In many countries around the world 13 is regarded an unlucky number. But in Italy 13 is not regarded as especially unlucky.

In Italy the especially unlucky number is 17! So, in Milan, you may find that hotels do not have a room number 17 and so on. By contrast, in Italy 13 is not regarded as being especially unlucky. As with the fear of 13 in many other countries, there's no logical reason for this. Some think that it is because in Roman digits 17 is written XVII, that could be rearranged to "VIXI", which in Latin means "I have lived" but can be a euphemism for "I am dead." But the weird phobia of 17 remains. Cesana Pariol, the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton track used for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, had turn 17 originally named "Senza Nome" ("without name" in Italian, but the turn was renamed in 2007 in honor of luger Paul Hildgartner).

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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34 Comments

George Oliver Prince

Don't have any problem with the way the question is worded, and I also learned something, probably like some hotels don't have a 13th floor

Beau Shilkraut

Why not ask "Is 13 an unlucky number in Italy?"

Shirley Dutt

Um, was that a question?

mapiferuk

Larry R, Italy is in the western world

Chris Brown

After answering this question correctly, I looked for more on this subject: "It is not, however, a universal superstition: In Greece and Spanish-speaking countries, it is Tuesday the 13th that is considered a day of bad luck, while in Italy, it is Friday the 17th that is met with fear. This month, however, there is only one on the calendar: Friday, the 13th of January.1"

Liz Gore-rees

I was told that it was because there were 13 at the last supperChristine LaFrance Vischer,

Val Wilkinson

It’s because there were 13 at the Last Supper Christine LaFrance Vischer,

Conrado De Leon

In my country, populated both by Spanish and Italian migrants, 13 is called "la jetta" (the bad luck) and 17 is "la desgracia", disgrace, bad happenings. If you are interested, I can tell you the real origin of triskaidecaphobua, that goes back to... ancient Egypt! Interested?

littledick

Irma Rivera, A bit nitpicking here. One cannot deny Judas' presence simply because he betrayed Jesus nor can one deny Jesus presence - he was obviously there since he was eating also - since He himself instituted the sacrament. So the 13 figure is quite obvious. Of course if you want to deny Christ's personhood, then I guess it would only be 12.