Six out of every ten Italians
believe that Leonardo Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper' is in
Florence.
Many Italians also think that the Cascate delle Marmore is
in the Alps, that the Certosa di Pavia is a kind of fresh cheese
and the 'nuraghi sardi' are a typical sweet.
Popular with foreign tourists, who often prefer them over
beaches, Italy's cultural heritage and landscape riches are for
the most part ignored by Italians themselves.
A study has found that half of all Italians - whether from
Milan or Palermo - are unaware of the country's beauties, with
56% saying they had never heard of the Rialto Bridge and a large
percentage who associate the Alberobello trulli with a former
Formula One racecar driver, Michele Alboreto.
Sponsored by Bibite Sanpellegrino as part of a contest, the
study included 4,000 people between 18 and 65.
Men did particularly poorly, with 56% of them admitting
that they did not know the most famous tourism and cultural
heritage spots, compared with 48% of women.
The least-known places were led by Da Vinci's 'The Last
Supper', which despite the 420,333 tickets sold last year, only
40% of the Italian interviewees knew is in Milan.
Some 51% did not know what the 'Sassi of Matera' are and
39% of respondents believe that Agrigento's Valley of the
Temples is actually in Egypt.
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