January 9th - January 15th

Naples, Jan. 15th - (Adnkronos) - Forty years on from the discovery of two Leonardo Da Vinci manuscripts in the National Library of Spain, the so-called Madrid Codices (February 1st, 1996), rendered untraceable due to a cataloguing error in around 1830, the Renaissance Hotel Mediterraneo of Naples will host the exhibition ''Quel gran genio di Leonardo'' [Leonardo’s great genius], a collection of war machines, musical and industrial instruments, created in various periods from Da Vinci designs. The exhibition will be open everyday from 9am to 6pm from January 20th to February 26th.

Rome, Jan. 15th - (Adnkronos) - At the conclusion of seven years of celebrations for the 4th centenary of the birth of Pietro da Cortona, Bernini and Borromini, the national committee ''Roma e la nascita del Barocco'' [Rome and the birth of Baroque], in collaboration with the Museum Pole of Rome, presents ''Roma Barocca: Bernini, Borromini, Pietro da Cortona'' [Baroque Rome: Bernini, Borromini, Pietro da Cortona], set up at Castel Sant'Angelo from June 16th to October 29th. The exhibition proposes a journey through the most significant places of Rome, as they appeared during the pontificates of Urban VIII Barberini (1623-1644), Innocent X Pamphili (1644-1655) and Alexander VII Chigi (1655-1666), thanks to the work of Bernini, Borromini and Pietro da Cortona.

Rome, Jan. 15th - (Adnkronos) - The Chamber of Deputies hosts an exhibition of objects, sculptures, masks and photographic images organized by the Association ''Obiettivo sul mondo'' [Objective on the world] and entitled ''India sconosciuta'' [Unknown India]. The exhibition brings together numerous testimonies of study tours carried out in India by Claudio Tirelli, Association President for more than 25 years, and Roberta Ceolin, photographer and expert on the customs of the Indian continent. The show will take place in Vicolo Valdina and will remain open to the public from 10am to 6pm from January 18th to February 1st (free entrance, bookings not required, closed on Saturday and Sunday). The inauguration will take place at 4pm on January 17th.

Messina, Jan. 15th (Adnkronos) - Objects designed by famous Finnish designers between 1950 and 1990 and belonging to the Mangano collection will be on show at the Regional Museum of Messina from March 25th to June 30th. The exhibition, curated by Anty Pansera, will also include products created by Alvar Aalto, Tapio Wirkkala and Timo Serpaneva. The initiative, promoted by the Culture Department of the Messina city council, in collaboration with the province and Sicily region, has also obtained the support of the Embassy of Finland in Rome.

Rome, Jan. 15th - (Adnkronos) - The Abruzzo provinces and Region will be presented all together at the 2006 BIT. In fact, for the second year, the Abruzzo Region and its four Provinces will share the same stand at the Milan tourism fair, scheduled from February 18th to 21st at Fiera Milano City. The objective is that of promoting the ''Qualita' Abruzzo'' [Abruzzo Quality] brand and proposing itself in a united way to the national and international market. The announcement was made in the last few days by Regional Council Vice President Enrico Paolini and the four provincial Tourism Councilors, Teresa Nannarone (L'Aquila), Luciano Lapenna (Chieti), Paolo Fornarola (Pescara) and Orazio Di Marcello (Teramo).

Rome, Jan. 15th - (Adnkronos) - 2005 ended well for Italian tourism in Malta. The archipelago saw a good 90,000 Italian visitors in the first 11 months of last year. Italy in this way takes forth place for presences, with 6.3% of the total, following British, German and French citizens. According to the figures of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Malta, obtained from studies carried out by the Maltese statistical office, the presence of Italians with respect to the same period of last year has diminished by 9%, compared to a 2.2 % increase in global presences.

Rome, Jan. 15th - (Adnkronos) - The Liguria region is focusing on the Chinese market. Foreign tourism, which represents 43% of the total, is on the increase and the region hopes that Chinese tourism will also soon make up a large part of the number of foreign presences. Meanwhile, the participation of Liguria is predicted at the World Tourism Fair scheduled in Shanghai from March 30th to April 2nd, 2006. The operators of La Spezia, coordinated by the Chamber of Commerce, are already confirming their participation. The aim is to present the tourism resources of the territory and their personal proposals to Chinese tour operators and agencies.

Rome, Jan. 15th - (Adnkronos) - Sardinia is focusing on reconquering the German market. Sardinia will for this reason be present until January 22nd, with its own exhibition space, at the 2006 edition of the CMT, the Stuttgart tourism fair. The CMT is a public event with three sections dedicated to specific segments: adventure travel and excursions, cruise and nautical tourism, golf and wellness.

Rome, Jan. 15th - (Adnkronos) - Three regions with a tourism vocation, Campania, Lazio and Calabria, discuss tourism and promotional strategies in Salerno. The meeting is scheduled for January 18th in the Confindustria seat of the Campania city. The 2006 edition of the study ''Il turismo in Campania, Calabria e Lazio'' [Tourism in Campania, Calabria and Lazio] will be presented during the morning by Holiday Net Managing Director Felice Ferrara.

Rome, Jan. 15th - (Adnkronos) - Italy is the desired winter tourism destination overseas. This is according to the latest Italian State Tourist Board (ENIT) report, still unpublished, on winter mountain tourism, realized in collaboration with Enit delegations in 21 international markets. Foreigners like the landscape and gastronomic offer combined with the snow offer.

Rome, Jan. 15th - (Adnkronos) – There are three big focuses on the emerging trends in the sector, BIT for Job, BIT Green and BIT Technology, an international workshop dedicated to the Middle East and the Mediterranean, Buy. MM, and the usual Buy Italy for foreign markets. These are some of the appointments that characterize the 26th edition of the BIT, the international tourism exchange in Milan from February 18th to 21st in the pavilions of Fiera Milano City, the new expo center of the city.

Potenza, Jan. 13th - (Adnkronos) - Agricultural tourism in Basilicata has caught its breath over the New Year period saving a year in which the summer season did not register a brilliant balance. This is what emerges from a survey conducted in Basilicata by Turismo Verde, the agricultural tourism association of the National Federation of Farmers' Associations (CIA), which indicates in a press release that ''numerous tourists have chosen the countryside with the aim of enjoying a rest far from city stresses and sampling genuine and traditional food''.

Milan, Jan. 13th (Adnkronos) - ''The white night of jewelry''. The Councilor for Fashion, Tourism and Big Events, Giovanni Bozzetti, in this way defined More, the jewelry fair reserved to sector operators, which will take place in Milan from February 17th to 20th in the pavilions of the 'old' fairgrounds. For the occasion, the jewelers of the “Quadrilatero della moda” [fashion district] will remain open beyond the usual closing time. ''This operation -stated Bozzetti- not only relates to jewelers and the centre: the aim is also extending the evening opening of other businesses of the district, and broadening the involvement of jewelers to all the shops of the city''.

Pescara, Jan. 13th - (Adnkronos) - The Region and the four Abruzzo provinces will be together at the International Tourism Exchange (BIT) of Milan to promote the 'Qualita' Abruzzo' [Abruzzo Quality] brand. This is Abruzzo’s most important new development at the international tourism event that will take place from next February 18th to 21st at the Fiera di Milano. The technical set up of the stand and the institutional collaboration were presented today in Pescara, during the course of a press conference, by Vice President Enrico Paolini and the four provincial Tourism Councilors.

Bolzano, Jan. 13th - (Adnkronos) - A golden autumn for tourism in Bolzano. The increase in tourist presences in the Alto Adige capital in October, with respect to the same month of the previous year, was 12.9 %. Overnight stays increased in the same period by 7.8 %. The November figures are also encouraging with an increase of 5.3 % in arrivals, and a drop of 5.7 % in overnight stays with respect to November 2004.

Potenza, Jan. 13th - (Adnkronos) - ''The infrastructural interventions in the tourism areas present in Basilicata, through the recuperation and restructuring of accommodation in neighbouring areas, the set up of services, territory management and interventions to facilitate access as well as the modernization and enlarging of ski resorts, have allowed an integrated offer of Basilicata to be presented''. This is the balance traced by the Department for Productive Activities, led by Councillor Donato Salvatore, in the first session of Parliament.

Rome, Jan. 13th - (Adnkronos) - At the conclusion of seven years of celebrations for the 4th centenary of the birth of Pietro da Cortona, Bernini and Borromini, the national committee ''Roma e la nascita del Barocco'' [Rome and the birth of Baroque], in collaboration with the Museum Pole of Rome, presents ''Roma Barocca: Bernini, Borromini, Pietro da Cortona'' [Baroque Rome: Bernini, Borromini, Pietro da Cortona], set up at Castel Sant'Angelo from June 16th to October 29th. The exhibition proposes a journey through the most significant places of Rome, as they appeared during the pontificates of Urban VIII Barberini (1623-1644), Innocent X Pamphili (1644-1655) and Alexander VII Chigi (1655-1666), thanks to the work of Bernini, Borromini and Pietro da Cortona.

Venice, Jan. 12th (Adnkronos) - Great success in Venice for the exhibition ''Quixote/Chisciotte. 1605-2005'', which has registered more than 16,000 presences. The monumental rooms of the Marciana National Library will host, until January 18th, this extraordinary exhibition dedicated to the history and legend of Miguel de Cervantes’ hero.

Milan, Jan. 12th - (Adnkronos) - As a result of increasing public interest, the exhibition ''Maestri della Scultura in legno nel ducato degli Sforza'' [Masters of wooden sculpture in the Sforza duchy], set up in the “Sale Viscontee” of the Castle that brings together, for the first time, a selection of around eighty of the most important wooden sculptures, realized in Lombardy between the 15th and 16th centuries, has been extended until February 26th. The exhibition will be open from 9am to 5:30pm from Tuesday to Sunday.

Ancona, Jan. 12th - (Adnkronos) - Extraordinary public success for ''Leonardo. Genio e visione in terra marchigiana'' [Leonardo. Genius and Vision in the Marches], the exhibition inaugurated on October 15th, 2005, at Ancona’s Mole Vanvitelliana and concluded last January 8th. More than 30,000 visitors, with a daily average of more than 400 people, have admired some of Leonardo’s most prestigious works, like the Cheramy version of ''La Vergine delle rocce'' [The Virgin of the Rocks] and the exceptional ''Codice del Volo'' [Fight Codex]. A record public turnout that has exceeded the most positive predictions.

Florence, Jan. 12th - (Adnkronos) - The first edition of the “Oleovagando” [Oil Roaming] event, organized by the Province of Florence and the Tourism Promotion Agency (APT), is set to start. It will be possible, from tomorrow until Sunday 15th, to roam around Florence and the surrounding areas in search of oil-mills and olive oil. The initiative will also be an occasion to visit the most beautiful Florentine estates like “Castello di Nipozzano” of the Marchesi de' Frescobaldi or the historical “Fattoria di Nozzole” in Greve in Chianti, today owned by the Folonari family.

Florence, Jan. 12th - (Adnkronos) - ''Tuscany is one of the top regions in Italy for the production of camper vans and caravans. If this vocation is combined with the tourism one and, in particular, with the emerging segments of open-air tourism, camping and agri-tourism, what emerges is an important sector of our economy and a tourism development opportunity that we must fully take advantage of''. Regional Tourism Councilor Anna Rita Bramerini in this way presented, today in Florence, the forth edition of Tour.it, the itinerant tourism expo that will take place in Carrara from next January 14th.

Verona, Jan. 11th (Adnkronos) - Trenitalia, in collaboration with Alto Adige Marketing and the ski facilities of Obereggen, Plose and the Siusi Alps, has created and today presented ''I treni della neve'' [The Snow Trains], special connections, active every Sunday from January 15th to February 26th, 2006, dedicated to ski and winter tourism enthusiasts who from Verona wish to comfortably reach the Alto Adige ski slopes.

Florence, Jan. 11th - (Adnkronos) - Camping, caravanning and open-air tourism by now represent an important segment of our tourism. ''Tour.it'', the itinerant tourism expo, is dedicated to these sectors for the fourth consecutive year. The event, scheduled in Carrara from Saturday January 14th, will be officially presented to the press at 12am tomorrow, Thursday January 12th, in the ''Cutuli'' Press Room of Florence’s Palazzo Bastogi (18 Via Cavour).

Trieste, Jan. 10th - (Adnkronos) - ''Excepting last minute unforeseen events and if the trial that will conclude on Saturday morning is successful, skiers will be able, already next Sunday, to use the cableway of Mt Lussari, whose top station was devastated by fire last November 8th''. This was announced by the regional Councillor for Productive Activities of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Enrico Bertossi, specifying that the definitive opening will occur on January 19th, following some finishing touches scheduled between next Monday and Wednesday.

Naples, Jan. 10th - (Adnkronos) - 2005 was a positive year for Naples in terms of tourism trends. Foreigners increased by 6.52% with respect to the previous year, the increase in presences in museums was 1.97%, cruise passengers increased by 9.2% and the cruise ships that docked at the city’s port increased by 8.8%. Luca Esposito, the Tourism Councillor for the Naples City Council, today traced a balance of the sector underlining figures that are all on the increase except for the case of the National Archeological Museum where a drop in presences has instead been registered.

Naples, Jan. 10th - (Adnkronos) - Www.napolicittadelturismo.it is the name of the new website presented today by the Tourism Councillor of the Naples City Council, Luca Esposito and that has the primary objective of relaunching the image of the Neapolitan capital. In addition to supplying information usually needed by visitors on holiday, the portal, created from the ''Rete del Turismo'' [Tourism Network] project, will serve to spread communication campaigns and advertising initiatives, aimed in this case, also at sector operators.

Potenza, Jan. 9th - (Adnkronos) - The Potenza Town Council has extended the closing of the exhibition ''Visionari Primitivi Eccentrici'' [Eccentric Primitive Visionaries] set up at the Civic Gallery until January 29th (the initial date scheduled was January 15th) in consideration of the great public success. 10,200 visitors from all over Italy have been able to admire the paintings exhibited in the gallery and numerous are the schools that have booked. The exhibition, curated by Laura Gavioli, sees the works of historical 20th century artists like Alberto Martini, Adolfo Wildt, Osvaldo Licini, Ferruccio Ferrazzi, Tullio Garbari, Giorgio de Chirico, Alberto Savinio and Antonio Ligabue interface with the works, painting and sculpture, of contemporary artists who best express that particular visionary suspension that arouses so much interest in critics and in younger and more modern collecting.

Siena, Jan. 9th - (Adnkronos) - ''Alla corte d'Armonia. Immagini e testimonianze su Guido Chigi Saracini'' [At the Court of Harmony. Images and Testimonies on Guido Chigi Saracini], the exhibition dedicated to the founder of the Chigiana Musical Academy and set up at Palazzo Chigi Saracini (89 Via di Citta') in Siena, has been extended until next April 16th. In consideration of the high turnout of visitors, the exhibition that retraces the fundamental stages of the life of the noble Sienese patron extends its opening period: it will therefore be possible to visit everyday except Monday, from 10am-5pm, up until and including April 16th.

Potenza, Jan. 9th - (Adnkronos) - More than ten thousand people have visited the ''Visionari Primitivi Eccentrici'' [Eccentric Primitive Visionaries] exhibition, set up at the Civic Gallery of Potenza. Due to the great success, the city council has decided to extend, until January 29th, the closing of this extraordinary pictorial exhibition entirely dedicated to the great masters of the 20th century. The exhibition includes around fifty works, obtained from public and private collections and archives, by Giorgio De Chirico, Alberto Savinio, Felice Casorati, Scipione, Osvaldo Licini, Ferruccio Ferrazzi, Antonio Ligabue and many other artists of the previous century.

Pescara, Jan. 9th - (Adnkronos) - ''A record season, due to a boom in presences, is the one that is in sight for winter tourism in our region''. This was sustained by Abruzzo regional Tourism Councilor Enrico Paolini, according to whom this superior winter tourism result is also to be linked to the new positive and cooperative relationship established by the Region with tourism operators and facility owners. An effect, on the other hand, registered in all the ski resorts of the three Abruzzo provinces''.

Arezzo, Jan. 9th - (Adnkronos) - With the Christmas celebrations over, the calendar of the ''Oliogustando'' food-and-wine appointments resumes in the province of Arezzo. Following the success of the December evenings, the celebration to valorize Arezzo extra-virgin olive oil, promoted by the provincial administration, predicts five proposals for the month of January, with the usual ''all included'' formula for the fixed price of EUR25.