To honour the formidable donne and nonne of Italy on International Women's Day, the country is offering free admission into the country's national museums and cultural sites for all women on March 8.
In addition to free admission, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage is celebrating the "feminine world" by spotlighting more than 30 historical female figures in art and culture on Instagram, in a gallery of portraits and paintings curated by art historians.
Women honoured are "saints, prostitutes, goddesses and commoners, intellectuals and artists, actresses and martyrs, writers and poets, mothers, Madonna and revolutionary."
Participating museums include the world-famous Uffizi in Italy, while free sites include Pompeii.
Visitors are also encouraged to snap photos and share their favourite women in paintings, sculptures and the arts throughout museums using the hashtag #8marzoalmuseo on social media.
Featured women in the Instagram gallery include Ofelia, the tragic, Shakespearean heroine, Madame de Stael, a French liberal intellectual who hosted literary salons and was an advocate of European romanticism, and Sappho, the Greek poet famous and symbol of female eroticism.
Throughout the day, cultural heritage sites across the country will also hold special events and exhibitions focusing on the contributions of women in art and culture.
