The Italians live among some of humankind’s most exquisite achievements in art, music, architecture and gastronomy.

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All the way down the Apennines, gli Italiani are surrounded by a sheer embarrassment of riches. From Puglia to Piedmont, Trieste to Trapani and everywhere in between, they live among some of humankind’s most exquisite achievements in art, music, architecture and gastronomy. But beyond frequenting its opera houses, osterias, and blithely passing by forums and forts, the Italians also get to play among envy-stirring natural assets, including soaring alps, volcanic islands, fog-enveloped vineyards and turquoise grottos. La dolce vita indeed.

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Forget, for a second, Emilia Romagna’s reputation for the tiniest handmade tortellini, rosiest culatello, or richest balsamico, or as the place where the entire world travels to twirl tagliatelle bolognese onto their forks. Before there were cheese caves filled with hulking wheels, a worldwide prosciutto trade, or any kind of seemingly static distillation globally of what the region’s cuisine “was,” some of the area’s—and Italy’s—purest and most distinctive flavors came straight from the branches of Emilia Romagna’s trees.

Beginning with the Roman presence there two thousand years ago, wild and hyper-regional fruits gradually moved from being collected in the woods to being cultivated in manicured gardens behind local homes. According to Lara Malavolti of Slow Food Emilia Romagna, in the monasteries and convents, fruit tree fostering became widespread—especially pears and apples—under the influence of the Benedictine mantra “ora et labora,” prayer and work. Women entering Romagna marriages carried with them the seeds of fruit trees from the mountains to the plains, and more trees were planted in honor of a male baby’s birth, helping to spread the varieties more widely across the region. These practices helped lock into place a broad genetic spectrum of fruit, eventually supplying for modern-day farmers a massive variety from which to breed and only further improve the most flavorful and robust modern cultivars.

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/1dXLAVeFveYhITFBzmIegU/496d9da291a6e65146169dfa5e08ef85/emilia_romagna_fruits4.png"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

This is why, according to Italy’s Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, lower Romagna in particular is known as “the cradle of modern fruit growing.” It was here in this fertile northern Italian region—which encompasses hills, valleys, plains, and coastline—that, in the province of Ravenna in the late 1890s, the first peach orchard plantations were cultivated and studied on a few modest hectares. Experiments began with two varieties of peaches and soon, as offshoot operations sprung up in the Ferrara, Bologna, and Forli provinces, an industry was born. Today, commercial production in Emilia Romagna still supplies a vast percentage of Italy’s overall fruits. Several varieties and products made with them have Protected Geographical Indication (PGI): among them, melone mantovano—largely grown since Medieval times in Modena, Bologna, and Ferrara, and now a classic served wrapped with prosciutto di Parma—and amarena brusche, a preserve made with multiple varieties of sour cherries and used in Modena’s crostata di amarene, or sour cherry tart.

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/2fnahHOdpPm5tyiiQzpdra/d4587ee7edc9422cc1ff0a289a4c79b9/emilia_romagna_fruits6.png"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

But beyond the long history of farmed fruits, a local focus has also been placed upon—and a new narrative crafted around—maintaining and celebrating the ancient, wild and now rare fruits of the region, too. “To make known and protect the great patriarchal fruits also means protecting the memories linked to these great trees and the knowledge of our farming civilization,” Malavolti says. “It represents the memory of a people, its history and its roots.” For 25 years and counting, for example, the Festa dei Frutti Dimenticati (Feast of the Forgotten Fruits) has taken place in Ravenna in late October, with historical discussions, tablewide displays of rare fruits shepherded into modernity by impassioned growers, and of course, tastings. And in the kitchens of regional restaurants mindful of preserving tradition, components such as mulberry sauces, quince compotes, and candied ancient fruits make their way onto menus, as do old-fashioned dishes such as piquant little Volpine pears stewed to palatability in dark Sangiovese wine, veal with local pomegranate, rare plums filled with zabaglione and nuts, or cakes made from wild apples such as the Francesca variety or the mela rosa mantovano (with pink-colored flesh). These offer a broader rediscovery of pre-touristic Emilia Romagna, but some are particular to a tiny portion of the land.

“In the Modenese hills,” for example, “there is still the Spalèr pear, rust-colored and very beautiful; the curiosity is that this variety is found only in a very limited range [of the region], in the municipalities of Carpiteti and Casina,” Malavolti says. “This denotes how often some production is closely linked to the soil and climate characteristics of [a very specific] territory.”

Here are more frutti antichi still foraged, cultivated and cooked in reverence of history:

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/1OtfTImbKC6iGQFlJXBy74/e5d096fd4879212f08edd705860fb0d6/emilia_romagna_fruits7.png"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## Buco Incavato (Hollow Hole) Peach
A soft and deeply red skin, intense fragrance, and firm but sweet white flesh that pulls away from the pit characterizes this once-popular variety (“Bus Incavé” in local dialect) that is now quite rare. According to Slow Food, “In the 1930s, during the peak period of when this peach was cultivated, the ‘bus incavé’ reached half of Europe, but with the introduction of yellow-fleshed varieties, more suitable for storage and long distances, its decline began. By the mid-1950s, it already represented less than 1% of regional production. The professional cultivation of the hollow hole peach had practically disappeared, but the local farmers, who have always appreciated this variety, have kept one or two plants each for family consumption.” Today about 350,000 tons of peaches (22 kinds) and nectarines (29 types) are produced in Emilia Romagna, but nectarines are beginning to overtake market demand.

## “Grossa di Faenza” Pomegranate
An unusually large pomegranate that can grow to exceed 4 pounds, this varietal was often present on farms and planted close to the house. Its sweet and juicy seeds were found in historic texts to have been used instead of lemon juice to flavor salads and meats.

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/1VSXPqhEa21PgMPlakMcC8/b527b5adc6aa90cbf7eb3843d379b770/emilia_romagna_fruits.png"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## Volpina Pear
The tiny, perfectly round, and apple-reminiscent volpina pear (literally “fox pear”) is an ancient fruit that was once a source of food for wild foxes in the Lamone river valleys, but also people, who classically and still today serve it together with chestnuts. Its intense flavor was and is today sweetened and mellowed by long, slow cooking in water or wine as in the dish pere Volpine a sangiovese. So many areas of Emilia Romagna have unique pear varieties, like the Cocomerina pear (with watermelon-red fruit) in the Romagna Apennines, or the “lemon pear” in the plains. Today, 70 percent of all Italian pears are still produced in Emilia Romagna.

## Ramparine Melon
Melon cultivation dates far back in Emilia Romagna’s farming heritage, especially in the valleys farmed between Santa Vittoria, Guastalla, and Novellare, Malavolti says. This ancient one has a petite size, sweet-smelling pale green flesh, and a strong, almost spicy taste. It was still sold at many markets until the early 1970s, after which it was largely abandoned in favor of less delicate and more straightforwardly sweet varieties that could last longer on shelves.

## Moretta Cherries from Vignola
Cultivated since the late 1800s in the foothills near the Panaro River and other minor streams like the Samoggia and Guerro, this cherry is almost black when fully ripe, and with very generous and balanced  juices. “In the 40s and 50s of the last century, the Moretta di Vignola represented more than 25% of the cherry production in the province of Modena, mostly concentrated in the Vignola area. Today the production of the Moretta has been reduced to just a few hundred pounds’ worth. “In the hilly area of Parma in the past there was a tradition of using some old varieties of cherries preserved in vinegar and then served as a side dish, on holidays, with boiled chicken,” Malavolti says.

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/2nRuefQ8SElrb7rFspw7zo/020ad9bbc9e8160bbebd6d0bf5d56d6f/emilia_romagna_fruits8.png"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## Persimmon (Loto di romagna)
Not quite as ancient—coming to the Romagna region between the two World Wars—in Emilia Romagna persimmons are still one of the most beloved traditions and largest productions throughout Italy. Though an unexpected addition, because the area was already so skilled in fruit growing, the autumn-bearing “kaki tipo” type trees from Asia thrived quickly and easily. Local farmers will often leave picked persimmons to ripen next to the region’s plentiful apple varieties, which apparently help to speed their sweetening and lower their tannins. They’re often eaten fresh with a teaspoon once ripe, or they are used to make cakes, jams, or to serve with roast pork.

*Visit the Emilia Romagna countryside and let PRIOR arrange a wild fruit walk or tasting with local cooks and experts. We also have a few seats left on our long weekend trip for a weekend of tasting and cooking with chef Massimo Bottura at his Osteria Francescana, from September 9-12, 2021. Find details [here](https://priorworld.com/trips/long-weekend-emilia-romagna).*

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Conor Burke

emilia romagna fruits

emilia romagna fruits index

Discover the rich history of Emilia Romagna's forgotten fruits, where centuries-old farming traditions have preserved unique and rare fruit varieties. From Buco Incavato Peaches to Moretta Cherries, delve into the flavors that define the region's culinary heritage. Explore the cultural significance of these ancient fruits and how they continue to inspire modern dishes. Join us on a journey through Italy's orchards and gardens to savor the essence of Emilia Romagna's agricultural legacy.

Emilia Romagna's Forgotten Fruits: Exploring the Ancient Flavors of Italy's Fruit Gardens

The region is home to some of Italy’s most famous and widely exported products—parmigiano, balsamico, and prosciutto. But it was the privately cultivated fruits that first made it great. 

The Forgotten Fruits of Emilia Romagna

Gravity-defying energy prices are blamed for many of the world’s problems these days but one of the less-discussed victims of gas-market volatility? Murano glass, the centuries-old Italian craft of “art”-glassmaking beloved for its surrealist shapes, trippy colors and mythologized trade secrets. The high cost of methane, largely a byproduct of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, means the dozens of red-hot furnaces that must burn at about 2,160 degrees Fahrenheit, 24-hours a day on Murano, a wisp of land with about 5,000 inhabitants just north of Venice, are now running on empty tanks. For the first time in its 700-year history, the ancient glass-blowing craft, already damaged by the pandemic, might become an  “endangered heritage.”

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/4nl1iHp4I7WE0B8Ap47XOx/f6d3ec5337bc978b3cf8d66508526be9/Murano_Body1.jpg"/><figcaption>Pieces from BLOW exhibition by Theodore Bradley courtesy of Artemest</figcaption></figure> 

But it turns out, there’s a silver lining.  There is now an urgent demand for Venetian art glass on the world stage. This week’s [Salone del Mobile.Milano](https://www.salonemilano.it/en), or Milan Design Week, aims to paint Murano in a modern gloss. An exhibition of one-of-a-kind glass mirrors and chandeliers by the New York-based street artist [Theodore Bradley](https://artemest.com/landing/blow-bradley-theodore-meets-murano) opens today at BLOW, presented by the furniture retailer Artemest. “[Forme del Bere](https://venetosecrets.com/en/art-style/the-forme-del-bere-exhibition-in-murano/)” (Forms of Drinking), a survey of Murano drinking vessels both old and new, is on view at the Punta Conterie gallery in Venice through September. Next month, the International Perfume Foundation will host a gala in support of Murano’s craftspeople. “Murano is an important heritage we need to protect,” said Creezy Courtoy, the foundation’s founder. And despite the medium’s innate fragility, a new generation of designers and artisans from around the world are working to keep the Murano spirit alive, piece by piece. 

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/7cKv2DiHesFe67I39AzlSs/f07def938896affc41f6cb60bf2690a7/Murano_Body2.jpg"/><figcaption>*Colordisc and Cris Cross-Chandelier* courtesy of Bethan Laura Wood</figcaption></figure> 

## Bethan Laura Wood

With her kaleidoscopic and colorful kewpie-doll personal aesthetic — she is known for her signature turquoise lipstick and two sky-blue dots on her cheeks — the British designer [Bethan Laura Wood](https://www.bethanlaurawood.com/) is like a piece of Murano “art glass” in human form. An intuition for clashing patterns and irregular shapes — the [Wisteria chandelier](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/23/t-magazine/bethan-laura-wood-chandelier.html), one of her best-known designs, consists of hand-dyed plastic flower petals that resembles a firework when illuminated — is perhaps why Wood, a Brit who lives in 1925 Art Deco building in East London, has become one of the most daring and ambitious practitioners of Venetian blown glass working today. Partnering with the Italian glass manufacturer Venini, Wood’s latest mischievous product is something she calls the “[colordisc](https://artemest.com/products/colourdisc-by-bethan-laura-wood-4),” a bowl that doubles as a cylindrical flower vase (or is it the other way around?). Made ingeniously from lacquered brass and decorative glass, the modular creation includes an optional blown-glass vase in orange or blue, which, aside from adding additional pops of color, is designed to add or subtract the object’s depth depending on whether one wants to use it as a shallow fruit bowl or a vessel deep enough to hold water for flowers. Cheekiest of all, the two individual tiles of glass affixed to the exterior feature two blue dots, a hue Wood sourced from Venini Archive and, of course, her own signature face paint.

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/1gk26F5ClzaFJBoMj8A5vL/3d76f3e4034ea8a75a1eb59ec5ed4038/Murano_Body3.jpg"/><figcaption>“Laguna” by Dana Arbib, 2022 and “Onde” by Dana Arbib, 2022, images by Brian W Ferry. Courtesy Brian W Ferry and Tiwa Select, 2022, portrait of Dana Arbib by Sean Davidson</figcaption></figure>

## Dana Arbib

Over the last two years, the Libyan-designer [Dana Arbib](https://www.instagram.com/dana.yolanda.arbib/) has traveled from her studio in New York City to Murano, where she worked with artisans on kelps-shaped glassware inspired by the shapes of North-African vessels and the blue-green colors of the area’s rich seascape. And like Murano’s long history of glassmaking mythmaking, Arbib discovered a secret of her own while learning from the island’s craftspeople: Her own great uncle, her family discovered, had immigrated from Libya to Venice in the late 1800s to run a glass-producing facility not far where she had been working herself during her time on the lagoon island. She called her resulting collection of oversize vases, plates and goblets “[Vetro Alga](https://www.tiwa-select.com/blogs/exhibitions),” which translates to “seaweed glass.” The collection has been exhibited by Tiwa Select gallery and counts the interior-decorator Michael Bargo, the designer Lazaro Hernandez and the furniture designer Emmanuel Olunkwa as fans. Fusing the long history of the Murano craft with her own Libyan backstory, Arbib’s globular works are at once monuments to heritage and shining examples of where glassmaking is headed next.

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/4XJRuGTFzyrZvm1vEOFcbo/6fb1b7c383306c34378f6dd625d40839/Murano_Body4.jpg"/><figcaption>Glasses and tumblers courtesy of Campbell-Rey</figcaption></figure> 

## Campbell-Rey

For Duncan Campbell and Charlotte Rey, the design duo behind  [Campbell-Rey](https://www.1stdibs.com/dealers/campbell-rey/), glassware is a dish best served in contrasting color. Launched during Milan Design Week in 2017, the spunky homeware collection has grown to include coupes, wine glasses, tumblers and highballs that seem designed to brighten up even the gloomiest of kitchens. Each piece is a two-tone construction picked from three colorways: blue and green, amber and violet, pink and yellow. The mix-and-match aesthetic — your stem color, your choice — is bright and fun, but that’s nothing compared to Campbell-Rey's sunnier offerings, including a series of [carafes](https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/dining-entertaining/glass/campbell-rey-octagonal-striped-carafe-green-blue-murano-glass/id-f_9009241/) and bowls that come in five-striped colorways that appear to be pulled straight from a big-top circus — a reminder to even the most precious of 1st-Dibs devotees that it’s OK to clown around sometimes. 

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/3pXPHjGWxLKlMkG3UsIQjK/cc92bb8625d3068aa648c85850368d5f/Murano_Body5.jpg"/><figcaption>Geometric vessels courtesy of Jonah Takagi</figcaption></figure> 

## Jonah Takagi 

Just as sparkling wine is only Champagne if it’s crafted in the French region of the same name, many purists believe glassware can  be considered Murano only if it comes from one of the Venetian island’s red-hot furnaces. A glass of bubbly would likely shatter in the hands of any traditionalist who encountered the work of Washington, D.C.-based designer [Jonah Takagi](http://ateliertakagi.com/projects/), who has become something of a bull in the proverbial China shop for his outré and unconventional approach to glasswork. While a resident at [CIRVA](https://www.cirva.fr/fr), a research center in France that invites artisans from all over the world to its studio in Marseilles to explore new ways to reinvent glass as a creative medium, Takagi made [geometric vessels](http://ateliertakagi.com/projects/CIRVApt3/) through a very unprecedented method: blowing hot glass into molds made from refractory bricks and ceramic sheets that had been discarded by previous glassmakers. The resulting rock-like forms come in speckled orange, yellow and red, echoing the inventive glassware made by his Venetian forebears so many centuries ago. 

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/5sOZURA0Pb3rWc648matbb/3663ef1330834d3b6de4e40be67bba57/Murano_Body6.jpg"/><figcaption>Lights, detailed glass, and bubbles vases courtesy of Luca Nichetto</figcaption></figure> 

## Luca Nichetto 

The Italian designer [Luca Nichetto](http://nichettostudio.com/) once told the New York Times that he has “Murano in the blood.” He wasn’t exaggerating. Born in Venice to a family of Murano artisans — his grandfather was a master glassblower and his mother decorated works fresh from the kilns — Nichetto got his start selling his childhood glass creations to local factories and, later, working for the storied Murano-glassware company Salviati and the heritage lighting company Foscarini. Today, an unmistakable Murano touch is on display in many of his most-famous designs, such as the bubble vases he produced with Gianpietro Gali in the early 2000s (which now fetch thousands of dollars on online auction sites) and, more recently, the table lights he designed for for Swedish heritage brand Svenskt Tenn. Nichetto is now something of a Murano televangelist working to make sure other industry peers understand the lost art of Venetian glass blowing. Last September, he curated *[Empathic – Discovering a Glass Legacy](https://www.wallpaper.com/design/murano-glass-exhibition-empathic-luca-nichetto)*, an exhibition at Venice’s Punta Conterie gallery of original Murano-glass works by design superstars such as Ini Archibong, Elena Salmistraro and Marc Thorpe. A selection of Nichetto’s Murano goblets and glasses will be on view at the gallery through September.

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/184OFfiRpIbWbEj8UOZciH/c1e78eef6b4cc9f1aa75124e7eb019d3/Murano_Body7.jpg"/><figcaption>Baby Yoga photo by Alex Paganelli, portrait by Joseph Reiver of Breanna Box and Peter Dupont, Cinderella bag photographed by Breanna Box, all courtesy of Heven</figcaption></figure> 

## Heven

At first glance, Breanna Box and Peter Dupont, a pair of New-York based, twenty-something models who founded behind the irreverent glassware company [Heven](https://seeyouinheven.com/), are about as far from the classically-trained artisans of Murano as you can get. But what Heven gets better than many more-established glassware brands is that Murano is supposed to be fun, goofy even. Pieces available to purchase on the company’s website include a phantasmagoria of oddball creations: a baby-blue bubble vase wrapped in transparent hand-blown glass in the shape of clouds, carafes with devil horns and vases resembling waterlogged Mondrian paintings. A standout is *[Baby Yoda](https://seeyouinheven.com/products/baby-yoda-carafe)*, a green opaline with a detachable translucent head resembling a certain infantile character from the Star Wars Disney+ series, *The Mandalorian*. 

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/4EV6TU3Aa4qbe8ENCEJSxA/fe93e369a4b10e5600d3886559019b52/Murano_Body8.jpg"/><figcaption>Glass tumblers courtesy of Yellow World and Laguna B</figcaption></figure>   

## Laguna B

Founded in 1994 by the French-Italian glass maker Marie Brandolini d'Adda di Valmareno, [Laguna B](https://www.lagunab.com/) is a legendary *maison de verre* (“house of glass”) that serves to “collaborate with local and international partners to carry out environmental, cultural and community projects benefiting Venice and the world.”  Indeed, few companies have worked to extend Murano’s reach. Over the years, Laguna B has worked with botany students at University of Padova in Italy to design “a chandelier that could host a self-sufficient plant ecosystem in closed environments,”  created the glass [Autonoma Prize](https://www.lagunab.com/projects/autonoma-prize) award statue that is now handed out to emerging talent during Venice Design Week, and collaborated design tastemakers such as Campbell-Rey. Recently, the Laguna B teamed up with Evie Henderson of the London-based fashion label The Yellow World for a collection of Murano borosilicate-glass tumblers  in murrini poppy flowers and wavy zebra-like stripes. As with everything Murano, mixing and matching is encouraged.

<figure><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/7HcKtge32tu2FJhuFHHtI6/e1ac18463d0aa472ca6534dbc925343c/Murano_Body9.jpg"/><figcaption>Glass tumblers courtesy of CristaSeya</figcaption></figure> 

## CristaSeya

Much like how the island of Murano appears to be frozen in time, [CristaSeya](https://cristaseya.co/), an unassuming atelier-slash-boutique located on a nondescript block in Paris’s 9th arrondissement, eschews the modern worlds of design and fashion for a more slowed-down, clandestine approach to craftsmanship. CristaSeya has no storefront — you have to either know the right buzzer or have an appointment. In fact, if you’ve never heard of CristaSeya, that means the label’s press-shy founders, stylists Cristina Casini and Keiko Seya, have done what they set out to do: create a retail space unburdened by today’s hype-industrial-complex. Since it first opened its doors in 2013 (well, partially opened), Cristaseya has quietly offered it’s loyal in-the-know customer base (Sofia Coppola is a fan) a variety of curated treasures, everything from roomy, *Grey-Garden-esque* headscarves to [miniature Murano masterpieces](https://cristaseya.co/index.php?p=edition&id=27). Upon last visit, CristaSeya’s homeware consisted of clear-glass tumblers that resembled bulbous tree trunks or in vivid hand-painted skeletal patterns. A bare-bones approach fits perfectly the quiet work ethic shared by both the hole-in-the-wall Parisian atelier and the slip of Venetian land known as Murano.

<figure class="align-right hidden"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/7mlrI1dPYWbRpcwdZx4w7U/14f9678fe699a2bdd9008d96a661607d/Murano-1.jpg"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure class="align-right hidden"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/3i2gK5WgDf0zTUQEi9q5Au/af0ca94878b3610ba2c2e84b052fff8f/Murano-2.jpg"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure class="align-right hidden"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/7CCEnaGBWHTcjgtcL43PCt/1a83f91c5241597ed4d745ae3a08b3fb/Murano-3.jpg"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure class="align-right hidden"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/5YzTayWC13PoLBtXZkfARD/4a3cbe868cfd05b5962d0fc85fe6b212/Murano-4.jpg"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure class="align-right hidden"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/2R38OdpfC8sZ4f3zHhHoQF/4dc1590e43216fe2cd032d76f91b2d9a/Murano-5.jpg"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure class="align-right hidden"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/7u83bR9NtLLx2yXD8qqa5V/a1dd80b397b6f77b534e9d87d5553fab/Murano-6.jpg"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure class="align-right hidden"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/36DeuVZDwx8p64APn6fMAo/16724d36a8b844757313ce95899055bb/Murano-7.jpg"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure class="align-right hidden"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/FeKpy3c6137qiB6uGqkck/f81a05b02df3440f08ac52f0fdb5baf6/Murano-8.jpg"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure class="align-right hidden"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/3cwIssKmnMTKP9tPO9FOm5/61c012fd4b0513dea262e29853abeef7/Murano-9.jpg"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure class="align-right hidden"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/5MD42PxiVdgE5zWYMkHLmN/fb65353308cc1795872dcaa508042bd4/Murano-10.jpg"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure class="align-right hidden"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/6alb7q886wpg/2GjN7P7aAnyvLg5Q8OKb2X/74d107d9a44cf2fcad120c89dd3574cd/Murano-11.jpg"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>


Murano Glass was a small, intimate form of art and is now found all over the world. Discover why the Murano Italian glass has become a favorite among artistans.

Murano hero

Murano index

Murano glass was long the work of Italy's traditional artisan families. Now, it's being adopted by artists and aesthetes all over the world. 

Endagered Art Form: Murano Glass Italy | Prior

Murano glass, a revered craft made by a small group of artisans on the tiny Venetian island for the last 700 years, is suddenly everywhere— from ateliers in Paris to this week’s Milan Design Fair. What was once an endangered art form has been embraced by a new group of designers putting their own modern, whimsical twist on the glassmaking tradition.

Best in Glass

Wildflowers sprouting between roof tiles, stains darkening marble fountains, and everywhere the sooty, uneven cobblestones: this is Rome, and the wonderful patina of a place that has chosen to age proudly. The beautiful details and landmarks of The Eternal City has most certainly been captured in film over the decades. But in some cases, film has imparted style onto Rome, as much as the other way around. 

Many now-legendary Italian directors—Fellini, Antonioni, Pasolini, De Sica, Bertolucci, and Sorrentino—were first lured to Rome as young men: Each could easily see the drama and understated beauty that everyday Romans ran the risk of overlooking, the potential for new in the old, the elegance and the vulgarity, the classical symmetries and the chaos. 

In 1960, Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita notably spread Rome’s cinematic glamour worldwide, largely by way of a now immortalized scene in which Anita Ekberg (Silvia) waltzed into the Trevi Fountain by moonlight in a black strapless evening gown, luring Marcello Mastroianni in after her. The film introduced the world to a very particular Italian style—slim suits and dark Persol sunglasses (worn indoors and at night—Fellini practically invented that) and actress Anouk Aimée in her little black dresses and cat-eye, which quickly became the epitome of understated chic. 

<figure><img src="//images.contentful.com/6alb7q886wpg/3fjsmlHYJXJahzfRJLKfbE/03ef17cf5a12eba922c89fb27aa92c03/Cinematic_Rome_Body_1.1.jpg"/><figcaption>La Dolce Vita movie poster. Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in the EUR neighborhood of Rome. Stazione Fermi, Roma EUR 1967 by Paolo Monti.</figcaption></figure>

The places in which this and other recognizable scenes were filmed became a character in and of themselves, and each location has since been pulling back visitors to relive the magic. Watching them again—or for the first time—can add yet another layer of lovable history onto the way we view the city, and especially these six memorable areas. 

# The Spot: The EUR Neighborhood
### The Films: La Dolce Vita, The Eclipse 

In the early 1930s, on the occasion of the World Expo, Mussolini envisioned the creation of EUR, a new district that was to rise on the edge of the city in order to launch Rome into the future. The Expo never happened because of World War II, but EUR stands as a reminder of this ambition. Its plain lines and white marbles are reminiscent of Imperial Rome with a Deco twist, and thanks to its abstract—almost dystopian—atmosphere, it has served as an unusual and fascinating backdrop for a number of films.  
Most of The Eclipse (1962) by Antonioni was shot in the modern residential part of EUR, built in the sixties, where Monica Vitti’s character lives. The surreal and enduring silence of this starkly designed neighborhood enhances the sense of alienation that became Antonioni’s signature. 

You could begin your wanderings in front of The Palazzo dei Congressi in Piazza John Kennedy 1. The   stark design of its interiors also appears in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960) as the emergency room where Mastroianni takes his girlfriend after her attempted suicide. In The Conformist, Bernardo Bertolucci uses the De Chirico-like atmosphere of the roof terrace as the setting for the psychiatric ward where Trintignant visits his father. Once in the area, have lunch at Il Fungo in Piazza Pakistan 1, the tall, mushroom-shaped tower built in 1960 as a water tank, now a vaguely futuristic looking high-end restaurant. Its UFO-like shape looms from the window in the scene of the opening sequence when Monica Vitti breaks up with her lover and appears as a ghostly presence in several subsequent scenes. Walk down Viale dell’Umanesimo until you reach the artificial lake on Passeggiata del Giappone, where Monica Vitti and Alan Delon watch his sports car being recovered and lifted with cables from underwater.

<figure><img src="//images.contentful.com/6alb7q886wpg/6ZaEqRFrgYqRsvm6vFRBSe/38d06270d3793f1a006cd976d41b64ff/Cinematic_Rome_Body_2.jpg"/><figcaption>A still from La Grande Bellezza in the Ancient Park of the Aqueducts.</figcaption></figure>

# The Spot: Ancient Park of the Aqueducts
### The Film: La Grande Bellezza, La Dolce Vita 

One of Rome’s lesser trafficked outdoor attractions is Parco degli Acquedotti, a reminder of the ancient empire’s famous aqueducts. Built to deliver fresh water from the mountains into the city, the immense structures still stand at the edge of Rome as a testament to the imperial architects’ engineering skills. In La Grande Bellezza (2013) by Paolo Sorrentino, protagonist Jep Gambardella watches a “conceptual” performance by a completely naked female artist who keeps running into a wall next to the aqueduct (an allusion, according to some critics, to Marina Abramovic). The opening scene of La Dolce Vita depicts a helicopter flying right over the one named the Aqua Claudia carrying the statue of Jesus suspended by cables. Today the park, which comprises the remains of seven ancient aqueducts, is considered one of the largest “green lungs” of the city of Rome. It sprawls nearly 600 acres and is a perfect spot for a picnic, bike ride, or just exploring the ruins. The entrance is on Via Lemonia.

# The Spot: The Coppedè District
### The Films: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Inferno

Tucked behind the main streets of Quartiere Trieste is one of the most bizarre and little-known neighborhoods of Rome, the Quartiere Coppedè. Built from 1913 to 1927, it is named after its creator, Florentine architect Gino Coppedè, and its few buildings are a mix of historic styles—Art Nouveau meets Fortuny and Orientalism. The atmosphere, however, is pure gothic and eclectic, the perfect location for Dario Argento’s horror films, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)—Argento’s debut—and Inferno (1980), both set largely in and around Piazza Mincio, the district’s main square and the home of the Fontana delle Rane (the frog’s fountain). Each of the buildings has a uniquely detailed facade, decorated with spiders, she-wolves, and mythological figures, and surrounded by towers, loggias, and painted walls. 

<figure><img src="//images.contentful.com/6alb7q886wpg/5JqgHf8VDFkd2I1e5rZOxJ/636c4f6cf533c5db916462440b689a38/Cinematic_Rome_Body_3.jpg"/><figcaption>Villino delle Fate, situated on Piazza Mincio within the Coppedè District. A still from Dario Argento’s Inferno in The Coppedè District.</figcaption></figure>

# The Spot: The Pigneto Neighborhood
### The Film: Accattone 

When Pasolini filmed Accattone (1961) here, Pigneto was a neglected neighborhood, home to petty criminals. In the last ten years with some notable recent gentrification, it has become the home to an alternative Roman scene and is bursting with young people, cool aperitivo bars, LGBT clubs, outdoor cafes and interesting bookshops.

Pasolini set most of the film’s scenes in Pigneto: Accattone’s house appears on Via Giovenale 101, and the location of the outdoor cafe where the group of friends gathers throughout the film is on Via Fanfulla da Lodi, though it is now a private residence. On the same street you can stop at Necci, a restaurant-cafe where Pasolini loved to eat—now with updated interiors and a menu of fresh local dishes. Stroll along Via del Pigneto, a pedestrian area with outdoor dining and drinking, to experience the liveliness of the quarter. Wandering across the train tracks on the opposite side of Via Casilina, you can also relive the legendary scene in Rossellini’s Roma Open City (1945) in which Anna Magnani runs for her life before getting shot on Via Montecuccoli. 

# The Spot: Centro Storico
### The Films: The Passionate Thief, Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini, La Grande Bellezza

La Grande Bellezza, directed by Sorrentino, has to be one of the greatest homages to the area. The film opens on Janiculum Hill, close to Centro Storico, with a chorus singing behind the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola. Protagonist Jep Gambardella lives in a beautiful apartment with a terrace at Via del Colosseo 7. His strolls take us through various palazzi romani: Palazzo Spada, Palazzo Altemps, Palazzo Medici, Palazzo Braschi and the Etruscan Museum in Piazzale di Villa Giulia, to name a few. Most of these interiors are shown to the protagonist by a mysterious character who seems to be the sole possessor of keys that open these otherwise inaccessible places. Evidently these are the keys to the great beauty that Rome keeps as a secret—and that not everyone can behold.

<figure><img src="//images.contentful.com/6alb7q886wpg/7idkWBD6XYDIlHiAvHbRm9/0eeaa4fce004182dc2d7ae6c5696d601/Cinematic_Rome_Body_4.jpg"/><figcaption>The Passionate Thief movie poster. Palazzo Spada. Biblioteca Angelica.</figcaption></figure>

Vittorio de Sica directed Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini (1970) mostly in Ferrara, though one of its few locations in Rome is the Biblioteca Angelica in Piazza Sant’Agostino 8, near Piazza Navona. Established in 1604, the Angelica is the oldest public library in Europe and absolutely worth visiting for its ancient towering shelves, gigantic globes and ancient hanging maps.

The Passionate Thief (1960), directed by Mario Monicelli, takes place over New Year’s Eve. Two poor street artists, Anna Magnani and comedian Totò, wander from parties to masked balls pretending to be an affluent couple. In the course of their meanderings, they end up in a palazzo, which is actually the Museum Barracco, a small and graceful renaissance palazzo built in 1523. Its collection of antique sculptures includes works of Egyptian, Assyrian, Phoenician, Cypriot, Etruscan, Greek, Roman and medieval art—it’s on Corso Vittorio 166, between Campo dei Fiori and Piazza Navona, and entrance is free.

# The Spot: Ostia and the Coastline
### The Film: The White Sheik, Juliet of the Spirits

Only a forty-minute drive from the city, Ostia is Rome’s equivalent of Coney Island for New Yorkers. Fellini was very fond of its melancholic atmosphere of once-derelict restaurants and old-fashioned beach resorts, which he used as a location in almost every one of his films. Many of these spots have been refreshed and Ostia today is worth a visit on a sunny day. Stop for a meal at La Vecchia Pineta, not just one of the most striking and scenic waterfront restaurants of the area, but also a jewel of rationalist architecture.

In the pine woods at the back of the beach in Fregene Beach nearby, Fellini shot parts of The White Sheik (1950) and the memorable scene in Juliet of the Spirits (1965) in which Giulietta Masina talking to her doctor and sees Suzy (Sandra Milo), her glamorous neighbor with an odd lifestyle, about whom she has dreams, visions, and fantasies that ultimately help her deal with her philandering husband.  

<figure><img src="//images.contentful.com/6alb7q886wpg/3iZD033SUc169jHrsP7h0o/bc57206d55329aa2a8ddf7e096721fc2/Cinematic_Rome_Body_5.jpg"/><figcaption>A still from Juliet of the Spirits shot on the Ostia coastline. Sunset at a beach resort in Ostia.</figcaption></figure>

Finally, the grandiose rocket-ship construction that appears at the end of 8½ (1963) was built in Via dell’Idroscalo, next to the beach. The film’s unforgettable last scene is a dream of the protagonist’s: Mastroianni, Fellini’s alter ego, leads the full cast of the film that has just been canceled onto a gangway built on the sand. Led by the clowns, the characters march on to the unforgettable score by Nino Rota. The evening turns into night, the lights go off one by one, and the screen turns black.  


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Countless classic films have been set in Rome, Italy. Discover the most memorable Rome movies & the locations that inspired them with PRIOR.

Self-Guided Film Tour Through Famous Rome Movies | PRIOR

The Eternal City has served as muse to so many Italian filmmakers, whose work both captured and created wildly different views of it. Revisiting these enthralling locations from their famous scenes, you can’t not feel the allure and mystique of Rome as powerfully as they did. 


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