An Italian town dating back to the Middle Ages was the focus of a presentation at the Portage la Prairie Rotary Club Luncheon today. Rotary exchange student Lucia DeVito shared stories from Italy, discussing her home town of Fabriano, Italy. The town was founded in early medieval times, and DeVito says the town's apparent history is one of the biggest differences she's noticed between Canada and her home country. 

Lucia DeVito

"The buildings are very, very old. Fabriano was first built in the early Middle Ages. Churches are very different, very old buildings with a lot of paintings and decorations. The theatre is very, very different too."

The town is well-known for it's production of fine papers, a tradition that DeVito notes dates back centuries.

"Fabriano is very important for their paper. They were working on the paper starting in the 13th century. There's a museum in Fabriano that shows the history of the paper, and there's one type known as watermarked."

The watermarking process for paper was actually started in the town, and Fabriano's still well-known for the process today.

As far as her trip to Canada, DeVito says there are some major differences between the two countries. She explains the biggest difference is the high school system, noting Fabriano has several schools, and students choose the facility based on which courses interest them. She also notes sports aren't a part of the education system, with independent clubs looking after different sports.