SAUDI ARABIA

Italian Consulate marks the Day of the Republic

May 07, 2018

Abdulaziz Hammad



Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The Italian Consulate General celebrated the Day of the Republic with a 3D show and a live music performance at the Italian Cultural Center recently.

The celebration started with the national anthem of Saudi Arabia and Italy, then a speech by the Italian Ambassador Luca Ferrari and the Consul General Elisabetta Martini, followed by the cutting of the ceremony’s cake.

Later on, there was a 3D show that displayed the rich history of Italy, and a live music performance by Maestro Stefano Albarello. The musical recital was named “Middle East-Middle West”.

In this distinctive national day celebration, the Italian Consulate showcased the beauty of Italian gastronomic heritage through serving the guests with a variety of authentic Italian dishes.

The celebration was attended by Foreign Ministry officials, Consuls General, diplomats, Italian community, journalists, and businessmen.

During the celebration Ambassador Jamal Balkhoyor, director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Makkah Region branch, said, “The Italian-Saudi relations are distinctive, and we wish for Italy all the advancements and prosperity. We congratulate them on their national day, we hope our relations prospers and blooms.”

Ambassador Ferrari noted: “The Day of the Republic for Italy is the day on which the Italian Republic was created. After the Second World War, Italy collapsed but we recreated our country and we had the referendum if the Italians wanted to live again in a monarchy or in a Republic and the people voted for the Republic and on June 2, 1948, the Republic was found, so for us it is a very important day.”

Ferrari added: “This is the day which we celebrate the meaning of being Italians and our national pride.”

Consul General Martini said: “In this event we wanted to promote what really unites Italy and Saudi Arabia, the history, the culture. We had this musician who was playing Arabic Oud and Italian medieval lute, so when he was playing people could not understand which was Arabic music and which was Italian music, this was a symbol to underline so many similarities unite us.”


May 07, 2018
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