Season 15
31 episodes · Jan 12, 2015
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- S15E1
The Great Wealth - Treasures To Be Saved
Oct 4, 2014113mThe first episode is a sort of thriller set among the wonders of our country and is entitled "The Great Wealth." The evening is dedicated to the countless art treasures, the beauty that constitutes Italy's true heritage, its richness. We will examine the risks this heritage faces—theft, counterfeiting—and the men who strive to protect it. This is a highly topical topic, as everyone has seen from following the news in recent weeks. We will essentially explore treasures, investigators, thieves, and forgers. All of Italy is one vast open-air museum. No other country can compare with us for the quality of our artistic heritage. This treasure is not limited to a single historical period, but, from prehistory to the present, testifies to the artistic taste and culture of various eras. Not everything can be displayed due to lack of space: we will therefore visit the large storage rooms of the Capitoline Museums in Rome, which are closed to the public.
- S15E2
Hot and Cold - Living Between the Two Extremes
Oct 11, 2014117mAlberto Angela takes us on a unique journey to discover the most extreme environments on Earth, to understand how we manage to live in the coldest and hottest places on our planet. We are accustomed to spending our lives at an average temperature, yet there are places on the planet where living beings, including humans, have had to adapt to truly extreme temperatures. The highest temperature ever recorded in the world is 70.7 degrees Celsius, in the gigantic desert basin in the southern part of the central Iranian plateau. The lowest—89.2 degrees—was reached at the Vostok Antarctic research station. It's astonishing how living beings can adapt to the most extreme conditions and the most inhospitable places on the planet, and still survive there: from the scorching deserts of Iran, Libya, and the United States, to the Danakil plateau.
- S15E3
Court Splendors - The Renaissance Lordships
Oct 18, 2014114mIn the third episode of Ulysses, the Pleasure of Discovery (Saturday, October 18 on Rai3), Alberto Angela will recount the history and life of the richest courts of the Renaissance. A historical period considered the dawn of modernity, which reached its peak in the 16th century, representing a cultural revolution in daily life, art, ideas, and customs in our country. We will enter the places where the powerful men of the era lived: the courts of Mantua and Ferrara: elegant, sumptuous, sometimes immoral, but above all, wealthy, enough to finance a flourishing of the arts with painters, sculptors, and poets such as Michelangelo, Leonardo, Giulio Romano, Ariosto, and Tasso. These courts, while not particularly large, compare favorably to those of Milan, Florence, or Venice, which allow us to understand the dynamics of a court of the time: the alliances, marriage contracts, rivalries, and cruelties both within and outside the family.
S15E4The Long Journey of Trains - Into the Carriage!
Oct 25, 2014117mIt is one of the creations of human ingenuity that has completely transformed the way we move, work, travel, see, and experience the places we live in. And ultimately, even our lives. A machine so powerful that it can transport things and people in previously unimaginable quantities. It is the train. In this episode of Ulysses, the pleasure of discovery, we will take a journey along the tracks with Alberto Angela to discover this marvelous means of transport. We will climb aboard a working steam locomotive and discover the royal carriage used by the House of Savoy at the beginning of the last century. From the first steam trains to futuristic magnetic levitation trains, we will recount the train's unstoppable progress and its impact on every corner of the world and on distant and diverse cultures. We will show you unusual and true behind-the-scenes aspects of the train in our lives today. From the subway we take to work in the morning to the projects for new futuristic railway lines.
- S15E5
The Surprises of DNA
Nov 1, 2014121mDNA: the most wondrous "invention" of Nature and evolution, the true mastermind that allows all living things to exist. But upon closer inspection, it's an episode dedicated to the triumph and secrets of Life. DNA is, in fact, the key that will open the doors to our past and allow us to discover much about our behaviors, how to protect ourselves with new treatments and medicines, and even how to unmask a murderer or reconstruct the appearance of deceased living beings. Alberto Angela explains why in some areas of the world, predominantly people with fair skin, or almond-shaped eyes, or slender bodies live, and why, despite all the differences between human beings, it makes no sense to talk about race. And then, diseases, epidemics like the plague, and the exception of individuals with the same DNA: identical twins.
S15E6Living and Dying in Pompei
Nov 8, 2014123mOne of the most famous dramatic events in history: the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum, wiping out these two cities of the Roman Empire. In this episode, Alberto Angela will recount the 24 hours preceding the eruption of Vesuvius through the stories of two families, one from Herculaneum and one from Pompeii, who lived on the slopes of Vesuvius, unaware of the impending catastrophe. The story will unfold in the most evocative locations of the two sites: the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii, where we will preview some of the marvelous, recently restored frescoes, and the arches of Herculaneum, where almost all of the city's inhabitants perished while trying to escape the volcano's fury towards the sea.
- S15E7
Australia - The Continent of Challenges (Second Version)
Nov 15, 2014120mWhy was it discovered only 250 years ago? Why are there animals so different from those on other continents? What is Ayers Rock, the enormous rock mass at the center of the continent, and why is it considered a sacred place by the Aboriginal people? Is it true that Giuseppe Garibaldi visited Australia? Just two and a half centuries ago, until James Cook's expedition, Australia's existence was unheard of; and even today, its interior—the so-called outback—behind the large coastal cities remains almost entirely uninhabited and largely unexplored. Ulysses holds many wonders and surprises for us on this journey to discover the lesser-known aspects of Australia. Alberto Angela and the Ulysses crews ventured into the magnificent Kakadu National Park, where time seems to have stood still and nature is still as it appeared two and a half centuries ago to the eyes of the first explorers.
- S15E8
The Splendors of Ancient Greece (Second Version)
Nov 29, 2014119mIn this episode, Ulysses will take us on a journey through the history of Greek civilization, the first great European civilization that, expanding across the Mediterranean, gave rise to what we now know as Magna Graecia in Italy. Greek cities spread across the Mediterranean, numbering nearly 700, and nearly a third of these are in Italy. Indeed, throughout the episode, we'll discover how Italy is a bit like a second Greece. Alberto Angela will tell us about Ancient Greece at the height of its splendor and lead us on a spectacular tour of some of the most important archaeological sites in our country: Paestum, Syracuse, Agrigento. Temples, theaters, and palaces that still tell us so much about the Greeks and ourselves today. We'll show you aspects of their daily lives, the female figure and romantic relationships, their social and political organization, their sporting competitions, and their wars.
- S15E9
The Wonders of Christian Rome (Second Version)
Dec 6, 2014118mFor centuries, Rome has been a destination for millions of tourists every year. They are drawn by the archaeological remains of the empire, the artistic wonders that have accumulated over the centuries, but also—and above all—by its position as the center of Christianity. During the episode, Alberto Angela will take a journey through the many places, monuments, and buildings that have shaped the history of Christianity. The journey will touch on the main basilicas as well as more secluded, hidden corners of the city, where important testimonies to the history of the Church are found. The underlying theme of the episode is the story of how the capital of the empire became the capital of Christianity.
S15E10The Secrets of Children Aged 0 to 2 Years
May 2, 2015121m"Ulisse, il piacere della scoperta" brings to life an extraordinary adventure. An adventure that we have all gone through, but which we cannot remember in part, or which we have spent with such enthusiasm that we cannot understand its significance: we are talking about the adventure of growing up, from birth to that shocking period that is adolescence.
S15E11The Thousand Secrets of Naples
May 9, 2015123mAlberto Angela takes us on an extraordinary journey to discover the thousand secrets of Naples, a city that reserves constant surprises. Between a ride in the most beautiful subway in the world or in the old but very efficient funiculars, and one in the extraordinary University Museums, Angela takes us to discover a city that reserves constant surprises. Then the Sansevero Chapel, with the extraordinary statue of the Veiled Christ, commissioned by the famous prince of Sansevero and again in the splendid halls of the Royal Palace to speak of the glorious past of the city. Naples, founded by the Greeks, then "welcomed" the Romans, the Byzantines, the Normans, the Swabians, the Angevins, the Aragonese, and the Bourbons and they all left beautiful traces of their passage both in the urban fabric but also more so in the language and traditions.
S15E12Secrets of the Jungle
May 16, 2015123mIn the company of Alberto Angela we travel in the middle of the tropical jungle, the green ring straddling the Equator between the Tropic of Cancer and that of Capricorn. This is 8% of the emerged land of our planet and it is our lungs: the tropical forest is one of the environments richest in life on the planet. It has been calculated that on an area of a few square kilometers of forest in Central America, 125 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, 100 species of reptiles, 60 species of amphibians and almost 40,000 species of insects can be found. Among them there are legendary animals such as tarantulas, which can reach 12 cm in length, the anaconda which can reach 8 meters and the boa constrictor which reaches 2 and a half metres. Then there are felines such as the jaguar in America, the leopard and the tiger in Asia.
S15E13The Wonders of the Quirinal (Second Version of the Episode "The Quirinal")
Jan 12, 2015114mIn this episode of "Ulisse" we will talk about what the Hill is at the center of the news today: the Quirinale: what is its history? Which kings lived there? How does the President of the Republic live? How many people work there? It will be a journey behind the scenes into the heart of our institutions and the history of the Palace.
S15E14The Long Journey of Ramesses (Second Version)
Jan 19, 2015114mPharaoh Ramesses II, who lived 3200 years ago, is the greatest of the Egyptian pharaohs, considered a bit like the Sun King of the time, who like Louis XIV reigned for a very long period, over 67 years. The era of Ramesses is that of Egypt's greatest splendor. Throughout the Nile Valley his face is carved everywhere in stone. Among the many temples, colossal statues and obelisks that bear his name, the most grandiose work is the temple of Abu Simbel, the protagonist of an unprecedented operation in the 1960s: that of being sawn into many pieces and moved more high to prevent the waters of the Nile, following the construction of a dam, from submerging it. With Alberto Angela we will follow the events of this undertaking considered almost impossible at the time. We will also see Ramesses' tomb. Each pharaoh was concerned with building the home where he would live forever, surrounded by the objects dearest to him, gold, gems and furnishings.
S15E15The Different Ages of Sex (Second Version)
Feb 2, 2015113mWhat pressures act behind the choice of a person to marry? What are the chances of keeping the promise of loyalty? Or to cheat? And what allows the union to last? Starting from a wedding reception, the episode of Ulisse will observe the particular relationship that is established between two people. And it will also explore the way in which sexuality is experienced at various ages, from childhood to older age, also following the small stories of the guests.
S15E16Journey into the Minds of Animals (Second Version)
Feb 9, 2015115mIn this episode Alberto Angela offers us a fascinating journey into the minds of animals. How many times, looking at your dog or your cat, have you asked yourself: who knows what he thinks, and what he would say if he could speak like us. Well, many researchers have asked themselves the same question, in particular neuroscientists and animal behavior specialists; and not only for dogs and cats but for many species. Today we know that the minds of animals are similar to ours in many respects, and behaviors that once seemed mysterious to us, or that we misinterpreted, finally have an explanation.
S15E17Journey to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (Second Version of the Episode "Journey to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies: Discovering Splendors and Secrets")
Feb 23, 2015113mThe Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, a chapter in the history of pre-unification Italy in many ways surprising and little known. In fact, among all the Italian Kingdoms, that of the Two Sicilies was by far the largest, richest and most populated. Almost 10 million people, that is to say one in three inhabitants of our peninsula, lived under the aegis of the House of Bourbon. And Naples was the heart of this kingdom: it was one of the largest cities in Europe, second only to Paris, the fifth in the world, a destination for scholars and travelers of the time. In this episode we will discover why the Bourbon kings, as loved and respected sovereigns, were then fiercely fought by their people and why their kingdom, rich in economic records, technological achievements and cultural treasures, has gone down in history as a closed and retrograde world , responsible for the evils that still afflict our south.
S15E18The Wonders and Secrets of Paris (Second Version)
Mar 2, 2015115mParis, its secrets and its wonders. The Bridges of Paris and the Seine have been declared a world heritage site by UNESCO. Alberto Angela, aboard a vintage boat, travels along the Seine, using the river as a journey through time. He explores Paris in various stages: from the top of the Arc de Triomphe, to the Eiffel Tower, to the towers of the spectacular Nôtre Dame Cathedral. The appointment with the Eiffel Tower is unmissable, as told by Alberto Angela in all its details, and the surprising transformations of Paris at the end of the nineteenth century: from the birth of the department stores to the many attractions of Montmartre, to the cafés of the Latin Quarter. And then the changes that occurred in the twentieth century: from Beaubourg to Défense.
S15E19The Anzio Landing - Target Rome
Apr 18, 2015129mAlberto Angela recounts what has been defined as "Italian Normandy"; the arrival of allied troops on the beaches of Anzio, near Rome. On January 22, 1944, when 40,000 men landed on the coast of Lazio, a few hours' drive from Rome, the German army was taken by surprise. The road to Rome seems open. But the man in command of the army, General John Porter Lucas, is instead convinced that he is facing a crushing defeat. The overall objective is the city of Rome, the main prize of the Italian Campaign. Would Rome become the first European capital liberated from Nazism? How long would it have taken to break the German Army's resistance? And what price would the population have paid?
S15E20Splendors of Andalusia
Apr 25, 2015125mAlberto Angela guides viewers on a journey to Andalusia to discover a region shaped over the centuries by a succession of civilizations that have overlapped with each other and which, despite their differences, have managed to coexist peacefully. Moving from Seville to Cordoba, from Granada to Ronda, we see for example how Christian churches have become mosques and then churches again, remaining intact in their structures and indeed enriching themselves from an architectural and decorative point of view. Names, words, customs have remained unchanged despite the succession of different and apparently opposing cultures. An era of peaceful coexistence that seems to have no equal in today's world. These are the main places told by Alberto Angela: in Seville the Alcazar, the Cathedral, the Plaza de España and the Casa de Pilatos; in Cordoba the Mezquita; in Granada the Alhambra and the Royal Chapel.
S15E21The Secrets of Children Aged 0 to 2 Years
May 2, 2015121m"Ulisse, il piacere della scoperta" brings to life an extraordinary adventure. An adventure that we have all gone through, but which we cannot remember in part, or which we have spent with such enthusiasm that we cannot understand its significance: we are talking about the adventure of growing up, from birth to that shocking period that is adolescence.
S15E22The Thousand Secrets of Naples
May 9, 2015123mAlberto Angela takes us on an extraordinary journey to discover the thousand secrets of Naples, a city that reserves constant surprises. Between a ride in the most beautiful subway in the world or in the old but very efficient funiculars, and one in the extraordinary University Museums, Angela takes us to discover a city that reserves constant surprises. Then the Sansevero Chapel, with the extraordinary statue of the Veiled Christ, commissioned by the famous prince of Sansevero and again in the splendid halls of the Royal Palace to speak of the glorious past of the city. Naples, founded by the Greeks, then "welcomed" the Romans, the Byzantines, the Normans, the Swabians, the Angevins, the Aragonese, and the Bourbons and they all left beautiful traces of their passage both in the urban fabric but also more so in the language and traditions.
- S15E23
Secrets of the Jungle
May 16, 2015123mIn the company of Alberto Angela we travel in the middle of the tropical jungle, the green ring straddling the Equator between the Tropic of Cancer and that of Capricorn. This is 8% of the emerged land of our planet and it is our lungs: the tropical forest is one of the environments richest in life on the planet. It has been calculated that on an area of a few square kilometers of forest in Central America, 125 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, 100 species of reptiles, 60 species of amphibians and almost 40,000 species of insects can be found. Among them there are legendary animals such as tarantulas, which can reach 12 cm in length, the anaconda which can reach 8 meters and the boa constrictor which reaches 2 and a half metres. Then there are felines such as the jaguar in America, the leopard and the tiger in Asia.
- S15E24
A World of Paper
May 23, 2015124mWriting paper, reading paper, money paper, wrapping paper, wallpaper, kitchen paper, even construction paper and toilet paper. But also letters, diaries, coasters, birth certificates, board games, business cards, photographs and tea bags... An ancient material that we have always used and whose consumption shows no signs of decreasing, but which over the centuries has evolved to become almost 100% recyclable and reusable. A fiction will reconstruct the environment of the first medieval European paper mills, born here in Italy, in Fabriano, when the paper, which is of Chinese origin, after crossing the Arab world, arrives in the West. We will discover in the Tuscan industrial center of Capannori, near Lucca, that Italy is a world leader in paper production: a sort of economic lung from which a large part of the handkerchiefs (and not only) produced in the world come.
- S15E25
The Conquest of Colors (Second Version)
Jun 6, 2015117mThe history of Man can be seen as a succession of conquests: we never think about the history of colors and yet it has changed our lives. "The conquest of colours" is a journey to discover how our world has been enriched with millions of shades over the centuries, thanks to the appearance of increasingly bright hues and colours. We will start from the Paleolithic, when humanity could essentially only have three colours: black, ocher and white. And we will continue to discover how the deep Egyptian blue, the first synthetic color in history, and the elegant purple of the Phoenicians and Romans were then added. We will see how the great glass masters learned to flood the cathedrals with colored lights, and how the greatest artists of the past obtained their colors using precious stones, such as lapis lazuli from which the blue used for example by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel was obtained.
- S15E26
Hannibal, the Man Who Challenged Rome
Oct 3, 2015122mAlberto Angela will accompany us on a journey through time spanning over two thousand years, during which we will discover Carthage, the queen of the Mediterranean, with its large fleet, and Republican Rome, at the time still a young power on the rise which, thanks to the strength of its legions, it had recently managed to impose its hegemony over a large part of the Italian peninsula. Through graphic reconstructions and re-enactments, Alberto Angela will make us relive the most dramatic moments of the centuries-old war from the inside, taking us to some of the most representative places of this crucial conflict: from the shores of Lake Trasimeno, where Hannibal's army defeated the Roman legions led by the consul Flaminius, to the Sepulcher of the Scipioni, on the Via Appia Antica, one of the most evocative testimonies of the Rome of the Scipioni. But our journey will above all be an opportunity to retrace the life and deeds of Hannibal, one of the greatest leaders of antiquity.
- S15E27
Learning From Nature
Oct 24, 2015123mIn this episode, "Ulisse" takes us into the fascinating world of nature. Led by Alberto Angela, we make a curious exploration through two very distant but parallel worlds.
- S15E28
America in Gone With the Wind
Oct 31, 2015119mThis episode of "Ulisse: il piacere della scoperta" guides us through the 5 most dramatic years in the history of the United States of America; the years of the Civil War, of the free North against the slave South. A conflict that will cause more deaths than all the others ever fought by the United States combined, including World Wars I and II.
- S15E29
The True Story of Moby Dick
Nov 7, 2015121mA long journey back almost two centuries, a period in which the sea was still an unexplored world and was believed to be inhabited by extraordinary creatures and populated with myths and legends. Alberto Angela will accompany spectators to discover one of the masterpieces of world literature: Moby Dick. The novel written by Herman Melville in 1851 is one of the most famous and read books in the world. Little known, however, is the fact that, to write Moby Dick, Melville was inspired by a true story: the sinking of the US whaler Essex in the Pacific, due to the attack of an enormous sperm whale.
- S15E30
Journey Through the Secrets and Treasures of Ostia Antica (Second Version)
Nov 14, 2015122mA few steps from Rome is the largest archaeological site on the planet (150 hectares) yet little known to the general public: Ostia antica with its ancient port. Tourists who, upon arriving in Rome, give up visiting the remains of the ancient town do not know that in Ostia it is possible to see how society was organized and how daily life took place in the times of the empire.
- S15E31
St. Peter's - The Secrets of a Basilica (Second Version)
Nov 21, 2015126m"Ulisse: il piacere della scoperta" presents the story of St. Peter's Basilica, whose door is the first to be opened as a rite that will begin the Holy Year. Alberto Angela retraces the history of this great church going back in time to two thousand years ago, going down with the cameras to the place where it all originated: the tomb of Saint Peter.