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Birth Anniversary: Francesco Araja — June 25, 1709

25 June 2027

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Born in Naples on 25 June 1709. Following operatic triumphs in Florence, Rome and Milan, he was engaged by Empress Anna of Russia in 1735 as imperial court Kapellmeister in Saint Petersburg, where his Tsefal i Prokris of 1755 became the historic first opera sung in the Russian language.

A note on this date. The exact day of death in Bologna is unrecorded in late eighteenth-century records (c. 1770); we celebrate his verified birth anniversary on 25 June. We publish it with the warning rather than leave the page out, and if you can point us to a register or an archive that carries it we will confirm or correct it.

Dates verified on Treccani, DBI, vol. 3 (1961), voce "ARAJA, Francesco" (https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/francesco-araja_(Dizionario-Biografico)/); Grove Music Online, entry "Araja, Francesco" (https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.01140).

Travel tips from CHO

Go on the first Sunday of the month

State museums, archaeological parks and monuments across Italy open free of charge on the first Sunday of every month. It covers state-run sites only — civic and private museums set their own prices — and there is nothing to claim: you simply walk in.

The ministry’s free days →

In September, the doors that are usually shut open

For one long weekend every September, some fifty European countries run the European Heritage Days together: palaces, workshops, archives and private houses that are closed the rest of the year let visitors in, almost always for nothing. Italy sets its own dates, and they are published a few weeks ahead.

Dates, country by country →

Arrive already connected

Maps, opening hours and tickets all need data, and roaming outside your own network still costs more than the ticket. A travel eSIM for Italy installs on your phone before you leave home and works the moment you land — no queue at the airport, no physical card to swap.

Data plans for Italy →Affiliate link — what this means

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