Ancient culture merged with "modern" culture, especially after Constantine created the new capital of the Roman Empire, Constantinople. Near Matera in Basilicata, even caves built into the rock face became churches. The frescoes on those walls are quite stunning.

Domenico gets on the pilgrimage bus to Rome and entertains his fellow passengers with a song. Don Antonio might have made different song choices... At the convent where the pilgrims are staying, Domenico makes friends with Father Mello.

After summing up about the passive voice, Daniela goes on to talk about some other related constructions. It's important to remember that the passive is formed with transitive verbs only. But when we don't have a named subject or agent, we have a few other ways to make a sentence passive-like. One way uses the famous particella (particle) si. Si is used for so many things in Italian that it is bound to create confusion for learners, even advanced learners. Don't worry, part 3 of the lesson will explain further. Another way uses the verb andare (to go) to indicate something that must be done. Here too, the stress is on the action, not the subject or agent.

What symptoms did Giuditta and Marino have? And how did they handle their family duties?

This segment explains the title of the movie, Saint Michael Had a Rooster. The Taviani brothers, as well as the lead actor, talk about some aspects of the story, and Nanni Moretti comments on the camera technique.

If you have ever visited Italy, you have probably run across the term pinacoteca describing a picture gallery, and wondered where it came from. You will find out in this video about a room called the "tablinum" in the Assisi domus, discovered because they wanted to build an elevator!

In Sicily, at one time, horses would work in the sulfur mines and slowly become blind. The story is told through a Sicilian ballad, sung by Domenico Modugno. Mimì's mother sits with him as he prepared his bags, but she struggles to understand why he would want to leave. See complete lyrics (in Sicilian) here.

Are you ready for the passive voice? In many ways, the Italian passive works as it does in English. If we have a subject, a transitive verb and a direct object, we can form either an active phrase or a passive one. But there are some rules, and Daniela sets out to explain them.

Marino and Giuditta tell us how they ended up getting Covid, and what their symptoms were.

The Taviani brothers talk about how color and images can be more important than the story itself. There are clips from interviews with them when they were much younger, and the director of photography contributes some thoughts, as well. The movie featured in this segment is Good Morning, Babylon from 1987.

Parking is a problem in medieval hilltop towns and cities (especially those attractive to tourists), so one solution is to build an elevator to get from parking further down the hill, up to the center of town. But, you never know what you are going to find when excavating. In Assisi, they certainly hit the jackpot, right in the center of town: A roman domus.

Domenico asks his cousin for some money to go to Rome, and goes to see the town priest to see if he can get a ride. But there is an emergency, and his priorities have to shift.

Marika introduces a mini-series devoted to the story of a family that has decided to share their Covid-19 experience.

The directors talk about the important role the sea played in their films. Another element that played an important part was color, used to express feelings and situations.

We're in Assisi, where, during some excavations, a domus was discovered. It's clear it belonged to a wealthy family because of the richness of the wall and floor decorations, and might even have been the home of the poet Propertius.