Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Museums”
Before visiting the Museo San Paolo housed in Reggio Calabria’s Palazzo della Cultura, I was under the impression that it was just the usual collection of a couple pieces of silver, a few religious paintings and an old frock. How many times have I paid the Euro and gone through a side door past a heavy velour curtain to view …
Intriguing, eclectic, thought provoking – a few words I would use to describe the Palazzo della Cultura, a new museum in Reggio Calabria that is definitely worth the visit.
NEWER CALABRIA MUSEUMS No matter where you dig in Italy, you’re bound to hit upon something ancient, or at the very least medieval. Calabria is certainly no exception. Exciting discoveries pop up with a certain frequency and new museums are even inaugurated from time to time, such as the Monasterace Museum that opened its doors in the town of the …
MuSaBa is an expression – a dream that became a reality, a past looking for a future, and the present finding meaning in its roots. The brainchild of artists Nik Spatari and Hiske Maas, MuSaBa or the Museum Santa Barbara is a concept, a park, a museum and a laboratory located in the foothills of the rugged Aspromonte Mountains in …
WHERE IS PERSEPHONE? The first time I laid eyes on Persephone, I had no idea as to her history or the significance she would hold for me in time to come. I was in Berlin and the antiquities collection of the famous Pergamon Museum was on my list of cultural must-sees. Seven years later I would arrive in Locri, Persephone’s …
FESTA DEL FUNGO My first trip to Mammola was for its number one claim to fame – pescestocco or stockfish, an adventure chronicled in Calabria: The Other Italy. This fall I returned for another of its celebrated culinary traditions – the mushroom.
THE FALL OF MURAT IN PIZZO “Straight to the heart, but spare the face!” These were the final instructions Joachim Murat gave to his firing squad on October 13th, 1815, according to his wife’s memoirs, although Caroline Bonaparte wasn’t actually in attendance that fateful day in Pizzo as her husband and former King of Naples looked down the barrels of …
LUMINARIES From time to time, the monastery in Serra San Bruno has hosted noteworthy guests. However, the rumor that one of the pilots who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima sought spiritual refuge within its walls is just that. Apparently, the discrepancy can be traced back to a false media report. The American military man who took the habit in …
The Bronzes of Riace are famous in Italy, more so in Calabria. The tourist board uses their images at every chance they get, and it’s understandable as the statues are truly magnificent. A number of artists have also been inspired by their splendor to create works of their own.
Sometimes I think that this famous pair of bronze statues must be tired, on their feet all day in that fixed warrior position. The Riace Bronzes are like models in an art studio, except no one’s drawing.