August 7th - August 13th

Rome, Aug. 11th (Adnkronos) - August 15th (Ferragosto) in the sign of art and culture for the Italian and foreign tourists holidaying in Italy: the most popular and visited destinations of our artistic and archeological heritage will in fact be open over the main week of the summer holidays. This was underlined in a press release and letter signed by Cultural Heritage Minister Francesco Rutelli, addressed to all tourists in Italian and English and made available through trade associations and territorial tourism promotion authorities.

Florence, Aug. 11th - (Adnkronos) - The Uffizi museum and Academy Gallery of Florence, which hosts Michelangelo’s 'David', by far the art work most visited by those choosing the Tuscan capital as their holiday destination, will also stay open for the joy of tourists on August 15th (Ferragosto). In addition to the Uffizi and Academy, all the most important Florentine museums will also stay open: Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens, the Medici Chapels, the Archeological Museum, which hosts the famous 'Chimera', and the St Mark’s museum, where it is possible to admire Beato Angelico’s frescoed cells.

Rome, Aug. 11th - (Adnkronos) - Rome’s Villa Torlonia will stay open on August 15th. This was announced by Cultural Policies Councilor Gianni Borgna. ''As a break from tradition, I am happy to say that Villa Torlonia and its museums will stay open to the public on August 15th, 2006'', stated Borgna in a press release which also specified the opening hours of the Mussolini family’s residence. Villa Torlonia will stay open from 7am-8pm, while “Casino Nobile” and “Casino delle Civette” will be accessible from 9am-7pm.

Cagliari, Aug. 11th - (Adnkronos) - The Exma Municipal Art and Culture Centres, San Michele Castle and Lazzaretto in Cagliari will also be open to the public on August 15th. The three structures will be open from 6-10pm, as announced by the Cagliari City Council Culture Department and Consorzio Camu'. Villa di Tigellio and the Elephant and San Pancrazio Towers will stay open at the following times: Villa di Tigellio from 5-8pm, the Pisan towers from 9am-1pm and from 3:30-7:30pm.

Rome, Aug. 11th - (Adnkronos) - ''Papa Wojtyla testimone d'amore nella sofferenza'' [Pope Wojtyla witness to love in suffering] is the title of the exhibition of Pope John Paul II portraits that will be inaugurated in Castel Gandolfo, Rome, next September 16th, in the Crypt of the Pontifical Parish of S. Tommaso da Villanova, and which will stay open until September 24th. The exhibition, which takes place a year and a half after the death of John Paul II on April 2nd, 2005, will be presented at 5:30pm on September 16th in the Council Hall of Castel Gandolfo's city hall and will be inaugurated at 6:30pm by Albano Bishop Msgr. Marcello Semeraro.

Naples, Aug. 11th - (Adnkronos) - The excavations of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, Stabiae and the Boscoreale museum will stay open on August 15th. This was announced by the Pompeii Archeological Superintendency. The scheduled opening hours are 8:30am-7:30pm, with last entry at 6pm.

Positano (Sa), Aug. 11th (Adnkronos) - The Mondiart exhibitions continue with ''Tra sogno e realta''' [Between dream and reality], solo exhibition by artist Silvestro Pistolesi that will be on in Positano from August 19th to September 20th. The exhibition presents 70 works by the Florentine master, divided between oil sketches, watercolours, mixed techniques featuring Positano, tempera grassa paintings, sanguines of faces and nudes, in addition to numerous preparatory sketches of frescoes.

Sassoferrato (An), Aug. 11th (Adnkronos) - Museums and the archeological area of Sassoferrato open to the public even on August 15th. The three civic museums, the area of the ancient Sentinum and the 56th ''G.B.Salvi'' International Art Exhibition will also be open on Tuesday August 15th with the summer period’s usual opening hours. The Salvi Exhibition, now drawing to a close, will be open to the public from 5-10pm. The big annual event dedicated to visual arts will in fact close its doors on August 20th.

Trieste, Aug. 11th (Adnkronos) - The Civic Museum of History and Art and the “Orto Lapidario” [Lapidary garden] on the San Giusto hills will also open their doors on the evening of August 15th, in the ambit of the 13th edition of ''Musei di Sera'' [Museums at night]. The well-tried formula of evening openings every Tuesday and Wednesday in August, from 8pm to midnight, with an articulated program of guided tours and concerts, will be reproposed again this year.

Florence, Aug. 11th (Adnkronos) - ''The public success gained by the Fort’s opening has led us to extend the opening period from August 31st to September 17th, stated Florence City Council Culture Councillor Simone Siliani. Music performances, dance, theatre, cinema, the exhibition of the city council’s 20th-century art collections and most of all the reinstatement of free entry to Belvedere Fort have made this complex one of the most outstanding and appreciated elements of Firenzestate 06''.

Livorno, Aug. 11th (Adnkronos) - The first edition of the 'Castiglioncello Communication Award' goes to Marina Mizzau, author of the book 'Ridendo e scherzando. La barzelletta come racconto' [Laughing and playing. Funny stories as narrative], Il Mulino editions. The book that highlights the connections between ironical and satirical jokes, considered marginal, was chosen from 40 titles, all dedicated to themes relating to the theory of communication and languages, semiotics, sociology of mass communication and the ethics of communication.

Cagliari, Aug. 10th (Adnkronos) - No summer break for the Cagliari Municipality’s Urban Library System. The municipal libraries placed in various districts of the city of Cagliari will in fact stay open for the entire summer period, from 3:30 to 7pm in the afternoon, for the lending and consultation of books. In addition, the General Library Historical Municipal Archives in Via Newton will be open from 8am to 1:30pm Monday to Friday, with afternoon entry from 4:30 to 7:30pm on Monday and non-stop from 8am to 6pm on Wednesday.

Jesi (An), Aug. 10th (Adnkronos) - Jesi, the city of Frederick II, will be open and hospitable even in the heart of summer. The Tourist Office will also be open on the 13th, 14th and 15th to supply information and material on the city’s accommodation structures and the opening hours of the civic museums, Planettiana library, Enoteca Regionale [wine exhibition and promotion centre], the summer activity of Pergolesi theater, and the cultural and recreational initiatives of the entire Vallesina territory and the main centres of the other provinces.

Pistoia (Fi), Aug. 10th (Adnkronos) - Success for 'Fabbrica della citta'' [Factory of the City], the exhibition on urban projects in progress in Pistoia (Florence), visited by around 2,500 people up until today. The exhibition, set up in the “Frescoed Rooms” of Pistoia’s City Hall, outlines Pistoia’s five big urban transformation projects. The interventions involve the historical centre and ex Breda areas, the new hospital, the present Ceppo area and the Le Fornaci district contract. The free exhibition will also be open on August 15th (10am to 1pm) and will stay open until next October 15th.

Genoa, Aug. 9th - (Adnkronos) - The ancient cultures, traditions, environmental and artistic treasures of Velva, medieval village in the municipality of Castiglione Chiavarese in upper Val Petronio, on the farthest eastern strip of the Province of Genoa, just before the pass that connects it to La Spezia’s Val di Vara. These are the themes of the ''Sogno d'estate'' [Summer dream] exhibition, promoted by the Province, which will be inaugurated at 11am on August 10th in Genoa, in Palazzo Ducale’s “Liguria Spazio Aperto” room.

Siena, Aug. 9th (Adnkronos) - With the decoration of the August “Drappellone” [Palio victory banner] and the anthological exhibition eloquently titled ''Tino Stefanoni in terra di Siena'' [Tino Stefanoni in the land of Siena], the Lecco artist is the artistic star of the 2006 Palio of Siena. The exhibition will be inaugurated on Thursday evening. Philippe Daverio will present the Drappellone to the city and introduce the exhibition at 7pm. Siena Mayor Maurizio Cenni will then unveil Stefanoni’s Drappellone to the public and press.

Apricale (Im), Aug. 9th (Adnkronos) - Following the recent Roman anthological exhibition on Federico Zandomeneghi at the Chiostro del Bramante, Apricale’s Castello della Lucertola, in collaboration with Milan’s Sacerdoti Art Gallery and the Edmondo Sacerdoti Association for the Study, Protection and Popularization of the works of Federico Zandomeneghi, hosts ''Federico Zandomeneghi. Il periodo parigino. Disegni, olii e pastelli'' [Federico Zandomeneghi. The Parisian period. Drawings, oils and pastels], exhibition by Ippolito Edmondo Ferrario and open to the public from August 27th to October 1st.

Rome, Aug. 8th (Adnkronos) - An art appointment in the splendid setting of Positano. The exhibition of Italo-Argentine painter Edoardo De Giorgio, who for more than thirty years has lived and worked between Rome, Positano and his native Buenos Aires, will be inaugurated on Friday August 11th in the 'Mediterraneo' restaurant’s exhibition room.

Vicenza, Aug. 8th (Adnkronos) - Not simple designs and sketches traced by any hand, but the strokes of one of the greatest geniuses of all time: Michelangelo’s designs will be the stars of the Vicenza exhibition set up from September 17th to December 10th at the Palladio Museum in Palazzo Barbaran da Porto. The exhibition will include reproductions of the drawings on the walls of the Florence’s Sacrestia Vecchia, the model for the façade of San Lorenzo, the famous Porta Pia design, and fortification studies.

Toffia (Rieti), August 7. - (Adnkronos) – Music, theater and dance feature in the Festival of the Old Towns of the Farfa Valley. The Festival was promoted by the Municipality of Toffia, with the grant of the Regione Lazio, in collaboration with the Municipalities of Castelnuovo di Farfa, Montopoli di Sabina, Poggio Mirteto and Fara Sabina, with the support of the Province of Rieti. The path curls along the old towns of the Province of Rieti, hosting international artists, musicians and dancers from August 4 to 15.

Fano (Pu), August 7. - (Adnkronos) – The meeting on the mileposts on the via Flaminia and their restoration, postponed due to bad weather, will be on in September. On Wednesday in Fano the second event in the diary will take place: the review ''Arte in restauro'' [Art in Restoration], a series of evening meetings organised by the Municipality to present some works of art and their restoration.

Milan, August 7. - (Adnkronos) – The Milanese seat of ISPI, Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, [Institute of the Studies on International Politics] will host the official presentation of the winners of the 2006 Balzan Awards. After the opening speech by Bruno Bottai, President of the Council of the Balzan Award International Foundation, on September 4, at 5.00 pm, Giovanni Busino, Honorary Professor of the University of Lausanne, Director of the ''Revue européenne des sciences sociales'', foreign member of the National Academy of the Lincei, and Salvatore Veca, Ordinary Professor of Political Philosophy and vide-director of the University Institute of Higher Studies of Pavia, will present the winner of the section “The Political Outlook: History and Philosophy'.