Articles by Vittoria Traverso

Pizza di Beridde is a cookie-like treat that preserved Jewish identity in the face of oppression.

Long before “The Legend of Zelda,” Budrio made ocarinas into a global phenomenon.

Las Fallas is both a "collective exorcism" and a celebration of craft.

After accidentally introducing invasive moths to North America, amateur entomologist Étienne Léopold Trouvelot turned his eyes to the skies and changed science.

Gibellina, known as “Sicily’s Marfa,” is looking to its visionary past for a future revival.

But don’t worry—polar plunges and putting children in ovens helps banish them.

Salep, a sweet drink with ancient roots, is often made with illegally foraged bulbs.

Step 1: Buy it. Step 2: Maybe a poetry reading?

Rocky artifacts may offer insight into an Etruscan industry.

The local Epiphany celebration of Grado, Italy, is inspired by a mysterious band of 16th-century pirates.

A city built on water was always going to struggle with burials—especially when a deadly pandemic came to town.

This California collection is a trove of wine books and rarities.

Bruno Ferrin made a wonder in the woods by hand and by chance.

Inspired by a 15th-century editor, Paolo Olbi pushes to keep this from being the last chapter.

Hadrian's estate has trees found nowhere else on Earth.

And they all involve developing a close relationship with the aquatic world and its inhabitants.

Freezing the trees, blossoms and all, may be the only way to save the crop.

The charm of centuries-old ruins and a unique ecosystem face the perverse incentives of the modern tourist economy.

Its stunning mosaic floor luckily escaped root damage. 

How Lorenzo Reina’s open air theater made southwest Sicily a cultural hotspot.  

Renaissance paintings can hide botanical secrets.

One collection of fake produce is a reminder of both ingenuity and loss.

By handling bees with his bare hands, Michael Joshin Thiele seeks to better understand them.

A hatching system devised 2,000 years ago is still in use in rural Egypt.