Ulisse - The Pleasure of Discovery

Endless forests, lakes, whales, bears, boundless and sparsely inhabited spaces. Canada has nature as its absolute protagonist.

The Rocky Mountains and the parks of Alberta, majestic and uncontaminated landscapes: the second part of Alberto Angela's trip to Canada starts from here. A five thousand kilometer long journey, to discover a country in which the differences between the various ethnic groups are an integral and fundamental part of the nation's identity. Starting from the search for the mythical Northwest Passage, in Drumheller, near Calgary, Alberto Angela takes us to an ancient mine, where Italian emigrants also went to work for decades and where large dinosaur skeletons were found and housed in a museum. everything to visit. In conclusion, the landing in Vancouver, on the Pacific: a city by the sea, famous for its livability, its skyline, the Science Museum and the anthropology museum.

A leap into the past of almost 2000 years that takes us along the borders of the Roman Empire and shows us how the borders were organized on the borders of a boundless empire.

Alberto Angela tells us the history and origin of the Metals of Kings: Gold, Silver and Copper. We begin this journey from the Royal Palace of Turin, the Royal Palace of Savoy: it is here that the treasures of the earth were transformed into the treasures of the Kings of Italy, shining and celebrating the magnificence of the Court.

Alberto Angela takes us on a journey to the Wild West: between the Mississippi River and the Pacific coast where law and right were unable to guarantee protection to the men of that era who had to rely only on their own strength.

"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.

In this episode of "Ulisse, il piacere della scoperta", Alberto Angela tells us the story of Gaio Giulio Cesare Ottaviano, better known as Augusto, the man who changed history, transforming Rome from a Republic into an Empire.

It is surprising how living beings are able to adapt to the most extreme situations and the most inhospitable places on the planet and even manage to live there: from the fiery deserts of Iran, Libya and the United States, up to the Danakil plateaus.

This episode retraces the dramatic shipwreck of the largest and most elegant of our transatlantic liners, the Andrea Doria. A story that sixty years later still arouses great emotion throughout Italy. The Andrea Doria was a jewel of our navy, a very luxury ship, considered unsinkable due to the technical innovations with which she had been built. And in these days an exhibition is also inaugurated at the Galata Museo del Mare in Genoa which tells the story of this beautiful and unfortunate ship.

Alberto 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.

Alberto Angela invites us on an extraordinary journey in the footsteps of a protagonist of history, a man who many consider the father of modern Europe: Charlemagne. We are surprised by the many adventures of the famous ruler, discovering his conquests, his life and his countless loves. Through his events we also discover how daily life took place in the Middle Ages.

Alberto Angela embarks on a great journey through past civilizations and their enigmas, exploring one of the most extraordinary archaeological sites in the world, in the heart of the Pacific Ocean: Easter Island.

The story of the Roman slave Spartacus: the indomitable fighter who decided to rebel against his destiny as a slave is at the center of this episode of "Ulisse: il piacere della scoperta". Alberto Angela recounts the rise of this warrior from Thrace who, endowed with immense physical strength and enlisted as a gladiator, organized a revolt against Rome destined to remain, due to his greatness and violence, in history. From the amphitheater of Santa Maria Capua Vetere, in the province of Caserta, a stadium capable of accommodating 40 thousand people, we delve into the history of the Roman arenas, places of tragedy and pain but which for centuries served as the backdrop to the most loved and appreciated shows of the whole Mediterranean: the gladiatorial games.

This episode of "Ulisse" makes us relive the glory and fall of one of the most sumptuous courts of the 19th century: that of the Romanovs. Alberto Angela, in the Royal Palace of Venaria Reale, in Piedmont, talks about this court that reigned over an immense territory without however managing to govern it, closed in its own splendor and impenetrable to the anger and hunger of its people, which would open the doors to the influence of a dubious and discussed character, and still not definitively deciphered: Rasputin. A name inextricably linked to the Romanovs: no one was ever so skilled at bewitching men and women of power without the help of a noble title and with a very limited education. Who was? A healer? A boaster? And what were the relations with the imperial family? Thanks to historical re-enactments and a documentary we tell the parable of a family and an Empire, until the dawn of the First World War.

This episode of "Ulisse" follows the thread of the story of one of the most important Italian novels of all time: "The Name of the Rose". Who were the scribe monks? Why were they so fundamental in the transmission of our country's culture? And why did some books never reach us? Alberto Angela, from Subiaco, where Saint Benedict founded the famous convent, retraces the plot of the book by Umberto Eco, a worldwide publishing success, and the film by Jean Jacques Annaud with Sean Connery as the protagonist. What was daily life like inside the Abbeys in the Late Middle Ages? What role did these buildings have, which at the time functioned like real companies? There is also talk of forbidden books and the inquisition, with a mystery to be solved in the background.

One of the most famous paintings in the world is at the center of this fourth episode: the Mona Lisa. Who really was the Mona Lisa? Alberto Angela, from the places where Leonardo lived and painted his masterpieces, takes us on a journey through the history of art and, in front of the painting in the Louvre, makes us understand why it is the most famous painting in the world, the most reproduced, and what is so unique and special about this woman who has enchanted courts around the world for 6 centuries.

This episode of "Ulisse: il piacere della scoperta" is dedicated to the tragic news of recent months: the earthquake that tore through Italy last autumn/winter. Thanks to the Carabinieri's Cultural Heritage Protection Unit, we are witnessing the recovery of important works of art and the safeguarding of our historical and artistic heritage wounded and scarred by these catastrophic events of recent months.

This 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.

Invisible but very powerful, microorganisms have always been our life companions. Alberto Angela proposes a journey to discover infinitely small creatures, showing how our life, but sometimes also our death, depends on them. The journey of "Ulisse" begins in Benin, a very poor country which like many other places on the planet represents the "front line" of the fight against microbes and viruses. And international organizations operate here which have saved many children through vaccinations. But how and when did humanity begin to use vaccines? In "Ulysses", a documentary brings to life a "revolutionary" moment: the one in which Luis Pasteur tries the impossible to save the life of a child bitten by a dog suffering from rabies. An episode that will forever change not only the lives of the people involved but also our relationship with diseases. And, today, how can we protect ourselves from infections? What precautions to use?

Alberto Angela takes us on a journey to the borders of the Roman Empire to narrate the moment in which the latter reached the peak of power and expansion with the conquest of Dacia. An exciting story, which has changed the destiny of millions of people over the centuries, pointing the compass towards a specific era: that of Emperor Traiano, of whom this year marks the anniversary of his death which occurred 1900 years ago.