexure from around the world to view them origin hand. The Roman Catholic Church is very strict with its practices and holds many events throughout the year. The main holidays celebrated in Catholicism are the Immaculate Conception, Christmas, Easter, and the Pentecost. These are celebrated throughout the world, but for a nation nearly all Catholic, they are very important. In Italy, death and the celebration of the death are regarded as highly important. Most Italians believe in the afterlife, and view heaven and endocarp as reality (going along with Catholicism, they also believe in Purgatory). The funeral for a deceased loved one is held in a funeral home, and Italians view attendance as mandatory. Missing the funeral of a loved one can cause serious harm to that persons relationship with other friends and family (EveryCulture.com). So far I have identify Italy by three major things family, friends, and food. Religion, and specifically Catholicism, can be added to this list.The Vatican CityHome to t he Catholic Church, a religion followed by over 90% of Italy4J LinguisticsThe official language of Italy, not surprisingly, is Italian. Italian is the bet one used language, while German is second, and French and Slovene have a small role in the nations linguistic history (Cia.gov). Italian has a long history, and it is said to be a part of the coquette group, a subplot of the Indo-European family. All Romance languages were spawned from Latin, and Italy is the one that closest resembles it to this day. One issue with the Italian language has always been the number of different dialects found within the country. Dating back to the early 13th century, different dialects can be found in different regions, and this caused many different writings and schools of thought in numerous dialects. It was not until the 17th century, when Tuscany began to be one of the most successful regions in the nation that the Tuscan dialect began to take over and is now considered to be the true national language and dialect. The earliest form of the written word of Italian is said to be from the 13th century, where we find numerous popular plays and stories. Dante Alighieri is one of Italys most famous authors for his bleed, Devine Comedy, which was written in Latin. The Italian language is basically entirely derived from Latin, and Latin is the official language of the Vatican City (Italian.about.com).The Italian language has a less than half of the letters that English does, as their language only has 14 letters. Italian is a very romantic language, and because of this many common Italian phrases are well known to much of the English speaking society.4K Sex and GenderItaly is surprisingly equal when it comes to gender roles. I would have viewed Italian culture as very old fashioned, with women staying at home while the husband went off to work, but this is not entirely true. It could be said they are old fashioned in the sense that they have stuck to their almost original gende r roles, but that means the men and women are treated as equals. Archaeological sites have shown evidence that men and women were almost equal in the amount of work they contributed to society. In modern society, prior to World War II, men would be the ones who went to work while the woman would stay at home, but these practices have changed and stayed the same since. Now, men and women are equals in every aspect of Italian culture. The numbers of men and women enrolled in universities and the work force is almost the same throughout Italy. Women still hold the same role as the leader of home life, but have taken on new roles to make themselves equals with men in social, economic, and political areas of life. These facts show that Italian women are the most liberated in all of Europe (EveryCulture.com).One major difference between Italian men and women is the effects of having a child. Italian men typically have little to do with the child rearing process and offer little support an d guidance to the mother. This absence leaves a very heavily job for the mother to handle alone. The job market is very tough, and it is nearly impossible for a mother of even one child to re-enter the job market after a short absence. This puts a strain on a family because of the difficulty it brings to the family because they have to live off of one income. These facts have caused a dramatic decrease in the amount of children being born in todays Italy (Family.jrank.org).4L Genetics and EvolutionThe first sign of any human life comes from nearly 200,000 years ago when signs of human remains were found at villages excavated just west of Rome. The evidence of the existence of Homo Erectus humans is shown with the flint axes that were excavated from this site. About 100,000 years old, signs of more humans were found in Rome, and these people are believed to have been Neanderthals. In terms of modern day Italians, the first existence of modern day humans came about in 10,000 BC durin g the upper Palaeolithic. Stone tools and engravings of animals in caves and on bones have been excavated from these sites. The engravings were not as detailed or mind-boggling in comparison with those found elsewhere in Europe such as in France and Spain. It is believed that this is a sign that the population of Italy was rather small at this period in time (HistoryForKids.org).List of Resourceshttp//www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Italy.html apply for general information throughout the projecthttps//www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/it.html apply for 3A, 3B, 4Jhttp//italy1.com/history/ use for 3Bhttp//www.goabroad.info/Italy.html?gID=3207 Used for 3Chttp//www.loc.gov/rr/ supranational/european/italy/it.html Used for basic search enginehttp//mapsandflags.com/it.html Used for general informationhttp//goeurope.about.com/cs/italy/a/pompeii.htm Used for information on Pompeiihttp//ancienthistory.about.com/od/pompeii/ss/BrothelsPompeii_2.htm Used for Pompeii brothe r picture, Corinne Gillhttp//www.italyheaven.co.uk/manners.html Used for 4Dhttp//www.windsor-communities.com/italian-traditions.php Used for 4Dhttp//completelyweddings.com/ethnic-wedding-themes/ Used for 4Dhttp//www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/italyflora.htm Used for 4Ehttp//farm2.static.flickr.com/1108/897192220_3020362cf4.jpg?v=0 Used for Pine Forest in Tuscany, Italy picturehttp//www.caninest.com/types-of-wolf/ Used for Apennine wolf picturehttp//bubbles6612.wordpress.com/2007/11/ Used for Apennine mountains picturehttp//www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-republican-form-of-government.htm Used for 4Fhttp//www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/europe/italy/ Used for 4Fhttp//www.buzzle.com/articles/vatican-city-facts.html Used for 4Fhttp//www.mapsofworld.com/flags/vatican-city-flag.html Used for picture of the flag of the Vatican Cityhttp//scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Everyone%20Else/pages/Popes-appeal-for-Mid-East-peace-falls-on-surprisingly-deaf -ears-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html Used for picture of Vatican Cityhttp//italian.about.com/library/ every week/aa060699a.htm Used for 4Jhttp//www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/language/italian-phrases.html Used for 4J and phrase charthttp//family.jrank.org/pages/979/Italy-Education-Gender-Roles.html Used for 4Khttp//coquinadaily.com/daily/htmldaily/080305.shtml Used for picture in 4Lhttp//www.lifeinitaly.com/potpourri/fun-facts.asp Used for 4Mhttp//fragmentssynapses.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/thermometer.jpg Used for thermometer picturehttp//stephaniedoes.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/easiestloaf.jpg Used for picture of breadhttp//jonjonsmith.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/mcshit.jpg Used for picture of eau de colognehttp//www.webweaver.nu/clipart/img/entertainment/music/baby-grand-piano.jpg Used for picture of pianohttp//www.thedailygreen.com/cm/thedailygreen/images/1-30days-pour-wine-lg-63555269.jpg Used for picture of wine