@YatiWritess Ok I think I understood. First of all, it's important to know that in Italy we have a lot of different cultures and traditions, because of the many and different dominations we had over the centuries. From South to North we have very different lifestyles and cultures, so it's important to decide in which part of Italy you want to set your story. However I can give you some general indications that are more or less spread throughout Italy (I'm from Sicily, in the South of Italy):
-we usually value family very much, we are very attached to our relatives;
-Vatican city is in Rome, so we feel the church influence very much. We are a very religious people, pious and God-fearing (expecially in the south but not only). This leads us to celebrate every religious holiday (Christmas, Easter, but even name-day);
-this may seems like a bit of a stereotype but we are serious and susceptible about our food. Don't mess with it;
-our government is not the best, expecially about healtcare and education;
-our whole country is very rich in culture (just think about cities like Rome, Naples, Florence ecc.) and nature, landscapes, which are very different (Italy is a country that develops in length, so we have the sea, expecially in the south, but the Alps too in the north, and the open plain in the north-centre, and many more);
-the last decades of the 20th century have been rough for us (my generation didn't actually live them, my parents and my relatives tell me the stories). These where the years of the mafia's attacks and massacres, many people have been killed. They were years of fear.
I hoped this was helpfull, tell me if you need something more specific!
