Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
Northern Italy, with its head full of jagged Alpine teeth and its feet paddling in the
swampy deltas of the Po river, has been both blessed and cursed by its geography
throughout the centuries. Despite their awesome appearance, the Alps have been
crossed without difficulty since the Bronze Age, and during the Roman Empire 17 of
the 23 Alpine passes were already in heavy use. Carthaginian general Hannibal
brought his army and elephants across the Alps, and Alaric and Attila marauded
from the east. Yet those pearly white peaks and broad delta have also been the making
of northern Italy.
Lombardy's first designers set to zealously dec-orating their surrounds; the rocky Val Camonica to Milan's
northeast is covered in 150,000 engraved petroglyphs dating back to 8000 BC, gleefully depicting figures
hunting, farming, making magic and indulging in wild sexual antics. It was recognised as a World Heri-
tage Site in 1979.
