The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Rome and the Czech Centre in Rome, in cooperation with the Eleutheria Foundation in Prague, held a Czech-Italian evening in Rome, in the Sala della Protomoteca of the Campidoglio, during which the book ‘Gli Italiani nelle Terre Boeme’ (Italians in the Czech Lands) was presented.
The new publishing project, carried out by Eleutheria in cooperation with the Embassy of Italy in Prague, was illustrated by the Director of the Strahov Monastery Library in Prague, Gejza Šidlovský, and the President of the Eleutheria Foundation, Francesco Augusto Razetto. During the evening, which was attended by many authorities, including Italian Ambassador to the Czech Republic Mauro Marsili, pieces of baroque music were also performed by the trio consisting of Davide Pozzi (harpsichord), Laura Scipioni (baroque violin) and Jakub Kydlíček (flute).
The book, published in Czech and Italian with an extensive set of photographs, was edited by Francesco Augusto Razetto, Ottaviano Razetto, Flavio Mela and Genny Di Bert, with the aim of furthering the historical and artistic relations between Italy and the Czech Republic through the studies and testimonies of numerous specialists. Featuring an introduction by historian Franco Cardini, the work covers events from the first Italian contacts with the Bohemian lands in the 10th century to the present-day friendship between Italy and the Czech Republic, presenting what Ambassador Marsili believes to be one of the first forms of cultural integration experienced in Europe.
The book includes a specific in-depth examination of the ‘Italian Congregation of Prague’, founded in 1573 and active until 1947, whose historical memory is still tangible in the buildings of the Mannerist chapel of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven, in the very central Karlova Street, and the former Italian Hospital of Malá Strana, today the seat of the Italian Cultural Institute.
