- published: 27 May 2007
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- 8th century BCE
- Abruzzo
- Adriatic Sea
- Akragas
- Alfonso II of Naples
- Alfonso V of Aragon
- Amalfi
- Amalfi Coast
- Amatrice
- Ancient Rome
- Ancona
- Andria
- Anjou
- Apulia
- Austria
- Bari
- Basilicata
- Battle of Bitonto
- Benito Mussolini
- Black Sea
- Byzantine
- Byzantine Empire
- Byzantium
- Calabria
- Caliphate
- Campania
- Canzone Napoletana
- Capri
- Cassino (FR)
- Castel Nuovo
- Cattolica di Stilo
- Central Italy
- Cesare Mori
- Chalcis
- Charles I of Sicily
- Charles II of Naples
- Charles III of Spain
- Christianity
- Cittaducale
- Civitella del Tronto
- Client state
- Concordat
- Congress of Vienna
- Constance of Sicily
- Cosenza
- Crotone
- Crown of Aragon
- Crown of Spain
- Cumaean alphabet
- Cyrenaica
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- East Germany
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- Emirate of Bari
- Emirate of Sicily
- Etruscans
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- European Parliament
- FiveThirtyEight.com
- Foggia
- Franks
- French Revolution
- Gaeta
- Genoa
- Geographer
- Geography of Italy
- German reunification
- Giovanni Giolitti
- Giuseppe Garibaldi
- Gladiator War
- Gothic War (535–554)
- Greek alphabet
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- Insular Italy
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- Near East
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-
Amalfi
Amalfi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno, c. 35 km southeast of Naples. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 meters, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery. The town of Amalfi was the capital of the maritime republic known as the Duchy of Amalfi, an important trading power in the Mediterranean between 839 and around 1200.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Amalfi was a popular holiday destination for the British upper class and aristocracy.
Amalfi is the main town of the coast on which it is located, named Costiera Amalfitana, and is today an important tourist destination together with other towns on the same coast, such as Positano, Ravello and others. Amalfi is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
First mentioned in the 6th century, Amalfi soon afterwards acquired importance as a maritime power, trading grain from its neighbors, salt from Sardinia and slaves from the interior, and even timber, in exchange for the gold dinars minted in Egypt and Syria, in order to buy the Byzantine silks that it resold in the West. Grain-bearing Amalfi traders enjoyed privileged positions in the Islamic ports, Fernand Braudel notes. The Amalfi tables (Tavole Amalfitane) provided a maritime code that was widely used by the Christian port cities. Merchants of Amalfi were using gold coins to purchase land in the 9th century, while most of Italy worked in a barter economy. In the 8th and 9th century, when Mediterranean trade revived it shared with Gaeta the Italian trade with the East, while Venice was in its infancy, and in 848 its fleet went to the assistance of Pope Leo IV against the Saracens.
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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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Amatrice
Amatrice is a town and comune in the province of Rieti, in northern Lazio (central Italy). The city is seat of the food-agricultural base of "Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park".
Archaeological remains have shown human presence in the area of Amatrice since prehistorical times, and also remain of Roman edifices and tombs have been found. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area became part of the Lombard Duchy of Spoleto, included in the comitate of Ascoli. The town of Matrice is mentioned in the papers of the Abbey of Farfa in 1012 as commanding the confluence of the Tronto and Castellano rivers.
In 1265, during the reign of Manfred of Sicily, Amatrice became part of the Kingdom of Naples. After the capture of the latter by the Angevines, Amatrice rebelled but was suppressed by Charles I of Anjou in 1274, although it maintained some sort of autonomy as Universitas. In the 14th and 15th century it was frequently in conflict with the neighbouring cities of Norcia, Arquata and L'Aquila, and its troops took part in the siege of the latter under Braccio da Montone. In the course of the conflict between Angevines and the Aragonese for the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples, Amatrice chose the latter side. In 1529 it was stormed by the troops of Philibert of Chalon, general of Emperor Charles V, who gave it to its general Alessandro Vitelli.
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Ancona
Ancona ([aŋˈkoːna] (
listen), from Greek: Ἀγκών - Ankon) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 102,997 (2010). Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region.
The city is located 280 km (170 mi) northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic Sea, between the slopes of the two extremities of the promontory of Monte Conero, Monte Astagno and Monte Guasco.
Ancona is one of the main ports on the Adriatic Sea, especially for passenger traffic, and is the main economic and demographic centre of the region.
The climate of Ancona is both Mediterranean and continental. Winters are quite cold (Jan. mean temp. +5°C), with frequent rain and fog. Low temperatures can reach -10°C outside the city centre. Snow is not unusual when the air masses come from the north or from the east, and can be heavy at times. Summers are warm (July mean temp. +22.5°C) and humid, especially by the sea. High temperatures sometimes reach +35°C / +40°C, especially when the wind blows from the south or the west (föhn effect). Thunderstorms are quite common, particularly in August and September. Spring and autumn are really changeable seasons, but generally mild.
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Andria
Andria
listen (help·info) (än'drēä) is a city and comune in Apulia (southern Italy). It is an agricultural and service center, producing wine, olives and almonds. It is the fourth-largest municipality in the Apulia region (behind Bari, Taranto, and Foggia) and the largest municipality of the new Province. On 21 May 2010 it became the government seat of the new Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, effective as of June 2009.
Different theories exist about the origins of Andria. In 915 it is mentioned as a "casale" ("hamlet") depending from Trani; it acquired the status of city around 1046, when the Norman count Peter enlarged and fortified the settlements in the area (including also Barletta, Corato and Bisceglie).
In 14th century, under the Angevins, Andria became seat of a Duchy. In 1350 it was besieged by German and Lombard mercenaries of the Hungarian army, and in 1370 by the troops of Queen Joan I of Naples. In 1431 the ruler of Andria Francesco II Del Balzo found the mortal remains of Saint Richard of Andria, the current patron saint, and instituted the Fair of Andria (23–30 April). In 1487 the city was acquired by the Aragonese, the Duchy passing to the future King Frederick IV of Naples. Later (1552), it was sold by the Spanish to Fabrizio Carafa, for the sum of 100,000 ducats.
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Anjou
Anjou (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ʒu]) is a former county (in the sense of being ruled by a count, from c. 880), duchy (1360) and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of what, since the early 13th century, we know as western France. Its traditional Latin name was Andegavia.
Anjou was united with the English Crown from 1151-1199, when Henry II, and, in turn, his (third) son Richard the Lionheart, inherited the county, and thus themselves became Counts of Anjou. At its peak, the Angevin Empire then spread from Ulster to the Pyrenees. But Richard had no legitimate issue, so in 1199 Anjou passed to his nephew, Arthur of Brittany (the posthumous son of Henry II’s fourth son, Geoffrey), while the Crown of England passed to Henry II’s fifth son and Richard’s youngest brother, John. Count Arthur was taken prisoner by John in 1203, and disappeared in murky circumstances. In 1204, the county as a whole was in turn seized by France. Its status was elevated to that of a duchy for Prince Louis, the second son of John II of France, and remained as such until the Revolution. Today, Anjou corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire.
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Apulia
Coordinates: 41°0′31″N 16°30′46″E / 41.00861°N 16.51278°E / 41.00861; 16.51278
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises 19,345 square kilometers (7,469 sq mi), and its population is about 4.1 million. It is bordered by the other Italian regions of Molise to the north, Campania to the west, and Basilicata to the southwest. It neighbors Greece and Albania, across the Ionian and Adriatic Seas, respectively. The region extends as far north as Monte Gargano, and was the scene of the last stages in the Second Punic War.
Situated at the south-eastern tip of the Italian peninsula, Apulia covers over 19,000 square kilometers (7,336 sq mi) in succession of broad plains and low-lying hills. The central area of the region is occupied by the Murge, a vast, semi-arid karst plateau. The only mountainous areas, the Gargano promontory and the Monti Dauni, do not exceed 1,150 m (3,800 ft) and are to be found in the north of Apulia, which is the least mountainous region in Italy.
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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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Bari
Bari listen (help·info) (Bari dialect: Bare; from Latin: Barium) is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia (or, in Italian, Puglia) region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas. The city itself has a decreasing population of about 320,000, as of 2009, over 116 km², while the fast-growing urban area counts 653,028 inhabitants over 203 km². The metropolitan area counts 1 million inhabitants.
Bari is made up of four different urban sections. To the north is the closely built old town on the peninsula between two modern harbours, with the splendid Basilica of Saint Nicholas, the Cathedral of San Sabino (1035–1171) and the Swabian Castle built for Frederick II, which is now also a major nightlife district. To the south is the Murat quarter (erected by Joachim Murat), the modern heart of the city, which is laid out on a rectangular grid-plan with a promenade on the sea and the major shopping district (the via Sparano and via Argiro).
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Basilicata
Coordinates: 40°30′N 16°30′E / 40.5°N 16.5°E / 40.5; 16.5
Basilicata (Italian pronunciation: [baziliˈkaːta]), also known as Lucania, is a region in the south of Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia (Puglia) to the north and east, and Calabria to the south, having one short southwestern coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania in the northwest and Calabria in the southwest, and a longer one to the southeast on the Gulf of Taranto on the Ionian Sea between Calabria in the southwest and Apulia in the northeast. The region can be thought of as the "instep" of Italy, with Calabria functioning as the "toe" and Apulia the "heel". The region covers about 10,000 km2 and in 2010 had a population of about 600,000. The regional capital is Potenza. The region is divided into two provinces: Potenza and Matera.
Basilicata covers an extensive part of the southern Apennines, between Ofanto in the north and the Monte Pollino massif in the south. It is bordered on the east by a large part of the Bradano river depression which is traversed by numerous streams and declines to the south eastern coastal plains on the Ionian sea. The region also has a short coastline to the south west on the Tyrrhenian side of the peninsula.
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Capri
Capri (/kəˈpriː/; Italian pronunciation: [ˈkaːpri]) is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town on the island shares the name. It has been a resort since the time of the Roman Republic.
Features of the island are the Marina Piccola (the little harbour), the Belvedere of Tragara (a high panoramic promenade lined with villas), the limestone crags called sea stacks that project above the sea (the Faraglioni), the town of Anacapri, the Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra), and the ruins of the Imperial Roman villas.
Capri is part of the region of Campania, Province of Naples. The town of Capri is the island's main population centre. The island has two harbours, Marina Piccola and Marina Grande (the main port of the island). The separate comune of Anacapri is located high on the hills to the west.
The etymology of the name Capri is unclear; it might either be traced back to the Ancient Greeks (Ancient Greek kapros meaning "wild boar"), the first recorded colonists to populate the island. But it could also derive from Latin capreae (goats). Fossils of wild boars have been discovered, lending credence to the "kapros" etymology, but on the other hand the Romans called Capri "goat island". Finally, there is also the possibility the name derives from an Etruscan word for "rocky", though any historical Etruscan rule of the island is disputed.
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Castel Nuovo
Castel Nuovo (Italian: "New Castle"), often called Maschio Angioino, is a medieval castle in the city of Naples, southern Italy. It is the main symbol of the architecture of the city, and has been expanded or renovated several times since it was first begun in 1279.
Before the accession of Charles I of Anjou to the throne in 1266, the capital of the Kingdom of Naples was Palermo. There was a royal residence in Naples, at the Castel Capuano. However, when the capital was moved to Naples, Charles ordered a new castle, not far from the sea, built to house the court. Works, directed by French architects, began in 1279 and were completed three years later.
Due to the War of the Sicilian Vespers, the new fortress remained uninhabited until 1285, when Charles died and was succeeded by his son, Charles II. Castel Nuovo soon became the nucleus of the historical center of the city, and was often the site of famous events. For example, on December 13, 1294, Pope Celestine V resigned as pope in a hall of the castle. Eleven days later, Boniface VIII was elected pope here by the cardinal collegium and immediately moved to Rome to avoid the Angevin authority.
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Cattolica di Stilo
The Cattolica di Stilo is a Byzantine church in the comune of Stilo, Calabria, southern Italy. It is a national monument.
The Cattolica was built in the 9th century, when Calabria was part of the Byzantine Empire. The name derives from the Greek word katholiki, which referred to the churches provided with a baptistery. It is one of the most important examples of Byzantine architecture, together with the church of San Marco in Rossano Calabro.
The Cattolica follow a plan with "inscribed cross", typical of the middle Byzantine age. The interior is divided by four columns into five similar spaces. The square central space and the angle ones are covered by domes. The angle ones have with tambours with the same diameter, while the central dome is slightly taller and larger.
The western sides lies on a free rocks, while the southern area, ending with three apses, stands on three stone bases. The construction is in bricks.
The interior was once entirely covered with frescoes. The left apse has a bell built in 1577, when the church was converted to the Latin rite. The interior has also several inscriptions in Arabic, which have led the scholars suspect it could have been also used as a Muslim oratory. One inscription translates to "There is only one true God".
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Cittaducale
Cittaducale is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rieti in the Italian region Latium, located about 70 km northeast of Rome and about 7 km southeast of Rieti. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 6,799 and an area of 71.0 km². It was once part of the Abruzzi Region.
The municipality of Cittaducale contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Santa Rufina, Grotti, Calcariola, Pendenza, Cesoni, and Micciani.
Cittaducale borders the following municipalities: Borgo Velino, Castel Sant'Angelo, Longone Sabino, Micigliano, Petrella Salto, Rieti.
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Civitella del Tronto
Civitella del Tronto is a town and comune in the province of Teramo, within the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is located in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park.
The origins of Civitella are unknown, though in the area have been found traces of human presence as early as the Neolithic and Upper Palaeolithic ages. The current town is believed to lie on the former Beregra, a town of the Piceni Italic tribe. It is first mentioned in the 10th-11th centuries, as a walled town; in the 13th century it was part of the Kingdom of Naples, having a special importance as it was located on the boundaries with the Papal States.
In 1557 it was besieged by French troops, but in vain. Thanks to its fierce resistance, it was given the title of Fidelissima ("Very Faithful") by King Philip II of Spain (at the time southern Italy was under Spanish control). Civitella was besieged again by the French during the Napoleonic Wars, in 1798 and 1806, this time being captured after four months of defence. In 1816, after the Congress of Vienna, it was annexed to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
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Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (German: Wiener Kongress) was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.
This objective resulted in the redrawing of the continent's political map, establishing the boundaries of France, the Duchy of Warsaw, the Netherlands, the states of the Rhine, the German province of Saxony, and various Italian territories, and the creation of spheres of influence through which Austria, Britain, France and Russia brokered local and regional problems. The Congress of Vienna was the first of a series of international meetings that came to be known as the Concert of Europe, which was an attempt to forge a peaceful balance of power in Europe, and served as a model for later organizations such as the League of Nations and United Nations.
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Cosenza
Cosenza listen (help·info) is a city in the Calabria region of southern Italy, located at the confluence of two historic rivers: the Crathis and the Busento. The municipal population is of around 70,000; the urban area, however, counts over 260,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the homonymous Province of Cosenza, which has a population of around 733,000.
The ancient town is the seat of the Cosentian Academy, one of the first academies of philosophical and literary studies to be founded in Italy and in Europe (1511). To this day, the city remains a cultural hub with several museums, theatres, libraries, and the University of Calabria.
Cosenza stands 238 m above sea level in a valley between the Sila plateau and the coastal range of mountains. The old town, overshadowed by its castle, descends to the river Crathis; the growing modern city lies to the north, beyond the Busento, on level ground.
The ancient Consentia, capital of the Italic tribe of the Bruttii, was a bulwark of the Italic people against the Hellenic influences of the Ionian colonies. It was in this province that the Battle of Pandosia was fought, in which a small Italic army composed of Bruttii and Lucanians defeated Alexander the Great's uncle, Alexander of Epirus. Over the centuries, Cosenza maintained a distinctive character, which marked it out among the cities of the region. Under Emperor Augustus it became an important stopover on the Roman via Popilia, which connected Calabria to Sicily. During the Roman Empire, although merely a colonia, the town benefited from municipal privileges.
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Crotone
Crotone listen (help·info) is a city and comune in Calabria, southern Italy, on the Ionian Sea. Founded circa 710 BC as the Achaean colony of Croton (Greek: Κρότων; Latin: Crotona), it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until 1928, when its name was changed to the current one. In 1994 it became the capital of the newly established Province of Crotone. As of July 2007, its population was 61,032.
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Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica ( /saɪrɨˈneɪ.ɨkə/ SY-rə-NAY-ə-kə; Ancient Greek: Κυρηναϊκή, after the city of Cyrene; Arabic: برقة Barqah; Berber: Berqa) is the historical name of the eastern region in Libya, which self-declared autonomy. In a tribal meeting the National Federal Bloc party declared Cyrenaica as self-autonomous region, but no actual authority has been observed on the ground, as the National Transitional Council still the defacto authority in all of Libya. Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca. During the Islamic period, the area came to be known as Barqa, after the city of Barca.
Cyrenaica was the name of an administrative division of Italian Libya from 1927 through 1943, then under British military and civil administration from 1943 through 1951, and finally in the Kingdom of Libya from 1951 through 1963. In a wider sense, which is still used, Cyrenaica is composed of all of the eastern part of Libya, including the Kufra District. Cyrenaica is adjacent to Tripolitania in the northwest and Fezzan in the southwest. The region that used to be Cyrenaica officially through 1963 is now divided up into several shabiyat, the administrative divisions of Libya.
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East Germany
The German Democratic Republic (GDR; German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik [ˈdɔʏtʃə demoˈkʀaːtɪʃə ʀepuˈbliːk] or DDR), informally known as East Germany (German: Ostdeutschland), was a socialist state established by the USSR in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city. The GDR had an area of 107,771 km2 (41,610 mi2), bordering Czechoslovakia to the south, West Germany to the south and west, Poland to the east, and the Baltic Sea to the north. East Germany was dissolved upon joining the institutions of West Germany in the German reunification, on 3 October 1990.
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European Parliament
The European Parliament (abbreviated as Europarl or the EP) is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU). Together with the Council of the European Union (the Council) and the European Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world. The Parliament is currently composed of 754 Members of the European Parliament, who represent the second largest democratic electorate in the world (after the Parliament of India) and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world (375 million eligible voters in 2009).
It has been directly elected every five years by universal suffrage since 1979. However, turnout at European Parliament elections has fallen consecutively at each election since that date, and has been under 50% since 1999. Turnout in 2009 stood at 43% of all European voters, ranging from 90% in Luxembourg and Belgium (where compulsory voting is used) to 20% in Slovakia. Turnout was under 50% in 18 out of 27 member states.
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Foggia
Foggia listen (help·info) is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the "granary of Italy".
The name Foggia derives from Latin "fovea", meaning "pit", referring to the pits where wheat was stored. Although the area had been settled since Neolithic times, and a Greek colony known as Argos Hippium (in Greek, Ἀργόριππα or Ἀργύριππόι) existed nearby, the first document attesting the existence of the modern city dates from 1000 AD: according to the legend, the first settlers were peasants who had found a panel portraying the Madonna, on which three flames burnt.
The area was marshy and unhealthy, being partially dried under Robert Guiscard, who therefore boosted the economic and social growth of the city. The city was the seat of Henry, Count of Monte Sant'Angelo during the last twenty years of the 11th century. In the 12th century, William II of Sicily built a cathedral here and further enlarged the settlement.
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Gaeta
Gaeta (Latin: Caieta) is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples.
The town has played a conspicuous part in military history: its fortifications date back to Roman times, and it has several traces of the period, including the 1st-century mausoleum of the Roman general Lucius Munatius Plancus at the top of the Monte Orlando.
Gaeta's fortifications were extended and strengthened in the 15th century, especially throughout the history of the Kingdom of Naples (later the Two Sicilies). Present day Gaeta is a fishing and oil seaport, and a renowned tourist resort. NATO maintains a Naval base of operations at Gaeta.
It is the ancient Caieta, situated on the slopes of the Torre di Orlando, a promontory overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Gaeta was an ancient Ionian colony of the Samians according to Strabo, who believed the name stemmed from the Greek kaiétas, which means "cave", probably referring to the several harbours. According to Virgil's Aeneid (vii.1–9), Caieta was Aeneas’ (another legend says Ascanius') wet-nurse, whom he buried here.
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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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Geography of Italy
Coordinates: 42°00′N 12°30′E / 42.0°N 12.5°E / 42.0; 12.5
Italy is located in southern Europe and comprises the long, boot-shaped Italian Peninsula, the land between the peninsula and the Alps, and a number of islands including Sicily and Sardinia. Corsica, although belonging to the Italian geographical region, has been a part of France since 1769.
Its total area is 301,230 km2 (116,310 sq mi), of which 294,020 km2 (113,520 sq mi) is land and 7,210 km2 is water (2,784 sq mi). It lies between latitudes 35° and 48° N, and longitudes 6° and 19° E.
Italy borders with Switzerland (740 km/460 mi), France (488 km/303 mi), Austria (430 km/270 mi) and Slovenia (232 km/144 mi). San Marino (39 km/24 mi) and Vatican city (0.44 km/0.27 mi) are enclaves.
Including islands, Italy has a coastline of 7,600 kilometres (4,700 mi) on the Adriatic, Ionian, Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Sea.
Almost 40% of the Italian territory is mountainous, with the Alps as the northern boundary and the Apennine Mountains forming the backbone of the peninsula and extending for 1,350 km (840 mi). In between the two lies a large plain in the valley of the Po, the largest river in Italy, which flows 652 km (405 mi) eastward from the Cottian Alps to the Adriatic. The Po Valley is the largest plain in Italy, with 46,000 km2 (18,000 sq mi), and it represents over 70% of the total plain area in the country.
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Gulf of Gaeta
The Gulf of Gaeta is a body of water on the west coast of Italy and part of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is bounded by Cape Circeo in the north, Ischia and the Gulf of Naples in the south, and the Pontine Islands in the west.
The gulf is named for the nearby Italian city of Gaeta. The Volturno is the primary river draining into the gulf.
Coordinates: 41°06′N 13°30′E / 41.1°N 13.5°E / 41.1; 13.5
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Gulf of Naples
The Gulf of Naples (Italian: Golfo di Napoli, aka Bay of Naples) is a c.15-kilometre-wide (9.3 mi) gulf located along the south-western coast of Italy (province of Naples, Campania region). It opens to the west into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered on the north by the cities of Naples and Pozzuoli, on the east by Mount Vesuvius, and on the south by the Sorrentine Peninsula and the main town of the peninsula, Sorrento. The Peninsula separates the Gulf of Naples from the Gulf of Salerno, which includes the Almalfi coast.
The islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida are located in the Gulf of Naples. The area is a tourist destination, with the seaside Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum at the at the foot of Mount Vesuvius (destroyed in the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius), along the north coast.
The Gulf of Naples hosted the sailing events for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.
Twenty nuclear torpedo sea mines were alleged by the International Atomic Energy Agency to have been laid on 10 January 1970, by a Soviet November class attack submarine, in the Gulf of Naples in a time of war to destroy or deny access to the US Seventh Fleet; they are believed to still be on the seabed.
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Gulf of Salerno
The Gulf of Salerno is a gulf of the Tyrrhenian Sea in the coast of the province of Salerno in south-western Italy. The northern part of this coast is the touristic Costiera Amalfitana, including towns like Amalfi, Maiori, Positano and the city of Salerno itself.
The Gulf of Salerno is separated from the Gulf of Naples (on the north) by the Sorrentine Peninsula, while from the south it is bounded by the Cilento coast.
Coordinates: 40°31′N 14°42′E / 40.517°N 14.7°E / 40.517; 14.7
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Gulf of Taranto
The Gulf of Taranto (Italian: Golfo di Taranto, Latin: Sinus Tarentinus) is a gulf of the Ionian Sea, in southern Italy.
The Gulf of Taranto is almost square, 140 km long and wide, and is delimited by the capes Santa Maria di Leuca (east, Apulia) and Colonna (the ancient Cape Lacinium, west, in Calabria). It is surrounded by three Italian regions, Apulia, Basilicata, and Calabria. The most important rivers are the Basento, the Sinni, and the Agri.
The main cities on the gulf are Taranto and Gallipoli. Also the Greek colonies (Magna Graecia) of Croton, Heraclea, Thurii, and Sybaris were founded on Gulf of Taranto.
Coordinates:
Italy claims the whole gulf as national waters, thus closed to international traffic. This position, which is a similar position to Libya on the Gulf of Sidra, is not recognized by some other countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
Coordinates: 39°53′06″N 17°16′37″E / 39.885°N 17.27694°E / 39.885; 17.27694
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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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Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea (Greek: Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, Greek pronunciation: [iˈonio ˈpelaɣos], Italian: Mar Ionio, Italian pronunciation: [maɾ ˈjɔːnio], Albanian: Deti Jon), is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and west coast of Greece.
All major islands in the sea belong to Greece. They are collectively referred to as the Ionian Islands, the major ones being Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and Lefkas.
There are ferry routes between Patras and Igoumenitsa, Greece, and Brindisi and Ancona, Italy, that cross the east and north of the Ionian Sea, and from Piraeus westward. Calypso Deep, the deepest point in the Mediterranean at −5,267 m (−17,280.2 ft), is located in the Ionian Sea, at 36°34′N 21°8′E / 36.567°N 21.133°E / 36.567; 21.133. The sea is one of the most seismically active areas in the world.
The name Ionian comes from Greek Ἰόνιον (πέλαγος). In Ancient Greek the adjective Ionios (Ἰόνιος) was used as an epithet for the sea because Io swam across it. Its etymology is unknown. Ancient Greek writers, especially Aeschylus, linked it to the myth of Io. There were also narratives about other eponymic legendary figures; according to one version, Ionius was a son of Adrias (eponymic for the Adriatic Sea); according to another, Ionius was a son of Dyrrhachus, eponymic for the ancient Greek city of Dyrrhachium (modern Durrës in Albania). When Dyrrhachus was attacked by his own brothers, Heracles, who was passing through the area, came to his aid, but in the fight the hero killed his ally's son by mistake. The corpse was cast into the sea, which thereafter was called the Ionian Sea.
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Italian empire
The Italian Empire (Italian: Impero Italiano) was created after the Kingdom of Italy joined other European powers in establishing colonies overseas during the "scramble for Africa". Modern Italy as a unified state only existed from 1861. By this time France, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Netherlands, had already carved out large empires over several hundred years. One of the last remaining areas open to colonisation was on the African continent.
By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Italy had annexed Eritrea and Somalia, and had wrested control of portions of the Ottoman Empire, including Libya, though it was defeated in its attempt to conquer Ethiopia. The Fascist government under Italian dictator Benito Mussolini which came to power in 1922 sought to increase the size of the empire further. Ethiopia was successfully taken, four decades after the previous failure, and Italy's European borders were expanded. An official "Italian Empire" was proclaimed on 9 May 1936 following the conquest of Ethiopia. Italy sided with Nazi Germany during World War II and initially enjoyed successes. However, Allied forces eventually captured Italian overseas colonies and by the time Italy itself was invaded in 1943, its empire had all but ceased to exist.
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Italian Peninsula
The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula, also Italy (Italian: Penisola italiana or Penisola appenninica) is one of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe (the other two being the Iberian Peninsula and Balkan Peninsula), spanning 1,000 km (620 mi) from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale (The Boot). Three smaller peninsulas contribute to this characteristic shape, namely Calabria, Salento and Gargano.
Since the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus (end of first century BCE), the northern border of the peninsula has been set on the Alps watershed, but geographically it coincides with a line extending from the Magra to the Rubicone rivers, north of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, which excludes the Po Valley and the southern slope of the Alps.
Nearly all of the peninsula is part of the state of the Italian Republic, apart from San Marino and the Vatican City. Additionally, Sicily, Elba, Malta (an independent state), and other smaller islands, as Palagruža (It. Pelagosa), belonging to Croatia, are usually considered as islands off the peninsula and in this sense geographically grouped along with it.
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Italy
Italyi/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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Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of Naples to distinguish it from the island-based polity. During much of its existence, the realm was contested between French and Aragonese (Spanish) dynasties. In 1816, it again merged with island-based Kingdom of Sicily to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Following the rebellion, King Charles I of Sicily (Charles of Anjou) was forced to leave the island of Sicily by Peter III of Aragon's troops. Charles, however, maintained his possessions on the mainland, customarily known as the "Kingdom of Naples", after its capital city. Charles and his Angevin successors maintained a claim to Sicily, warring against the Aragonese until 1373, when Queen Joan I of Naples formally renounced the claim. Joan's reign was contested by Louis the Great, the Angevin King of Hungary, who captured the kingdom several times (1348–1352).
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Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily (Italian: Regno di Sicilia, Latin: Regnum Siciliae, Sicilian: Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy. Until 1282 the Kingdom (sometimes called the regnum Apuliae et Siciliae) covered not only the island of Sicily, but also the whole Mezzogiorno region of southern Italy and the Maltese archipelago. The island was divided into three regions: Val di Mazara, Val Demone and Val di Noto.
In 1282 a revolt against the Angevin rule, known as the Sicilian Vespers, threw off Charles of Anjou's rule of the island of Sicily. The Angevins managed to maintain control in the mainland part of the kingdom, which became a separate entity also styled Kingdom of Sicily, although it is commonly referred to as the Kingdom of Naples, after its capital. The island became a separate kingdom as a kingdom of the Crown of Aragon. After 1302 the island kingdom was sometimes called the Kingdom of Trinacria. Often the kingship was vested in another monarch such as the King of Aragon, the King of Spain or the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1816 the island Kingdom of Sicily merged with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In 1861 its areas were united with the Kingdom of Italy.
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Lazio
Lazio (pronounced [ˈlattsjo], Latin: Latium) is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy. It includes Rome, capital and largest city of Italy.
Lazio comprises a land area of 17,236 km2 (6,655 sq mi) and it has borders with Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche to the north, Abruzzo and Molise to the east, Campania to the south, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. The region is mainly flat and hilly, with small mountainous areas in the most eastern and southern districts.
The coast of Lazio is mainly composed of sandy beaches, punctuated by the headlands of Circeo (541 m) and Gaeta (171 m). The Pontine Islands, which are part of Lazio, lie opposite the southern coast. Behind the coastal strip, to the north, lies the Maremma Laziale (the continuation of Tuscan Maremma), a costal plain interrupted at Civitavecchia by the Tolfa Mountains (616 m). The central section of the region is occupied by the Roman Campagna, a vast alluvial plain surrounding the city of Rome, with an area of approximately 2,100 km2 (811 sq mi). The southern districts are characterized by the flatlands of Agro Pontino, a once swampy and malarial area, that was reclaimed over the centuries.
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Locri
Locri is a town and comune (municipality) in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. The name derives from the ancient Greek town Locris.
Epizephyrian Locris (from Greek Επιζεφύριοι Λοκροί - epi-Zephyros, "under the West Wind") was founded about 680 BC on the Italian shore of the Ionian Sea, near modern Capo Zefirio, by the Locrians, apparently by Opuntii (East Locrians) from the city of Opus, but including Ozolae (West Locrians) and Lacedaemonians. Strabo suggests that it was the Ozolae who were the main founders.
Due to fierce winds at an original settlement, the settlers moved to the present site. After a century, a defensive wall was built. Outside the city there are several necropoleis, some of which are very large.
Epizephyrian Locris was one of the cities of Magna Graecia. Its renowned lawgiver Zaleucus decreed that anyone who proposed a change in the laws should do so with a noose about their neck, with which they should be hanged if the amendment did not pass. Plato called it "The flower of Italy", due to the local peoples' characteristics. Locris was the site of two great sanctuaries, that of Persephone — here worshipped as the protector of fertile marriage — and of Aphrodite.
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Malta
Maltai/ˈmɒltə/, officially known as the Republic of Malta (Maltese: Repubblika ta' Malta), is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, 80 km (50 mi) south of Sicily, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya, with Gibraltar 1,755 km (1,091 mi) to the west and Alexandria 1,508 km (937 mi) to the east. Malta covers just over 316 km2 (122 sq mi) in land area, making it one of the world's smallest states. It is also one of the most densely populated countries worldwide. The de facto capital city of Malta is Valletta; the largest town, Birkirkara. The main island comprises many towns, which together form one Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) with a population of 368,250 according to Eurostat. The country has two official languages, Maltese (constitutionally the national language) and English.
Throughout history, Malta's location has given it great strategic importance, and a succession of powers including the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Habsburg Spain, Knights of St John, French and the British ruled the islands. Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964 and became a republic in 1974, whilst retaining membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004. Malta is also party to the Schengen Agreement and in 2008 it became part of the eurozone.
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Marseille
Coordinates: 43°17′47″N 5°22′12″E / 43.2964°N 5.37°E / 43.2964; 5.37
Marseille ( /mɑrˈseɪ/; also Marseilles in English; French: [maʁsɛj], locally: [mɑχˈsɛjə]; Occitan: Marselha [maʀˈsejɔ, maʀˈsijɔ]), known in antiquity as Massilia or Massalia (from Greek: Μασσαλία), is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of 240.62 km2 (93 sq mi). The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of 1,204 km2 (465 sq mi). 1,530,000 or 1,601,095 people live in the Marseille metropolitan area, ranking it third among French metropolitan areas after Paris and Lyon. Located on the southeast coast of France, Marseille is France's largest city on the Mediterranean coast and largest commercial port. Marseille is the capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, as well as the capital of the Bouches-du-Rhône department. Its inhabitants are called Marseillais.
Marseille is the second largest city in France after Paris and the centre of the third largest metropolitan area in France after Paris and Lyon. To the east, starting in the small fishing village of Callelongue on the outskirts of Marseille and stretching as far as Cassis, are the Calanques, a rugged coastal area interspersed with small fjords. Further east still are the Sainte-Baume, a 1,147 m (3,763 ft) mountain ridge rising from a forest of deciduous trees, the town of Toulon and the French Riviera. To the north of Marseille, beyond the low Garlaban and Etoile mountain ranges, is the 1,011 m (3,317 ft) Mont Sainte Victoire. To the west of Marseille is the former artists' colony of l'Estaque; further west are the Côte Bleue, the Gulf of Lion and the Camargue region in the Rhône delta. The airport lies to the north west of the city at Marignane on the Étang de Berre.
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Messina
Messina (Italian pronunciation: [mesˈsiːna] ( listen), Sicilian: Missina; Latin: Messana) is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, Italy and the capital of the province of Messina. It has a population of about 250,000 inhabitants in the city proper and about 650,000 in the province. It is located near the northeast corner of Sicily, at the Strait of Messina, just opposite Villa San Giovanni on the mainland.
The main economical resources of the city are: the port (commercial and military), provided with several shipyards; agriculture (including wine production and the cultivation of lemons, oranges, mandarin oranges and olives); tourism.
The city has been a Roman Catholic Archdiocese and Archimandrite seat since 1548 and is home to a locally important international fair.
Founded by Greek colonists in the 8th century BC, Messina was originally called Zancle, from the Greek: ζάγκλον meaning "scythe" because of the shape of its natural harbour (though a legend attributes the name to King Zanclus). A comune of its province, located at the southern entrance of the Strait of Messina, is to this day called 'Scaletta Zanclea'. In the early 5th century BC, Anaxilas of Rhegium renamed it Messene in honour of the Greek city Messene (Greek: Μεσσήνη). (See also List of traditional Greek place names.) The city was sacked in 397 BC by the Carthaginians and then reconquered by Dionysius I of Syracuse.
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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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Molfetta
Molfetta is a city and comune of the province of Bari in the southern Italian region of Apulia, on the Adriatic coast, at sea-level. It is 25 km (15 mi) WNW of Bari.
It has a well restored old city, and its own dialect.
The earliest local signs of permanent habitation are at the Neolithic site of Pulo, one of the most important such sites in southern Italy. The origins of the city can be traced to a small fishing port; antique graves testify to a fisherman's village in the fourth century BC. The position of the future city offered a valid landing to the commerce of Roman Rubo. The first indication of a toponym on the coast between Turenum (Trani) and Natiolum (Giovinazzo) is in the Itinerarium Provinciarum Antonini Augusti, edited from a third century core. The place denominated Respa was probably a wrong transcript of the toponym Melpha, referring to a small village of fishermen.
The first official document that mentions the city dates to November 925; it documents a civitas denominated Melfi, situated on a peninsula named Sant'Andrea. The city developed under Byzantine dominion, and was later conquered by the Lombards, who included it in the Duchy of Benevento. The city repelled repeated assaults by the Saracens. As an independent seaport, Molfetta traded with other Mediterranean markets, including Venice, Alexandria, Constantinople, Syria, Amalfi and Dubrovnik.
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Molise
Coordinates: 41°41′59″N 14°36′40″E / 41.6997°N 14.6111°E / 41.6997; 14.6111
Molise (pronounced [moˈliːze]) (Molisano: Mulise) is a region of Southern Italy, the second smallest of the regions. It was formerly (until 1963) part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise (with Abruzzo) and now a separate entity. The region covers 4,438 km² and has a population of about 300,000.
Molise is the newest Italian region, since it was established in 1963, when the region Abruzzi e Molise was split in two. It became effective only in 1970.
Though there is a large Fiat plant (Termoli), the industrial sector is dominated by the building industry with small and medium-sized farms spread widely throughout the region. Another important industry is food processing: pasta, meat, milk products, oil and wine are the traditional products of the region. In the services sector the most important industries are distribution, hotels and catering, followed by transport and communications, banking and insurance. With few exceptions, in all sectors firms are small, and this explains the difficulties encountered when marketing products on a national scale.
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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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Near East
The Near East (French: Proche-Orient) is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other. The term originally applied to the maximum extent of the Ottoman Empire, which had been settled to the north by the Great Turkish War of the late 17th century, ending with the Treaty of Karlowitz, June 26, 1699. This war determined that Austria, Hungary and the Ukraine would not be in the Ottoman Empire and therefore ultimately would not be Near Eastern.
The term Near East was in use exclusively during the 2nd half of the 19th century. In the 1st half of the 20th century it began to share the geographical stage with the term, Middle East. Since then Near East and Middle East have been approximately synonymous. Near East is used in some historic contexts and Middle East in others with no major semantic difference.
At the beginning of the 19th century the Ottoman empire included all of the Balkan Peninsula north to the southern edge of the Hungarian plain, but by 1914 had lost all of it except Constantinople to the expansion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the independence of Greece and various smaller wars of independence resulting in the creation of "the Balkan States". Some of these states were independent and some were still nominally under the Ottomans although occupied by Austro-Hungarian troops. Up until 1912 the Ottomans retained a band of territory including Albania, Macedonia and Thrace, which were lost in the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913.
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Nola
Nola is a city and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the province of Naples, situated in the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is served by the Circumvesuviana railway from Naples.
Nola in Bronze Age times was the site of a settlement that has yielded evidence of the destructive power of an eruption by Mount Vesuvius between 1700 BC and 1600 BC (the Avellino eruption). Excavations revealed extensive evidence of a small village abandoned quickly by its occupants at the time of the eruption so that a wide range of pottery and other artifacts were left behind to survive with the imprint of buildings in the mud from the eruption.
Called Nuvlana on the most ancient coins, it was one of the oldest cities of Campania: it is said to have been founded by the Ausones. The latter were certainly in Nola about 560 BC. When it sent assistance to Naples against the Roman invasion (328 BC) it was probably occupied by the Oscans in alliance with the Samnites. In the Samnite War (311 BC) the town was taken by the Romans, while in the Second Punic War it thrice offered defiance to Hannibal (first, second, and third Battle of Nola) and on two occasions (215 and 214) it was defended by Marcellus. In the Social War it was given by treason into the hands of the Samnites, who kept it until Marius, with whom they had sided, was defeated by Sulla, who in 80 BC subjected it together with the rest of Samnium. Seven years later it was stormed by Spartacus, for which reason Augustus and Vespasian sent colonies there.
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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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Northern Hemisphere
Coordinates: 45°0′0″N 0°0′0″E / 45°N 0°E / 45; 0
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator. Earth's northern hemisphere contains most of the planet's land, and roughly 90% of its human population. See also Arctic, Temperate zone, Tropics, Seasons and Climate
Due to the Earth's axial tilt, winter lasts from the winter solstice (typically December 22) to the vernal equinox (typically March 20), while summer lasts from the summer solstice (typically June 21) through to the autumnal equinox (typically September 21).
The Arctic is the region north of the Arctic Circle. Its climate is characterized by cold winters and cool summers. Precipitation mostly comes in the form of snow. The Arctic experiences some days in summer when the Sun never sets, and some days during the winter when it never rises. The duration of these phases varies from one day for locations right on the Arctic Circle to several months near the North Pole.
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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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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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Palermo
Palermo (Italian: [paˈlɛrmo] ( listen), Sicilian: Palermu, Latin: Panormus, from Greek: Πάνορμος, Panormos, Arabic: بَلَرْم, Balarm; Phoenician: זִיז, Ziz) is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old. Palermo is located in the northwest of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The city was founded by the Phoenicians, but named by the Ancient Greeks as Panormus meaning 'always fit for landing in.' Palermo became part of the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire and eventually part of the Byzantine Empire, for over a thousand years. From 827 to 1071 it was under Arab rule during the Emirate of Sicily when it first became a capital. Following the Norman reconquest, Palermo became capital of a new kingdom (from 1130 to 1816), the Kingdom of Sicily. Eventually it would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860.
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Papal States
The Papal State(s), the State(s) of the Church, the Pontifical States, the Ecclesiastical States, or the Roman States (Italian: Stato Pontificio, also Stato della Chiesa, Stati della Chiesa, Stati Pontifici, and Stato Ecclesiastico; Latin: Status Pontificius, also Dicio Pontificia) were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia (after which the Papal States, in less territorially extensive form, continued to exist until 1870).
The Papal States comprised territories under direct sovereign rule of the papacy, and at its height it covered most of the modern Italian regions of Romagna, Marche, Umbria and Lazio. This governing power is commonly called the temporal power of the Pope, as opposed to his ecclesiastical primacy.
The plural Papal States is usually preferred; the singular Papal State (equally correct since it was not a mere personal union) tends to be used (normally with lower-case letters) for the modern State of Vatican City, an enclave within Italy's national capital, Rome. The Vatican City was founded in 1929, again allowing the Holy See the political benefits of territorial sovereignty.
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Reggio Calabria
Reggio di Calabria (Italian pronunciation: [ˈrɛddʒo di kaˈlaːbrja]; Calabrian dialect: Rìggiu, Greek-Calabrian: Righi, Greek: Ῥήγιον, Rhegion, Latin: Rhegium), commonly known as Reggio Calabria listen (help·info) or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.
Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian peninsula and is separated from the island of Sicily by the Strait of Messina. It is situated on the slopes of the Aspromonte, a long, craggy mountain range that runs up through the center of the region. The region is subject to earthquakes and tsunami. It is the largest and oldest city in the region and is the second oldest city in Italy overall. The third economic center of mainland Southern Italy and is well known as a port and university city. The city has a population of 186,547 spread over 236 km², while the fast-growing urban area numbers 260,000 inhabitants. Another 370,429 people live in the metropolitan area (the 10th metropolitan city of the Italian nation).
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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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Salerno
Salerno listen (help·info) is a city and comune in Campania (south-western Italy) and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Salerno is the main town close to the Costiera Amalfitana (the "Amalfi Coast" on the Tyrrhenian, which includes the famous towns of Amalfi, Positano, and others) and is mostly known for its Schola Medica Salernitana (the first University of Medicine in the world). In the 16th century, under the Sanseverino family, amongst the most powerful feudal lords in Southern Italy, the city became a great centre of learning, culture and the arts, and the family hired several of the greatest intellectuals of the time. Later, in 1694, the city was struck by several catastrophic earthquakes and plagues, and afterwards a period of Spanish rule which would last until the 18th century. After that, Salerno became part of the Parthenopean Republic and saw a period of Napoleonic rule.
In recent history the city hosted the King of Italy, who moved from Rome in 1943 after Italy negotiated a peace with the Allies in World War II. A brief so-called "government of the South" was then established in the town, that became the "capital" of Italy for some months. Some of the Allied landings during Operation Avalanche (the invasion of Italy) occurred near Salerno.
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Sardinia
Sardinia ( /sɑrˈdɪniə/, Italian: Sardegna [sarˈdeɲɲa], Sardinian: Sardigna [sarˈdinja]) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and before Cyprus). It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are (clockwise from north) the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.
The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[], romanised as sardus (feminine sarda); that the name had a religious connotation is suggested from its use also as the adjective for the ancient Sardinian mythological hero-god Sardus Pater "Sardinian Father" (misunderstood by many modern Sardinians/Italians as being "Father Sardus"), as well as being the stem of the adjective "sardonic". Sardinia was called Ichnusa (the Latinised form of the Greek Hyknousa), Sandalion, Sardinia and Sardo by the ancient Greeks and the Romans.
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 23,821 km². It is situated between 38° 51' and 41° 15' latitude north and 8° 8' and 9° 50' east longitude. To the west of Sardinia is the Sea of Sardinia, a unit of the Mediterranean Sea; to Sardinia's east is the Tyrrhenian Sea, which is also an element of the Mediterranean Sea.
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Selinunte
Selinunte (Greek: Σελινοῦς; Latin: Selinus) is an ancient Greek archaeological site on the south coast of Sicily, southern Italy, between the valleys of the rivers Belice and Modione in the province of Trapani. The archaeological site contains five temples centered on an acropolis. Of the five temples, only the Temple of Hera, also known as "Temple E", has been re-erected.
Selinunte was one of the most important of the Greek colonies in Sicily, situated on the southwest coast of that island, at the mouth of the small river of the same name, and 6.5 km west of that of the Hypsas (the modern Belice River). It was founded, according to historian Thucydides, by a colony from the Sicilian city of Megara, or Megara Hyblaea, under the conduct of a leader named Pammilus, about 100 years after the settlement of that city, with the addition of a fresh body of colonists from the parent city of Megara in Greece. The date of its foundation cannot be precisely fixed, as Thucydides indicates it only by reference to that of the Sicilian Megara, which is itself not accurately known, but it may be placed about 628 BCE. Diodorus places it 22 years earlier, or 650 BCE, and Hieronymus still further back, 654 BCE. The date from Thucydides, which is probably the most likely, is incompatible with this earlier epoch. The name is supposed to have been derived from quantities of wild parsley (Greek: σέλινον—selinon) that grew on the spot. For the same reason, they adopted the parsley leaf as the symbol on their coins.
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Sessa Cilento
Sessa Cilento (from Greek Σύεσσα - Syessa) is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy.
Sessa Cilento is located in Cilento and in its National Park. borders with the municipalities of Lustra, Omignano, Perdifumo, Pollica, San Mauro Cilento, Serramezzana and Stella Cilento.
The municipality counts the frazioni of Casigliano, Castagneta, Felitto Piano, San Mango Cilento, Santa Lucia and Valle.
Media related to Sessa Cilento at Wikimedia Commons
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Sicily
Sicily (Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia, [siˈtʃiːlja]; [sɪˈɕilja]) is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea; along with surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana (Sicilian Autonomous Region).
Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean. It extends from the tip of the Apennine peninsula from which it is separated only by the narrow Strait of Messina, towards the North African coast. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, which is at 3,320 m (10,890 ft) the tallest active volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate.
The earliest archeological evidence of human dwelling on the island dates from 8000 BC. At around 750 BC, Sicily became a Greek colony and for the next 600 years it was the site of the Greek-Punic and Roman-Punic wars, which ended with the Roman destruction of Carthage. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, Sicily often changed hands, and during the early Middle Ages it was ruled in turn by the Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Arabs and Normans. Later on, the Kingdom of Sicily lasted between 1130 and 1816, subordinated to the crowns of Aragon, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and finally the Bourbons, as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. It was united with the rest of Italy in 1860, but a subsequent economic collapse led to a wave of emigration, separatism, and the emergence of the Mafia, whose criminal activities pose problems to this day. After the birth of the Italian Republic in 1946, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region.
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Sorrento Peninsula
The Sorrentine Peninsula or Sorrento Peninsula is a peninsula located in southern Italy that separates the Gulf of Naples to the north from the Gulf of Salerno to the south.
The peninsula is named after its main town, Sorrento, which is located on the north (Gulf of Naples) coast. The Amalfi Coast is located on the southern side. The island of Capri lies off the western tip of the peninsula in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The whole area is an important destination for tourism.
The peninsula lies on the territory of the province of Naples with 9 comunes and the province of Salerno with 12 comunes.
The nearest airports are:
Media related to Sorrento Peninsula at Wikimedia Commons
Coordinates: 40°37′29″N 14°25′00″E / 40.6246°N 14.4168°E / 40.6246; 14.4168
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Spain
Spain (i/ˈspeɪn/ SPAYN; Spanish: España, pronounced: [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state and a member of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 504,030 square kilometres (194,610 sq mi), it is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France, and the fourth largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France.
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Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire (Spanish: Imperio Español) comprised territories and colonies administered by Spain in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its political and economic power when it became the foremost global power. Its establishment in the 15th century ushered in the modern global era and five centuries of European dominance of global affairs. Spain's territorial reach beyond Europe spanned six centuries, from the first voyages to the Americas in 1492 until the independence of its last African colonies in the 1970s.
After the War of the Castilian Succession (1475–1479), Spain had emerged with a personally unified monarchy, with the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs or los Reyes Catolicos between the Queen of Castile and the King of Aragon: the internal and foreign policy was coordinated although the rule was separate. In 1492, the Spanish monarchs completed the Reconquista with the incorporation of Granada to the Kingdom of Castile. That same year Christopher Columbus commanded the first Spanish exploratory voyage west across the Atlantic Ocean, leading to the Discovery of America and Europe's eventual colonial engagement in the New World. The Americas thereby became the focus of Spanish exploration and colonization.
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Strait of Otranto
The Strait of Otranto (Albanian: Kanali i Otrantos; Italian: Canale d'Otranto) connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania. Its width at Punta Palascìa, east of Salento is less than 72 kilometres (45 mi). The strait is named after the Italian city of Otranto.
During World War I, the strait was of strategic significance. The Allied navies of Italy, France, and Great Britain, by blockading the strait, mostly with light naval forces and lightly armed fishermen, hindered the cautious Austro-Hungarian Navy from freely entering the Mediterranean Sea, and effectively kept them out of the naval theatre of war.
However, the barrage was notoriously ineffective against the German U-boats operating out of the Adriatic, which were to plague the Allied powers for most of the war throughout the Mediterranean.
In 1992, Albania and Italy signed a treaty that delimited the continental shelf boundary between the two countries in the strait.
In 1997 and 2004, nearly 100 people lost their lives trying to illegally cross the strait following the 1997 unrest in Albania and poor economic conditions in the Tragedy of Otranto and the Karaburun tragedy.
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Sybaris
Coordinates: 39°43′57″N 16°29′32″E / 39.7325°N 16.49222°E / 39.7325; 16.49222
Sybaris (Greek: Σύβαρις) was an ancient city in Magna Graecia on the western shore of the Gulf of Taranto. The wealth of the city during the 6th century BC was so great that the Sybarites became synonymous with pleasure and luxury. The modern town of Sibari lies near the ruins of the Greek city; it is a frazione of the comune of Cassano allo Ionio, in the province of Cosenza.
Sybaris was situated close to the sea and lay between the Crathis (Crati) and Sybaris (Coscile) rivers. The river Sybaris (from which the town derives its name) feeds into the Crati about 5 km from its mouth, but in antiquity pursued an independent course into the ocean. It lies on a plain that in antiquity was renowned for its fertility.
The Greek geographer Strabo claimed that Greek colonists named the river Sybaris after a fountain of the same name at Bura in Achaia: According to some sources it had the property of making the horses that drank its water shy. It is a stream of considerable size. Its sources are in the Apennines near Morano, it flows beneath Castrovillari, and receives several minor tributary streams before it joins the Crathis.
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Taranto
Taranto (Italian pronunciation: [ˈtaːranto] ( listen); Latin: Tarentum; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς Tarās; Modern Greek: Τάραντας Tarantas; Tarantino "Tarde") is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base.
It is the third-largest continental city of Southern Italy: according to 2010 estimates, it has a population of 195 882.
Taranto is an important commercial and military port. It has well-developed steel and iron foundries, oil refineries, chemical works, some shipyards for building warships, and food-processing factories.
Taranto's pre-history dates back to 706 BC when it was founded as a Greek colony. The ancient city was situated on a peninsula on which the modern city has been built over the ancient Greek city of which only a few ruins remain including part of the city wall, two temple columns dating to the 6th century BC and tombs.
The islets of S. Pietro and S. Paolo (St. Peter and St. Paul) protect the bay, called Mar Grande (Big Sea), where the commercial port is located. Another bay, called Mar Piccolo (Little Sea), is formed by the peninsula of the old city, and has flourishing fishing. Mar Piccolo is a military port with strategic importance.
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Thurii
Thurii (Ancient Greek: Θούριοι), called also by some Latin writers Thurium (compare Θούριον in Ptolemy), for a time also Copia and Copiae, was a city of Magna Graecia, situated on the Tarentine gulf, within a short distance of the site of Sybaris, whose place it may be considered as having taken. Its location is in the frazione of Thurio, comune of Corigliano Calabro, in the Province of Cosenza, Calabria region, Italy.
Thurii was one of the latest of all the Greek colonies in this part of Italy, not having been founded until nearly 70 years after the fall of Sybaris. The site of that city had remained desolate for a period of 58 years after its destruction by the Crotoniats; when at length, in 452 BC, a number of the Sybarite exiles and their descendants made an attempt to establish themselves again on the spot, under the guidance of some leaders of Thessalian origin; and the new colony rose so rapidly to prosperity that it excited the jealousy of the Crotoniats, who, in consequence, expelled the new settlers a little more than 5 years after the establishment of the colony. The fugitive Sybarites first appealed for support to Sparta, but without success: their application to the Athenians was more successful, and that people determined to send out a fresh colony, at the same time that they reinstated the settlers who had been lately expelled from thence. A body of Athenian colonists was accordingly sent out by Pericles, under the command of Lampon and Xenocritus; but the number of Athenian citizens was small, the greater part of those who took part in the colony being collected from various parts of Greece. Among them were two celebrated names – Herodotus the historian, and the orator Lysias, both of whom appear to have formed part of the original colony. The laws of the new colony were established by the sophist Protagoras at the request of Pericles.
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Trani
Trani listen (help·info) is a seaport of Apulia, southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, in the new Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani (as of June 2009), and 40 km by railway West-Northwest of Bari.
The city of Turenum appears for the first time in the Tabula Peutingeriana, a 13th century copy of an ancient Roman itinerary. The name, also spelled Tirenum, was that of the Greek hero Diomedes. The city was later occupied by the Lombards and the Byzantines. First certain news of an urban settlement in Trani, however, trace back only to the 9th century.
The most flourishing age of Trani was the 11th century, when it became an episcopal see in place of Canosa, destroyed by the Saracens. Its port, well placed for the Crusades, then developed greatly, becoming the most important on the Adriatic Sea. In the year 1063 Trani issued the Ordinamenta et consuetudo maris, which is "the oldest surviving maritime law code of the Latin West". In that period many great families from the main Italian Maritime Republics (Amalfi, Pisa, Ragusa and Venice) established themselves in Trani. Trani, in turn, maintained a consul in Venice from 12th century. The presence of other consulates in many northern Europe centres, even in England and Netherlands, shows Trani's trading and political importance in the Middle Ages. Emperor Frederick II built a massive castle in Trani. Under his rule, in the early 13th century, the city reached its highest point of wealth and prosperity.
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Turin
Turin (Italian: Torino, pronounced [toˈriːno] ( listen); Piedmontese: Turin, pronounced [tyˈɾiŋ]; Latin: Augusta Taurinorum) is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 (November 2008) while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million.
The city has a rich culture and history, and is known for its numerous art galleries, restaurants, churches, palaces, opera houses, piazzas, parks, gardens, theatres, libraries, museums and other venues. Turin is well known for its baroque, rococo, neo-classical, and Art Nouveau architecture. Much of the city's public squares, castles, gardens and elegant palazzi such as Palazzo Madama, were built in the 16th and 18th century, after the capital of the Duchy of Savoy (later Kingdom of Sardinia) was moved to Turin from Chambery( nowadays France) as part of the urban expansion.
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Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea (Corsican: Mari Tirrenu, French: Mer Tyrrhénienne, Italian: Mare Tirreno, Neapolitan: Mar Tirreno, Sardinian: Mare Tirrenu, Sicilian: Mari Tirrenu, Latin: Mare Tyrrhenum) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.
The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia (to the west), Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria (to the east) and Sicily (to the south).
The maximum depth of the sea is 3,785 metres (12,418 ft).
The Tyrrhenian Sea is situated near where the African and European Plates meet; therefore mountain chains and active volcanoes such as Mount Marsili are found in its depths. The eight Aeolian Islands and Ustica are located in the southern part of the sea, north of Sicily.
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Tyrrhenian Sea as follows:
There are four exits from the Tyrrhenian Sea (north to south):
The Tyrrhenian Sea is divided into two basins (or plains), the Vavilov plain and the Marsili plain. They are separated by the undersea ridge known as the Issel Bridge, after Arturo Issel.[dead link]
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West Germany
West Germany (German: Westdeutschland) is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990.
During this period, West Germany and the communist East Germany were divided by the Inner German border. After 1961, West Berlin was physically separated from East Berlin as well as from East Germany by the Berlin Wall. This situation ended when East Germany was dissolved and its five states joined the ten states of the Federal Republic of Germany along with the reunified city-state of Berlin. The enlarged Federal Republic of Germany with sixteen states (known simply as "Germany") is thus the continuation of the pre-1990 Federal Republic of Germany.
The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven states formed in the three Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France (the "Western Zones"). The city of Bonn was its provisional capital city. The fourth Allied occupation zone (the East Zone, or Ostzone) was held by the Soviet Union. The parts of this zone lying east of the Oder-Neisse were in fact annexed by the Soviet Union and communist Poland; the remaining central part around Berlin became the communist German Democratic Republic (abbreviated GDR; in German Deutsche Demokratische Republik or DDR) with its de facto capital in East Berlin. As a result, West Germany had a territory about half the size of the interwar democratic Weimar Republic.
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Alfonso II of Naples
Alfonso II of Naples (4 November 1448 – 18 December 1495), also called Alfonso II d'Aragon, was King of Naples from 25 January 1494 to 22 February 1495 with the title King of Naples and Jerusalem. As Duke of Calabria he was a patron of Renaissance poets and builders during his tenure as the heir to the throne of Naples.
Born at Naples, Alfonso was the oldest child of Ferdinand I of Naples and his first wife, Isabella of Taranto, the daughter of Tristan, Count of Copertino and Caterina Orsini. He was the cousin of Ferdinand II of Aragon, king of Aragon and the first (co-)ruler of a unified Spain. His teacher was the humanist Giovanni Pontano, whose De splendore describes the proper virtues and manner of life becoming to a prince.
When his mother Isabella of Taranto died (1465), he succeeded to her feudal claims, which included the Brienne claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
In 1463, when Alfonso was fifteen, his great-uncle Giovanni Antonio del Balzo Orsini, Prince of Taranto, died, and he obtained some lands from the inheritance. Alfonso had shown himself a skilled and determined soldier, helping his father in the suppression of the Conjure of the Barons (1485) and in the defence of the Kingdom's territory against the Papal claims.
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Alfonso V of Aragon
Alfonso the Magnanimous KG (also Alphonso; Catalan: Alfons; 1396 – 27 June 1458) was the King of Aragon (as Alfonso V), Valencia (as Alfonso III), Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica (as Alfonso II), and Sicily and Count of Barcelona (as Alfonso IV) from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfonso I) from 1442 until his death. He was one of the most prominent figures of the early Renaissance and a knight of the Order of the Dragon.
Born at Medina del Campo, he was the son of Ferdinand I of Aragon (known as Ferdinand of Antequera) and Eleanor of Alburquerque. He represented the old line of the counts of Barcelona only through women, and was on his father's side descended from the House of Trastamara, the reigning House of Castile. By hereditary right he was king of Sicily and disputed the island of Sardinia with Genoa. Alfonso was also in possession of much of Corsica by the 1420s.
In 1421 Queen Joan II of Naples, who had no children, adopted and named him as heir to the Kingdom of Naples, and Alfonso went to Naples. Here he hired the famous condottiero Braccio da Montone with the task of reducing the resistance of the other pretender, Louis III of Anjou, and his forces led by Muzio Attendolo Sforza. As Pope Martin V supported Sforza, Alfonso switched religious allegiance to the Aragonese antipope Benedict XIII. When Sforza also abandoned Louis, Alfonso seemed to have all his problems solved; however, his relationship with Joan suddenly worsened, and in May 1423 he had her lover, and a powerful figure in the Neapolitan court, Gianni Caracciolo, arrested.
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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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Cesare Mori
Cesare Mori (Pavia, December 22, 1871 – Udine, July 6, 1942) was a prefect (prefetto) before and during the Fascist period in Italy. He is known in Italy as the Iron Prefect (Prefetto di Ferro) because of his iron-fisted campaigns against the Mafia on Sicily in the second half of the 1920s.
Mori was born in Pavia and grew up in an orphananage and was only recognised by his natural parents in October 1879 at the age of seven. He studied at the Turin Military Academy. However, he married a girl, Angelina Salvi, who did not have the dowry stipulated by military regulations of the time, and had to resign. He joined the police, serving first in Ravenna, then Castelvetrano in the province of Trapani (Sicily) – where he made his name capturing the bandit Paolo Grisalfi – before moving to Florence in 1915 as vice-quaestor.
At the end of the First World War, the situation of Sicilian criminality got worse when war veterans joined gangs of bandits. In 1919 Mori was sent back to Sicily as the head of special forces against brigandage. In his roundups, Mori distinguished himself for his energetic and radical methods. At Caltabellotta he arrested more than 300 people in one night. The press wrote of a "lethal blow to the Mafia", but Mori said to a member of his staff :
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Charles II of Naples
Charles II, known as "the Lame" (French le Boiteux, Italian lo Zoppo) (1254 – 5 May 1309) was King of Naples, King of Albania, Prince of Salerno, Prince of Achaea and Count of Anjou.
He was the son of Charles I of Anjou, who had conquered the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily in the 1260s. His mother was Beatrice of Provence.
During the Sicilian Vespers, he had been captured by Roger of Lauria in the naval battle at Naples in 1284. When his father died in 1285, he was still a prisoner of Peter III of Aragon.
In 1288, King Edward I of England mediated to make peace, and Charles was liberated on the condition that he was to retain Naples alone. Sicily was left to the Aragonese. Charles was also to induce his cousin Charles of Valois to renounce, for twenty thousand pounds of silver, the kingdom of Aragon, which had been given to him by Pope Martin IV to punish Peter for having invaded Sicily, but which the Valois had never effectively occupied.
Charles was then released, leaving three of his sons and sixty Provençal nobles as hostages, promising to pay 30,000 marks and to return a prisoner if the conditions were not fulfilled within three years. He went to Rieti, where the new Pope Nicholas IV immediately absolved him from all the conditions he had sworn to observe, crowned him King of Sicily in 1289, and excommunicated King Alfonso III of Aragon. Charles of Valois, in alliance with Castile, prepared to take possession of Aragon, reopening the Aragonese Crusade. Alfonso, being hard pressed, agreed to the conditions of the Treaty of Tarascon: he had to promise to withdraw the troops he had sent to help his brother James in Sicily, to renounce all rights over the island, and pay a tribute to the Holy See.
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Charles III of Spain
Charles III (Spanish: Carlos III; Italian: Carlo III; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese. In 1731, the fifteen-year-old Charles became the Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I, at the death of his childless great uncle Antonio Farnese, Duke of Parma.
In 1734, as the Duke of Parma, he conquered the kingdoms of Naples and of Sicily, and was crowned as the King of Naples and Sicily on 3 July 1735, reigning as Charles VII of Naples and Charles V of Sicily. In 1738 he married the Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony, an educated, cultured woman who gave birth to thirteen children, eight of whom reached adulthood. Charles and Maria Amalia resided in Naples for nineteen years; she died in 1760.
Upon succeeding to the Spanish throne on 10 August 1759, Charles, a proponent of enlightened absolutism, on 6 October 1759 abdicated the Neapolitan and Sicilian thrones in favour of Ferdinand, his third surviving son, who became Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, or Ferdinand IV of Naples and III of Sicily. Charles III's descendants ruled the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until 1861.
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Franks
The Franks (Latin: Franci or gens Francorum) were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as populating a broad strip of land on the right bank of the Lower and Middle Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a kingdom on Roman-held soil that was acknowledged by the Romans after 357. In the climate of the collapse of imperial authority in the West, the Frankish tribes were united under the Merovingians and conquered all of Gaul except Septimania in the 6th century. The Salian political elite was one of the most active forces in spreading Christianity over western Europe. The Franks had created one of the most strong and stable barbaric kingdoms.
The Merovingian dynasty, descended from the Salians, founded one of the Germanic monarchies which replaced the Western Roman Empire from the fifth century. The Frankish state consolidated its hold over large parts of western Europe by the end of the eighth century, developing into the Carolingian Empire which dominated most of Western Europe. This empire would gradually evolve into France and the Holy Roman Empire.
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Giovanni Giolitti
Giovanni Giolitti (Italian pronunciation: [dʒoˈvanni dʒoˈlitti]; Mondovì, October 27, 1842 – Cavour, July 17, 1928) was an Italian statesman. He was the 19th, 25th, 29th, 32nd and 37th Prime Minister of Italy between 1892 and 1921. He is the second-longest serving Prime Minister in Italian history, after Benito Mussolini, becoming Prime Minister on five occasions over 20 years.
Giolitti was a master in the political art of Trasformismo, the method of making a flexible, centrist coalition of government which isolated the extremes of the left and the right in Italian politics after the unification. Under his influence, the Italian Liberals did not develop as a structured party. They were, instead, a series of informal personal groupings with no formal links to political constituencies. The period between the turn-of-the-twentieth-century to the start of Word War I, when he was Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior from 1901-1914 with only brief interruptions, is often called the Giolittian Era.
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Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe ɡariˈbaldi] (Joseph Marie Garibaldi at birth, 4 July 1807, Nice, French Empire – 2 June 1882, Caprera, Kingdom of Italy) was an Italian general, politician and patriot. He is considered, with Camillo Cavour, Victor Emmanuel II and Giuseppe Mazzini, as one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland".
Garibaldi was a central figure in the Italian Risorgimento, since he personally commanded and fought in many military campaigns that led eventually to the formation of unified Italy. He generally tried to act on behalf of a legitimate power, which does not make him exactly a revolutionary: for example, he was appointed general by the provisional government of Milan in 1848, General of the Roman Republic in 1849 by the Minister of War, and led the Expedition of the Thousand on behalf and with the consent of Victor Emmanuel II.
He has been called the "Hero of Two Worlds" because of his military enterprises which he conducted in both South America and Europe. These earned him a considerable reputation both in Italy and abroad. This is also due to the exceptional international media coverage that he received at the time. Many of the greatest intellectuals of his time, such as Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and George Sand, showered him with their admiration. The United Kingdom and the United States helped him a great deal, offering him financial and military support in difficult circumstances.
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Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes (Greek: Ἕλληνες, [ˈelines]), are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and other regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world.
Greek colonies and communities have been historically established in most corners of the Mediterranean, but Greeks have always been centered around the Aegean Sea, where the Greek language has been spoken since antiquity. Until the early 20th century, Greeks were uniformly distributed between the Greek peninsula, the western coast of Asia Minor, Pontus, Egypt, Cyprus and Constantinople; many of these regions coincided to a large extent with the borders of the Byzantine Empire of the late 11th century and the Eastern Mediterranean areas of the ancient Greek colonization.
In the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), a large-scale population exchange between Greece and Turkey transferred and confined Christians from Turkey, except Constantinople (effectively ethnic Greeks) into the borders of the modern Greek state and Cyprus. Other ethnic Greek populations can be found from southern Italy to the Caucasus and in diaspora communities in a number of other countries. Today, most Greeks are officially registered as members of the Greek Orthodox Church.
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Italian diaspora
The term Italian diaspora refers to the large-scale migration of Italians away from Italy in the period roughly beginning with the unification of Italy in 1861 and ending with the Italian economic miracle in the 1960s. The Italian diaspora concerned more than 25 million Italians and it is considered the biggest mass migration of contemporary times.
Poverty was the main reason for the diaspora. Italy was until the 1950s a partially rural society where land management practices, especially in the South and North-East, did not easily convince farmers to stay on the land and work the soil.
Another characteristic was related to the overpopulation of southern Italy after the improvements of the socio-economic conditions, following the unification process. Indeed southern Italian families after 1861 started to have access (for the first time) to hospitals, improved hygienic conditions and normal food supply.
This created a demographic boom and forced the new generations to emigrate in mass at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, mostly to the Americas. The emigration was minimal only when Fascism moved to the Italian colonies the excessive Italian population in order to colonize Libya and the horn of Africa. After World War II the process started again in huge numbers, because of the destruction during the war of Italy and its economy.
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Italian Wars
The Italian Wars, often referred to as the Great Italian Wars or the Great Wars of Italy and sometimes as the Habsburg–Valois Wars or the Renaissance Wars, were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the city-states of Italy, the Papal States, most of the major states of Western Europe (France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, England, and Scotland) as well as the Ottoman Empire. Originally arising from dynastic disputes over the Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples, the wars rapidly became a general struggle for power and territory among their various participants, and were marked with an increasing number of alliances, counter-alliances, and betrayals.
Following the Wars in Lombardy between Venice and Milan, which ended in 1454, Northern Italy had been largely at peace during the reigns of Cosimo de' Medici and Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, with the notable exception of the War of Ferrara in 1482-1484.
Spain had promised not to interfere with France's adventures in Italy in return for Roussillon and Cerdagne, which were ceded to Spain under the Treaty of Barcelona of 1492.
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Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat (French pronunciation: [ʒoakim napoleɔ̃ myʁa] (born Joachim Murat; Italian: Gioacchino Napoleone Murat; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815), Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815. He received his titles in part by being the brother-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte, through marriage to Napoleon's youngest sister, Caroline Bonaparte. He was noted as a daring and charismatic cavalry officer as well as a flamboyant dresser and was known as "the Dandy King".
Joachim Murat was born on 25 March 1767 in La Bastide-Fortunière, (renamed Labastide-Murat after its renowned citizen), in the Lot department of France, in the former province of Guyenne, to Pierre Murat-Jordy, (d. 27 July 1799), an affluent farmer and an innkeeper, and his wife Jeanne Loubières (La Bastide Fortunière, b. 1722 – La Bastide Fortunière, d. 11 March 1806), daughter of Pierre Loubières and of his wife Jeanne Viellescazes. Pierre Murat-Jordy was the son of Guillaume Murat (1692 – 1754) and his wife Marguerite Herbeil (d. 1755); paternal grandson of Pierre Murat, born in 1634, and wife Catherine Badourès, who died in 1697; and maternal grandson of Bertrand Herbeil and wife Anne Roques.
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Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoleon Bonaparte (7 January 1768 – 28 July 1844) was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily (1806–1808), and later King of Spain (1808–1813, as José I). After the fall of Napoleon, Joseph styled himself Comte de Survilliers.
Joseph was born Giuseppe Buonaparte in 1768 to Carlo Buonaparte and Maria Letizia Ramolino at Corte, the capital of the Corsican Republic. In the year of his birth, Corsica was invaded by France and conquered the following year. His father was originally a follower of the Corsican Patriot leader, Pasquale Paoli, but later became a supporter of French rule. As a lawyer, politician, and diplomat, Joseph served in the Cinq-Cents and was the French ambassador to Rome. He married Marie Julie Clary (26 December 1771, Marseille, France – 7 April 1845, Florence, Italy) on 1 August 1794 in Cuges-les-Pins, France. They had three daughters:
He claimed the surviving two daughters as his heirs. He also sired two children with Maria Giulia, the Countess of Atri:
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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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Normans
The Normans (in French: Normands) were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock. Their identity emerged initially in the first half of the 10th century, and gradually evolved over succeeding centuries.
They played a major political, military, and cultural role in medieval Europe and even the Near East. They were famed for their martial spirit and eventually for their Christian piety. They quickly adopted the Romance language of the land they settled, their dialect becoming known as Norman or Norman-French, an important literary language. The Duchy of Normandy, which they formed by treaty with the French crown, was one of the great fiefs of medieval France. The Normans are famed both for their culture, such as their unique Romanesque architecture, and their musical traditions, as well as for their military accomplishments and innovations. Norman adventurers established a kingdom in Sicily and southern Italy by conquest, and a Norman expedition on behalf of their duke, William the Conqueror, led to the Norman Conquest of England. Norman influence spread from these new centres to the Crusader States in the Near East, to Scotland and Wales in Great Britain, and to Ireland.
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Peter III of Aragon
Peter the Great (Catalan: Pere el Gran, Aragonese: Pero lo Gran; 1239, Valencia – 2 November 1285) was the King of Aragon (as Peter III) of Valencia (as Peter I), and Count of Barcelona (as Peter II) from 1276 to his death. He conquered Sicily and became its king in 1282. He was one of the greatest of medieval Aragonese monarchs.
Peter was the eldest son of James I of Aragon and his second wife Yolanda of Hungary. On 13 June 1262, he married Constance, daughter and heiress of Manfred of Sicily. During his youth and early adulthood, Peter gained a great deal of military experience in his father's wars of the Reconquista against the Moors.
On James' death, the lands of the Crown of Aragon were divided, with Aragon and Valencia, along with the Catalan counties, going to the eldest son, Peter, while the Balearic Islands (constituted as the Kingdom of Majorca), alongside the territories in the Languedoc (Montpellier and Roussillon), went to the second son, James. Peter and Constance were crowned in Zaragoza (the capital of Aragon) in November by the archbishop of Tarragona. At this ceremony, Peter renounced all feudal obligations to the papacy which his grandfather Peter II had incurred.
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Philip V of Spain
Philip V (Spanish: Felipe V; French: Philippe de France; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.
Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a grandson of King Louis XIV. His father, Louis, the Grand Dauphin, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain when it became vacant in 1700. However, since the Grand Dauphin and Philip's older brother, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could not be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne, King Charles II of Spain named Philip as his heir in his will. It was well-known that the union of France and Spain under one monarch would upset the balance of power in Europe, such that other European powers would take steps to prevent it. Philip was the first member of the House of Bourbon to rule as king of Spain. The sum of his two reigns, 45 years and 21 days, is the longest in modern Spanish history.
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Pyrrhus of Epirus
Pyrrhus or Pyrrhos (Greek: Πύρρος, Pyrros; 319/318 BC–272 BC) was a Greekgeneral and statesman of the Hellenistic era. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house (from circa 297 BC), and later he became king of Epirus (r. 306–302, 297–272 BC) and Macedon (r. 288–284, 273–272 BC). He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome. Some of his battles, though successful, cost him heavy losses, from which the term "Pyrrhic victory" was coined. He is the subject of one of Plutarch's Parallel Lives (Greek: Βίοι Παράλληλοι).
Pyrrhus was the son of Aeacides and Phthia, a Thessalian woman, and a second cousin of Alexander the Great (via Alexander's mother, Olympias). He had two sisters: Deidamia and Troias. Pyrrhus was only two years old when his father was dethroned, in 317 BC, his family taking refuge with Glaukias, king of the Taulantians, one of the largest Illyrian tribes. Pyrrhus was raised by Beroea, Glaukias's wife and a Molossian of the Aeacidae dynasty.
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Strabo
Strabo,,[pronunciation?], also written Strabon (Greek: Στράβων; 64/63 BC – ca. AD 24), was a Greek geographer, philosopher and historian.
Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus (modern Amasya, Turkey), a city that he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea. His mother was Georgian. Pontus had recently fallen to the Roman Republic, and although politically he was a proponent of Roman imperialism, Strabo belonged on his mother's side to a prominent family whose members had held important positions under the resisting regime of King Mithridates VI of Pontus.
Strabo's life was characterized by extensive travels. He journeyed to Egypt and Kush, as far west as coastal Tuscany and as far south as Ethiopia in addition to his travels in Asia Minor and time spent in Rome. Travel throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, especially for scholarly purposes, was popular during this era and was facilitated by the relative peace enjoyed throughout the reign of Augustus (27 BC – AD 14). He moved to Rome in 44 BC, and stayed there, studying and writing, until at least 31 BC. In 29 BC, on his way to Corinth (where Augustus was at the time), he visited the island of Gyaros in the Aegean Sea. Around 25 BC, he sailed up the Nile until reaching Philae, after which point there is little record of his proceedings until 17 AD.
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Zotto
Zotto (also Zotton or Zottone) was the military leader (Latin: dux) of the Lombards in the Mezzogiorno. He is generally considered the founder of the Duchy of Benevento in 571 and its first duke : “…Fuit autem primus Langobardorum dux in Benevento nomine Zotto, qui in ea principatus est per curricula viginti annorum…” (Pauli Diaconi Historiae Langobardorum - Liber Tertius).
With his troops, he penetrated Campania in August 570, confronting the Byzantines, whom he defeated consistently. He fixed his camp in Benevento, which became the capital of the new duchy. He tried to take Naples, but failed and had to lift the siege (581).
As a duke he was quasi-independent, the north of the peninsula being under the control of the Lombard king Authari, who had little influence in the south. He finally submitted to royal authority in 589.
He died in 591 and was succeeded by Arechis.
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Forenza , Basilicata, Southern Italy
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:28
- Updated: 02 Nov 2012
Forenza, Scenes of the village, with rustic streets,and Piazza, This is Real Italy.
http://wn.com/Forenza_,_Basilicata,_Southern_Italy
Forenza, Scenes of the village, with rustic streets,and Piazza, This is Real Italy.
Southern Italians arguing
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:18
- Updated: 06 Jan 2013
An Italian Christmas. Family argues about a cardgame. - Italia, Natale. Una famiglia Pugliese discute su una giocata a scopone scientifico...in puro dialetto!!
http://wn.com/Southern_Italians_arguing
An Italian Christmas. Family argues about a cardgame. - Italia, Natale. Una famiglia Pugliese discute su una giocata a scopone scientifico...in puro dialetto!!
- published: 27 Dec 2011
- views: 6665
- author: 1810sushi
Zampogna: The Soul of Southern Italy
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:19
- Updated: 27 Dec 2012
BUY DVD ONLINE!!! www.createspace.com FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com Zampogna: The Soul of Southern Italy. A feature length documentary film about Southern Italian culture told through its indigenous folk music. The film focuses on how these traditions are dealing with the rapid changes in local economy and the homogenizing effect globalization has on local culture. Filmed by an Italian American rediscovering his family's roots, the film takes the viewer on an odyssey through remote regions in Sicily, Calabria, Campania and Molise introducing the people who carry on these ancient traditions that most Italian Americans are completely unaware of. The Zampogna - the Italian bagpipe is the physical manifestation of this culture, its music representing the spirit and vitality of the Southern Italian. I-Italy Article: www.i-italy.org An article about the film (scroll to bottom of page): ereview.org UPCOMING SCREENINGS: John D. Calandra Institute - Sept. 29th 2010 at 6pm. qcpages.qc.cuny.edu Kansas City Film Fest - April 16th at 7:30 pm. kcfilmfest.org
http://wn.com/Zampogna_The_Soul_of_Southern_Italy
BUY DVD ONLINE!!! www.createspace.com FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com Zampogna: The Soul of Southern Italy. A feature length documentary film about Southern Italian culture told through its indigenous folk music. The film focuses on how these traditions are dealing with the rapid changes in local economy and the homogenizing effect globalization has on local culture. Filmed by an Italian American rediscovering his family's roots, the film takes the viewer on an odyssey through remote regions in Sicily, Calabria, Campania and Molise introducing the people who carry on these ancient traditions that most Italian Americans are completely unaware of. The Zampogna - the Italian bagpipe is the physical manifestation of this culture, its music representing the spirit and vitality of the Southern Italian. I-Italy Article: www.i-italy.org An article about the film (scroll to bottom of page): ereview.org UPCOMING SCREENINGS: John D. Calandra Institute - Sept. 29th 2010 at 6pm. qcpages.qc.cuny.edu Kansas City Film Fest - April 16th at 7:30 pm. kcfilmfest.org
- published: 13 Dec 2009
- views: 33283
- author: dmarker21
Cheese making in southern Italy
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:40
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
this is a typical cheese (yummy!) made by a friend of mine for a group of friends. Citric acid, coagulant, boiling water, milk and a lot of experience :)
http://wn.com/Cheese_making_in_southern_Italy
this is a typical cheese (yummy!) made by a friend of mine for a group of friends. Citric acid, coagulant, boiling water, milk and a lot of experience :)
- published: 17 Feb 2008
- views: 87456
- author: larissa79
www.italytraveltours.biz Italy Travel Southern Italy Calabria - Catanzaro
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:10
- Updated: 25 Nov 2012
www.italytraveltours.biz Introduction to Southern Italy and its various towns and regions. Travel Ideas to Southern Italy. Visit beautiful Calabria - Catazanro
http://wn.com/wwwitalytraveltoursbiz_Italy_Travel_Southern_Italy_Calabria_Catanzaro
www.italytraveltours.biz Introduction to Southern Italy and its various towns and regions. Travel Ideas to Southern Italy. Visit beautiful Calabria - Catazanro
- published: 27 Mar 2010
- views: 2231
- author: ItaliaTravel
Carluccio's Southern Italian Feast Basilicata
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:27
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
From the original Carluccio's Southern Italian Feast - episode 6 Calabria and Basilicata. Antonio Carluccio visits Basilicata, attends an ancient tradition of a treewedding and cooks some delicious meals from the region.
http://wn.com/Carluccio's_Southern_Italian_Feast_Basilicata
From the original Carluccio's Southern Italian Feast - episode 6 Calabria and Basilicata. Antonio Carluccio visits Basilicata, attends an ancient tradition of a treewedding and cooks some delicious meals from the region.
- published: 28 Oct 2011
- views: 6850
- author: antoinetteww
World Music from Southern Italy (Salento) Nidi d'Arac - Gocce live 2010
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:39
- Updated: 01 Oct 2012
Nidi d'Arac live @ Babel Med Music (FR) 2009 & Festival Actual (ES) 2010
http://wn.com/World_Music_from_Southern_Italy_Salento_Nidi_d'Arac_Gocce_live_2010
Nidi d'Arac live @ Babel Med Music (FR) 2009 & Festival Actual (ES) 2010
- published: 05 Apr 2010
- views: 2740
- author: nididarac
Amalfi Coast, Italy
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:29
- Updated: 04 Jan 2013
In Southern Italy, the Amalfi Coast is a 28-mile winding narrow route of dramatic coastline that's home to some of the most beautiful towns and stunning panoramas in Europe. Julia's flown three hours to Naples, the starting point for her journey.
http://wn.com/Amalfi_Coast,_Italy
In Southern Italy, the Amalfi Coast is a 28-mile winding narrow route of dramatic coastline that's home to some of the most beautiful towns and stunning panoramas in Europe. Julia's flown three hours to Naples, the starting point for her journey.
- published: 11 Apr 2008
- views: 351294
- author: fivetravel
ARMA 2 (CO) Invasion 1944 v2.6 - Süditalien (Southern Italy) Part 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:41
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
Some footage from our recent v2.6 MP test session on Macolik's new mission, Fallschirmjäger's must ambush a British Convoy in "Southern Italy" (Zargabad)". Invasion 1944 is a historically accurate World War Two total conversion mod for ARMA 2: Combined Operations(ARMA2 + Arrowhead) centering on the European theater. www.invasion1944.info
http://wn.com/ARMA_2_CO_Invasion_1944_v26_Süditalien_Southern_Italy_Part_1
Some footage from our recent v2.6 MP test session on Macolik's new mission, Fallschirmjäger's must ambush a British Convoy in "Southern Italy" (Zargabad)". Invasion 1944 is a historically accurate World War Two total conversion mod for ARMA 2: Combined Operations(ARMA2 + Arrowhead) centering on the European theater. www.invasion1944.info
- published: 12 Sep 2011
- views: 7433
- author: Invasion1944
Blondie - The Tide Is High - 1981 (Video: Southern Italy)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:38
- Updated: 06 Jan 2013
Blondie - The Tide Is High - 1981 (Video: Southern Italy)
http://wn.com/Blondie_The_Tide_Is_High_1981_Video_Southern_Italy
Blondie - The Tide Is High - 1981 (Video: Southern Italy)
- published: 12 Apr 2010
- views: 10128
- author: SPENNA99
Napoli - Chelsea 3-1 All Goals (Best Commentator) - Champions League Last 16
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 14:58
- Updated: 05 Jan 2013
Napoli - Chelsea 3-1 all goals and highlights with the best italian commentator Auriemma. Champions League 2012 last 16.
http://wn.com/Napoli_Chelsea_3-1_All_Goals_Best_Commentator_Champions_League_Last_16
Napoli - Chelsea 3-1 all goals and highlights with the best italian commentator Auriemma. Champions League 2012 last 16.
- published: 23 Feb 2012
- views: 85805
- author: szaaabo1
Dead Man's Curve - Jan & Dean - (Extreme Roads in Southern Italy)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:28
- Updated: 04 Jan 2013
Dead Man's Curve - Jan & Dean (Extreme Roads in Southern Italy) LYRICS: I was cruisin' in my Stingray late one night When an XKE pulled up on the right And rolled down the window of his shiny new Jag And challenged me then and there to a drag I said, "You're on, buddy, my mill's runnin' fine Let's come off the line now, at Sunset and Vine But I'll throw you one better if you've got the nerve Let's race all the way To Dead Man's Curve" Dead Man's Curve, it's no place to play Dead Man's Curve, you best keep away Dead Man's Curve, I can hear 'em say Won't come back from Dead Man's Curve The street was deserted late Friday night We were buggin' each other while we sat out the light We both popped the clutch when the light turned green You should of heard the whine from my screamin' machine I flew past LaBrea, Schwab's, and Crescent Heights And all the Jag could see were my six tail lights He passed me at Doheny then I started to swerve But I pulled her out and there we were At Dead Man's Curve Dead Man's Curve, it's no place to play Dead Man's Curve Well, the last thing I remember, Doc, I started to swerve And then I saw the Jag slide into the curve I know I'll never forget that horrible sight I guess I found out for myself that everyone was right Won't come back from Dead Man's Curve Dead Man's Curve, it's no place to play Dead Man's Curve, you best keep away Dead Man's Curve, I can hear 'em say Won't come back from Dead Man's Curve
http://wn.com/Dead_Man's_Curve_Jan_Dean_Extreme_Roads_in_Southern_Italy
Dead Man's Curve - Jan & Dean (Extreme Roads in Southern Italy) LYRICS: I was cruisin' in my Stingray late one night When an XKE pulled up on the right And rolled down the window of his shiny new Jag And challenged me then and there to a drag I said, "You're on, buddy, my mill's runnin' fine Let's come off the line now, at Sunset and Vine But I'll throw you one better if you've got the nerve Let's race all the way To Dead Man's Curve" Dead Man's Curve, it's no place to play Dead Man's Curve, you best keep away Dead Man's Curve, I can hear 'em say Won't come back from Dead Man's Curve The street was deserted late Friday night We were buggin' each other while we sat out the light We both popped the clutch when the light turned green You should of heard the whine from my screamin' machine I flew past LaBrea, Schwab's, and Crescent Heights And all the Jag could see were my six tail lights He passed me at Doheny then I started to swerve But I pulled her out and there we were At Dead Man's Curve Dead Man's Curve, it's no place to play Dead Man's Curve Well, the last thing I remember, Doc, I started to swerve And then I saw the Jag slide into the curve I know I'll never forget that horrible sight I guess I found out for myself that everyone was right Won't come back from Dead Man's Curve Dead Man's Curve, it's no place to play Dead Man's Curve, you best keep away Dead Man's Curve, I can hear 'em say Won't come back from Dead Man's Curve
- published: 10 Apr 2010
- views: 37031
- author: SPENNA99
South Italy - The Strength of Tradition
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:00
- Updated: 02 Jan 2013
This video takes you on a trip through the province of Basilicata in Southern Italy, where food, wine and hospitality are plentiful. Some filmmaking friends travelled through this hidden part of the country, with hopes to capture what makes this place so beautiful. I believe we found it. You can see more of our creations, and the Digital Diary Project here: www.cantforget.it Created by Mike Corey: kickthegrind.tv
http://wn.com/South_Italy_The_Strength_of_Tradition
This video takes you on a trip through the province of Basilicata in Southern Italy, where food, wine and hospitality are plentiful. Some filmmaking friends travelled through this hidden part of the country, with hopes to capture what makes this place so beautiful. I believe we found it. You can see more of our creations, and the Digital Diary Project here: www.cantforget.it Created by Mike Corey: kickthegrind.tv
- published: 21 Nov 2012
- views: 3550
- author: DigitalDiaryItaly
Southern Italia (Capri, Napoli, Amalfi, Positano, Sorrento, Pompeii)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 23:32
- Updated: 04 Jan 2013
Pictures from our wonderful trip to southern Italy (Capri, Amalfi, Sorrento, Positano, Pompeii & Naples) put to music. This video is 23 mins in length. Sorry couldn't get it to 10 mins. There were way too many great pictures so I had to include them all :) We had a blast!!
http://wn.com/Southern_Italia_Capri,_Napoli,_Amalfi,_Positano,_Sorrento,_Pompeii
Pictures from our wonderful trip to southern Italy (Capri, Amalfi, Sorrento, Positano, Pompeii & Naples) put to music. This video is 23 mins in length. Sorry couldn't get it to 10 mins. There were way too many great pictures so I had to include them all :) We had a blast!!
- published: 05 Mar 2012
- views: 3136
- author: Lisa PNYC
1943 Green Devils in the Hell of Cassino
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:31
- Updated: 05 Jan 2013
romanoarchives.altervista.org digilander.libero.it 1943-44, southern Italy. The Fallschirmjägers, named by the Allies during the operations in Italy "Green Devils", resisting the impossible from the ground and from the air, keep on taking their positions for months on the Gustav Line, in the hellish battle of Cassino. Then the Germans followed the orders and retreated on the Sigfrid Line, leaving the long battle for Cassino virtually without winners and losers... Montage of Allied and German footage, including shots of the bombings of the Monte Cassino Abbey and the town of Cassino. The bad quality of the film is counterbalanced by its rarity. Calling "Fair Use" for thesoundtrack (Demo Only) added in 2008 by ROMANO-ARCHIVES, performed by Giancarlo Erra www.giancarloerra.com Editing by ROMANO-ARCHIVES. "SUBSCRIBING to this Channel is a MUST for researchers and RARE HISTORICAL FOOTAGE fans!!!" V. Romano This is a clip from the ROMANO-ARCHIVES' new website-"Unknown World War 2 in Color"-"WW2 Europe" section. At: ww2incolor.altervista.org Visit also romanoarchives.altervista.org Or: digilander.libero.it This clip is available as part of a complete 18 minutes video we edited about the Battle of Cassino. Hi-Res videos from our Collections are available on DVD, CD or directly in your inbox. Clips and movies can also be downloaded from our servers using a PW or uploaded by us to your FTP.
http://wn.com/1943_Green_Devils_in_the_Hell_of_Cassino
romanoarchives.altervista.org digilander.libero.it 1943-44, southern Italy. The Fallschirmjägers, named by the Allies during the operations in Italy "Green Devils", resisting the impossible from the ground and from the air, keep on taking their positions for months on the Gustav Line, in the hellish battle of Cassino. Then the Germans followed the orders and retreated on the Sigfrid Line, leaving the long battle for Cassino virtually without winners and losers... Montage of Allied and German footage, including shots of the bombings of the Monte Cassino Abbey and the town of Cassino. The bad quality of the film is counterbalanced by its rarity. Calling "Fair Use" for thesoundtrack (Demo Only) added in 2008 by ROMANO-ARCHIVES, performed by Giancarlo Erra www.giancarloerra.com Editing by ROMANO-ARCHIVES. "SUBSCRIBING to this Channel is a MUST for researchers and RARE HISTORICAL FOOTAGE fans!!!" V. Romano This is a clip from the ROMANO-ARCHIVES' new website-"Unknown World War 2 in Color"-"WW2 Europe" section. At: ww2incolor.altervista.org Visit also romanoarchives.altervista.org Or: digilander.libero.it This clip is available as part of a complete 18 minutes video we edited about the Battle of Cassino. Hi-Res videos from our Collections are available on DVD, CD or directly in your inbox. Clips and movies can also be downloaded from our servers using a PW or uploaded by us to your FTP.
- published: 20 Mar 2008
- views: 59029
- author: UnknownWW2InColor
Tropea, Capo Vaticano in Calabria, southern Italy.
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:32
- Updated: 21 Dec 2012
Video documentary of www.tropea.biz, video recordings relating to the Tyrrhenian Sea coast of Calabria in southern Italy, especially the coastal stretch from Tropea to Capo Vaticano Tropea: the beaches of Capo Vaticano and Tropea Santa Domenica, with the old town, the marina and looked typical Calabrian products. Summer 2010
http://wn.com/Tropea,_Capo_Vaticano_in_Calabria,_southern_Italy
Video documentary of www.tropea.biz, video recordings relating to the Tyrrhenian Sea coast of Calabria in southern Italy, especially the coastal stretch from Tropea to Capo Vaticano Tropea: the beaches of Capo Vaticano and Tropea Santa Domenica, with the old town, the marina and looked typical Calabrian products. Summer 2010
- published: 14 Mar 2011
- views: 9057
- author: tropeabiz
Che Sara, Rocco Granata
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:44
- Updated: 31 Dec 2012
Rocco Granata was born in Calabria, southern Italy, in Figline Vegliaturo, but already at the age of 10 he emigrated with his mother and sister to Belgium. His father had arrived a year earlier and worked in the Limburg mines. Once in Belgium, he started with a bunch of guys his first band "The International Quintet. Rocco played accordion and was also the lead singer of the band Rocco toured around the world. In 1959, Rocco, together with the great arranger Joe Zito (who wrote such arrangements for Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Paul Anka, etc ...) on an LP in New York. On the cover was described as "... the petite Italian miners son to smile in his voice and the trained fingers to play the accordion ...". He has appeared in numerous television shows and in November 1959 he performed with Conny Francis in the Mecca of showbiz, The Carnegie Hall in New York. Meanwhile, he scored high in the US charts the song he became famous with is MARINA
http://wn.com/Che_Sara,_Rocco_Granata
Rocco Granata was born in Calabria, southern Italy, in Figline Vegliaturo, but already at the age of 10 he emigrated with his mother and sister to Belgium. His father had arrived a year earlier and worked in the Limburg mines. Once in Belgium, he started with a bunch of guys his first band "The International Quintet. Rocco played accordion and was also the lead singer of the band Rocco toured around the world. In 1959, Rocco, together with the great arranger Joe Zito (who wrote such arrangements for Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Paul Anka, etc ...) on an LP in New York. On the cover was described as "... the petite Italian miners son to smile in his voice and the trained fingers to play the accordion ...". He has appeared in numerous television shows and in November 1959 he performed with Conny Francis in the Mecca of showbiz, The Carnegie Hall in New York. Meanwhile, he scored high in the US charts the song he became famous with is MARINA
- published: 25 Apr 2010
- views: 69080
- author: shakensel
LUCANIA - ( Basilicata - Southern Italy )
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:37
- Updated: 23 Dec 2012
Poesia di Mario Trufelli dedicata alla splendida Lucania, l'antichissima terra dei lupi, accompagnata dalle belle melodie della canzone Antidotum Tarantulae (eseguita dagli Ethnos, album: Musica antica di Basilicata). Durante le visione del video potrete ammirare alcuni paesaggi della Basilicata. Amate la vostra terra. Viva il sud! Io lo conosco questo fruscìo di canneti sui declivi aridi contesi dalle frane e queste rocce magre dove i venti e le nebbie danno convegno ai silenzi che gravano a sera sul passo stanco dei muli. E poca l'acqua che scorre e le vallate son secche spaccate d'argilla. Di qui le mandrie migrano con l'autunno avanzato per la piana delle marine tuffando i passi nelle paludi. Di qui è passata la malaria per le stazioncine sul Basento squallide segnate d'oleandri. Da noi la malvarosa è un fiore che trema col basilico in un vaso stinto di terracotta e il rosmarino cresce nei prati sulle scarpate delle vie accanto ai buchi delle talpe. Da noi si riposa il falco e la civetta segna la nostra morte. Da noi il mondo è lontano ma c'è un odore di terra e gaggìa e il pane ha il sapore del grano
http://wn.com/LUCANIA_Basilicata_Southern_Italy_
Poesia di Mario Trufelli dedicata alla splendida Lucania, l'antichissima terra dei lupi, accompagnata dalle belle melodie della canzone Antidotum Tarantulae (eseguita dagli Ethnos, album: Musica antica di Basilicata). Durante le visione del video potrete ammirare alcuni paesaggi della Basilicata. Amate la vostra terra. Viva il sud! Io lo conosco questo fruscìo di canneti sui declivi aridi contesi dalle frane e queste rocce magre dove i venti e le nebbie danno convegno ai silenzi che gravano a sera sul passo stanco dei muli. E poca l'acqua che scorre e le vallate son secche spaccate d'argilla. Di qui le mandrie migrano con l'autunno avanzato per la piana delle marine tuffando i passi nelle paludi. Di qui è passata la malaria per le stazioncine sul Basento squallide segnate d'oleandri. Da noi la malvarosa è un fiore che trema col basilico in un vaso stinto di terracotta e il rosmarino cresce nei prati sulle scarpate delle vie accanto ai buchi delle talpe. Da noi si riposa il falco e la civetta segna la nostra morte. Da noi il mondo è lontano ma c'è un odore di terra e gaggìa e il pane ha il sapore del grano
- published: 11 Nov 2008
- views: 33837
- author: girfalco
Digital Diary of Basilicata 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:00
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
7 artists joined us in Basilicata for another fantastic trip around this region of Southern Italy. Thank you Mike Corey, Mauro Diciocia, Antonio Passavanti, Haleigh Walsworth, Caspar Diederik, Nathan Miller, Timmy Henny for coming over and making it happen. For more info: Basilicataturistica www.basilicataturistica.com APT Baslicata www.aptbasilicata.it Cantforget.it{aly} www.cantforget.it
http://wn.com/Digital_Diary_of_Basilicata_2012
7 artists joined us in Basilicata for another fantastic trip around this region of Southern Italy. Thank you Mike Corey, Mauro Diciocia, Antonio Passavanti, Haleigh Walsworth, Caspar Diederik, Nathan Miller, Timmy Henny for coming over and making it happen. For more info: Basilicataturistica www.basilicataturistica.com APT Baslicata www.aptbasilicata.it Cantforget.it{aly} www.cantforget.it
- published: 23 Nov 2012
- views: 16380
- author: DigitalDiaryItaly
ITALIAN MOUNT ETNA VOLCANO ERUPTED AGAIN ON 8/9 FEBRUARY 2012 BY PROF. M. REZA SALAMI, Ph.D., PE
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 18:19
- Updated: 18 Dec 2012
MUSICS BY: MAJEED ENTEZAMI, PERSIAN MUSICIAN REFERENCES AND CONTRIBUTIONS: FB PUBLIC VIDEOS Etna volcano (Italy), New SE crater paroxysm on 8-9 February, 2012 (nr 20) Mount Etna spews lava on the southern Italian island of Sicily February 9, 2012. Mount Etna is Europe's tallest and most active volcano. REUTERS/Antonio Parrinello. A highway toll gate is seen as Mount Etna spews lava on the southern Italian island of Sicily February 9, 2012. Mount Etna is Europe's tallest and most active volcano. REUTERS/Antonio Parrinello Another spectacular paroxysmal eruption occurred from Etna's New SE crater during the night of 8-9 February, marking the 20th such episode since 2011 or the second in 2012. The eruption followed an approximate 10 day period of intermittend strombolian activity which increased during the afternoon of 8 February and reached its peak with tall lava fountains after midnight, and large lava flows into the Valle del Bove. The eruption produced a tall plume of ash which drifted to the SW and forced the cancellation of most early flights in and out Catania airport. Later in the morning, after the end of the eruption and the ash plume had dissipated, the operations resumed back to normal. The eruption was one of the most intense and longest in the series. The following is a preliminary interpretation of the temporal evolution of the eruption, based on regular snapshots (see pictures below) taken from various webcams (notably, the radiostudio7, etnaweb and INGV ...
http://wn.com/ITALIAN_MOUNT_ETNA_VOLCANO_ERUPTED_AGAIN_ON_8_9_FEBRUARY_2012_BY_PROF_M_REZA_SALAMI,_PhD,_PE
MUSICS BY: MAJEED ENTEZAMI, PERSIAN MUSICIAN REFERENCES AND CONTRIBUTIONS: FB PUBLIC VIDEOS Etna volcano (Italy), New SE crater paroxysm on 8-9 February, 2012 (nr 20) Mount Etna spews lava on the southern Italian island of Sicily February 9, 2012. Mount Etna is Europe's tallest and most active volcano. REUTERS/Antonio Parrinello. A highway toll gate is seen as Mount Etna spews lava on the southern Italian island of Sicily February 9, 2012. Mount Etna is Europe's tallest and most active volcano. REUTERS/Antonio Parrinello Another spectacular paroxysmal eruption occurred from Etna's New SE crater during the night of 8-9 February, marking the 20th such episode since 2011 or the second in 2012. The eruption followed an approximate 10 day period of intermittend strombolian activity which increased during the afternoon of 8 February and reached its peak with tall lava fountains after midnight, and large lava flows into the Valle del Bove. The eruption produced a tall plume of ash which drifted to the SW and forced the cancellation of most early flights in and out Catania airport. Later in the morning, after the end of the eruption and the ash plume had dissipated, the operations resumed back to normal. The eruption was one of the most intense and longest in the series. The following is a preliminary interpretation of the temporal evolution of the eruption, based on regular snapshots (see pictures below) taken from various webcams (notably, the radiostudio7, etnaweb and INGV ...
- published: 10 Feb 2012
- views: 20237
- author: myshinningstar1
Magna Grecia / Megali Ellada - A Beautiful Place
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:50
- Updated: 22 Dec 2012
A compilation of images from all over Southern Italy. Featuring music in the Hellenic dialect of 'Griko'. It is not widely known but Griko was the language and the ethnic conscienceness that was held by the majority of Southern Italians through many ages, not just the ancient epoch. To this day in parts of Calabria and Apulia one can still find peope that speak Griko.
http://wn.com/Magna_Grecia_Megali_Ellada_A_Beautiful_Place
A compilation of images from all over Southern Italy. Featuring music in the Hellenic dialect of 'Griko'. It is not widely known but Griko was the language and the ethnic conscienceness that was held by the majority of Southern Italians through many ages, not just the ancient epoch. To this day in parts of Calabria and Apulia one can still find peope that speak Griko.
- published: 10 Aug 2011
- views: 2939
- author: C21agoraproductions
48 - Naples
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 22:46
- Updated: 19 Dec 2012
The 48 team travel to the heart of the unofficial capital of southern Italy, where local journalists show them how this brash city is determined to shrug off the forces holding it back.
http://wn.com/48_Naples
The 48 team travel to the heart of the unofficial capital of southern Italy, where local journalists show them how this brash city is determined to shrug off the forces holding it back.
- published: 14 Jan 2011
- views: 9246
- author: AlJazeeraEnglish
Encardia - Tarantella Pizzica Di San Vito
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:17
- Updated: 06 Jan 2013
Encardia is the name of a musical ensemble inspired by, creating and presenting melodies and songs from the rich musical tradition of Southern Italy. The group came together in 2004 and has performed for more than 300 live concerts in the regions of Greece, Italy, Southern France and Cyprus. The troubadours of encardia have released four albums, all of them critically acclaimed. The unique connection they share with their audiences while in concert has often been notably mentioned by the media. They have cooperated with the most important representatives of the Southern Italian musical tradition for album recordings as well as in live performances (G. Avantiaggiato, R. Licci, Daniele Durante, C.Villani, E. Castagna, Ghetonia , mala lingua and others). They have also performed with well-known greek fellow artists such as A. Bakirtzis, N. Portokaloglou, F. Delivorias, K. Thomaides, V. Lekkas, C. Tsiamoulis, A. Ioannides, N. Xidakis, the symphonic orchestra of the municipality of Athens and others. www.encardia.gr
http://wn.com/Encardia_Tarantella_Pizzica_Di_San_Vito
Encardia is the name of a musical ensemble inspired by, creating and presenting melodies and songs from the rich musical tradition of Southern Italy. The group came together in 2004 and has performed for more than 300 live concerts in the regions of Greece, Italy, Southern France and Cyprus. The troubadours of encardia have released four albums, all of them critically acclaimed. The unique connection they share with their audiences while in concert has often been notably mentioned by the media. They have cooperated with the most important representatives of the Southern Italian musical tradition for album recordings as well as in live performances (G. Avantiaggiato, R. Licci, Daniele Durante, C.Villani, E. Castagna, Ghetonia , mala lingua and others). They have also performed with well-known greek fellow artists such as A. Bakirtzis, N. Portokaloglou, F. Delivorias, K. Thomaides, V. Lekkas, C. Tsiamoulis, A. Ioannides, N. Xidakis, the symphonic orchestra of the municipality of Athens and others. www.encardia.gr
- published: 27 Jul 2011
- views: 20511
- author: ZorbasTV
photo: UN / Evan Schneider
06 Jan 2013
LONDON -- They have barely 3,000 inhabitants and far more sheep than people. They are more than 8,700 miles from London. For much of the year, they are bitterly cold and wind-swept, with only open sea and ice between them and Antarctica ... But the Falkland Islands, the focus of a short war between Britain and Argentina in 1982, have been in the headlines again recently ... Their arguments suggest what has long been evident ... Ms ... Mr ... Cameron said....(size: 5.1Kb)
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
06 Jan 2013
ISLAMABAD - The Pakistani military is accusing forces from neighboring India of crossing the boundary between the two sides' forces in Kashmir and attacking a Pakistani border post, killing a soldier. The military's public relations office said in a statement Sunday that another Pakistani soldier was critically wounded in the incident early Sunday. They said troops are still exchanging gunfire in the area ... All rights reserved ... Parker ... ....(size: 4.3Kb)
photo: US Army / Sgt. Christopher Bonebrake
07 Jan 2013
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. When Congress granted President Lyndon B. Johnson absolute powers to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression," Congress could have also included "all necessary vanities." The 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which greatly escalated a foreign imperial war in Vietnam, added fuel to the bonfires of vanity....(size: 5.2Kb)
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
05 Jan 2013
Tweet. New Delhi, Jan 5 (ANI). The male friend of the 23-year-old medical student, who was gang-raped and left unclothed and bleeding in the street and later died in hospital two weeks after she was attacked on December 16 on a private bus in New Delhi, has said that things would have gone differently if someone had stopped to help ... "It would have been a very different scenario today, had even one person come to our help that day ... (ANI)....(size: 3.8Kb)
photo: AP / Joerg Koch
07 Jan 2013
NEW YORK – In the shadow of the euro crisis and America’s fiscal cliff, it is easy to ignore the global economy’s long-term problems. But, while we focus on immediate concerns, they continue to fester, and we overlook them at our peril. The most serious is global warming. While the global economy’s weak performance has led to a corresponding slowdown in the increase in carbon emissions, it amounts to only a short respite ... ....(size: 5.3Kb)
Huffington Post
08 Jan 2013
Naked men wearing only loincloths vie for a wooden treasure ball weighing eight kilos to bring good fortune, during the Tamaseseri festival at Hakozaki shrine in Fukuoka, on Japan's southern island of Kyushu on Jan ... Lava spewed from a crater of the giant Etna volcano in the southern Italy island of Sicily on July 30, 2011 in Catania....(size: 23.8Kb)
Reuters
07 Jan 2013
ZURICH Jan 7 (Reuters) - The Swiss and Italian governments will split evenly 13.8 million euros ($18 million) confiscated from an organised crime group based in southern Italy, the two said on Monday. The Federal Department of Justice in Switzerland said that in 2001 a southern ......(size: 1.5Kb)
Business Day
07 Jan 2013
Irish Times
07 Jan 2013
Swissinfo
07 Jan 2013
The Swiss and Italian governments have agreed to split evenly €13.8 million (SFr16.7 million) confiscated from an organised crime group based in southern Italy, it was announced on Monday ... The Swiss and Italian governments have agreed to split evenly €13.8 million (SFr16.7 million) confiscated from an organised crime group based in southern Italy, it was announced on Monday ... Italy's Other Mafia", which became a prize-winning film....(size: 9.0Kb)
RTE
07 Jan 2013
Switzerland and Italy have said they will equally share €13.8m seized from the Camorra organised crime group based in southern Italy's Campania region....(size: 0.8Kb)
The Himalayan
07 Jan 2013
The Swiss and Italian governments will split evenly $18 million confiscated from an organised crime group based in southern Italy, the two said on Monday. The Federal Department of Justice in Switzerland said that in 2001 a southern Italian court asked the Swiss authorities for help in criminal proceedings against an unnamed money laundering suspect, and the Swiss froze the money the same year....(size: 5.8Kb)
noodls
07 Jan 2013
(Source. Flughafen Dresden GmbH) 07.01.2013. Up, up and away! Grand Travel Day at the airport on 13 January • Early-bird discounts and fun and games for kids • Free parking in the multi-storey car park. Sun, sand and sea or city breaks - Dresden International Airport's timetable offers lots of opportunities to explore the world from Dresden ... New in the Summer 2013 timetable. Barcelona, London, Southern Italy ... Egypt. Hurghada. Bulgaria ... Italy....(size: 4.2Kb)
The New York Times
07 Jan 2013
PISCO, Peru (AP) — Defending champion Stephane Peterhansel took the overall lead in the Dakar Rally on Sunday by winning a treacherous second stage around Pisco that was costly for some title favorites ... Dakar." ... House hunting in ... Sicily. Also in Great Homes » Explore a baroque retreat in southern Italy What you get for ... $4 million. . Inside NYTimes.com ... ....(size: 5.0Kb)
The New York Times
07 Jan 2013
MIAMI (AP) — LeBron James scored 24 points and the Miami Heat had an edge in rebounding for a change Sunday to beat the woeful Washington Wizards 99-71 ... Udonis Haslem led them with 12 rebounds ... House hunting in ... Sicily. Also in Great Homes » Explore a baroque retreat in southern Italy What you get for ... $4 million. . Inside NYTimes.com ... Download ... ....(size: 5.0Kb)
The New York Times
07 Jan 2013
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — The Broadway show within a show on NBC's "Smash" is getting its own cast album ... 12. Katherine McPhee, Megan Hilty and other "Smash" cast members perform the songs on the disc ... The soundtrack has music from both seasons. House hunting in ... Sicily. Also in Great Homes » Explore a baroque retreat in southern Italy What you get for ... ....(size: 5.1Kb)
The New York Times
07 Jan 2013
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — LG Group says it is increasing annual investments to record highs despite the uncertainty in the global economy and slow consumer demand ... LG says it has allocated 67 percent of the investment to its electronics units, LG Electronics and LG Display ... Advertise on NYTimes.com ... Also in Great Homes » Explore a baroque retreat in southern Italy What you get for ... ....(size: 5.2Kb)
The New York Times
07 Jan 2013
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Kemba Walker had 20 points and seven assists, Ben Gordon scored 18 points and the Charlotte Bobcats beat the Detroit Pistons 108-101 in overtime Sunday night for just their second win in 21 games. Keep up with the latest news, on the court and off, with The Times's basketball blog. Go to Off the Dribble. N.B.A ... ... Also in Great Homes » Explore a baroque retreat in southern Italy What you get for ... ....(size: 7.1Kb)
For the EU constituency, see Southern Italy (European Parliament constituency).
Southern Italy or Il Mezzogiorno (Italian pronunciation: [meddzoˈdʒɔːrno], meaning 'Midday') is the traditional term for the southern half of the Italian state, encompassing the southern section of the continental Italian Peninsula and the two major islands of Sicily and Sardinia. It coincides with the administrative regions of Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Apulia, Molise, Sicily, and finally Sardinia, that is considered as part of Southern Italy more for economic reasons than for cultural, historical or geographical reasons.[1][2] Some also include Abruzzo and the most southern and eastern parts of Lazio (Sora, Cassino, Gaeta, Cittaducale and Amatrice districts) within the Mezzogiorno, because these territories were part, along with all the already listed ones (except Sardinia), of the historical Kingdom of Two Sicilies.
Southern Italy carries a unique legacy of peculiar nature, archeology and culture. It features many major tourist attractions, such as the Palace of Caserta, the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and other archaeological sites (many of which are protected by UNESCO). Some of its beaches, woodlands and mountains are preserved in several National Parks. Some medieval towns are located in Southern Italy. The history of Southern Italy boasts numerous kings, queens, princes, popes, writers, poets, philosophers, knights, artists, architects, craftsmen, musicians, scholars, scientists, politicians and farmers.[3]
The Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT) uses the term Southern Italy also for identifying one of the five statistical regions in its reporting, but excluding both Sicily and Sardinia, which form a distinct statistical region denominated Insular Italy. These same subdivisions are at the bottom of the Italian First level NUTS of the European Union and the Italian constituencies for the European Parliament.
Contents |
Etymology[link]
The term Mezzogiorno first came into use in the 18th century and is an Italian rendition of meridies (Latin for 'south', because of the sun's position at midday in the Northern Hemisphere). The term was later popularised by Giuseppe Garibaldi and it eventually came into vogue after the Italian unification. It was sometimes associated with notions of poverty, illiteracy and crime: stereotypes of the South that often persist to this day.[4] Sometimes it is referred to in order to generally highlight extreme disparities between regions within a country, such as between the former East and West Germany that still struggle with their "inner reunification".
Geography[link]
Further information: Geography of Italy
Southern Italy forms the lower "boot" of the Italian Peninsula, containing the ankle (Abruzzo, Molise, Campania and southern Lazio), the toe (Calabria), and the heel (Apulia) along with the major islands (Sicily and Sardinia). Separating the "heel" and the "boot" is the Gulf of Taranto, named after the city of Taranto, which sits at the angle between the heel and the boot itself. It is an arm of the Ionian Sea. The rest of the southern third of the Italian Peninsula is studded with smaller gulfs and inlets.
On the eastern coast is the Adriatic Sea, leading into the rest of the Mediterranean through the Strait of Otranto (named after the largest city on the tip of the heel). On the Adriatic, south of the "spur" of the boot, the peninsula of Monte Gargano; On the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Gulf of Salerno, the Gulf of Naples, the Gulf of Policastro and the Gulf of Gaeta are each named after a large coastal city. Along the northern coast of the Salernitan Gulf and on the south of the Sorrentine Peninsula runs the Amalfi Coast. Off the tip of the peninsula is the isle of Capri.
The climate is mainly Mediterranean (Köppen climate classification Csa), except at the highest elevations (Dsa, Dsb) and the semi-arid eastern stretches in Apulia, along the Ionian Sea in Calabria, and the southern stretches of Sicily (BSw). The largest city of Southern Italy is Naples, a name from the Greek that it has historically maintained for centuries. Bari, Taranto, Reggio Calabria, Foggia and Salerno are the next largest cities in the area. Palermo would be the second largest city if one includes Sicily as part of Southern Italy. The region is geologically very active (except Sardinia) and highly seismic: in 1980 the Campania massive earthquake killed almost 3,000 people and made 300,000 homeless.
History[link]
See also: Magna Graecia and Nuragic civilization
Prehistory and antiquity[link]
.JPG)
In the eighth and seventh centuries BC, for various reasons, including demographic crisis (famine, overcrowding, etc.), the search for new commercial outlets and ports, and expulsion from their homeland, Greeks began to settle in Southern Italy (Cerchiai, pp. 14–18). Also during this period, Greek colonies were established in places as widely separated as the eastern coast of the Black Sea, Eastern Libya and Massalia (Marseille). They included settlements in Sicily and the southern part of the Italian peninsula. The Romans called the area of Sicily and the heel of the boot of Italy Magna Graecia (Latin, “Great Greece”), since it was so densely inhabited by the Greeks. The ancient geographers differed on whether the term included Sicily or merely Apulia and Calabria — Strabo being the most prominent advocate of the wider definitions.
With this colonisation, Greek culture was exported to Italy, in its dialects of the Ancient Greek language, its religious rites and its traditions of the independent polis. An original Hellenic civilization soon developed, later interacting with the native Italic and Latin civilisations. The most important cultural transplant was the Chalcidean/Cumaean variety of the Greek alphabet, which was adopted by the Etruscans; the Old Italic alphabet subsequently evolved into the Latin alphabet, which became the most widely used alphabet in the world.
Many of the new Hellenic cities became very rich and powerful, like Neapolis (Νεάπολις, Naples, "New City"), Syracuse, Acragas, and Sybaris (Σύβαρις). Other cities in Magna Graecia included Tarentum (Τάρας), Epizephyrian Locri (Λοκροί Ἐπιζεφύριοι), Rhegium (Ῥήγιον), Croton (Κρότων), Thurii (Θούριοι), Elea (Ἐλέα), Nola (Νῶλα), Ancona (Ἀγκών), Syessa (Σύεσσα), Bari (Βάριον), and others.
After Pyrrhus of Epirus failed in his attempt to stop the spread of Roman hegemony in 282 BC, the south fell under Roman domination and remained in such a position well into the barbarian invasions (the Gladiator War is a notable suspension of imperial control). It was held by the Byzantine Empire after the fall of Rome in the West and even the Lombards failed to consolidate it, though the centre of the south was theirs from Zotto's conquest in the final quarter of the 6th century.
Middle Ages[link]
Following the Gothic War (535–554), and until the arrival of the Normans, much of Southern Italy's destiny was linked to the fortunes of the Eastern Empire, even though Byzantine domination was challenged in the 9th century by the Lombards, who annexed the area of Cosenza to their Duchy of Benevento. Consequently, the Lombard and the Byzantine areas became influenced by Eastern monasticism. Consequently, much of Southern Italy experienced a slow process of orientalisation in religious life (rites, cults and liturgy), which accompanied a spread of Eastern churches and monasteries that preserved and transmitted the Greek and Hellenistic tradition (the Cattolica monastery in Stilo is the most representative of these Byzantine monuments). From then to the Norman conquest of the 11th century, the south of the peninsula was constantly plunged into wars between Greece, Lombardy, and the Islamic Caliphate. The latter established several Islamic states in southern Italy, such as the Emirate of Sicily and Emirate of Bari. Amalfi, an independent republic from the 7th century until 1075, and to a lesser extent Gaeta, Molfetta, and Trani, rivalled other Italian maritime republics in their domestic prosperity and maritime importance.
In the 11th century, the Normans occupied all the Lombard and Byzantine possessions in Southern Italy, ending the six centuries old presence of both powers in the peninsula, and eventually expelled the Muslims from Sicily. The Norman Kingdom of Sicily under Roger II was characterised by its competent governance, multi-ethnic nature and religious tolerance. Normans, Jews, Muslim Arabs, Byzantine Greeks, Lombards and "native" Sicilians lived in relative harmony.[6] However, the Norman domination lasted only several decades before it formally ended in 1198 with the reign of Constance of Sicily, and was replaced by that of the Swabian Hohenstaufen dynasty.
In Sicily, Emperor Frederick II endorsed a deep reform of the laws culminated with the promulgation of the Constitutions of Melfi (1231, also known as Liber Augustalis), a collection of laws for his realm that was remarkable for its time and was a source of inspiration for a long time after.[7] It made the Kingdom of Sicily a centralized state and established the primacy of written law. With relatively small modifications, the Liber Augustalis remained the basis of Sicilian law until 1819. His royal court in Palermo, from around 1220 to his death, saw the first use of a literary form of an Italo-Romance language, Sicilian, that had a significant influence on what was to become the modern Italian language. During this period, he also built the Castel del Monte, and in 1224, he founded the University of Naples, now called, after him, Università Federico II.[8]
In 1266, conflict between the Hohenstaufen house and the Papacy led to Sicily's conquest by Charles I, Duke of Anjou. Opposition to French officialdom and taxation combined with inciment of rebellion by agents from the Byzantine Empire and the Crown of Aragon led to the Sicilian Vespers insurrection and successful invasion by king Peter III of Aragon in 1282. The resulting War of the Sicilian Vespers lasted until the Peace of Caltabellotta in 1302, dividing the old Kingdom of Sicily in two. The island of Sicily, called the "Kingdom of Sicily beyond the Lighthouse" or the Kingdom of Trinacria, went to Frederick III of the house of Aragon, who had been ruling it. The peninsular territories, contemporaneously called Kingdom of Sicily, but called Kingdom of Naples by modern scholarship, went to Charles II of the House of Anjou, who had likewise been ruling it. Thus, the peace was formal recognition of an uneasy status quo.[9] Despite the king of Spain were able to size both the two crowns starting from the XVI century, the administrations of the two halves of the Kingdom of Sicily remained separated until 1816, when they were reunited in the Kingdom of Two Sicilies.
Early modern[link]
See also: Italian Wars and War of Spanish Succession
In 1442, however, Alfonso V conquered the Kingdom of Naples and unified Sicily and Naples once again as dependencies of the Crown of Aragon. At his death in 1458, the kingdom was again separated and Naples was inherited by Ferrante, Alfonso's illegitimate son. When Ferrante died in 1494, Charles VIII of France invaded Italy, using the Angevin claim to the throne of Naples, which his father had inherited on the death of King René's nephew in 1481, as a pretext, thus beginning the Italian Wars. Charles VIII expelled Alfonso II of Naples from Naples in 1495, but was soon forced to withdraw due to the support of Ferdinand II of Aragon for his cousin, Alfonso II's son Ferrantino. Ferrantino was restored to the throne, but died in 1496, and was succeeded by his uncle, Frederick IV. The French, however, did not give up their claim, and in 1501 agreed to a partition of the kingdom with Ferdinand of Aragon, who abandoned his cousin King Frederick. The deal soon fell through, however, and the Crown of Aragon and France resumed their war over the kingdom, ultimately resulting in an Aragonese victory leaving Ferdinand in control of the kingdom by 1504.
The kingdom continued to be a focus of dispute between France and Spain for the next several decades, but French efforts to gain control of it became feebler as the decades went on, and Spanish control was never genuinely endangered. The French finally abandoned their claims to the kingdom by the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559. With the Treaty of London (1557) the new client state of "Stato dei Presidi" (State of Presidi) was established and governed directly by Spain, as part of the Kingdom of Naples.
After the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 18th century, possession of the kingdom again changed hands. Under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, Naples and Sardinia were given to Charles VI, the Holy Roman Emperor (Sardinia was eventually ceded to the House of Savoy in 1718). He also gained control of Sicily in 1720, but Austrian rule did not last long. Both Naples and Sicily were conquered by a Spanish army during the War of the Polish Succession in 1734, and Charles, Duke of Parma, a younger son of King Philip V of Spain was installed as King of Naples and Sicily from 1735. When Charles inherited the Spanish throne from his older half-brother in 1759, he left Naples and Sicily to his younger son, Ferdinand IV. Despite the two kingdoms being in a personal union under the House of Bourbon from 1735 onwards, they remained constitutionally separated.
Early 19th century[link]
See also: Kingdom of Two Sicilies and Kingdom of Sardinia
Being a member of the House of Bourbon, King Ferdinand IV was a natural opponent of the French Revolution and Napoleon. In January 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte, in the name of the French Republic, captured Naples and proclaimed the Parthenopaean Republic, a French client state, as successor to the kingdom. King Ferdinand fled from Naples to Sicily until June of that year. In 1806, Bonaparte, by then French Emperor, again dethroned King Ferdinand and appointed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, as King of Naples. In the Edict of Bayonne of 1808, Napoleon removed Joseph to Spain and appointed his brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, as King of the Two Sicilies, though this meant control only of the mainland portion of the kingdom.[10][11] Throughout this Napoleonic interruption, King Ferdinand remained in Sicily, with Palermo as his capital.
After Napoleon's defeat, King Ferdinand IV was restored by the Congress of Vienna of 1815 as Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. He established a concordat with the Papal States, which previously had a claim to the land.[12] There were several rebellions on the island of Sicily against the King Ferdinand II but the end of the kingdom was only brought about by the Expedition of the Thousand in 1860, led by Garibaldi, an icon of the Italian unification, with the support of the House of Savoy and their Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. The expedition resulted in a striking series of defeats for the Sicilian armies against the growing troops of Garibaldi. After the capture of Palermo and Sicily, he disembarked in Calabria and moved towards Naples, while in the meantime the Piedmontese also invaded the Kingdom from the Marche. The last battles fought were that of the Volturnus in 1860 and the siege of Gaeta, where King Francis II had sought shelter, hoping for French help, which never came. The last towns to resist Garibaldi's expedition were Messina (which capitulated on 13 March 1861) and Civitella del Tronto (which capitulated on 20 March 1861). The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was dissolved and annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy, founded in the same year.
After 1861[link]
The transition to a united Kingdom of Italy was not smooth for the South. The "Mezzogiorno" was afflicted with numerous deep economic and social liabilities. Transportation was poor, soil fertility was low with much erosion, deforestation was severe, many businesses stayed open only because of high protective tariffs, large estates were often poorly managed, most peasants had only very small plots, there was chronic unemployment and high crime rates. Cavour decided the basic problem was poor government, and believed that could be remedied by strict application of the Piedmonese legal system. The main result was an upsurge in brigandage.[13]
The Southern economy greatly suffered after the Italian unification and the process of industrialisation was interrupted. Poverty and organised crime though were persistent problems in Southern Italy as well and it got worse after unification. Because of this, the South experienced great economic difficulties resulting in massive emigration leading to a worldwide Southern Italian diaspora, especially to the United States and South America. Many natives also relocated to the industrial cities in northern Italy, such as Genoa, Milan and Turin. A relative process of industrialisation has developed in some areas of the "Mezzogiorno" after World War II. In the 1946 referendum after the war, the region voted to keep the monarchy, with its greatest support coming in Campania. Politically, it is often at odds with northern Italy, which won the referendum to establish a republic.[14] Today, the South remains less economically developed than the north and central regions, which enjoyed an "economic miracle" in the 1950s and 1960s and became highly industrialised.
Economy[link]
Starting from the Unification of Italy in 1861-70 a growing economic divide between the northern provinces and the southern half of Italy became evident.[15] In the early decades of the new kingdom, the lack of effective land reform, heavy taxes, and other economic measures imposed on the South, along with the removal of protectionist tariffs on agricultural goods imposed to boost the northern industry, made the situation nearly impossible for many tenant farmers, small businesses and land owners. Multitudes chose to emigrate rather than try to eke out a meagre living, especially from 1892 to 1921.[16] In addition, the surge of brigandage and mafia provoked widespread violence, corruption and illegality. Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti once conceded that places existed "where the law does not operate at all".[17]
After the rise of Benito Mussolini, the "Iron Prefect" Cesare Mori tried to defeat the already powerful criminal organizations flowering in the South with some degree of success. However, when connections between mafia and the Fascists emerged, Mori was removed and the Fascist propaganda declared the mafia defeated.[18] Economically, Fascist policy aimed at the creation of an Italian empire and Southern Italian ports were strategic for all commerce towards the colonies. Naples enjoyed a demographic and economic rebirth mainly due to the interest of the King Victor Emmanuel III who was born there.[19]
Starting from the 1950s, the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno was set up as a huge public master plan to help industrialising the South, that aimed to do this in two ways: by land reforms creating 120,000 new small farms, and through the "Growth Pole Strategy" whereby 60% of all government investment would go to the South, thus boosting the Southern economy by attracting new capital, stimulating local firms, and providing employment. However, the objectives were largely missed, and a result the South became increasingly subsidised and state dependent, incapable of generating private growth itself.[20] Presently huge regional disparities still persist. Southern Italy continues to be poor and underdeveloped. Problems still include widespread political corruption, pervasive organised crime and very high unemployment rates.[21]
Culture[link]
The regions of Southern Italy were exposed to some different historical influences than the rest of the peninsula, starting most notably with Greek colonisation. Greek influence in the South was dominant until Latinisation was completed by the time of the Roman Principate. Greek influences returned by the late Roman Empire, especially following the reconquests of Justinian and the Byzantine Empire.
Sicily, a distinctive culture throughout the Middle Ages, was captured by Muslims and turned into an Emirate for a period, and via Sicily elements of progressive Islamic culture, architecture and science were introduced to Italy and Europe. The rest of the mainland was subject to a struggle of power among the Byzantines, Lombards, and Franks. In addition, the Venetians established outposts as trade with Byzantium and the Near East increased.
Until the Norman conquests of the 11th and 12th centuries much of the South followed Eastern rite (Greek) Christianity. The Normans who settled in Sicily and Southern Italy in the Middle Ages significantly impacted the architecture, religion and high culture of the region. Later, Southern Italy was subjected to rule by the new European nation states, first the Crown of Aragon, then Spain and Austria. The Spanish had a major impact on the culture of the South, having ruled it for over three centuries.
Jewish communities lived in Sicily and Southern Italy for over 15 centuries but in 1492 King Ferdinand II of Aragon proclaimed the Edict of expulsion. At their height, Jewish Sicilians probably constituted around one tenth of the island's population. After the Edict they partially converted to Christianity and some moved to Ottoman Empire and other places in Southern Italy, Rome and Europe. In recent years, Southern Italy has experienced a revival of its traditions and music, such as Neapolitan song and the Tarantella.
See also[link]
References[link]
- ^ "Classificazione economica ISTAT" (in Italian). http://www.istat.it/salastampa/comunicati/non_calendario/20091015_00/testointegrale20091015.pdf. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
- ^ "Classificazione demografica ISTAT" (in Italian). http://demo.istat.it/pop2009/index.html. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
- ^ http://www.regalis.com/
- ^ Darkest Italy: The Nation and Stereotypes of the Mezzogiorno, 1860-1900 (Hardcover) by John Dickie Category: Italy - History ISBN 978-0-312-22168-3 ISBN 0-312-22168-1 Published: Palgrave Macmillan Publish Date: 1999-11-01 Pages: 209
- ^ Roger D. Woodard (2008). "Greek dialects", in: The Ancient Languages of Europe. Cambridge University Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-521-68495-8.
- ^ Normans in Sicilian History
- ^ Georgina Masson (1973). Frederick II of Hohenstaufen: a life. London: Octagon Books. p. 156. ISBN 0-374-95297-3.
- ^ Hunt Janin (2008). The University in Medieval Life, 1179-1499. McFarland. p. 132. ISBN 0-7864-3462-7.
- ^ Steve Runciman (1958). The Sicilian Vespers: a history of the Mediterranean world in the later thirteenth century. Cambridge University Press. p. 274. ISBN 0-521-43774-1.
- ^ Colletta, Pietro. History of the Kingdom of Naples (1858). University of Michigan. http://books.google.com/books?id=7IM2AAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Edict+of+Bayonne%22&cad=0.
- ^ "The Battle of Tolentino > Joachim Murat". Tolentino815.it. 7 October 2007. http://www.tolentino815.it/paginaeng2949.aspx.
- ^ Blanch, L. Luigi de' Medici come uomo di stato e amministratore. Archivio Storico per le Province Napoletane. http://www.murat.it/Libri/Bibliogafia%20della%20Valente.htm.
- ^ Roland Sarti, Italy: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present (2004) pp 567-8
- ^ Sexton, Renard (December 15, 2009). "Berlusconi the Survivor". FiveThirtyEight.com. http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/12/berlusconi-survivor.html. Retrieved December 16, 2009.
- ^ Mignone, Mario B. (2008). Italy today: Facing the Challenges of the New Millennium. New York: Lang Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 978-1-4331-0187-8.
- ^ Dennis Mack Smith (1997). Modern Italy; A Political History. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-10895-4, pp. 209-210
- ^ (Smith (1997), pp. 199.)
- ^ Newark, Tim (2007). Mafia Allies: The True Story of America's Secret Alliance with the Mob in World War II. London: MBI Publishing Company. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-0-7603-2457-8.
- ^ Britannica.com
- ^ Britannica.com
- ^ T. Astarita, Between Salt Water and Holy Water: A History of Southern Italy, 2005
Further reading[link]
- Dal Lago, Enrico, and Rick Halpern, eds. The American South and the Italian Mezzogiorno: Essays in Comparative History (2002) ISBN 0-333-73971-X
- Doyle, Don. Nations Divided: America, Italy, and the Southern Question (2002)
- Moe, Nelson. The View from Vesuvius: Italian Culture and the Southern Question (2002)
- Schneider, Jane. Italy's 'Southern Question': Orientalism in One Country (1998)
http://wn.com/Southern_Italy
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Mezzogiorno
http://id.wn.com/Mezzogiorno
http://es.wn.com/Mezzogiorno
http://ru.wn.com/Южная Италия
http://nl.wn.com/Mezzogiorno
http://pl.wn.com/Mezzogiorno
http://fr.wn.com/Mezzogiorno
http://de.wn.com/Süditalien
http://pt.wn.com/Mezzogiorno
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Italy
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
"Italia" redirects here. For other uses, see Italia (disambiguation).
This article is about the republic. For other uses, see Italy (disambiguation).
| Italian Republic
Repubblica italiana
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| Anthem: Il Canto degli Italiani The Song of the Italians  |
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![Location of Italy (dark green)– in Europe (green & dark grey)– in the European Union (green) — [Legend]](http://web.archive.org./web/20130108105652/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EU-Italy.svg) Location of Italy (dark green)
– in Europe (green & dark grey) |
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| Capital (and largest city) |
Rome 41°54′N 12°29′E / 41.9°N 12.483°E / 41.9; 12.483 |
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| Official language(s) | Italian[1] | |||||
| Demonym | Italian | |||||
| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic | |||||
| - | President | Giorgio Napolitano | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Mario Monti | ||||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||||
| - | Upper house | Senate of the Republic | ||||
| - | Lower house | Chamber of Deputies | ||||
| Formation | ||||||
| - | Unification | 17 March 1861 | ||||
| - | Republic | 2 June 1946 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 301,338 km2 (71st) 116,346 sq mi |
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| - | Water (%) | 2.4 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2011 estimate | 60,681,514[2] (23rd) | ||||
| - | 2011 (preliminary results) census | 59,464,644 | ||||
| - | Density | 201.2/km2 (61st) 521.2/sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | 2011 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $1.847 trillion[3] (10th) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $30,464[3] (30th) | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2011 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $2.198 trillion[3] (8th) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $36,267[3] (24th) | ||||
| Gini (2006) | 32[4] | |||||
| HDI (2011) |  0.874[5] (very high) (24th) |
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| Currency | Euro (€)2 (EUR) |
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| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |||||
| - | Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||||
| Drives on the | right | |||||
| ISO 3166 code | IT | |||||
| Internet TLD | .it3 | |||||
| Calling code | 394 | |||||
| 1 | French is co-official in the Aosta Valley; Slovene is co-official in the province of Trieste and the province of Gorizia; German and Ladin are co-official in the province of South Tyrol. | |||||
| 2 | Before 2002, the Italian Lira. The euro is accepted in Campione d'Italia, but the official currency there is the Swiss Franc.[6] | |||||
| 3 | The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states. | |||||
| 4 | To call Campione d'Italia, it is necessary to use the Swiss code +41. | |||||
Italy i/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic[7] or the Republic of Italy[8] (Italian: Repubblica italiana[note 1]), 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,[9] an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
Through much of its post-Roman history, Italy was fragmented into numerous city and regional states (such as the Republic of Venice and the Church State), but was unified in 1861,[10] following a tumultuous period in history known as "Il Risorgimento" ("The Resurgence"). In the late 19th century, through World War I, and to World War II, Italy possessed a colonial empire, which extended its rule to Libya, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Albania, the Dodecanese and a concession in Tianjin, China.[11]
Modern Italy is a democratic republic. It has been ranked as the world's 24th most-developed country[5] and its Quality-of-life index has been ranked in the world's top ten in 2005.[12] Italy enjoys a very high standard of living, and has a high GDP per capita.[13][14] It is a founding member of what is now the European Union and part of the Eurozone. Italy is also a member of the G8, G20 and NATO. It has the world's third-largest gold reserves, eighth-largest nominal GDP, tenth highest GDP (PPP)[15] and the sixth highest government budget in the world.[16] It is also a member state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, the Council of Europe, the Western European Union and the United Nations. Italy has the world's ninth-largest defence budget and shares NATO's nuclear weapons.
Italy plays a prominent role in European and global military, cultural and diplomatic affairs. The country's European political, social and economic influence make it a major regional power.[17][18] The country has a high public education level and is a highly globalised nation.[19]
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Etymology[link]
The assumptions on the etymology of the name "Italia" are very numerous and the corpus of the solutions proposed by historians and linguists is very wide.[20] According to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin: Italia,[21] was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning "land of young cattle" (cf. Lat vitulus "calf", Umb vitlo "calf").[22] The bull was a symbol of the southern Italian tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus,[23] mentioned also by Aristotle[24] and Thucydides.[25]
The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy–according to Antiochus of Syracuse, the southern portion of the Bruttium peninsula (modern Calabria: province of Reggio, and part of the provinces of Catanzaro and Vibo Valentia). But by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name "Italia" to a larger region, but it was during the reign of Emperor Augustus (end of the first century BC) that the term was expanded to cover the entire peninsula until the Alps.[26]
History[link]
Main article: History of Italy
Prehistory and antiquity[link]
Main articles: Prehistoric Italy and Ancient Rome
Excavations throughout Italy reveal a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Paleolithic period, some 200,000 years ago,[27] modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. The Ancient peoples of pre-Roman Italy – such as the Umbrians, the Latins (from which the Romans emerged), Volsci, Samnites, the Celts and the Ligures which inhabited northern Italy, and many others – were Indo-European peoples; the main historic peoples of non-Indo-European heritage include the Etruscans, the Elymians and Sicani in Sicily and the prehistoric Sardinians.
Between the 17th and the 11th century BC Mycenaean Greeks established contacts with Italy[28][29][30][31][32][33][34] and in the 8th and 7th centuries BC Greek colonies were established all along the coast of Sicily and the southern part of the Italian Peninsula became known as Magna Graecia. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily.
Ancient Rome was at first a small agricultural community founded c. the 8th century BC, that grew over the course of the centuries into a colossal empire encompassing the whole Mediterranean Sea, in which Ancient Greek and Roman cultures merged into one civilization. This civilization was so influential that parts of it survive in modern law, administration, philosophy and arts, forming the ground that Western civilization is based upon. In a slow decline since the late 2th century AD, the empire finally broke into two parts in 395 AD: the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The western part – under the pressure of the Franks, the Vandals, the Huns, the Goths and other populations from Eastern Europe – finally dissolved in 476 AD, when the last western Emperor was deposed by the Barbarian chief Odoacer.
Middle Ages[link]
Main article: Italy in the Middle Ages
After the fall of Rome, Italy was conquered by the Germanic Tribe of the Ostrogoths, but in the 6th century the East Roman Emperor Justinian reconquered it. The invasion of another Germanic tribe (the Lombards) late in the same century reduced the Byzantine presence to a strip of land between Ravenna and Rome plus other lands in southern Italy, breaking the unity of the peninsula until 1870.
The Lombard reign of northern and central Italy was absorbed into the Frankish Empire by Charlemagne in the late 8th century. The Frankish kings also helped the formation of the Papal States in central Italy, extending from Rome to Ravenna, although for most of the Middle Ages the Papacy effectively controlled only Latium. The existence of this theocratic state hindered for centuries the unification of the peninsula. Until the 13th century, Italian politics were dominated by the relationship between the German Holy Roman Emperors and the popes, with most of the Italian cities siding for the former (Ghibellini) or for the latter (Guelfi) depending from momentary convenience.
It was during this vacuum of authority that the Italy saw the rise of a peculiar institution, the medieval commune. In the anarchic conditions that often prevailed in medieval Italian city-states, people organised themselves to restore order and disarm the feuding elites. In the 12th century, a league of comuni, the Lombard League, defeated the German emperor Frederick Barbarossa, leading to a process granting effective independence to most of northern and central Italian cities. Despite the devastation of the numerous wars, Italy maintained, especially in the north and center, a relatively developed urban civilization.
During the same period, Italy saw the rise of numerous Maritime Republics, the most notable being Venice, Genoa, Pisa and Amalfi. Heavily involved in the Crusades, they took advantage of political and trading opportunities. Venice and Genoa soon became Europe's main gateways to trade with the East, establishing colonies as far as the Black Sea and often controlling most of the trade with the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Mediterranean world. The county of Savoy expanded its territory into the peninsula in the late Middle Ages, while Florence developed into a highly organized commercial and financial city-state, becoming for many centuries the European capital of silk, wool, banking and jewelry.
In the south, Byzantine Sicily had become an Islamic emirate in the 9th century, thriving until the Italo-Normans conquered it in the late 11th century together with most of the Lombard and Byzantine states of southern Italy. Through a complex series of events, southern Italy developed as a unified kingdom, first under the House of Hohenstaufen, then under the Capetian House of Anjou and, from the 15th century, the house of Aragon (although Sicily was a separate Aragonese kingdom from the late 13th to the 15th century). In Sardinia, the former Byzantine provinces became independent states known as giudicati, although most of the island was under Genoese or Pisan control until the Aragonese conquered it in the 15th century.
Early Modern[link]
The Black Death pandemic in 1348 left its mark on Italy by killing one third of the population.[35][36] However, the recovery from the disaster of the Black Death led to a resurgence of cities, trade and economy which greatly stimulated the successive phases of Humanism and Renaissance, cultural movements both born in the peninsula, and later spread in Europe.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, Northern and upper Central Italy were divided into a number of warring city-states, the rest of the peninsula being occupied by the larger Papal States and Naples. The strongest among these city-states annexed the surrounding territories giving birth to the Signorie, regional states led by merchant families which founded local dynasties. Dominated by merchant oligarchies, they enjoyed a relative freedom and nurtured academic and artistic advancement. Warfare between the states was common, invasion from outside Italy confined to intermittent sorties of Holy Roman Emperors. These wars were primarily fought by armies of mercenaries known as condottieri, bands of soldiers drawn from around Europe, but especially Germany and Switzerland, led largely by Italian captains.[37]
Decades of fighting eventually saw Florence, Milan and Venice emerge as the dominant players that agreed to the Peace of Lodi in 1454, which saw relative calm brought to the region for the first time in centuries. This peace would hold for the next forty years, and Venice's unquestioned hegemony over the sea also led to unprecedented peace for much of the rest of the 15th century. The Italian Renaissance peaked in the mid-16th century as foreign invasions plunged the region into the turmoil of the Italian Wars. However, the ideas and ideals of the Renaissance endured and even spread into the rest of Europe, setting off the Northern Renaissance, and the English Renaissance.
In the meantime, the discovery of the Americas, the new routes to Asia discovered by the Portuguese and the rise of the Ottoman Empire—all factors which eroded the traditional Italian dominance in trade with the East – started the economic decline of the peninsula.
Following the Italian Wars (1494 to 1559), Italy saw a long period of relative peace, first under Habsburg Spain (1559 to 1713) and then under Habsburg Austria (1713 to 1796). The plague repeatedly returned to haunt Italy throughout the 14th to 17th centuries. In the first half of the 17th century, a plague claimed some 1.7 million victims, or about 14% of Italy’s population.[38] As Spain declined in the 17th century, so did its Italian possessions in Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, and Milan. Southern Italy was impoverished, stagnant, and cut off from the mainstream of events in Europe.[39] Despite that, Italy kept making its contribution to the European culture, giving birth to the Baroque Style.
In the 18th century, as a result of the War of Spanish Succession, Austria replaced Spain as the dominant foreign power, while the House of Savoy emerged as a major regional power expanding to Piedmont and Sardinia. In this century, the ideas of the Enlightenment influenced the Italian rulers, paving the way to reforms which started an economic recovery in northern Italy and Tuscany.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the northern and central parts of the country were invaded and later partly annexed to the Empire and partly reorganized as a new Kingdom of Italy—essentially a client state of the French Empire —[40] while the southern half of the peninsula was administered by Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law, who was crowned as King of Naples. The 1814 Congress of Vienna restored the situation of the late 18th century, but the ideals of the French Revolution could not be eradicated.
Italian unification and Liberal Italy[link]
Main articles: Italian unification and Military history of Italy during World War I
The creation of the Kingdom of Italy was the result of efforts by Italian nationalists and monarchists loyal to the House of Savoy to establish a united state encompassing the entire Italian Peninsula. In the context of the 1848 liberal revolutions that swept through Europe, an unsuccessful war was declared on Austria. The Kingdom of Sardinia again attacked the Austrian Empire in the Second Italian War of Independence of 1859, with the aid of France, resulting in liberating Lombardy.
In 1860–61, Giuseppe Garibaldi led the drive for unification in Naples and Sicily,[41] allowing the Sardinian government led by the Count of Cavour to declare a united Italian kingdom on 17 March 1861. In 1866, Victor Emmanuel II allied with Prussia during the Austro-Prussian War, waging the Third Italian War of Independence which allowed Italy to annex Venetia. Finally, as France during the disastrous Franco-Prussian War of 1870 abandoned its garrisons in Rome, the Savoy rushed to fill the power gap by taking over the Papal States.
The Sardinian Albertine Statute of 1848, extended to the whole Kingdom of Italy in 1861, provided for basic freedoms, but electoral laws excluded the non-propertied and uneducated classes from voting. The government of the new kingdom took place in a framework of parliamentary constitutional monarchy dominated by liberal forces. In 1913, male universal suffrage was adopted. As Northern Italy quickly industrialized, the South and rural areas of North remained underdeveloped and overpopulated, forcing millions of people to migrate abroad, while the Italian Socialist Party constantly increased in strength, challenging the traditional liberal and conservative establishment.
Starting from the last two decades of the 19th century, Italy developed into a colonial power by forcing Somalia, Eritrea and later Libya and the Dodecanese under its rule.[42] During World War I, Italy at first stayed neutral, but in 1915 signed the Treaty of London, entering the Entente on the promise of receiving Trento, Trieste, Gorizia and Gradisca, Istria and northern Dalmatia from the Austro-Hungarian Empire—as well as parts of the Ottoman Empire. During the war, more than 650,000 Italian soldiers died,[43] and the economy collapsed. Under the Peace Treaties of Saint-Germain, Rapallo and Rome, Italy obtained most of the promised territories, including the Hungarian harbour of Fiume, but not Dalmatia (except Zara), allowing nationalists to define the victory as "mutilated".
Fascist regime[link]
Main articles: Italian Fascism and Military history of Italy during World War II
The turbulence that followed the devastation of World War I, inspired by the Russian Revolution, led to turmoil and anarchy. The liberal establishment, fearing a socialist revolution, started to endorse the small National Fascist Party, led by Benito Mussolini. In October 1922 the fascists attempted a coup (the "March on Rome"), supported by king Victor Emmanuel III. Over the next few years, Mussolini banned all political parties and curtailed personal liberties, thus forming a dictatorship.
In 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, resulting in an international alienation and leading to Italy's withdrawal from the League of Nations. Consequently, Italy allied with Nazi Germany and Empire of Japan and strongly supported Franco in the Spanish civil war.
In 1939, Italy occupied Albania, a de facto protectorate for decades, and entered World War II in June 1940 on the side of the Axis powers. Mussolini, wanting a quick victory like Hitler's Blitzkriegs in Poland and France, invaded Greece in October 1940, but was forced to accept a humiliating stalemate after a few months. At the same time, Italy, after initially conquering British Somalia and parts of Egypt, saw an allied counter-attack lead to the loss of all possessions in the Horn of Africa and in North Africa.
Italy was then invaded by the Allies in July 1943, leading to the collapse of the Fascist regime and the fall of Mussolini. In September 1943, Italy surrendered. The country remained a battlefield for the rest of the war, as the allies were moving up from the south as the north was the base for loyalist Italian fascist and German Nazi forces, fought also by the Italian resistance movement. The hostilities ended on 2 May 1945. Nearly half a million Italians (including civilians) died in the conflict,[44] and the Italian economy had been all but destroyed; per capita income in 1944 was at its lowest point since the beginning of the 20th century.[45]
Italian Republic[link]
Main article: History of the Italian Republic
Italy became a republic after a referendum[46] held on 2 June 1946, a day celebrated since as Republic Day. This was also the first time that Italian women were entitled to vote.[47] Victor Emmanuel III's son, Umberto II, was forced to abdicate and exiled. The Republican Constitution was approved on 1 January 1948. Under the Paris Peace Treaties of 1947, the eastern border area was lost to Yugoslavia, and, later, the Free Territory of Trieste was divided between the two states.
Fears in the Italian electorate of a possible Communist takeover proved crucial for the first universal suffrage electoral outcome on 18 April 1948, when the Christian Democrats, under the leadership of Alcide De Gasperi, obtained a landslide victory. Consequently, in 1949 Italy became a member of NATO. The Marshall Plan helped to revive the Italian economy which, until the late 1960s, enjoyed a period of sustained economic growth commonly called the "Economic Miracle". In 1957, Italy was a founding member of the European Economic Community (EEC), which became the European Union (EU) in 1993.
From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, the country experienced the Years of Lead, a period characterized by economic crisis (especially after the 1973 oil crisis), widespread social conflicts and terrorist massacres carried out by opposing extremist groups, with the alleged involvement of US intelligence.[48][49][50] The Years of Lead culminated in the assassination of the Christian Democrat leader Aldo Moro in 1978, an event that deeply affected the whole country.
In the 1980s, for the first time since 1945, two governments were led by non-Christian-Democrat premiers: one liberal (Giovanni Spadolini) and one socialist (Bettino Craxi); the Christian Democrats remained, however, the main government party. During Craxi's government, the economy recovered and Italy became the world's fifth largest industrial nation, gaining entry into the G7 Group. However, as a result of his spending policies, the Italian national debt skyrocketed during the Craxi era, soon passing 100% of the GDP.
In the early 1990s, Italy faced significant challenges, as voters – disenchanted with political paralysis, massive public debt and the extensive corruption system (known as Tangentopoli) uncovered by the 'Clean Hands' investigation – demanded radical reforms. The scandals involved all major parties, but especially those in the government coalition: the Christian Democrats, who ruled for almost 50 years, underwent a severe crisis and eventually disbanded, splitting up into several factions. The Communists reorganized as a social-democratic force. During the 1990s and the 2000s (decade), centre-right (dominated by media magnate Silvio Berlusconi) and centre-left coalitions alternatively governed the country, which entered a prolonged period of economic stagnation.
Geography[link]
Main article: Geography of Italy
Italy is located in Southern Europe and comprises the boot-shaped Italian Peninsula and a number of islands including the two largest, Sicily and Sardinia. It lies between latitudes 35° and 47° N, and longitudes 6° and 19° E.
The country's total area is 301,230 km², of which 294,020 km² is land and 7,210 km² is water. Including the islands, Italy has a coastline and border of 7,600 km on the Adriatic, Ionian, Tyrrhenian seas (740 km), and borders shared with France (488 km), Austria (430 km), Slovenia (232 km) and Switzerland; San Marino (39 km) and Vatican City (3.2 km), both enclaves, account for the remainder.
The Apennine Mountains form the peninsula's backbone and the Alps form its northern boundary, where Italy's highest point is located on Mont Blanc (4,810 m/15,782 ft).[note 2] The Po, Italy's longest river (652 km/405 mi), flows from the Alps on the western border with France and crosses the Padan plain on its way to the Adriatic Sea. The five largest lakes are, in order of diminishing size:[51] Garda (367.94 km2/142 sq mi), Maggiore (212.51 km2/82 sq mi, shared with Switzerland), Como (145.9 km2/56 sq mi), Trasimeno (124.29 km2/48 sq mi) and Bolsena (113.55 km2/44 sq mi).
The country is situated at the meeting point of the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate, leading to considerable seismic and volcanic activity. There are 14 volcanoes in Italy, three of which are active: Etna (the traditional site of Vulcan’s smithy), Stromboli and Vesuvius. Vesuvius is the only active volcano in mainland Europe and is most famous for the destruction of Pompeii and Herculanum. Several islands and hills have been created by volcanic activity, and there is still a large active caldera, the Campi Flegrei north-west of Naples.
Although the country comprises the Italian peninsula and most of the southern Alpine basin, some of Italy's territory extends beyond the Alpine basin and some islands are located outside the Eurasian continental shelf. These territories are the comuni of: Livigno, Sexten, Innichen, Toblach (in part), Chiusaforte, Tarvisio, Graun im Vinschgau (in part), which are all part of the Danube's drainage basin, while the Val di Lei constitutes part of the Rhine's basin and the islands of Lampedusa and Lampione are on the African continental shelf.
Environment[link]
After its quick industrial growth, Italy took a long time to confront its environmental problems. After several improvements, it now ranks 84th in the world for ecological sustainability.[52] National parks cover about five percent of the country.[53] In the last decade, Italy has become one of the world's leading producers of renewable energy, ranking as the world’s fourth largest holder of installed solar energy capacity[54][55] and the sixth largest holder of wind power capacity in 2010.[56] Renewable energies now make up about 12% of the total primary and final energy consumption in Italy, with a future target share set at 17% for the year 2020.[57]
However, air pollution remains a severe problem, especially in the industrialised north, reaching the tenth highest level worldwide of industrial carbon dioxide emissions in the 1990s.[58] Italy is the twelfth largest carbon dioxide producer.[59][60] Extensive traffic and congestion in the largest metropolitan areas continue to cause severe environmental and health issues, even if smog levels have decreased dramatically since the 1970s and 1980s, and the presence of smog is becoming an increasingly rarer phenomenon and levels of sulphur dioxide are decreasing.[61]
Many watercourses and coastal stretches have also been contaminated by industrial and agricultural activity, while due to rising water levels, Venice has been regularly flooded throughout recent years. Waste from industrial activity is not always disposed of by legal means and has led to permanent health effects on inhabitants of affected areas, as in the case of the Seveso disaster. The country has also operated several nuclear reactors between 1963 and 1990 but, after the Chernobyl disaster and a referendum on the issue the nuclear program was terminated, a decision that was overturned by the government in 2008, planning up to four French nuclear power plants. This was in turn struck down by a referendum following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.[62] Deforestation, illegal building developments and poor land-management policies have led to significant erosion all over Italy's mountainous regions, leading to major ecological disasters like the 1963 Vajont Dam flood, the 1998 Sarno[63] and 2009 Messina mudslides.
Climate[link]
Main article: Climate of Italy
The climate of Italy is highly diverse and can be quite different from the stereotypical Mediterranean climate. Most of the inland northern regions of Italy, for example Piedmont, Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, have a climate variously described as humid continental or temperate. The climate of the "Po valley region [is] continental ... with harsh winters and hot summers".[64][65] The coastal areas of Liguria and most of the peninsula south of Florence generally fit the Mediterranean stereotype (Köppen climate classification Csa). Conditions on peninsular coastal areas can be very different from the interior's higher ground and valleys, particularly during the winter months when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often snowy. The coastal regions have mild winters and warm and generally dry summers, although lowland valleys can be quite hot in summer.
Governance[link]
Italy has been a unitary parliamentary republic since 2 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by a constitutional referendum. The President of the Italian Republic (Presidente della Repubblica), currently Giorgio Napolitano since 2006, is Italy's head of state. The President is elected for a single seven years mandate by the Parliament in joint session. Italy has a written democratic constitution, resulting from the work of a Constituent Assembly formed by the representatives of all the anti-fascist forces that contributed to the defeat of Nazi and Fascist forces during the Civil War.[66]
Government[link]
Main article: Politics of Italy
Italy has a parliamentary government based on a proportional voting system. The Parliament of Italy is perfectly bicameral: the two houses, the Chamber of Deputies (that meets in Palazzo Montecitorio) and the Senate of the Republic (that meets in Palazzo Madama), have the same powers. The Prime Minister, officially President of the Council of Ministers (Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is Italy's head of government. The Prime Minister and the cabinet are appointed by the President of the Republic, but must pass a vote of confidence in Parliament to become in office.
While the office is similar to those in most other parliamentary systems, the Italian prime minister has less authority than some of his counterparts. The prime minister is not authorized to request the dissolution of Parliament or dismiss ministers (that are exclusive prerogatives of the President of the Republic) and must receive a vote of approval from the Council of Ministers—which holds effective executive power—to execute most political activities.
Silvio Berlusconi, from 8 May 2008 to his resignation on 12 November 2011, was Prime Minister, leading a center-right coalition. The Italy's four major political parties are the People of Freedom, the Democratic Party, the Northern League and the Italy of Values. During the 2008 general elections these four parties won 590 out of 630 seats available in the Chamber of Deputies and 308 out of 315 seats available in the Senate of the Republic.
Most of the remaining seats were won by minor parties that only contest election in one part of Italy, like the South Tyrolean People's Party and the Movement for Autonomies. However, during the last 3 years, a so called "Third Pole" emerged, merging the Christian Democrats of UDC with some dissident MPs coming from Mr. Berlusconi's cabinet.
A peculiarity of the Italian Parliament is the representation given to Italian citizens permanently living abroad (about 3.6 million people): 12 Deputies and 6 Senators elected in four distinct overseas constituencies. In addition, the Italian Senate is characterized also by a small number of senators for life, appointed by the President "for outstanding patriotic merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field". Former Presidents of the Republic are ex officio life senators.
Law and criminal justice[link]
Main articles: Judiciary of Italy and Law enforcement in Italy
The Italian judicial system is based on Roman law modified by the Napoleonic code and later statutes. The Supreme Court of Cassation is the highest court in Italy for both criminal and civil appeal cases. The Constitutional Court of Italy (Corte Costituzionale) rules on the conformity of laws with the Constitution and is a post–World War II innovation. Since their appearance in the middle of the 19th century, Italian organized crime and criminal organizations have infiltrated the social and economic life of many regions in Southern Italy, the most notorious of which being the Sicilian Mafia, which would later expand into some foreign countries including the United States. The Mafia receipts may reach 9%[67][68] of Italy's GDP.[69]
A 2009 report identified 610 comuni which have a strong Mafia presence, where 13 million Italians live and 14.6% of the Italian GDP is produced.[70][71] The Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, nowadays probably the most powerful crime syndicate of Italy, accounts alone for 3% of the country's GDP.[72] However, at 0.013 per 1,000 people, Italy has only the 47th highest murder rate[73] (in a group of 62 countries) and the 43rd highest number of rapes per 1,000 people in the world (in a group of 65 countries), relatively low figures among developed countries.
Foreign relations[link]
Main article: Foreign relations of Italy
Italy is a founding member of the European Community, now the European Union (EU), and of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Italy was admitted to the United Nations in 1955, and it is a member and strong supporter of a wide number of international organizations, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, and the Central European Initiative. Its recent turns in the rotating presidency of international organisations include the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), the forerunner of the OSCE, in 1994; G8; and the EU in 2009 and from July to December 2003.
Italy strongly supports multilateral international politics, endorsing the United Nations and its international security activities. Italy deployed troops in support of UN peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Mozambique, and East Timor and provides support for NATO and UN operations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania. Italy deployed over 2,000 troops in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) from February 2003. Italy still supports international efforts to reconstruct and stabilize Iraq, but it has withdrawn its military contingent of some 3,200 troops as of November 2006, maintaining only humanitarian operators and other civilian personnel. In August 2006 Italy deployed about 2,450 troops in Lebanon for the United Nations' peacekeeping mission UNIFIL.[74]
Military[link]
Main article: Italian Armed Forces
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The Italian Army, Navy, Air Force and Gendarmerie collectively form the Italian armed forces, under the command of the Supreme Defence Council, presided over by the President of the Italian Republic. From 1999, military service is voluntary.[75] In 2010, the Italian military had 293,202 personnel on active duty,[76] of which 114,778 in the national gendarmerie.[77] Total Italian military spending in 2010 ranked tenth in the world, standing at $35.8 billion, equal to 1.7% of national GDP. As part of NATO's nuclear sharing strategy Italy also hosts 90 United States nuclear bombs, located in the Ghedi and Aviano air bases.[78]
The Italian Army is the national ground defense force, numbering 109,703 in 2008. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank, and among its aircraft the Mangusta attack helicopter, recently deployed in UN missions. It also has at its disposal a large number of Leopard 1 and M113 armored vehicles.
The Italian Navy in 2008 had 35,200 active personnel with 85 commissioned ships and 123 aircraft.[79] It is now equipping itself with a bigger aircraft carrier, (the Cavour), new destroyers, submarines and multipurpose frigates. In modern times the Italian Navy, being a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has taken part in many coalition peacekeeping operations around the world.
The Italian Air Force in 2008 had a strength of 43,882 and operated 585 aircraft, including 219 combat jets and 114 helicopters. As a stopgap and as replacement for leased Tornado ADV interceptors, the AMI has leased 30 F-16A Block 15 ADF and four F-16B Block 10 Fighting Falcons, with an option for more. The coming years also will see the introduction of 121 EF2000 Eurofighter Typhoons, replacing the leased F-16 Fighting Falcons. Further updates are foreseen in the Tornado IDS/IDT and AMX fleets. A transport capability is guaranteed by a fleet of 22 C-130Js and Aeritalia G.222s of which 12 are being replaced with the newly developed G.222 variant called the C-27J Spartan.
An autonomous corps of the military, the Carabinieri are the gendarmerie and military police of Italy, policing the military and civilian population alongside Italy's other police forces. While the different branches of the Carabinieri report to separate ministries for each of their individual functions, the corps reports to the Ministry of Internal Affairs when maintaining public order and security.[80]
Administrative divisions[link]
Main articles: Regions of Italy, Provinces of Italy, Municipalities of Italy, and Metropolitan cities of Italy
Italy is subdivided into 20 regions (regioni, singular regione), five of these regions having a special autonomous status that enables them to enact legislation on some of their local matters. The country is further divided into 110 provinces (province) and 8,100 municipalities (comuni). There are also 15 metropolitan cities (città metropolitane), established in 2009, but this administrative division is not yet operational.
| Region[note 3] | Capital | Area (km²) | Area (sq mi) | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abruzzo | L'Aquila | 10,763 | 4,156 | 1,342,177 |
| Aosta Valley | Aosta | 3,263 | 1,260 | 128,129 |
| Apulia | Bari | 19,358 | 7,474 | 4,090,577 |
| Basilicata | Potenza | 9,995 | 3,859 | 587,680 |
| Calabria | Catanzaro | 15,080 | 5,822 | 2,011,537 |
| Campania | Naples | 13,590 | 5,247 | 5,833,131 |
| Emilia-Romagna | Bologna | 22,446 | 8,666 | 4,429,766 |
| Friuli-Venezia Giulia | Trieste | 7,858 | 3,034 | 1,235,761 |
| Lazio | Rome | 17,236 | 6,655 | 5,724,365 |
| Liguria | Genoa | 5,422 | 2,093 | 1,616,993 |
| Lombardy | Milan | 23,844 | 9,206 | 9,909,348 |
| Marche | Ancona | 9,366 | 3,616 | 1,564,886 |
| Molise | Campobasso | 4,438 | 1,713 | 319,834 |
| Piedmont | Turin | 25,402 | 9,808 | 4,456,532 |
| Sardinia | Cagliari | 24,090 | 9,301 | 1,675,286 |
| Sicily | Palermo | 25,711 | 9,927 | 5,050,486 |
| Tuscany | Florence | 22,993 | 8,878 | 3,749,074 |
| Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol | Trento | 13,607 | 5,254 | 1,036,639 |
| Umbria | Perugia | 8,456 | 3,265 | 906,675 |
| Veneto | Venice | 18,399 | 7,104 | 4,936,197 |
Economy[link]
Main article: Economy of Italy
Italy has a free market economy characterized by high per capita GDP and low unemployment rates. In 2010, it was the eighth-largest economy in the world and the fourth-largest in Europe in terms of nominal GDP,[81] and the tenth-largest economy in the world and fifth-largest in Europe in terms of PPP.[82] It is a founding member of the G8, the Eurozone and the OECD.
After World War II, Italy was rapidly transformed from an agriculture based economy into one of the world's most industrialized nations[83] and a leading country in world trade and exports. It is a developed country, with the world's 8th highest quality of life in 2005[12] and the 24th Human Development Index. In spite of the recent global economic crisis, Italian per capita GDP at purchasing power parity remains approximately equal to the EU average,[84] while the unemployment rate (8.5%) stands as one of the EU's lowest.[85] The country is well known for its influential and innovative business economic sector,[86] an industrious and competitive agricultural sector[86] (Italy is the world's largest wine producer),[87] and for its creative and high-quality automobile, industrial, appliance and fashion design.[86]
Italy has a smaller number of global multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size, but there is a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises, notoriously clustered in several industrial districts, which are the backbone of the Italian industry. This has produced a manufacturing sector often focused on the export of niche market and luxury products, that if on one side is less capable to compete on the quantity, on the other side is more capable of facing the competition from China and other emerging Asian economies based on lower labour costs, with higher quality products.[88]
The country was the world's 7th largest exporter in 2009.[89] Italy's closest trade ties are with the other countries of the European Union, with whom it conducts about 59% of its total trade. Its largest EU trade partners, in order of market share, are Germany (12.9%), France (11.4%), and Spain (7.4%).[90] Finally, tourism is one of the fastest growing and profitable sectors of the national economy: with 43.6 million international tourist arrivals and total receipts estimated at $38.8 billion in 2010, Italy is both the fifth most visited country and highest tourism earner in the world.[91]
Despite these important achievements, the Italian economy today suffers from many and relevant problems. After a strong GDP growth of 5–6% per year from the 1950s to the early 1970s,[92] and a progressive slowdown in the 1980s and 1990s, the last decade's average annual growth rates poorly performed at 1.23% in comparison to an average EU annual growth rate of 2.28%.[93] The stagnation in economic growth, and the political efforts to revive it with massive government spending from the 1980s onwards, eventually produced a severe rise in public debt. According to the EU's statistics body Eurostat, Italian public debt stood at 116% of GDP in 2010, ranking as the second biggest debt ratio after Greece (with 126.8%).[94]
However, the biggest chunk of Italian public debt is owned by national subjects, a major difference between Italy and Greece.[95] In addition, Italian living standards have a considerable north-south divide. The average GDP per capita in the north exceeds by far the EU average, whilst many regions of Southern Italy are dramatically below.[96] Italy has often been referred the sick man of Europe,[97][98] characterised by economic stagnation, political instability and problems in pursuing reform programs.
More specifically, Italy suffers from structural weaknesses due to its geographical conformation and the lack of raw materials and energy resources: in 2006 the country imported more than 86% of its total energy consumption (99.7% of the solid fuels, 92.5% of oil, 91.2% of natural gas and 15% of electricity).[99][100] The Italian economy is weakened by the lack of infrastructure development, market reforms and research investment, and also high public deficit.[86] In the Index of Economic Freedom 2008, the country ranked 64th in the world and 29th in Europe, the lowest rating in the Eurozone. Italy still receives development assistance from the European Union every year. Between 2000 and 2006, Italy received €27.4 billion from the EU.[101]
The country has an inefficient state bureaucracy, low property rights protection and high levels of corruption, heavy taxation and public spending that accounts for about half of the national GDP.[102] In addition, the most recent data show that Italy's spending in R&D in 2006 was equal to 1.14% of GDP, below the EU average of 1.84% and the Lisbon Strategy target of devoting 3% of GDP to research and development activities.[103] According to the Confesercenti, a major business association in Italy, organized crime in Italy represented the "biggest segment of the Italian economy", accounting for €90 billion in receipts and 7% of Italy's GDP.[104]
Infrastructure[link]
Main article: Transport in Italy
In 2004 the transport sector in Italy generated a turnover of about 119.4 billion euros, employing 935,700 persons in 153,700 enterprises. Regarding the national road network, in 2002 there were 668,721 km (415,524 mi) of serviceable roads in Italy, including 6,487 km (4,031 mi) of motorways, state-owned but privately operated by Atlantia. In 2005, about 34,667,000 passenger cars (590 cars per 1,000 people) and 4,015,000 goods vehicles circulated on the national road network.[108]
The national railway network, state-owned and operated by Ferrovie dello Stato, in 2003 totalled 16,287 km (10,120 mi) of which 69% is electrified, and on which 4,937 locomotives and railcars circulated. The national inland waterways network comprised 1,477 km (918 mi) of navigable rivers and channels in 2002. In 2004 there were approximately 30 main airports (including the two hubs of Malpensa International in Milan and Leonardo Da Vinci International in Rome) and 43 major seaports (including the seaport of Genoa, the country's largest and second largest in the Mediterranean Sea). In 2005 Italy maintained a civilian air fleet of about 389,000 units and a merchant fleet of 581 ships.[108]
Electric Power Imports[link]
Italy is the world's largest net importer of electricity, as shown in the treemap below from the Observatory of Economic Complexity. The treemap shows those countries which are the largest net importers of electricity.
Demographics[link]
Main article: Demography of Italy
Italy has 60,626,442 inhabitants according to 1/1/2011 municipal records (Anagrafe).[109] Its population density, at 201/km² (520/sq. mile), is higher than that of most Western European countries. However the distribution of the population is widely uneven. The most densely populated areas are the Po Valley (that accounts for almost a half of the national population) and the metropolitan areas of Rome and Naples, while vast regions such as the Alps and Appennines highlands, the plateaus of Basilicata and the island of Sardinia are very sparsely populated.
The population of Italy almost doubled during the 20th century, but the pattern of growth was extremely uneven due to large-scale internal migration from the rural South to the industrial cities of the North, a phenomenon which happened as a consequence of the Italian economic miracle of the 1950-1960s. In addition, after centuries of net emigration, from the 1980s Italy has experienced large-scale immigration for the first time in modern history. According to the Italian government, there were 4,570,317 foreign residents in Italy as of January 2011.[110]
High fertility and birth rates persisted until the 1970s, after which they start to dramatically decline, leading to rapid population aging. At the end of the 2000s (decade), one in five Italians was over 65 years old.[111] However, thanks mainly to the massive immigration of the last two decades, in recent years Italy experienced a significant growth in birth rates.[112] The total fertility rate has also climbed from an all-time low of 1.18 children per woman in 1995 to 1.41 in 2008.[113]
|
Largest cities or towns of Italy ISTAT estimates for 31 December 2010 |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | City name | Region | Pop. | Rank | City name | Region | Pop. | ||
 Rome |
1 | Rome | Lazio | 2,761,477 | 11 | Venice | Veneto | 270,884 |  Naples |
| 2 | Milan | Lombardy | 1,324,110 | 12 | Verona | Veneto | 263,964 | ||
| 3 | Naples | Campania | 963,357 | 13 | Messina | Sicily | 242,503 | ||
| 4 | Turin | Piedmont | 907,563 | 14 | Padua | Veneto | 214,198 | ||
| 5 | Palermo | Sicily | 655,875 | 15 | Trieste | Friuli-Venezia Giulia | 205,535 | ||
| 6 | Genoa | Liguria | 607,906 | 16 | Brescia | Lombardy | 193,879 | ||
| 7 | Bologna | Emilia-Romagna | 380,181 | 17 | Taranto | Apulia | 191,810 | ||
| 8 | Florence | Tuscany | 371,282 | 18 | Prato | Tuscany | 188,011 | ||
| 9 | Bari | Apulia | 320,475 | 19 | Parma | Emilia-Romagna | 186,690 | ||
| 10 | Catania | Sicily | 293,458 | 20 | Reggio Calabria | Calabria | 186,547 | ||
Ethnic groups[link]
Main article: Immigration to Italy
Italy used to be a country of mass emigration from the late 19th century until the 1970s. Between 1898 and 1914, the peak years of Italian diaspora, approximately 750,000 Italians emigrated each year.[114] Italian communities once thrived in the former African colonies of Eritrea (nearly 100,000 at the beginning of World War II),[115] Somalia and Libya (150,000 Italians settled in Libya, constituting about 18% of the total population).[116]
All of Libya's Italians were expelled from the North African country in 1970.[117] In addition, after the communist occupation of Istria in 1945, up to 350,000 ethnic Italians left Titoist Yugoslavia.[118] Today, large numbers of people with full or significant Italian ancestry are found in Brazil (25 million),[119] Argentina (20 million),[120] US (17.8 million),[121] France (5 million),[122] Uruguay (1.5 million),[123] Canada (1.4 million),[124] Venezuela (900,000)[125] and Australia (800,000).[126]
As a result of the profound economic and social changes induced by postwar industrialization, including low birth rates, an aging population and thus a shrinking workforce, during the 1980s Italy became to attract rising flows of foreign immigrants. The present-day figure of about 4.6 million foreign residents, that make up some 7.5% of the total population, include more than half a million children born in Italy to foreign nationals—second generation immigrants, but exclude foreign nationals who have subsequently acquired Italian nationality; this applied to 53,696 people in 2008.[127]
The official figures also exclude illegal immigrants, the so-called clandestini, whose numbers are very difficult to determine. In May 2008 The Boston Globe quoted an estimate of 670,000 for this group.[128] Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and more recently, the 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the European Union, the main waves of migration came from the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe (especially Romania, Albania, Ukraine and Poland). The second most important area of immigration to Italy has always been the neighbouring North Africa (in particular, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia), with soaring arrivals as a consequence of the Arab Spring. Furthermore, in recent years, growing migration fluxes from the Far East (notably, China[129] and the Philippines) and Latin America (Ecuador, Peru) have been recorded.
Currently, more than one million Romanians (around one tenth of them being Roma[130]) are officially registered as living in Italy, representing thus the most important individual country of origin, followed by Albanians and Moroccans with about 500,000 people each. The number of unregistered Romanians is difficult to estimate, but the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network suggested that in 2007 that there might have been half a million or more.[131][note 4] Overall, at the end of 2000s (decade) the foreign born population of Italy was from: Europe (54%), Africa (22%), Asia (16%), the Americas (8%) and Oceania (0.06%). The distribution of immigrants is largely uneven in Italy: 87% of immigrants live in the northern and central parts of the country (the most economically developed areas), while only 13% live in the southern half of the peninsula.
| Origin | Population | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Italian | &1000000005611809900000056,118,099 | 92.47% |
| Romanian | &100000000012000000000001,200,000 | 1.98% |
| North African | &10000000000646624000000646,624 | 1.07% |
| Albanian | &10000000000466684000000466,684 | 0.77% |
| Chinese | &10000000000188352000000188,352 | 0.28% |
| Ukrainian | &10000000000153998000000153,998 | 0.31% |
| Asian (non-Chinese) | &10000000000499013000000499,013 | 0.83% |
| Latin American | &10000000000324917000000324,917 | 0.54% |
| Sub-Saharan African | &10000000000285169000000285,169 | 0.47% |
| Other | &10000000000782549000000782,549 | 1.29% |
Languages[link]
Main article: Languages of Italy
Official language.
Secondary, widely spoken or understood.
Understood by some due to former colonisation.
Italy's official language is Italian. Ethnologue has estimated that there are about 55 million speakers of the language in Italy and a further 6.7 million outside of the country.[133] However, between 120 and 150 million people use Italian as a second or cultural language, worldwide.[134]
Italian, adopted by the state after the unification of Italy, is based on the Florentine variety of Tuscan and is somewhat intermediate between the Italo-Dalmatian languages and the Gallo-Romance languages. Its development was also influenced by the Germanic languages of the post-Roman invaders.
Italy has numerous dialects spoken all over the country and some Italians cannot speak Italian at all.[135] However, the establishment of a national education system has led to decrease in variation in the languages spoken across the country. Standardisation was further expanded in the 1950s and 1960s thanks to economic growth and the rise of mass media and television (the state broadcaster RAI helped set a standard Italian).
Several linguistic groups are legally recognized,[136] and a number of minority languages have co-official status alongside Italian in various parts of the country. French is co-official in the Valle d’Aosta—although in fact Franco-Provencal is more commonly spoken there. German has the same status in the province of South Tyrol as, in some parts of that province and in parts of the neighbouring Trentino, does Ladin. Slovene is officially recognised in the provinces of Trieste, Gorizia and Udine in Friuli Venezia Giulia.
In these regions official documents are bilingual (trilingual in Ladin communities), or available upon request in either Italian or the co-official language. Traffic signs are also multilingual, except in the Valle d’Aosta where – with the exception of Aosta itself which has retained its Latin form in Italian (as in English) – French toponyms are generally used, attempts to italianise them during the Fascist period having been abandoned. Education is possible in minority languages where such schools are operating.
Religion[link]
Main article: Religion in Italy
| Religion in Italy, 2001[137] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religion | Percent | |||
| Christianity |
|
91.6% | ||
| None |
|
5.8% | ||
| Islam |
|
1.9% | ||
| Buddhism |
|
0.3% | ||
| Hinduism |
|
0.2% | ||
| Sikhism |
|
0.1% | ||
| Judaism |
|
0.1% | ||
Roman Catholicism is by far the largest religion in the country, although the Catholic Church is no longer officially the state religion. The proportion of Italians that identify themselves as Roman Catholic is 87.8%,[138] although only about one-third of these described themselves as active members (36.8%). Most Italians believe in God, or a form of a spiritual life force. According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005:[139] 74% of Italian citizens responded that 'they believe there is a God', 16% answered that 'they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force' and 6% answered that 'they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force'.
- Christianity
The Italian Catholic Church is part of the global Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, curia in Rome, and the Conference of Italian Bishops. In addition to Italy, two other sovereign nations are included in Italian-based dioceses, the enclaves of San Marino and Vatican City. There are 225 dioceses in the Italian Catholic Church, see further in this article and in the article List of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Italy.
Italy has a rich Catholic culture, especially as numerous Catholic saints, martyrs and popes were Italian themselves. Roman Catholicism is the largest religion and denomination in Italy, with around 87.8% of Italians considering themselves Catholic. Italy is also home to the greatest number of cardinals in the world,[142] and is the country with the greatest number of Roman Catholic churches per capita.[143]
Even though the main Christian denomination in Italy is Roman Catholicism, there are relevant minorities of Waldensians, Eastern Orthodox and other Christian churches. In the 20th century, Pentecostalism, non-denominational Evangelicalism, were the fastest-growing Protestant churches, as well as Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormonism. Starting from the 1980s, Immigration from Subsaharan Africa has increased the size of Baptist, Anglican, Pentecostal and Evangelical communities in Italy, while immigration from Eastern Europe has established large Eastern Orthodox communities.
At the beginning of 21st century, there were more than 700,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians in Italy, including 180,000 Greek Orthodox,[144] 550,000 Pentecostals and Evangelists (0.8%), of whom 400,000 are members of the Assemblies of God, 235,685 Jehovah's Witnesses (0.4%),[145] 30,000 Waldensians,[146] 25,000 Seventh-day Adventists, 22,000 Mormons, 15,000 Baptists (plus some 5,000 Free Baptists), 7,000 Lutherans, 4,000 Methodists (affiliated with the Waldensian Church).[147]
- Other religions
The longest-established religious faith in Italy is Judaism, Jews having been present in Ancient Rome before the birth of Christ. Italy has seen many influential Italian-Jews, such as Shabbethai Donnolo (died 982), prime minister Luigi Luzzatti, who took office in 1910, and Ernesto Nathan, outstanding mayor of Rome from 1907 to 1913. During the Holocaust, Italy took in many Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. However, with the creation of the Nazi-backed puppet Italian Social Republic, about 15% of Italy's Jews were killed, despite the Fascist government's refusal to deport Jews to Nazi death camps. This, together with the emigration that preceded and followed the Second World War, has left only a small community of around 45,000 Jews in Italy today.
Due to rising immigration, there has been an increase in non-Christian faiths. In 2009, there were 1.0 million Muslims in Italy[148] forming 1.6 percent of population, although only 50,000 hold Italian citizenship. Independent estimates put the Islamic population in Italy anywhere from 0.8 million[149] to 1.5 million.[150] There are more than 200,000 followers of faiths originating in the Indian subcontinent with some 70,000 Sikhs with 22 gurdwaras across the country,[151] 70,000 Hindus, and 50,000 Buddhists.[152] There are an estimated some 4,900 Bahá'ís in Italy in 2005.[153]
Education[link]
Main article: Education in Italy
Italy's public education is free and compulsory from 6 to 15 years of age,[155] and has a five-year primary stage and an eight-year secondary stage, divided into first-grade secondary school (middle school) and second-grade secondary school (or high school). Italy has a high public education standard, surpassing that of other comparable developed countries, such as the UK and Germany.[citation needed] The country has both public and private education systems.
According to National Science Indicators (1981–2002), a database produced by Research Services Group containing listings of output and citation statistics for more than 90 countries, Italy has an above-average output of scientific papers (in terms of number of papers written with at least one author being from Italy) in space science (9.75% of papers in the world being from Italy), mathematics (5.51% of papers in the world), computer science, neurosciences, and physics; the lowest, but still slightly above world-average, output in terms of number of papers produced is recorded in the social sciences, psychology and psychiatry, and economics and business.[156]
Italy hosts a broad variety of universities, colleges and academies. Milan's Bocconi University, has been ranked among the top 20 best business schools in the world by The Wall Street Journal international rankings, especially thanks to its M.B.A. program, which in 2007 placed it no. 17 in the world in terms of graduate recruitment preference by major multinational companies.[157] Also, Forbes has ranked Bocconi no. 1 worldwide in the specific category Value for Money.[158] In May 2008, Bocconi overtook several traditionally top global business schools in the Financial Times Executive education ranking, reaching no. 5 in Europe and no. 15 in the world.[159]
Other top universities and polytechnics include the Polytechnic University of Turin, the Politecnico di Milano (which in 2009 was ranked as the 57th technical university in the world by Top Universities, in a research conducted on behalf of Times Higher Education.[160] This was a 6-positions growth from the 63rd position in 2008. In 2009 an Italian research ranked it as the best in Italy over indicators such as scientific production, attraction of foreign students, and others[161]), the University of Rome La Sapienza (which in 2005 was Europe's 33rd best university,[162] and ranks amongst Europe's 50 and the world's 150 best colleges[163]) and the University of Milan (whose research and teaching activities have developed over the years and have received important international recognitions. The University is the only Italian member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), a prestigious group of twenty research-intensive European Universities. It also been awarded ranking positions as such: -1st in Italy and 7th in Europe (The Leiden Ranking – Universiteit Leiden).
Italy and the Western world's oldest college is the University of Bologna.[164] In 2009, the University of Bologna is, according to The Times, the only Italian college in the top 200 World Universities.
Health[link]
Main article: Healthcare in Italy
Italy has had a public healthcare system since 1978.[165] Healthcare spending in Italy accounted for more than 9.0% of the national GDP in 2008, slightly above the OECD countries' average of 8.9%.[166] However, Italy ranks as having the world's 2nd best healthcare system,[165][167] and the world's 3rd best healthcare performance.[168]
Italy had the 12th highest worldwide life expectancy in 2010,[169] while, as in many others western countries, seeing an increase in the proportion of overweight and obese people, with 34.2% of Italians self reporting as overweight and 9.8% self reporting as obese.[170] The proportion of daily smokers was 22% in 2008.[171] Smoking in public places including bars, restaurants, night clubs and offices has been restricted to specially ventilated rooms since 2005.[172]
Culture[link]
Main article: Culture of Italy
Italy did not exist as a state until the country's unification in 1861. Due to this comparatively late unification, and the historical autonomy of the regions that comprise the Italian Peninsula, many traditions and customs that are now recognized as distinctly Italian can be identified by their regions of origin. Despite the political and social distinction of these regions, Italy's contributions to the cultural and historical heritage of Europe and the world remain immense. Italy is home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (47) to date, and has rich collections of art, culture and literature from many different periods. The country has had a broad cultural influence worldwide, also because numerous Italians emigrated to other places during the Italian diaspora. Furthermore, the nation has, overall, an estimated 100,000 monuments of any sort (museums, palaces, buildings, statues, churches, art galleries, villas, fountains, historic houses and archaeological remains).[173]
Architecture[link]
Main article: Architecture of Italy
Italy has a very broad and diverse architectural style, which cannot be simply classified by period, but also by region, due to Italy's division into several city-states until 1861. However, this has created a highly diverse and eclectic range in architectural designs. Italy is known for its considerable architectural achievements,[176] such as the construction of arches, domes and similar structures during ancient Rome, the founding of the Renaissance architectural movement in the late-14th to 16th century, and being the homeland of Palladianism, a style of construction which inspired movements such as that of Neoclassical architecture, and influenced the designs which noblemen built their country houses all over the world, notably in the UK, Australia and the US during the late-17th to early 20th centuries. Several of the finest works in Western architecture, such as the Colosseum, the Milan Cathedral and Florence cathedral, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the building designs of Venice are found in Italy.
Italian architecture has also widely influenced the architecture of the world. British architect Inigo Jones, inspired by the designs of Italian buildings and cities, brought back the ideas of Italian Renaissance architecture to 17th century England, being inspired by Andrea Palladio.[177] Additionally, Italianate architecture, popular abroad since the 19th century, was used to describe foreign architecture which was built in an Italian style, especially modelled on Renaissance architecture.
Visual art[link]
Main article: Art of Italy
_-_The_Last_Supper_(1495-1498).jpg)
Over the centuries, Italian art has gone through many stylistic changes. Italian painting is traditionally characterized by a warmth of colour and light, as exemplified in the works of Caravaggio and Titian, and a preoccupation with religious figures and motifs. Italian painting enjoyed preeminence in Europe for hundreds of years, from the Romanesque and Gothic periods, and through the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the latter two of which saw fruition in Italy. Notable artists who fall within these periods include Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Bernini, Titian and Raphael.
Thereafter, Italy was to experience a continual subjection to foreign powers which caused a shift of focus to political matters, leading to its decline as the artistic authority in Europe. Not until 20th century Futurism, primarily through the works of Umberto Boccioni and Giacomo Balla, would Italy recapture any of its former prestige as a seminal place of artistic evolution. Futurism was succeeded by the metaphysical paintings of Giorgio de Chirico, who exerted a strong influence on the Surrealists and generations of artists to follow.
Literature and theatre[link]
Main article: Literature of Italy
File:DanteDetail.jpg
Dante, poised between the mountain of purgatory and the city of Florence, displays the famous incipit Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita in a detail of Domenico di Michelino's painting, Florence 1465.
The basis of the modern Italian language was established by the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri, whose greatest work, the Divine Comedy, is considered amongst the foremost literary statements produced in Europe during the Middle Ages. There is no shortage of celebrated literary figures in Italy: Giovanni Boccaccio, Giacomo Leopardi, Alessandro Manzoni, Torquato Tasso, Ludovico Ariosto, and Petrarch, whose best-known vehicle of expression, the sonnet, was invented in Italy.
Prominent philosophers include Giordano Bruno, Marsilio Ficino, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Giambattista Vico. Modern literary figures and Nobel laureates are nationalist poet Giosuè Carducci in 1906, realist writer Grazia Deledda in 1926, modern theatre author Luigi Pirandello in 1936, poets Salvatore Quasimodo in 1959 and Eugenio Montale in 1975, satirist and theatre author Dario Fo in 1997.[179]
Italian theatre can be traced back to the Roman tradition which was heavily influenced by the Greek; as with many other literary genres, Roman dramatists tended to adapt and translate from the Greek. For example, Seneca's Phaedra was based on that of Euripides, and many of the comedies of Plautus were direct translations of works by Menander. During the 16th century and on into the 18th century, Commedia dell'arte was a form of improvisational theatre, and it is still performed today. Travelling troupes of players would set up an outdoor stage and provide amusement in the form of juggling, acrobatics, and, more typically, humorous plays based on a repertoire of established characters with a rough storyline, called canovaccio.
Music[link]
Main article: Music of Italy
From folk music to classical, music has always played an important role in Italian culture. Instruments associated with classical music, including the piano and violin, were invented in Italy, and many of the prevailing classical music forms, such as the symphony, concerto, and sonata, can trace their roots back to innovations of 16th and 17th century Italian music.
Italy's most famous composers include the Renaissance composers Palestrina and Monteverdi, the Baroque composers Alessandro Scarlatti, Corelli and Vivaldi, the Classical composers Paganini and Rossini, and the Romantic composers Verdi and Puccini. Modern Italian composers such as Berio and Nono proved significant in the development of experimental and electronic music. While the classical music tradition still holds strong in Italy, as evidenced by the fame of its innumerable opera houses, such as La Scala of Milan and San Carlo of Naples, and performers such as the pianist Maurizio Pollini and the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti, Italians have been no less appreciative of their thriving contemporary music scene.
Italy is widely known for being the birthplace of opera.[182] Italian opera was believed to have been founded in the early 17th century, in Italian cities such as Mantua and Venice.[182] Later, works and pieces composed by native Italian composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini, are amongst the most famous operas ever written and today are performed in opera houses across the world. La Scala operahouse in Milan is also renowned as one of the best in the world. Famous Italian opera singers include Enrico Caruso, Alessandro Bonci, the late Luciano Pavarotti, and Andrea Bocelli, to name a few.
Introduced in the early 1920s, jazz took a particularly strong foothold in Italy, and remained popular despite the xenophobic cultural policies of the Fascist regime. Today, the most notable centers of jazz music in Italy include Milan, Rome, and Sicily. Later, Italy was at the forefront of the progressive rock movement of the 1970s, with bands like PFM and Goblin. Italy was also an important country in the development of disco and electronic music, with Italo disco, known for its futuristic sound and prominent usage of synthesizers and drum machines, being one of the earliest electronic dance genres, as well as European forms of disco music aside from Euro disco (which later went on to influence several genres such as Eurodance and Nu-disco).
Producers/songwriters such as Giorgio Moroder, who won three Academy Awards for his music, were highly influential in the development of EDM (electronic dance music). Today, Italian pop music is represented annually with the Sanremo Music Festival, which served as inspiration for the Eurovision song contest, and the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto. Singers such as pop diva Mina, classical crossover artist Andrea Bocelli, Grammy winner Laura Pausini, and European chart-topper Eros Ramazzotti have attained international acclaim.
Cinema[link]
Main article: Cinema of Italy
The history of Italian cinema began a few months after the Lumière brothers began motion picture exhibitions. The first Italian film was a few seconds long, showing Pope Leo XIII giving a blessing to the camera. The Italian film industry was born between 1903 and 1908 with three companies: the Società Italiana Cines, the Ambrosio Film and the Itala Film. Other companies soon followed in Milan and in Naples. In a short time these first companies reached a fair producing quality, and films were soon sold outside Italy. Cinema was later used by Benito Mussolini, who founded Rome's renowned Cinecittà studio for the production of Fascist propaganda until World War II.[184]
After the war, Italian film was widely recognised and exported until an artistic decline around the 1980s. Notable Italian film directors from this period include Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luchino Visconti, Michelangelo Antonioni and Dario Argento. Movies include world cinema treasures such as La dolce vita, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Bicycle Thieves. The mid-1940s to the early 1950s was the heyday of neorealist films, reflecting the poor condition of post-war Italy.[185][186]
As the country grew wealthier in the 1950s, a form of neorealism known as pink neorealism succeeded, and other film genres, such as sword-and-sandal followed as spaghetti westerns, were popular in the 1960s and 1970s. In recent years, the Italian scene has received only occasional international attention, with movies like La vita è bella directed by Roberto Benigni and Il postino with Massimo Troisi.
Science[link]
Main article: Science and technology in Italy
Through the centuries, Italy has given birth to some notable scientific minds. Amongst them, and perhaps the most famous polymath in history, Leonardo da Vinci made several contributions to a variety of fields including art, biology, and technology. Galileo Galilei was a physicist, mathematician, and astronomer who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations, and support for Copernicanism. The physicist Enrico Fermi, a Nobel prize laureate, was the leader of the team that built the first nuclear reactor and is also noted for his many other contributions to physics, including the co-development of the quantum theory.
A brief overview of some other notable figures includes the astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who made many important discoveries about the Solar System; the physicist Alessandro Volta, inventor of the electric battery; the mathematicians Lagrange, Fibonacci, and Gerolamo Cardano, whose Ars Magna is generally recognized as the first modern treatment on mathematics, made fundamental advances to the field.
Marcello Malpighi, a doctor and founder of microscopic anatomy; the biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani, who conducted important research in bodily functions, animal reproduction, and cellular theory; the physician, pathologist, scientist, and Nobel laureate Camillo Golgi, whose many achievements include the discovery of the Golgi complex, and his role in paving the way to the acceptance of the Neuron doctrine; and Guglielmo Marconi, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of radio.
Sport[link]
Main article: Sport in Italy
Italy has a long sporting tradition. In numerous sports, both individual and team, Italy has good representation and many successes. The most popular sport is by far football. Basketball and volleyball are the next most popular/played, with Italy having a rich tradition in both. Italy won the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and is currently the second most successful football team in the world, after Brazil, having won four FIFA World Cups.[190] Italy has also got strong traditions in cycling, tennis, athletics, fencing, winter sports and rugby. Italian Scuderia Ferrari is the oldest surviving team in Grand Prix racing, having competed since 1948, and statistically the most successful Formula One team in history with a record of 15 drivers' championships and 16 constructors' championships.
Fashion and design[link]
Main articles: Italian fashion and Italian design
Italian fashion has a long tradition, and is regarded as one of the most important in the world. Milan, Florence and Rome are Italy's main fashion capitals. According to the 2009 Global Language Monitor, Milan was nominated the true fashion capital of the world, even surpassing other major capitals, such as New York, Paris, London and Tokyo, while Rome came 4th.[191] Major Italian fashion labels, such as Gucci, Prada, Versace, Valentino, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Fendi, Moschino, Max Mara and Ferragamo, to name a few, are regarded as amongst the finest fashion houses in the world. Also, the fashion magazine Vogue Italia, is considered the most important and prestigious fashion magazine in the world.[192]
Italy is also prominent in the field of design, notably interior design, architectural design, industrial design and urban design. The country has produced some well-known furniture designers, such as Gio Ponti and Ettore Sottsass, and Italian phrases such as "Bel Disegno" and "Linea Italiana" have entered the vocabulary of furniture design.[193] Examples of classic pieces of Italian white goods and pieces of furniture include Zanussi's washing machines and fridges,[194] the "New Tone" sofas by Atrium,[194] and the post-modern bookcase by Ettore Sottsass, inspired by Bob Dylan's song "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again".[194]
Today, Milan and Turin are the nation's leaders in architectural design and industrial design. The city of Milan hosts the FieraMilano, Europe's biggest design fair.[195] Milan also hosts major design and architecture-related events and venues, such as the "Fuori Salone" and the Salone del Mobile, and has been home to the designers Bruno Munari, Lucio Fontana, Enrico Castellani and Piero Manzoni[196]
Cuisine[link]
Main article: Italian cuisine
Modern Italian cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political changes, with its roots reaching back to the 4th century BC. Significant change occurred with the discovery of the New World, when vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, and maize became available. However, these central ingredients of modern Italian cuisine were not introduced in scale before the 18th century.[197]
Ingredients and dishes vary by region. However, many dishes that were once regional have proliferated in different variations across the country. Cheese and wine are major parts of the cuisine, playing different roles both regionally and nationally with their many variations and Denominazione di origine controllata (regulated appellation) laws. Coffee, and more specifically espresso, has become highly important to the cultural cuisine of Italy. Some famous dishes and items include pasta, pizza, lasagna, focaccia, and gelato.
See also[link]
Notes[link]
- ^ In Italy, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous (regional) languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:
- Emilian: Ripòbblica Itaglièna;
- Friulian: Republiche Taliane;
- Ladin: Republica taliana;
- Lombard: Repùblega Taliana;
- Neapolitan: Repubbreca italiana;
- Piemontese: Repùblica Italian-a;
- Sardinian: Repubrica Italiana;
- Sicilian: Ripùbblica di Tàlia;
- Venetian: Republica Tałiana
- ^ Official French maps show the border detouring south of the main summit, and claim the highest point in Italy is Mont Blanc de Courmayeur (4,748 m), but these are inconsistent with an 1861 convention and topographic watershed analysis.
- ^ Regions in Italics have an autonomous status.
- ^ According to Mitrica, an October 2005 Romanian report estimates that 1,061,400 Romanians are living in Italy, constituting 37% of 2.8 million immigrants in that country[132] but it is unclear how the estimate was made, and therefore whether it should be taken seriously.
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- ^ "Sda Bocconi supera London Business School – ViviMilano". Corriere della Serra. 12 November 2008. http://www.corriere.it/vivimilano/cronache/articoli/2008/05_Maggio/12/sda_bocconi.shtml. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
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- ^ "Università di Bologna (oldest university in the world)". Virtual Globetrotting. 21 October 2006. http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/universit-di-bologna-oldest-university-in-the-world/. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
- ^ a b "Italy – Health". Dev.prenhall.com. http://dev.prenhall.com/divisions/hss/worldreference/IT/health.html. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
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- ^ "Health system attainment and performance in all Member States". ΦΩΤΗΣ ΚΟΥΤΣΟΥΚΗΣ (Photius Coutsoukis). http://www.photius.com/rankings/world_health_performance_ranks.html. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
- ^ United Nations World Population Prospects: 2006 revision – Table A.17 for 2005–2010
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- ^ World Health Organization (2008) (PDF). WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008: the MPOWER package. World Health Organization. pp. 267–288. ISBN 978-92-4-159628-2. http://www.who.int/entity/tobacco/mpower/mpower_report_full_2008.pdf. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
- ^ "Smoking Ban Begins in Italy". Deutsche Welle. 10 January 2005. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1453590,00.html. Retrieved August 2010.
- ^ Eyewitness Travel (2005), pg. 19
- ^ "Piazza del Duomo, Pisa – UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Whc.unesco.org. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/395. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
- ^ "Leaning Tower of Pisa – Pisa, Italy". Pisa, Tuscany, Italy: Sacred-destinations.com. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/pisa-leaning-tower. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
- ^ Architecture in Italy, ItalyTravel.com
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/jones_inigo.shtml
- ^ Vitruvian Man is referred to as "iconic" at the following websites and many others:Vitruvian Man, Fine Art Classics, Key Images in the History of Science; Curiosity and difference; The Guardian: The Real da Vinci Code
- ^ "All Nobel Prizes in Literature". Nobelprize.org. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
- ^ "Quick Opera Facts 2007". OPERA America. 2007. Archived from the original on 1 October 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20061001054025/http://www.operaamerica.org/pressroom/quickfacts2006.html. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
- ^ Alain P. Dornic (1995). "An Operatic Survey". Opera Glass. http://opera.stanford.edu/misc/Dornic_survey.html. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
- ^ a b Kimbell, David R. B (29 April 1994). Italian Opera. Google Books. ISBN 978-0-521-46643-1. http://books.google.com/?id=C37Gq2GagZIC&dq=Italian+opera&printsec=frontcover&q=. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
- ^ Burke and Waller, 12
- ^ "The Cinema Under Mussolini". Ccat.sas.upenn.edu. http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/italians/resources/Amiciprize/1996/mussolini.html. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
- ^ "Historical origins of italian neorealism – Neorealism – actor, actress, film, children, voice, show, born, director, son, cinema, scene". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Neorealism-HISTORICAL-ORIGINS-OF-ITALIAN-NEOREALISM.html. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
- ^ "Italian Neorealism – Explore – The Criterion Collection". Criterion.com. http://www.criterion.com/explore/6-italian-neorealism. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
- ^ a b Weidhorn, Manfred (2005). The Person of the Millennium: The Unique Impact of Galileo on World History. iUniverse. p. 155. ISBN 0-595-36877-8.
- ^ Finocchiaro (2007)
- ^ "Galileo and the Birth of Modern Science, by Stephen Hawking, American Heritage's Invention & Technology, Spring 2009, Vol. 24, No. 1, p. 36
- ^ "Previous FIFA World Cups™". FIFA.com. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/index.html. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
- ^ "The Global Language Monitor " Fashion". Languagemonitor.com. 20 July 2009. http://www.languagemonitor.com/popular-culture/fashion. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=pkeaOOxb_isC&pg=PA16&sig=JJmC6YC-Hmmm6Z5P2Cfbvz_jrSA#v=onepage&q=&f=false
- ^ Miller (2005) p. 486
- ^ a b c Insight Guides (2004) p.220
- ^ "Design City Milan". Wiley. http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470026839.html. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
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- ^ Del Conte, 11–21.
- Bibliography
- Italy. DK. 2005. ISBN 1-4053-0781-1.
- Miller, Judith (2005). Furniture: world styles from classical to contemporary. DK Publishing. ISBN 0-7566-1340-X.
- Northern Italy. APA Publications. 2004. ISBN 981-234-903-0.
- Hacken, Richard. "History of Italy: Primary Documents". EuroDocs: Harold B. Lee Library: Brigham Young University. http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_Italy:_Primary_Documents. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
- "FastiOnline: A database of archaeological excavations since the year 2000". International Association of Classical Archaeology (AIAC). 2004-2007. http://www.fastionline.org/. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
- "Italy History – Italian History Index" (in Italian, English). European University Institute, The World Wide Web Virtual Library. 1995-2010. http://vlib.iue.it/hist-italy/Index.html. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Rocco Granata | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | (1938-08-16) 16 August 1938 (age 73) Figline Vegliaturo, Italy |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Occupation | accordionist, singer-songwriter |
Rocco Granata (born 16 August 1938) is a Belgian singer, songwriter, and accordionist.
Granata was born in Figline Vegliaturo, Calabria, southern Italy; but his parents immigrated to Belgium when he was aged ten. Rocco's father was a coal miner, but after briefly working in the coal mines, Granata pursued music instead. He played accordion and toured Belgium with his band, 'The International Quintet'. He then released the songs "Manuela" / "Marina" as a single in 1959; the B-side became an international hit, reaching #1 in Belgium and in Germany as well as charting across Europe and in the United States. It sold over one million copies in Germany alone, and was awarded a gold disc.[1] It has been covered many times by artists such as Marino Marini, Dalida and Louis Armstrong.
After the success of "Marina", Granata toured the world, including dates at Carnegie Hall. A feature film entitled Marina was released in 1960, which set the stage for a string of German hits. He also appeared in Italy at the Sanremo Festival in 1961.
Granata later became a successful record producer. He owned the record labels Cardinal Records and Granata Records, and has produced Marva, Louis Neefs, Miel Cools, and De Elegasten.
In 1989, Granata commissioned a dance remix of "Marina", which again topped the Belgian charts as well as those of Italy and Germany. He has appeared regularly on Belgian television, and served as a jury member for the 2002 Flemish preliminaries for the Eurovision Song Contest. In March 2000 he was awarded the ZAMU Lifetime Achievement Award by the Belgian music industry.
Granata has released some 65 albums over the course of his career.
Singles[link]
- "Marina" (1959) BEL #1, US #31,[2] GER #1[3]
- "Oh oh Rossi" (1959) BEL #20, GER #14
- "La Bella" (1960) BEL #4, GER #18
- "Julia"/"Rocco Cha Cha" (1960) BEL #14
- "Germanina" (1960) BEL #16
- "Carolina dai" (1961) BEL #11
- "Irena" (1961) GER #15
- "Sunday Box EP" (1961) BEL #17
- "Buona notte bambina" (1963) BEL #4, GER #5
- "Du schwarzer Zigeuner" (1964) BEL #5
- "Dreh' dich noch einmal um" (1964) BEL #10
- "Molte grazie" (1964) BEL #12
- "Noordzeestrand" (1964) BEL #9
- "Melancholie" (1965) BEL #18
- "Hello buona sera" (1967) BEL #3
- "Sarah" (1970) BEL #4
- "Jessica" (1971) BEL #5
- "Zomersproetjes" (1972) BEL #4
- "Dansen op de daken" (1973) BEL #4
- "Marina 120 BPM" (1989) BEL #1
References[link]
- ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. pp. 124–125. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. 7th edn, 2000
- ^ The positions for the German Singles Charts are taken from Günter Ehnert: Hit Bilanz. Deutsche Chart Singles 1956 - 1980. Hamburg: Taurus Press 1990, S. 88
External links[link]
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Granata, Rocco |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | accordionist, singer-songwriter |
| Date of birth | 16 August 1938 |
| Place of birth | Figline Vegliaturo, Italy |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Rocco_Granata
Related pages:
http://de.wn.com/Rocco Granata
http://nl.wn.com/Rocco Granata
http://it.wn.com/Rocco Granata
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Southern Italy or Il Mezzogiorno (Italian pronunciation: [meddzoˈdʒɔːrno], meaning 'Midday') is the traditional term for the southern half of the Italian state, encompassing the southern section of the continental Italian Peninsula and the two major islands of Sicily and Sardinia. It coincides with the administrative regions of Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Apulia, Molise, Sicily, and finally Sardinia, that is considered as part of Southern Italy more for economic reasons than for cultural, historical or geographical reasons. Some also include Abruzzo and the most southern and eastern parts of Lazio (Sora, Cassino, Gaeta, Cittaducale and Amatrice districts) within the Mezzogiorno, because these territories were part, along with all the already listed ones (except Sardinia), of the historical Kingdom of Two Sicilies.
Southern Italy carries a unique legacy of peculiar nature, archeology and culture. It features many major tourist attractions, such as the Palace of Caserta, the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and other archaeological sites (many of which are protected by UNESCO). Some of its beaches, woodlands and mountains are preserved in several National Parks. Some medieval towns are located in Southern Italy. The history of Southern Italy boasts numerous kings, queens, princes, popes, writers, poets, philosophers, knights, artists, architects, craftsmen, musicians, scholars, scientists, politicians and farmers.
