World Kissing Day in Italy: 5 intriguing facts you should know

World Kissing Day is a reminder that human beings are creatures of feelings, which guide human choices, whatever they may be. 

The Kiss, in fact, is an innate gesture that has held an extraordinarily wide range of meanings since ancient times.

The Latins, for example, used three terms to indicate the act of kissing: 

"osculum" meant the kiss of respect, "savium" indicated the kiss of lipidine, and finally "suavium" referred to the kiss as an act of fidelity offered to the bride-to-be by the man.

In today's collective imagination, the kiss is closely linked to the feeling of love, but in reality, kisses are part of specific rituals and are an expression of feelings of different natures that include not only love but also maternal and filial affection, tenderness, sympathy, loyalty, gratitude, compassion, joy or pain.

There is one, however, that is perhaps considered the richest in emotional and sentimental meaning: the first kiss.

The first kiss is, in fact, an unforgettable moment in life, a real emotional rush combined with the feeling of having "butterflies in the stomach".

A brotherly kiss, a passionate kiss, a kiss on the cheek, a French kiss, a molded kiss... But why do we kiss? The lips are not only one of the most erogenous zones of our body, but also one of the most sensitive.

This is why a kiss, whether on the cheek, forehead, or hand, shows us a lot about the person we are kissing. It is a gesture of infinite tenderness. According to science, kissing is also good for your health as it works 35 facial muscles. A fantastic anti-wrinkle exercise. 

It involves 112 postural muscles, increases self-esteem and immune defenses. 

It also reduces levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, and increases oxytocin, the love hormone. 

It promotes blood circulation and counteracts skin aging.

It even prolongs life by 5 years. 

Are you still in doubt about how good kissing is?  And how romantic is kissing in an Italian city? 

Italian history, literature, and cinema are full of kisses.

Many kisses have left their mark on the history of literature, with unforgettable descriptions that become sweeter and more moving with each reading. 

One of the most famous kisses of all time is the one between Paolo and Francesca in Canto V of Dante Alighieri's Inferno of "Divina Commedia":

"When we read the desired smile being kissed by such a lover,

This one, who will never be divided from me, kissed my mouth all trembling".

Malicious and desired is the kiss described by D'Annunzio in the poem "La Boccuccia":

"Come on, give it to me, give it to me. It's like a little rose.

Give it to me a kiss, give it to me, Cannetella!

Give it to me and take a little kiss".

The most romantic text describing the kiss is by Catullo, who in "Dammi Mille Baci" (Give me a thousand kisses) makes readers dream:

"Give me a thousand kisses, then another hundred,

then another thousand, then another hundred,

then without stopping another thousand, then a hundred.

Finally, when we have given a thousand,

we shall shuffle the count, lest we know,

or so that no evil can envy us,

discovering the existence of so many kisses".

Perfect to dedicate to your loved ones on World Kissing Day.

Touching and poignant is Neruda's "Kiss in the Wind" for all those who on this day love but cannot kiss, he suggests we send a kiss to the wind that will be felt by those you love: 

"I will send you a kiss with the wind and I know you will feel it,

you will turn around without seeing me but I will be there.

We are made of the same stuff that dreams are made of".

The celebration of the kiss passes through social media, works of art, paintings, poems, and also many unforgettable moments broadcast on the big screen. 

When we talk about kisses, we can't help but think of those moments in black and white or color that have sculpted epochs and built strong symbols of love.

Just like the finale of Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, by Giuseppe Tornatore, a wonderful, poignant montage of the most beautiful kisses on film, accompanied by Ennio Morricone's magical soundtrack.

Federico Fellini, on the other hand, took us through the streets of the Eternal City to the Trevi Fountain and gave us a barely grazed kiss between Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni) and Sylvia ( Anita Ekberg) in the film "La Dolce Vita" (1960), capable of setting the screen and the soul on fire.

A film that every time we see it again makes us fall in love, making us feel the thrill of an endless kiss.

Whether intentional, stolen, or exaggerated, kisses in cinema represent some of the strongest moments on the big screen.

Another hilarious kiss can be found in the Italian comedy "Maledetto il giorno che t'ho incontrato" (1992), starring Bernardo (Carlo Verdone), a Roman journalist living in Milan, and Camilla (Margherita Buy), a complex actress.

Love will break out between the two, but not before the woman instructs Bernardo with a simple lesson on how to kiss. 

Because, after all, you have to know how to kiss!

Finally, the passionate kiss between two people who could not be more opposite, between whom you would never expect love to be born, as in "Poli Opposti" in which Stefano Parisi (Luca Argentero) and Claudia Torrini (Sarah Felberbaum) are a couple's therapist, she is a divorce lawyer, but they will soon realize that it is perhaps useless to fight against the laws of physics.

This year, too, April 13th is lit up with the passion to celebrate this simple gesture, so aspired to and praised, which encompasses the expression of goodness and love between loved ones and towards loved ones. 

To the Wasted Kisses, to those wanted, to those dreamed of, to those never given... Happy World Kiss Day!