The time is approaching for the national competition for tour guides, which will implement the reform of the tour guide profession as outlined in Law 190 of Dec. 13, 2023, which established the new national list of tour guides at the Ministry of Tourism. The list will be formed after thenational examination , which will consist of a written test, an oral test and a technical-practical test. Upon passing the three tests, one will become a licensed guide. The call for entries for the exam was open from January 28 to February 27, 2025, and only at the end of June was the commission formed to judge the entrants-a monstrous task, since as many as 25,000 applications were submitted.
On July 3, a meeting of the examining board was held at the Ministry of Tourism’s headquarters on Via di Villa Ada in Rome, which articulated the program of subjects that will be the subject of the exam and set the criteria for scoring and how the tests will be evaluated . The subjects are divided into four sections: sections I, II and IV will be the subject of the written and oral, while section III is for the subjects of the technical-practical test. On Sections I and II, devoted to generic sites and museums, respectively, candidates will have to prepare by studying the destinations included in the lists from the perspective of art history, geography, history and archaeology, on a regional basis. For Lazio, candidates will be asked to learn about the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Castel Gandolfo, the Orsini Castle in Bracciano, the Cathedral of Anagni, the Circus Maximus and the Baths of Caracalla, Civita di Bagnoregio, the Colosseum Archaeological Park, the Gardens of Ninfa, the monasteries of Subiaco, the necropolis of Tarquinia and Cerveteri, the Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica, the Pantheon, the necropolis of Porto all’Isola Sacra, the Park of Veio, the Imperial Forums, the villas of Tivoli, the Mitreo of Santa Prisca and the Mitreo Barberini, the Archaeological Park of Vulci, the Natural Park of Sutri, the Archaeological Park of Minturnae, the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, the basilica of St. Peter, the Abbey of Farfa, and the Archaeological Park of Appia Antica. For Lombardy, candidates will need to know theChiaravalle Abbey, Bergamo’s Piazza Vecchia, Vezio Castle, Milan Cathedral, Cremona Cathedral and Baptistery, Catullus Caves, Pavia Charterhouse and Castle, Bellagio Old Town, Scaliger Castle in Sirmione, Palazzo Besta in Teglio, the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua, the Archaeological Park of Castelseprio, the Archaeological Park of Oppidum degli Orobi, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Villa Reale in Monza, the Villa Romana in Desenzano del Garda, the archaeological parks of Castenedolo, Bagnolo San Vito and Brescia, and theIseo archaeological area. In Tuscany, it will be necessary to prepare on the Archaeological Park of Baratti and Populonia, Santa Maria Novella, the historic centers of Anghiari and Cortona, the Duomo and Baptistery of Florence, the island of Elba, Montalcino and the abbey of Sant’Antimo, the necropolis of Sovana, the Natural Park of the Apuan Alps, Piazza dei Miracoli, theAmphitheater and the Clock Tower of Lucca, on the Ponte Vecchio and Palazzo Vecchio, on the Maremma Nature Reserve, on the Roselle Archaeological Park, on the towers of San Gimignano, on the Sanctuary of La Verna, on the Archaeological Area of Vetulonia, on the Cathedral and Roman Theater of Volterra, on the Archaeological Area of Cosa, and on the Etruscan city of Chiusi.
Also required knowledge, for Section II, of major museums: for Lazio, for example, the Vatican Museums (with special reference to the Sistine Chapel, the Raphael Rooms, the Map Galleries, the Pio-Clementine Museum), the Borghese Gallery (focus on works by Bernini, Caravaggio, Raphael and Canova), Castel Sant’Angelo, the GNAM, the National Roman Museum, the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, the Ara Pacis Museum, the Museum of the Ships of Nemi, the Capitoline Museums, the National Galleries of Ancient Art, the Vittoriano and Palazzo Venezia, and the Centrale Montemartini. For Lombardy, it will be enough to prepare on Pinacoteca di Brera, Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia, Museo del Novecento, Palazzo Te, Cenacolo Vinciano and Castello Sforzesco. For Tuscany, the Uffizi (the rooms of Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Caravaggio), the Accademia (the Tribuna del David, the Galleria dei Prigioni, the Sala del Colosso), Palazzo Pitti (Palatine Gallery and Royal Apartments), the Museo Galileo, the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, the Bargello and the Museo Archeologico Nazionale.
Section III contains another list of sites that will be the subject, as mentioned, of the technical-practical test, while instead for section IV it will be necessary to prepare on discipline of cultural heritage and landscape (thus the Cultural Heritage Code), tourism law (all laws on the subject, from the Constitution to EU directives passing through Italian laws), accessibility and inclusiveness of the tourism offer. All topics are listed in Annex A of the meeting minutes.
But, in this case, how will the tests be structured? The written will consist of 80 multiple-choice questions to be solved in 90 minutes. Each correct answer gives 0.50 points, each wrong answer takes away 0.25 points, and non-answer gives 0 points. One will advance to the next test only with a score of 25/40. The oral test, on the other hand, will ascertain knowledge of the subjects of the various sections, communication and public speaking skills of the topics, aptitude for the performance of the profession, and ascertainment of foreign language proficiency. Again, the test will be passed with a minimum score of 25/40. Finally, the technical-practical test will be a simulation of a guided tour, in Italian and in a foreign language, to one of the selected sites (for Tuscany, for example, selected the archaeological area of Roselle, the historic centers of Pienza and San Gimignano, Montecatini Terme, Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa, the Val d’Orcia and the Villa Medicea in Poggio a Caiano). The committee will ascertain knowledge of the destination, the ability to conduct a guided tour in a clear, concise and engaging manner, the ability to highlight the most significant features and aspects of the extracted destination, and the ability to conduct the guided tour in a foreign language with language property and ease. Again, test passed with a score of 25/40. All criteria are given in Annex B. Candidates, therefore, only have to study.
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| National tour guide exam, here are what the test topics will be |
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