Why would a small country located in the middle of the Mediterranean become interested in the Pacific, the most distant of the oceans? Join Giuseppe Gallina for an illustrated talk about the fascination for the Pacific Ocean that spread throughout Italy.
It all started during the second half of the 18th century when enlightenment took roots in the region, and many people had read the best-selling book Gulliver’s Travels and similar adventurous tales.
These stories excited the minds of many Italians, and the Pacific Ocean, the world’s largest body of water, immense and unknown, must have ignited dreams of remote colonies in unimaginably rich lands.
