COVER N. 573 - ITALY

Postmark: Ancona Posta Italiane 03.04.2025

Posted on the 3rd April; Received on the 18th April 2025

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It has been a while since I received a letter from Italy, so I was quite happy to find one in my letterbox. Grazie mille, Giovanni!

Stamps left to right:

750 lire stamp, part of the Christmas 1993 issue, dated of 13NOV1993, comprising two stamps (600 and 750 lire) illustrated with motifs allusive to the Season. In this particular case, the stamp replicates L'Annunciazione, the top part of a  Polyptych - Polittico di Sant’Antonio - by Piero de La Francesca (1415-1492), one of the famous names of the Italian renaissance, which can be seen at the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, in Perugia.

Antiche Genti d'iTalia (ancient peoples of Italy) was the name of an exhibition held in Rimini in Sala dell'Arengo and Palazzo del Podestà, from the 20 March to the 28 August 1994. For the occasion, Poste Italiene issued on 06May1994 the 750 lire stamp on the cover.

The only existing roman gilt bronze sculptures are those of  Cartoceto di Pergola, which comprised at least two people on horseback and two standing women, although today only one man on horseback and a standing woman subsist, as well as the lower part of the second woman and the second horse.

On 04JUN1988, Poste Italiane issued two stamps dedicated to these sculptures, with face values of 500 and 650 Lire. The 500 l stamp, on the cover, bears the image of the head of one of the horses, while the companion stamp on the set is illustrated with the face of the surviving woman.

500 Lire stamp, part of a set of three (30;70 and 500 Lire), issued on 15OCT1964, on the occasion of the  7° Stati Generali dei Comuni per l'Europa  (7th States General of the Municipalities for the Europe of the Peoples). I cannot find any information on  this particular organisation, but I suppose that it must have subsumed into one of the current EU structures... 

COVER N. 534 - ITALY

Postmark: Giorno di emissione 25 anni Fondazione Venezia per la Ricerca sulla Pace 00187 Rova V.R. 14.11.2024

Posted on the 14th November; Received on the 19th November 2024

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Who doesn't love a surprise? I was trully happy to find this nice cover in my letter box. Little did I know that this was just the beginning.... Un grand Merci, Eric, pour cette belle surprise.

The Fondazione Venezia per la Ricerca sulla Pace, was established on 16 December 1999.

According to its website, the founding bodies of the Foundation include, alongside the Veneto Region, the Province and the Municipality of Venice, the University of Venice, the Cini Foundation, the European Cultural Society, the Literary Society of Verona, the Veneto Institute of Science, Literature and Arts. Religious culture is alsoo represented in the organisation through the Maytreya Study Centre for Buddhists, the Lutheran Church and the Don Germano Pattaro Centre for Theological Studies; the University of Padua is nowadays also a member of the Foundation.

The Foundation is tasked with carrying out research activities, by itself or in collaboration with national and international institutions, on security, development and peace issues and the implementation and promotion of initiatives to disseminate the results of the research carried out.

On the occasion of its 25th anniversary The Ministry for Business and Made in Italy and the City State of  The Vatican issued, on 14Nov2024,  the single stamp joint issue used on the FDC. 

The tariff "B" stamp (Domestic, 20g) is illustrated with the logo of the Foundation printed over  a  map entitled ‘Perspective Plan of the City of Venice and its Lagoons’, published in a 1534  book by Benedetto Bordone, entitled ‘Isolario’, kept at the Correr Museum Library in Venice.

The Rome issued First Day Postmark replicates most of the graphic elements of the stamp.

COVER N. 350 - ITALY

Postmark: 39020 Senales - Schnals (BZ) - C Poste Italiane 11.11.2023

Posted on the 11th November; received on the 28th November 2023

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The Phantom was on the ride again... this time to the mountains of the Italian Tyrol, wherefrom he sent me this deliciously flavoured Cover. Thanks a lot, Alex!

Cioccolato di Modica originated (guess where?) in Modica, a town in the island of Sicily. 

It is a Protected Geographical Indication staple and it differs from other chocolates in its manufacture process, since it is cold processed and only from two main basic ingredients: cocoa paste and sugar. Since there are no high temperatures involved in the manufacturing process, the sugar remains crystallised inside the mix, which can also be flavoured with the addition of citrus fruits and spices.

In 2020, Poste Italiane issued a total of  13 stamps in its series dedicated to the excellence of the productive and economic system, each highlighting a famous Italian brand.

The Tariff B (International, Zone 1, up to 20g) self-adhesive stamp dedicated to Modica Chocolate was issued on 15OCT2020.

The stamp is illustrated with an image of a Masetro Cioccolatiere rolling another portion of cocoa and sugar mix, with the clock tower of Modica in the background and the seals of Indicazione Geografica Protetta and Ciocollato di Modica IGP to its left. 

Postage on the cover was completed with a 0,05 label, and the postmark indicates that the cover was mailed from Senales, a town in the Italian Autonomous Region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.

 COVER N.180 - ITALY

Postmark: Pratovecchio AR C 52015 11.11.2022  
Posted on the 11th November, received on the 21st November 2022
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An oddly postmarked cover can add a touch of unexpectedness to the collection, I guess. Grazie Mille Roberto!

The theme for the 2004 EUROPA emission was "Holidays" and Poste Italiane chose to illustrate it on the two stamps (0,45 and 0,65 Euros) it issued on 07MAY2004 with the most iconic graphic representation of holidays that I can think of: a vintage traveller's suitcase, from the time when you could tell that a person was a well travelled  tourist from the number of hotel stickers one had on the suitcase.

The stamps both feature the same  suitcase, which on the 0,45€ stamp is closed and travelling on what is supposed to be some sort of path, a road, for instance, drawn on the background of the stamp which to my eye looks like wallpaper from an hotel room maybe, while on the 0,62€ stamp lays open upon a table, bed, maybe, at the hotel room, exhibiting the usual paraphernalia associated with holidays: hats, reading glasses, books, photo camera, travel guide, etc.

Both stamps are taken from the lower corners of the stamp sheet and on the edges they exhibit the logo of  Vastophil 2004, which I presume was a philatelic exhibition.

The postmark is the usual postmark on Roberto’s letters, from Pratovecchio.  

Given that the current international tariff is higher than the value of both stamps, a 0,18€ mechanical stamp was also applied to the letter, but it is imprinted on the lower left corner and not on the right upper corner as usual, so as not to mess up with the handwritten address, which is occupying this rather unusual position. Given the way the envelope had to be fed to the stamping machine  in order for the stamp to be applied at this position, it resulted in an upside down stamp...odd!

 

COVER N.147 - ITALIA.

Postmark: Pratovecchio Poste Italiane 20-07-22 
Posted on the 20th July; received on the 11th August 20227th July 2022

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Some more mail from Roberto, from Italy. Grazie mille, Roberto

Roberto used the following two  self-adhesive Tariff B (domestic, up to 20g) commemorative stamps to mail  his letter to me:

- Stamp issued on 26JAN2019 to celebrate the centenary of the birth of soccer player Valentino Mazzola. I, not being a soccer fan, had to go and see and I learned that tragically there is a link between Mazzola and Portugal, since he was a member of the Torino Football Club team whose members would sadly loose their lives in an  airplane crash on a flight between Lisbon, where they had played against Benfica, and their hometown, on the 4th May 1949.

- Stamp issued on 19MAR20222, to celebrate 800th Anniversary of the University of Padua, established in 1222, what makes it even older than our own University of Coimbra, set up in 1290. An existence of 800 years is quite a feat for any institution but to think that a university has been spreading knowledge for such a long time, is really something to celebrate. My congratulations to the beautiful city of Padua and to its University!

COVER N.128 - ITALY

Postmark: Naoniscon Pordeno de Games & Comics 33170 Pordenone S. Caterina - C 08.05.22
Posted on the 5th June; received on the 20th June 2022
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The first interrogation this nice cover motivates is "What is this nice postmark about?" Thank you so much, Ivan, you managed to spur my curiosity again!

Games, video games and board games. These days and especially since  Manga and Anime Comics began to become a global affair, there seems to be  an ever increasing connection between games and comics, so much so that games convention are now games and comics conventions where cosplay also takes an important place.

I have to confess  today's mainstream comics are really not cup of tea, (There's a limit to how many super heroes one can take, right?). Yes, I know, I'm a square old fool, but for me there are but 4 or 5 super heroes: Batman and Robin; Superman; the Phantom; the Green Archer; and YES, the greatest of them all: Battler Britton or should I say Major Jaime Eduardo de Cook e Alvega, as the Royal Air Force Ace of aces was named in Portugal, where he flew in the pages of the weekly “O Falcão”,  and where he was even given Portuguese ancestry, as a tribute to our long standing alliance with the UK....

The thing today with super heroes is that they are mostly a by product of cinema special effects and vice-versa. Alvega, had no other superpower than his incredible ability to fly all the aircraft on the inventory and use them to down Messerschmitts 109s as  kids and adults alike nowadays down the irritating popcorn while the unlucky few who do care about what’s going on the screen try hard to concentrate amidst the special effects sounds of teeth munching and that lovely sound reminiscent of a visit to the dentist of coke being aspired through a straw…..

Anyway, by now I'm sure you have guessed that the postmark on the cover is a commemorative stamp celebrating this year's edition , the 25th - of NaonisCon - Pordenone Games&Comics, a games and Comics convention held in the city of Pordenone in Italy's northern region of Friul-Veneza Júlia, incidentally considered in 2020, to be the best city in Italy to live in, according to a raking established by ItaliaOggi and the University of  La Sapienza of Rome, so I read.

Two stamps on the cover:

The first ever Winter Olympics took place in 1924 in Chamonix, France. From then on, just like it happens with the summer counterpart, every four years, with the exception of a twelve year period due to the second world war, athletes from around the world would gather at a country chosen by the International Olympic Committee as the organiser of the Games. February this year saw the Olympic Flag being raised in Benjing, China for a 25th edition still affected by the ongoing pandemic and by the now usual boycotts that are so traditional, that the IOC should turn boycotting into an Olympic discipline in my humble opinion. 

The 2006 Winter Olympics were held in Turin, Italy. To celebrate the fact, la Poste Italiane issued on 08FEB2006 a 9 stamp souvenir sheet dedicated to the event, each stamp illustrated with a motive  representing one of the Olympic disciplines and the Games Logo.

The stamp on my cover is the one with the lesser face value of the lot (0,23€) and  is dedicated to the Biathlon, a discipline that brings together cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. the other stamps in the set are skating (o,45€); Ice Hockey (0,65€); Curling (0,70€); Bobsled (0,85€); Alpine Skiing (0,90€); the Olympic Flame (1€) and Tobogganing (1,30€).

Every Easter Sunday, at San Cataldo, in Sicily, a procession of 11 Sampaoloni, huge 3 metre tall figures of papier-mâché representing the apostles (Judas, the traitor is not given the honour of participating in the procession)  takes to the street to meet the resurrected Jesus, his holly mother and Mary Magdalene.

On 05JUNE2020 la Poste Italiane issued the self adhesive Tariff B (domestic, up to 20g) stamp on my cover, as part of the series "Le festività" (Festivities) dedicated to the festival of the Sampaloni of San Cataldo. The beautiful stamp is illustrated with an image of the procesion of the Sampaoloni while the clock tower of the Chiesa del Rosario (the Church of the Rosary) dominates the background.

COVER N.124 - ITALY

Postmark: 52015 PRATOVECCHIO (AR) - C 08.06.22
Posted on the 8th June; received on the20th June 2022
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Thank you Roberto, for another nice cover from Italy, with an interesting stamp.

Soccer, or should I say Calcio, or Futebol as we say... that thing that can turn a perfectly sound and normal human being into its absolute opposite.... matter of passion...? manifestation of our gregarious and tribal nature...? true love for sports....? stairway to heaven for some? black hole for others? 

I like sports. not so much as spending time watching them, but in general terms, I can understand the joy of practicing a sport, of exceeding at it, the benefits it has to one's health, both physical and mental, etc etc.   That's probably why I couldn't care less about what soccer is these days.

It is not the fact that there are indeed some  great players, that are artists of the trade. It's not the fact that people can absolutely like whatever they want and wish too, and it is really no one's business, it's just the fact that it stopped being treated as a sport. Yes, it's an industry, some proudly say, generating millions in revenue, fostering economic development, etc etc.

Thoughts to self:

The minimum monthly wage in Portugal nowadays is 705 Euro. 

A quick look at a 1st league club shop and I see that the official 2022-23 jersey costs 90€. I don't know the cost of tickets for a 1st league match but I suspect they don't come cheap either...

Now the real magic of football, to my eyes, is how to turn a  bloody T-shirt that was probably made in a third world country by an exploited worker and which has a production cost of a handful of euro into an obscure object of desire to be aquired by a receiver of the above mentioned minimum wage, so that he or she can proudly wear them at the match for whose outrageously expensive tickets they have been saving money they don't have. The same  match that begins half an hour late because the police had to escort the fans, like a herd of sheep, into the stadium, while the parading ogres  shout profanity all along the way ...

Human development...? advancement?.... mens sana in corpore sano?

And when the same receiver of the minimum wage opens the newspaper, or turns on the TV, to find that his most admired idol was sold - yes, people can be bought (but didn't slavery,.. buying people, etc etc?? shut up, you know nothing about it...) - to another club in another country (and he is already there on TV saying that he always wanted to be there, that the new club was is club from the start and that he'll do his best...) ? Oh, how he rejoyces, when he learns that the other club payed a bunch of million to buy his idol... and this makes him/her even prouder to wear the beautiful shirt that cost him/her almost 13% of his hard earned wages... 

Amateur sport is, in principle, purer in terms and aspirations, and hopefully it can continue to be so ...

La Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (National Amateur League) associates in a private, non-profit-making manner the sports clubs and associations affiliated to the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio that participate in the national, regional and provincial amateur football championships using exclusively the services of non-professional players.

The LND coordinates, directs and develops the football sporting activities of the sports clubs and associations associated with it and promotes the competitive events it organises or directly organises.

Such is the mission of the National Amateur League established on the 2nd August 1959.

Celebrating its relevance, La poste Italiane issued on 12DEC2019 a single stamp B tariff set with the image of  two players disputing a ball while on the background the inclusive nature of sport is somehow remembered by the image of a girl and a boy, both playing together inside a circle. the Logo of the Lega is also present on the top right corner of the stamp.

Further to the stamp, the envelope also contains a  .05€ sticker label, to bring the postage to the now required 1,15€ tariff for an international letter, up to 20 g.

COVER N.115 - ITALIA

Postmark:  Pratovecchio 52015 - 11-05-2022
Posted on the 11thy May; received on the 17th May 2022
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Curious cover I got from Italy. Thanks a lot, Roberto!

Usually, covers with one single stamp may look a bit naked, but this one is far from that. Not only is the stamp quite big and interesting, but it also features additional machine applied postage that had to be applied upside down, because of the location of the address lines , I guess. On top of that, there is yet another machine applied postmark, on the back of the cover issued at Firenze CMP, in the same date, the 12th May.

You can't go to Florence without at least taking a peep through the door at Florian's in Piazza San Marco.

Florian, established in 1720, is said to be the oldest caffé in the world, something which is not hard to believe, given the somewhat decadent  aura (after all you're in Venice...) that exhales from its lavishly decorated rooms and from the silverware where the espresso cups come to your table. 

My first encounter with Florian was quite accidental: one summer night in 1980 I was inter-railing through the south of Europe and I stopped in Venice, one of the landmarks of my journey. Students we were so empty pocketed we were too and if  Italy was expensive, than Venice was way above our standards... moreover, August (not April, sorry T.S.) is the cruellest of the months and we couldn't find a place to sleep since all youth hostels there were were completely full. so we took our backpacks and  ended up in Piazza San Marco, late at night wondering what to do. We  went around the galleries in the  square and noticed that other travellers like us were sleeping on the flor, so we decided that if this was good for them, it would be just as good for us. We picked the nicest spot available: a couple of doors to the side of Florian, If I remember correctly, there were a couple of stair steps and we unfolded our sleeping bags and readily fell asleep so tired were we. 

Mid way through our invigorating nap, I was awaken by a warm breath blowing into my face and I have this vision of a dog showing me its teeth while someone was holding it on a leash.

"Sorry guys, I have to go inside to make the round. I'll let you be here, but at 5 o'clock you'll have to pack your things together and get out of here". The nicest security guard I'll ever know, I'm sure. Turns out we were sleeping right in font of the door of a museum, or some other important public instituion, and we were blocking off the entrance to the Security guard who was doing the night round.

The following morning, at 5, we packed  and went somewhere else, not without first going by Florian's windows, taking a peek inside and wondering "hmmm good place for the morning coffee...."

On the 03DEC2020, Poste Italiane issued a nice self-adhesive B Tariff stamp celebrating the 300th anniversary of this famous Venice institution, this being the stamp used on my cover.

 COVER N.102 - ITALY

Postmark: 21047 Saronno (VA) - Postaitaliane - Filatelia 1104.22 
Posted on the 11th April; received on the 20th April 2022
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It has been a while since I last got a cover from Italy, so getting two on consecutive days felt like the old portuguese adagio "Não há fome que não dê em fartura" (there's no hunger that won't bring about abundance) had been proven right.  

Thank you Giuseppe

Stamps, left to right:

400 Lire stamp, part of a 4 stamp set with the same face value issued on 28MAR1983, in souvenir sheet form ,dedicated to italian aircarft. other than the caproni C22J, the set comprises the SIAI 21, the A.129 Agusta Helicopter and the AMX.

The Caproni C22J was conceived as a low cost jet trainer for the air force, but the design, of which the prototype flew in 1980, with only 3 aircraft being ever built, never got any orders and was eventually cancelled.

750 Lire stamp part of a joint Issue Italy/San Marino including 2 stamps in souvenir sheet form issued on 08OCT1994, celebrating the 9th centenary of the dedication of the world famous St. Mark's Basilica, in Venice,  which took place on 08 October 1094, one for use exclusively in Italy, the other for use exclusively in San Marino.

0,60 € stamp, issued on 21OCT2009, celebrating the day of the Italian Language, a joint issue with the Vatican State. The stamp contains the reprodution of what I presume to be an illustration of the original 1491 edition of Dante's La Divina Comedia, with a vignete containing the last verse of the first stanza: Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita / mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, /ché la diritta via era smarrita

Midway upon the journey of our life /  I found myself within a forest dark, /  For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

COVER N.101 - ITALY

Postmark: 52015 Pratovecchio - Arezzo 05.04.22 (?)
Posted on the 5th April(?); received on the  19th April 2022
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Europa stamps are highly sought by collectors, so it is always a pleasure to get a cover with the stamps form one of the issueing ountries. Thanks a lot Roberto!

Italy's 2021 EUROPA emission comprises two self adhesive stamps issued on 15NOV21. Rated at B and B50g tariffs they are illustrated respectively with photographs of  the Orso Bruno Marcicano (Ursus arctos marsicanus), a subspecies of brown bear, endemic to the region of Abruzzo which is classified by the IUCN, Iinternational Union for the Conservation of Nature, as critically endangered, with less than 80 in the wild and the Lucertola delle Eollie (Podarcis raffonei), an also critically endangered little lizard with a total population of an estimated 1000 individuals, not exceeding 25 cm in length , endemic to the Aeolian Islands, a volcanic archipelago, located north of Sicily.

COVER N.74 - Italy

Postmark: 52015 Prattovecchio (AR) - C 17-1-22
Posted on the 17th January; received on the 12th February
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Thanks a lot Roberto for this nice cover with a full set of 2 huge stamps. Quite a nice and appreciated addition to the fold. 

The two stamps constitute a commemorative set issued on 07MAR2008, highlighting the then forthcoming International Philately Festival, that took place in  the Pallazo dei Congressi (Congress Palace) in Rome, between 21 and 25 October 2009.

The 0,60€ stamp is illustrated with a view of the outside of the venue: Il Pallazo dei Congressi. The modernist lines of the building can clearly be grasped from the illustration and its construction began in 1938 within the scope of the Universal Exposition of 1942 that sadly was never to be, due to the second supreme nastiness.  The building was conceived by Adalberto Libera and was only finished in 1954.

The image on the 0,65€ stamp needs no description since it pictures the most iconic of all the iconic Rome landmarks (well, the Fontana di Trevi might also be a worthy contender to this title...)

Construction of the colosseum was ordered by emperor Vespesian and began in 72 AD, to be completed in 80 AD.

One cannot enter the colosseum and not be taken aback  by the sheer size of its amphitheatre. But what's even more striking and shiver inducing is just the thought of what was going down in the arena for the perverse enjoyment of the people....

The postmark tells us that the cover was mailled from Pratovecchio, an Italian comune of the Arezzo province, in the region of  Tuscany.

COVER N.27 - Italy

Postmark:  - 21JUN2021, Milano Roserio CMP,
Posted on the  21stJuly; received on the 28th July.
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Manuela sent me this cover with a Postcrossing postcard (postcard #16) for me and also some vintage postcards with vintage stamps on them. Thanks a lot Manuela, I really appreciated it.

A cover from Italy, with a machine applied cancellation on a commemorative stamp issued on 02SEP2020 on the occasion of the EuroScience (European Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology) Open Forum that was held in the Italian city of Trieste from the 2nd to the 7th September 2020..

POSTCARD N.16 - Italy

Postcrossing postcard posted on the 21th July; received on the 28th July
Potscard image: The village of Cunardo, Lombardia
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I write Cunardo in the Google earth box and see the pointer heading straight in to the mountains in the North of Italy, not very far from Lago Maggiore. How lovely this region must be....

Checking the Cunardo community website, I learn that this is a place famous for its ceramics, and for the distinctive shade of deep blue (my favourite colour) used on it the blu Cunardo.

Thanks a lot for your nice card Manuela, that was posted inside Cover #27

 COVER N.22 - Italy

Postmark: Verona CMP - 29JUN2021
Posted on the  29th june; received on the 13th July.
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My first Italian Cover. Grazie mille Cristian.

I was taken aback when I took this one out of the mailbox. No fewer than 12 stamps, 8 of each pretty large and 4 in a block and what was more surprising was that they were still denominated in Liras. I didn't know that these could still circulate. In my own country, only stamps issued after 2011 can be used as postage.

Stamps, left to right:

- a stamp block, composed of  four units of the 200L stamp  issued on 05JUN1982, that would  inaugurate an annual series running until 2013, dedicated to Italian folklore and popular festivities. The stamp celebrates the Battle of the Bridge, at Pisa, an event in which 12 teams of the local neighbourhoods, 6 on each side of the river, and thus on each of the 2 opposing teams, Tramontana e Mezzogiorno,  compete. The aim of the contest is like a tug of war in reverse, because here the teams push as hard as they can a strange cart mounted on rails on the bridge over the Arno river, with the aim of overwhelming the opposing team.

 - two 300L stamps, issued on 11MAR1982 constitute the 1982 (and ninth) issue of an annual series dedicated to Italian Painters:

Romantic period painter Francesco Hayez's  (1791-1882) Portrait of Countess Antonietta Negroni Prati Morosini as a Child; 

Rococó Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (1682-1784) a detail of "The soothsayer".

 - a pair of one of the two 1981 stamps of the same series, issued on 07SEP1981:

Modernist painter and one of the names behind the Futurist manifesto, Carlo Carrá (1881-1966) - Lagoon

The last 4 stamps, issued on 31MAR182, celebrate de 7th Centenary of the Sicilan Vespers (Vespri Siciliani), a revolt in 1282 in Palermo against the reign of Charles I of Anjou , who had taken control of Sicily in 1266 with the help of Pope Clement IV (source: Wikipedia)

The machine applied cancellation lets us know that the cover was mailed in Verona, of Romeo and Juliet fame.