Christopher Livesay

Many hill towns in central Italy were reduced to rubble by this week's powerful earthquake. Many devastated communities are difficult to reach, and the exact number of missing persons isn't known.

A powerful earthquake struck the mountainous region of central Italy, killing scores and injuring many more. The temblor also destroyed historic mountain towns, whose residents fear their cultural heritage has been wiped out.

Caught up in the plight of Syrian refugees, Italian hipsters went to live in a refugee camp in Lebanon. With the help of church groups, they resettled a Syrian family in a remote Italian village.

Elena Ferrante is the pen name of an anonymous Italian author. Very little is known about her, but Ferrante's books — widely believed to be a thinly veiled autobiography — have achieved cult status.

Molten mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and yeast are the aromas that punctuate summer in Rome.

On a recent day, 7-year-old Filippo Virgo has a hankering for pizza — a classic of the Eternal City.

The problem is that Filippo has celiac disease. This means he gets sick from eating gluten — ...

From 1891 until 1990, just shy of a century, Phoenix Indian School boarded students from Navajo, Apache and other tribes across the Southwest.

Patty Talahongva is a Hopi who went to Phoenix Indian until 1979. By then, attendance was voluntary. That wasn't the case for generations of students before her.

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Foodies have long savored the cheeses of the Italian Alps. Dairy farmers still make it by hand, but unless you live in the region or can travel there, you'll have a hard time getting your hands on it. Much of this precious cheese isn't exported.

As you might imagine, this ...

Antonio Stradivari, the master violin maker whose instruments sell for millions of dollars today, has been dead for nearly three centuries. Only 650 of his instruments are estimated to survive.

But the forest where the luthier got his lumber is alive and well. And thanks to the surprising teamwork of ...

One of Europe's biggest jazz stars, pianist Stefano Bollani is also a TV personality, a published author and, his friends attest, a skilled impressionist.

The National Football League opens its regular season on Thursday night. Far and away the most popular sports league in the U.S., the NFL generates $10 billion a year in revenue. But ...

A priest in Naples' tough Sanità neighborhood has put local kids — some from mob families — to work restoring underground catacombs full of early Christian art. The result? 40,000 tourists a year.

On the first Sunday of Lent in Poggio Mirteto, a priest in the town's cathedral recalls the serpent in the Garden of Eden.

He admonishes parishioners in this hilltop hamlet just outside Vatican City to resist earthly delights during the time of penance and self-denial leading up to Easter.

"We ...

Even if you haven't been to Venice, you're probably familiar with the city's famous tourist gondolas: With baroque silver ornaments, shiny black lacquer, and sumptuous red seat cushions, they're unabashedly fancy, not to mention ubiquitous. A ride with a gondolier costs at least 80 euros (about $105), rain or shine ...