Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Pro Loco (the term is both singular and plural) are grass-roots organizations that seek to promote some particular place, almost always a town and its immediate area; ''pro loco'' is a Latin phrase that may be roughly translated "in favor of the place". Usually the town is a full-fledged

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...

, but not always:

frazioni A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

and other small places with a high level of civic pride may have their own Pro Loco. Very often, the name of a Pro Loco is just "Pro Loco N", where N is the name of the town; not infrequently, though, one meets with the simpler "Pro N", where N may be the name of the town or even its

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

name. The Pro Loco is a volunteer, grass-roots organization, and must not be confused with such publicly financed organizations as the Azienda di Promozione Turistica (APT) or the Ufficio di Informazione e Accoglienza Turistica (IAT), the aim of which is to promote tourism. Still, Pro Loco could have a legal identity as a no-profit organization if part of the UNPLI, Unione Nazionale Pro Loco d'Italia, the National Union: Pro Loco with a statute in line with UNPLI's protocols could have legal advice and some fiscal advantages, mostly a reduced fare in paying the (quite expensive) rights to SIAE to play music or theatre in public places. In most Italian towns, the Pro Loco's main purpose is to organize, finance, advertise, and operate the local Sagra or

palio Palio is the name given in Italy to an annual athletic contest, very often of a historical character, pitting the neighbourhoods of a town or the hamlets of a ''comune'' against each other. Typically, they are fought in costume and commemorate som ...

; it is thus quintessentially at the service of residents rather than visitors. In some places though, a wider purpose has been taken on, that of promoting the town's products or tourism; and in some few cases, a very active and socially conscious Pro Loco will sponsor publications, scholarly research, or the restoration of local monuments.

References

External links

* {{official, https://www.unioneproloco.it/unpli/ Organisations based in Italy