Italia or modern day Italy as we know it, is the birth place of The Renaissance, a movement which changed the entire thought process of Europe in the 15th and 16th Century.
The history of Italy can be broadly divided into different phases the main being the roman era, the middle ages and the unification of Italy in the 19th century. The Romans not only gave us the modern concept of Administration, but also played a substantial part in influencing Architecture. The Coliseum, the Pantheon are some of the famous buildings of the Roman era. We also owe to the Romans who gave us the Roman Numerals. Famous for their Bravado, the Coliseum was used for Gladiator battles, chariot races and fights with wild beasts. Its believed that the inauguration celebration lasted almost a hundred days.
The Romans also had a high reverence for God and build the Pantheon, the style of which is copied even till date. The art of Sculpture also achieved its high standards during the Roman period.
The middle ages were when Italy gave to the world a new thought process which we now famously call The Renaissance. Rome was the epicenter of this movement. Among the areas that this movement touched is art, architecture, music and literature, religion etc.
Among the famous images of the renaissance are The Sistine Chapel, Mona Lisa, The Last Supper etc. Some of the famous artists of the renaissance era are Masaccio, Donatella, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Rapheal etc.
Dante, Petrach are some of the famous writers of the renaissance era. The concept of humanism which changed during this era, also bought about a change in the basic idea of religion. The domination of Papacy, led to the Protestant movement.
Science was also touched by this movement. Famous personalities among these era are Galileo, Copernicus and even Leonardo da Vinci. It was during this era that people started questioning the existing theories and studied existing facts through scientific means. There was a systematic study of different fields including aerodynamics, physics, biology etc.
The process of unification of Italy which started around the year 1805 culminated in the Kingdom of Italy which was formed in the year 1870.
Italy was divided into various provinces, many of which were under the direct control of the Austrian empire and Hapsburgs. After the fall of Napoleon every ruler felt the need to feed nationalistic sentiments to keep their thrones in place. Thus even artistic expressions moved towards nationalistic sentiments.
The Carbonari are among the most influential revolutionary groups. The members of this group were mainly from the middle class. Among the famous figures of the Italian unification are Garibaldi and Mazzini.
Among Italy’s most famous contribution to the world is undoubtedly the Pizza, which was made famous by Queen Margarita.
