Italian Coffee: History a Tradition

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A great contribution to the diffusion of the beverage was obtained by the spread of Islam in North Africa, Europe and South Asia, first under the expansionist policy of the Ottoman Empire, and later thanks to the development of trades favoured by voyages of discovery.

In the second half of the XVI century coffee crossed the Eastern borders to land up in Europe, from many directions: the age of huge sailing-vessels ploughing the Mediterranean Sea, of the navigators developing their increasingly thriving trades, and importing every kind of merchandise from end to end of the known lands, were responsible for introducing coffee into the major ports of our continent.

That is how, in around 1570, it made its appearance in Venice along with tobacco. The merit of its introduction into Italy is ascribed to the Paduan Prospero Alpino, a famous botanist and physician, who brought with him some sacks from the East and, having observed the plant’s characteristics, described it in his book "De Planctis Aegyptii et de Medicina Aegiptiorum", printed between 1591 and 1592.

Venice, more than the other sea towns, was "the Eastern market"; in its port docked European vessels coming from the Arabic and Asian countries. Coffee soon found its way there, and could rapidly be found in plenty. Venetians were the first, thus, to leam to appreciate this beverage. At the beginning, however, the price of coffee was very high, and only rich people could afford to buy it, since it was sold only at chemist’s shops.

G. Francesco Morosini, high judge of the doges’ city, Venice, and ambassador of the Venetian Republic to the Sultan, in 1582, in his report from Constantinople, related that in the East there were numbers of public businesses where people were used to meeting each other several times a day over a dark and boiling hot beverage.

Coffee became thus the object of trade and commerce. In consequence of travellers’ reports, some premises open to the public began to appear in Venice, too. Here they served a beverage which was by now making everybody curious! In 1640, the first "coffee shop" opened in Venice. Others followed in many Italian towns, among them Turin, Genoa, Milan, Florence, Rome and Naples. By 1763 Venice numbered no less than 218 outlets!

Just as coffee had been met by the hostility of devoted Muslims, so in Italy too its introduction collided with some Church representatives’ beliefs. So it came about that some fanatical Christians urged Pope Clemente VII to forbid the faithful to drink the "devil’s beverage" – as they called it!

The Pontiff, before giving judgement, asked for a cup of the black but fragrant beverage. They say that at its sight he cried out: "This beverage is so delicious that it would be a sin to let only misbelievers drink it! Let’s defeat Satan by blessing this beverage, which contains nothing objectionable to a Christian!" Once the Pope’s approval and blessing had been obtained for coffee, a "beverage for Christians, too", its success was assured! By the late XVIII century, many Italian towns had adopted the same Venetian habit. Served in elegant coffee shops or on rough common tables, the beverage was everywhere very much appreciated.

And what about a little chit chat, while you drank? To raise one’s spirits, and banish worries! Seated at the table, in fact, they would drink, eye each other, and gossip about the other customers: it was another key factor in the unexpected success of these shops. Eighteenth century men of culture so loved it that it was called an "intellectual beverage". Coffee aroused interest not only as a "refreshing infusion" but also for its healing powers; so that in a leaflet, printed in Milan in 1801, high credit was given by some physicians to coffee as a "cure-all".In Italy the temples of coffee are still open, and old and picturesque atmospheres recreated. The Cafe Florian in Piazza San Marco in Venice may be the most illustrious of all! Ruby-coloured velvets, unobtrusive lights and small tables are still the lures of the Caffe Greco in Rome, the Pedrocchi in Padua, the Michelangelo in Florence and the Baratti in Turin!

The tradition is still intact today, as testified by the current splendour of so many old coffee shops, in every large European capital. Coffee is therefore a great invention, based on the art of processing and blending it; a specialty that has become a typically Italian tradition!