Italy is one of my favourite countries for many different reasons.
It is famous for many different reasons and before we look at any of the posts about Italy on TC Holidays, let’s look at a few interesting facts about the country.
The meaning of Italy, or more precisely the meaning of Italia, is “calf land”.
It is the home of pizza which was invented around the 1860s in the city of Naples.
Although they probably wouldn’t like to admit it, the Italian flag is based upon the French flag which was introduced during the Napoleonic invasion of 1797.
Famous Italian inventions include the thermometer, the piano, the Ferrari, the typewriter, Cologne, the hydrofoil, the ice cream cone, eyeglasses, the espresso machine, the electric battery, nitroglycerin, the telephone, the universal joint, pretzels, the parachute, the Caesar salad, ballbearings, and of course let’s not forget Buffalo chicken wings.
Famous Italian inventors include Leonard da Vinci, Giuseppe Donati, Galileo, Marconi, Enrico Fermi, and Frank Zamboni.
From history, the city of Pompeii was completely destroyed and buried when the volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year 79 A.D.
On the same theme, Italy stands on a fault line which means that no other country in Europe has had as many volcanoes … the three major volcanoes are Mount Vesuvius, Mount Aetna, and Stromboli.
Italy also suffers from more earthquakes than any European country. In 1980, 3000 people were killed in an earthquake, but three centuries before it is estimated that 100,000 people were killed during an earthquake in Sicily.
Over 60% of income going into the Italian economy is provided by tourism with over 50 million people visiting every single year.
There are more hotel rooms in Italy than in any other European country.
Italy was not actually a united country until 1861.
It has won the World Cup four times.
The national bird of the country is the Bluebird and it is said that the National animal is the wolf.
It is the home of the sports car with such beauties as the Ferrari, Lamborghini, the Maserati, and the real petrol-head car…the Alpha Romeo… they also produce Fiat.
Thanks to Wikipedia for the photographs.
