Centuries ago, Europe’s elite undertook a rite of passage, the Grand Tour of Italy. An expedition to the spiritual home of art and culture but reserved for only a few.

Today Google set out to reinvent The Grand Tour, reconnecting the inspiration of the past with the possibility of the future. This time, everyone is invited.

Italian culture has been admired for centuries. But understanding and appreciation of Italy’s masterpieces, how they’ve shaped the present and inspire the future, fades with each generation. Can technology re-engage Italians with their past?

Three hundred years ago, the Grand Tour was the ultimate voyage of discovery. Privileged Europeans travelled from Venice to Sicily to admire Italy’s finest architecture and art.

Google’s Grand Tour of Italy reinvents this cultural adventure, for everyone to experience. A digital and physical roadshow traveling across Italy to rediscover the treasures of Italian culture with the latest Google technology.

In partnership with Italian cultural institutions we’ve identified the amazing stories of Italian culture and then looked at how technologies could make it interactive and relevant today.

We brought Pasquino, lightning rod of the world’s first social media network, back to life using Google ARCore.

We put people inside a virtual Venice to help design the city of the future with Tilt Brush.

We set viewers in the center of the legendary Palio with a 360º VR experience.

We let people fly through Palermo in Google Earth to learn how the city has inspired architecture around the world…

This Grand Tour was not for tourists, and it was not just to inspire Italians with tales of their past. It was to prepare them for their future.

At each event, we provided digital workshops and lectures for local businesses and individuals.

Following its launch event at the Venice Biennale, Google’s Grand Tour Of Italy sold out in Palermo, Siena and Rome. Online, it fuelled cultural conversation, with more than 6 million interactions of #GoogleGrandTour.

After the campaign, Italy became the EMEA country where Google has the highest brand love rate.