(ANSA) - Rome, February 14 - Italy celebrated Valentine's Day
on Wednesday with a host of special initiatives across the
country, from museums to special guided tours, in honor of the
"day of lovers".
The City of Naples this year is offering its "In Love with
Naples" project for the third year running, aimed at getting
locals and tourists to fall in love with the city.
The initiative, which was developed by the writer Maurizio De
Giovanni and this year will take place on Sunday, February 18,,
offers visitors a chance to tour the city and discover
little-known places where the "love for Naples" is the key.
It involves about 50 "illustrious guides", including this
year the actress Pina Turco, as well as professional licensed
tour guides who will guide participants through the history and
beauty of the places visited.
Naples' Culture Councillor Nino Daniele said the initiative
brings out "the diversified face of a city that excels in a
thousand fields".
This year's edition focuses on cinema to highlight Naples as
a location for films, with Turco leading a visit to Palazzo San
Giacomo together with Daniele and Naples Mayor Luigi de
Magistris.
Meanwhile, up north in Turin, the famed Egyptian Museum is
offering a programme called "My Heart Follows Your Heart", with
a guided visit "in discovery of the most intimate and exciting
part of Egyptian civilisation".
Visitors will explore the museum's vast collection in a
special tour focusing on the life of couples in the time of
ancient Egypt, starting with a verse of love poetry composed
3,000 years ago in Egypt.
About four hours east, the city of Treviso was named "most
romantic city in Italy", based on data from Amazon Italy, which
used sales figures of romance novels to create the ranking.
Treviso took the place of last year's winner Bolzano, with
this year's second-place going to Brescia.
Brescia took the place of Milan from last year.
This year's third-place ranking went to the southern city of
Brindisi.
Amazon ranked cities with 100,000 residents or more, and said
the best-selling romance title in 2017 was Jojo Moyes' "Me
Before You".
photo: a couple at Piazzale Michelangelo above Florence
Italy celebrates Valentine's Day
Initiatives from north to south