10 most difficult Italy riddles

Italian is an official language in Italy, San Marino, Switzerland and the Holy See. Italian is also used in some parts of Slovenia and Croatia.

The Apennine Peninsula extends 1,000 km (620 mi) from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname lo Stivale (the Boot). Three smaller peninsulas contribute to this characteristic shape, namely Calabria (the "toe"), Salento (the "heel") and Gargano (the "spur").

"Ferrari" is the third most common surname in Italy. The word has the same root as Italian "ferro" (iron) or Latin "ferrum" (thus, Fe for iron).

It was invented in 1950 by the restaurateur Giuseppe Cipriani, when the client - Countess Mocenigo - informed him that the doctor had recommended her raw meat. The new dish reminded him of Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio's work.

The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian people, identified since the 6th century BCE with the Etruscans of Italy.

The Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes also known as the Kastello, is a medieval castle in the city of Rhodes, on the island of Rhodes in Greece. It is one of the few examples of Gothic architecture in Greece. The site was previously a citadel of the Knights Hospitaller that functioned as a palace, headquarters, and a fortress.

The name Italy (Italia) is an ancient name for the country and people of Southern Italy. Originally is was spelled Vitalia, probably from the same root as the Latin vitulus (a one-year-old calf), thus literally meaning 'calf-land' or "Land of Cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War.

Italian Neorealist films mostly contend with moral conditions and the difficult economic situation of post-World War II Italy. De Sica's films reflect the changes in the Italian psyche and conditions of everyday life, including oppression, injustice, desperation and poverty. Vittorio De Sica has received the Palme D'Or in Cannes, Golden Bear in Berlin and 3 Academy Awards in Hollywood.

In 286 Diocletian moved the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Rome to Mediolanum. It was from Milan that the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, granting tolerance to all religions within the Empire, thus paving the way for Christianity to become the dominant religion of the Empire. After the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna.

Tuscan, specifically its Florentine variety, became the language of culture for all the people of Italy, thanks to the prestige of the masterpieces of Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca, Giovanni Boccaccio and Niccolò Machiavelli. It would later become the official language of all the Italian states and of the Kingdom of Italy, when it was formed. Only 2.5% of Italy’s population could speak the Italian standardized language properly when the nation unified in 1861.