Identity

Twenty regions (five with a special statute), provinces and metropolitan cities, municipalities. Italian is the official language and twelve minority languages are protected. CET/CEST time zone, twelve national holidays.

Italy

Special statute (1948). Intermediate bodies under reform: metropolitan cities of Cagliari and Sassari and provinces of Nuoro, Oristano, Gallura Nord-Est, Ogliastra, Medio Campidano and Sulcis Iglesiente, run by commissioners pending elections. Sardinian and Alghero Catalan protected by law 482/1999; Tabarchino, Gallurese and Sassarese by regional law. Sant'Efisio, Candelieri, Sartiglia.

Sardinia

The Descent of the Candelieri on 14 August fulfils a vow to Our Lady of the Assumption for the end of plague epidemics, as the thirteen Gremi, the old guilds, carry wooden obelisks on their shoulders; it has been UNESCO-listed since 2013. The May Cavalcata Sarda gathers costumed participants from all over the island. The city's medieval name is Thatari.

Sassari

Sa Sartiglia is run on the last Sunday and Tuesday of Carnival: the Sunday joust is organised by the Farmers' guild, the Shrove Tuesday race is overseen by the Carpenters. The memory of the judicial age lives on in the Eleonora d'Arborea monument and the 14th-century model in the Antiquarium.

Oristano

The Museo del Costume, permanently open since 1976, is the city's cultural landmark; Lollove is the hamlet the municipality presents as a village out of time. The town hall is at via Dante 44 and the services include urban hygiene and civil protection.

Nuoro

Capital of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia and of the Metropolitan City set up in 2016; Pirri has its own Municipalità. Campidanese Sardinian, with the city variety (casteddaiu), is a recognised language. Saint Ephysius: procession from 1 to 4 May to Nora, uninterrupted since 1657.

Cagliari

Special statute of 1946 with the Sicilian Regional Assembly. Nine provincial territories: metropolitan cities of Palermo, Catania and Messina and six free municipal consortia. Arbëreshë minority (law 482/1999) in Piana degli Albanesi, Santa Cristina Gela and Contessa Entellina; Sicilian and Gallo-Italic protected by regional law. Festivals: Santa Rosalia, Sant'Agata, Opera dei Pupi.

Sicily

The municipality presents Trapani as ancient Drepanon, born around the port among Phoenicians, Arabs and Normans, with salt and tuna fishing as historic activities. Sant'Alberto is the city's patron (6-7 August); the feast of the Madonna di Trapani on 16 August is preceded by a sea procession with fishing boats.

Trapani

The heart of the city is Ortigia, an island inhabited for three thousand years, with the Cathedral born from the temple of Athena. The patron Saint Lucy is celebrated on 13 December with the procession of the silver statue to the basilica of Santa Lucia al Sepolcro and the return to the cathedral on the 20th. The Greek Theatre hosts INDA's season every year.

Syracuse

For UNESCO, Ragusa is one of the towns rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake in south-eastern Sicily, with a new centre beside the ancient one. The municipality distinguishes the Ragusa Ibla district and the localities of Marina di Ragusa and Donnafugata.

Ragusa

A municipality divided into eight districts with elected councils, seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly and the regional government, capital of the Metropolitan City. Sicilian is spoken everywhere alongside Italian. Patron Saint Rosalia: the Festino on 14–15 July, the Acchianata up Monte Pellegrino on 4 September.

Palermo

A municipality divided into municipalità, with a seventh created in 2025 for the northern villages. The city was rebuilt after 1908: the Cathedral bell tower with its astronomical clock dates from 1933. In mid-August the Giants Mata and Grifone and the Vara of the Assumption, pulled by hand with ropes; 2026 marked the centenary of its revival.

Messina

The municipality points to the Rocca di Cerere, the Torre di Federico and the Castello di Lombardia as symbols, and to the Valverde quarter as "the origins of the city". Kore University recalls the myth of Kore linked to Enna and Lake Pergusa, and the provincial coat of arms with Ceres.

Enna

A Greek colony, Aragonese capital of the Kingdom of Sicily in the early fifteenth century, rebuilt on the same site after 1693. Its symbol is the elephant in Piazza Duomo, "'u Liotru". The feast of Saint Agatha, 3–5 February, with the silver fercolo, the candelore and devotees in the white "sacco", is the most deeply felt moment of the year.

Catania

The municipality presents a city of ancient origin: Santo Spirito, built by the Arabs around 900 AD, and San Domenico, the oldest quarter. The patron saint is San Michele Arcangelo; the town hall is on corso Umberto I. Districts cited include Badia, Balate Pinzelli and Villaggio Santa Barbara.

Caltanissetta

Agrigento's identity is that of the Valley of the Temples, which the Park describes as the remains of Greek Akragas, the original core of the modern city. In 2025 the city was Italian Capital of Culture. Urban areas include Fontanelle, Giardina Gallotti and the seaside locality of San Leone.

Agrigento

Metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria and four provinces (Catanzaro, Cosenza, Crotone, Vibo Valentia). Ordinary statute. Three law 482/1999 minorities: Arbëreshë (Italy's largest Albanian community, mainly around Cosenza), Greeks of Calabria in the Aspromonte, Occitans of Guardia Piemontese. Festivals: San Vitaliano in Catanzaro, Madonna della Consolazione in Reggio, Varia di Palmi.

Calabria

According to the municipality, Vibo Valentia is a hill-top provincial capital that was an important city of Magna Graecia; the Cathedral is dedicated to the patron saint San Leoluca. Among its districts the portal describes Vibo Marina, home of the port, and Piscopio, a short distance from the centre.

Vibo Valentia

Five circoscrizioni: Centre, East, North, South and Centre-South. A Magna Graecia colony, today's city is the one rebuilt in Liberty style after 1908. In September the painting of the Madonna della Consolazione is brought down from the Eremo to the Cathedral, where it stays until 26 November.

Reggio Calabria

Seat of the Calabria Region's Executive in the Cittadella at Germaneto (the Council sits in Reggio Calabria) and capital of a province of 80 municipalities. City of the "three Vs": Vitaliano, the patron celebrated on 16 July, the wind and the velvet of its silk tradition. Arbëreshë communities in nearby villages.

Catanzaro

Two provinces: Potenza and Matera. Ordinary statute. Arbëreshë minority (law 482/1999) in five municipalities of the Vulture and Pollino: Barile, Ginestra, Maschito, San Costantino Albanese and San Paolo Albanese. Festivals: San Gerardo and the Parata dei Turchi in Potenza (29–30 May), Madonna della Bruna in Matera (2 July), Maggio di Accettura.

Basilicata

Seat of the Basilicata Region and of the Province of Potenza. The city dialect has Gallo-Italic traits; recognised Arbëreshë communities live in the province. Patron Saint Gerard della Porta, feast on 30 May with the Parade of the Turks on the evening of the 29th.

Potenza

Matera's identity is tied to the Sassi: according to UNESCO, on the World Heritage List since 1993, a cave settlement among the best preserved in the Mediterranean, occupied since the Palaeolithic. The municipality speaks of the Rioni Sassi; the tourism portal distinguishes Sasso Barisano, Sasso Caveoso and Civita.

Matera

Metropolitan city of Bari and five provinces (Barletta-Andria-Trani, Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce, Taranto). Ordinary statute. Three law 482/1999 minorities: Griko speakers of the Grecìa Salentina, Arbëreshë of San Marzano, Casalvecchio and Chieuti, Franco-Provençal speakers of Faeto and Celle di San Vito. Festivals: San Nicola in Bari, Sant'Oronzo in Lecce, Notte della Taranta.

Apulia

The city of the Spartans and of two seas: the old town on the island, the Borgo beyond the swing bridge. Holy Week is the time of the hooded "perdoni" and of the Addolorata and Misteri processions, which advance at a very slow pace, the "nazzicata". In 2026 the city hosted the Mediterranean Games.

Taranto

A city of the Tavoliere marked by two destructions, the 1731 earthquake and the 1943 bombings, for which it received the gold medal for military valour in 2007. Its monumental landmark is the 12th-century cathedral; beneath the centre lies a network of underground spaces.

Foggia

Brindisi's identity rests on two elements the municipality stresses in its historical notes: the Latin colony of 244 BC and its role as the terminus of the Via Appia, with the Roman columns. On 7 September 2026, the patron saints' feast, the ASL announced that its offices and clinics in the city would be closed to the public.

Brindisi

A municipality divided into five Municipi with elected councils, seat of the Apulia Region and of the Metropolitan City of Bari. The Bari dialect is the everyday vernacular. Patron saint Nicholas, celebrated on 7–9 May and 6 December; the basilica draws Catholic and Orthodox pilgrims.

Bari

Metropolitan city of Naples and four provinces (Avellino, Benevento, Caserta, Salerno). Ordinary statute; the only law 482/1999 minority is the Arbëreshë community of Greci (AV). Neapolitan is spoken everywhere but not protected by law. Festivals: San Gennaro (19 September), Gigli di Nola, San Matteo in Salerno.

Campania

The patron saint is Matthew the Apostle, whose remains lie in the crypt of the cathedral commissioned by Robert Guiscard; on 21 September a procession carries the statues of the city's saints through the centre. Salerno ties its identity to the Salerno Medical School and to the Lombard principality, of which Arechi Castle remains.

Salerno

Naples is divided into ten municipalità with elected bodies and is the seat of the Metropolitan City of Naples. Neapolitan is protected as linguistic heritage by a 2019 regional law. The patron saint is San Gennaro, celebrated on 19 September with the rite of the liquefaction of the blood. The historic centre has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1995.

Naples

The municipal statute sets out the coat of arms (royal decree of 1876) and commits the Comune to protecting the Liternum archaeological area and Lake Patria. The feast of the Madonna della Pace, in the days after Pentecost, is known for the Flight of the Angel (Volo dell'Angelo), a century-old tradition debated in recent years.

Giugliano in Campania

The municipality tells Avellino as a city that grew around a fortified core, with a Norman castle, a period of splendour under the Caracciolo, the Risorgimento and the rebuilding after the 1980 earthquake. The municipal site does not publish a page on neighbourhoods or the patron saint.

Avellino

Two provinces (Campobasso and Isernia), ordinary statute, a region since 1963. Law 482/1999 minorities: Croats of Acquaviva Collecroce, Montemitro and San Felice del Molise; Arbëreshë of Campomarino, Montecilfone, Portocannone and Ururi. Festivals: Misteri of Campobasso (Corpus Christi), San Basso in Termoli.

Molise

Campobasso is the capital of the Molise region and province, seat of the Regional Council and executive and of the Prefecture; the municipality has no elected municipi. The patron saint is San Giorgio, feast on 23 April. The Corpus Domini Procession of the Misteri, with its thirteen eighteenth-century "ingegni", is the tradition that defines the city. The dialect is of the upper-southern type.

Campobasso

Four provinces: L'Aquila, Teramo, Pescara, Chieti. Ordinary statute, no minority recognised under law 482/1999. Festivals: Perdonanza Celestiniana in L'Aquila (28–29 August, UNESCO heritage), San Cetteo in Pescara, Festa dei Serpari in Cocullo.

Abruzzo

A city united in 1927 and celebrating its centenary on 2 January 2027; the merger with Montesilvano and Spoltore is scheduled from the start of the same year. Recent symbols such as Pietro Cascella's Ship on the seafront and a jazz festival now in its 54th edition.

Pescara

The Comune recounts a legendary foundation attributed to Achilles and the Roman town of Teate Marrucinorum, with forum, theatre, amphitheatre and baths. In 1094 and 1443 the city received titles tied to its role as capital of the Abruzzi; according to the page, much of the present urban layout dates from «1600», a date tied to church building in the Counter-Reformation period.

Chieti

L'Aquila is the capital of Abruzzo, seat of the Region and the Prefecture, and a municipality with dozens of hamlets but no elected municipi. The patron saint is San Massimo d'Aveia, feast on 10 June. The Perdonanza Celestiniana, at the end of August, has been UNESCO intangible heritage since 2019. The Aquila dialect belongs to the central Italian area. The city is Italian Capital of Culture 2026.

L'Aquila

Metropolitan city of Rome Capital and four provinces (Frosinone, Latina, Rieti, Viterbo). Ordinary statute, no minority protected under law 482/1999. Festivals: Saints Peter and Paul in Rome (29 June), Macchina di Santa Rosa in Viterbo (3 September, UNESCO heritage).

Lazio