I always knew some of these things to be true and some of the others took me completely by surprise. See how many of these you know. I must give credit to David Hoffman, who is the author of “Little Known Facts about Well-Known Places Italy,” for the information.
For instance, did you know that:
- There are 3000 alleys in Venice and 400 footbridges.
- The Spanish Steps in Rome have 138 steps.
- The Ferragamo Shoe Museum in Florence has a collection of 10,000 pairs of shoes but only 150 to 180 are displayed at any one time.
- Pavarotti received a standing ovation lasting 11 minutes after his final performance in 2004.
- Rome has 300,000 cats.
- It took Stradivari approximately 200 hours to make each violin.
- Shakespeare set 13 of his plays in Italy, yet never visited Italy himself.
- According to the Naples Pizza Association the maximum diameter for a pizza is 12 inches.
- The average Italian eats 61 pounds of pasta each year, and the average Sicilian consumes 92 pounds a year.
- It takes the Popemobile eight seconds to go from zero to 60.
- There are 400 gondolas in Venice, but in the 15th and 16th centuries there were 250,000.
italyproject365
Interesting facts! I didn’t know Rome had so many felines. I remember seeing tons of cast in the Amalfi Coast as well.
margieinitaly
Pavarotti’s last opera was at the Metropolitan Opera in March 2004, but his final performance was in Torino for the Winter Olympics. It has been documented though that he lip-synched to a pre-recording due to the bitter cold and his health. See this link…
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/23996723/ns/today-entertainment/t/pavarottis-last-performance-was-lip-synched/#.UB09XaOwWgQ
friendlytm
I like your “did you know..” list. Where did Pavarotti have his final performance….which city, do you know? I also like the Shakespeare one…had never been to Italy but many sets are in Italy…that is why he is the bard, a genius! Love this post!
Ruth Rainwater
How interesting. I love learning things like this; it’s fun to gain new knowledge!