Little Italy in Cleveland, OH

Little Italy is a neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio located at the base of Murray Hill, between Cleveland's University Circle neighborhood and the suburb of Cleveland Heights. It houses many of Cleveland's well-liked Italian restaurants and serves as the center of Italian culture in the Greater Cleveland Area. It is located just past Murray Hill on Mayfield Road. Chef Boyardee opened his first restaurant, Il Giardino d'Italia, in Little Italy in the 1940s. The first pasta machine was invented in Little Italy by an Italian immigrant named Angelo Vitantonio, who received a United States patent for the product in 1906.

The area is also home to many private art galleries and two private schools, and is within walking distance from Case Western Reserve University. Each August on the Roman Catholic Feast of the Assumption, Little Italy stages an Italian cultural festival, the Feast of the Assumption Festival.

For much of its history, Little Italy was home to the largest Mafia organization between New York and Chicago. The organization was the seat of power for families that operated in Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Toledo, Detroit, and Akron.

According to the beliefs held by Christians of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches and by some Anglicans, the Assumption of Mary was the taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life. The Roman Catholic Church teaches as dogma that Mary, "having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory."Pope Pius XII: "Munificentissimus Deus - Defining the Dogma of the Assumption", par. 44. Vatican, November 1, 1950 This doctrine was dogmatically and infallibly defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950, in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus. This belief is known as the Dormition by the Orthodox. In the churches which observe it, the Assumption is a major festival, commonly celebrated on August 15. In many countries it is a Roman Catholic Holy Day of Obligation.

In his August 15, 2004, homily given at Lourdes, Pope John Paul II quoted John 14:3 as one of the scriptural bases for understanding the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. In this verse, Jesus tells his disciples at the Last Supper, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also." According to Catholic theology, Mary is the pledge of the fulfillment of Christ's promise.http://www.wf-f.org/JPII_LourdesHomily.html

The feast day of the Assumption on August 15 is a public holiday in many countries, including Italy, Malta, Belgium, Portugal, France, Spain, Greece and Chile.Columbus World Travel Guide, 25th Edition In East Orthodox churches following the Julian Calendar, the feast day of Assumption of Mary falls on August 28, and is also a public holiday in the Republic of Macedonia.