Verona

Sunday, 30 December 2012

Verona - Ztracená bloudím (official music video)

of Verona - Dark In My Imagination - Lyric Video

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Aeolian Islands
The Aeolian Islands or Lipari Islands (Italian: Isole Eolie, pronounced [ˈiːzole eˈɔːlje], Sicilian: Ìsuli Eoli) are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily, named after the demigod of the winds Aeolus. The locals residing on the islands are known as Eolians (Italian: Eoliani). The Aeolian Islands are a popular tourist destination in the summer, and attract up to 200,000 visitors annually.
The largest island is Lipari. The other islands include Vulcano, Salina, Stromboli, Filicudi, Alicudi, Panarea and Basiluzzo.
The present shape of the Aeolian Islands is the result of volcanic activity over a period of 260,000 years. There are two active volcanoes - Stromboli and Vulcano. The volcanic activity of steaming fumaroles and thermal waters are on most of the islands. Only the one on Stromboli, the northernmost island, is still active.
Scientifically the archipelago is defined as a "volcanic arc". Geology explains the origin of the Aeolian Islands is due to movement of the Earth's crust as a result of plate tectonics. The African continental shelf is in constant movement towards Europe. The resulting collision has created a volcanic area with ruptures in the Earth's crust with consequent eruptions of magma. The "Eolian Arc" extends for more than 140 kilometres, but the area of geological instability caused by the collision of Africa and Europe is very much larger. It includes Sicily, Calabria, Campania together with Greece and the Aegean islands.

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Affi
Affi is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 20 km northwest of Verona.
The municipality of Affi is divided into the frazioni of Affi, Incaffi and Caorsa. Incaffi was the residence (and the place of death) of the Italian physician Girolamo Fracastoro.
Affi borders the following municipalities: Bardolino, Cavaion Veronese, Costermano, and Rivoli Veronese.

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Albania
Albania (ⁱ/ælˈbeɪniə/ al-BAY-nee-ə, Albanian: Shqipëri/Shqipëria; Gheg Albanian: Shqipnia), officially known as the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika e Shqipërisë pronounced Albanian pronunciation: [ɾɛpuˈblika ɛ ʃcipəˈɾiːs]), is a country in Southern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the west, and on the Ionian Sea to the southwest. It is less than 72 km (45 mi) from Italy, across the Strait of Otranto which links the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea.
Albania is a member of the UN, NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Council of Europe, World Trade Organisation, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and one of the founding members of the Union for the Mediterranean. Albania has been a potential candidate for accession to the European Union since January 2003, and it formally applied for EU membership on 28 April 2009.

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Alberobello
Alberobello is a small town and comune in the province of Bari, in Puglia, Italy. It has about 11,000 inhabitants and is famous for its unique trulli constructions. The Trulli of Alberobello are part of the UNESCO World Heritage sites list since 1996.
Media related to Alberobello at Wikimedia Commons

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Amalfi Coast
The Amalfi Coast (Italian: Costiera Amalfitana) is a stretch of coastline on the southern coast of the Sorrentine Peninsula in the Province of Salerno in Southern Italy. The Amalfi Coast is a popular tourist destination for the region and Italy as a whole, attracting thousands of tourists annually. During the 10th–11th centuries, the Duchy of Amalfi existed on the territory of the Amalfi Coast, centered in the town of Amalfi, until it was sacked by the Republic of Pisa in 1137. In 1997, the Amalfi Coast was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a cultural landscape.
Like the rest of the region, the Amalfi Coast lies in a Mediterranean climate, featuring warm summers and mild winters. It is located on the relatively steep southern shore of the Sorrentine Peninsula, leaving little room for rural and agricultural territories. The only land route to the Amalfi Coast is the 40 kilometres (25 mi) long Strada Statale 163 which runs along the coastline from the town of Maiori in the east to Positano in the west. Thirteen municipalities are located on the Amalfi Coast, many of them centered around tourism.

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Angiari
Angiari is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 80 km southwest of Venice and about 35 km southeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,892 and an area of 13.5 km².
Angiari borders the following municipalities: Bonavigo, Cerea, Legnago, Roverchiara, and San Pietro di Morubio.
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Aquileia
{{For the Titular Archbishop of Aquileia}}
Aquileia (Friulian: Acuilee/Aquilee/Aquilea, Venetian: Aquiłeja/Aquiłegia, Slovene: Oglej) is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso (modern Natissa), the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times. Today, the city is small (about 3,500 inhabitants), but it was large and prominent in Antiquity, and is one of the main archeological sites of Northern Italy.
Aquileia was founded as a colony by the Romans in 180/181 BC along the Natissa River, on land south of the Julian Alps but about 8 miles north of the lagoons. Presumably named from an indigenous word Akylis, the colony served as a frontier fortress at the north-east corner of transpadane Italy and was intended to protect the Veneti, faithful Roman allies, during the Illyrian Wars and act as a buttress to check the advance of other warlike people, such as the hostile Carni and Histri tribes. In fact, Aquileia was founded on a site not far from where Gaulish invaders had attempted to settle in 183 BC.

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Arco dei Gavi
Coordinates: 45°26′24″N 10°59′20″E / 45.44°N 10.98889°E / 45.44; 10.98889
The Arco dei Gavi is an ancient structure in Verona, northern Italy. It was built by the gens Gavia, a noble Roman family who had their hometown in Verona, at the beginning of the Via Postumia, the Roman road leading to the city. During the Middle Ages it was used as a gate in the walls.
The arch was commissioned to architect L. Vitruvius Cerdo in the mid-1st century AD. In the Middle Ages, during the communal age of Verona, the city's council used it as an entrance gate when it was decided to surround Verona with a line of walls.
During the Napoleonic rule in Italy, the French engineers demolished it. Its ruins were moved to a square and the to the Arena. In 1932 they were used to rebuild the arch, next to Castelvecchio, not far from its original location.

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Arcole
Arcole (pronounced [ˈarkole]), historicaslly also known as Arcola, is a comune with 5,274 inhabitants in the province of Verona. It is known as the site of the Battle of the Bridge of Arcole.
Between 15-17 November 1796 the Battle of Arcole took place. Napoleon, recently appointed commander of the French Army of Italy, led a rapid and conclusive attack through Italy. In April and May of that year he had defeated Piedmont and driven the Austrian army out of almost all of northern Italy. In November Napoleon joined battle with Josef Alvintzy near the junctions of the Adige and Alpone rivers. Despite lacking basic equipment and food the French Army went on the offensive. On the 14 November they crossed the Adige. All that remained between the two armies now was the Alpone. On the 15-16 the French made repeated attempts to cross the bridge at Arcole. These initial assaults were beaten back by Austrian firepower. By the 17th French flanking moves convinced Alvintzy that he was threatened with encirclement and he ordered a tactical withdrawal. The following year Napoleon went on to crush the Austrians at Rivoli, forcing them to sign the Peace of Campo Formio later that year.

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Assisi
Assisi (Italian pronunciation: [asˈsiːzi], from the Latin: Asisium) is a town and comune of Italy in the province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio.
It was the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the Franciscan religious order in the town in 1208, and St. Clare (Chiara d'Offreducci), the founder of the Poor Sisters, which later became the Order of Poor Clares after her death. The 19th-century Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows was also born in Assisi.

Around 1000 BC a wave of immigrants settled in the upper Tiber valley as far as the Adriatic Sea, and also in the neighborhood of Assisi. These were the Umbrians, living in small fortified settlements on high ground. From 450 BC these settlements were gradually taken over by the Etruscans. The Romans took control of central Italy by the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC. They built the flourishing municipium Asisium on a series of terraces on Monte Subasio. Roman remains can still be found in Assisi: city walls, the forum (now Piazza del Comune), a theatre, an amphitheatre and the Temple of Minerva (now transformed into the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva). In 1997, the remains of a Roman villa were also discovered containing several well preserved rooms with frescoes and mosaics in a condition rarely found outside sites such as Pompei.

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Austria
Austria (ⁱ/ˈɒstriə/ or /ˈɔːstriə/; German: Österreich [ˈøːstɐˌʁaɪç] ( listen)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich (help·info)), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.47 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,855 square kilometres (32,377 sq mi) and has a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speak local Austro-Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other local official languages are Burgenland Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.
The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria became one of the great powers of Europe and, in response to the coronation of Napoleon I as the Emperor of the French, the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary.

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Ayacucho
Ayacucho (Spanish pronunciation: [aʝaˈkutʃo], Quechua: Ayacuchu), also known as Huamanga, is the capital city of Huamanga Province, Ayacucho Region, Peru.
Ayacucho is famous for its 33 churches, which represent one for each year of Jesus's life. Ayacucho has large religious celebrations, especially during the Holy Week of Easter. These celebrations include horse races featuring Peruvian Caballos de Paso and the traditional running of the bulls, known locally as the jalatoro or pascuatoro. The jalatoro is similar to the Spanish encierro, except that the bulls are led by horses of the Morochucos.
The name is derived from the Quechua words aya (death) and kuchu ("corner"), referring to a major battle for independence. Another possible interpretation is "soul or spirit corner", in reference to the great devotion of its people, even in pre-Hispanic times.
Vestiges of human settlements more than 15,000 years old have been found in the site of Pikimachay, about 25 km north of Ayacucho. From 500 to 900 CE, the region became occupied by the Huari Culture (Wari), which became known as the first expansionist empire based in the Andes before the Incas.

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Badia Calavena
Badia Calavena is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 20 km northeast of Verona.

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Bardolino
Bardolino is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 130 km west of Venice and about 25 km northwest of Verona.
Located on the eastern shore of Lake Garda, Bardolino borders the following municipalities: Affi, Cavaion Veronese, Costermano, Garda, Lazise, Manerba del Garda, Moniga del Garda, Padenghe sul Garda, and Pastrengo. The economy is mostly based on tourism and production of wine (including the Bardolino DOC).
Archaeological excavations haven proven the presence of humans in the area since prehistoric times, in the area of Cisano. There also traces of ancient Romans, though the modern settlement dates to the early Middle Ages, when Berengar of Italy (983) had a castle built here. In that period the area was under the suzerainty of the Bobbio Abbey.
In the 12th century Bardolino is mentioned as a free commune, and later was under the Scaliger of Verona, who enlarged the fortifications to encompass the whole village. After their fall, it became part of the Republic of Venice which had a marine base here. In 1526 it was sacked by the Landsknechts. Under the Lombardy-Venetia, it was an Austrian administrative center: in 1848 it revolted against them in the wake of the first Piedmontese victories in the First Italian War of Independence. However, later the Austrians retaliated with ravages and shootings. It was annexed to the newly formed Kingdom of Italy in 1866.

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Battle of Königgrätz
The Battle of Königgrätz (German: Schlacht bei Königgrätz), also known as the Battle of Sadowa, Sadová, or Hradec Králové, was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War, in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire. Taking place near Königgrätz (Hradec Králové) and Sadowa (Sadová) in Bohemia on 3 July 1866, it was an example of battlefield concentration, a convergence of multiple units at the same location to trap and/or destroy an enemy force between them.
At the outset of the war in June, the Prussian armies were gathered along the Prussian border: the Army of the Elbe under Karl Herwarth von Bittenfeld at Torgau, the First Army under Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia between Senftenberg and Görlitz, and the Second Army under Crown Prince Friedrich in Silesia west of Neiße (Nysa). The Austrian army under Ludwig von Benedek was concentrated at Olmütz (Olomouc). The campaign began with Herwath von Bittenfeld's advance to Dresden in the Kingdom of Saxony, where he easily defeated the Saxon army of 25,000 and joined with the First Army.

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Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria (German: Freistaat Bayern, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈbaɪ.ɐn] ( listen)), is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of 70,548 square kilometres (27,200 sq mi), it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany. Bavaria is Germany's second most populous state (after North Rhine-Westphalia), with 12.5 million inhabitants, more than any of the three sovereign states on its borders. Bavaria's capital is Munich.
One of the oldest states of Europe, it was established as a duchy in the mid first millennium. In the 17th century, the Duke of Bavaria became a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. The Kingdom of Bavaria existed from 1806 to 1918, and Bavaria has since been a free state (republic). Modern Bavaria also includes parts of the historical regions of Franconia and Swabia.
The Bavarians emerged in a region north of the Alps, originally inhabited by the Gauls, which had been part of the Roman provinces of Raetia and Noricum. The Bavarians spoke Old High German but, unlike other Germanic groups, probably did not migrate from elsewhere. Rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century. These peoples may have included the Celtic Boii, some remaining Romans, Marcomanni, Allemanni, Quadi, Thuringians, Goths, Scirians, Rugians, Heruli. The name "Bavarian" ("Baiuvarii") means "Men of Baia" which may indicate Bohemia, the homeland of the Celtic Boii and later of the Marcomanni. They first appear in written sources c. 520. Saint Boniface completed the people's conversion to Christianity in the early-8th century. Bavaria was, for the most part, unaffected by the Protestant Reformation.

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Belfiore
Belfiore is a comune with 2.610 inhabitants in the province of Verona.

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Bernabò Visconti
Bernabò Visconti (also called Barnabò) (1323 – 18 December 1385) was an Italian soldier and statesman, who was Lord of Milan.
He was born in Milan, the son of Stefano Visconti and Valentina Doria. From 1346 to 1349 he lived in exile, until he was called back by his uncle Giovanni Visconti. On 27 September 1350 Bernabò married Beatrice Regina della Scala, daughter of Mastino II, Lord of Verona and Taddea da Carrara, and forged both a political and cultural alliance between the two cities. His intrigues and ambitions kept him at war almost continuously with Pope Urban V, the Florentines, Venice and Savoy. In 1354, at the death of Giovanni, he inherited the power of Milan, together with his brothers Matteo and Galeazzo. Bernabò received the eastern lands (Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona and Crema), that bordered the Veronese territories. Milan itself was to be ruled in turn by the three brothers. The vicious Matteo was murdered in 1355 at the order of his brothers, who divided his inheritance between them.

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Bernina Railway
Coordinates: 46°24′32″N 10°1′11″E / 46.40889°N 10.01972°E / 46.40889; 10.01972
The Bernina Railway is a single track metre gauge railway line forming part of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB). It links the spa resort of St. Moritz, in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, with the town of Tirano, in the Province of Sondrio, Italy, via the Bernina Pass. It also ranks as the highest adhesion railway in the Alps, and - with inclines of up to 7% - as one of the steepest adhesion railways in the world.
On 7 July 2008, the Bernina Railway and the Albula Railway, which also forms part of the RhB, were recorded in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, under the name Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes. The whole site is regarded as a cross border joint Swiss-Italian heritage area.
The most famous trains operating on the Bernina Railway are known as the Bernina Express.
In the year following the completion of the Albula Railway in 1904, the Bernina-Bahngesellschaft (BB) was established, with the objective of opening a railway line between St Moritz and Tirano, via the Bernina Pass. After obtaining a concession for such a line in 1906, the BB opened it from 1908 onwards, in several sections: on 1 July 1908 between Pontresina and Morteratasch, and between Tirano and Poschiavo; on 18 August of the same year between Pontresina and Celerina; and on 1 July 1909 between Celerina and St Moritz, and between Morteratsch and Bernina Suot. It was only on 5 July 1910 that the whole line could be opened, upon completion of the most difficult section, between Bernina Suot and Poschiavo. From the beginning, the line was electrically operated with DC current, although in 1935 the voltage was increased from 750 V to 1000 V.

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Bethlehem
Bethlehem (Arabic: بيت لحم‎ Bayt Laḥm (help·info) or Bēt Laḥm, lit "House of Flesh"; Hebrew: בֵּית לֶחֶם‎ Bēṯ Leḥem, Modern: Bet Leḥem, IPA: [bet ˈleχem], lit "House of Bread;" Greek: Βηθλεὲμ, Vithleém) is a Palestinian city located in the central West Bank and approximately 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism. The Hebrew Bible identifies Bethlehem as the city David was from and the location where he was crowned as the king of Israel. The New Testament identifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. The town is inhabited by one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, although the size of the community has shrunk due to emigration.
The city was sacked by the Samaritans in 529, but rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. Bethlehem was conquered by the Arab Caliphate of 'Umar ibn al-Khattāb in 637, who guaranteed safety for the city's religious shrines. In 1099, Crusaders captured and fortified Bethlehem and replaced its Greek Orthodox clergy with a Latin one. The Latin clergy were expelled after the city was captured by Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and Syria. With the coming of the Mamluks in 1250, the city's walls were demolished, and were subsequently rebuilt during the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

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Bevilacqua
Bevilacqua is a comune with 1,927 inhabitants in the province of Verona, Italy.
The Comune di Bevilacqua began as a settlement of ancient Venetic people on the banks of the Adige River, documented to 589 AD. The fortification of this settlement eventually came to be known as the Bevilacqua Castle, located in the Principality of Bevilacqua established on May 7, 1059.
In the 14th century, Count Guglielmo Bevilacqua began a restoration and expansion of the castle, completed by his son Francesco. In 1532, Count Gianfrancesco Bevilacqua commissioned Michele Sanmicheli to completely renovate the medieval building and convert it into a villa with a new and more comfortable interior. In 1756, Count Gaetano Ippolito Bevilacqua renovated part of the castle. After damage caused during the Napoleonic wars at the beginning of the 19th century, the castle was set on fire by Austrian troops in 1848. After 1860, Baroness Felicita La Masa Bevilacqua had the castle renovated in successive stages. The external walls were decorated with merlons and the entire building acquired a neo-gothic savour in line with the romantic spirit of that time.

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Bonavigo
Bonavigo is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 80 km west of Venice and about 30 km southeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,990 and an area of 17.8 km².
The municipality of Bonavigo contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Bonavigo and Orti e Pilastro.
Bonavigo borders the following municipalities: Albaredo d'Adige, Angiari, Legnago, Minerbe, Roverchiara, and Veronella.
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Bosco Chiesanuova
Bosco Chiesanuova is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 100 km west of Venice and about 20 km north of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,386 and an area of 64.6 km².
The municipality of Bosco Chiesanuova contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Bosco Chiesanuova, Corbiolo, and Lughezzano-Arzerè e Valdiporro.
Bosco Chiesanuova borders the following municipalities: Ala, Cerro Veronese, Erbezzo, Grezzana, Roverè Veronese, and Selva di Progno.
Massimo Moratti was born here.
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Bovolone
Bovolone is a town and a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 25 km southeast of Verona.
Bovolone borders the following municipalities: Cerea, Concamarise, Isola della Scala, Isola Rizza, Oppeano, Salizzole, and San Pietro di Morubio.

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Brazil
Brazil ⁱ/brəˈzɪl/ (Portuguese: Brasil, IPA: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil, listen (help·info)), is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people. It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and the largest lusophone country in the world.
Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas region of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile.
Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until 1815, when it was elevated to the rank of kingdom and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was formed. The colonial bond was in fact broken in 1808, when the capital of the Portuguese colonial empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, after Napoleon invaded Portugal.Independence was achieved in 1822 with the formation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The country became a presidential republic in 1889, when a military coup d'état proclaimed the Republic, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824. Its current Constitution, formulated in 1988, defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.

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Brentino Belluno
Brentino Belluno is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 110 km west of Venice and about 25 km northwest of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,333 and an area of 26.5 km².
The municipality of Brentino Belluno contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Belluno Veronese, Rivalta, Brentino, and Preabocco.
Brentino Belluno borders the following municipalities: Avio, Caprino Veronese, Dolcè, Ferrara di Monte Baldo, and Rivoli Veronese.
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Brenzone
Brenzone is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located on the eastern shore of Lake Garda about 120 km west of Venice and about 35 km northwest of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,494 and an area of 50.1 km².
The municipality of Brenzone contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Assenza, Biaza, Campo, Castelletto, Castello, Magugnano, Marniga, Porto, and Sommavilla.
Brenzone borders the following municipalities: Ferrara di Monte Baldo, Gargnano, Malcesine, San Zeno di Montagna, Tignale, Torri del Benaco, and Tremosine.
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Brescia
Brescia ([ˈbreʃʃa] ( listen); Lombard: Brèsa [ˈbrɛsa]; Latin: Brixia) is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan. Brescia is known as the Lioness of Italy (Leonessa d'Italia) after ten days of popular uprising that took place in the city in the Spring of 1849 against Austrian rule.
The city is the administrative capital of the Province of Brescia, one of the largest in Italy, with about 1,200,000 inhabitants. The ancient city of Brixia, Brescia has been an important regional centre since pre-Roman times and a number of Roman and medieval monuments are preserved, among the latter the prominent castle. The city is at the centre of the third-largest Italian industrial area, concentrating on mechanical and automotive engineering and machine tools, as well as the Beretta arms firm. Its companies are typically small or medium-sized enterprises, often with family management. The financial sector is also a major employer, and the tourist trade benefits from the proximity of Lake Garda, Lake Iseo and the Alps.

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Bussolengo
Bussolengo is an Italian town and comune of 19,574 inhabitants in the province of Verona, Veneto.
Bussolengo borders with the municipalities of Castelnuovo del Garda, Lazise, Pastrengo, Pescantina, Sona and Verona. Its civil parish (frazione) is the village of San Vito al Mantico.
Media related to Bussolengo at Wikimedia Commons

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Buttapietra
Buttapietra is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 110 km west of Venice and about 10 km southwest of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 6,195 and an area of 17.2 km².
The municipality of Buttapietra contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Bovo and Marchesino e Settimo Gallese.
Buttapietra borders the following municipalities: Castel d'Azzano, Isola della Scala, Oppeano, San Giovanni Lupatoto, Verona, and Vigasio.
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Caldiero
Caldiero is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 15 km east of Verona.
Caldiero borders the following municipalities: Belfiore, Colognola ai Colli, Lavagno, San Martino Buon Albergo, and Zevio.
Caldiero was known in ancient Roman times as Calidarium, stemming from its thermal baths. Later it was held by the bishops of Verona who, in 1206, sold it to the commune. In 1233 Ezzelino III da Romano destroyed the castle. Later Caldiero was held by the Scaligers, the Nogarola counts, the Visconti and then by the Republic of Venice
Several battles were fought in the vicinity of Caldiero during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. These actions occurred on 12 November 1796, on 29–31 October 1805, on 29–30 April 1809, and on 15 November 1813. All the battles were fought between France and Austria. In 1796, the Austrians repelled a French attack; in 1805, both sides claimed victory; in 1809, the Austrians repulsed French attacks but retreated the next day; in 1813, the French drove back the Austrians.

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Caltagirone
Caltagirone (Sicilian: Caltaggiruni) is a town and comune in the province of Catania, on the island (and region) of Sicily, about 70 km southwest of Catania. It is bounded by the comuni of Acate, Gela, Grammichele, Licodia Eubea, Mazzarino, Mazzarrone, Mineo, Mirabella Imbaccari, Niscemi, Piazza Armerina, San Michele di Ganzaria.
The city has been long famous for the production of pottery, particularly maiolica and terra-cotta wares. Nowadays the production is more and more oriented to artistic production of ceramics and terra-cotta sculptures. Other activities are mainly related to agriculture (production of grapes, olives, peaches).
The city's name derives from the Arabic "qal'at-al-ghiran" ("Hill of Vases"). It was inhabited since pre-historical times, as attested by the presence of two necropoleis dating from the second millennium BCE and by numerous other archaeological findings. It was later inhabited by the Sicels pre-Roman population.
The Arabs built here a castle, which in 1030 was attacked by Ligurian troops under the Byzantine general George Maniakes, and which have left traces of Ligurian language in the current dialect. The city flourished under the Norman and Hohenstaufen domination, becoming a renowned center for production of ceramics.

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Caprino Veronese
Caprino Veronese is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 30 km northwest of Verona.
Caprino Veronese borders the following municipalities: Affi, Brentino Belluno, Costermano, Ferrara di Monte Baldo, Rivoli Veronese, and San Zeno di Montagna.
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Capua
Capua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km (16 mi) north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now. The modern town of Capua was founded after the ancient one had been destroyed by the Saracens in 841 AD.
The name of Capua comes from the Etruscan Capeva. The meaning is 'City of Marshes'. Its foundation is attributed by Cato the Elder to the Etruscans, and the date given as about 260 years before it was "taken" by Rome. If this is true it refers not to its capture in the Second Punic War (211 BC) but to its submission to Rome in 338 BC, placing the date of foundation at about 600 BC, while Etruscan power was at its highest. In the area several settlements of the Villanovian civilization were present in prehistoric times, and these were probably enlarged by the Oscans and subsequently by the Etruscans.
Etruscan supremacy in Campania came to an end with the Samnite invasion in the latter half of the 5th century BC.

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Casaleone
Casaleone is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km southwest of Venice and about 35 km southeast of Verona.

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Castagnaro
Castagnaro is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 80 km southwest of Venice and about 50 km southeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,091 and an area of 34.7 km².
The municipality of Castagnaro contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Menà and Vallestrema.
Castagnaro borders the following municipalities: Badia Polesine, Giacciano con Baruchella, Terrazzo, and Villa Bartolomea.
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Castelvecchio Bridge
The Castelvecchio Bridge (Italian: Ponte di Castelvecchio) or Scaliger Bridge (Italian: Ponte Scaligero) is a fortified bridge in Verona, northern Italy, over the Adige River. The segmental arch bridge featured the world's largest span at the time of its construction (48.70 m).
It was built (most likely in 1354-1356) by Cangrande II della Scala, to grant him a safe way of escape from the annexed eponymous castle in the event of a rebellion of the population against his tyrannic rule. The solidity of the construction allowed it to resist untouched until, in the late 18th century, the French troops destroyed the tower on the left bank (although it probably dated from the occupation of Verona by the Visconti or the Republic of Venice).
The bridge was however totally destroyed, along with the Ponte Pietra, by the retreating German troops on April 24, 1945. A faithful reconstruction begun in 1949 and was finished in 1951, with the exception of the left tower.
The bridge is in red bricks in the upper part, as all landmarks in Verona from the Scaliger era, and in white marble in the lower one. It includes three spans of decreasing length starting from pentagonal towers. The largest span, measuring 48.70 m, meant that the bridge featured at the time of its construction the world's largest bridge arch (the others measure 29.15 and 24.11 meters). The two pylons are 12.10 x 19.40 and 6.30 x 17.30 meters respectively.

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Castelvecchio Museum
Castelvecchio Museum (Italian: Museo Civico di Castelvecchio) is a museum in Verona, northern Italy, located in the eponymous medieval castle. Restoration by the architect Carlo Scarpa, between 1959 and 1973, has enhanced the appearance of the building and exhibits. Scarpa's unique architectural style is visible in the details for doorways, staircases, furnishings, and even fixtures designed to hold a specific piece of artwork.
The museum displays a collection of sculpture, statues, paintings, ancient weapons, ceramics, goldworks, miniatures and some old bells.
Sculptures, mostly from the Romanesque period of Verona, include:
Paintings include:
There are also numerous paintings and frescoes from the 14th century.
Staircase designed by Carlo Scarpa, at Castelvecchio Museum in Verona. Italy
Ornate metal lattice door designed by Carlo Scarpa
Scarpa used modern materials to create a platform for artwork
Weathered staircase in the Castelvecchio Museum — Verona, Italy

Coordinates: 45°26′24″N 10°59′16″E / 45.44°N 10.98778°E / 45.44; 10.98778

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Catania
Catania ([kaˈtaːnja] ( listen); Greek: Κατάνη – Katáne; Latin: Catăna and Catĭna) is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.
Catania is known for its seismic history, having been destroyed by a catastrophic earthquake in 1169, another in 1693, and several volcanic eruptions from the neighboring Mount Etna volcano, the most violent of which was in 1669.
Catania has had a long and eventful history, having been founded in the 8th century BC. In the 14th century and the Renaissance, Catania was one of Italy's most important and flourishing cultural, artistic, and political centers, having witnessed the opening in 1434 of the first university in Sicily. Today, Catania is one of the main economic, touristic, and educational centers in the island, being an important hub of industry, thus gaining the nickname, "European Silicon Valley".

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Cavaion Veronese
Cavaion Veronese is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 20 km northwest of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,459 and an area of 12.9 km².
The municipality of Cavaion Veronese contains the frazione (subdivision) Sega.
Cavaion Veronese borders the following municipalities: Affi, Bardolino, Pastrengo, Rivoli Veronese, and Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella.
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Cazzano di Tramigna
Cazzano di Tramigna is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 20 km northeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,340 and an area of 12.2 km².
The municipality of Cazzano di Tramigna contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Campiano and Costeggiola.
Cazzano di Tramigna borders the following municipalities: Colognola ai Colli, Illasi, Montecchia di Crosara, San Giovanni Ilarione, Soave, and Tregnago.
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Cerea
Cerea is a town and comune in the province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy.
From 923 AD until 1223 Cerea was a castrum (fortification). On 1223 Cerea it became a "comune" but, a year after, it was plundered because of the war between Mantua and Verona. A period of decadence followed, also because of the frequent epidemics. In the 18th century, under the Venetian rule, Cerea began to grow and the noblemen started building their villas.
Classic furniture in Cerea has a long and rich history. Cerea started manufacturing art furniture during the Twenties in the Asparetto suburb. Here, a "marangon" (artisan), Giuseppe Merlin, was hired by Ing. Bresciani to restore an ancient piece of furniture from the 600 century. He then moved on to reproduce furniture from older ages faithfully. He and other artisans expanded and now Cerea has more than 500 furniture factories, 95% of which are still handcraft shops.
Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Cerea Calcio 1912 or simply Cerea is an Italian association football club, based in the city.

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Cerro Veronese
Cerro Veronese is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 100 km west of Venice and about 15 km north of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,274 and an area of 10.2 km².
Cerro Veronese borders the following municipalities: Bosco Chiesanuova, Grezzana, and Roverè Veronese.
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Certosa di Padula
Padula Charterhouse, in Italian Certosa di Padula (or Certosa di San Lorenzo di Padula), is a large Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, located in the town of Padula, in the Cilento National Park (near Salerno) in Southern Italy. It is a World Heritage site.
The monastery is the second largest charterhouse in Italy after the one in Pavia. Its building history covers 450 years, but the principal parts of the buildings are in Baroque style. It is a very large monastery, comprising 51,500 m² (12.7 acres), with 320 rooms and halls.
Padula Charterhouse was founded by Tommaso di San Severino on 27 April 1306 on the site of an earlier monastery. It is dedicated to Saint Lawrence, and its architectural structure supposedly recalls the griddle-iron upon which the saint was burnt alive.
The monastery has the biggest cloister in the world, covering 12,000 m² (2.97 acres) and surrounded by 84 columns. A famous spiral staircase of white marble inside an annex leads to the large library.
According to the strict Carthusian distinction between contemplation and work, there are two distinct places for these practices: on the one hand the peaceful cloisters, the library with its fine Vietri ceramic tiled floor, the chapels decorated with fine inlaid marble works. The altar frontals in most of the chapels are inlaid, not with marble, but with some of the most spectacular 18th. century scagliola work ever created in the 18th. Century.This is the highest concentration of such work in one place. One of the centres of production was in Naples. the cloister orchards; and on the other hand the large kitchen, the cellars with their enormous wine vats, the laundries, and the huge external yards, where there were people working in the stables, ovens, stores, and at the olive oil mill. The yards were used for productive activities and for trade between the charterhouse and the external world.

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Cerveteri
Cerveteri [tʃerˈvɛːteri] is a town and comune of the northern Lazio, in the province of Rome. Originally known as Caere (also Caisra and Cisra), it is famous for a number of Etruscan necropolis that include some of the best Etruscan tombs anywhere.
The most famous attraction of Cerveteri is the Necropoli della Banditaccia, which has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site together with the necropoleis in Tarquinia. It covers an area of 400 ha, of which 10 ha can be visited, encompassing a total of 1,000 tombs often housed in characteristic mounds. It is the largest ancient necropolis in the Mediterranean area. The name Banditaccia comes from the leasing (bando) of areas of land to the Cerveteri population by the local landowners.
The tombs date from the 9th century BC (Villanovan culture) to the late Etruscan age (3rd century BC). The most ancient ones are in the shape of a pit, in which the ashes of the dead were housed; also simple potholes are present.
From the Etruscan period are two types of tombs: the mounds and the so-called "dice", the latter being simple square tombs built in long rows along "roads". The visitable area contains two such "roads", the Via dei Monti Ceriti and the Via dei Monti della Tolfa (6th century BC).

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Cilento
Cilento is an Italian geographical region of Campania in the central and southern part of the Province of Salerno and an important tourist area of southern Italy.
The coast (on Tyrrhenian Sea) is located between Paestum and the Gulf of Policastro, near the town of Sapri. More of touristic towns by the coast are "frazioni"; as for example Santa Maria di Castellabate, Acciaroli, Velia, Palinuro, Marina di Camerota, Scario and Policastro Bussentino.
The inner boundaries are the Alburni mountains and Vallo di Diano, sometimes considered as part of cilentan geographical region, which has in Sala Consilina its largest center. The most important towns in this area are Vallo della Lucania (in the middle), Sapri and Agropoli: this is the largest town of Cilento and the principal harbour. Most of this area is included in "Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park".
The region is steeped in Greek mythology and legends, as in the names of some towns, which is also visible in the remains of the colonies of Velia (ancient Elea) and Paestum (ancient Poseidonia). Velia was also the seat of "Eleatics", a school of pre-Socratic philosophers as Parmenides, Zeno of Elea and Melissus of Samos).

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Cologna Veneta
Cologna Veneta is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 70 km west of Venice and about 35 km southeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 8,207 and an area of 43.0 km².
The municipality of Cologna Veneta contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Baldaria, Sabbion, Sant'Andrea, Spessa, and San Sebastiano.
Cologna Veneta borders the following municipalities: Asigliano Veneto, Lonigo, Orgiano, Poiana Maggiore, Pressana, Roveredo di Guà, Veronella, and Zimella.
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Colognola ai Colli
Colognola ai Colli is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 15 km east of Verona.
Colognola ai Colli borders the following municipalities: Belfiore, Caldiero, Cazzano di Tramigna, Illasi, Lavagno, and Soave.
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Colosseum
The Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Italian Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo), is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering.
Occupying a site just east of the Roman Forum, its construction started in 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign (81–96). The name "Amphitheatrum Flavium" derives from both Vespasian's and Titus's family name (Flavius, from the gens Flavia).
Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.

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Concamarise
Concamarise is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 100 km southwest of Venice and about 30 km southeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,044 and an area of 7.9 km².
The municipality of Concamarise contains the frazione (subdivision) Capitello.
Concamarise borders the following municipalities: Bovolone, Cerea, Salizzole, and Sanguinetto.
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Corniglia
Coordinates: 44°07′16″N 9°42′32″E / 44.121°N 9.709°E / 44.121; 9.709
Corniglia is a frazione ("fraction") of the commune of Vernazza in the province of La Spezia, Liguria, northern Italy. Unlike the other localities of the Cinque Terre, Corniglia is not directly adjacent to the sea. Instead, it is on the top of a promontory about 100 meters high, surrounded on three sides by vineyards and terraces and the fourth side descends steeply on the sea. To reach Corniglia, it is necessary to climb the Lardarina, a long brick flight of steps composed of 33 flights with 382 steps or, otherwise follow a vehicular road that, from the station, leads to the village. Sometimes a small bus runs up and down here.
The village stretches along the main road, Fieschi Road, and the houses have one side facing this road and the other facing the sea. Corniglia is characterized by narrow roads and a terrace obtained in the rock from which all other four Cinque Terre's villages, two on one side and two on the other, can be seen. The town planning structure presents also original characteristics compared to those of the other villages: the houses are lower set, and only more recently higher, similar to those of the villages of the hinterland.

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Costermano
Costermano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 25 km northwest of Verona.
Costermano borders the following municipalities: Affi, Bardolino, Caprino Veronese, Garda, Rivoli Veronese, San Zeno di Montagna, and Torri del Benaco.

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Dolcè
Dolcè is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 20 km northwest of Verona, in the Adige Valley.

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Erbezzo
Erbezzo is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 100 km west of Venice and about 25 km north of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 809 and an area of 32.4 km².
Erbezzo borders the following municipalities: Ala, Bosco Chiesanuova, Grezzana, and Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo.
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Erbè
Erbè is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 110 km west of Venice and about 20 km south of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,619 and an area of 15.9 km².
Erbè borders the following municipalities: Castelbelforte, Isola della Scala, Nogara, Sorgà, and Trevenzuolo.
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Ferrara
Ferrara listen (help·info) is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north. The town has broad streets and numerous palaces dating from the 14th century and 15th century, when it hosted the court of the House of Este. For its beauty and cultural importance it has been qualified by UNESCO as World Heritage Site. Modern times have brought a renewal of industrial activity. Ferrara is on the main rail line from Bologna to Padua and Venice, and has branches to Ravenna, Poggio Rusco (for Suzzara) and Codigoro. In 2006, due to its important historical significance, Ferrara became the headquarters of the Italian Hermitage Museum. It is the fifth city in the world to have been linked with the Russian museum. From this union was born the Hermitage-Italy Foundation.
The origin of Ferrara is uncertain, it was probably settled by the inhabitants of the lagoons at the mouth of Po river; there are two early centers of settlement, one round the cathedral, the other, the castrum bizantino, being the San Pietro district, on the opposite shore, where the Primaro empties into the Volano channel. Ferrara appears first in a document of the Lombard king Desiderius of 753 AD, as a city forming part of the Exarchate of Ravenna. Desiderius pledged a Lombard ducatus ferrariae ("Duchy of Ferrara") in 757 to Pope Stephen II. After 984 it was a fief of Tedaldo, count of Modena and Canossa, nephew of the emperor Otto I. It afterwards made itself independent, and in 1101 was taken by siege by the countess Matilda. At this time it was mainly dominated by several great families, among them the prominent Adelardi (or Aleardi) family.

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Florence
Florence (Italian: Firenze [fiˈrɛntse] ( listen), alternate obsolete form: Fiorenza; Latin: Florentia) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area.
Florence is famous for its history. A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy.
The historic centre of Florence attracts millions of tourists each year, and Euromonitor International ranked the city as the world's 72nd most visited in 2009, with 1,685,000 visitors. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and the city is noted for its history, culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Pitti Palace, amongst others, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics.

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France
France (English ⁱ/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km² (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.

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Fumane
Fumane is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 110 km west of Venice and about 15 km northwest of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,908 and an area of 34.3 km².
The municipality of Fumane contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Mazzurega, Cavalo, Molina, and Breonio.
Fumane borders the following municipalities: Dolcè, Marano di Valpolicella, San Pietro in Cariano, Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, and Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo.
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Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (IATA: LGW, ICAO: EGKK) is located 3.1 mi (5.0 km) north of the centre of Crawley,West Sussex, and 29.5 mi (47.5 km) south of Central London. Also known as London Gatwick, it is London's second largest international airport and second busiest by total passenger traffic in the United Kingdom after Heathrow. Furthermore, Gatwick is Europe's leading airport for point-to-point flights and has the world's busiest single-use runway averaging 52 aircraft movements an hour. Its two terminals – North and South – cover an area of 810,000 sq ft (75,000 m²) and 1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m²) respectively.
In 2011, over 33.6 million passengers passed through Gatwick.
Charter airlines generally prefer Gatwick over Heathrow as a base for London and the South East of England. From 1978 to 2008, many flights to and from the United States used Gatwick because of restrictions on the use of Heathrow implemented in the Bermuda II agreement between the UK and the US.. Under the agreement Heathrow allowed the right for only two US carrier and two UK carrier to serve flights to the United States. Currently, US Airways is the only US carrier that still serves Gatwick from the US. The airport is a base for scheduled operators Aer Lingus, British Airways (BA), EasyJet, Flybe, Monarch Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, as well as charter airlines including Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways. Gatwick is unique amongst London's airports in having a significant airline presence representing each of the three main airline business models: full service, low/no frills and charter. As of January 2011, these respectively accounted for 37, 51 and 12% of total passenger traffic.

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Gazzo Veronese
Gazzo Veronese is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 100 km southwest of Venice and about 30 km south of Verona.
Gazzo Veronese borders the following municipalities: Casaleone, Nogara, Ostiglia, Sanguinetto, Serravalle a Po, Sorgà, Sustinente and Villimpenta.
The economy is mostly based on agriculture.
Gazzo's area was inhabited since the 4th millennium BC, but the modern settlement has Lombard origin. Its name derives in fact from the Lombard gahagi, meaning "wood". In Roman times it should be already populated, but the inhabitants fled with the fall of the Western Roman Empire. In the 9th century Benedictine monks of the Veronese church of Santa Maria in Organo dried the area. The fief was wold to Federico della Scala in 1307.
The current comune was created in 1929 by the merger of Gazzo and Correzzo, the municipal set being moved to the frazione of Roncanova in the occasion.
Main sights include

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Genoa
Genoa /ˈdʒɛnoʊ.ə/ (Italian: Genova [ˈdʒɛːnova] ( listen); Genoese and Ligurian Zena [ˈzeːna]; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is the capital of Liguria and the sixth largest city in Italy, with a population of 608,676 within its administrative limits on a land area of 243.6 km² (94 sq mi). The urban zone of Genoa extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 718,896. The urban area of Genoa has a population of 800,709. In the metropolitan area live between 859,000 and 1.4 million or 1.5 million people. Genoa is one of Europe's largest cities on the Mediterranean Sea and the largest seaport in Italy.
Genoa has been nicknamed la Superba ("the Superb one") due to its glorious past and impressive landmarks. Part of the old town of Genoa was inscribed on the World Heritage List (UNESCO) in 2006 (see below). The city's rich art, music, gastronomy, architecture and history, allowed it to become the 2004's European Capital of Culture. It is the birthplace of Christopher Columbus.

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Germany
Germany (ⁱ/ˈdʒɜrməni/), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km² and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state and the largest economy in the European Union. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields.
A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward, and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations, with the two factions clashing in the Thirty Years' War, marking the beginning of the Catholic–Protestant divide that has characterized German society ever since. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states into the German Empire in 1871 which was Prussian dominated. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic in 1918, and partitioned in the Treaty of Versailles. Amidst the Great Depression, the Third Reich was proclaimed in 1933. The latter period was marked by Fascism and World War II. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified.

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Ghana
Ghana ⁱ/ˈɡɑːnə/ is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The word Ghana means "Warrior King" and is derived from the ancient Ghana Empire.
Ghana was inhabited in pre-colonial times by a number of ancient predominantly Akan kingdoms, including the inland Ashanti Empire, the Akwamu, the Akyem, the Bonoman, the Denkyira, and the Fante among others. Non-Akan states created by the Ga also existed as did states by the Dagomba. Prior to contact with Europeans trade between the Akan and various African states flourished due to Akan's gold wealth. Trade with European states began after contact with the Portuguese in the 15th century, and the British established the Gold Coast Crown colony in 1874 over parts but not all of the country.
The Gold Coast achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, becoming the First sub-Saharan African nation to do so from European Colonialism. The name Ghana was chosen for the new nation to reflect the ancient Empire of Ghana, which once extended throughout much of west Africa.

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Grezzana
Grezzana is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 100 km west of Venice and about 10 km northeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 10,525 and an area of 52.0 km².
Grezzana borders the following municipalities: Bosco Chiesanuova, Cerro Veronese, Erbezzo, Negrar, Roverè Veronese, Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo, and Verona.
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Herculaneum
Coordinates: 40°48′22″N 14°20′54″E / 40.8060°N 14.3482°E / 40.8060; 14.3482
Herculaneum (in modern Italian Ercolano) was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in 79 A.D., located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano, in the Italian region of Campania in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.
It is most famous for having been lost, along with Pompeii, Stabiae and Oplontis, in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, which buried them in superheated pyroclastic material. It also became famous as the source of the first Roman skeletal and physical remains available for study that were located by science, for the Romans almost universally cremated their dead. Since the discovery of bones in 1981, some 300 skeletons have been found, most along the sea shore—the town itself having been effectively evacuated. Herculaneum was a smaller town with a wealthier population than Pompeii at the time of the eruption.
Ancient tradition connected Herculaneum with the name of the Greek hero Herakles (Hercules in Latin and consequently Roman Mythology), an indication that the city was of Greek origin. In fact, it seems that some forefathers of the Samnite tribes of the Italian mainland founded the first civilization on the site of Herculaneum at the end of the 6th century BC. Soon after, the town came under Greek control and was used as a trading post because of its proximity to the Gulf of Naples. The Greeks named the city Ηρακλείου. In the 4th century BC, Herculaneum again came under the domination of the Samnites. The city remained under Samnite control until it became a Roman municipium in 89 BC, when, having participated in the Social War ("war of the allies" against Rome), it was defeated by Titus Didius, a legate of Sulla.

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Illasi
Illasi is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 15 km east of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,112 and an area of 25.0 km².
The municipality of Illasi contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Cellore and Donzellino.
Illasi borders the following municipalities: Cazzano di Tramigna, Colognola ai Colli, Lavagno, Mezzane di Sotto, and Tregnago.

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Isola della Scala
Isola della Scala is a comune (municipality) of c. 10,000 inhabitants in the Province of Verona in the Italian region of Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 20 km southeast of Verona.
Isola della Scala borders the following municipalities: Bovolone, Buttapietra, Erbè, Nogara, Oppeano, Salizzole, Trevenzuolo, and Vigasio.
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Isola Rizza
Isola Rizza is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 25 km southeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,977 and an area of 16.8 km².
Isola Rizza borders the following municipalities: Bovolone, Oppeano, Ronco all'Adige, Roverchiara, and San Pietro di Morubio.
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Italy
Italy ⁱ/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km² (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.

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Lavagno
Lavagno is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 12 km east of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 6,222 and an area of 14.6 km².
The municipality of Lavagno contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) San Briccio, San Pietro, and Vago.
Lavagno borders the following municipalities: Caldiero, Colognola ai Colli, Illasi, Mezzane di Sotto, and San Martino Buon Albergo.
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Lazise
Lazise is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 20 km northwest of Verona. It is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Garda. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 6,213 and an area of 65.0 km².
The municipality of Lazise contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Colà and Pacengo.
Lazise borders the following municipalities: Bardolino, Bussolengo, Castelnuovo del Garda, Padenghe sul Garda, Pastrengo, Peschiera del Garda and Sirmione.
Its name derives from the Latin “lacus” that it means lacustrine village. Lazise in fact was originally a group of stilt houses beyond that Roman village and market. Between 888 and 961, during the reign of Berengar II of Italy and his son, the town was subject only to the monarch, that is, it was a “free villa” not subject to some feudatory. In 961, Italy was invaded by German troops, who descended the valley of the Adige to camp on the shores of Garda.

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Lecce
Lecce (Italian: [ˈlettʃe] ( listen), Griko: Luppìu, Ancient Greek: Ἀλήσιον) is a historic city of 95,200 inhabitants in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Lecce, the second province in the region by population, as well as one of the most important cities of Puglia. It is the main city of the Salentine Peninsula, a sub-peninsula at the heel of the Italian Peninsula and is over 2,000 years old.
Because of the rich Baroque architectural monuments found in the city, Lecce is commonly nicknamed "The Florence of the South". The city also has a long traditional affinity with Greek culture going back to its foundation; the Messapii who founded the city are said to have been Cretans in Greek records. To this day, in the Grecìa Salentina, a group of towns not far from Lecce, the griko language is still spoken.
In terms of industry the "Lecce stone" is the city's main export, because it is very soft and malleable, thus suitable for sculptures. Lecce stone is a kind of limestone. Lecce is also an important agricultural centre, chiefly for its olive oil and wine production, as well as an industrial centre specialising in ceramic production.

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Legnago
Legnago (Italian pronunciation: [leɲˈɲaːɡo]) is a town and comune in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy. It is located on the Adige river, c. 43 km from Verona.
Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and tobacco.
Traces of human presence in the area date back to the Bronze Age.
Legnago had an important military role since the early Middle Ages. In the 19th century it was one of the Quadrilatero fortresses, the main strongpoint of the Austrian Lombardy-Venetia puppet state during the Italian Wars of Independence. The present fortifications were planned and made in 1815, the older defences having been destroyed by Napoleon I in 1801.

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Lucca
Lucca listen (help·info) is a city and comune in Tuscany, the north-west of Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca. Among other reasons, it is famous for its intact Renaissance-era city walls.
Lucca was founded by the Etruscans (there are traces of a pre-existing Ligurian settlement) and became a Roman colony in 180 BC. The rectangular grid of its historical centre preserves the Roman street plan, and the Piazza San Michele occupies the site of the ancient forum. Traces of the amphitheatre can still be seen in the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro. Lucca was the site of a conference in 56 BC which reaffirmed the supremacy of the Roman First Triumvirate.
Frediano, an Irish monk, was bishop of Lucca in the early 6th century. At one point, Lucca was plundered by Odoacer, the first Germanic King of Italy. Lucca was an important city and fortress even in the 6th century, when Narses besieged it for several months in 553. Under the Lombards, it was the seat of a duke who minted his own coins. The Holy Face of Lucca (or Volto Santo), a major relic supposedly carved by Nicodemus, arrived in 742. It became prosperous through the silk trade that began in the 11th century, and came to rival the silks of Byzantium. During the 10-11th centuries Lucca was the capital of the feudal margraviate of Tuscany, more or less independent but owing nominal allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor.

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Malcesine
Malcesine is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km northwest of Venice and about 40 km northwest of Verona.
Malcesine lies on the shores of Lake Garda.
Its most prominent landmark is the Castello Scaligero, which has 13th-century fortifications and an older medieval tower. Remnants of an Etruscan tomb have been found within the castle walls. The castle was fortified by the della Scala family who ruled the region throughout the 13th century.
Other sights include the pieve of St. Stephen (8th century), the church of Santa Maria di Navene (11th century)
In 1786, Goethe was questioned by the local magistrate on suspicion of being a spy while drawing sketches of the castle. The German writer recalled the incident in his report about the Italian Journey.
Behind Malcesine rises the 2218 meters high Monte Baldo. A cable car with rotating cabins takes passengers to 1750 meters above the sea level. From there the highest point can be accessed by walking few kilometers to the south along the ridge.

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Manarola
Manarola (Manaea in the local dialect) is a small town, a frazione of the comune (municipality) of Riomaggiore, in the province of La Spezia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is the second smallest of the famous Cinque Terre towns frequented by tourists.
Manarola may be the oldest of the towns in the Cinque Terre, with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338. The local dialect is Manarolese, which is marginally different from the dialects in the nearby area. The name "Manarola" is probably dialectical evolution of the Latin, "magna rota". In the Manarolese dialect this was changed to "magna roea" which means "large wheel", in reference to the mill wheel in the town.
Manarola's primary industries have traditionally been fishing and wine-making. The local wine, called Sciacchetrà, is especially renowned; references from Roman writings mention the high quality of the wine produced in the region. In recent years, Manarola and its neighboring towns have become popular tourist destinations, particularly in the summer months. Tourist attractions in the region include a famous walking trail between Manarola and Riomaggiore (called Via dell'Amore, "Love's Trail") and hiking trails in the hills and vineyards above the town. Manarola is one of the five villages. Mostly all of the houses are bright and colourful.

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Mantua
Mantua (Italian: Mantova [ˈmantova] ( listen); Emilian and Latin: Mantua) is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family made it one of the main artistic, cultural, and especially musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole. Mantua is noted for its significant role in the history of opera, and the city is known for its architectural treasures and artifacts, elegant palaces, and medieval and Renaissance cityscape. It is the nearest town to the birthplace of the Roman writer Virgil. It is also the town to which Romeo was banished in William Shakespeare's Play Romeo and Juliet.
Mantua is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes created during the 12th century. These receive the waters of the river Mincio, a tributary of the Po which descends from Lake Garda. The three lakes are called Lago Superiore, Lago di Mezzo, and Lago Inferiore ("Upper", "Middle", and "Lower Lake"). A fourth lake, Lake Pajolo, which once completed a defensive water ring of the city, dried up at the end of the 18th century.

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Mashhad
Mashhad (Persian: مشهد‎) is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world. It is also the only major Iranian city with an Arabic name. It is located 850 kilometres (530 mi) east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its population was 2,427,316 at the 2006 population census. It was a major oasis along the ancient Silk Road connecting with Merv in the East.
Now Mashhad is notably known as the resting place of the Imam Reza. A shrine was later built there to commemorate the Imam, which in turn gave rise to increasing demographic development.
Mashhad is also known as the city of Ferdowsi, the Iranian poet of Shahnameh, which is considered to be the national epic of Iran.
The city is located at 36.20º North latitude and 59.35º East longitude, in the valley of the Kashaf River near Turkmenistan, between the two mountain ranges of Binalood and Hezar-masjed. The city benefits from the proximity of the mountains, having cool winters, pleasant springs, mild summers, and beautiful autumns. It is only about 250 km (160 mi) from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

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Matera
Matera listen (help·info) is a town and a province in the region of Basilicata, in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Matera. The town lies athwart a small canyon, which has been eroded in the course of years by a small stream, the Gravina.
The area of what is now Matera has been settled since the Palaeolithic. The city was allegedly founded by the Romans in the 3rd century BC, with the name of Matheola after the consul Lucius Caecilius Metellus. In AD 664 Matera was conquered by the Lombards and became part of the Duchy of Benevento. In the 7th and 8th centuries the nearby grottos were colonized by both Benedictine and Greek-Orthodox monastic institutions. The 9th and 10th centuries were characterized by the struggle between Saracens, Byzantines and the German emperors, including Louis II, who destroyed the city. After the settlement of the Normans in Apulia, Matera was ruled by William Iron-Arm from 1043. After a short communal phase and a series of pestilences and earthquakes, the city in the fifteenth century became an Aragonese possession, and was given in fief to the barons of the Tramontano family. In 1514, however, the population rebelled against the oppression and killed Count Giovanni Carlo Tramontano. In the seventeenth century Matera was handed over to the Orsini and then became part of the Terre d'Otranto di Puglia. Later it was capital of Basilicata, a position it retained until 1806, when Joseph Bonaparte reassigned it to Potenza. In 1927 it became capital of the Matera province. On September 21, 1943, the Materani rose against the German occupation, the first Italian city to fight against the Wehrmacht.

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Mezzane di Sotto
Mezzane di Sotto is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 13 km northeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,949 and an area of 19.6 km².
Mezzane di Sotto borders the following municipalities: Illasi, Lavagno, San Martino Buon Albergo, Tregnago, and Verona.
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Milan
Milan (Italian: Milano [miˈlaːno] ( listen); Lombard: [miˈlan]; Latin: Mediolanum) is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital of Lombardy as well as of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area is the 5th largest in EU and the largest in Italy with an estimated population of approximately 5 million. The growth of many suburbs and satellite settlements around the city proper, following the Italian economic miracle of 1950s–60s and massive commuting flows, suggest that socioeconomic linkages have expanded well beyond the boundaries of its administrative limits and its agglomeration, creating a region of approximately 9,3 million people. It has been suggested that the Milan metropolitan area is part of the so-called Blue Banana, the area of Europe with the highest population and industrial density. Its health care and education system is considered one of the best of Europe.

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Minerbe
Minerbe is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 80 km west of Venice and about 35 km southeast of Verona.

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Modena
Modena (Italian: [ˈmɔːdena] ( listen); Modenese: Mòdna; Latin: Mutina) is a city and comune (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.
An ancient town, it is the seat of an archbishop, but is now best known as "the capital of engines", since the factories of the famous Italian sports car makers Ferrari, De Tomaso, Lamborghini, Pagani and Maserati are, or were, located here and all, except Lamborghini, have headquarters in the city or nearby. Lamborghini is headquartered not far away in Sant'Agata Bolognese, in the adjacent Province of Bologna. One of Ferrari's cars, the 360 Modena, was named after the town itself. Also, one of the colors for Ferraris is Modena yellow.
The University of Modena, founded in 1175 and expanded by Francesco II d'Este in 1686, has traditional strengths in economics, medicine and law and is the second oldest athenaeum in Italy, sixth in the whole world^{[citation needed]}. Italian officers are trained at the Italian Military Academy, located in Modena, and partly housed in the Baroque Ducal Palace. The Biblioteca Estense houses historical volumes and 3,000 manuscripts.

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Modena Cathedral
Modena Cathedral is a Romanesque church in Modena, Italy. It is the cathedral, or duomo in Italian, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Modena-Nonantola. Consecrated in 1184, it is one of the most important Romanesque buildings in Europe and a World Heritage Site.
Two previous churches had been constructed on the site since the 5th century, but they had both been destroyed. Work on the modern Cathedral began in 1099, under the direction of the master builder Lanfranco, over the site of the sepulchre of Saint Geminianus, Modena's patron saint. The Saint's remains are still exhibited in the cathedral's crypt. The present cathedral was consecrated by Pope Lucius III on July 12, 1184.
After Lanfranco's work, the Cathedral was embellished by Anselmo da Campione and his heirs, the so-called "Campionese-masters". The current façade therefore exhibits different styles. The majestic rose-window was added by Anselmo in the 13th century, while the two lions supporting the entrance's columns are of Roman age, probably discovered while digging the foundations.

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Modica
Modica (Sicilian: Muòrica, Greek: Μότουκα, Latin: Mutyca or Motyca) is a city and comune in the Province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. The city is situated in the Hyblaean Mountains and, along with Val di Noto, is part of UNESCO Heritage Sites in Italy.
According to Thucydides, the city was founded in 1360 BC or 1031 BC and was inhabited by the Sicels in the 7th century BC. It was probably a dependency of Syracuse. Modica was occupied by the Romans after the battle of the Egadi islands against the Carthaginians in the Punic Wars 241 BC, together with Syracuse and all of Sicily. Modica became one of the thirty-five decuman ("spontaneously submitted") cities of the island and was oppressed by the praetor Verres. It became an independent municipium, and apparently a place of some consequence. The city is also mentioned among the inland towns of the island both by Pliny and Ptolemy; and though its name is not found in the Itineraries, it is again mentioned by the Geographer of Ravenna.Silius Italicus also includes it in his list of Sicilian cities, and immediately associates it with Netum (now Noto Antico), with which it was clearly in the same neighborhood.

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Moldova
Moldova ⁱ/mɒlˈdoʊvə/, officially the Republic of Moldova (Moldovan/Romanian: Republica Moldova pronounced [reˈpublika molˈdova]) is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe located between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991 as part of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. On 29 July 1994, the new constitution of Moldova was adopted. A strip of Moldova's internationally recognized territory on the east bank of the river Dniester has been under the de facto control of the breakaway government of Transnistria since 1990.
The nation is a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government. Moldova is a member state of the United Nations, Council of Europe, WTO, OSCE, GUAM, CIS, BSEC and other international organizations. Moldova currently aspires to join the European Union, and has implemented the first three-year Action Plan within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).

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Monterosso al Mare
Monterosso al Mare is a town and comune in the province of La Spezia, part of the region of Liguria (northern Italy). It is one of the five villages in Cinque Terre. It was extensively damaged by a flood on 24 October 2011.
The town is divided into two distinct parts: the old town and the new town. The two areas are divided by a single tunnel that caters to pedestrians and the very few cars in the town.
The beach at Monterosso runs along most of the coast line and is well used by tourists and locals. The beach is the only extensive sand beach in the Cinque Terre. Monterosso is a small town that in the summer months is overrun by tourists.
The village was briefly excluded from the Cinque Terre trail in 1948, but was re-introduced in mid-1949. This is because Italian officials considered the village too large to be considered part of the historic trail.
Monterosso was devastated by heavy flooding and mudslides on October 25, 2011.
The area is famous for its many lemon trees that can be seen throughout Monterosso. It is also renowned for its white wines, grapes, and olives.

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Morocco
Morocco (Arabic: المغرب‎ al-Maghrib ; Berber: ⵍⵎⴻⵖⵔⵉⴱ / ⴰⵎⴻⵔⵔⵓⴽElmeɣrib / Amerruk), officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of about 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², including the disputed region of the Western Sahara, seen by and mostly administered by Morocco as the Southern Provinces. Morocco is part of the Maghreb region, in addition to Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, and Libya, with which it shares cultural, historical and linguistic ties.
Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive powers, including the power to dissolve the parliament. Executive power is exercised by the government but more importantly by the king himself. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Assembly of Representatives and the Assembly of Councillors. The king can also issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. The latest Parliamentary elections were held in November 25, 2011, and were considered by some neutral observers to be mostly free and fair. Voter turnout in these elections was estimated to be 43% of registered voters, but only about 25% of Moroccan adult citizens actually voted. The rest either chose not to vote or they were not registered as voters. The political capital is Rabat, but the largest city is Casablanca; other main cities include Marrakesh, Tetouan, Tangier, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, and Nador.

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Mozzecane
Mozzecane is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 20 km southwest of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,611 and an area of 24.7 km².
The municipality of Mozzecane contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Grezzano, Quistello, San Zeno, and Tormine.
Mozzecane borders the following municipalities: Nogarole Rocca, Povegliano Veronese, Roverbella, Valeggio sul Mincio, and Villafranca di Verona.
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Naples
Coordinates: 40°50′42″N 14°15′30″E / 40.845°N 14.25833°E / 40.845; 14.25833
Naples (Italian: Napoli [ˈnaːpoli] ( listen), Neapolitan: Napule; Latin: Neapolis; Ancient Greek: Νεάπολις, meaning "new city") is the capital of Campania and the third-largest city in Italy, after Rome and Milan. As of 2012^[update], around 960,000 people live within the city's administrative limits. The wider Naples urban area, covering 777 km² (300 sq mi), has a population of over 3 million, and is the 10th-most populous urban area in the European Union. Between 4.1 and 4.4 million people live in the overall Naples metropolitan area, one of the largest European cities on the Mediterranean Sea.
Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Greek settlements were established on the island of Megaride in the Gulf of Naples as early as the 9th century BC. A larger mainland colony – initially known as Parthenope (Παρθενόπη) – developed around the 7th century BC, and was refounded as Neápolis (Νεάπολις) in the 5th century BC. Naples became a lynchpin of Magna Graecia and played a key role in the merging of Greek culture into Roman society, eventually becoming a cultural centre of the Roman Republic. Naples remained influential after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, serving as the capital city of the Kingdom of Naples between 1282 and 1816. Thereafter, in union with Sicily, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861. During the Neapolitan War of 1815, Naples strongly promoted Italian unification.

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NATO
Coordinates: 50°52′34.16″N 4°25′19.24″E / 50.8761556°N 4.4220111°E / 50.8761556; 4.4220111
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO ( /ˈneɪtoʊ/ NAY-toh; French: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord (OTAN)), also called the (North) Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. NATO's headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, one of the 28 member states across North America and Europe, the newest of which, Albania and Croatia, joined in April 2009. An additional 22 countries participate in NATO's Partnership for Peace, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programs. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the world's defence spending.
For its first few years, NATO was not much more than a political association. However, the Korean War galvanized the member states, and an integrated military structure was built up under the direction of two U.S. supreme commanders. The course of the Cold War led to a rivalry with nations of the Warsaw Pact, which formed in 1955. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the organization's goal was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down." Doubts over the strength of the relationship between the European states and the United States ebbed and flowed, along with doubts over the credibility of the NATO defence against a prospective Soviet invasion—doubts that led to the development of the independent French nuclear deterrent and the withdrawal of the French from NATO's military structure in 1966.

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Nazi Germany
The Third Reich, also Nazi Germany, is the common name for Germany when it was a totalitarian state ruled by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). On 30 January 1933 Hitler became chancellor of Germany, quickly eliminating all opposition to rule as sole leader. The state idolized Hitler as its Führer ("leader"), centralizing all power in his hands. Historians have emphasized the hypnotic effect of his rhetoric on large audiences, and of his eyes in small groups. Kessel writes, "Overwhelmingly...Germans speak with mystification of Hitler's 'hypnotic' appeal..." Under the "leader principle", the Führer's word was above all other laws. Top officials reported to Hitler and followed his policies, but they had considerable autonomy. The government was not a coordinated, cooperating body, but rather a collection of factions struggling to amass power and curry favor with the Führer. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazi government restored prosperity and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending and a mixed economy of free-market and central-planning practices. Extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of the Autobahns. The return to prosperity gave the regime enormous popularity; the suppression of all opposition made Hitler's rule mostly unchallenged.

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Negrar
Negrar is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 110 km west of Venice and about 12 km northwest of Verona.
In prehistoric times, it was a center of the Arusnati, a not well-known population of perhaps mixed origins. In the Middle Ages it was a free commune until it was acquired by the Scaliger of Verona (14th century). Later it was part of the Republic of Venice, under which, in 1791, it received the right to hold a livestock market.
Negrar and its villages are mainly devoted to agricultural, with production of cherries, vine and fruit, and of wines such as Valpolicella and Recioto.

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Nigeria
Nigeria ⁱ/naɪˈdʒɪəriə/, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
In terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims in the North and Christians in the South; a very small minority practice traditional religion. Since 2002 there have been a spate of clashes, particularly in the North of the country, between government forces and the Islamists Boko Haram, militant jihadists who seek to establish sharia law.
The people of Nigeria have an extensive history. Archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BCE. The area around the Benue and Cross River is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants who spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BC and the 2nd millennium.

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Ningbo
Ningbo (Chinese: 宁波; pinyin: Níngbō (help·info); Ningbo dialect: Nyin-poh/Nyin-pou (help·info)) is a seaport city in the northeast of Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status and separate state-planning status, as of the 2010 census, the municipality has a population of 7,605,700 inhabitants, 3,491,000 of whom reside in the urban area which comprises 6 districts. It lies south of the Hangzhou Bay, facing the East China Sea to the east. Ningbo borders Shaoxing to the west and Taizhou to the south, and is separated from Zhoushan by a narrow body of water.
The first character in the city's name (宁 or 寧) means "serene", while its second character (波) translates to "waves". Together, the name literally means "Serene Waves". The city is abbreviated Yǒng (甬), after the Yong Hill (甬山), a prominent coastal hill near the city, like the Yong River (甬江) that flows through Ningbo. The abbreviation Ning is used more commonly for Nanjing.
It was once named "明州" (Míngzhōu). The character Ming (明) was composed by two parts, representing two lakes inside the city wall, i.e., the Sun Lake (日湖) and the Moon Lake (月湖), but only Moon Lake remains.

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Nogara
Nogara is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 100 km southwest of Venice and about 30 km south of Verona.
Nogara borders the following municipalities: Erbè, Gazzo Veronese, Isola della Scala, Salizzole, Sanguinetto, and Sorgà.
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Nogarole Rocca
Nogarole Rocca is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 110 km west of Venice and about 20 km southwest of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,088 and an area of 29.2 km².
The municipality of Nogarole Rocca contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Pradelle and Bagnolo.
Nogarole Rocca borders the following municipalities: Mozzecane, Povegliano Veronese, Roverbella, Trevenzuolo, and Vigasio.
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Northeast Italy
Northeast Italy (Italian: Italia nord-orientale or just Nordest) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency. Northeast encompasses four of the country's 20 regions:
Italian is the main language of the area but it is often used only with strangers or in the main cities or for cultural reasons, because the most part of the inhabitants speaks their own national language; so we have Venetian language widely spoken in Veneto and on the coast to Trieste and Istria, as well as in the towns of Pordenone and Gorizia in Friuli, and in most part of Trentino, but recognised just by region Veneto; Friulano in the most part of Friuli, it is officially recognised by the Italian state; as for German, the first language of South Tyrol, where Italian is spoken just by less than a third of the inhabitants; as Ladin, spoken by a few thousands people in the Dolomites; then Slovene, spoken (and recognised by Italy) on the border of Italy and in Istria; where main language is Croat, but Italian is recognised as a minority language.

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Northwest Italy
Northwest Italy (Italian: Italia nord-occidentale or just Nordovest) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency. Northwest encompasses four of the country's 20 regions:

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Noto
Noto (Sicilian: Notu, Latin: Neetum and Netum) is a city and comune in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily (Italy). Its located 32 km southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains and gives its name to the surrounding area,Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and its church were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The older town, Noto Antica, lies 8 km directly north on Mount Alveria. It was ancient Netum, a city of Sicel origin, left to Hiero II by the Romans by the treaty of 263 BCE and mentioned by Cicero as a foederala citilas (Verr. v. 51, 133), and by Pliny as Latinae conditionis (Hist. Nat. iii. 8. 14). According to legend, Daedalus stopped here after his flight over the Ionian Sea, as well as Hercules, after his seventh task.
In the Roman era, it opposed praetor Verres. In 866 it was conquered by the Arabs, who elevated to a capital city of one of three districts of the island (the Val di Noto). Later it was a rich Norman city.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the city brought forth several notable intellectual figures, including Giovanni Aurispa, jurists Andrea Barbazio and Antonio Corsetto, as well as the architect Matteo Carnelivari and the minor composer Mario Capuana. In 1503 king Ferdinand III gave it the title of civitas ingeniosa ("ingenious city"). In the following centuries, the city expanded enlarging its medieval limits; and new buildings, churches and convents were built. These, however, were all totally destroyed by the 1693 earthquake. The devastation of the city on Mount Alveria was accompanied by its economy^{[clarification needed]}, which relied mainly on agricultural products– vine, oil, cereals, rice, cotton– and its renowned handicrafts.

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Nîmes
Coordinates: 43°50′16″N 4°21′39″E / 43.8378°N 4.3608°E / 43.8378; 4.3608
Nîmes (/niːm/; French: [nim]; Provençal Occitan: Nimes) is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.
The city derives its name from that of a spring in the Roman village. The contemporary coat of arms of the city of Nîmes includes a crocodile chained to a palm tree with the inscription COLNEM, for Colonia Nemausus, meaning the "colony" or "settlement" of Nemausus, the local Celtic god of the Volcae Arecomici. Veterans of the Roman legions who had served Julius Caesar in his Nile campaigns, at the end of fifteen years of soldiering, were given plots of land to cultivate on the plain of Nîmes.
The city was located on the Via Domitia, a Roman road constructed in 118 BC which connected Italy to Spain.
The site on which the built-up area of Nîmes has become established in the course of centuries is part of the edge of the alluvial plain of the Vistrenque River which butts up against low hills: to the northeast, Mont Duplan; to the southwest, Montaury; to the west, Mt. Cavalier and the knoll of Canteduc.

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Oppeano
Oppeano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 20 km southeast of Verona.

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Padua
Padua (Italian: Padova [ˈpaːdova] ( listen), Latin: Patavium, Venetian: Padoa, Ancient German: Esten) is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 214,000 (as of 2011^[update]). The city is sometimes included, with Venice (Italian Venezia) and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having a population of c. 1,600,000.
Padua stands on the Bacchiglione River, 40 km west of Venice and 29 km southeast of Vicenza. The Brenta River, which once ran through the city, still touches the northern districts. Its agricultural setting is the Venetian Plain (Pianura Veneta). To the city's south west lies the Euganaean Hills, praised by Lucan and Martial, Petrarch, Ugo Foscolo, and Shelley.
It hosts the renowned University of Padua, almost 800 years old and famous, among other things, for having had Galileo Galilei among its lecturers.
The city is picturesque, with a dense network of arcaded streets opening into large communal piazze, and many bridges crossing the various branches of the Bacchiglione, which once surrounded the ancient walls like a moat.

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Palace of Caserta
The Royal Palace of Caserta (Italian: Reggia di Caserta) is a former royal residence in Caserta, southern Italy, constructed for the Bourbon kings of Naples. It was the largest palace and one of the largest buildings erected in Europe during the 18th century. In 1997, the Palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, described in its nomination as "the swan song of the spectacular art of the Baroque, from which it adopted all the features needed to create the illusions of multidirectional space".
The construction of the palace was begun in 1752 for Charles VII of Naples, who worked closely with his architect Luigi Vanvitelli. When Charles saw Vanvitelli's grandly-scaled model for Caserta it filled him with emotion "fit to tear his heart from his breast". In the end, he never slept a night at the Reggia, as he abdicated in 1759 to become King of Spain, and the project was carried to completion for his third son and successor, Ferdinand IV of Naples.
The political and social model for Vanvitelli's palace was Versailles, which, though it is strikingly different in its variety and disposition, solves similar problems of assembling and providing for king, court and government in a massive building with the social structure of a small city, confronting a baroque view of a highly subordinated nature, la nature forcée. The Royal Palace of Madrid, where Charles had grown up, which had been devised by Filippo Juvarra for Charles' father, Philip V of Spain, and Charlottenburg Palace provided models. A spacious octagonal vestibule seems to have been inspired by Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute in Venice, while the palatine chapel is most often compared to Robert de Cotte's royal chapel at Versailles.

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Palazzolo Acreide
Palazzolo Acreide (Sicilian: Palazzolu Acrèidi, in the local dialect: Palazzuolu) is a town and comune of in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily (Italy). It is situated 43 km from the city of Syracuse in the Hyblean Mountains.
The area around Palazzolo Acreide was settled by humans since very ancient times. In the 11th-10th centuries BC the Siculi lived here in small villages. The town occupies the site of the ancient Akrai (Latin Acrae), founded by Syracuse about 664 BC. The city was important as it controlled the paths of communication with the towns on the southern coast of the island. According to Thucydides, the Syracusans defeated the Athenians here in 413 BC.
In the treaty between the Romans and Hiero II of Syracuse in 263 BC it was assigned to the latter. After the Roman conquest, it became a civitas stipendiaria, and was still prospering in the course of the early Christian age.
The old city was probably destroyed by the Arabs, in the first half of the ninth century. The new city was built around a Norman castle, no longer extant. An earthquake in 1693 destroyed almost all of the city, which was slowly rebuilt in the following centuries.

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Palù
Palù is a comune with 1,234 inhabitants in the province of Verona.
Media related to Palù at Wikimedia Commons

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Parma
Parma listen (help·info) (Emilian: Pärma) is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its prosciutto, cheese, architecture and surrounding countryside. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world. Parma is divided into two parts by the little stream with the same name. Parma's Etruscan name was adapted by Romans to describe the round shield called Parma.
The Italian poet Attilio Bertolucci (born in a hamlet in the countryside) wrote: "As a capital city it had to have a river. As a little capital it received a stream, which is often dry". The district on the far side of the river is Oltretorrente.
Parma was already a built-up area in the Bronze Age. It has been verified by now that in the current position of the city rose a terramare. The "terramare" (marl earth) were ancient villages in structural wood on pile-dwelling built according to a defined scheme and squared form, built on the dry land, generally in proximity of the rivers. During this age (among the 1500 BC and the 800 BC) the first necropolises (placed where stand the present-day Piazza Duomo and Millstone Square) rose also.

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Pastrengo
Pastrengo is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 15 km northwest of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,486 and an area of 9.0 km².
The municipality of Pastrengo contains the frazione (subdivision) Piovezzano.
Pastrengo borders the following municipalities: Bardolino, Bussolengo, Cavaion Veronese, Lazise, Pescantina, and Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella.
Pastrengo is known for the Battle of Pastrengo which was fought between the Piedmontese and Austrian armies on 30 April 1848, in the course of the First Italian War of Independence.
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Pescantina
Pescantina is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 110 km west of Venice and about 11 km northwest of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 14,096 and an area of 19.7 km².
The municipality of Pescantina contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Settimo, Balconi, Arcè, Ospedaletto, and Santa Lucia.
Pescantina borders the following municipalities: Bussolengo, Pastrengo, San Pietro in Cariano, Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, and Verona.
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Peschiera del Garda
Peschiera del Garda (Latin: Ardelica, Arilica and Ariolica), is a town and comune in the province of Verona, in Veneto, Italy. When Lombardy-Venetia was under Austrian rule, Peschiera was the northwest anchor of the four fortified towns constituting the so-called Quadrilatero. The fortress is on an island in the Mincio River at its outlet from Lake Garda.
Roman Ardelica was a town of Gallia Transpadana that occupied the site of the modern Peschiera del Garda, at the southeast angle of the Lacus Benacus (Lago di Garda), just where the Mincius (modern Mincio) issued from the lake. The name is found under the corrupted form Ariolica in the Tabula Peutingeriana, which correctly places it between Brixia and Verona; the true form is preserved by inscriptions, of which one says that it was a trading place, with a corporation of ship-owners, collegium naviculariorum Ardelicensium. (Orell. Inscr. 4108.) The town is mentioned as Arilica in Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia.
The fortress at Peschiera played a prominent part in most military campaigns conducted in northern Italy after 1400, especially campaigns conducted during the Napoleonic wars. During the First Italian War of Independence, it was taken by the Piedmontese from the Austrians, after a gallant defence by General Rath lasting six weeks, on May 30, 1848.

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Piazza Bra
Piazza Bra, often shortened to Bra, is the largest piazza in Verona, Italy, with some claims that it is the largest in the country. The piazza is lined with numerous cafés and restaurants, along with several notable buildings. The Verona Arena, originally an amphitheatre built nearly 2000 years ago, is now a world-famous music venue with regular operatic and contemporary music performances. Verona's town hall, the Palazzo Barbieri, also looks out across the piazza.
A garden within Bra is shaded by cedar and pine trees. It surrounds the fountain of the Alps and a bronze statue of Victor Emmanuel II. This monument to the first king of Italy, in which he is sat atop a horse, was inaugurated on 9 January 1883, five years to the day after his death.
There are many significant buildings within and around Bra, with construction taking place over many centuries.
The building itself was built in the first century AD on a site then beyond the city walls. The ludi (shows and games) staged there were so famous that spectators came from many other places, often far away, to witness them. While it can now host crowds of up to 22,000, the original amphitheatre could seat 30,000 spectators. The arena has been used by many contemporary performers including Pink Floyd,Rod Stewart,Elton John, and Muse. It has also hosted numerous operas, including in 1946 Ponchielli's La Gioconda which saw the debut of Maria Callas.

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Piazza dei Miracoli
The Piazza del Duomo ("Cathedral Square") is a wide, walled area at the heart of the city of Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as one of the main centers for medieval art in the world. Partly paved and partly grassed, it is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Duomo (cathedral), the Campanile (the cathedral's free standing bell tower), the Baptistry and the Camposanto.
It is otherwise known as Piazza dei Miracoli ("Square of Miracles"). This name was created by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d'Annunzio who, in his novel Forse che si forse che no (1910) described the square in this way:
L’Ardea roteò nel cielo di Cristo, sul prato dei Miracoli.
which means: "The Ardea rotated over the sky of Christ, over the meadow of Miracles."
Often people tend to mistake the term with Campo dei Miracoli ("Field of Miracles"). This one is a fictional magical field in the book Pinocchio, where a gold coin seed will grow a money tree.
In 1987 the whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Piazza delle Erbe
Piazza delle Erbe is a square in Verona, northern Italy. Once it was the town's forum during the time of the Roman Empire.
The northern side of the square is occupied by the ancient town hall, the Torre dei Lamberti, the Casa dei Giudici ("Judges Hall") and the Mazzanti Houses. The western side, the shortest one, features the Baroque Palazzo Maffei, decorated by statues of Greek gods. It is faced by a white marble column, on which is St. Mark's Lion, symbol of the Republic of Venice.
The north-western side occupies the site of the ancient Roman Capitol Hill, which looked towards the Forum. Numerous of its buildings facing the square have maintained façade frescoes. On the southern side is the Casa dei Mercanti ("House of the Merchants", also known as Domus Mercatorum), now the seat of the Banca Popolare di Verona. Other buildings are reminiscent of medieval tower-houses.
The square's most ancient monument is the fountain, surmounted by a statue called Madonna Verona, which is however a Roman sculpture dating to 380 AD. Also historical is the capitello, dating to the 13th century, during which it was used for several ceremonies, including the oath of the city's medieval podestà and pretors. Towards Via Cappello is another column, with a 14th century aedicula with reliefs of the Virgin and the Saints Zeno, Peter and Christopher. Coordinates: 45°26′35″N 10°59′50″E / 45.44306°N 10.99722°E / 45.44306; 10.99722

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Pienza
Pienza, a town and comune in the province of Siena, in the Val d'Orcia in Tuscany (central Italy), between the towns of Montepulciano and Montalcino, is the "touchstone of Renaissance urbanism."
In 1996, UNESCO declared the town a World Heritage Site, and in 2004 the entire valley, the Val d'Orcia, was included on the list of UNESCO's World Cultural Landscapes.
Pienza was rebuilt from a village called Corsignano, which was the birthplace (1405) of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (Italian: Enea Silvio Piccolomini), a Renaissance humanist born into an exiled Sienese family, who later became Pope Pius II. Once he became Pope, Piccolomini had the entire village rebuilt as an ideal Renaissance town. Intended as a retreat from Rome, it represents the first application of humanist urban planning concepts, creating an impetus for planning that was adopted in other Italian towns and cities and eventually spread to other European centers.
The rebuilding was done by Florentine architect Bernardo Gambarelli (known as Bernardo Rossellino) who may have worked with the humanist and architect Leon Battista Alberti, though there are no documents to prove it for sure. Alberti was in the employ of the Papal Curia at the time and served as an advisor to Pius. Construction started about 1459. Pope Pius II consecrated the Duomo on August 29, 1462, during his long summer visit. He included a detailed description of the structures in his Commentaries, written during the last two years of his life.

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Porta Borsari
Porta Borsari is an ancient Roman gate in Verona, northern Italy.
It dates to the 1st century AD, though it was most likely built over a pre-existing gate from the 1st century BC. An inscription dating from emperor Gallienus' reign reports another reconstruction in 265 AD. The Via Postumia (which here became the decumanus maximus) passed through the gate, which was the city's main entrance and was therefore richly decorated. It also originally had an inner court, now disappeared.
The gate's Roman name was Porta Iovia, as it was located near a small temple dedicated to Jupiter lustralis. In the Middle Ages it was called Porta di San Zeno, while the current name derives from the guard soldiers which were paid the dazio (Latin bursarii).
The façade, in local white limestone, has two arches flanked by semi-columns with Corinthian capitals which supports entablature and pediment. In the upper part is a two-floor wall with twelve arched windows, some of which are included in small niches with triangular pediment.

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Porta Leoni
Porta Leoni is an ancient Roman gate in Verona, northern Italy.
The gate was built during the Roman Republic by P. Valerius, Q. Caecilius, Q. Servilius and P. Cornelius, and restructured in imperial times. It was connected to the road which led to Bologna and Aquileia.
The original Roman name is unknown. During the Middle Ages it was called Porta San Fermo, due to the nearby church, while in the Renaissance it was known as Arco di Valerio. The current name derives from a Roman tomb decorated with two lions (Italian: leoni), now moved near Ponte Navi.
The gate has a square structures, with a double façade and two towers which looked towards the countryside. Now only half of the inner façade, covered with white stone in the imperial age, and the foundings are visible. The original decorations are all lost. The lower part is similar to that of Porta Borsari (also in Verona), while the upper part has an exedra with twisted columns.
Coordinates: 45°26′26″N 10°59′59″E / 45.44056°N 10.99972°E / 45.44056; 10.99972

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Porto Venere
Porto Venere (until 1991 Portovenere) is a town and comune (municipality) located on the Ligurian coast of Italy in the province of La Spezia. It comprises the three villages of Fezzano, Le Grazie and Porto Venere, and the three islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto. In 1997 Porto Venere and the villages of Cinque Terre were designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The ancient Portus Veneris is believed to date back to at least the middle of the 1st century BC. It has been said that the name refers to a temple to the goddess Venus which was sited on the promontory where the church of Peter the Apostle now stands. The name has also been linked to that of the hermit Saint Venerius. In Roman times the city was essentially a fishing community.

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Pressana
Pressana is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 70 km west of Venice and about 35 km southeast of Verona.
The municipality of Pressana contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Albero Piocioso, Bertolde, Caselle, Castelletto, Colombara, Crosare, Oca, Piovega, San Francesco, San Sebastiano, and Vignaletto.
Pressana borders the following municipalities: Cologna Veneta, Minerbe, Montagnana, Roveredo di Guà, and Veronella.

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Province of Verona
The Province of Verona (Italian: Provincia di Verona) is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Verona.
The province has an area of 3,109 km², and a total population of 912,981 (2009). There are 98 comuni (singular: comune) in the province.
Important comuni include Bovolone, Bonavigo, Bussolengo, Cerea, Isola della Scala, Legnago, Negrar, Peschiera del Garda, San Bonifacio, San Giovanni Lupatoto, San Martino Buon Albergo, Soave, Sona, Valeggio sul Mincio and Villafranca di Verona.
William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet takes place in Verona, as do some scenes in his play The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The Casa di Giulietta (Juliet Capulet's villa in the play) is an important local visitor attraction.
Media related to Province of Verona at Wikimedia Commons
Coordinates: 45°26′N 10°59′E / 45.43°N 10.98°E / 45.43; 10.98

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Pula
Pula (pronounced [pǔːla]; Latin: Colonia Pietas Iulia Pola Pollentia Herculanea; Italian: Pola; Istro-Romanian: Pola; Chakavian: Pulj, German: Polei, Slovene: Pulj) is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 (2006). Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing, shipbuilding, and tourism. Pula has also been Istria's administrative center since ancient Roman times.
Pula is the largest city in Istria county, with a metropolitan area of 90,000 people. The city itself has 62,080 residents (2005), while the metropolitan area includes Barban (2,802 residents), Fažana (3,050 residents), Ližnjan (2,945 residents), Marčana (3,903 residents), Medulin (6,004 residents), Svetvinčenat (2,218 residents) and Vodnjan (5,651 residents).
Its population density is 1,093.27 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,831.6 /sq mi), ranking Pula fifth in Croatia.

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Ravenna
Ravenna [raˈvenna] ( listen) (Romagnol: Ravêna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 402 until that empire collapsed in 476. Afterwards, it served as the capital of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths. The city formed the centre of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until the invasion of the Franks in 751, after which it became the seat of the Kingdom of the Lombards.
Although an inland city, Ravenna is connected to the Adriatic Sea by the Candiano Canal. It is the location of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The origin of the name Ravenna is unclear, although it is believed the name is Etruscan. Some have speculated that "ravenna" is related to "Rasenna" (later "Rasna"), the term that the Etruscans used for themselves, but there is no agreement on this point.^{[citation needed]}

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Rhaetian Railway
Coordinates: 46°24′32″N 10°1′11″E / 46.40889°N 10.01972°E / 46.40889; 10.01972
The Rhaetian Railway (German: Rhätische Bahn, Italian: Ferrovia Retica, Romansh: Viafier Retica, abbreviated RhB) is a Swiss transport company, owning the largest network of all the private railways in Switzerland. The company operates most of the railways in the Swiss canton of Graubünden as the Swiss federal railway company SBB-CFF-FFS extend only a few kilometres over the cantonal border to the capital at Chur. Almost the entire network is in Graubünden, with one station at Tirano in Italy.
The Rhaetian Railway serves a number of major tourist centres, including St Moritz and Davos. One of the lines, the Berninabahn, crosses the Bernina Pass to the Italian border and on to Tirano, Lombardy, where there is a link to the Italian railways.
In 2008 the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes (the part from Thusis to Tirano, including St. Moritz) was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. On October 20, 2011 Google announced that the Albula-Bernina line would be the first rail line in the world to be photographed and put on Google Street View.

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Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore (Rimazùu in the local Ligurian language) is a village and comune in the province of La Spezia, situated in a small valley in the Liguria region of Italy. It is the first of the Cinque Terre one meets when traveling north from La Spezia.
The village, dating from the early thirteenth century, is known for its historic character and its wine, produced by the town's vineyards. Riomaggiore is in the Riviera di Levante region and has shoreline on the Mediterranean's Gulf of Genoa, with a small beach and a wharf framed by tower houses. Riomaggiore's main street is Via Colombo and numerous restaurants, bars & shops can be found on this street.
The Via dell'Amore is a path connecting Riomaggiore to its frazione Manarola, also part of the Cinque Terre.
Riomaggiore is the most southern village of the five Cinque Terre, all connected by trail. The water and mountainside have been declared national parks.
Riomaggiore inspired paintings by Telemaco Signorini (1835-1901), one of the artists of the Macchiaioli group.

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Rivoli Veronese
Rivoli Veronese is a comune in Veneto, Italy, in the Province of Verona, on a hill on the right bank of the Adige, 20 km miles NW of Verona.
Rivoli Veronese is celebrated as the scene of the Battle of Rivoli in which, on the 15 January 1797, Napoleon inflicted a decisive defeat upon the Austrians commanded by Joseph Alvinczy. A famous street in Paris (Rue de Rivoli) commemorates the victory, and under the empire Marshal André Masséna received the title of duke of Rivoli.
The strong positions around Rivoli, which command the approaches from the County of Tyrol and the upper Adige into the Italian plain, have always been celebrated in military history as a formidable obstacle, and Charles V and Prince Eugene of Savoy preferred to turn them by difficult mountain paths instead of attacking them directly. Minor engagements, such as rearguard actions and holding attacks, have consequently often taken place about them, notably in the campaign of 1796–97.
An engagement of this character was fought here in 1848 between the Austrian and the Piedmontese troops during the First Italian War of Independence.

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Romania
Romania (ⁱ/roʊˈmeɪniə/ roh-MAY-nee-ə; dated: Roumania; or Rumania;Romanian: România [romɨˈni.a] ( listen)) is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south.
At 238,400 square kilometers (92,000 sq mi), Romania is the ninth largest country of the European Union by area, and has the seventh largest population of the European Union with over 19 million people. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, the tenth largest city in the EU with about two million people.
The Kingdom of Romania emerged when the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia were united under Prince Alexander Ioan Cuza in 1859. Independence from the Ottoman Empire was declared on 9 May 1877, and was internationally recognized the following year. At the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the Kingdom of Romania. Greater Romania emerged into an era of progression and prosperity that would continue until World War II. By the end of the War, many north-eastern areas of Romania's territories were occupied by the Soviet Union, and Romania forcibly became a socialist republic and a member of the Warsaw Pact.

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Rome
Rome (/ˈroʊm/; Italian: Roma pronounced [ˈroːma] ( listen); Latin: Rōma) is a city and special comune ("Roma Capitale") in Italy. Rome is the capital of Italy and the capital of Lazio (Latin: Latium). With 2.8 million residents in 1,285.3 km² (496.3 sq mi), it is also the country's largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. Between 3.2 and 3.7 million people live in the Rome metropolitan area. The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.
Rome's history spans two and a half thousand years. It was the capital city of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, which was the dominant power in Western Europe and the lands bordering the Mediterranean for over seven hundred years from the 1st century BC until the 7th century AD and the city is regarded as one of the birthplaces of western civilization. Since the 1st century AD Rome has been the seat of the Papacy and, after the end of Byzantine domination, in the 8th century it became the capital of the Papal States, which lasted until 1870. In 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic.

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Roncà
Roncà is a comune (lumpfish) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 80 km west of Venice and about 25 km east of Verona. As of 1 June 2007, it had a population of 3,585 and an area of 18.22 km².
The municipality of Roncà contains the frazione (subdivision) Terrossa, S. Margherita and Brenton.
Roncà borders the following municipalities: Arzignano, Chiampo, Gambellara, Montebello Vicentino, Montecchia di Crosara, Montorso Vicentino, and San Giovanni Ilarione.
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Roverchiara
Roverchiara is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 30 km southeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,685 and an area of 19.8 km².
The municipality of Roverchiara contains the frazione (subdivision) Roverchiaretta.
Roverchiara borders the following municipalities: Albaredo d'Adige, Angiari, Bonavigo, Isola Rizza, Ronco all'Adige, and San Pietro di Morubio.
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Roveredo di Guà
Roveredo di Guà is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 70 km west of Venice and about 40 km southeast of Verona.
Roveredo di Guà borders the following municipalities: Cologna Veneta, Montagnana, Poiana Maggiore, and Pressana.

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Roverè Veronese
Roverè Veronese is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 100 km west of Venice and about 20 km northeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,129 and an area of 36.5 km².
The municipality of Roverè Veronese contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Roverè, San Francesco, San Vitale and San Rocco di Piegara.
Roverè Veronese borders the following municipalities: Bosco Chiesanuova, Cerro Veronese, Grezzana, San Mauro di Saline, Selva di Progno, Velo Veronese, and Verona.
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Sabbioneta
Sabbioneta is a town and comune in the province of Mantua, Lombardy region, Northern Italy. It is situated about 30 km north of Parma, not far from the northern bank of the Po River. It was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 2008.
Sabbioneta was founded by Vespasiano I Gonzaga in the late 16th century along the ancient Roman Via Vitelliana, on a sandy bank of the Po (whence the name, meaning "Sandy" in Italian; he was its first duke, using it as a personal fortress and residence.
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It was also during this period that it became a minor musical centre; composers such as Benedetto Pallavicino were employed here by Vespasiano Gonzaga, prior to his moving to the main Gonzaga city of Mantua.
In 2008, Sabbioneta was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a recognition of its perfect example of practical application of Renaissance urban planning theories.
Sabbioneta is also known for its historic Jewish Ghetto and Synagogue, and in particular for its Hebrew printing-press. In 1551 Tobias Foa set up the press; he had, however, published certain "anti-Christian books" and his career was "forcibly ended". His work and possibly his type were taken up by a Christian printer, Vicenzo Conte.

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Salizzole
Salizzole is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 100 km west of Venice and about 20 km southeast of Verona. Economy includes production of rice and of artistic furniture.
Salizzole borders the following municipalities: Bovolone, Concamarise, Isola della Scala, Nogara, and Sanguinetto.

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San Bonifacio
San Bonifacio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 80 km west of Venice and about 25 km east of Verona.
San Bonifacio borders the following municipalities: Arcole, Belfiore, Gambellara, Lonigo, Monteforte d'Alpone, and Soave.
Perlini International SpA was established in San Bonifacio in 1957 by Robert Perlini. Today Perlini is a major employer with its two main truck manufacturing plants occupying an area of 130.000 square metres.

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San Gimignano
San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers, which may be seen from several kilometres outside the town.
The town also is known for the white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, produced from the Vernaccia grape which is grown in the area.
San Gimignano was founded as a small village in the 3rd century BC by the Etruscans. Historical records begin in the 10th century, when it adopted the name of the bishop Saint Geminianus, who had defended it from Attila's Huns.
In the Middle Ages and Renaissance era, it was a stopping point for Catholic pilgrims on their way to Rome and the Vatican, as it sits on the medieval Via Francigena. The city's development also was improved by the trade of agricultural products from the fertile neighbouring hills.
In 1199, during the period of its highest splendour, the city made itself independent from the bishops of Volterra. Divisions between Guelphs and Ghibellines troubled the inner life of the commune, which nonetheless, still managed to embellish itself with artworks and architectures.

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San Leucio
San Leucio is a frazione of the comune of Caserta, in the region of Campania in southern Italy. It is most notable for a resort developed around an old silk factory, included in the UNESCO World Heritage sites list in 1997.
It is located 3.5 km northwest of Caserta, at 145 m above sea level.
In 1750 Charles VII of Naples, advised by minister Bernardo Tanucci, selected this place, originally the site of a royal hunting lodge for the Acquaviva family (now restored, and known as Palazzo del Belvedere), for an unusual social and tecnological experiment, a different model of production based on technical innovation and alert to the needs of workers. In its early days, San Leucio resort was a place for pleasure and a royal hunting preserve, built on the ruins of Saint Leucio church, where an aqueduct carried water to the waterfalls of the Royal Caserta Palace, designed by Vanvitelli. The son of Charles, Ferdinand I, had a hunting lodge built for himself on this site. He was a very skillful hunter who disliked the pleasures and luxury of court life. It was here that Charles and the young king Ferdinand built a silk factory. The complex was transformed into a silk production site and industrial buildings were added, which was quite unique in late 18th-century Europe. Architect Francesco Collecini designed these industrial buildings, where noisy looms were installed next to royal apartments and a sitting room became a chapel for the workers.

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San Mauro di Saline
San Mauro di Saline is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 20 km northeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 570 and an area of 11.1 km².
The municipality of San Mauro di Saline contains the frazione (subdivision) Saline e Tavernole.
San Mauro di Saline borders the following municipalities: Badia Calavena, Roverè Veronese, Tregnago, Velo Veronese, and Verona.
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San Zeno di Montagna
San Zeno di Montagna is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 130 km west of Venice and about 30 km northwest of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,328 and an area of 28.2 km².
The municipality of San Zeno di Montagna contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Lumini and Prada.
San Zeno di Montagna borders the following municipalities: Brenzone, Caprino Veronese, Costermano, Ferrara di Monte Baldo, and Torri del Benaco.
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Sanguinetto
Sanguinetto is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 100 km southwest of Venice and about 30 km southeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,009 and an area of 13.6 km².
The municipality of Sanguinetto contains the frazione (subdivision) Venera.
Sanguinetto borders the following municipalities: Casaleone, Cerea, Concamarise, Gazzo Veronese, Nogara, and Salizzole.
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Santa Maria Antica
Santa Maria Antica is a Roman Catholic church in Verona, Italy. The current church is Romanesque in style and dates to 1185, rebuilt after the earthquake of 1117 destroyed the original building that dated back to the end of the period of Lombard domination in the 7th century. The only surviving remains of the 7th century building is a fragment of black and white mosaic floor.
The current building was dedicated by the patriarch of Aquileia and acted as the private chapel of Verona's ruling Scaligeri family, located beside their family cemetery (the site of the 13th century Scaliger Tombs). The church has a small tuff bell tower (with three baroque bells) in a purely Romanesque style, with mullioned windows and a brick-covered spire. Around 1630 the three-nave interior was altered to the Baroque style, though a restoration at the end of the 19th century restored the original Romanesque interior, divided by columns with "sesto rialzato" arches, and with an "incavallature" roof supported by transverse arches, as at the basilica of San Zeno. There are two lateral apses in tuff and cotto, and a central apse with two early 14th century frescoes.

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Sassi di Matera
The Sassi di Matera (meaning "stones of Matera") are prehistoric cave dwellings in the Italian city of Matera, Basilicata. Situated in the old town, they are composed of the Sasso Caveoso and the later Sasso Barisano.
The "Sassi" grew in the area of Murgia Plateau, extended between Apulia and Basilicata.
Matera has gained international fame for its "Sassi". The Sassi originate from a prehistoric (troglodyte) settlement, and are suspected to be some of the first human settlements in Italy.
The Sassi are houses dug into the calcarenitic rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Puglia, and is locally called "tufo" though it should not be confused with the volcanic tuff nor with tufa. Many of these "houses" are really only caverns, and the streets in some parts of the Sassi often are located on the rooftops of other houses. The ancient town grew in height on one slope of the ravine created by a river that is now a small stream. The ravine is known locally as "la Gravina".
In the 1950s, the government of Italy forcefully relocated most of the population of the Sassi to areas of the developing modern city. However, people continued to live in the Sassi, and according to the English Fodor's guide:

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Scaliger Tombs
The Scaliger Tombs (Italian: Arche scaligere) is a group of five Gothic funerary monuments in Verona, Italy, celebrating the Scaliger family, who ruled in Verona from the 13th to the late 14th century.
The tombs are located in a court of the church of Santa Maria Antica, separated from the street by a wall with iron grilles. Built in Gothic style, they are a series of tombs, most of which are in the shape of a small temple and covered by a baldachin. According to the French historian Georges Duby, they are one of the most outstanding examples of Gothic art.
The tombs are placed within a wrought iron enclosure decorated with a stair motif, in reference to the Italian meaning of the name of the family, della Scala. The tombs are those of the following notable members of the Scaliger dynasty:
Mastino II's tomb to left, Giovanni's one to right.
Pre-1914 photograph
Cangrande's tomb, the oldest of the group.
Coordinates: 45°26.61862′N 10°59.93565′E / 45.44364367°N 10.9989275°E / 45.44364367; 10.9989275

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Scicli
Scicli is a city in the Province of Ragusa in the south east of Sicily, southern Italy. It is 25 kilometres from Ragusa, and 308 kilometres from Palermo. Alongside seven other cities in the Val di Noto, it has been listed as one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.
Settlements of the area of Scicli dates back to the Copper and Early Bronze Ages (3rd millennium BC to the 15th century BC).
Scicli was founded by the Sicels (whence probably the name) around 300 BCE. In the Middle Ages, like all of Sicily, Scicli was ruled by the Arabs, under whom it lived a flourishing period as agricultural and trade center, and then, after its conquest by Roger I of Hauteville in 1091, by the Normans. Scicli was one of the garrison which rebelled against the Angevine domination in the Sicilian Vespers (April 5, 1282). Following the various dynasties ruling the Kingdom of Sicily, it was an Aragonese-Spanish possession before being united in the Kingdom of Italy in the mid nineteenth century.
Following a catastrophic earthquake in 1693, much of the town was rebuilt in the Sicilian baroque style, which today gives the town the elegant appearance which draws many tourists to visit the city.

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Selva di Progno
Selva di Progno is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 25 km northeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 985 and an area of 41.2 km².
The municipality of Selva di Progno contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Giazza (Ljetzan, where the Germanic language Cimbric, or locally "tauc,", is spoken), Campofontana, and San Bartolomeo delle Montagna e San Bortolo.
Selva di Progno borders the following municipalities: Ala, Badia Calavena, Bosco Chiesanuova, Crespadoro, Recoaro Terme, Roverè Veronese, Velo Veronese, and Vestenanova.
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Siena
Siena (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsjɛːna] ( listen); in English also spelled Sienna, the historic exonym) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008. Siena is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a horse race held twice a year.
Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans (c. 900–400 BC) when it was inhabited by a tribe called the Saina. The Etruscans were an advanced people who changed the face of central Italy through their use of irrigation to reclaim previously unfarmable land, and their custom of building their settlements in well-defended hill-forts. A Roman town called Saena Julia was founded at the site in the time of the Emperor Augustus. The first document mentioning it dates from AD 70. Some archaeologists assert that Siena was controlled for a period by a Gaulish tribe called the Saenones.

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Slovenia
Slovenia (ⁱ/sloʊˈviːniə/ sloh-VEE-nee-ə, Slovene: Slovenija), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija, [reˈpublika sloˈveːnija]) is a Slavic nation state, situated in South-Central Europe, at the crossroad of main European cultural and trade routes. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Croatia to the south and southeast, and Hungary to the northeast. It covers 20,273 square kilometres (7,827 sq mi) and has a population of 2.05 million. It is a parliamentary republic, member of the European Union and NATO. Relative to its geography, history, economy, culture, and language, it is a very diverse country distinguished by a transitional character. It is characterised by a high economic and social level. Its capital and largest city is Ljubljana.
The territory of Slovenia is mainly hilly or mountainous and has an exceptionally high landscape and biological diversity and a mosaic structure, which are a result of natural attributes and the long-lasting presence of humans. Four major European geographic units interweave here: the Alps, the Dinaric Alps, the Mediterranean, with a small portion of coastline along the Adriatic Sea, and the Pannonian Plain. The climate is temperate and significantly influenced by the variety of territory, with a strong interaction of the continental climate, the sub-Mediterranean climate and Alpine climate across most of the country. The country is one of the water-richest in Europe, with a dense river network, a rich aquifer system, and significant karstic underground watercourses. Over half of the territory is covered by forest.

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Soave
Soave is a small comune of the Veneto region in the Province of Verona, Italy with a population of roughly 6,800 people.
Soave is located approximately 23 kilometers east of Verona and is reachable by use of the A4 motorway exit Soave-San Bonifacio.
Soave was a Roman center on the via Postumia that connected Aquileia to Genoa. There are different names about the origin of current name: according to one theory, it could derive from the Suebi (sometimes called Soavi in medieval Italian).
The castle was cited for the first time in occasion of the Magyar invasions (934). In the 13th century it was a possession of the Counts Bonifacio, which installed a capitano here. The walls still visible today, were built in 1379 by Cansignorio of the Scaliger family. Their rule was followed by those of the Visconti from Milan and the Carraresi from Padua; the latter lost Soave in 1405 to the Republic of Venice. In 1439 Visconti troops under Niccolò Piccinino captured it back, but Venice regained it soon. During the War of the League of Cambrai (1508), the city was fired and 366 Soavesi killed, but again in 1515 it was reacquired by Venice, which later sold the castle to the Gritti noble family.

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Sommacampagna
Sommacampagna is a comune in the province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy.
In the frazione of Custoza two battles were fought during the Italian Independence Wars.
The town's main football team is Associazione Calcio Somma.

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Sorgà
Sorgà is a comune with 3115 (2007) inhabitants in the province of Verona.

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Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (ⁱ/ʃriː ˈlɑːŋkə/, /sriːˈlɑːŋkə/, or /sriːˈlæŋkə/;Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, Tamil: இலங்கை), is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia. Known until 1972 as Ceylon ( /sɨˈlɒn/, /seɪˈlɒn/, or /siːˈlɒn/), Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar, the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the Maldives.
As a result of its location in the path of major sea routes, Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link between West Asia and South East Asia. It was an important stop on the ancient Silk Road. Sri Lanka has also been a center of the Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times, being the nation where the Buddhist teachings were first written down as well as the oldest continually Buddhist country. Sri Lanka boasts a diverse range of cultures, languages and religions. The Sinhalese people form the majority of the population; Tamils, who are concentrated in the north and east of the island, form the largest ethnic minority. Other communities include Moors, Burghers, Kaffirs, Malays and the aboriginal Vedda people.

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Switzerland
Switzerland (German: die Schweiz[ˈʃvaɪts]; French: Suisse [sɥis(ə)]; Italian: Svizzera [ˈzvit͡sːɛra]; Romansh: Svizra [ˈʒviːtsrɐ] or [ˈʒviːtsʁːɐ]), in its full name the Swiss Confederation (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica, hence its abbreviation CH), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western Europe, where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.
Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km² (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8 million people is concentrated mostly on the Plateau, where the largest cities are to be found. Among them are the two global cities and economic centres of Zurich and Geneva.
The Swiss Confederation has a long history of armed neutrality—it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815—and did not join the United Nations until 2002. It pursues, however, an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. Switzerland is also the birthplace of the Red Cross and home to a large number of international organizations, including the second largest UN office. On the European level, it is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association and is part of the Schengen Area – although it is notably not a member of the European Union, nor the European Economic Area.

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Tarquinia
Tarquinia, formerly Corneto and in Antiquity Tarquinii, is an ancient city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Italy.
Tarquinii (Etruscan Tarch(u)na etc.^{[citation needed]}) is said to have been already a flourishing city when Demaratus of Corinth brought in Greek workmen. It was the chief of the twelve cities of Etruria.
Descendants of Demaratus, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus became kings of ancient Rome. From Tarquinii many of the religious rites and ceremonies of Rome are said to have been derived, and even in imperial times a collegium of sixty haruspices continued to exist there.
In 509 BC, after the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the family of Tarquinius Superbus went into exile in Caere in Etruria. Tarquin sought to regain the throne, at first by the Tarquinian conspiracy and, when that failed, by force of arms. He convinced the cities of Tarquinii and Veii to support him, and led their armies against Rome in the Battle of Silva Arsia. Although the Roman army was victorious, it is recorded by Livy that the forces of Tarquinii fought well on the right wing, initially pushing back the Roman left wing. After the battle the forces of Tarquinii returned home.

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Tinetto
Tinetto is an Italian island situated in the Ligurian Sea. It is part of an archipelago of three closely spaced islands jutting out south from the mainland at Portovenere. In 1997, the archipelago, together with Portovenere and the Cinque Terre, was designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
A subspecies of the common wall lizard, Podarcis muralis tinettoi, is endemic to the island.

Coordinates: 44°01′24.63″N 9°51′04.55″E / 44.0235083°N 9.8512639°E / 44.0235083; 9.8512639

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Torre Annunziata
Torre Annunziata is a city and comune in the province of Naples, region of Campania in Italy. It is located on the Gulf of Naples at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius.
The city was destroyed in the Vesuvius eruption of 79 AD and in 1631. It is known locally in the Neapolitan dialect as Torre Nunziata. The city was once the seat of important ironwork (Deriver, Dalmine) food processing and pasta industries. Today industries still active include naval, armament and pharmaceutical ones.
The archaeological site of Oplonti is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997.
On the Tabula Peutingeriana Torre Annunziata is called Oplonti.
In the communal territory, one of the richest Roman villas has been excavated. Dating to the 1st century BC, it probably belonged to the gens Poppaea, and is known as Villa Poppaea.
Although a comparatively small town, essentially a suburb of Naples, Torre Annunziata has its own unique dialect, a variation of Neapolitan, quite distinct, particularly in pronunciation, which is known as Torrese.

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Torri del Benaco
Torri del Benaco is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 130 km west of Venice and about 30 km northwest of Verona, on the eastern coast of the Lake Garda.
Torri del Benaco borders the following municipalities: Brenzone, Costermano, Garda, Gardone Riviera, Gargnano, Salò, San Felice del Benaco, San Zeno di Montagna, and Toscolano-Maderno. It is home to a 14th century castle which belonged to the Scaliger family, and which perhaps occupies the site of an ancient Roman castrum. It now houses an Ethnographic Museum.

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Tregnago
Tregnago is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 15 km northeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,862 and an area of 37.4 km².
The municipality of Tregnago contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Cogollo, Finetti, Marcemigo, and Scoronano.
Tregnago borders the following municipalities: Badia Calavena, Cazzano di Tramigna, Illasi, Mezzane di Sotto, San Giovanni Ilarione, San Mauro di Saline, Verona, and Vestenanova.
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Trevenzuolo
Trevenzuolo is a comune with 2,431 inhabitants in the province of Verona.

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Treviso
Treviso (Italian pronunciation: [treˈviːzo] ( listen), Venetian: Trevixo) is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 82,854 inhabitants (as of November 2010): some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls (le Mura) or in the historical and monumental center, some 80,000 live in the urban center proper, while the city hinterland has a population of approximately 170,000. The city is home to the headquarters of clothing retailer Benetton, appliance maker De'Longhi, and bicycle maker Pinarello.
For some scholars, the ancient city of Tarvisium derived its name from a settlement of the Celtic tribe of the Taurusci. Others have attributed the name instead to the Greek root tarvos, meaning "bull".
Tarvisium, then a city of the Veneti, became a municipium in 89 BC after the Romans added Cisalpine Gaul to their dominions. Citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe of Claudia. The city lay in proximity of the Via Postumia, which connected Opitergium to Aquileia, two major cities of Roman Venetia during Ancient and Early Medieval times. Treviso is rarely mentioned by ancient writers, although Pliny writes of the Silis, that is the Sile River, as flowing ex montibus Tarvisanis.

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Tunisia
Tunisia (US ⁱ/tuːˈniːʒə/ two-NEE-zhə or UK /tjuːˈnɪziə/ tew-NIZ-iə; Arabic: تونس‎ Tūnis pronounced [ˈtuːnɪs]), officially the Republic of Tunisia (Arabic: الجمهورية التونسية‎ al-Jumhūriyyah at-Tūnisiyyah), is the northernmost country in Africa. It is an Arab Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area is almost 165,000 square kilometres (64,000 sq mi), with an estimated population of just under 10.7 million. Its name is derived from the capital Tunis located in the northeast.
Tunisia is the smallest country in North Africa. The south of the country is composed of the Sahara desert, with much of the remainder consisting of particularly fertile soil and 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) of coastline.
Tunisia has relations with both the European Union—with whom it has an association agreement—and the Arab world. Tunisia is also a member of the Arab Maghreb Union, the Arab League, and the African Union. Tunisia has established close relations with France in particular, through economic cooperation, industrial modernization, and privatisation programs.

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Urbino
Urbino listen (help·info) is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482. The town, nestled on a high sloping hillside, retains much of its picturesque medieval aspect, only slightly marred by the large car parks below the town. It hosts the University of Urbino, founded in 1506, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Urbino. Its best-known architectural piece is the Palazzo Ducale, rebuilt by Luciano Laurana.
The modest Roman town of Urvinum Mataurense ("the little city on the river Mataurus") became an important strategic stronghold in the Gothic Wars of the 6th century, captured in 538 from the Ostrogoths by the Byzantine general Belisarius, and frequently mentioned by the historian Procopius.
Though Pippin presented Urbino to the Papacy, independent traditions were expressed in its commune, until, around 1200, it came into the possession of the House of Montefeltro. Although these noblemen had no direct authority over the commune, they could pressure it to elect them to the position of podestà, a title that Bonconte di Montefeltro managed to obtain in 1213, with the result that Urbino's population rebelled and formed an alliance with the independent commune of Rimini (1228), finally regaining control of the town in 1234. Eventually, though, the Montefeltro noblemen took control once more, and held it until 1508. In the struggles between the Guelphs and Ghibellines where factions supported either the Papacy or the Holy Roman Empire, the 13th and 14th century Montefeltro lords of Urbino were leaders of the Ghibellines of the Marche and in the Romagna region.

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Val di Noto
Val di Noto (English: Province of Noto) is a geographical area of south east Sicily; it is dominated by the limestone Iblean plateau.
The Val di Noto owes its fame to the reconstruction which underwent after the year 1693, when the entire area was decimated by an enormous earthquake. Following the earthquake, many towns were rebuilt on entirely new sites, such as Noto and Grammichele. The rulers of the time, the kings of Spain, accounted the nobleman Giuseppe Lanza with special powers, which allowed him to redesign the damaged towns based on rational and scenographic town plans.
In fact, since the beginning of the Renaissance, architects had the dream to build an entirely new ideal city, where town planning follows rational design and streets and buildings are organized by functionality and beauty. However, only a very small part of their projects were really used, and most of them were limited to the reorganization of a street, like the Strada Nuova in Florence or the redesign of small villages, like the town of Pienza.

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Valeggio sul Mincio
Valeggio sul Mincio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 25 km southwest of Verona. It is crossed by the Mincio river.
The economy is mostly based on agriculture, with some craftwork and industrial production. touristically, Valeggio had become renowned as one of the capitals of Tortellini.
Valeggio sul Mincio borders the following municipalities: Castelnuovo del Garda, Marmirolo, Monzambano, Mozzecane, Peschiera del Garda, Ponti sul Mincio, Roverbella, Sommacampagna, Sona, Villafranca di Verona, and Volta Mantovana.
Archaeological excavations in the Mincio valley include a Bronze Age settlements, some tombs dating to the Iron Age and some findings associated with the Etruscan civilization. A large Celtic necropolis, found in 1984 still partly buried under the current town, would prove the presence of that people from the 4th century AC and the 1st century DC.
The creation of the villages of Valeggio and Borghetto dates to the Lombard rule in northern Italy. The monastery of Santa Maria was founded here, on the Mincio shore, was founded here in the 12th century; later it was a priory of the Knights Templar. The large medieval fortifications which characterize Valeggio (Scaliger castle, the Visconti Bridge and the Serraglio difensive line) were built between the 13th and the 14th centuries. In 1405 Valeggio became part of the Republic of Venice, and subsequently lost its strategic role, becoming an agricultural center and a silkworms trading market.

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Valle dei Templi
The Valle dei Templi (English: Valley of the Temples, Sicilian: Vaddi di li Tempri) is an archaeological site in Agrigento (ancient Greek Akragas), Sicily, southern Italy. It is one of the most outstanding examples of Greater Greece art and architecture, and is one of the main attractions of Sicily as well as a national monument of Italy. The area was included in the UNESCO Heritage Site list in 1997. Much of the excavation and restoration of the temples was due to the efforts of archaeologist Domenico Antonio Lo Faso Pietrasanta (1783–1863), who was the Duke of Serradifalco from 1809 through 1812.
The term "valley" is a misnomer, the site being located on a ridge outside the town of Agrigento.
The Valley includes remains of seven temples, all in Doric style. The ascription of the names, apart from that of the Olympeion, are a mere tradition established in Renaissance times. The temples are:
The Valley is also home to the so-called Tomb of Theron, a large tuff monument of pyramidal shape; scholars suppose it was built to commemorate the Romans killed in the Second Punic War.

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Vallo di Diano
The Vallo di Diano (also known as Valdiano) is an italian valley of the south-eastern side of Campania, in the Province of Salerno.
Situated between the Alburni mountains and the borders of Campania with Basilicata, it is considered a geographical subregion of Cilento and is part of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, World Heritage Site of Italy from 1998. The greatest forestal park, mainly located in cilentan side, is Pruno.
The area is composed by 17 municipalities, and the greatest one is Sala Consilina, with c/a 15,000 inhabitants. The others are Atena Lucana, Auletta, Buonabitacolo, Caggiano, Casalbuono, Monte San Giacomo, Montesano sulla Marcellana, Padula, Pertosa, Polla, San Pietro al Tanagro, Sant'Arsenio, San Rufo, Sanza, Sassano and Teggiano.
The valley is served by the A3 motorway Naples-Reggio Calabria, with the exits of Petina , Polla, Atena Lucana, Sala Consilina and Padula-Buonabitacolo. From this last exit it departs a speedway to Policastro Bussentino and Sapri with exits in Buonabitacolo and Sanza.

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Velo Veronese
Velo Veronese is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 100 km west of Venice and about 20 km northeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 792 and an area of 19.1 km².
The municipality of Velo Veronese contains the frazione (subdivision) Camposilvano.
Velo Veronese borders the following municipalities: Badia Calavena, Roverè Veronese, San Mauro di Saline, and Selva di Progno.
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Venice
Venice (Italian: Venezia [veˈnɛttsja] ( listen), Venetian: Venexia [veˈnɛsja]; (Latin: Venetia) is a city in northeast Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. The city in its entirety is listed as World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.
Venice is the capital of the Veneto region. In 2009, there were 270,098 people residing in Venice's comune (the population estimate of 272,000 inhabitants includes the population of the whole Comune of Venezia; around 60,000 in the historic city of Venice (Centro storico); 176,000 in Terraferma (the Mainland), mostly in the large frazioni of Mestre and Marghera; 31,000 live on other islands in the lagoon). Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE) (population 1,600,000).

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Vernazza
Vernazza is a town and comune located in the province of La Spezia, Liguria, northwestern Italy. It is one of the five towns that make up the Cinque Terre region. Vernazza is the fourth town heading north, has no car traffic and remains one of the truest "fishing villages" on the Italian Riviera.
Vernazza's name is derived from the Latin adjective verna meaning "native" and the aptly named indigenous wine, "vernaccia" ("local" or "ours"), helped give birth to the village's moniker.
First records recognizing Vernazza as a fortified town date back to the year 1080. Referred to as an active maritime base of the Obertenghi, a family of Italian nobility, it was a likely point of departure for naval forces in defence of pirates.
Over the next two centuries Vernazza was vital in Genova's conquest of Liguria, providing port, fleet and soldiers. In 1209, the approximately 90 most powerful families of Vernazza pledged their allegiance to the republic of Genova.
The first documented presence of a Church dates back to 1251, with the parish of San Pietro sited in 1267. Reference to the Church of Santa Margherita d'Antiochia of Vernazza occurs in 1318. Some scholars are of the opinion, due to the use of materials and mode of construction, that the actual creation of the Church of Santa Margherita d'Antiochia took place earlier, sometime in the 12th century. The Church of Santa Margherita d'Antiochia was expanded upon and renovated over the course of the 16th and 17th centuries, and thereafter was erected the octoganal bell tower that rises from the apse.

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Verona
Verona (Italian pronunciation: [veˈroːna] ( listen); Venetian Verona (pron. Veròna); German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of northeast Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km² (550.58 sq mi) and has a population of 714,274 inhabitants. It is one of the main tourist destinations in northern Italy, owing to its artistic heritage, several annual fairs, shows, and operas, such as the lyrical season in the Arena, the ancient amphitheatre built by the Romans.
The city has been awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture.
The precise details of Verona's early history remain a mystery. The origin of the name Verona is also unknown. One theory is it was a city of the Euganei, who were obliged to give it up to the Cenomani (550 BC). With the conquest of the Vaecame Roman (about 300 BC) Verona became a Roman colonia in 89 BC, and then a municipium in 49 BC; Verona had the franchise in 59.

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Verona Arena
The Verona Arena (Arena di Verona) is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy, which is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind.
The building itself was built in AD 30 on a site which was then beyond the city walls. The ludi (shows and games) staged there were so famous that spectators came from many other places, often far away, to witness them. The amphitheatre could host more than 30,000 spectators in ancient times.
The round façade of the building was originally composed of white and pink limestone from Valpolicella, but after a major earthquake in 1117, which almost completely destroyed the structure's outer ring, except for the so-called "ala", the stone was quarried for re-use in other buildings. Nevertheless it impressed medieval visitors to the city, one of whom considered it to have been a labyrinth, without ingress or egress.Ciriaco d'Ancona was filled with admiration for the way it had been built and Giovanni Antonio Panteo's civic panegyric De laudibus veronae, 1483, remarked that it struck the viewer as a construction that was more than human.

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Verona Cathedral
Verona Cathedral (Italian: Cattedrale di Santa Maria Matricolare, or simply Duomo di Verona) is a church in Verona, northern Italy.
It was erected after two Palaeo-Christian churches on the same site had been destroyed by an earthquake in 1117. Built in Romanesque style, the cathedral was consecrated on September 13, 1187. The structure was later modified by several renovation interventions, although the plan has remained unchanged.
The façade is divided into three parts, with a pediment and a two storied projecting porch or protiro embellished with sculpture, which is the work of the twelfth century sculptor Nicholaus,who also executed and signed the entranceway at the abbey church of San Zeno, also in Verona, and Ferrara Cathedral. The protiro is supported on the backs of two griffons, similar to those from the dismantled Porta dei Mesi at Ferrara. The lunette is compose of a figure of the Virgin holding the Christ child in high relief, centered between two low relief scenes, the Annunciation to the Shepherds (left) and the Adoration of the Magi (right). On the lintel in medallions are the three theological virtues, Faith, Charity and Hope. Ten figures of prophets are set in the doorposts and jambs; the four symbols of the Evangelist and the Hand of God are set above in the barrel vault of the first story of the porch. Set into the walls on either side of the portal are figures of Roland and Oliver, who as holy warriors, remind one of the constant need to provide protection to the church.

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Veronella
Veronella is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 80 km west of Venice and about 30 km southeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,946 and an area of 20.8 km².
The municipality of Veronella contains the frazione (subdivision) San Gregorio.
Veronella borders the following municipalities: Albaredo d'Adige, Arcole, Belfiore, Bonavigo, Cologna Veneta, Minerbe, Pressana, and Zimella.
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Vestenanova
Vestenanova is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 25 km northeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,683 and an area of 23.9 km².
The municipality of Vestenanova contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Castelvero, Bolca, and Vestenavecchia.
Vestenanova borders the following municipalities: Altissimo, Badia Calavena, Chiampo, Crespadoro, San Giovanni Ilarione, San Pietro Mussolino, Selva di Progno, and Tregnago.
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Vicenza
Vicenza listen (help·info), a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately 60 km west of Venice and 200 km east of Milan.
Vicenza is a thriving and cosmopolitan city, with a rich history and culture, and many museums, art galleries, piazzas, villas, churches and elegant Renaissance palazzi. With the Palladian Villas of the Veneto in the surrounding area, and his renowned Teatro Olimpico (Olympic Theatre), the "city of Palladio" has been enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994.
As of December 2008, Vicenza had an estimated population of c. 115,927, and a metropolitan area of 270 000. Vicenza is the third-largest Italian industrial centre as measured by the value of its exports, and is one of the country's wealthiest cities. Especially due to its textile and steel industries which employ tens of thousands and about one fifth of the country's gold and jewelry is made in Vicenza, greatly contributing to the city's economy. Another important branch is the engineering/computer components industry (Federico Faggin, the microprocessor's co-inventor was born in Vicenza).

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Vigasio
Vigasio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 110 km west of Venice and about 14 km southwest of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,393 and an area of 30.8 km².
The municipality of Vigasio contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Isolalta and Forette.
Vigasio borders the following municipalities: Buttapietra, Castel d'Azzano, Isola della Scala, Nogarole Rocca, Povegliano Veronese, Trevenzuolo, and Villafranca di Verona.
Composer Italo Montemezzi was a native of Vigasio.
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Villa Bartolomea
Villa Bartolomea is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 80 km southwest of Venice and about 45 km southeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,500 and an area of 53.3 km².
Villa Bartolomea borders the following municipalities: Castagnaro, Castelnovo Bariano, Giacciano con Baruchella, Legnago, and Terrazzo.
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Zevio
Zevio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 14 km southeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 13,055 and an area of 55.0 km².
The municipality of Zevio contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Bosco, Campagnola, Perzacco, Santa Maria, and Volon.
Zevio borders the following municipalities: Belfiore, Caldiero, Oppeano, Palù, Ronco all'Adige, San Giovanni Lupatoto, and San Martino Buon Albergo.
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Zimella
Zimella is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 70 km west of Venice and about 35 km southeast of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,626 and an area of 20.1 km².
The municipality of Zimella contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) S. Stefano (capoluogo), Zimella, and Bonaldo e Volpino.
Zimella borders the following municipalities: Arcole, Cologna Veneta, Lonigo, and Veronella.
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Adalgis
Adalgis (died 788) was the son of Desiderius and the prince of the Langobards or Lombardia in Italy. After his father was defeated by Charlemagne in Pavia in 774, Adalgis took refuge in Byzantium. He hoped to recapture Lombardia with the aid of Empress Irene, but when finally given a chance in 787, he was defeated by a coalition consisting of the Franks and the new prince of Benevento, Grimoald III, a vassal loyal to Charlemagne. Adalgis fled to Constantinople, where he died in 788.

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Alaric I
Alaric I (Gothic: Alareiks; 370 - 410) was the King of the Visigoths from 395–410. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire.
Born c. 370 on Peuce Island at the mouth of the Danube in present day Romania, Alaric belonged to the noble Balti dynasty of the Tervingian Goths. After their setbacks against the Huns, Alaric was probably a child during the Goths mass-migration across the Danube and their subsequent war with Rome. Alaric's first appearance was as the leader of a mixed band of Goths and allied peoples who invaded Thrace in 391, who were stopped by the half-Vandal Roman General Stilicho. Later joining the Roman army, he began his career under the Gothic soldier Gainas. In 394 Alaric led a Gothic force of 20,000 that helped the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius defeat the Frankish usurper Arbogast at the Battle of Frigidus. Despite sacrificing around 10,000 of his men, Alaric received little recognition from the Emperor. Disappointed, he left the army and was elected chief of the Visigoths in 395, and marched toward Constantinople until he was diverted by Roman forces. He then moved southward into Greece, where he sacked Piraeus (the port of Athens) and destroyed Corinth, Megara, Argos, and Sparta. As a response, the Eastern emperor Flavius Arcadius appointed Alaric magister militum (“master of the soldiers”) in Illyricum.

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Alboin
Alboin (530s – June 28, 572) was king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. During his reign the Lombards ended their migrations by settling in Italy, the northern part of which Alboin conquered between 569 and 572. He had a lasting effect on Italy and the Pannonian Basin; in the former his invasion marked the beginning of centuries of Lombard rule, and in the latter his defeat of the Gepids and his departure from Pannonia ended the dominance there of the Germanic peoples.
The period of Alboin's reign as king in Pannonia following the death of his father, Audoin, was one of confrontation and conflict between the Lombards and their main neighbors, the Gepids. The Gepids initially gained the upper hand, but in 567, thanks to his alliance with the Avars, Alboin inflicted a decisive defeat on his enemies, whose lands the Avars subsequently occupied. The increasing power of his new neighbours caused Alboin some unease however, and he therefore decided to leave Pannonia for Italy, hoping to take advantage of the Byzantine Empire's reduced ability to defend its territory in the wake of the Gothic War.

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Aleardo Aleardi
Aleardo Aleardi (November 14, 1812 – July 17, 1878), born Gaetano Maria, was an Italian poet who belonged to the so-called Neo-romanticists.
Aleardo was born in Verona in 1812, and took an active part in the movement of the Risorgimento. In 1848 he went to Paris, invited by Manin, to garner support for the Venetian Republic. He was arrested twice: at Mantova in 1852 and at Josephstadt in Bohemia in 1859. He then worked as deputy, senator, and finally as professor of aesthetics at Florence, where he died in 1878.
His poetic work is not extensive, and mostly revolves around the themes of history and the fatherland. He was in fact called the poet of history because of his tendency to research and relive the past, also the distant past of prehistory and the mythical infancy of the earth (Il monte Circello (Circello mountain), 1856 and Le prime storie (The first stories), 1857). However, one often finds that this nostalgia is, more often than not, a pretext to display his eloquence.

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Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri (18 August 1750 – 7 May 1825) was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy.
Salieri was a pivotal figure in the development of late 18th-century opera. As a student of Florian Leopold Gassmann, and a protege of Gluck, Salieri was a cosmopolitan composer who wrote operas in three languages. Salieri helped to develop and shape many of the features of operatic compositional vocabulary and his music was a powerful influence on contemporary composers.
Appointed the director of the Italian opera by the Hapsburg court, a post he held from 1774 to 1792, Salieri dominated Italian language opera in Vienna. During his career he also spent time writing works for opera houses in Venice, Rome, and Paris. His dramatic works were widely performed throughout Europe during his lifetime. As the Austrian imperial Kapellmeister from 1788 to 1824, he was responsible for music at the court chapel and attached school. Even as his works dropped from performance, and he wrote no new operas after 1804, he still remained one of the most important and sought after teachers of his generation and his influence was felt in every aspect of Vienna's musical life. Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Liszt were among the most famous of his pupils.

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Austria
Austria (ⁱ/ˈɒstriə/ or /ˈɔːstriə/; German: Österreich [ˈøːstɐˌʁaɪç] ( listen)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich (help·info)), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.47 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,855 square kilometres (32,377 sq mi) and has a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speak local Austro-Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other local official languages are Burgenland Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.
The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria became one of the great powers of Europe and, in response to the coronation of Napoleon I as the Emperor of the French, the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary.

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Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (Italian pronunciation: [beˈniːto musːoˈliːni]; 29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945) was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party, ruling the country from 1922 to his ousting in 1943, and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of fascism.
Originally a member of the Italian Socialist Party and editor of the Avanti! from 1912 to 1914, Mussolini fought in World War I as an ardent nationalist and created the Fasci di Combattimento in 1919, catalyzing his nationalist and socialist beliefs in the Fascist Manifesto, published in 1921. Following the March on Rome in October 1922 he became the 27th Prime Minister of Italy and began using the title Il Duce by 1925, about which time he had established dictatorial authority by both legal and extraordinary means, aspiring to create a totalitarian state. After 1936, his official title was Sua Eccellenza Benito Mussolini, Capo del Governo, Duce del Fascismo e Fondatore dell'Impero ("His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire") Mussolini also created and held the supreme military rank of First Marshal of the Empire along with King Victor Emmanuel III, which gave him and the King joint supreme control over the military of Italy. Mussolini remained in power until he was replaced in 1943; for a short period after this until his death, he was the leader of the Italian Social Republic.

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Berengar I of Italy
Berengar of Friuli (c. 845 – 7 April 924) was the Margrave of Friuli from 874 until no earlier than 890 and no later than 896,King of Italy (as Berengar I) from 887 (with interruption) until his death, and Holy Roman Emperor from 915 until his death.
Berengar rose to become one of the most influential laymen in the empire of Charles the Fat before he was elected to replace Charles in Italy after the latter's deposition. His long reign of 36 years saw him opposed by no less than seven other claimants to the Italian throne. Though he is sometimes seen as a "national" king in Italian histories, he was in fact of Frankish birth. His reign is usually characterised as "troubled" because of the many competitors for the crown and because of the arrival of Magyar raiders in Western Europe. He was the last emperor before Otto the Great was crowned in 962, after a 38-year interregnum.
His family was called the Unruochings after his grandfather, Unruoch II. Berengar was a son of Eberhard of Friuli and Gisela, daughter of Louis the Pious and his second wife Judith. He was thus of Carolingian extraction on his mother's side. He was born probably at Cividale. His name in Latin is Berengarius or Perngarius and in Italian is Berengario. Sometime during his margraviate, he married Bertilla, daughter of Suppo II, thus securing an alliance with the powerful Supponid family. She would later rule alongside him as a consors, a title specifically denoting her informal power and influence, as opposed to a mere coniunx, "wife."

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Bernabò Visconti
Bernabò Visconti (also called Barnabò) (1323 – 18 December 1385) was an Italian soldier and statesman, who was Lord of Milan.
He was born in Milan, the son of Stefano Visconti and Valentina Doria. From 1346 to 1349 he lived in exile, until he was called back by his uncle Giovanni Visconti. On 27 September 1350 Bernabò married Beatrice Regina della Scala, daughter of Mastino II, Lord of Verona and Taddea da Carrara, and forged both a political and cultural alliance between the two cities. His intrigues and ambitions kept him at war almost continuously with Pope Urban V, the Florentines, Venice and Savoy. In 1354, at the death of Giovanni, he inherited the power of Milan, together with his brothers Matteo and Galeazzo. Bernabò received the eastern lands (Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona and Crema), that bordered the Veronese territories. Milan itself was to be ruled in turn by the three brothers. The vicious Matteo was murdered in 1355 at the order of his brothers, who divided his inheritance between them.

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Carlo Pedrotti
Carlo Pedrotti (12 November 1817 – 16 October 1893) was an Italian conductor, administrator and composer, principally of opera. An associate of Giuseppe Verdi's, he also taught two internationally renowned Italian operatic tenors, Francesco Tamagno and Alessandro Bonci.
Pedrotti was born in Verona, where he studied music with the composer Domenico Foroni. He composed two operas which were never performed, but his opera semiseria Lina was successfully given at Foroni's Teatro Filarmonico in 1840, and his next opera, Clara di Mailand, was performed there later that year. This was followed by four seasons as conductor of the Italian Opera in Amsterdam, where a further two operas were composed and premiered.
He returned to Verona in 1845. During the next 23 years, he taught, conducted at the Teatro Nuovo as well as the Teatro Filarmonico and composed a further 10 operas. Fiorina (1851), another opera semiseria, was a success in Italy and beyond, and the commedia lirica Tutti in maschera (1856), his best-known work, was later taken up in Vienna and Paris. It has been successfully revived in recent years in Savona, Piacenza and Rovigo and at the Wexford Festival.

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Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. 84 BC – ca. 54 BC) was a Latin poet of the Republican period. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art.
Catullus came from a leading equestrian family of Verona in Cisalpine Gaul, and according to St. Jerome, he was born in the town. The family was prominent enough for his father to entertain Caesar, then proconsul of both Gallic provinces. In one of his poems Catullus describes his happy return to the family villa at Sirmio on Lake Garda near Verona. The poet also owned a villa near the fashionable resort of Tibur (modern Tivoli);; his complaints about his poverty described in his works do not reflect his life.
The poet appears to have spent most of his young adult years in Rome. His friends there included the poets Licinius Calvus, and Helvius Cinna, Quintus Hortensius (son of the orator and rival of Cicero) and the biographer Cornelius Nepos, to whom Catullus dedicated the extant libellus which is the basis of his fame. He appears to have been acquainted with the poet Marcus Furius Bibaculus. A number of prominent contemporaries appear in his poetry, including Cicero, Caesar and Pompey. According to an anecdote preserved by Suetonius, Caesar did not deny that Catullus's lampoons left an indelible stain on his reputation, but when Catullus apologized, he invited the poet for dinner the very same day.

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Cesare Lombroso
Cesare Lombroso, born Ezechia Marco Lombroso (Italian pronunciation: [ˈtʃɛzare lombˈroso]; 6 November 1835 – 19 October 1909) was an Italian criminologist and physician, founder of the Italian School of Positivist Criminology. Lombroso rejected the established Classical School, which held that crime was a characteristic trait of human nature. Instead, using concepts drawn from physiognomy, early eugenics, psychiatry and Social Darwinism, Lombroso's theory of anthropological criminology essentially stated that criminality was inherited, and that someone "born criminal" could be identified by physical defects, which confirmed a criminal as savage, or atavistic.
Lombroso was born in Verona on 6 November 1835 to a wealthy Jewish family. His father was Aronne Lombroso, a tradesman from Verona, and his mother was Zeffora (or Zefira) Levi from Chieri near Turin. He studied literature, linguistics, and archæology at the universities of Padua, Vienna, and Paris, but changed his plans and became an army surgeon in 1859. In 1866 he was appointed visiting lecturer at Pavia, and later took charge of the insane asylum at Pesaro in 1871. He became professor of forensic medicine and hygiene at Turin in 1878. That year he wrote his most important and influential work, L'uomo delinquente, which went through five editions in Italian and was published in various European languages. However, it was not until 1900 that his work was published in English. Lombroso later became professor of psychiatry (1896) and criminal anthropology (1906) at the same university. He died in Turin in 1909.

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Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( /ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn/ or /ˈʃɑrləmeɪn/; French pronunciation: [ʃaʁ.lə.maɲ]; c. 742 – 28 January 814), also known as Charles the Great (Latin: Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans (Imperator Romanorum) from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800 in Rome.
His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the Catholic Church. Through his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define both Western Europe and the European Middle Ages. He is numbered as Charles I in the regnal lists of Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, and France.
The son of King Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, a Frankish queen, he succeeded his father in 768 and was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I. It has often been suggested that the relationship between Charlemagne and Carloman was not good, but it has also been argued that tensions were exaggerated by Carolingian chroniclers.

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Claudio Monteverdi
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈklaudjo monteˈverdi]; 15 May 1567 (baptized) – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.
Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the heritage of Renaissance polyphony and the new basso continuo technique of the Baroque. Monteverdi wrote one of the earliest operas, L'Orfeo, an innovative work that is still regularly performed. He was recognized as an innovative composer and enjoyed considerable fame in his lifetime.
Claudio Monteverdi was born in 1567 in Cremona, a town in Northern Italy. His father was Baldassare Monteverdi, a doctor, apothecary and surgeon. He was the oldest of five children. During his childhood, he was taught by Marc'Antonio Ingegneri, the maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Cremona. The Maestro di capella’s job was to conduct important worship services in accordance with the liturgy books of the Catholic Church. Monteverdi learned about music by being part of the cathedral choir. He also studied at the University of Cremona. His first music was written for publication, including some motets and sacred madrigals, in 1582 and 1583. His first five publications were: Sacrae cantiunculae, 1582 (collection of miniature motets); Madrigali Spirituali, 1583 (a volume of which only the bass partbook is extant); Canzonette a tre voci, 1584 (a collection of three-voice canzonettes); and the five-part madrigals Book I, 1587, and Book II, 1590. Monteverdi worked for the court of Mantua first as a singer and violist, then as music director. He worked at the court of Vincenzo I of Gonzaga in Mantua as a vocalist and viol player. In 1602, he was working as the court conductor.

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Damiano Cunego
Damiano Cunego (born September 19, 1981 in Cerro Veronese, Veneto) is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rides for the Italian UCI ProTeam Lampre-ISD. His biggest wins are the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, and the Giro di Lombardia in 2004, 2007, 2008. He finished second in the UCI Road World Championships in 2008 and in the 2008 UCI ProTour. Primarily a climber, he has improved his Time-Trialing and he is characterized by a great sprinting ability, unusual for a climber. He is considered the best Italian cyclist for classics, after Paolo Bettini's retirement.
Cunego began cycling as a teenager after being a successful cross-country runner. He was discovered by Giuseppe Martinelli who also worked closely with the late Marco Pantani. Cunego turned pro in 2002 at the age of 20 with Saeco Macchine per Caffè-Longoni Sport. Cunego won the Giro d'Oro and the Giro Medio Brenta in his first season as a professional with Saeco in 2002. In 2003 he won the seventh stage and the overall classification of Tour of Qinghai Lake.

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Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante (UK /ˈdænti/, US /ˈdɑːnteɪ/; Italian: [ˈdante]; c1265–1321), was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem Commedia, later named La divina commedia (Divine Comedy), considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.
In Italy he is known as il Sommo Poeta ("the Supreme Poet") or just il Poeta. Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio are also known as "the three fountains" or "the three crowns". Dante is also called the "Father of the Italian language".
Dante was born in Florence, Italy. The exact date of Dante's birth is unknown, although it is generally believed to be around 1265. This can be deduced from autobiographic allusions in La Divina Commedia, "the Inferno" (Halfway through the journey we are living, implying that Dante was around 35 years old, as the average lifespan according to the Bible (Psalms 89:10, Vulgate) is 70 years; and as the imaginary travel took place in 1300, Dante must have been born around 1265). Some verses of the Paradiso section of the Divine Comedy also provide a possible clue that he was born under the sign of Gemini: "As I revolved with the eternal twins, I saw revealed from hills to river outlets, the threshing-floor that makes us so ferocious" (XXII 151-154). In 1265 the Sun was in Gemini approximately during the period of May 11 to June 11.

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Desiderius
Desiderius (also known as Daufer or Dauferius; Didier in French and Desiderio in Italian) was the last king of the Lombard Kingdom of northern Italy (died c. 786). He is chiefly known for his connection to Charlemagne, who married his daughter and conquered his realm.
Desiderius was originally a royal officer, the dux Langobardorum et comes stabuli, "constable and duke of the Lombards," an office apparently similar to the contemporaneous Frankish office of dux Francorum. King Aistulf made him duke of Istria and Tuscany and he became king after the death of Aistulf in 756. At that time, Aistulf's predecessor, Ratchis, left his monastic retreat of Montecassino and tried to seize the kingdom, but Desiderius put his revolt down quickly with the support of Pope Stephen II. At his coronation, Desiderius promised to restore many lost papal towns to the Holy See, in return for the papacy's endorsement of his claim. Conflict with the Holy See under Pope Stephen III arose, for Stephen opposed Charlemagne's marriage to Desiderius' daughter. Desiderius ceased delivery of the towns after only a few.

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Emilio Salgari
Emilio Salgari (Italian pronunciation: [eˈmiljo salˈɡari], but often erroneously pronounced [ˈsalɡari]; August 21, 1862 – April 25, 1911) was an Italian writer of action adventure swashbucklers and a pioneer of science fiction.
For over a century, his novels were mandatory reading for generations of youth eager for exotic adventures. In Italy, his extensive body of work was more widely read than that of Dante. Today he is still among the 40 most translated Italian authors. Many of his most popular novels have been adapted as comics, animated series and feature films. He is considered the father of Italian adventure fiction and Italian pop culture, and the "grandfather" of the Spaghetti Western.
Emilio Salgari was born in Verona to a family of modest merchants. From a young age, he had a desire to explore the seas and studied seamanship at a Naval Academy in Venice, but his academic performance was too poor, and he never graduated.
He began his writing career as a reporter on the daily La Nuova Arena, which published some of his work as serials. As his powers of narration grew, so did his reputation for having lived a life of adventure. He claimed to have explored the Sudan desert, met Buffalo Bill in Nebraska (he had actually met him during his "wild West Show" tour of Italy), and sailed the Seven Seas. His early biographies were filled with adventurous tales set in the Far East, events which he claimed were the basis for much of his work. Salgari had actually never ventured farther than the Adriatic Sea.

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Euganei
The Euganei (fr. Lat. Euganei, Euganeorum; cf. Gr. εὐγενής (eugenēs) 'well-born') is a semi-mythical proto-Italic ethnic group that dwelt an area among Adriatic Sea and Rhaetian Alps. Subsequently, they were driven by the Adriatic Veneti to an area between the river Adige and Lake Como, where they remained until the early Roman Empire..
They were very probably a Pre-Indo-European people, ethnically related with the Ingauni Ligurians, as proved by the similarity of the names. According to Pliny the Elder the Stoni people from Trentino were of the same stock as the Euganei.
Cato the Elder, in the lost book of Origines, counted among the major tribes Euganeans the Triumplini of Valtrompia and the Camunni of Val Camonica.
According to Livy they were defeated by the Adriatic Veneti and the Trojans. Their descendants settled west of the Athesis (Adige) river, around the lakes Sebinus, Edrus, and Benacus, where they occupied 34 towns, which were admitted by Augustus to the rights of Latin cities.

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Flavio Tosi
Flavio Tosi is an Italian Venetist politician. He is a member of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.
Having joined Liga Veneta in 1991, he was elected to the Municipal Council of Verona in 1994 at the age of 25. From 1997 to 2003 he was also provincial secretary of Liga Veneta for the Province of Verona. In the meantime, in the 2000 regional election he was elected to the Regional Council of Veneto, where he was floor leader of Liga Veneta for two years.
After being the most voted candidate in the 2005 regional election (more than 28,000 preference votes), he was appointed regional health minister for the Veneto Region. Aged 36, he was one of the rising stars of the new generation of Lega Nord in Veneto, alongside Luca Zaia and Federico Bricolo.
In late 2006 Tosi launched his bid for Mayor of Verona. Initially he was supported only by his party, but then, thanks to the excellent support in opinion polls, he was able to threw behind himself the whole centre-right coalition from National Alliance to the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, from the Christian Democracy for Autonomies to Forza Italia. On 28 May 2007 he was elected Mayor of Verona by a large margin: 60.8% to 33.9% of the incumbent Paolo Zanotto. Verona is the second largest Italian city ever ruled by Lega Nord, the first one being Milan, ruled by Marco Formentini from 1993 to 1997. He has since been one of the most popular mayors in Italy with approval ratings around 65-75%.

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Franco Donatoni
Franco Donatoni (9 June 1927 – 17 August 2000) was an Italian composer.
Born in Verona, he started studying violin at the age of seven, and frequented the local Music Academy. Later he studied at the Milan Conservatory and Bologna Conservatory.
He taught composition at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Milan Conservatory, and several other Academies and summer courses such as Darmstädter Ferienkurse and Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena.^{[citation needed]}
His compositions have been conducted by Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Bruno Maderna, Salvatore Accardo, Alain Meunier, and many others.^{[citation needed]}
At least three generations of composers studied with Donatoni. Among the Italian ones: Matteo D'Amico, Roberto Carnevale, Giulio Castagnoli, Ivan Fedele, Sandro Gorli, Luigi Manfrin, Giorgio Magnanensi, Luca Mosca, Riccardo Piacentini, Fausto Romitelli, Riccardo Nova, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Alessandro Solbiati, Piero Niro, Giovanni Verrando and among the foreigner ones: Gilles Bellemare, Pascal Dusapin, Javier Jacinto, Magnus Lindberg, Pierre Kolp, Javier Torres Maldonado, Katia Tiutiunnik, Juan Trigos.

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Galeazzo Ciano
Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari (18 March 1903 – 11 January 1944) was an Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Benito Mussolini's son-in-law. In early 1944 Count Ciano was shot by firing squad at the behest of his father-in-law, Mussolini, under pressure from Nazi Germany.
Ciano was born in Livorno, Italy, in 1903, to an aristocratic family. He was the son of Count Costanzo Ciano and his wife Carolina Pini; his father was an Admiral and World War I hero in the Royal Italian Navy, founding member of the National Fascist Party and re-organizer of the Italian Merchant Marine in the 1920s. The elder Ciano (he was nicknamed Ganascia, meaning "The Jaw") was not above making a private profit from his public office; and as a side effect his son was soon used to living a high-profile glamorous life, which he continued to maintain until almost the end. He would use his influence to depress the stock of a company, after which he would buy a controlling interest, which would increase his wealth after its value rebounded and owned among other holdings a newspaper, farmland in Tuscany, and other properties worth millions. After studying Philosophy of Law, the younger Ciano had a brief experience as a journalist before choosing a diplomatic career, and served as an attaché in Rio de Janeiro. On 24 April 1930, he married Benito Mussolini's daughter Edda Mussolini, with whom he soon left for Shanghai where he served as Italian Consul. Back in Italy, a few years later, he became the minister of press and propaganda.

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Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (IATA: LGW, ICAO: EGKK) is located 3.1 mi (5.0 km) north of the centre of Crawley,West Sussex, and 29.5 mi (47.5 km) south of Central London. Also known as London Gatwick, it is London's second largest international airport and second busiest by total passenger traffic in the United Kingdom after Heathrow. Furthermore, Gatwick is Europe's leading airport for point-to-point flights and has the world's busiest single-use runway averaging 52 aircraft movements an hour. Its two terminals – North and South – cover an area of 810,000 sq ft (75,000 m²) and 1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m²) respectively.
In 2011, over 33.6 million passengers passed through Gatwick.
Charter airlines generally prefer Gatwick over Heathrow as a base for London and the South East of England. From 1978 to 2008, many flights to and from the United States used Gatwick because of restrictions on the use of Heathrow implemented in the Bermuda II agreement between the UK and the US.. Under the agreement Heathrow allowed the right for only two US carrier and two UK carrier to serve flights to the United States. Currently, US Airways is the only US carrier that still serves Gatwick from the US. The airport is a base for scheduled operators Aer Lingus, British Airways (BA), EasyJet, Flybe, Monarch Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, as well as charter airlines including Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways. Gatwick is unique amongst London's airports in having a significant airline presence representing each of the three main airline business models: full service, low/no frills and charter. As of January 2011, these respectively accounted for 37, 51 and 12% of total passenger traffic.

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Gigliola Cinquetti
Gigliola Cinquetti (born 20 December 1947, Verona, Veneto) is an Italian singer, TV presenter and journalist.
At the age of 16 she won the Sanremo Music Festival in 1964 singing "Non ho l'età" ("I'm Not Old Enough"), with music composed by Nicola Salerno and lyrics by Mario Panzeri. Her victory enabled her to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964 with the same song, and she went on to claim her country's first ever victory in the event. This became an international success, even entering UK Singles Chart, traditionally unusual for Italian material. It sold over three million copies, and was awarded a platinum disc in August 1964. In 1966, she recorded "Dio, come ti amo" ("God, How I Love You"), which became another worldwide hit.^{[citation needed]}
In 1974 Gigliola Cinquetti entered the Eurovision Song Contest again, which was held in Brighton, Sussex, England. The song was called "Go [Before You Break My Heart]", which came 2nd, only to Swedish foursome Abba with their song "Waterloo". Gigliola Cinquetti scored an even bigger UK hit single than she had ten years earlier, with "Go" peaking at #8.

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Giotto
Giotto di Bondone (1266/7 – January 8, 1337), better known simply as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late Middle Ages. He is generally considered the first in a line of great artists who contributed to the Italian Renaissance.
Giotto's contemporary Giovanni Villani wrote that Giotto was "the most sovereign master of painting in his time, who drew all his figures and their postures according to nature. And he was given a salary by the Comune of Florence in virtue of his talent and excellence."
The late-16th century biographer Giorgio Vasari describes Giotto as making a decisive break with the prevalent Byzantine style and as initiating "the great art of painting as we know it today, introducing the technique of drawing accurately from life, which had been neglected for more than two hundred years."
Giotto's masterwork is the decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, also known as the Arena Chapel, completed around 1305. This fresco cycle depicts the life of the Virgin and the life of Christ. It is regarded as one of the supreme masterpieces of the Early Renaissance. That Giotto painted the Arena Chapel and that he was chosen by the Comune of Florence in 1334 to design the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral are among the few certainties of his biography. Almost every other aspect of it is subject to controversy: his birthdate, his birthplace, his appearance, his apprenticeship, the order in which he created his works, whether or not he painted the famous frescoes at Assisi, and his burial place.

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Giovanni Giocondo
Friar Giovanni Giocondo, O.F.M., (ca. 1433 – 1515) was an Italian friar, architect, antiquary, archaeologist, and classical scholar.
Giovanni Giocondo was born in Verona around 1433. He joined the Dominican Order at the age of eighteen and was one of the many of that Order who promulgated the Renaissance. Afterwards, however, he left the Dominicans and entered the Franciscan Order. Giocondo began his career as a teacher of Latin and Greek in Verona, where Julius Caesar Scaliger was one of his pupils.
As a young priest, Friar Giovanni was a learned archaeologist and a superb draughtsman. He visited Rome, sketched its ancient buildings, wrote the story of its great monuments, and recorded, deciphered and explained many defaced inscriptions. He stimulated the revival of classical learning by making transcriptions of ancient manuscripts, one of which, completed in 1492, he presented to Lorenzo de' Medici.
Giocondo soon returned to his native town where he built bridges and planned fortifications for Treviso, acting as architect engineer, and head-builder during the construction.

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Giovanni Ordelaffi
Giovanni Ordelaffi (1355–1399) was a member of the noble family of Ordelaffi, the Lords of Forlì, in Italy, in the 14th and in the 15th centuries.
Born in Forlì, he was a famous condottiero.
His most famous battle was the Battle of Castagnaro (1387), in which he fought for the city of Verona against the troops of John Hawkwood, for Padua, but was defeated in battle.
He was poisoned by Pino I Ordelaffi.

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Girolamo Fracastoro
Girolamo Fracastoro (1478 – August 8, 1553) was an Italian physician, poet, and scholar in mathematics, geography and astronomy. Fracastoro subscribed to the philosophy of atomism, and rejected appeals to hidden causes in scientific investigation.
Born of an ancient family in Verona, and educated at Padua where at 19 he was appointed professor at the University. On account of his eminence in the practice of medicine, he was elected physician of the Council of Trent. A bronze statue was erected in his honor by the citizens of Padua, while his native city commemorated their great compatriot by a marble statue. He lived and practised in his hometown. In 1546 he proposed that epidemic diseases are caused by transferable tiny particles or "spores" that could transmit infection by direct or indirect contact or even without contact over long distances. In his writing, the "spores" of diseases may refer to chemicals rather than to any living entities.
"I call fomites [from the Latin fomes, meaning "tinder"] such things as clothes, linen, etc., which although not themselves corrupt, can nevertheless foster the essential seeds of the contagion and thus cause infection."

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Goths
The Goths (Gothic: *Gut-þiuda, *Gutans; Old Norse: Gutar/Gotar; German: Goten; Latin: Gothi; Greek: Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe.
The most important source is Jordanes' 6th-century, semi-fictional Getica which describes a migration from southern Scandza (Scandinavia), to Gothiscandza, believed to be the lower Vistula region in modern Pomerania, and from there to the coast of the Black Sea. The Pomeranian Wielbark culture and the Chernyakhov culture northeast of the lower Danube are archaeological traces of this migration. In the 3rd century, either through crossing the lower Danube, or travelling by sea, the Goths ravaged the Balkan Peninsula and Anatolia as far as Cyprus, sacking Athens, Byzantium, Sparta. By the fourth century, the Goths conquered Dacia, and were divided into at least two distinct groups separated by the Dniester River, the Thervingi, led by the Balti dynasty, and the Greuthungi, led by the Amali dynasty. Centered around their capital at the Dnieper, the Goths ruled a vast area which at its peak under the Kings Ermanaric and Athanaric stretched from the Danube to the Volga river, and from the Black to the Baltic Sea.

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Ippolito Pindemonte
Ippolito Pindemonte (November 13, 1753–November 18, 1828) was an Italian poet. He was educated at the Collegio di San Carlo in Modena, but otherwise spent most of his life in Verona.
He was born into an aristocratic family, and travelled a great deal in his youth. He witnessed and was deeply affected by the French Revolution, and later spent time in England and Austria. A Romantic poet, he was principally influenced by Ugo Foscolo and Thomas Gray, and was associated with the Della Cruscans. He devoted much of his life to a translation of the Odyssey, which was published in 1822.

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Italians
Italians (Italian: italiani) are an ethnic group native of Southern Europe that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence (though the principle of jus sanguinis is used extensively and arguably more favorably in the Italian nationality law), and are distinguished from people of Italian descent and, historically, from ethnic Italians living in the unredeemed territories adjacent to the Italian Peninsula.
In 2012, in addition to the 60 million Italians in Italy and 3,000 in San Marino, Italian-speaking, autonomous groups are found in neighboring countries: about 500,000 in Switzerland, a large, but undefined population in France (Nice, Corsica), and smaller groups in Slovenia and Croatia, primarily in Istria. If regarded as an ethnic group, they constitute one of the world's largest.
Because of wide-ranging and long-lasting diaspora, about 4 and half million Italian citizens and over 70 million people of full or part Italian ancestry live outside of Italy, most notably in South America, North America, Australia and parts of Europe.

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John Hawkwood
Sir John Hawkwood (died 1394) was an English mercenary or condottiero who was active in 14th century Italy. The French chronicler Jean Froissart knew him as Jean Haccoude and Italians as Giovanni Acuto. Hawkwood served first the Pope and then various factions in Italy for over 30 years.
Hawkwood's youth is shrouded in tales and legends and it is not exactly clear how he became a soldier. According to the most accepted tales, he was a second son of a tanner in Sible Hedingham in Essex and was apprenticed in London. Other tales also claim that he was a tailor before he became a soldier.
Hawkwood served in the English army in France in the first stages of the Hundred Years' War under Edward III. According to different traditions Hawkwood fought in the battles of Crécy and/or Poitiers but there is no direct evidence of either. Different traditions maintain that the King or Edward, the Black Prince knighted him. It has also been speculated that he assumed the title with the support of his soldiers. His service ended after the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360.

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Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (Classical Latin: [ˈɡaː.i.ʊs ˈjuː.lɪ.ʊs ˈkaj.sar], July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.
In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus and Pompey formed a political alliance that was to dominate Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to amass power through populist tactics were opposed by the conservative elite within the Roman Senate^{[citation needed]}, among them Cato the Younger with the frequent support of Cicero. Caesar's conquest of Gaul, completed by 51 BC, extended Rome's territory to the English Channel and the Rhine. Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both when he built a bridge across the Rhine and conducted the first invasion of Britain.
These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse Pompey's standing. The balance of power was further upset by the death of Crassus in 53 BC. Political realignments in Rome finally led to a standoff between Caesar and Pompey, the latter having taken up the cause of the Senate. Ordered by the Senate to stand trial in Rome for various charges, Caesar marched on Rome with one legion—legio XIII—from Gaul to Italy, crossing the Rubicon in 49 BC. This sparked a civil war from which he emerged as the unrivaled leader of the Roman world.

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Lombards
The Lombards or Langobards (Latin: Langobardī), were a Germanic tribe who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy.
The Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the Historia Langobardorum that the Lombards descended from a small tribe called the Winnili, dwelling in southern Scandinavia (Scadanan), who had migrated southward to seek new lands. In the 1st century AD they formed part of the Suebi, in northwestern Germany. By the end of the 5th century they had moved into the area roughly coinciding with modern Austria north of the Danube river, where they subdued the Heruls and later fought frequent wars with the Gepids. The Lombard king Audoin defeated the Gepid leader Thurisind in 551 or 552; his successor Alboin eventually destroyed the Gepids at the Battle of Asfeld in 567.
Following this victory, Alboin decided to lead his people to Italy, which had become severely depopulated after the long Gothic War (535–554) between the Byzantine Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom there. The Lombards were joined by numerous Saxons, Heruls, Gepids, Bulgars, Thuringians, and Ostrogoths, and their invasion of Italy was almost unopposed. By late 569 they had conquered all the principal cities north of the Po River except Pavia, which fell in 572. At the same time, they occupied areas in central Italy and southern Italy. They established a Lombard Kingdom in Italy, later named Regnum Italicum ("Kingdom of Italy"), which reached its zenith under the eighth-century ruler Liutprand. In 774, the Kingdom was conquered by the Frankish King Charlemagne, and integrated into his Empire. However, Lombard nobles continued to rule parts of the Italian peninsula well into the 11th century, when they were conquered by the Normans, and added to their Kingdom of Sicily. Their legacy is apparent in the regional appellation, Lombardy.

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Marcantonio Negri
Marcantonio Negri (died October 1624) was an Italian composer, singer, and musical director of the early Baroque era. He was in the musical establishment of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice at the same time as Monteverdi, and was well known as a composer at the time.
He was born in Verona, but aside from this, nothing is known about his life prior to his appointment as assistant maestro di cappella at St. Mark's on December 22, 1612, a position in which he supported Monteverdi as primary maestro di cappella. His first publication dates from 1608, in Venice, so he had some experience as a composer and singer prior to his arrival at St. Mark's; whether he acquired that experience in Verona, Venice or elsewhere is not known. After four years at St. Mark's, he became abbot of a monastery at Veglia (now Krk, Croatia), on an island off the coast of Dalmatia, a position which still required his part-time involvement at St. Mark's. He resigned from St. Mark's in 1619, and his position was taken by Alessandro Grandi. Negri died at Veglia.

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Mario Capecchi
Mario Renato Capecchi (Verona, Italy, 6 October 1937) is an Italian-born American molecular geneticist and a co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering a method to create mice in which a specific gene is turned off (knocked out). He infected embryonic stem cells with a viral vector that was designed to incorporate itself into the target gene by homologous recombination. Homologous recombination is a process that cells normally use to repair their DNA, which is exploited by viruses to infect cells. He shared the prize with Martin Evans and Oliver Smithies. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics and Biology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, which he joined in 1973.
Mario Capecchi was born in the Italian city of Verona as the only child of Luciano Capecchi, an Italian airman who would be later reported as missing in action while manning an anti-aircraft gun in the Western Desert Campaign, and Lucy Ramberg, an American-born daughter of Impressionist painter Lucy Dodd Ramberg and German archaeologist Walter Ramberg. During World War II, his mother was sent to the Dachau concentration camp as punishment for pamphleteering and belonging to an anti-Fascist group. Prior to her arrest she had made contingency plans by selling her belongings and giving the proceeds to a peasant family near Bolzano to provide housing for her only child. However, after one year, the money was exhausted and the family was unable to care for him. At four-and-a-half years old he was left to fend for himself on the streets of northern Italy for the next four years, living in various orphanages and roving through towns with groups of other homeless children.

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Massimo Bubola
Massimo Bubola (15 March 1954) is an Italian singer-songwriter, record producer and arranger.
During his career, he cooperated with lot of Italian musicians in writing lyrics and musics, and his most significant cooperation was with Fabrizio De André. As author, Bubola cooperated also with Milva, the Gang, Mauro Pagani, Fiorella Mannoia,Cristiano De André, Kaballà and Grazia Di Michele.
Born in Terrazzo, a commune in the Province of Verona, he started writing songs very young. After the interest of the record producer Antonio Casetta, in 1976 he published his first album Nastro giallo (yellow ribbon). In 1978 Bubola started his cooperation with Fabrizio De André, writing with him the lyrics of the album Rimini and, in 1981, of the album Fabrizio De André.
In his third album Tre rose, published in 1981, Bubola received the cooperation of Fabrizio De André as artistic producer, Dori Ghezzi and Cristiano De André as chorister and Mauro Pagani as flute singer.
Despite of his cooperations with several musicians, he continued writing lyrics for his albums, publishing Massimo Bubola in 1982 and Vita, morte e miracoli in 1989. Amore e guerra, published in 1996, is an anthology in which Bubola performs some songs of De André, Fiorella Mannoia and of the Gang.

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Matteo Manassero
Matteo Manassero (born 19 April 1993) is an Italian professional golfer. He is the youngest golfer to win a European Tour event.
Manassero was born in Negrar, in the Province of Verona. In 2009, at the age of 16, he became the youngest ever winner of the British Amateur Championship, defeating England's Sam Hutsby in the final. The win qualified him for the 2009 Open Championship, where, playing alongside Tom Watson and Sergio García in the first two rounds, he made the cut and won the silver medal as leading amateur. He eventually finished tied for 13th place.
Manassero topped the World Amateur Golf Rankings on 30 December 2009 and remained number 1 for 18 weeks, until he was removed from the rankings upon turning professional.
On 9 April 2010, Manassero beat Bobby Cole's record, which lasted since 1967, to become the youngest player ever to make the cut at the Masters Tournament, at 16 years and 11 months and 22 days. Manassero was nearly two years younger than Cole was when he made the cut at the 1967 Masters. Manassero announced that he would turn professional shortly after the Masters and about two weeks after his 17th birthday. He made his professional debut at the BMW Italian Open. He officially turned pro on 3 May 2010. His first win came on 24 October 2010 at the Castelló Masters Costa Azahar in Valencia, Spain, where he triumphed by four strokes over Ignacio Garrido. The victory made him the youngest ever winner on the European Tour, surpassing the record set by Danny Lee at the 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic. The victory also secured his full European Tour playing privileges for the next two seasons. Manassero posted another very strong result when he tied for second in the 2010 UBS Hong Kong Open, one stroke behind winner Ian Poulter. He won the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year in 2010.

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Michele Sanmicheli
Michele Sanmicheli (also spelled Sanmmicheli, Sanmichele or Sammichele) (San Michele Extra, 1484 – Verona, 1559), was a Venetian architect and urban planner of Mannerist-style, among the greatest of his era. A tireless worker, he was in charge of designing buildings and religious buildings of great value.
Hired by the Serenissima as a military architect, he designed also numerous fortifications in the extensive Venetian empire, thus ensuring a great reputation. In fact, not only in Italy, where you can find his works in Venice, Verona, Bergamo and Brescia, he worked also in Dalmatia, Zadar, Sibenik, Crete and Corfu. He was probably the only Venetian architect of the sixteenth century to have had the opportunity to study Greek architecture, a possible source of inspiration for the use of Doric columns without bases.
Sanmicheli was born in San Michele, a quarter of Verona, which at the time was part of the Venetian terra ferma. He learnt the elements of his profession from his father Giovanni and his uncle Bartolomeo, who both practised successfully as builder-architects in Verona. Like Jacopo Sansovino he was a salaried official of the Republic of Venice, but unlike Sansovino, his commissions lay in Venetian territories outside Venice; he was no less distinguished as a military architect, and was employed in strengthening Venetian fortifications in Crete, Candia, Dalmatia and Corfu as well as a great fort at the Lido, guarding the sea entrance to the Venetian lagoon. In visiting Cyprus and Crete for the Serenissima Sanmicheli is probably the only practicing Venetian architect of the sixteenth century to have had the opportunity to see Greek architecture, a possible source for his use of Roman Doric columns without bases.

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Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte (French: Napoléon Bonaparte [napoleɔ̃ bɔnɑpaʁt]) (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the latter stages of the French Revolution. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815. His legal reform, the Napoleonic Code, has been a major influence on many civil law jurisdictions worldwide, but he is best remembered for his role in the wars led against France by a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars. He established hegemony over most of continental Europe and sought to spread the ideals of the French Revolution, while consolidating an imperial monarchy which restored aspects of the deposed Ancien Régime. Due to his success in these wars, often against numerically superior enemies, he is generally regarded as one of the greatest military commanders of all time and his campaigns are studied at military academies throughout much of the world.
Napoleon was born in Corsica to parents of noble Genoese ancestry, and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France. He rose to prominence under the French First Republic and led successful campaigns against the First and Second Coalitions arrayed against France. In 1799, he staged a coup d'état and installed himself as First Consul; five years later the French Senate proclaimed him emperor. In the first decade of the 19th century, the French Empire under Napoleon engaged in a series of conflicts—the Napoleonic Wars—involving every major European power.

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Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths (Latin: Ostrogothi or Austrogothi) were a branch of the Goths (the other branch being the Visigoths), a Germanic tribe who developed a vast empire north of the Black Sea in the 3rd century AD and, in the late 5th century, under Theodoric the Great, established a Kingdom in Italy.
Invading southward from the Baltic Sea, the Ostrogoths, at the time known as the Greuthungi, built up a huge empire stretching from the Dniester to the Volga river and from the Black Sea to the Baltic shores. The Ostrogoths were probably literate in the 3rd century, and their trade with the Romans was highly developed. Their Danubian kingdom reached its zenith under King Ermanaric, who is said to have committed suicide at an old age when the Huns attacked his people and subjugated them about 370.
After their subjugation by the Huns, little is heard of the Ostrogoths for about 80 years, after which they reappear in Pannonia on the middle Danube River as federates of the Romans. However, a pocket remained behind in the Crimea when the bulk of them moved to central Europe, and these Crimean Ostrogoths existed until at least the 16th century. After the collapse of the Hun empire after the Battle of Nedao (453), the Ostrogoths under Theodoric the Great first moved to Moesia (c. 475–488) and later conquered the Italian Kingdom of the German warrior Odoacer. Theodoric became King of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in 493 and died in 526. A period of instability then ensued, tempting the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian to declare war on the Ostrogoths in 535 in an effort to restore the former western provinces of the Roman Empire. Initially, the Byzantines were successful, but under the leadership of Totila, the Goths reconquered most of the lost territory until Totila's death at the Battle of Taginae. The war lasted for almost 20 years and caused enormous damage and depopulation of Italy. The remaining Ostrogoths were absorbed into the Lombards who established a Kingdom in Italy in 567 AD.

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Ottonian dynasty
The Ottonian dynasty was a dynasty of Germanic Kings (919-1024), named after its first emperor but also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin. The family itself is also sometimes known as the Liudolfings, after its earliest known member Liudolf and one of its primary leading-names. The Ottonian rulers are also regarded as the first dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire, as successors of the Frankish Carolingian dynasty and Charlemagne, who is commonly viewed as the founder of the Holy Roman Empire.
Although never Emperor, Henry I the Fowler, Duke of Saxony, was arguably the founder of this imperial dynasty, since his election as German king made it possible for his son, Otto the Great to take on the imperium. Since Otto I most of the German kings were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor. Under the reign of the Ottonian rulers, the kingdom of the Eastern Franks finally became Germany with the conclusion of the unification^{[clarification needed]} of the duchies of Lorraine, Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, Thuringia and Bavaria into one empire^{[citation needed]}. Also the union of Germany with the Holy Roman Empire, which dominated German history until 1806, began with the coronation of Otto I the Great in Rome in 962. But the projected restoration of the Roman Empire failed already under Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor.

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Paolo Bellasio
Paolo Bellasio (20 May 1554 – 10 July 1594) was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance. He is generally considered to be a member of the Roman School, though unusually for the group he seems to have written only madrigals.
Information on his early life is scarce. He was born in Verona, lived in Rome in 1582 in the service of Cardinal Filippo Boncompagni, and then in the next year traveled throughout Calabria, probably looking for a job as an organist. In 1584 and 1585 he held a series of part-time posts at various churches in Rome. Orvieto Cathedral hired him in 1587, but he did not stay long, returning to Verona in 1589. In the early 1590s he returned to Rome for reasons unknown, and died there. According to his epitaph, Pope Clement VIII granted him the title Knight of the Golden Spur.
Bellasio published five books of madrigals, in a well-crafted, conservative and contrapuntal idiom. In addition he wrote a book of villanelle which included a part for lute, as well as a group of canzonettas. The lack of sacred music in his output is striking, especially for a Roman at the end of the 16th century, though perhaps some of his music has not survived.

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Paolo Veronese
Paolo Veronese (1528 – 19 April 1588) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance in Venice, famous for paintings such as The Wedding at Cana and The Feast in the House of Levi. He adopted the name Paolo Cagliari or Paolo Caliari, and became known as "Veronese" from his birthplace in Verona.
Veronese, Titian, and Tintoretto constitute the triumvirate of pre-eminent Venetian painters of the late Renaissance (16th century). Veronese is known as a supreme colorist, and for his illusionistic decorations in both fresco and oil. His most famous works are elaborate narrative cycles, executed in a dramatic and colorful Mannerist style, full of majestic architectural settings and glittering pageantry. His large paintings of biblical feasts executed for the refectories of monasteries in Venice and Verona are especially notable. His brief testimony with the Inquisition is often quoted for its insight into contemporary painting technique.
The census in Verona attests that Veronese was born sometime in 1528 to a stonecutter named Gabriele, and his wife Catherina. By the age of fourteen Veronese apprenticed with the local master Antonio Badile, and perhaps with Giovanni Francesco Caroto. An altarpiece painted by Badile in 1543 includes striking passages that were most likely the work of his fifteen-year-old apprentice; Veronese's precocious gifts soon surpassed the level of the workshop, and by 1544 he was no longer residing with Badile. Though trained in the culture of Mannerism then popular in Parma, he soon developed his own preference for a more radiant palette.

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Paul Valéry
Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry (French pronunciation: [pɔl valeʁi]; October 30, 1871 – July 20, 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. His interests were sufficiently broad that he can be classified as a polymath. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues) and aphorisms on art, history, letters, music, and current events, he also wrote many misanthropic diatribes on human nature.
Valéry was born of a Corsican father and Genoese-Istrian mother in Sète, a town on the Mediterranean coast of the Hérault, but he was raised in Montpellier, a larger urban center close by. After a traditional Roman Catholic education, he studied law at university, then resided in Paris for most of the remainder of his life, where he was, for a while, part of the circle of Stéphane Mallarmé.
Though his earliest publications date from his mid-twenties, Valéry did not become a full-time writer until 1920, when the man for whom he worked as private secretary, a former chief executive of the Havas news agency, Edouard Lebey, died of Parkinson's disease. Until then, Valéry had, briefly, earned his living at the Ministry of War before assuming the relatively flexible post as assistant to the increasingly impaired Lebey, a job he held for some twenty years.

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Pepin of Italy
Pepin (April 777 – 8 July 810) was the son of Charlemagne and king of the Lombards (781–810) under the authority of his father.
Pepin was the second son of Charlemagne by his then-wife Hildegard. He was born Carloman, but when his half-brother Pepin the Hunchback betrayed their father, the royal name Pepin passed to him. He was made "king of Italy" after his father's conquest of the Lombards, in 781, and crowned by Pope Hadrian I with the Iron Crown of Lombardy.
He was active as ruler of Lombardy and worked to expand the Frankish empire. In 791, he marched a Lombard army into the Drava valley and ravaged Pannonia, while his father marched along the Danube into Avar territory. Charlemagne left the campaigning to deal with a Saxon revolt in 792. Pepin and Duke Eric of Friuli continued, however, to assault the Avars' ring-shaped strongholds. The great Ring of the Avars, their capital fortress, was taken twice. The booty was sent to Charlemagne in Aachen and redistributed to all his followers and even to foreign rulers, including King Offa of Mercia. A celebratory poem, De Pippini regis Victoria Avarica, was composed after Pepin forced the Avar khagan to submit in 796. This poem was composed at Verona, Pepin's capital after 799 and the centre of Carolingian Renaissance literature in Italy. The Versus de Verona (c. 800), an urban encomium of the city, likewise praises king Pepin. The "Codex Gothanus" History of the Lombards hails Pepin's campaign against Benevento and his liberation of Corsica "from the oppression of the Moors."

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Peter of Verona
Saint Peter of Verona O.P. (1206 – April 6, 1252), also known as Saint Peter Martyr, was a 13th century Italian Catholic priest. He was a Dominican friar and a celebrated preacher. He served as Inquisitor in Lombardy, was killed by an assassin, and was canonized as a Catholic saint.
He was born in the city of Verona into a family perhaps sympathetic to the Cathar heresy. Peter went to a Catholic school, and later to the University of Bologna, where he is said to have maintained his orthodoxy and at the age of fifteen, met Saint Dominic. Peter joined the Order of the Friars Preachers (Dominicans) and became a celebrated preacher throughout northern and central Italy.
From the 1230s on, Peter preached against heresy, and especially Catharism, which had many adherents in thirteenth-century Northern Italy. Catharism was a form of dualism, also called Manichaeism, and rejected the authority of the Pope and many Christian teachings. Pope Gregory IX appointed him General Inquisitor for northern Italy in 1234. and Peter evangelized nearly the whole of Italy, preaching in Rome, Florence, Bologna, Genoa, and Como.

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Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (July 20, 1304 – July 19, 1374), known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism". In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo created the model for the modern Italian language based on Petrarch's works, as well as those of Giovanni Boccaccio and, especially, Dante Alighieri. This would be later endorsed by the Accademia della Crusca. Petrarch's sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and became a model for lyrical poetry. He is also known for being the first to develop the concept of the "Dark Ages".
Petrarch was born July 20, 1304 at Vicolo dell'Orto 28 according to tradition in the city of Arezzo, just at dawn on a Monday. He was the son of Ser Petracco. His given name was Francesco Petracco. The name was Latinized to Petrarca and later was Anglicized to Petrarch. Petrarch's younger brother was born in Incisa in Val d'Arno in 1307. Dante was a friend of his father.

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Pisanello
Pisanello (c. 1395 – probably 1455), known professionally as Antonio di Puccio Pisano or Antonio di Puccio da Cereto, also erroneously called Vittore Pisano by Giorgio Vasari, was one of the most distinguished painters of the early Italian Renaissance and Quattrocento. He was acclaimed by poets such as Guarino da Verona and praised by humanists of his time who compared him to such illustrious names as Cimabue, Phidias and Praxiteles.
Pisanello is known for his resplendent frescoes in large murals, elegant portraits, small easel pictures, and many brilliant drawings. He is the most important commemorative portrait medallist in the first half of the 15th century.
He was employed by the Doge of Venice, the Pope in the Vatican and the courts of Verona, Ferrara, Mantua, Milan, Rimini, and by the King of Naples. He stood in high esteem of the Gonzaga and Este families.
Pisanello had many of his works wrongly ascribed to other artists such as Piero della Francesca, Albrecht Dürer and Leonardo da Vinci, to name a few. While most of his paintings have perished, a good many of his drawings and medals have survived.

wn.com/Pisanello
Ratherius
Ratherius (890–974) was a teacher, writer, and bishop. His political work led to his becoming an exile and a wanderer. He is also known as Rathier or Rather of Verona.
Ratherius' long life was an eventful one. He was deposed by King Hugh in 935.^{[citation needed]} As presiding bishop he once commented that if he attempted to enforce the canons against unchaste persons who administered ecclesiastical rites, the Church would be without anyone except boys. And if he put into effect canons against bastards, they would also be excluded.^{[citation needed]}
The bishop was restored to jurisdiction for a third time in Verona by Otto I. Again he withdrew from it.^{[citation needed]}
He was born about 887 into a noble family which lived in the territory of Liège. While still a boy he was sent as an oblate to the Benedictine Abbey of Lobbes in Hainaut, where he was a diligent student, acquired much learning, and became a monk of the abbey. At an early age he displayed a restless nature, a disposition difficult to get along with, great ambition and harsh zeal. Consequently, notwithstanding his strict orthodoxy, wide learning and sobriety of conduct, he met with great difficulties in every position he assumed, and nowhere attained permanent success. His entire life was a wandering one and not in reality fruitful.^{[citation needed]}

wn.com/Ratherius
Romano Guardini
Romano Guardini (17 February 1885, Verona – 1 October 1968, Munich) was a Catholic priest, author, and academic. He was one of the most important figures in Catholic intellectual life in 20th-century.
Guardini was born in Verona, Italy in 1885, but his family moved to Mainz when he was one year old and he lived in Germany for the rest of his life. After studying chemistry in Tübingen for two semesters, and economics in Munich and Berlin for three, he discerned a vocation to the priesthood. He studied Theology in Freiburg im Breisgau and Tübingen, and was ordained priest in Mainz in 1910. He briefly worked in a pastoral position before returning to Freiburg to work on his doctorate in Theology under Engelbert Krebs. He received the doctorate in 1915, for a dissertation on Bonaventure. He completed his “Habilitation” in Dogmatic Theology at the University of Bonn in 1922, again with a dissertation on Bonaventure. Throughout this period he also worked as a chaplain to the Catholic youth movement.

wn.com/Romano_Guardini
Sara Simeoni
Sara Simeoni (born April 19, 1953) is an Italian former high jumper, who won a gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics and twice set a world record in the women's high jump.
Sara Simeoni was born in Rivoli Veronese, in the province of Verona. She soon took up athletics, specialising in the high jump. Her first international result was at the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki, where she ended 9th with a 178 cm jump. Her first international success was at the 1976 in Montreal, where she won a silver medal, with a personal best of 1.91 m, and was beaten only by Rosemarie Ackermann's 1.93 m leap.
In August 1978, she set the new world record with 2.01 m in Brescia (this jump stood as a national record until Antonietta Di Martino jumped 2.02 in June 2007). Later in the same month she equalled it at Prague while winning the European title. In 1980, Simeoni set a new Olympic record of 1.97 m, when winning gold in Moscow.
Simeoni struggled to regain her form in the following years, with a series of tendon injuries. At 1984 Olympics, Simeoni carried the Italian flag at the opening ceremony in Los Angeles. Here, she cemented her reputation as one of the greatest female high jumpers ever, in a thrilling duel with German Ulrike Meyfarth. Simeoni managed to reach the 2 meters measure for the first time since 1978. The ageing Meyfarth, however, replied with a notable 2.02 m jump, and Simeoni won a silver medal.

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Stefano Bernardi
Stefano (or Steffano) Bernardi (c. 1577 – 15 February 1637), also known as "il Moretto", was an Italian priest, composer and music theorist. Born in Verona and maestro di cappella at the Verona Cathedral from 1611 to 1622, he later moved to Salzburg, where he was responsible for the music at the Salzburg Cathedral and composed a Te Deum for 12 choirs performed at the cathedral's consecration in 1628. Bernardi's career spanned the transition from late Renaissance music to early Baroque, with some of his works in the polyphonic style of Palestrina and others in the new concertato style. He composed both sacred and secular music, including several masses and motets as well as sinfonias and three books of madrigals. He also wrote a treatise on counterpoint published in 1615.
Bernardi was born in Verona and educated at the Scuola Accolitale (Acolyte College) attached to the Verona Cathedral, where he also sang in the choir under Ippolito Baccusi. By 1602 he was a paid musician at the court of Count Mario Bevilacqua and at the Accademia Filarmonica in Verona. In 1606, the Accademia elevated his position to maestro della musica (Music Master). The following year Bernardi went to Rome for further training and stayed there for four years, becoming the maestro di cappella of Santa Maria ai Monti in 1610. He returned to Verona in 1611 when he was offered the same position at the Verona Cathedral as the successor to Francesco Anerio. He held that post until 1622 and during that time was also closely associated with the Accademia Filarmonica. He published a treatise on counterpoint, Porta musicale, in 1616 primarily for the students at the Scuola Accolitale where he also taught. Amongst his students in Verona in those years were Antonio Bertali and Pietro Verdina.

wn.com/Stefano_Bernardi
Stendhal
Marie-Henri Beyle (23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his two novels Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black, 1830) and La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma, 1839).
Born in Grenoble, Isère, he had an unhappy childhood in what he found to be stifling provincial France, disliking his "unimaginative" father and mourning his mother, who had died when he was young. His closest friend was his younger sister, Pauline, with whom he maintained a steady correspondence throughout the first decade of the 19th century.
The military and theatrical worlds of the First French Empire were a revelation to Beyle. He was named an auditor with the Conseil d'État on 3 August 1810, and thereafter took part in the French administration and in the Napoleonic wars in Italy. He travelled extensively in Germany and was part of Napoleon's army in the 1812 invasion of Russia.

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Stilicho
Flavius Stilicho (occasionally written as Stilico) (ca. 359–408) was a high-ranking general (magister militum) who was, for a time, the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. Half Vandal and married to the niece of the Emperor Theodosius, Stilicho’s regency for the underage Honorius marked the high point of German advancement in the service of Rome. After many years of victories against a number of enemies, both barbarian and Roman, a series of political and military disasters finally allowed his enemies in the court of Honorius to remove him from power, culminating in his arrest and subsequent execution in 408. Known for his military successes and sense of duty, Stilicho was, in the words of the great historian Edward Gibbon, “the last of the Roman generals.”
Stilicho was the son of a Vandal father and a Roman mother. Despite his father's origins there is little to suggest that Stilicho considered himself anything other than a Roman, and his high rank within the Empire suggests that he was probably not Arian like many Germanic Christians but rather a Nicene Christian like his patron Theodosius I, who declared Nicene Christianity the official religion of the Empire.

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Theodoric I
Theodoric I (Gothic: Þiudareiks; Latin: Theodericus; died in 451) sometimes called Theodorid and in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian Teodorico, was the King of the Visigoths from 418 to 451. An illegitimate son of Alaric, Theodoric is famous for defeating Attila at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451, where he was mortally wounded.
In 418 he succeeded King Wallia. The Romans had ordered King Wallia to move his people from Iberia to Gaul. As king, Theodoric completed the settlements of the Visigoths in Gallia Aquitania II, Novempopulana and Gallia Narbonensis, and then used the declining power of the Roman Empire to extend his territory to the south.
After the death of Emperor Honorius and the usurpation of Joannes in 423 internal power struggles broke out in the Roman Empire. Theodoric used this situation and tried to capture the important road junction Arelate, but the Magister militum Aëtius, who was assisted by the Huns, was able to save the city.
The Visigoths concluded a treaty and were given Gallic noblemen as hostages. The later Emperor Avitus visited Theodoric, lived at his court and taught his sons.

wn.com/Theodoric_I
Theodoric the Great
Theoderic the Great (Gothic: Þiudareiks; Latin: Flāvius Theodericus; Greek: Θευδέριχος, Theuderikhos; Old English: Þēodrīc; Old Norse: Þjōðrēkr, Þīðrēkr; 454 – August 30, 526) was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), ruler of Italy (493–526), regent of the Visigoths (511–526), and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire. His Gothic name Þiudareiks translates into "people-king" or "ruler of the people".
A son of King Theodemir, an Amali nobleman, Theoderic was born in Pannonia, after his people had defeated the Huns at the Battle of Nedao. Growing up as a hostage in Constantinople, Theoderic received a privileged education, and succeeded his father as leader of the Pannonian Ostrogoths in 471 AD. Settling his people in lower Moesia, Theoderic came in conflict with Thracian Ostrogoths led by Theoderic Strabo, whom he eventually supplanted, uniting the peoples in 484.
Subsequently, Byzantine Emperor Zeno gave him the title of Patrician and the office of Magister militum (master of the soldiers), and even appointed him as Roman Consul. Trying to achieve further aims, Theoderic frequently ravaged the provinces of the Eastern Roman Empire, eventually threatening Constantinople itself. In 488, Emperor Zeno ordered Theoderic to overthrow the German usurper Odoacer, who had established himself as King of Italy. After a victorious three-year long war, Theoderic killed Odoacer with his own hands, settled his 100,000 to 200,000 people in Italy, and founded a Kingdom based in Ravenna. Although promoting separation between the Arian Ostrogoths and the Roman population, Theoderic stressed the importance of racial harmony. Seeking to restore the glory of Ancient Rome, he ruled Italy in its most peaceful and prosperous period since Valentinian, until his death in 526. Memories of his reign made him a hero of Germanic legend as Dietrich von Bern.

wn.com/Theodoric_the_Great
Vincenzo Ruffo
Vincenzo Ruffo (c. 1508 – February 9, 1587) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the composers most responsive to the musical reforms suggested by the Council of Trent, especially in his composition of masses, and as such was an influential member of the Counter-Reformation.
Vincenzo Ruffo was born at Verona, and became a priest there in 1531. Most likely he studied with Biagio Rossetti, the organist at the cathedral in Verona. Ruffo published his first book of music in 1542. Also in 1542 he became maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Savona, but he only held this position for a year; the cathedral was destroyed in 1543 by the Genoese, and Ruffo fled.
In either 1543 or 1544 he went to Milan to work for Alfonso d'Avalos, who was the governor of Milan at this time. When d'Avalos was called back to Madrid in 1546, Ruffo went back to in Verona, where he was the music director at the Accademia Filarmonica in 1551-1552, superseding Jan Nasco; in 1554 he became the choirmaster at the cathedral of Verona. While there he probably taught Gian Matteo Asola and Marc' Antonio Ingegneri, the teacher of Monteverdi; it is possible, though not proven, that he taught Andrea Gabrieli there as well.

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Visigoths
The Visigoths (Latin: Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, or Wisi) were one of two main branches of the later Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germanic peoples who spread through the late Roman Empire during Late Antiquity or the Migration Period. The Visigoths emerged out of the Gothic groups who entered the Roman Empire in and after 376 and defeated the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. The Visigoths invaded Italy under Alaric I and famously sacked Rome in 410 AD, eventually settling in Spain and Portugal, where they founded a powerful Kingdom.
After numerous years of migration, which led the Visigoths to compare themselves to the Biblical Hebrew people wandering for 40 years in the Sinai Desert, the Visigoths settled in southern Gaul as foederati of the Romans in 418. For unknown reasons, they soon fell out with their hosts and established their own kingdom with its capital at Toulouse. Extending their authority into Hispania at the expense of the Vandals, their rule in Gaul was ended by the Franks under Clovis I at the Battle of Vouillé in 507. Thereafter the only territory north of the Pyrenees that the Visigoths held was Septimania, such that their kingdom became limited to Hispania. The province came to be dominated by the Visigothic small governing elite at the expense of the Byzantine province of Spania and the Suebic Kingdom of Galicia.

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Walter Chiari
Walter Chiari, stage name of Walter Annichiarico (8 March 1924 - 20 December 1991), was a hugely successful Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles.
Born in Verona, Chiari achieved a certain degree of international success in films such as The Little Hut (1957), Bonjour Tristesse (1958), Chimes at Midnight (1966), and The Valachi Papers (1972). He appeared opposite Anna Magnani in Luchino Visconti's film Bellissima (1951). He also appeared on Broadway in the musical The Gay Life (1961).
In the late 1950s and '60s he was one of the main protagonists of the "Dolce Vita", the glitzy and glamorous Italian jet-set scene, centered in Rome and especially focused on the booming cinema industry he was so at ease with.
During the making of The Little Hut he met Ava Gardner (still formally married to Frank Sinatra but already estranged from him), and he started a passionate and tumultuous relationship with the American superstar.
Unlike many Italian actors of the time he had a full and fluent command of English, which he put to good use in his Broadway spell which in 1961 saw him playing The Gay Life (a musical comedy inspired by a Schnitzler piece) for 113 shows.

wn.com/Walter_Chiari
Wilhelm von Bibra
Wilhelm von Bibra (1442–1490) (Eques auratus) was a Papal Emissary.
Wilhelm functioned as a Papal Emissary for both the archbishop of Cologne and Kaiser Friedrich. Wilhelm’s half brother, Prince Bishop Lorenz von Bibra of Würzburg, in 1487 wrote a letter of introduction to Pope Innocent VIII for Wilhelm who was being sent to the Vatican as emissary of Archbishop Herman of Cologne. As an emissary, he traveled to Rome three times: 1483, 1487, and 1490. By July 8, 1490, Wilhelm was "miles auratus" (a reference to Knight of the Golden Spur). In 1490, Wilhelm became ill when returning from Rome as an emissary of the emperor Frederick III. He was a guest at the Palazzo of the countly Pellegrini family when he died August 28, 1490. Wilhelm's tomb stone is still to be seen in the Pellegrini Chapel of the Santa Anastasia in Verona. Originally, it was on the floor and was moved to the wall in summer of 1804.
Wilhelm was a member of the aristocratic Franconian von Bibra family which among its members were Wilhelm’s half brother, Lorenz von Bibra Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, Duke in Franconia, Conrad von Bibra, Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, Duke in Franconia (1490-1544), Heinrich von Bibra, Prince-Bishop, Prince-Abbot of Fulda (1711-1788) and Ernst von Bibra (1806-1878), naturalist and author.

wn.com/Wilhelm_von_Bibra
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564; died 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613 at age 49, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.

wn.com/William_Shakespeare
Zeno of Verona
Zeno of Verona (Italian: Zenone da Verona; about 300 – 371 or 380) was either an early Christian Bishop of Verona or martyr. He is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and in Eastern Orthodox Church.
According to a Veronese author named Coronato, a notary of the 7th century, Zeno was a native of North Africa, from Mauretania (northern Morocco and Algeria). He taught the children of Africa about the Catholic religion and he also helped them with their school work. The children could rely on someone who could help them. Another theory is that Zeno was a follower of Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria, who accompanied his master when the latter visited Verona in 340.
The style of the 90 or so Sermones attributed to Zeno has also been considered evidence of his African origins due to its literary style, since Christian African writers of the time frequently used neologisms and wordplay. Many of the Sermones concern Old Testament exegesis and “have a definite anti-Semitic element in them”.
Staying in the city, Zeno entered the monastic life, living as a monk until around 362, when he was elected successor to the See of Verona after the death of Bishop Gricinus (Cricinus, Cricino).

wn.com/Zeno_of_Verona

Verona-Nahodou

Verona Nahodou music video www.facebook.com...

published: 29 Jun 2006

author: Erajka

Verona - Ztracená bloudím (official music video)

LAJKUJ VERONA FACEBOOK : www.facebook.com...

published: 05 Oct 2010

author: veronadance

Verona - Girotondo

New song by the Czech group Verona...

published: 10 Jun 2006

author: Richey2589

Verona-Den co den

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published: 04 May 2009

author: CoofeMan000Fernet

Geographer "Verona" - AllSaints Basement Sessions Treasure Island Special

twitter.com www.allsaints.com pinterest.com www.facebook.com www.youtube.com On the second...

published: 15 Nov 2011

author: AllSaintsShop

Geographer - Verona

-...

published: 29 Jan 2011

author: Eric Pérez

of Verona - Dark In My Imagination - Lyric Video

Official lyric video for Dark In My Imagination Grab a FREE download from us here: on.fb.m...

published: 31 May 2012

author: ofveronamusic

Verona Official Trailer 1

DOWNLOAD BE FREE ON iTUNES. Support VERONA and The Matthew Shepard Foundation: itunes.appl...

published: 07 Jun 2010

author: Veronathemovie

Verona The Short : Rooftop

The Verona Team is working on the launch of a new official site! Become a follower by ente...

published: 25 May 2012

author: Veronathemovie

Verona - Za všechno může čas

Verona - Za všechno může čas...

published: 08 Sep 2008

author: Renie42

VERONA ITALIA

VERONA ITALIA...

published: 20 Nov 2008

author: Leo San

Rómeó és Júlia - Verona

First sung song from the Hungarian production of the French musical: Roméo et Juliette....

published: 10 Jul 2007

author: wosao

Pearl Jam - Release (Verona, Italy 9/16/2006) (Audio)

published: 16 Sep 2011

author: PearljamVEVO

Verona - Hey Boy (Official Music Video) HD

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published: 21 Sep 2011

author: 14rocnikskd

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photo: AP / Altaf Qadri

Indian anti-riot personnel stand guard at a check point after security was beefed up following the death of a young woman who was recently gang-raped in a moving bus in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012.

India appeal for calm after Delhi gang-rape victim dies

BBC News

29 Dec 2012

Police in India have sealed off much of the capital, Delhi, and issued an appeal for calm after the death of a woman who was gang-raped in the city. The 23-year old woman, who has not been identified, died early on Saturday at a hospital in Singapore, where she had been taken for specialist treatment. Her body is to be flown back to India for burial ... Gatherings of more than five people have been banned in the city centre ... ....(size: 4.9Kb)

photo: US Navy / HMC Josh Ives

U.S. Army Spc. Jacob Bobbe, security force team member for Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Farah, maintains security on the street during a key leader engagement in the Lash-e Juwayn district of Farah province, Afghanistan, Dec. 11 2012.

Imperial Lockstep

CounterPunch

27 Dec 2012

Imperial adventures are nothing new in the Middle East. Neither is their glorification, as Peter O’Toole’s pained Lawrence of Arabia eternally reminds us. But for a decade or so now, things have been heating up, as if to coincide with climate change and fears of declining petroleum reserves ... The Belly for Belligerence? ... The question loomed over beltway intelligentsia like an ephemeral Gordian knot ... We’re All Hawks Now ... While George W ... ....(size: 9.3Kb)

photo: AP / Ben Curtis

In this Sunday, April 29, 2012 file photo, troops from the Central African Republic stand guard at a building used for joint meetings between them and U.S. Army special forces, in Obo, Central African Republic, where U.S. special forces have paired up with local troops and Ugandan soldiers to seek out Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

CAR seeks foreign help against rebels

Al Jazeera

28 Dec 2012

The president of Central African Republic (CAR) has urgently called on France and other foreign powers to help his government fend off rebels who are quickly seizing territory and approaching the capital. Speaking to crowds in Bangui, a city of some 600,000, Francois Bozize on Thursday pleaded with foreign powers to do what they could. He pointed in particular to France, Central African Republic's former colonial ruler ... 516 Share ... News ... ....(size: 19.5Kb)

photo: WN / Janice Sabnal

Six dead as winter snowstorms pound US

Zeenews

27 Dec 2012

Washington. Six people, including two young children, were left dead in weather-related accidents, as winter snowstorms complicated travel for many Americans in the Midwest and Northeast on Wednesday. Snow totals in parts of Indiana ranged from 6 to 12 inches, CNN reported. About 350 snowploughs were clearing roads throughout the city. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told residents they should avoid nonessential travel ... IANS ... ....(size: 2.2Kb)

photo: AP / Itsuo Inouye

Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) employees at the emergency operation center in the building used as crisis management headquarters at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012.

Japan: The More Things Change, The More They Remain the Same

WorldNews.com

29 Dec 2012

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. A millennium before the English statesmen Edmund Burke, regarded as the father of Western Conservatism and who wrote, "good order is the foundation of all things," Japan's Seventeen-Article Constitution began with this conservative principle. "Harmony is to be cherished, and opposition for opposition's sake must be avoided as a matter of principle." ... militarism, those protesting U.S....(size: 9.7Kb)

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High school sports results for Dec. 28

Springfield News-Sun

30 Dec 2012

BOYS BASKETBALL. WL-SALEM 51, CATH. CENTRAL 49. WL-SALEM (7-1) — Bailey 11, Mayse 6, Woods 6, Burden 11, Hormann 15, Merrick 2. Totals 20-4-51. CATH. CENTRAL (0-6) — Dimitroff 7, Gannon 3, R.Weeks 6, Fain 1, Burns 2, Johnson 20, Ellis 10. Totals 20-3-49. 3-ptrs. WLS 7 (Bailey 3, Burden 3, Hormann 1); CC 6 (Dimitroff 1, Johnson 5). TIPPECANOE 62, SIDNEY 55 ... Totals. 21-7-55.  ... Totals ... M ... WLS ... Walton-Verona 39; 35 ... Walton-Verona 39; 18....(size: 4.1Kb)

High school sports results for Dec. 29

Springfield News-Sun

30 Dec 2012

BOYS BASKETBALL. SATURDAY’S RESULTS. Bellefontaine 35, West Liberty-Salem 34. Kenton Ridge 76, Northeastern 43. Shawnee 58, Springfield 56. Stebbins 66, Oakwood 56. Tecumseh 89, Sidney 58. Harvest Prep Inv. Grove City Chr. 61, Emmanuel Christian 56. Miami Trace Holiday Inv. London 70, Cedarville 50. Greeneview 71, Madison Plains 59. Shawnee 58, Springfield 56 ... 1 ... Walton-Verona 52.0; 36 ... Clay Brown(Walton-Verona) pin Tony Kitchen(Urbana) 4.47....(size: 7.6Kb)

Sunday Insight: Making life better

NZ Herald

30 Dec 2012

The Herald on Sunday names 25 people who we believe have made New Zealanders' lives and hometowns tangibly better. 1. Lance O'Sullivan. Just before Christmas, a woman walked into Dr Lance O'Sullivan's clinic with a sick grandchild. Three more mokopuna, also sick, were at home ... So O'Sullivan made a house call instead. The result ... The payback works both ways ... 2 ... His mother (now 91) had a clutch of cafes in Auckland, including the famed Verona ... ....(size: 23.8Kb)

A revived interest in Albéniz

The Examiner

29 Dec 2012

In 1995 the pianist Paul Verona published the doctoral thesis he had written at Manhattan School of Music in 1991, entitled The Iberia Suite of Isaac Albéniz ... Now Verona has released a two-CD recording of the complete Iberia suite on the Centaur label; and those CDs are available for download from ClassicsOnline ... This is what Verona never seems to ......(size: 3.4Kb)

Fight Schedule

Newsday

29 Dec 2012

At Ota-City General Gymnasium, , Takashi vs. Bryan Vasquez, 12, for Uchiyama's WBA junior lightweight title; Yota Sato vs. Ryo Akaho, 12, for Sato's WBC junior bantamweight title; Tepparith Kokietgym vs. Kohei Kono, 12, for Kokietgym's WBA junior bantamweight title. At Bodymaker Colosseum, Osaka, Japan, Ryo Miyazaki vs ... Jose Rodriguez, 12, for vacant WBA junior flyweight title ... At Mexico City ... vs ... At Turning Stone Casino Resort, Verona, N.Y....(size: 5.1Kb)

Fight Schedule - Wire Boxing - The Sacramento Bee --> 0 comments | Print Fight Schedule

Sacramento Bee

29 Dec 2012

Dec. 31. At Ota-City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Takashi Uchiyama vs. Bryan Vasquez, 12, for Uchiyama's WBA junior lightweight title; Yota Sato vs. Ryo Akaho, 12, for Sato's WBC junior bantamweight title; Tepparith Kokietgym vs. Kohei Kono, 12, for Kokietgym's WBA junior bantamweight title. At Bodymaker Colosseum, Osaka, Japan, Ryo Miyazaki vs ... Jan. 4 ... Michael Gbenga, 10, light heavyweights. Jan. 5 ... Jan ... At Turning Stone Casino Resort, Verona, N.Y....(size: 4.7Kb)

Lamagna Cheese brings in CEO with fresh ideas

The Business Review

28 Dec 2012

Date ... Joe Wojcik. John Sottile, left, CEO of Verona-based Lamagna Cheese Co., was hired in the spring by the brothers who own the company, Rudy, Mike, Chris and Kirk Lamagna ... As the first CEO of Verona-based Lamagna Cheese Co ... It came when he inquired about putting a sign with the company’s name on its Verona facility, only to be told the father of the men who ran the company kept the name off to avoid solicitations ... Related links.. , ... ... ... ....(size: 8.4Kb)

School community bands together for Verona troop project

North Jersey

28 Dec 2012

Every year, 's Troop 21222 partners with a different organization as a community service project ... PHOTO COURTESY OF LORRAINE LOCURTO. ....(size: 1.2Kb)

Family of 18-year-old suburban Boynton Beach man fatally shot by deputy expected to sue sheriff’s office

Palm Beach Post

28 Dec 2012

Goldstein, a four-year patrol deputy who had never been involved in a shooting, responded to the Camberdella family’s Verona Lakes home after dispatchers received at least three 911 calls saying Camberdella was trying to choke his mother, Linda, and was threatening her ......(size: 1.4Kb)

Attorney: Boynton-area teen shot by deputy was ‘not a threat’

Palm Beach Post

28 Dec 2012

The attorney for an 18-year-old man shot and killed by a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy last week in suburban Boynton Beach said Michael Camberdella was not a threat to the deputy. Camberdella was shot by Deputy William L ... “There was nothing in his hands that served as an imminent deadly threat ... Goldstein had responded to the Verona Lakes home to investigate a domestic disturbance ... “He was not inside the house....(size: 2.8Kb)

Sheriff says using a taser on charging teen wasn’t an option for deputy

Palm Beach Post

28 Dec 2012

In February 2011, a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy was called to Linda and Irving Camberdella’s Delray Beach home to investigate a domestic incident. Linda Camberdella told the deputy her son, Michael, was bipolar and had a total of seven mental disorders ... Neighbors on Tremezzo Lane in the Verona Lakes neighborhood west of Florida’s Turnpike said they knew Camberdella well and that he was a troubled young man....(size: 4.0Kb)

Cyclo-cross Nationals return to Madison on January 9 (USA Cycling Inc)

noodls

28 Dec 2012

(Source. USA Cycling Inc). Colorado Springs, Colo. (December 28, 2012) - The 2013 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships are set to roll out at Badger Prairie State Park in Madison, Wis., from Jan. 9-13. The nation's pre-eminent cyclo-cross racers will toe the line in races for riders ages 10-and-up ... 1-3 ... Credentials can be picked up at the event's media room, the Verona Public Library (500 Silent St., Verona, WI 53593) ... CST....(size: 10.5Kb)

Deputy who fatally shot teen in suburban Boynton is a 4-year vet and ex-community assistance aid

Palm Beach Post

28 Dec 2012

The 33-year-old Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed an 18-year-old man in suburban Boynton Beach Thursday morning has been involved with the sheriff’s office since he was in high school ... Goldstein, who is assigned to the west Boynton Beach district, was the deputy who responded to Linda and Irving Camberdella’s home in the Verona Lakes community Thursday morning ... “My son was upset ... ... ....(size: 4.7Kb)

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This article is about the city in Italy. For the Venezuelan rock band, see Verona (band). For other uses, see Verona (disambiguation).

Verona

— Comune —

Città di Verona

A collage of the city of Verona

Flag

Verona

Location of Verona in Italy

Coordinates: 45°26′N 10°59′E / 45.433°N 10.983°E

Country

Verona (VR)

Frazioni

Avesa, San Michele Extra, San Massimo all'Adige, Quinzano, Quinto di Valpantena, Poiano di Valpantena, Parona di Valpolicella, Montorio Veronese, Mizzole, Marchesino, Chievo, Cà di David e Moruri

Government

• Mayor

Flavio Tosi (LN)

Area

• Total

206.63 km² (79.78 sq mi)

Elevation

59 m (194 ft)

Population (27 December 2008)

• Total

265,410

• Density

1,300/km² (3,300/sq mi)

Demonym

Veronesi or Scaligeri

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

37100

Dialing code

045

Patron saint

Saint Zeno of Verona

Saint day

April 12

Website

Official website

City of Verona *
UNESCO World Heritage Site

Country	Italy
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iv
Reference	797
Region **	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	2000 (24th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO

Statue of Dante Alighieri in Verona

Verona (Italian pronunciation: [veˈroːna] ( listen); Venetian Verona (pron. Veròna); German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of northeast Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km² (550.58 sq mi) and has a population of 714,274 inhabitants.^[1] It is one of the main tourist destinations in northern Italy, owing to its artistic heritage, several annual fairs, shows, and operas, such as the lyrical season in the Arena, the ancient amphitheatre built by the Romans.

The city has been awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture.

1 History
2 Mentions
3 Climate
4 Demographics
- 4.1 Foreign residents by country of citizenship in 2008
5 Main sights
- 5.1 Roman edifices
- 5.2 Medieval architecture
6 Notable people
7 Sport
8 Infrastructure and transport
9 International relations
- 9.1 Twin towns — sister cities
10 References
- 10.1 Notes
11 External links

History [link]

Main article: History of Verona

The precise details of Verona's early history remain a mystery. The origin of the name Verona is also unknown. One theory is it was a city of the Euganei, who were obliged to give it up to the Cenomani (550 BC). With the conquest of the Vaecame Roman (about 300 BC) Verona became a Roman colonia in 89 BC, and then a municipium in 49 BC; Verona had the franchise in 59.

The city became important because it was at the intersection of several roads. Stilicho defeated Alaric and his Visigoths here in 403. But, after Verona was conquered in (489 AD) the Gothic domination of Italy began; Theodoric built his palace there, and according to Irish legends that's what Verona was named after. It remained under the power of the Goths throughout the Gothic War (535–552), except for a single day in 541, when the Armenian officer Artabazes made an entrance. The defections that took place among the Byzantine generals with regard to the booty made it possible for the Goths to regain possession of the city. In 552 Valerian vainly endeavoured to enter it, but only when they were fully overthrown, the Goths surrendered it.

In 569, it was taken by Alboin, King of the Lombards, in whose kingdom it was, in a sense, the second most important city. There, Alboin himself was killed by his own wife in 572. The dukes of Treviso often resided there. At Verona Adalgisus, son of Desiderius, in 774 made his last desperate resistance to Charlemagne, who had destroyed the Lombard kingdom. Verona was then the ordinary residence of the kings of Italy, the government of the city becoming hereditary in the family of Count Milo, progenitor of the counts of San Bonifacio. From 880 to 951 the two Berengarii resided there. Otto I ceded to Verona the marquisate dependent on the Duchy of Bavaria.

The reign of his son Alberto as capitano (1277–1302) was one incessant war against the counts of San Bonifacio, who were aided by the House of Este. Of his sons, Bartolomeo, Alboino and Cangrande I, only the last shared the government (1308); he was great as warrior, prince, and patron of the arts; he protected Dante, Petrarch, and Giotto. By war or treaty, he brought under his control the cities of Padua (1328), Treviso (1308) and Vicenza.

Alberto was succeeded by Mastino II (1329–1351) and Alberto, sons of Alboino. Mastino continued his uncle's policy, conquering Brescia in 1332 and carrying his power beyond the Po. He purchased Parma (1335) and Lucca (1339). After the King of France, he was the richest prince of his time. But a powerful league was formed against him in 1337 – Florence, Venice, the Visconti, the Este, and the Gonzaga. After a three years war, the Scaliger dominions were reduced to Verona and Vicenza (Mastino's daughter Regina-Beatrice della Scala married to Barnabò Visconti). Mastino's son Cangrande II (1351–1359) was a cruel, dissolute, and suspicious tyrant; not trusting his own subjects, he surrounded himself with Brandenburg mercenaries. He was killed by his brother Cansignorio (1359–1375), who beautified the city with palaces, provided it with aqueducts and bridges, and founded the state treasury. He also killed his other brother, Paolo Alboino. Fratricide seems to have become a family custom, for Antonio (1375–87), Cansignorio's natural brother, slew his brother Bartolomeo, thereby arousing the indignation of the people, who deserted him when Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan made war on him. Having exhausted all his resources, he fled from Verona at midnight (19 October 1387), thus putting an end to the Scaliger domination, which, however, survived in its monuments.

The year 1387 is also the year of the famous Battle of Castagnaro, between Giovanni Ordelaffi, for Verona, and John Hawkwood, for Padua, who was the winner.

Antonio's son Canfrancesco in vain attempted to recover Verona (1390).

Guglielmo (1404), natural son of Cangrande II, was more fortunate; with the support of the people, he drove out the Milanese, but he died ten days after, and Verona then submitted to Venice (1405). The last representatives of the Scaligeri lived at the imperial court and repeatedly attempted to recover Verona by the aid of popular risings.

From 1508 to 1517, the city was in the power of the Emperor Maximilian I. There were numerous outbreaks of the plague, and in 1629–33 Italy was struck by its worst outbreak in modern times. In Verona an estimated 33,000 people (of a total of 54,000) died in 1630–1631.^[2]

In 1776 was developed a method of bellringing called Veronese bellringing art. Verona was occupied by Napoleon in 1797, but on Easter Monday the populace rose and drove out the French. It was then that Napoleon made an end of the Venetian Republic. Verona became Austrian territory when Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio in October, 1797. The Austrians took control of the city on January 18, 1798. It was taken from Austria by the Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 and became part of Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy, but was returned to Austria following Napoleon's defeat in 1814, when it became part of the Austrian-held Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. In 1866, following the Six Weeks War, Verona, along with the rest of Venetia, became part of Italy.

In 1866, on the anniversary of the defeat of Königrätz, the Austrians evacuated Verona, their strongest fortress in Venetia, which thus became Italian.

The advent of fascism added another dark chapter to the annals of Verona. As throughout Italy, the Jewish population was hit by the anti-Semitic laws (1938), and after the invasion by Nazi Germany in 1943, deportations to Nazi concentration camps. An Austrian Fort (now a church, the Santuario della Madonna di Lourdes), was used to incarcerate and torture allied troops, Jews and anti-fascist suspects especially after 1943, when Verona became part of the Repubblica di Salò or "Social Republic".

As in Austrian times, Verona became of great strategic importance to the regime. Galeazzo Ciano, Benito Mussolini's son in law was accused of plotting against the republic during a mock trial staged by the Nazi and fascist hierarchy in Castelvecchio. Ciano was executed on the banks of the Adige with many other officers on what is today Via Colombo. This marked another turning point in the escalation of violence that would only end with the final liberation by allied troops and partisans in 1945.

After World War II, as Italy entered into NATO, Verona acquired once again its strategic importance, due to its closeness to the Iron Curtain. The city became the seat of SETAF (South European Allied Terrestrial Forces) and had during the whole duration of the Cold War period a strong military presence, especially American, which is decreasing only in these recent years. Now Verona is an important and dynamic city, very active in terms of economy, and also a very important tourist attraction because of its history, where the Roman past lives side by side with the Middle Age Verona, which in some senses brings about its architectural and artistic motifs.

Mentions [link]

The play, Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, was based in Verona. One of Shakespeare's early comedies was titled The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The play, The Taming of the Shrew, also by Shakespeare, is based in Verona.

Climate [link]

Verona has a continental climate characteristic of Northern Italy's inland plains, with hot summers and cool, humid winters, even though Lake Garda's quasi-Mediterranean climate has a partial influence on the city.^[3] The relative humidity is high throughout the year, especially in winter when it causes fog, mainly from dusk till late morning, although the phenomenon has become increasingly less frequent in recent years.

Climate data for Verona
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	5.2 (41.4)	8.5 (47.3)	13 (55)	17.3 (63.1)	22.3 (72.1)	26.2 (79.2)	28.9 (84.0)	28.1 (82.6)	24.4 (75.9)	18.4 (65.1)	11.1 (52.0)	6.0 (42.8)	17.5 (63.5)
Daily mean °C (°F)	1.6 (34.9)	4.3 (39.7)	8.2 (46.8)	12.2 (54.0)	16.9 (62.4)	20.7 (69.3)	23.3 (73.9)	22.7 (72.9)	17.6 (63.7)	13.4 (56.1)	7.3 (45.1)	2.4 (36.3)	12.7 (54.9)
Average low °C (°F)	−2 (28.4)	0.1 (32.2)	3.4 (38.1)	7.0 (44.6)	11.4 (52.5)	15.2 (59.4)	17.7 (63.9)	17.2 (63.0)	13.7 (56.7)	8.4 (47.1)	3.4 (38.1)	−1.2 (29.8)	7.9 (46.2)
Precipitation cm (inches)	5.45 (2.146)	4.78 (1.882)	5.78 (2.276)	6.88 (2.709)	8.54 (3.362)	8.61 (3.39)	6.15 (2.421)	8.75 (3.445)	6.26 (2.465)	8.15 (3.209)	7.53 (2.965)	5.06 (1.992)	81.94 (32.26)
Avg. precipitation days	7	6	7	9	9	9	6	7	5	8	8	6	86
Source: Verona Villafranca Weather Station

Demographics [link]

In 2009, there were 265,368 people residing in Verona, located in the province of Verona, Veneto, of whom 47.6% were male and 52.4% were female. Minors (children aged 0-17) totalled 16.05% of the population compared to pensioners who number 22.36%. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06%(minors) and 19.94%(pensioners). The average age of Verona residents is 43 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Verona grew by 3.05%, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.85%.^[4] The current birth rate of Verona is 9.24 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.

As of 2009, 87% of the population was Italian.^[5] The largest immigrant group comes from other European nations (the largest coming from Romania): 3.60%, South Asia: 2.03%, and sub-saharan Africa 1.50%. The city is predominantly Roman Catholic, but due to immigration now has some Orthodox Christian, Muslim and Hindu followers.

Foreign residents by country of citizenship in 2008 [link]

Group	%	Group	%	Group	%	Group	%
Romania	24.5%	Morocco	6.1%	Brazil	5.0%	Tunisia	2.4%
Sri Lanka	19.8%	Nigeria	5.7%	Ghana	4.6%
Moldova	7.7%	Albania	5.1%	People's Republic of China	3.9%

Source: ISTAT – Istituto Nazionale di Statistica^[6]

Panoramic view of the city from Castel San Pietro.

Main sights [link]

See also Category: Buildings and structures in Verona

Because of the value and importance of its many historical buildings, Verona has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Verona preserved many ancient Roman monuments, no longer in use, in the early Middle Ages, but much of this and much of its early medieval edifices were destroyed or heavily damaged by the earthquake of 3 January 1117, which led to a massive Romanesque rebuilding. The Carolingian period Versus de Verona contains an important description of Verona in the early medieval era.

Roman edifices [link]

Verona Arena

The Roman military settlement in what is now the centre of the city was to expand through the cardi and decumani that intersect at right angles. This structure has been kept to the present day and is clearly visible from the air. Further development has not reshaped the original map. Though the Roman city with its basalt-paved roads is mostly hidden from view it stands virtually intact about 6 m below the surface. Most palazzi and houses have cellars built on Roman artifacts that are rarely accessible to visitors. Piazza delle Erbe, near the Roman forum was rebuilt by Cangrande I and Cansignorio della Scala I, lords of Verona, using material (such as marble blocks and statues) from Roman spas and villas.

Verona is famous for its Roman amphitheatre, the Arena found in the city's largest piazza, the Piazza Bra. Completed around 30 AD, it is the third largest in Italy after Rome's Colosseum and the arena at Capua. It measures 139 metres long and 110 metres wide, and could seat some 25,000 spectators in its 44 tiers of marble seats. The ludi (shows and gladiator games) performed within its walls were so famous that they attracted spectators from far beyond the city. The current two-story façade is actually the internal support for the tiers; only a fragment of the original outer perimeter wall in white and pink limestone from Valpolicella, with three stories remains.The interior is very impressive and is virtually intact, and has remained in use even today for public events, fairs, theatre and open-aired opera during warm summer nights.

Porta Borsari

There is also a variety of other Roman monuments to be found in the town, such as the Roman theatre of Verona. This theatre was built in the 1st century BC, but through the ages had fallen in disuse and had been built upon to provide housing. In the 18th century Andrea Monga, a wealthy Veronese, bought all the houses that in time had been built over the theatre, demolished them, and saved the monument. Not far from it is the Ponte di Pietra ("Stone Wall Bridge"), another Roman landmark that has survived to this day.

The Arco dei Gavi (Gavi Arch) was built in the 1st century AD, and is famous for having the name of the builder (architect Lucius Vitruvius Cordone) engraved on it, a really rare case in the architecture of the epoque. It originally straddled the main Roman road into the city, now the Corso Cavour. It had been demolished by the French troops in 1805 and was rebuilt in 1932.

Nearby is the Porta Borsari, an archway at the end of Corso Porta Borsari. This is the façade of a 3rd century gate in the original Roman city walls. The inscription is dated 245 AD and gives the city name as Colonia Verona Augusta. Corso Porta Borsari, the road passing through the gate is the original Via Sacra of the Roman city. Today, it is lined with several Renaissance palazzi and the ancient Church of SS. Apostoli (left), a few metres from Piazza delle Erbe.

Porta Leoni is the 1st century BC ruin of what was once part of the Roman city gate. A substantial portion is still standing as part of the wall of a medieval building. The street itself is an open archaeological site, and the remains of the original Roman street and gateway foundations can be seen a few feet below the present street level. As can be seen from there, the gate contains a small court guarded by towers. Here, carriages and travelers were inspected before entering or leaving the city.

Medieval architecture [link]

Piazza dei Signori.

San Zeno Basilica, like many other Veronese churches, is built with alternating layers of white stone and bricks.

The Basilica of San Zeno Maggiore is considered one of the great achievements of Romanesque architecture . The present structure is the 3rd on this site, built from 1123–1135, over the 4th century shrine to Verona's patron saint, St. Zeno (died 380). The façade dominates the large square, and is flanked with a beautiful 72 metres tall bell tower, which is mentioned by Dante in Canto 18 of Purgatory in the Divine Comedy. The weathered Veronese stone gives a warm golden glow and the restrained lines of the pillars, columns, cornices and the gallery with its double windows give the façade an air of harmonious elegance. The huge rose window is decorated as a Wheel of Fortune. The lintels above the portal have carvings of the months of the year. Each side of the doorway is embellished with 18 bas-relief panels of biblical scenes, and the inner bronze door has panels have 48 primitive but forceful Biblical scenes and depictions from the life of St Zeno. The meaning of some of the scenes is now unknown, but the extraordinarily vivid, barbaric energy of the figures is a superb blend of traditional and Ottonian influences. The interior of the church is divided into a Lower Church, occupying about 2/3 of the structure, and the Upper Church, occupying the remainder. The walls are covered with 12th and 14th century frescos and the ceiling of the nave is a magnificent example of a ship's keel ceiling. The vaulted crypt contains the tomb of St. Zeno, the first Bishop of Verona, as well as the tombs of several other saints. North of the church is a pleasant cloister. The church also houses the tomb of King Pippin of Italy (777–810).

Sant'Anastasia.

The small Romanesque Basilica of San Lorenzo is one of the finest and most important in the city. Its dates from around 1177, but is built on the site of a Paleochristian church, some fragments of which remain. The church is built of alternating tracks of brick and stone, and has two cylindrical towers, housing spiral staircases to the women's galleries. Inside, the atmosphere is rather severe, but is still quiet and peaceful. The striped bands of stone and brick and the graceful arches complement the setting.

With a span length of 48.70 m (159.78 ft), the 1356 completed segmental arch bridge Ponte Scaligero featured at the time the world's largest bridge arch.

Santa Maria Antica is a huge Romanesque church was the parish church of the Scaligeri clan, and is famous for the Gothic Scaliger Tombs. The Duomo is also a notable Romanesque church.

Sant'Anastasia is a huge and lofty church built from 1290–1481 by the Dominicans to hold the massive congregations attracted by their rousing fundamentalist sermons. The Pellegrini chapel houses the famous fresco St. George and the Princess of Trebizond by Pisanello as well as the grave of Wilhelm von Bibra. The famous square also holds its art festival in May.

Notable people [link]

The balcony of Juliet's house

Arnoldo Mondadori, editor
Aleardo Aleardi, a poet
Paolo Bellasio, composer of the Renaissance; member of the Roman School
Damiano Cunego, former world number 1 cyclist and former Giro d'Italia winner
Girolamo Fracastoro, also known as Fracastorius, renowned scholar, physician and poet
Giovanni Francesco Caroto, painter
Catullus, Latin poet
Franco Donatoni, composer
Giovanni Giocondo, architect and scholar
Romano Guardini, theologian
Marc' Antonio Ingegneri, composer, teacher of Claudio Monteverdi
Cesare Lombroso, criminologist
Scipione Maffei, writer and historian
Marcantonio Negri, Baroque composer, associate of Monteverdi
St. Peter Martyr, Dominican preacher and Saint.
Ippolito Pindemonte, poet
Ratherius, Medieval bishop and writer
Vincenzo Ruffo, composer of the Renaissance
Emilio Salgari, novelist
Antonio Salieri, composer
Michele Sammicheli, architect
Bartolomeo Tromboncino, composer of the Renaissance period
Paolo Caliari, well known as "Veronese" painter
Carlo Pedrotti, 19th-century composer, conductor, voice teacher and opera administrator
Mario Capecchi, Nobel prize in Medicine, 2007
Massimo Bubola, singer-songwriter born in Terrazzo
Gigliola Cinquetti, singer who brought Italy its first Eurovision Song Contest in 1964
Walter Chiari, actor
Sara Simeoni, former world high jump primatist and Olympic gold medalist
Matteo Manassero, British amateur golf champion, 2009
Stefano Bernardi, baroque composer
Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, fictional characters from the Shakespearian play Romeo and Juliet

Verona was the birthplace of Catullus, and the town that Julius Caesar chose for relaxing stays. In its history many important names passed and events happened that were relevant for the European history, like Theodoric the Great, king of Ostrogoths, Alboin and Rosamunda, the Lombard Dukes, Charlemagne and Pippin of Italy, Berengar I, Dante. Conclaves were held here, as were important congresses. Verona was in the travel diaries of Goethe, Stendhal and Paul Valéry.

Sport [link]

The town has two football teams. Historically, the city's major team has been Hellas Verona, who is now in the second division of Italian football, Serie B. The other team, Chievo Verona, is currently playing in Serie A. Hellas Verona won Italian Championship in 1984/1985 entering the European Cup the following year.

Verona has a volleyball major team named Marmi Lanza Verona, now in Serie A1; and a basketball team named Scaligera Basket, now in Legadue.

Verona has hosted the Football World Cup in 1990; has twice hosted the UCI Road World Championships, in 1999 (co-hosted with Treviso) and 2004. Verona has also hosted the baseball world cup in 2009 and the Volleyball World Cup in September–October 2010.

Infrastructure and transport [link]

The Ponte Scaligero, completed in 1356.

Buses [link]

Buses are operated by the provincial public transport company, Azienda Trasporti Verona (ATV).

Railways [link]

Verona lies at a major route crossing where the nouth-south rail line from the Brenner Pass to Rome intersects with the east-west line between Milan and Venice, giving the city rail access to most of Europe. The city is, therefore, served by international, regional and local services.

Verona's main station is Verona Porta Nuova railway station, to the south of the city centre. It is considered to be the ninth busiest railway station in Italy, handling approximately 68,000 passengers per day, or 25 million passengers per year.^[7]

There is a lesser station to the east of the city at Porta Vescovo, which used to be the main station in Verona, but now only receives trains between Venice and Porta Nuova.

Verona has several twin towns, sister cities and partnerships around the world. Some are thematic:

Pula, Croatia, has a similar Roman amphitheatre
Nîmes, France, has a similar Roman amphitheatre
Munich, Germany, shares with Verona the title of "twin portal to their country"
Salzburg, Austria, shares a common heritage of musical tradition
Bethlehem, Palestinian Authority^[8]
Ra'anana, Israel, since 1998^[9]
Mashhad, Iran
Ningbo, China, the city where Chinese romantic tragedy, "Butterfly Lovers" take place.^[10]
Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium

Košice, Slovakia, since 1992^[11]
Nagahama, Japan
Fresno, USA
Albany, USA
Detmold, Germany
Corfu, Greece^[12]
Korça, Albania^[13]
Ayacucho, Peru
Lecce, Italy

References [link]

Notes [link]

^ "Tales of Verona"
^ "Epidemics and pandemics: their impacts on human history". J. N. Hays (2005). p.103. ISBN 1-85109-658-2
^ Thomas A. Blair, Climatology: General and Regional, Prentice Hall pages 131-132; Adriana Rigutti, Meteorologia, Giunti, p, 95, 2009.
^ "Statistiche demografiche ISTAT". Demo.istat.it. http://demo.istat.it/bil2007/index.html. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
^ "Statistiche demografiche ISTAT". Demo.istat.it. http://demo.istat.it/strasa2009/index.html. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
^ "Statistiche demografiche ISTAT". Demo.istat.it. http://demo.istat.it/str2008/index.html. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
^ ^a ^b "Trains to and from Verona Airport (VRN)". Italian Airport Guide. http://www.italianairportguide.com/vrn/verona-airport-trains.htm. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
^ "::Bethlehem Municipality::". www.bethlehem-city.org. http://www.bethlehem-city.org/Twining.php. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
^ "Ra'anana: Twin towns & Sister cities – Friends around the World". raanana.muni.il. http://www.raanana.muni.il/English/Topics/My+City/Sister+Cities/. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
^ "Sino-Italian love culture fest held in Verona". Xinhua New Agency. September 25, 2008. http://www.china.org.cn/culture/2008-09/25/content_16533549.htm. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
^ "Partnership towns of the City of Košice" (in Slovak). 2007–2009 City of Košice Magistrát mesta Košice, Tr. SNP 48/A, 040 11 Košice. http://www.kosice.sk/clanok.asp?file=gov_s_c-00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
^ "AllCorfu.Com: Corfu's Twin Cities". allcorfu.com. http://www.allcorfu.com/in-trivia.html. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
^ Korçë Municipality. "Twin cities" (in Albanian). Korçë Municipality. http://www.bashkiakorce.gov.al/frontend/articles.php?cid=64. Retrieved 30 July 2010.

External links [link]

Italy portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Verona

The official website of Verona municipality
The official website of the Academy of Verona
The official website of the University of Verona
The official website of Arena
Verona tourism and free time
Database of 4000 photos from Verona
Photos from Verona
A history of Verona, published 1910, by A. M. Allen. Edited by Edward Armstrong, with twenty illustrations and three maps, hosted by the University of North Texas Libraries Digital Collections
UNESCO world heritage explication
Verona Video Introduction
Website and Guide of the city of Verona

v t e World Heritage Sites in Italy

	North West	Crespi d'Adda Genoa Mantua and Sabbioneta Portovenere Cinque Terre (Monterosso al Mare Vernazza Corniglia Manarola Riomaggiore), Palmaria Tino and Tinetto Residences of the Royal House of Savoy Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes¹ Rock Drawings in Valcamonica Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan Monte San Giorgio

	North East	Aquileia Botanical Garden, Padua Cathedral Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena The Dolomites Ferrara Ravenna Venice Verona Vicenza and Palladian Villas of the Veneto

	Centre	Assisi Cerveteri and Tarquinia Florence Hadrian's Villa Piazza del Duomo, Pisa Pienza Rome² San Gimignano Siena Urbino Val d'Orcia Villa d'Este

	South	Alberobello Amalfi Coast Castel del Monte Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park Paestum and Velia Certosa di Padula Naples Palace of Caserta Aqueduct of Vanvitelli and San Leucio Complex Pompeii Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata Sassi of Matera

	Islands	Aeolian Islands Archaeological Area of Agrigento Barumini nuraghes Syracuse and Necropolis of Pantalica Val di Noto (Caltagirone Militello in Val di Catania Catania Modica Noto Palazzolo Acreide Ragusa Scicli) Villa Romana del Casale

	Nationwide	Longobards in Italy, Places of Power (568-774 A.D.) Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps³

¹ Shared with Switzerland ² Shared with the Holy See ³ Shared with Austria, France, Germany, Slovenia, and Switzerland

Veneto · Comuni of the Province of Verona

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Contents

History [link]

Mentions [link]

Climate [link]

Demographics [link]

Foreign residents by country of citizenship in 2008 [link]

Main sights [link]

Roman edifices [link]

Medieval architecture [link]

Notable people [link]

Sport [link]

Infrastructure and transport [link]

Buses [link]

Railways [link]

Airport [link]

International relations [link]

Twin towns — sister cities [link]

References [link]

Notes [link]

External links [link]

http://wn.com/Verona

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http://id.wn.com/Verona

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