Geography of Italy

Visitors to Venice could be forgiven for not realizing that beyond the majesty of St. Mark's Square and the romance of gondola rides lies a city that helped provide a baseline of what the world knows today about containing pandemics.

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Italian firefighters on Aug. 12 battled hundreds of fires throughout the country's south that have killed four people, fuelled by unrelenting temperatures enveloping southern Europe.

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The remains of the dock were found in an area of the lagoon known as the Treporti Channel

20.000 hectares of forest have already been destroyed, and 1.500 people have been evacuated.
7.500 people, helicopters and "Canadian" planes were mobilized to put out the fire. During the night, tourists who spent their summers in the port of Porto Alabe were evacuated. Fires are raging near 13 cities, and firefighters' efforts are hampered by strong and hot winds.

The first cruise ship since the pandemic wended its way on June 5 through the heart of Venice, escorted by triumphant water-spouting tugboats and elated port workers as it traveled down the Giudecca Canal but also protested by hundreds on land and a small armada of wooden boats waving "No Big Boats" flags.

Milan – The Giro d’Italia, one of the three iconic Grand Tour cycling races, will take a detour through Slovenia this year. The 15th stage will take the riders to the winemaking region of Goriška Brda and the city of Nova Gorica in the west of the country on Sunday, 23 May.

Ljubljana – The Slovenian Agriculture Ministry has temporarily protected Istrian honey under the Slovenian-Croatian brand Istrski med/Istarski med at the national level using a protected designation of origin, as Slovenia and Croatia have decided to submit a joint application to the European Commission to register the honey.

Greek distributor StraDa Films is launching its online cinema service with "The Whaler Boy," a coming-of-age drama directed by Philipp Yuryev, in what is the 30-year-old's first feature. Selected in competition at Venice's 17th Giornate degli Autori (Venice Days), it is a moving tale of a teenage Inuit's perilous quest for love across the Bering Strait.

The Colosseum in Rome opens to tourists at the end of May. One of the largest landmarks in the world will be accessible to visitors under strict security measures that are currently being prepared.

The Marghera Industrial Port in Venice's lagoon was evacuated as a 225 kg World War II-era bomb was defused and set to be exploded in the sea., the French press and DPA reported.

Some 3500 people living in the area were also evacuated.

The movement of ships, trains and buses was temporarily halted, and Venice International Airport stopped all flights for several hours.