The U.S Rhode Island: The Ocean State

Più di 100 spiagge, grandi palazzi signorili e una capitale vivacissima, tutto su una superficie minuscola. Il Rhode Island è il più piccolo degli stati americani... e il più italiano!

Kathleen Becker

Molly Malcolm

Speaker (American accent)

Aggiornato il giorno 16 di aprile del 2025, 18:00

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Many people know that Rhode Island is the smallest US state, but few know much more about it! Rhode Island is known as ‘The Ocean State’; this is because this 77 kilometre by 60 kilometre state has a 644 kilometre shoreline on the Atlantic Ocean. Rhode Island has a strong maritime tradition: Narragansett Bay is the largest yachting center in New England. Newport is a peaceful resort with beautiful mansions open to the public.

A Rich History

In the late 1700s, Rhode Island was founded by an English minister, Roger Williams, who had travelled to the US looking for freedom of worship. The state motto is still ‘Hope’, and the state maintains a strong tradition of religious pluralism. In 1638, the colonies’ first Baptist congregation was founded in the capital, Providence. Newport has the oldest synagogue (1763) and the oldest Quaker meeting house (1699) in the US. In 1776, the colony of Rhode Island was the first to renounce allegiance to the British crown.

the italian connection

The first European to arrive at Rhode Island, in 1524, was an Italian: the Florentine navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano, exploring for the French court. Rhode Island has a high Italian-American population today. In fact, at 19 per cent, it has the highest percentage of Italian-Americans of any US state! The oldest Italo-American club in the country was founded in Providence in 1896. A lively Little Italy district surrounds Federal Hill, with over 40 Italian restaurants and delis crowded into this small neighbourhood, where sidewalks and lanterns are painted in the Italian colours. Surprisingly, tiny Rhode Island was once the heartland of the New England Mafia!

Travel Tips

North Americans like to think big. For tourists though, Rhode Island’s small size means shorter distances and less stressful holidays. If you really want to get away from it all, though, head out to Block Island. Giovanni da Verrazzano and his crew landed on the island after noticing the fires of its Native American inhabitants. It is still abundant in rare plants and animals today. Recently, the NGO Nature Conservancy named beautiful Block Island “one of 12 last great places in the western hemisphere.”

i love italy!

Rhode Island is the smallest of the 50 United States and is also the one with the highest percentage of Italian-Americans. Its capital, Providence, is home to the country’s first Italo-American club, located in a Victorian mansion at 477 Broadway. The club’s restaurant Spirito’s is owned by Greg Spirito, whose forefathers came from Itri in Lazio. We spoke to Greg about Italy, which he had recently visited for the first time.

Greg Spirito (Italian american accent): It was beautiful, it was the most beautiful country I’ve ever been to. Not that I’ve been (to) a lot, but it was absolutely gorgeous, I can’t wait to get back. The most interesting part of Italy, because I am in the restaurant business here in America in Rhode Island, and we do serve all authentic Italian food, and the most interesting thing of going there and eating in Rome and Venice (was) that our food was very very similar to their style of cooking.

GREAT steak!

So what was his favourite dish?

Greg Spirito: We had octopus in one restaurant in Florence... [it] was excellent, it was simmered in marinara sauce, the Steak Florentine was tremendous. We had a great great steak dinner in Tuscany, by a chef, a butcher, Dario, he’s from the Greve region, and we booked a dinner over there, and it was seven cuts of meat, with all the wine you can drink, and served family-style. And they did a tremendous job over there. It was great. Especially, being a chef and in the restaurant business, I appreciated every part of Italy. You know, we flew into Venice and the seafood there, and how fresh, and just grilled naturally, in its natural juices. It was absolutely delicious, everything.

great people!

And what about the people?

Greg Spirito: Oh, the people were great. Friendly, fun, they showed us around, we met a few interesting people just hanging around, and, we were in one restaurant in Rome, and it was actually called Spirito Divino, the wine cellar was (built) a hundred years before Caesar ruled, it was very, very interesting.