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• 
  

• 
  Adriatic Sea
  The Adriatic Sea ( /ˌeɪdriˈætɨk/) is a body of water separating the Apennine Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula and the Apennine Mountains from the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the northwest and the Po Valley. Its coasts are part of (in decreasing order of coastline length without islands) Croatia, Italy, Albania, Montenegro, Slovenia and Bosnia–Herzegovina. The Adriatic contains over 1300 islands, mostly located along its eastern coast. It is divided into three basins—the northern being the shallowest and the southern being the deepest, with a maximum depth of 1,233 metres (4,045 ft). The Otranto Sill, a decrease in depth, is located at the border between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The prevailing currents flow counterclockwise from the Strait of Otranto, along the eastern coast and back to the strait along the western (Italian) coast. Tidal movements in the Adriatic are slight, although larger amplitudes are known to occur occasionally. The Adriatic's salinity is lower than the Mediterranean's because the former collects a third of the fresh water flowing into the latter, acting as a dilution basin. The surface water temperatures generally range from 24 °C (75 °F) in summer to 12 °C (54 °F) in winter, significantly moderating the Adriatic Basin's climate.
  
  wn.com/Adriatic_Sea
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  Alexandria
  Alexandria (Arabic: الإسكندرية‎ Al Iskandariyya, Coptic: Ⲣⲁⲕⲟⲧⲉ Rakotə, Greek: Αλεξάνδρεια Alexándria, Koine Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρεια ἡ κατ' Αἴγυπτον IPA: [ɑlɛˈksɑndɾiɑ e kɑt ˈɛʝypton] "Alexandria in Egypt", Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه [eskendeˈrejːæ]) is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about 32 km (20 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving approximately 80% of Egypt's imports and exports. Alexandria is also an important tourist resort. It is home to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the new Library of Alexandria). It is an important industrial centre because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez.
  Alexandria was founded around a small pharaonic town c. 331 BC by Alexander the Great. It remained Egypt's capital for nearly a thousand years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 641, when a new capital was founded at Fustat (Fustat was later absorbed into Cairo). Alexandria was known because of its Lighthouse of Alexandria (Pharos), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; its library (the largest library in the ancient world); and the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages. Ongoing maritime archaeology in the harbor of Alexandria, which began in 1994, is revealing details of Alexandria both before the arrival of Alexander, when a city named Rhacotis existed there, and during the Ptolemaic dynasty.
  
  wn.com/Alexandria
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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.
  
  wn.com/Amalfi
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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.
  
  wn.com/Ancona
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  Antioch
  Antioch on the Orontes (Greek: Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ, "Antioch on Daphne"; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ Μεγάλη, "Antioch the Great"; Syriac: ܐܢܛܝܘܟܝܐ Anṭiokia; Hebrew: אנטיוכיה, antiyokhya; Georgian: ანტიოქია; Armenian: Անտիոք Antiok; Latin: Antiochia ad Orontem; Arabic:انطاکیه, Anṭākiya; also Syrian Antioch) was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.
  Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the Near East and was a cradle of Christianity. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis. Its residents are known as Antiochenes. Once a great metropolis of half a million people, it declined to insignificance during the Middle Ages because of repeated earthquakes, the Crusaders' invasions, and a change in trade routes following the Mongol conquests, which then no longer passed through Antioch from the far east.
  
  wn.com/Antioch
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  Aragon
  Aragon ( /ˈærəɡɒn/ or /ˈærəɡən/), also known in Spanish and Aragonese as Aragón ([aɾaˈɣon]) and in Catalan as Aragó ([əɾəˈɣo] or [aɾaˈɣo]), is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to south): Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza (also called Saragossa in English). The current Statute of Autonomy declares Aragon a nationality of Spain.
  Aragon's northern province of Huesca borders France and is positioned in the middle of the Pyrenees. Within Spain, the community is flanked by Catalonia on the east, Valencia and Castile–La Mancha to the south, and Castile and León, La Rioja, and Navarre to the west.
  Covering an area of 47,719 km² (18,424 sq mi), the region's terrain ranges diversely from permanent glaciers to verdant valleys, rich pasture lands and orchards, through to the arid steppe plains of the central lowlands. Aragon is home to many rivers—most notably, the river Ebro, Spain's largest river in volume, which runs west-east across the entire region through the province of Zaragoza. It is also home to the Aneto, the highest mountain in the Pyrenees.
  
  wn.com/Aragon
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  Arno
  The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.
  The river originates on Mount Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a southward curve. The river turns to the west near Arezzo passing through Florence, Empoli and Pisa, flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea at Marina di Pisa.
  With a length of 241 kilometres (150 mi), it is the largest river in the region. It has many tributaries: Sieve (60 kilometres (37 mi)), Bisenzio (49 kilometres (30 mi)), Era, Elsa, Pesa and Pescia. The drainage basin amounts to more than 8,200 square kilometres (3,200 sq mi) and drains the waters of the following sub-basins:
  It crosses Florence, where it passes below the Ponte Vecchio and the Santa Trìnita bridge (built by Bartolomeo Ammanati, but inspired by Michelangelo). The river flooded this city regularly in historical times, the last occasion being the famous flood of 1966, with 4,500 m³/s after rainfall of 437.2 millimetres (17.21 in) in Badia Agnano and 190 millimetres (7.5 in) in Florence, in only 24 hours.
  
  wn.com/Arno
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  Arno River
  The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.
  The river originates on Mount Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a southward curve. The river turns to the west near Arezzo passing through Florence, Empoli and Pisa, flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea at Marina di Pisa.
  With a length of 241 kilometres (150 mi), it is the largest river in the region. It has many tributaries: Sieve (60 kilometres (37 mi)), Bisenzio (49 kilometres (30 mi)), Era, Elsa, Pesa and Pescia. The drainage basin amounts to more than 8,200 square kilometres (3,200 sq mi) and drains the waters of the following sub-basins:
  It crosses Florence, where it passes below the Ponte Vecchio and the Santa Trìnita bridge (built by Bartolomeo Ammanati, but inspired by Michelangelo). The river flooded this city regularly in historical times, the last occasion being the famous flood of 1966, with 4,500 m³/s after rainfall of 437.2 millimetres (17.21 in) in Badia Agnano and 190 millimetres (7.5 in) in Florence, in only 24 hours.
  
  wn.com/Arno_River
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  Aversa
  Aversa is a town and comune in the Province of Caserta in Campania southern Italy, about 15 kilometres (9 mi) north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the agro aversano, producing wine and cheese (famous for the typical buffalo mozzarella). Aversa is also the main seat of the faculties of Architecture and Engineering of the Seconda università degli studi di Napoli (Second University of Naples).
  Aversa, which replaced the nearby city of Atella that had been laid waste during the Gothic Wars, was the first of the Norman territories in the Mediterranean. In 1030, the site was ceded to Rainulf Drengot, a cadet of the lords of Quarrel near Alençon in Normandy; he was invested as count by Duke Sergius IV of Naples and confirmed by Emperor Conrad II. By offering a generous principle of asylum for the persecuted, Rainulf enlarged the power and importance of his little borgo, which became the base from which the Normans forged a state in Sicily and Italy. The diplomacy of Robert Guiscard, who built the fortifications, led to the investiture of a bishop responsible to the Pope at Aversa, which was nominally territory of the Eastern Emperor. One of the first bishops was the Norman Guitmund (died c. 1090-95), a Benedictine monk, theologian, and opponent of Berengar of Tours.
  
  wn.com/Aversa
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  Baptistry (Pisa)
  The Baptistry of St. John (Italian: Battistero di San Giovanni) is a religious building in Pisa, Italy. It started construction in 1152, in replacement of an older baptistry, and completed in 1363. It is the second building, in the chronological order, in the Piazza dei Miracoli, near the Cathedral and the famous Leaning Tower.
  The architect was Diotisalvi, whose signature can be read on two pillars inside the building, with the date 1153:
  The structure is 54.86 m high, with a circumference of 107.24 m, and is the largest baptistry in Italy. The Baptistry has an example of the transition from the Romanesque style to the Gothic style: the lower registers^{[disambiguation needed ]} are in the Romanesque style, with rounded arches, while the upper registers are in the Gothic style, with pointed arches. The Baptistry is constructed of marble, plentiful and often used in Italian architecture.
  The portal, facing the facade of the cathedral, is flanked by two classical columns, while the inner jambs are executed in Byzantine style. The lintel is divided in two tiers. The lower one depicts several episodes in the life of St. John the Baptist, while the upper one shows Christ between the Madonna and St John the Baptist, flanked by angels and the evangelists.
  
  wn.com/Baptistry_(Pisa)
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  Barcelona
  Barcelona (English /bɑrsɨˈloʊnə/, Catalan: [bərsəˈɫonə], Spanish: [barθeˈlona]) is the capital of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, after Madrid, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of 101.4 km² (39 sq mi). The urban area of Barcelona extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of between 4,200,000 and 4,500,000 within an area of 803 km² (310 sq mi), being the sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, the Ruhr, Madrid and Milan. About five million people live in the Barcelona metropolitan area. It is also Europe's largest metropolis on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the main component of an administrative area of Greater Barcelona, with a population of 3,218,071 in an area of 636 km² (density 5,060 hab/km²). It is located on the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs and is bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola ridge (512 m/1,680 ft).
  Founded as a Roman city, Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona became one of the most important cities of the Crown of Aragon. Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination. Particularly renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona. The city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions, including the 1888 Exposición Universal de Barcelona, the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition (Expo 1929), the 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures, and the 2004 World Urban Forum.
  
  wn.com/Barcelona
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  Bientina
  Bientina is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km west of Florence and about 15 km east of Pisa.
  Bientina borders the following municipalities: Altopascio, Buti, Calcinaia, Capannori, Castelfranco di Sotto, Santa Maria a Monte, Vicopisano. The Lake of Bientina is located in the communal territory.
  
  
  
  
  
  wn.com/Bientina
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  Brindisi
  Brindisi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈbrindizi] ( listen); Sicilian: Brìnnisi; Latin: Brundisium) is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city is a major port for trade with Greece and the Middle East. Brindisi has an active industry in agriculture, chemical and energy production.
  Brindisi is situated on a natural harbor, that penetrates deeply into the Adriatic coast of Apulia. Within the arms of the outer harbor islands are Pedagne, a tiny archipelago, currently not open and in use for military purposes (United Nations Group Schools used during the intervention in Bosnia). The entire municipality is part of the Brindisi Plain, characterized by high agricultural uses of its land. It is located in the northeastern part of the Salento plains, about 40 km (24.85 mi) from the Itria Valley, and the low Murge. Not far from the city is the Natural Marine Reserve of the World Wide Fund for Nature of Torre Guaceto. The Ionian Sea is located about 45 km (27.96 mi) away.
  
  wn.com/Brindisi
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  Buti
  Buti is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km west of Florence and about 15 km east of Pisa. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,566 and an area of 23.1 km².
  Buti borders the following municipalities: Bientina, Calci, Capannori, Vicopisano.
  
  
  
  
  
  wn.com/Buti
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  Caesarea
  Caesarea (Hebrew: קֵיסָרְיָה‎‎; Arabic: قيسارية‎, Kaysaria; Greek: Καισάρεια) is a town in Israel located mid-way between Tel Aviv and Haifa (45 km), on the Israeli coastal plain near the city of Hadera. Modern Caesarea as of December 2007 has a population of 4,500 people. It is the only Israeli locality managed by a private organization, the Caesarea Development Corporation, and also one of the most populous localities not recognized as a local council. It lies under the jurisdiction of the Hof HaCarmel Regional Council.
  The town was built by Herod the Great about 25-13 BCE as the port city Caesarea Maritima. It served as an administrative center of Judaea Province of the Roman Empire, and later the capital of the Byzantine Palaestina Prima province during the classic period. Following the Arab conquest in the 7th century, the city fell into obscurity until Crusader renovation, but was again abandoned after the Mamluk conquest. It was populated in 1884 by Muslim Bosnyak immigrants, making it a small fishing village. In 1940, kibbutz Sdot Yam was established on Jewish lands next to the Bosnyak village. During the Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, the town was abandoned by the Bosnyak residents, and in 1952 a Jewish town of Caesarea established near the ruins of the old city, which were made into the national park of Caesarea Maritima.
  
  wn.com/Caesarea
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  Cagliari
  Cagliari (Italian: [ˈkaʎʎari] ( listen); Sardinian: Casteddu; Latin: Caralis) is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships (metropolitan area): Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu Sant'Elena.
  An ancient city with a long history, Cagliari has seen the rule of several civilizations. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia (which in the 1861 became the Kingdom of Italy) from 1324 to 1720 and from 1798 to 1815. Seat of the important University of Cagliari and the Primate Roman Catholic archdiocese of Sardinia, the city is an important regional cultural, educational, political and artistic centre, known for its diverse Art Nouveau architecture and several monuments. It is also Sardinia's economic and industrial hub, having one of the biggest ports in the Mediterranean sea, an international airport, and the 28th highest income rate in Italy, comparable to several Northern cities, such as Turin, Vicenza and Genoa.
  
  wn.com/Cagliari
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  Cairo
  Cairo ( /ˈkaɪroʊ/ KYE-roh; Arabic: القاهرة‎ al-Qāhira, literally "The Vanquisher" or "The Conqueror"), is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Located near the Nile Delta, it was founded in the year 969 A.D. making it 1,043 years old. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life. Cairo was founded by the Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century AD.; but the land composing the present-day city was the site of national capitals whose remnants remain visible in parts of Old Cairo. Cairo is also associated with Ancient Egypt due to its proximity to the ancient cities of Memphis, Giza and Fustat which are nearby to the Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza.
  Egyptians today often refer to Cairo as Maṣr (Arabic: مصر‎), the Arabic pronunciation of the name for Egypt itself, emphasizing the city's continued role in Egyptian influence. Cairo has the oldest and largest film and music industries in the Arab World, as well as the world's second-oldest institution of higher learning, al-Azhar University. Many international media, businesses, and organizations have regional headquarters in the city, and the Arab League has had its headquarters in Cairo for most of its existence.
  
  wn.com/Cairo
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  Calci
  Calci is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 60 km west of Florence and about 9 km east of Pisa. The main settlement is the frazione of La Pieve, while the rest of the population is distributed between other hamlets.
  Its main attraction is Pisa Charterhouse, also known as Calci Charterhouse (Certosa di Pisa or di Calci), which houses a natural history museum of the University of Pisa.
  
  
  
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  Calcinaia
  Calcinaia is a comune (municipality) and town in the province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km west of Florence and about 20 km east of Pisa.
  Calcinaia borders the following municipalities: Bientina, Cascina, Pontedera, Santa Maria a Monte, Vicopisano.
  Calcinaia was founded before the year 1000 on the right bank of the Arno River as Vico Vitri, the current name being attested from 1193. At the time it was a fief of the counts of Fucecchio, later replaced by the Upezzinghi Ghibelline family of Pisa.
  Contended for centuries by the Republics of Pisa and Lucca, it was later conquered by Florence in 15th century. In 1555 Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici had hydraulic works built here to regulate the floods of the Arno, a move which boosted agriculture in the area.
  Calcinaia has also signed friendship agreements with:
  
  
  
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  Campo Santo
  The Campo Santo, also known as Camposanto Monumentale ("monumental cemetery") or Camposanto Vecchio ("old cemetery"), is a historical edifice at the northern edge of the Cathedral Square in Pisa, Italy.
  "Campo Santo" can be literally translated as "holy field", because it is said to have been built around a shipload of sacred soil from Golgotha, brought back to Pisa from the Fourth Crusade by Ubaldo de' Lanfranchi, archbishop of Pisa in the 12th century. A legend claims that bodies buried in that ground will rot in just 24 hours. The burial ground lies over the ruins of the old baptistery of the church of Santa Reparata, the church that once stood where the cathedral now stands. The term "monumental" serves to differentiate it from the later-established urban cemetery in Pisa.
  The building was the fourth and last one to be raised in the Cathedral Square. It dates from a century after the bringing of the soil from Golgotha, and was erected over the earlier burial ground.
  The construction of this huge, oblong Gothic cloister was begun in 1278 by the architect Giovanni di Simone. He died in 1284 when Pisa suffered a defeat in the naval battle of Meloria against the Genoans. The cemetery was only completed in 1464.
  
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  Capannoli
  Capannoli is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km southwest of Florence and about 25 km southeast of Pisa. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,394 and an area of 22.7 km².
  Capannoli borders the following municipalities: Lari, Palaia, Peccioli, Ponsacco, Pontedera, Terricciola.
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  Carthage
  Carthage (Latin: Carthago or Karthago, Ancient Greek: Καρχηδών Karkhēdōn, Arabic: قرطاج Qarṭāj‎, Berber: ⴽⴰⵔⵜⴰⵊⴻⵏ Kartajen, Etruscan: *Carθaza, Modern Hebrew: קרתגו‎ Qartágo, from the Phoenician Qart-ḥadašt meaning New City (Aramaic: קרתא חדאתא, Qarta Ḥdatha), implying it was a 'new Tyre', is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC. It is currently a suburb of Tunis, Tunisia, with a population of 20,715 (2004 Census).
  The first civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic (a form of the word "Phoenician") or Carthaginian. The city of Carthage is located on the eastern side of Lake Tunis across from the centre of Tunis. According to Greek historians it was founded by Canaanite-speaking Phoenician colonists from Tyre (in modern Lebanon) under the leadership of Elissa who was renamed (Queen Dido) in Virgil's Aeneid. It became a large and rich city and thus a major power in the Mediterranean. The resulting rivalry with Syracuse, Numidia, and Rome was accompanied by several wars with respective invasions of each other's homeland.
  
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  Casale Marittimo
  Casale Marittimo is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 70 km southwest of Florence and about 50 km southeast of Pisa. It is located in the Pisan Maremma.
  Casale Marittimo borders the following municipalities: Bibbona, Cecina, Guardistallo.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Casciana Terme
  Casciana Terme (Latin Castrum ad Aquas, Balneum ad Aquas) is a town of 3696 inhabitants in the province of Pisa. It was formed from what was, until 1927, the southern part of the municipality of Lari.
  The name Casciana derives from the Latin name of Cassius, with the meaning of "Cassio’s Land”, but the location is first mentioned by the name of Acqui at the end of the 9th century, with reference to the thermal characteristics of the place. The village was called Bagni di Casciana, referring to the center of Casciana, until 1956 when it assumed its present name.
  The village is best known for the thermal plant which receives a constant flow of lime-sulfur water at 37 °C. It is said that the thermal water was discovered by the Countess Matilda of Canossa. She had a rather old and sickly blackbird, which had grayish feathers from age. One day the countess noticed that the blackbird was moving better and his feathers were becoming, once again, an intense black color and his beak was returning to a bright yellow color. She followed the blackbird during its daily morning outings, and discovered that the blackbird would land and dip his legs in a strange "steaming water." The countess wished to try the miraculous waters, and it took very little time for the benefits to be apparent. She then decided to build several baths, which were the first beginnings of the thermal plants that we see today. Up until 1927, the baths were the property of the municipality of Lari.
  
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  Cascina
  Cascina (pronounced with stress on first syllable: Càscina) is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 60 km west of Florence and about 13 km southeast of Pisa.
  Cascina is located on the left shore of the Arno River, on a markedly plain terrain. The comune borders the following municipalities: Calcinaia, Collesalvetti, Crespina, Lari, Pisa, Pontedera, San Giuliano Terme, Vicopisano.
  The first mention of Cascina is from a document of 750 AD. The origin of the name is uncertain, but it could derive from Casina ("Small House"), or from the creek that crossed it (now disappeared), or from an Etruscan personal name, Latinized as Cassenius.
  On July 26, 1364, the eponymous battle between the armies of Pisa and Florence was fought here. The event was later reproduced by Michelangelo in painting of which now preparatory drawings and a copy by Aristotile da Sangallo (also known as Bastiano da Sangallo) exist. The city had in fact a strategical importance as a fortified stronghold on the main road connecting the two cities.
  
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  Castellina Marittima
  Castellina Marittima is a comune (municipality) in the province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 70 km southwest of Florence and about 35 km southeast of Pisa.
  The territory of Castellina Marittima borders the following municipalities: Cecina, Chianni, Riparbella, Rosignano Marittimo, Santa Luce.
  For centuries Castellina has been an important source for alabaster.
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  Chianni
  Chianni is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 60 km southwest of Florence and about 35 km southeast of Pisa.
  Its territory includes vast chestnut woods and cultivations of vine and olive trees.
  Chianni borders the following municipalities: Casciana Terme, Castellina Marittima, Lajatico, Riparbella, Santa Luce, Terricciola.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Civitavecchia
  Civitavecchia [tʃivitaˈvɛkkja] is a town and comune of the province of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located 80 kilometers west-north-west of Rome, across the Mignone river. The harbor is formed by two piers and a breakwater, on which is a lighthouse. The name Civitavecchia means "ancient town".
  The modern city was built over a pre-existing Etruscan settlement.
  The harbor was constructed by the Emperor Trajan at the beginning of the 2nd century. The first occurrence of the name Centum Cellae is from a letter by Pliny the Younger (AD 107). The origin of the name is disputed: it has been suggested that it could refer to the centum ("hundred") halls of the villa of the emperor.
  In the high Middle Ages^{[citation needed]}, Centumcellae was a Byzantine stronghold. Captured by the Saracens in 828, it was later acquired by the Papal States.
  The place became a free port under Pope Innocent XII in 1696 and by the modern era was the main port of Rome. The French occupied it in 1849. On April 16, 1859 the Rome and Civitavecchia Rail Road was opened for service. The Papal troops opened the gates of the fortress to the Italian general Nino Bixio in 1870.
  
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  Constantinople
  Constantinople (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις, Konstantinoúpolis; Latin: Constantinopolis; Ottoman Turkish: قسطنطینیه, Qostantiniyye; and modern Turkish: İstanbul) was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Latin and the Ottoman Empires. It was founded in AD 330, at ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine I, after whom it was named. The city was the largest and wealthiest European city of the Middle Ages, and shared the glories of the Byzantine Empire, which was eventually reduced to the city and its environs.
  Although besieged on numerous occasions by various peoples, it was taken only in 1204 by the army of the Fourth Crusade, in 1261 by Michael VIII, and in 1453 by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. An inner wall was erected by Constantine I, and the city was surrounded by a triple wall of fortifications, begun during the 5th century by Theodosius II. The city was built on seven hills as well as on the Bosporus, and thus presented an impregnable fortress enclosing magnificent palaces, domes and towers. The Church of Hagia Sophia, the sacred palace of the emperors, the hippodrome, and the Golden Gate were among the largest of the many churches, public edifices, and monuments lining the arcaded avenues and squares.
  
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  Corsica
  Corsica ( /ˈkɔːrsɪkə/; French: Corse, IPA: [kɔʁs]; Corsican: Corsica; Italian: Corsica, IPA: [ˈkɔrsika]) is a French island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the Italian island of Sardinia. Mountains comprise two-thirds of the island, forming a single chain.
  Corsica is one of the 27 régions of France, although strictly speaking Corsica is designated as a territorial collectivity (collectivité territoriale) by law. As a territorial collectivity, it enjoys greater powers than other French régions, but for the most part its status is quite similar. Corsica is referred to as a "région" in common speech, and is almost always listed among the other régions of France.
  Although the island is separated from the continental mainland by the Ligurian Sea and is closer to Italy than to the French mainland, politically Corsica is part of Metropolitan France. It was once briefly an independent Corsican Republic, until being incorporated into France in 1769. Its culture has French and Italian elements blended into it.
  
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  Cremona
  Cremona  listen (help·info) is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana (Po valley). It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments. The city of Cremona is especially noted for its musical history and traditions, including some of the earliest and most renowned luthiers, such as Guarneri and Stradivari and several members of the Amati family.
  
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  Crespina
  Crespina is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 60 km southwest of Florence and about 20 km southeast of Pisa.
  Crespina borders the following municipalities: Cascina, Collesalvetti, Fauglia, Lari, Lorenzana.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Denmark
  The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark, pronounced [ˈkɔŋəʁiːəð ˈdanmɑɡ̊] ( listen)) is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting the country of Denmark in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. The kingdom is a unitary state with some power being devolved from Denmark proper to Greenland and the Faroe Islands; this polity is referred to as the Danish Realm. Denmark proper is the hegemonial area, where judicial, executive, and legislative power resides. The Faroe Islands are defined to be a community of people within the kingdom, and the Greenlandic people are defined as a separate people with the right to self-determination.
  Denmark is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, located southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland and many islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, as well as hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago.
  
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  Fauglia
  Fauglia is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 60 km southwest of Florence and about 20 km southeast of Pisa. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,298 and an area of 42.4 km².
  Fauglia borders the following municipalities: Collesalvetti, Crespina, Lorenzana, Orciano Pisano.
  The town originated as a small medieval burgh around a castle, destroyed by the Florentines in 1433.
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  Florence
  Florence (Italian: Firenze [fiˈrɛntse] ( listen), alternate obsolete form: Fiorenza; Latin: Florentia) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area.
  Florence is famous for its history. A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy.
  The historic centre of Florence attracts millions of tourists each year, and Euromonitor International ranked the city as the world's 72nd most visited in 2009, with 1,685,000 visitors. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and the city is noted for its history, culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Pitti Palace, amongst others, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics.
  
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  France
  France (English ⁱ/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km² (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq mi).
  Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.
  
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  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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  Germany
  Germany (ⁱ/ˈdʒɜrməni/), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km² and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state and the largest economy in the European Union. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields.
  A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward, and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations, with the two factions clashing in the Thirty Years' War, marking the beginning of the Catholic–Protestant divide that has characterized German society ever since. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states into the German Empire in 1871 which was Prussian dominated. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic in 1918, and partitioned in the Treaty of Versailles. Amidst the Great Depression, the Third Reich was proclaimed in 1933. The latter period was marked by Fascism and World War II. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified.
  
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  Greece
  Greece ⁱ/ˈɡriːs/ (Greek: Ελλάδα, Ellada, IPA: [eˈlaða] ( listen) historically in Katharevousa and Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάς, Hellas, IPA: [eˈlas] and [helːás] respectively), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Elliniki Dimokratia, IPA: [eliniˈci ðimokraˈtia]), is a country in Southern Europe, politically considered part of Western Europe.Athens is the capital and the largest city in the country (its urban area also including Piraeus). The population of the country is around 11 million.
  Greece has land borders with Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a vast number of islands (approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m (9,570 ft).
  
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  Grosseto
  Grosseto  listen (help·info) is a city and comune in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies 14 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain, on the Ombrone river.
  It is the most populous city in Maremma, with 82,284 inhabitants. The comune of Grosseto includes the frazioni of Marina di Grosseto, the largest, Roselle, Principina a Mare, Principina Terra, Montepescali, Braccagni, Istia d'Ombrone, Batignano, Alberese and Rispescia.
  The origins of Grosseto can be traced back to the High Middle Ages. It is first mentioned in 803 as a fief of the Counts Aldobrandeschi, in a document recording the assignment of the church of St. George to Ildebrando degli Aldobrandeschi, whose successors where counts of the Grossetana Mark until the end of the 12th century.
  Grosseto steadily grew in importance owing to the decline of Rusellae and Vetulonia until it was one of the principal Tuscan cities. In 1137 the city was besieged by German troops, led by duke Henry X of Bavaria, sent by the emperor Lothair III to reinstate his authority over the Aldobrandeschi. In the following year the bishopric of Roselle was transferred to Grosseto.
  
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  Guardistallo
  Guardistallo is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 70 km southwest of Florence and about 50 km southeast of Pisa.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Italy
  Italy ⁱ/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km² (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
  Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
  
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  Jaffa
  Jaffa (English pronunciation: /ˈdʒæfə/, /ˈdʒɑːfə/;Hebrew: יָפוֹ‎‎,  Yāfō (help·info); Arabic: يَافَا‎  Yāfā (help·info); Latin: Joppe; also Japho, Joppa (transliteration from the Greek "Ιόππη") is an ancient port city believed^{[by whom?]} to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv in 1950 creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.
  The name of the city is mentioned in Egyptian sources and the Amarna Letters as Yapu. There are several legends about the origin of the name Jaffa. Some say it is named for Japheth, one of the sons of Noah, who built it after the Great Flood.^{[citation needed]} The Hellenist tradition links the name to "Iopeia", which is Cassiopeia, the mother of Andromeda. An outcropping of rocks near the harbor is reputed to have been the place from which Andromeda was rescued by Perseus. Pliny the Elder associates the name with Jopa, the daughter of Aeolus, god of wind. The Arab geographer Al-Muqaddasi mentions it under the name Yaffa, which is used by Arabic speakers today.
  
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  Jericho
  Jericho ( /ˈdʒɛrɪkoʊ/; Arabic: أريحا‎ ʼArīḥā [ʔæˈriːħɑː] ( listen)); Hebrew: יְרִיחוֹ‎‎ Yeriẖo [jeʁiˈħo] ( listen) is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route 16 kilometres (10 mi) north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently inhabited site on earth. It is also believed to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
  Described in the Old Testament as the "City of Palm Trees", copious springs in and around Jericho have made it an attractive site for human habitation for thousands of years. It is known in Judeo-Christian tradition as the place of the Israelites' return from bondage in Egypt, led by Joshua, the successor to Moses. Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of more than 20 successive settlements in Jericho, the first of which dates back 11,000 years (9000 BCE), almost to the very beginning of the Holocene epoch of the Earth's history.
  
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  Jerusalem
  Jerusalem ( /dʒəˈruːsələm/; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם‎‎ Yerushaláyim   ; Arabic: القُدس‎ al-Quds    and/or أورشليم Ûrshalîm) is the capital of Israel, though not internationally recognized as such, and one of the oldest cities in the world. It is located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern edge of the Dead Sea. If the area and population of East Jerusalem is included, it is Israel's largest city in both population and area, with a population of 801,000 residents over an area of 125.1 km² (48.3 sq mi). Jerusalem is also a holy city to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
  During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. The oldest part of the city was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent. Today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond its boundaries.
  
  wn.com/Jerusalem
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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).
  
  wn.com/Kingdom_of_Naples
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  Lajatico
  Lajatico is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km southwest of Florence and about 40 km southeast of Pisa. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,353 and an area of 72.3 km². Lajatico, sits in mainly hilly terrain (variable altitudes from 100 to 650 meters above sea level), and dominates the end of the Valdera valley and the opening of the Val di Cecina valley.
  La Sterza, one of its hamlets (frazioni), is the natural door between these two geographical areas. The Sterza, Era, and the Ragone rivers form natural borders, placing Lajatico in a very central position to reach Tuscan cities and seaside resorts. Lajatico is however best known as the hometown of tenor Andrea Bocelli. His annuel concerts at the Teatro del Silenzio are attended by people from all around the world, every year.
  Lajatico has the following hamlets (frazionis) associated with it: Orciatico, an ancient small medieval village; Spedaletto, a stomping ground of Lorenzo de' Medici; Villaggio San Giovanni, and La Sterza. Lajatico borders the following municipalities: Chianni, Montecatini Val di Cecina, Peccioli, Riparbella, Terricciola, Volterra.
  
  wn.com/Lajatico
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  Languedoc
  Languedoc (/ˌlɒŋɡəˈdɒk/; French: [lɑ̃ɡdɔk]; Occitan: Lengadòc [ˌleŋɡɔˈðɔ]) is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² (16,490 sq. miles).
  The traditional provinces of the kingdom of France were not formally defined. A province was simply a territory of common traditions and customs, but it had no political organization. Today, when people refer to the old provinces of France, they actually refer to the gouvernements as they existed in 1789. Gouvernements were military regions established in the middle of the 16th century and whose territories closely matched those of the traditional provinces. However, in some cases, small provinces had been merged with a large one into a single gouvernement, so gouvernements are not exactly the same as the traditional provinces.
  Historically, the region was called the county of Toulouse, a county independent from the kings of France. The county of Toulouse was made up of what would later be called Languedoc, but it also included the province of Quercy (now département of Lot and northern half of the département of Tarn-et-Garonne) and the province of Rouergue (now département of Aveyron), both to the northwest of Languedoc. At some times it even included the province of Agenais (now eastern half of the département of Lot-et-Garonne) to the west of Languedoc, the province of Gévaudan (now département of Lozère), the province of Velay (now the central and eastern part of the département of Haute-Loire), the southern part of the province of Vivarais (now the southern part of the département of Ardèche), and even all the northern half of Provence. After the French conquest the entire county was dismantled, the central part of it being now called Languedoc.
  
  wn.com/Languedoc
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  Lari, Tuscany
  Lari is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 60 km southwest of Florence and about 25 km southeast of Pisa.
  Lari borders the following municipalities: Capannoli, Casciana Terme, Cascina, Crespina, Lorenzana, Ponsacco, Pontedera, Terricciola.
  In Lari was born the physician Eusebio Valli. The parish church of the frazione of Casciana Alta houses some Renaissance artworks, including a polyptych by Lippo Memmi.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Lari,_Tuscany
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  Latakia
  Latakia, or Latakiyah (and often locally transliterated as Lattakia) (Arabic: اللَاذِقِيَّة‎ al-Lādhiqīyah), is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages. According to the 2004 official census, the population of the city is 383,786. It is the 4th largest city in Syria after Aleppo, Damascus and Homs.
  Though the site has been inhabited since the second millennium BC, the modern-day city was first founded in the 4th century BC under the rule of the Seleucid empire. Latakia was subsequently ruled by the Romans, then the Ummayads and Abbasids in the 8th–10th centuries. Under their rule, the Byzantines frequently attacked the city, periodically recapturing it before losing it again to the Arabs, particularly the Fatimids. Afterward, Latakia was ruled by the Seljuk Turks, Crusaders, Ayyubids, Mamluks, and Ottomans. Following World War I, Latakia was assigned to the French mandate of Syria, in which it served as the capital of the autonomous territory of the Alawites. This autonomous territory became the State of Alawites in 1922, proclaiming its independence a number of times until reintegrating into Syria in 1944.
  
  wn.com/Latakia
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  Lerici
  Lerici is a town and comune in the province of La Spezia in Liguria (northern Italy), part of the Italian Riviera. Its nearest bay is the Bay of Lerici. The town is connected by ferry to the Cinque Terre and Portovenere.
  One of the main sights of Lerici is its famous castle which since its first founding in 1152 was used to help control the entrance of the Gulf of La Spezia. Today the castle contains a museum of palaeontology.
  The origins of the town date back to the Etruscan period. In the Middle Ages the town came under Genovese control. After it had been sold to Lucca, it became involved in a series of conflicts between Genoa and Pisa, as it was on their common border. In 1479, the town came under Genovese sway for good.
  Italian author Mario Soldati had a residence in the frazione of Tellaro.
  Italian painter Oreste Carpi spent many years in San Terenzo making hundreds of paintings and drawings reproducing town landscapes. English writers Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley lived some three miles north in an isolated old boat house called Casa Magni, and anchored their sailing boat in Lerici. Their closest neighbours were the villagers of the tiny hamlet of San Terenzo. Percy Bysshe Shelley was drowned on July 8, 1822 in the Bay of Spezia, returning to Lerici from a journey to Leghorn and Pisa. His corpse eventually washed up on the beach at Viareggio, located approximately halfway between Livorno and Lerici. The popularity of Lerici with the Shelleys and with Lord Byron earned the Golfo di Lerici its nickname as the Golfo dei Poeti.
  
  wn.com/Lerici
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  Livorno
  Livorno (Italian: [liˈvorno] ( listen)), traditionally Leghorn (/lɛɡˈhɔrn/, /ˈlɛɡ.hɔrn/, /ˈlɛɡɔrn/), is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 161,000 residents in 2011.
  Livorno was defined as an "ideal town" during the Italian Renaissance. Today, it reveals its history through the structure of its neighbourhoods, crossed by canals and surrounded by fortified town walls, through the tangle of its streets, which embroider the town's Venice district, and through the Medici Port characteristically overlooked by towers and fortresses leading to the town centre. Designed by the architect Bernardo Buontalenti at the end of the 16th century, Livorno underwent a period of great town planning expansion at the end of the 17th century. Near the defensive pile of the Old Fortress, a new fortress, together with the town-walls and the system of navigable canals, was then built. After Pisa's silting up, distance from the sea and loss of dominance, Livorno took over as the main port in Tuscany.
  
  wn.com/Livorno
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  Lorenzana
  Lorenzana is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 60 km southwest of Florence and about 25 km southeast of Pisa. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,159 and an area of 19.4 km².
  Lorenzana borders the following municipalities: Casciana Terme, Crespina, Fauglia, Lari, Orciano Pisano, Santa Luce.
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  Lucca
  Lucca  listen (help·info) is a city and comune in Tuscany, the north-west of Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca. Among other reasons, it is famous for its intact Renaissance-era city walls.
  Lucca was founded by the Etruscans (there are traces of a pre-existing Ligurian settlement) and became a Roman colony in 180 BC. The rectangular grid of its historical centre preserves the Roman street plan, and the Piazza San Michele occupies the site of the ancient forum. Traces of the amphitheatre can still be seen in the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro. Lucca was the site of a conference in 56 BC which reaffirmed the supremacy of the Roman First Triumvirate.
  Frediano, an Irish monk, was bishop of Lucca in the early 6th century. At one point, Lucca was plundered by Odoacer, the first Germanic King of Italy. Lucca was an important city and fortress even in the 6th century, when Narses besieged it for several months in 553. Under the Lombards, it was the seat of a duke who minted his own coins. The Holy Face of Lucca (or Volto Santo), a major relic supposedly carved by Nicodemus, arrived in 742. It became prosperous through the silk trade that began in the 11th century, and came to rival the silks of Byzantium. During the 10-11th centuries Lucca was the capital of the feudal margraviate of Tuscany, more or less independent but owing nominal allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor.
  
  wn.com/Lucca
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  Mahdia
  Mahdia, (Arabic: المهدية‎ al-Mahdiya), is a Tunisian coastal city with 45,977 inhabitants, south of Monastir and southeast of Sousse.
  Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax. It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as weaving. It is the capital of Mahdia Governorate.
  A city already existed at this site during the time of the Phoenicians and Romans; classically it was known as Ruspae and later as Henchir Sbia or just Sbia. In the sixth century it was known as Ruspina, and had a western church diocese. It was destroyed during the Arab conquest of North Africa.^{[citation needed]} Mahdia was founded by the Fatimids under the Caliph Abdallah al-Mahdi in 921 and made the capital city of Ifriqiya, by caliph Abdallah El Fatimi. It was chosen as the capital because of its proximity to the sea, and the promontory on which an important military settlement had been since the time of the Phoenicians. In 1087 the town was attacked by raiding ships from Genoa and Pisa who burned the Muslim fleet in the harbor. This played a critical role in winning control of the Western Mediterranean and allowing the First Crusade to be supplied by sea. The Zirid dynasty had its residence here in the 11th century, but was brought to an end by the Norman conquest of the city in 1148. In 1160 the city comes under Almohad rule.
  
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  Marina di Pisa
  Marina di Pisa is a seaside resort of Tuscany, in central Italy. It is a frazione of the provincial capital of Pisa, which lies about 10 km to the east.
  Marina di Pisa lies on the left bank of the Arno River, where it flows into the Ligurian Sea. It is located directly north of the seaside resort of Tirrenia.
  Behind the town are forested sections of the Parco Regionale San Rossore, Migliarino, e Massaciucoli. From Marina di Pisa, it is possible to see the islands of Corsica, Elba and Gorgona; and the mountains of the Alpi Apuane and other Apennines, and Monti Pisani above Pisa.
  Marina di Pisa was mostly built during the economic boom of the late 1800s, as a seaside resort. It was further developed in the 1930s. Many marine support industries developed at the mouth of the Arno river and in the area along its banks.
  The German aviation company Dornier Flugzeugwerke based most of their production in the town from 1922 to 1932, after The Treaty of Versailles of 1919 banned construction of engine-powered aircraft in Germany. Here they built the "Wal" twin-engine flying boat. The huge 'Savigliano' hangar (1925) which remained standing till 2007, was used for the production of the Wals, and work on the Do-X in 1929, then the world's largest passenger plane.
  
  wn.com/Marina_di_Pisa
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  Massa
  Massa  listen (help·info) is a town and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, the administrative centre of the province of Massa and Carrara. It is located in the Frigido River Valley, near the Alpi Apuane, some 5 kilometers from the Tyrrhenian Sea.
  The Massa area is of high touristic value and also hosts a concentration of some 600 industrial and craft activities, located within the so-called Apuan Industrial Zone, with a direct employment of more than 7,000 people. Together with the twin town of Carrara, Massa is known for the extraction and production of marble.^{[citation needed]}
  During the Roman Empire Massa veternensis in Etruria was the birthplace of Constantius Gallus.
  
  From the 15th to the 19th century, Massa was the capital of the independent Principate (later Duchy) of Massa and Carrara, ruled by the Malaspina and Cybo-Malaspina families. Massa is the first recorded town in Europe in which the magnetic needle compass was used in mines to map them and determine the extent of various mine owners' properties.^{[citation needed]}
  
  wn.com/Massa
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  Mazara del Vallo
  Mazara del Vallo (Sicilian: Mazzara) is a town and comune in southwestern Sicily, Italy, which lies mainly on the left bank at the mouth of the Mazaro river, administratively part of the province of Trapani.
  It is an agricultural and fishing centre and its port gives shelter to the largest fishing fleet in Italy.
  Mazara was founded by the Phoenicians in the 9th century BC, with the name of Mazar (the Rock). It then passed under the control of Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, before being occupied by the Arabs in the year 827. During the Arab period, Sicily was divided into three different administrative regions, Val di Noto, Val Demone and Val di Mazara, making the city an important commercial harbour and centre of learning. Nowadays, the city centre, known as the Kasbah, is reminiscent of that period, probably the most prosperous in the history of Mazara.
  In 1072, Mazara was conquered by Normans, headed by Roger I. During that period - in 1093, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mazara del Vallo was instituted.
  
  wn.com/Mazara_del_Vallo
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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.
  
  wn.com/Messina
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  Montescudaio
  Montescudaio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 70 km southwest of Florence and about 45 km southeast of Pisa.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Monteverdi Marittimo
  Monteverdi Marittimo is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 80 km southwest of Florence and about 60 km southeast of Pisa.
  
  
  
  
  
  wn.com/Monteverdi_Marittimo
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  Montignoso
  Montignoso is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Massa and Carrara in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 90 km northwest of Florence and about 3 km southeast of Massa.
  Montignoso borders the following municipalities: Forte dei Marmi, Massa, Pietrasanta, Seravezza.
  
  
  
  
  
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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.
  
  wn.com/Naples
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  Noli
  Noli (Italian pronunciation: [ˈnoːli]; Ligurian Nöi [ˈnøːi]) is a coast comune of Liguria, Italy, in the Province of Savona, it is about 50 km (31 mi) SW of Genoa by rail, about 4 m (13 feet) above sea-level. The origin of the name may come from Neapolis, meaning "new city" in Greek.
  The bounding communes of Noli are Finale Ligure, Spotorno and Vezzi Portio.
  Noli was an independent republic from 1193 until 1797. In 1239 it became seat of a bishop; later on the diocese has been united with that of Savona as the Diocese of Savona-Noli. The Napoleonic invasion in 1797 put an end to Noli's sovereignty.
  Media related to Noli at Wikimedia Commons
  
  wn.com/Noli
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  Ocala, Florida
  Ocala is a city in Marion County, Florida. As of 2007, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 53,491. It is the county seat of Marion County and the principal city of the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated 2007 population of 324,857.
  Ocala is located near the site of Ocale or Ocali, a major Timucua village and chiefdom during the 16th century. The modern city takes its name from the historical village, the name of which is believed to mean "Big Hammock" in the Timucua language.Hernando de Soto passed through Ocale during his famous expedition through what is today the southeastern United States in 1539. Ocale is not mentioned in any later accounts; it appears to have been abandoned in the wake of de Soto's attack.
  In 1827 the U.S. military outpost of Fort King was established near the present site of Ocala as a buffer between Seminoles and white settlers. The fort saw service during the Second Seminole War and later acted as the first courthouse for Marion County in 1844. Fort King was the genesis of the modern city of Ocala, which was established in 1846. Greater Ocala is known as the "Kingdom of the Sun".Rail service reached Ocala in June 1881, encouraging economic development. Two years later, much of the Ocala downtown area was destroyed by fire on Thanksgiving Day, 1883. Buildings were rebuilt with brick, granite and steel rather than lumber. By 1888, Ocala was known state-wide as "The Brick City".
  
  wn.com/Ocala,_Florida
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  Orciano Pisano
  Orciano Pisano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 70 km southwest of Florence and about 25 km southeast of Pisa, in the Pisan Hills.
  Orciano Pisano borders the following municipalities: Collesalvetti, Fauglia, Lorenzana, Rosignano Marittimo, Santa Luce.
  Orciano's are, up to Volterra, is rich of findings of fossils from marine vertebrates, such as whales, sharks and seals, such as the Pliophoca etrusca discovered in 1875 by Roberto Lawley. Remains of a blue whale living 4 millions year ago, found here, are now in Museum of Natural History of the University of Florence.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Palaia
  Palaia is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 45 km southwest of Florence and about 30 km southeast of Pisa.
  Palaia borders the following municipalities: Capannoli, Montaione, Montopoli in Val d'Arno, Peccioli, Pontedera, San Miniato.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Palazzo delle Vedove
  The Palazzo delle Vedove (Italian for Widows' Palace) is a palace in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy.
  The palace, built in the 12th–14th centuries, is sited land which in antique times was the domus of the Bocci family of Pisa. Detail of the medieval edifice can still be seen in the exterior, including a marble quadruple mullioned window partially covered by a rectangular window. On one of the side was once a portico.
  The palace was largely renovated in the 16th century, and was subsequently used to house the "widows" of the Medici family. Two covered passages connected the edifice to the Torre De Cantone and then to the church of San Nicola, where the gentlewomen could attend the mass without passing in the streets.
  Coordinates: 43°42′59.67″N 10°23′45.73″E / 43.716575°N 10.3960361°E / 43.716575; 10.3960361
  
  
  
  wn.com/Palazzo_delle_Vedove
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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.
  
  wn.com/Palermo
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  Peccioli
  Peccioli is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km southwest of Florence and about 30 km southeast of Pisa.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Piazza dei Miracoli
  The Piazza del Duomo ("Cathedral Square") is a wide, walled area at the heart of the city of Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as one of the main centers for medieval art in the world. Partly paved and partly grassed, it is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Duomo (cathedral), the Campanile (the cathedral's free standing bell tower), the Baptistry and the Camposanto.
  It is otherwise known as Piazza dei Miracoli ("Square of Miracles"). This name was created by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d'Annunzio who, in his novel Forse che si forse che no (1910) described the square in this way:
  L’Ardea roteò nel cielo di Cristo, sul prato dei Miracoli.
  which means: "The Ardea rotated over the sky of Christ, over the meadow of Miracles."
  Often people tend to mistake the term with Campo dei Miracoli ("Field of Miracles"). This one is a fictional magical field in the book Pinocchio, where a gold coin seed will grow a money tree.
  In 1987 the whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  
  wn.com/Piazza_dei_Miracoli
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  Pisa
  Pisa ( /ˈpiːzə/; Italian pronunciation: [ˈpiːsa]) is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower (the bell tower of the city's cathedral), the city of over 88,332 residents (around 200,000 with the metropolitan area) contains more than 20 other historic churches, several palaces and various bridges across the River Arno.
  The city is also home of the University of Pisa, which has a history going back to the 12th century and also has the mythic Napoleonic Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies as the best Superior Graduate Schools in Italy.
  Pisa lies at the junction of two rivers, the Arno and the Serchio, which form a laguna at the Tyrrhenian Sea. The origin of the name, Pisa, is a mystery. While the origin of the city had remained unknown for centuries, the Pelasgi, the Greeks, the Etruscans, and the Ligurians had variously been proposed as founders of the city. Archaeological remains from the 5th century BC confirmed the existence of a city at the sea, trading with Greeks and Gauls. The presence of an Etruscan necropolis, discovered during excavations in the Arena Garibaldi in 1991, confirmed its Etruscan origins.
  
  wn.com/Pisa
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  Pomarance
  Pomarance is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 60 km southwest of Florence and about 60 km southeast of Pisa.
  Pomarance borders the following municipalities: Casole d'Elsa, Castelnuovo di Val di Cecina, Montecatini Val di Cecina, Monterotondo Marittimo, Monteverdi Marittimo, Radicondoli, Volterra.
  Pomarance was the hometown of three painters called Pomarancio after it.
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  Ponsacco
  Ponsacco is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km southwest of Florence and about 20 km southeast of Pisa. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 13,353 and an area of 19.9 km².
  The municipality of Ponsacco contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Le Melorie, Val di Cava, and Camugliano.
  Ponsacco borders the following municipalities: Capannoli, Lari, Pontedera.
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  Pontedera
  Pontedera is an Italian industrial town in Tuscany, Italy, in the administrative province of Pisa. It is the headquarters of the Piaggio company, which in the 1930s was a major aircraft manufacturer and which now manufactures motor vehicles such as the Vespa and the Ape. It has also been the headquarters of the wine company Castellani Spa since it was founded in 1903 and the chocolate factory Amedei.
  Pontedera is in the Arno valley at the confluence of the Era River and the Arno River. It is across by Scolmatore channel and by Roglio, Era's tributary. It has a small lake in Pietroconti called Braccini lake.
  On 11 June 1554, Pontedera was the scene of a pyrrhic victory in the last effort by the Republic of Siena to retain its independence. Piero Strozzi, commanding the Siense forces, won at Pontedera but this only led to his decisive defeat two months later at the Battle of Marciano and the end of the Senese independence.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Portovenere
  Porto Venere (until 1991 Portovenere) is a town and comune (municipality) located on the Ligurian coast of Italy in the province of La Spezia. It comprises the three villages of Fezzano, Le Grazie and Porto Venere, and the three islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto. In 1997 Porto Venere and the villages of Cinque Terre were designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
  The ancient Portus Veneris is believed to date back to at least the middle of the 1st century BC. It has been said that the name refers to a temple to the goddess Venus which was sited on the promontory where the church of Peter the Apostle now stands. The name has also been linked to that of the hermit Saint Venerius. In Roman times the city was essentially a fishing community.
  
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  Puglia
  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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  Pula
  Pula (pronounced [pǔːla]; Latin: Colonia Pietas Iulia Pola Pollentia Herculanea; Italian: Pola; Istro-Romanian: Pola; Chakavian: Pulj, German: Polei, Slovene: Pulj) is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 (2006). Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing, shipbuilding, and tourism. Pula has also been Istria's administrative center since ancient Roman times.
  Pula is the largest city in Istria county, with a metropolitan area of 90,000 people. The city itself has 62,080 residents (2005), while the metropolitan area includes Barban (2,802 residents), Fažana (3,050 residents), Ližnjan (2,945 residents), Marčana (3,903 residents), Medulin (6,004 residents), Svetvinčenat (2,218 residents) and Vodnjan (5,651 residents).
  Its population density is 1,093.27 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,831.6 /sq mi), ranking Pula fifth in Croatia.
  
  wn.com/Pula
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  Ravenna
  Ravenna [raˈvenna] ( listen) (Romagnol: Ravêna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 402 until that empire collapsed in 476. Afterwards, it served as the capital of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths. The city formed the centre of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until the invasion of the Franks in 751, after which it became the seat of the Kingdom of the Lombards.
  Although an inland city, Ravenna is connected to the Adriatic Sea by the Candiano Canal. It is the location of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  The origin of the name Ravenna is unclear, although it is believed the name is Etruscan. Some have speculated that "ravenna" is related to "Rasenna" (later "Rasna"), the term that the Etruscans used for themselves, but there is no agreement on this point.^{[citation needed]}
  
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  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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  Riparbella
  Riparbella is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 70 km southwest of Florence and about 40 km southeast of Pisa.
  
  
  
  
  
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  River Arno
  The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.
  The river originates on Mount Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a southward curve. The river turns to the west near Arezzo passing through Florence, Empoli and Pisa, flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea at Marina di Pisa.
  With a length of 241 kilometres (150 mi), it is the largest river in the region. It has many tributaries: Sieve (60 kilometres (37 mi)), Bisenzio (49 kilometres (30 mi)), Era, Elsa, Pesa and Pescia. The drainage basin amounts to more than 8,200 square kilometres (3,200 sq mi) and drains the waters of the following sub-basins:
  It crosses Florence, where it passes below the Ponte Vecchio and the Santa Trìnita bridge (built by Bartolomeo Ammanati, but inspired by Michelangelo). The river flooded this city regularly in historical times, the last occasion being the famous flood of 1966, with 4,500 m³/s after rainfall of 437.2 millimetres (17.21 in) in Badia Agnano and 190 millimetres (7.5 in) in Florence, in only 24 hours.
  
  wn.com/River_Arno
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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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  San Francesco (Pisa)
  San Francesco de' Ferri is a church in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy.
  Mentioned for the first time in a document from 1233, the church was rebuilt starting from 1261 by will of archbishop Federico Visconti. The church was under the patronage of the Pisane noble families, who owned a series of private chapels for their burials; the Franciscan were limited to the administration of the cult. The works, directed by Giovanni di Simone, ended in 1270 and included also the slender bell tower.
  The marble façade is from 1603. The interior was revamped in the same age, with paintings by Jacopo da Empoli, Passignano and Santi di Tito. In the transept are frescoes by Taddeo Gaddi (1342-1345), Galileo Chini (20th century) and an altar frontal by Tommaso Pisano (late 14th century).
  The sacristy has frescoes by Taddeo di Bartolo (1397) with Histories of Mary, while the Capitolium Hall has frescoes by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini with Histories of the life of Christ (1392). The rectangular cloister is from the 14th century.
  
  wn.com/San_Francesco_(Pisa)
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  San Frediano, Pisa
  San Frediano is a church in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy.
  Its existence is mentioned as early as 1061. Founded by the family Buzzaccherini-Sismondi and originally dedicated to Saint Martin, it had once an hospital annexed to it.
  The Romanesque façade shows typical features of the Pisane medieval architecture, such as the blind arcades, the lozenges and the use of bichrome stones (present also in the city's cathedral). In the upper part is a large mullioned window.
  The interior, despite a fire in 1675, has maintained the original basilica plan with a nave and two aisles. The marble columns have capitals decorated with Romanesque-style sculpted figures. It houses a rare cross painted on a gilded panel with the Crucifix and Histories of the Passion (12th century), several Baroque altars and 17th-century paintings by Ventura Salimbeni (Annunciation and Nativity), Aurelio Lomi (Adoration of the Magi), as well as frescoes by Domenico Passignano. The dome frescoes are by Rutilio Manetti.
  The sturdy bell tower is in brickwork.
  
  wn.com/San_Frediano,_Pisa
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  San Giuliano Terme
  San Giuliano Terme is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 60 km west of Florence and about 7 km northeast of Pisa.
  The area of the Pisa hills was already an attraction for enlightened travellers in the early 18th century with the growth of the thermal spa of San Giuliano, just like those narrated by Carlo Goldoni and which we can continue to enjoy today. Among the prominent houses in the region are:
  
  
  
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  San Michele in Borgo
  San Michele in Borgo is a church in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy.
  The church, together with monastery (which first belonged to the Benedictines, and, from the 12th century, the Camaldolese) was built in the late 10th to early 11th century outside the walls of the city, over an ancient temple dedicated to Mars. Both were restored several times in the following ages.
  The façade is from the 14th century. The upper part has three order of typically Pisane Gothic loggias. There are three portals, also in Gothic style and withlunettes; the main one is surmounted by a tabernacle with "Madonna and Child" by Lupo di Francesco (the original is in the city's Museum of St Matthew).
  The solemn interior, with a nave and two aisles, houses a Crucifix attributed to Nino Pisano (14th century), paintings by Matteo Rosselli, Baccio Lomi, Aurelio Lomi and Giuseppe Melani, as well as remains of frescoes from the 13th century. Under the pavement is the crypt, probably what remains of a former church.
  Coordinates: 43°43′0.82″N 10°24′9.15″E / 43.7168944°N 10.4025417°E / 43.7168944; 10.4025417
  
  wn.com/San_Michele_in_Borgo
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  San Miniato
  San Miniato is a town and comune in the province of Pisa, in the region of Tuscany, Italy.
  San Miniato sits at an historically strategic location atop three small hills where it dominates the lower Arno valley between the valleys of Egola and Elsa. It used to carry the additional sobriquet al Tedesco ("[to] the German") to distinguish it from the convent of San Miniato al Monte in Florence, which is about forty kilometers far to the north east.
  In medieval times, San Miniato was on the via Francigena, which was the main connecting route between northern Europe and Rome. It also sits at the intersection of the Florence-Pisa and the Lucca-Siena roads. Over the centuries San Miniato was therefore exposed to a constant flow of friendly and hostile armies, traders in all manner of goods and services, and other travelers from near and far.
  Archaeological evidence indicates that the site of the city and surrounding area has been settled since at least the paleolithic era. It would have been well known to the Etruscans, and certainly to the Romans, for whom it was a military post called "Quarto".
  
  wn.com/San_Miniato
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  San Nicola di Pisa
  San Nicola is a church in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy.
  San Nicola is mentioned for the first time, together with the annexed convent, in 1097. In 1297-1313 the Augustinians enlarged it, perhaps under design by Giovanni Pisano (eastern side). In the 17th century the edifice was restored with the addition of altars and the Sacrament Chapel by Matteo Nigetti (1614).
  The façade features pilaster strips, blind arches and lozenges, and is decorated with 12th century intarsia. The interior houses the panels of Madonna with Child (by Matteo Traini, 14th century) and of St. Nicholas Saving Pisa from the Plague (15th century), canvases by Giovanni Stefano Marucelli and Giovanni Biliverti, a Crucifix by Giovanni Pisano, a Madonna with Child by Nino Pisano and an Annunciation by Francesco di Valdambrino.
  A covered passage connects the church to the Torre De Cantone and, from it, to the Palazzo delle Vedove: it was used by the Medici gentlewoman residing in the latter to reach the church without walking in the streets.
  
  wn.com/San_Nicola_di_Pisa
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  San Paolo all'Orto
  San Paolo all'Orto is a church in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy.
  Documented from 1086, it was a priory from the 12th to the 15th centuries, held by Augustinian nuns. The church is now unconsecrated and used for cultural events.
  The façade has the typical Pisane stripes of bichrome marble stones, and is articulated in five arcades with lozenges, intarsias and capitals sculpted by Biduino (late 12th century). the bell tower, which was rebuilt several times, dates to the 17th century.
  The interior has a nave and two aisles, and had once an apse destroyed in the 15th century. It houses remains of frescoes and sinopias from the 12th-13th centuries; the fresco and stucco decoration is from the 18th century.
  Coordinates: 43°43′3.07″N 10°24′15.20″E / 43.7175194°N 10.404222°E / 43.7175194; 10.404222
  
  wn.com/San_Paolo_all'Orto
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  San Pietro a Grado
  San Piero a Grado (Italian: Basilica di San Piero Apostolo) is a church in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, in the eponymous frazione. The church is located where once was a now disappeared port of the Pisan Republic, where, according to the legend, St. Peter landed in Italy from Antiochia in 44 AD.
  Archaeological excavations have shown the presence of a Palaeo-Christian edifice in the area, built over civil Roman structures, which was later replaced by a larger church in the early Middle Ages (8th-9th centuries). The current construction, begun in the 10th century and renovated in the late 11th-early 12th centuries, has a basilica plan with a nave and two aisles. Unusual is the presence of an apses the facade, probably built after the crumbling of the facade due to a flood of the Arno river. The entrance is on the northern side.
  The exterior, made of stone of different provenance, is marked by pilaster strips and arches over which are precious ceramic basins (the originals are in the National Museum of St. Matthew in Pisa) of Islamic, Majorca and Sicilian manufacture decorated with geometrical and figurative motifs (10th-11th centuries).
  
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  San Sisto (Pisa)
  San Sisto is a church in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy.
  It was consecrated in 1133 but previously it had been already used as the seat of the most important notary act of the Pisan commune. It was built in a Pisane-Romanesque style in stone.
  The façade is divide in three parts divided by pilaster strips, with a mullioned window and arches in the upper part which continues on the whole exterior. Notable is the typical local decoration with Islamic ceramic basins from the 10th-11th centuries (copies; the original are in the Museum of St. Matthew in the city).
  The interior has a nave and two aisles, divided by columns with ancient Roman capitals, with hut-shaped ceiling. It houses also an Arabic tombstone, the copy of a 14th century Madonna with Child and the rudder of a Pisane galley (13th-14th centuries).
  Coordinates: 43°43′10.23″N 10°23′55.98″E / 43.7195083°N 10.3988833°E / 43.7195083; 10.3988833
  
  wn.com/San_Sisto_(Pisa)
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  San Sisto, Pisa
  San Sisto is a church in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy.
  It was consecrated in 1133 but previously it had been already used as the seat of the most important notary act of the Pisan commune. It was built in a Pisane-Romanesque style in stone.
  The façade is divide in three parts divided by pilaster strips, with a mullioned window and arches in the upper part which continues on the whole exterior. Notable is the typical local decoration with Islamic ceramic basins from the 10th-11th centuries (copies; the original are in the Museum of St. Matthew in the city).
  The interior has a nave and two aisles, divided by columns with ancient Roman capitals, with hut-shaped ceiling. It houses also an Arabic tombstone, the copy of a 14th century Madonna with Child and the rudder of a Pisane galley (13th-14th centuries).
  Coordinates: 43°43′10.23″N 10°23′55.98″E / 43.7195083°N 10.3988833°E / 43.7195083; 10.3988833
  
  wn.com/San_Sisto,_Pisa
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  San Zeno (Pisa)
  San Zeno is a church and a former abbey in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy.
  The church is documented going back to 1029. It was part of a monastery built over pre-existing edifices, and, until the 15th century, it had also a hospital. In the 12th century it was held by the Camaldolese monks.
  The church has a nave and two aisles. The façade is preceded by a portico supported by pilasters and a central columns. The second row has mullioned windows and decorations with lozenges and small circular windows, with ceramic basins by Islamic masters (11th century; the originals are in the Museum of St. Matthew of Pisa).
  The interior has ancient Roman capitals and traces of medieval paintings.
  
  Coordinates: 43°43′23″N 10°24′27″E / 43.723000°N 10.407531°E / 43.723000; 10.407531
  
  wn.com/San_Zeno_(Pisa)
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  Santa Luce
  Santa Luce is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 70 km southwest of Florence and about 30 km southeast of Pisa.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Santa Maria a Monte
  Santa Maria a Monte is a comune in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region of Tuscany. The town lies about 45 km west of Florence and about 25 km east of Pisa.
  Famous for its military strategic importance (the hilly position made it more defendable against enemy attacks), Santa Maria a Monte has always been disputed between several Tuscan cities. As a matter of fact, Santa Maria a Monte passed from the influence of Lucca under the influence of Florence and, in the end, it became part of the Pisa territory. A famous landmark is Casa Carducci, where it's told that the Italian poet Giosuè Carducci spent his childhood.
  Cappelletto is a rural village of about 100 inhabitants, which is rapidly increasing. Cappelletto lies in the countryside near a woodland.
  The village and località of Falorni has about 120 inhabitants (2005) and is situated about 80 meters above the sea level. Around Falorni there is a large portion of woods and cultivated areas, especially with olives. The place is situated in the low woody hills called Cerbaie. The only business situated in the village is a restaurant.
  
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  Savona
  Savona  listen (help·info) (Sann-a [ˈsaŋːa] in the local dialect of Ligurian) is a seaport and comune in the northern Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea.
  Savona used to be one of the chief seats of the Italian iron industry, having iron-works and foundries, shipbuilding, railway workshops, engineering shops, and a brass foundry.
  One of the most celebrated former inhabitants of Savona was the navigator Christopher Columbus, who farmed land in the area while chronicling his journeys. 'Columbus's house', a cottage situated in the Savona hills, lay between vegetable crops and fruit trees. It is just one of many residences in Liguria associated with Columbus.
  The town is situated 40 km west of Genoa and circa 150 km (east) of Nice, in France.
  Inhabited in ancient times by Ligures tribes, it came under Roman influence in c. 180 BC, after the Punic wars in which the city had been allied to Carthage. At the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it passed under Lombard rule in 641 (being destroyed in the attack) after a short period as an Ostrogoth and then Byzantine possession. Later it recovered as county seat in the Carolingian Empire. In the tenth century its bishops were counts of Savona, but later the countship passed to the marquesses of Monferrato (981) and afterwards to the marquesses Del Vasto (1084);
  
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• Serchio
  At 126 kilometres the Serchio (in antiquity the Auser) is the third longest river in the Italian region of Tuscany, coming after the Arno (242 km) and the Ombrone (161 km). By mean rate of flow it is the second largest, following the Arno but preceding the Ombrone.
  The principal source forms on the slopes of Monte Sillano (1,864 metres) and is joined by a secondary branch, the Serchio di Gramolazzo, at Piazza al Serchio.
  The river then crosses Garfagnana from north to south, from Sillano to a location beyond Castelnuovo di Garfagnana; from here it continues through the Media Valle touching the municipal borders of the Comune of Barga and crossing the territory of Borgo a Mozzano. In this section of the river, which is dammed in a number of places, it receives from the right the waters of the Edron, Tùrrite Secca, Tùrrite di Gallicano, Turrite Cava and the Pedogna; and from the left those of the Fiume, the Castiglione, the Sillico, and its most important tributary the Lima. This last, which is born at the Passo dell'Abetone and collects the waters of the Modenese and Pistoiese high Apennines, forms a sub-basin in its own right and achieves a mean discharge of more than 20 cubic metres per second.
  
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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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  Split (city)
  Split (Croatian pronunciation: [splît]) is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centred around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its bay and port. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and the second-largest city of Croatia. Spread over a central peninsula and its surroundings, Split's greater area includes the surrounding seaside towns as well. An intraregional transport hub, the city is a link to numerous Adriatic islands and the Apennine peninsula, as well as a popular tourist destination.
  Split is also one of the oldest cities in the area. While it is traditionally considered just over 1,700 years old counting from the construction of Diocletian's Palace in AD 305, archaeological research relating to the original founding of the city as the Greek colony of Aspálathos (Aσπάλαθος) in the 6th century BC, establishes the urban tradition of the area as being several centuries older.
  
  wn.com/Split_(city)
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  Syracuse, Italy
  Syracuse (Italian: Siracusa pronounced [siraˈkuːza] ( listen); Sicilian: Sarausa; Latin: Syracusæ; Ancient Greek: Συρακοῦσαι Syrakoúsai) is a historic city in Sicily, the capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace of the preeminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. Syracuse is located in the southeast corner of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Syracuse next to the Ionian Sea.
  The city was founded by Ancient Greek Corinthians and became a very powerful city-state. Syracuse was allied with Sparta and Corinth, exerting influence over the entire Magna Grecia area of which it was the most important city. Once described by Cicero as "the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all", it later became part of the Roman Republic and Byzantine Empire. After this Palermo overtook it in importance, as the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily. Eventually the kingdom would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860.
  
  wn.com/Syracuse,_Italy
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  Terricciola
  Terricciola is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km southwest of Florence and about 30 km southeast of Pisa. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,099 and an area of 43.4 km².
  Terricciola borders the following municipalities: Capannoli, Casciana Terme, Chianni, Lajatico, Lari, Peccioli.
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  Tirrenia
  Tirrenia is a frazione (parish) of Pisa, Italy with a population of 3,112 inhabitants. Immersed in the pine forest of the Litorale Pisano and the Ligurian Sea (even if the name of the village refers to Tyrrhenian Sea, in Italian Mar Tirreno), Tirrenia is situated in the center of the coast of Tuscany and the Parco Naturale Migliarino, San Rossore and Massaciuccoli, between Pisa and Livorno.
  In between Marina di Pisa and Calambrone, Tirrenia is a goal of Italian seaside tourism and, more in general, European.
  The city was founded during the years of the fascist regime. Benito Mussolini had this once swamped city transformed into what he called "The Pearl of the Mediterranean Sea." Many architects from all over Italy were called upon to build centres for orphans and houses for the rich. In the 1930s places for studying film were constructed, and la Pisorno was built, to expand the ideal of fascism in Italy and to make propaganda. Today, in the area of Tirrenia near Livorno, the old colonies built by Mussolini for orphans are being restored since they were abandoned after World War II. These colonies will be used as tourist attractions.
  
  wn.com/Tirrenia
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  Torre dei Gualandi
  The Torre dei Gualandi is a former tower in Pisa, central Italy, now included in the Palazzo dell'Orologio.
  It is located on the north part of the Piazza dei Cavalieri. The tower was in the right part of the present building, the one without the four-light window. Gualandi was the name of an ancient family of Pisa, that owned the tower in the 13th century.
  Ugolino della Gherardesca, his sons and two grandsons were immured in the tower and starved to death in the 13th century. Dante, his contemporary, wrote about Gherardesca in his masterpiece The Divine Comedy.
  Coordinates: 43°43′10.67″N 10°23′58.28″E / 43.7196306°N 10.3995222°E / 43.7196306; 10.3995222
  
  
  
  wn.com/Torre_dei_Gualandi
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  Trapani
  Trapani  listen (help·info) (Sicilian: Tràpani; Latin: Drepanon) is a city and comune on the west coast of Sicily in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the main gateway to the nearby Egadi Islands.
  Trapani was founded by the Elymians to serve as the port of the nearby city of Erice (ancient Eryx), which overlooks it from Monte San Giuliano. The city sits on a low-lying promontory jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea. It was originally named Drépanon from the Greek word for "sickle", because of the curving shape of its harbour. Carthage seized control of the city in 260 BC, subsequently making it an important naval base, but ceded it to Rome in 241 BC following the Battle of the Aegates in the First Punic War.
  Two ancient legends tell of mythical origins for the city. In the first legend, Trapani stemmed from the sickle which fell from the hands of the goddess Demeter while she was seeking for her daughter Persephone, who had been kidnapped by Hades. The second myth features Saturn, god of the sky, who eviscerated his father Uranus with a sickle which, falling into the sea, created the city. In ancient times Saturn was the god-protector of Trapani. Today Saturn's statue stands in a piazza in the centre of the city.
  
  wn.com/Trapani
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  Tripoli
  Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Tripoli-of-the-West (Arabic: طرابلس الغرب‎ Ṭarābulus al-Gharb), to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean (Arabic: عروسة البحر‎ ʼarūsat el-baḥr; lit: "bride of the sea"), describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli (English pronunciation: /ˈtrɪpɵli/) is a Greek name that means "Three Cities", introduced in Western European languages through the Italian Tripoli. In Arabic: طرابلس‎ it is called Ṭarābulus ( pronunciation (help·info), Libyan Arabic: Ṭrābləs  pronunciation (help·info), Berber: Ṭrables, from Ancient Greek: Τρίπολις Trípolis). As of 2011, the Tripoli metropolitan area (district area) had a population of 2.2 million. The city is located in the northwest part of the country on the edge of the desert, on a point of rocky land projecting into the Mediterranean and forming a bay.
  The city includes the Port of Tripoli and the country's largest commercial and manufacturing centre. It is also the site of the University of Tripoli. The vast Bab al-Azizia barracks, which includes the former family compound of Muammar Gaddafi, is also located in the city; Gaddafi largely ruled the country from his residence in this barracks.
  
  wn.com/Tripoli
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  Troy
  Coordinates: 39°57′27″N 26°14′20″E / 39.9575°N 26.23889°E / 39.9575; 26.23889
  Troy (Ancient Greek: Ἴλιον, Ilion, and Τροία, Troia; Latin: Trōia and Īlium;Hittite: Wilusa or Truwisa;Turkish: Truva) was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida. It is best known for being the setting of the Trojan War described in the Greek Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer. Metrical evidence from the Iliad and the Odyssey seems to show that the name Ἴλιον (Ilion) formerly began with a digamma: Ϝίλιον (Wilion). This was later supported by the Hittite form Wilusa.
  A new city called Ilium was founded on the site in the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus. It flourished until the establishment of Constantinople and declined gradually during the Byzantine era.
  In 1865, English archaeologist Frank Calvert excavated trial trenches in a field he had bought from a local farmer at Hisarlık, and in 1868, Heinrich Schliemann, wealthy German businessman and archaeologist, also began excavating in the area after a chance meeting with Calvert in Çanakkale. These excavations revealed several cities built in succession. Schliemann was at first skeptical about the identification of Hissarlik with Troy, but was persuaded by Calvert and took over Calvert's excavations on the eastern half of the Hissarlik site, which was on Calvert's property. Troy VII has been identified with the Hittite Wilusa, the probable origin of the Greek Ἴλιον, and is generally (but not conclusively) identified with Homeric Troy.
  
  wn.com/Troy
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  Tunisia
  Tunisia (US ⁱ/tuːˈniːʒə/ two-NEE-zhə or UK /tjuːˈnɪziə/ tew-NIZ-iə; Arabic: تونس‎ Tūnis pronounced [ˈtuːnɪs]), officially the Republic of Tunisia (Arabic: الجمهورية التونسية‎ al-Jumhūriyyah at-Tūnisiyyah), is the northernmost country in Africa. It is an Arab Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area is almost 165,000 square kilometres (64,000 sq mi), with an estimated population of just under 10.7 million. Its name is derived from the capital Tunis located in the northeast.
  Tunisia is the smallest country in North Africa. The south of the country is composed of the Sahara desert, with much of the remainder consisting of particularly fertile soil and 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) of coastline.
  Tunisia has relations with both the European Union—with whom it has an association agreement—and the Arab world. Tunisia is also a member of the Arab Maghreb Union, the Arab League, and the African Union. Tunisia has established close relations with France in particular, through economic cooperation, industrial modernization, and privatisation programs.
  
  wn.com/Tunisia
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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.
  
  wn.com/Turin
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  Tyre (Lebanon)
  Tyre (Arabic: صور, Ṣūr; Phoenician: , Ṣur; Hebrew: צוֹר‎‎, Tzor; Tiberian Hebrew צר, Ṣōr; Akkadian: 𒋗𒊒 Ṣurru; Greek: Τύρος, Týros; Turkish: Sur; Latin: Tyrus) is a city in the South Governorate of Lebanon. There were approximately 117,000 inhabitants in 2003, however, the government of Lebanon has released only rough estimates of population numbers since 1932, so an accurate statistical accounting is not possible. Tyre juts out from the coast of the Mediterranean and is located about 80 km (50 mi) south of Beirut. The name of the city means "rock" after the rocky formation on which the town was originally built. The adjective for Tyre is Tyrian, and the inhabitants are Tyrians.
  Tyre is an ancient Phoenician city and the legendary birthplace of Europa and Elissa (Dido). Today it is the fourth largest city in Lebanon and houses one of the nation's major ports. Tourism is a major industry. The city has a number of ancient sites, including its Roman Hippodrome which was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1979.
  
  wn.com/Tyre_(Lebanon)
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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]}
  
  wn.com/Tyrrhenian_Sea
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  United States
  The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
  At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
  
  wn.com/United_States
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  University of Pisa
  Coordinates: 43°42′59.436″N 10°23′54.456″E / 43.71651°N 10.39846°E / 43.71651; 10.39846
  The University of Pisa (Italian Università di Pisa), is a public university in Pisa, Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in the country. It was officially founded on September 3, 1343 by an edict of Pope Clement VI, although there had been lectures on law in Pisa since the 11th century. The University has Europe's oldest academic botanical garden (Orto botanico di Pisa), founded in 1544.
  The University of Pisa is part of the Pisa University System, together with the Scuola Normale Superiore and the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies. It offers a wide range of courses. The Computer Science course at University of Pisa was the first one in the area to be activated in the whole Italy, during the 1960s.^{[clarification needed]} The aerospace MSc courses are the first in Italy to be offered entirely in the English language.^{[citation needed]} The university has about 57,000 students (of which 53,000 in undergraduate and postgraduate studies and 3,500 in doctoral and specialization studies). In the field of Italian philology, the University of Pisa leads the Consorzio ICoN, an inter-university consortium of 21 Italian universities supported by the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research. It's also the only university in Italy which has become a member of Universities Research Association.^{[citation needed]}
  
  wn.com/University_of_Pisa
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  Vecchiano
  Vecchiano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 70 km west of Florence and about 8 km north of Pisa. It is home to a castle, known as Gaetani or Lanfranchi castle, or as the hermitage of Santa Maria in Castello, which overlooks the town and the nearby plan.
  Vecchiano borders the following municipalities: Lucca, Massarosa, San Giuliano Terme, Viareggio.
  
  
  
  
  
  wn.com/Vecchiano
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  Venice
  Venice (Italian: Venezia [veˈnɛttsja] ( listen), Venetian: Venexia [veˈnɛsja]; (Latin: Venetia) is a city in northeast Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. The city in its entirety is listed as World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.
  Venice is the capital of the Veneto region. In 2009, there were 270,098 people residing in Venice's comune (the population estimate of 272,000 inhabitants includes the population of the whole Comune of Venezia; around 60,000 in the historic city of Venice (Centro storico); 176,000 in Terraferma (the Mainland), mostly in the large frazioni of Mestre and Marghera; 31,000 live on other islands in the lagoon). Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE) (population 1,600,000).
  
  wn.com/Venice
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  Vicopisano
  Vicopisano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km west of Florence and about 15 km east of Pisa. It occupies the former valley of the Arno River (which now flows some km southwards), bounded by the Monte Pisano from north.
  Vicopisano borders the following municipalities: Bientina, Buti, Calci, Calcinaia, Cascina, San Giuliano Terme.
  Economical activities include ceramics, mechanics (Piaggio) and bottling of mineral waters. The agriculture is based on olive oil and cereals.
  In medieval times Vicopisano was a flourishing fortified center of the Republic of Pisa. It was conquered by Florence in 1406. Here a castle (Rocca Nuova) designed by Filippo Brunelleschi was built in 1434.
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  Villa di Corliano
  The Palazzo al Borgo di Corliano is a villa situated near coast of Tuscany, central Italy, in the valley between Lucca and Pisa, 2 kilometres from the Spa town of San Giuliano Terme. It is one of the numerous villas that built by the Pisan merchants as summer houses, along the fertile west slopes of Mount Pisano.
  On both sides of the villa, decorated with typical Florentine Mannerist 16th century graffiti (harpy eagles, fruit crowns and flowers, birds and other symbols, representing the virtues of Fortress, Abundance and Fortune) are the farm and the oil mill, dating to the end of 17th Century. In 1755, on the occasion of the wedding of Maria Teresa Scolastica Ottavia della Seta Gaetani Bocca with Count Cosimo Baldassarre Agostini Fantini Venerosi, the villa was restored by the Veronese architect Ignazio Pellegrini.
  In the vestibule there are some 18th century marble busts representing Roman Emperors, while the vault is painted with a mythological scene representing Paris awarding Venus the fruit, under the watchful June and Minerva’s stare. In the lateral ovals there are the Cathedral Square of Pisa, the original view of the villa, Piana della Croce Mount (Apuan Alps), the Gulf of Lerici, two unknown castles and the commissioners’ portraits. In the central hall is a vault, with a fresco representing The Gods’ Banquet) and months and zodiacal signs allegorical representations, by the Florentine painter Andrea Boscoli. On the walls are 18th century fresco paintings with the Four Seasons, attributed to Natili and Matraini, as are the ones in the little church.
  
  wn.com/Villa_di_Corliano
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  West Bank
  The West Bank (Arabic: الضفة الغربية‎ aḍ-Ḍaffah l-Ġarbiyyah, Hebrew: הגדה המערבית‎, HaGadah HaMa'aravit also known as Hebrew: יהודה והשומרון‎ Yehuda ve-Ha'Shomron (Judea and Samaria)) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The West Bank also contains a significant coastline along the western bank of the Dead Sea. Since 1967, most of the West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation and is referred to as Judea and Samaria Area by Israel. A smaller part of the West Bank is administered by the Israeli civilian authorities as part of Jerusalem District.
  
  wn.com/West_Bank
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  Zadar
  Zadar (see historical names) is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Zadar is a historical center of Dalmatia as well as the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zadar.
  In antiquity, Iadera and Iader, the much older roots of the settlement's names were hidden, the names being most probably related to a hydrographical term. It was coined by an ancient Mediterranean people and their Pre-Indo-European language. They transmitted it to later settlers, the Liburnians. The name of the Liburnian settlement was first mentioned by a Greek inscription from Pharos (Stari grad) on the island of Hvar in 384 BC, where the citizens of Zadar were noted as Ίαδασινοί (Iadasinoi). According to the Greek source Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax the city was Ίδασσα (Idassa), probably a vulgar Greek form of the original Liburnian name.
  During Antiquity the name was often recorded in sources in Latin in two forms: Iader in the inscriptions and in the writings of classic writers, Iadera predominantly among the late Antiquity writers, while usual ethnonyms were Iadestines and Iadertines. The accent was on the first syllable in both Iader and Iadera forms, which influenced the early-Medieval Dalmatian language forms Jadra, Jadera and Jadertina, where the accent kept its original place.
  
  wn.com/Zadar

• Afro Poli
  Afro Poli (December 22, 1902, Pisa - February 22, 1988, Rome) was an Italian operatic baritone, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.
  Poli began his vocal studies when he joined the "Società Corale Pisana" in 1925, where he was a pupil of Bruno Pizzi. He made his stage debut in 1927 at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa, as Germont. He then went to Milan to further his studies with Gino Neri, and later joined the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in 1930.
  He was a leading baritone at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan from 1937 to 1955, where he sang in a wide repertoire from Mozart to verismo, including; Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra, L'amico Fritz, Manon Lescaut, La bohème, Tosca, Adriana Lecouvreur, as well as Italian version of operas such as; Les pêcheurs de perles, Manon, Werther, etc.
  With the La Scala company, he made guest appearances in Berlin and Munich in 1946. He also appeared in Paris, London, Madrid, Lisbon, Buenos Aires, etc. He was a guest at the Holland Festival and the Wexford Festival in the 1950s.
  
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  Alexius I Comnenus
  Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus (Greek: Ἀλέξιος Α' Κομνηνός, 1056 – 15 August 1118—note that some sources list his date of birth as 1048), was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. The title 'Nobilissimus' was given to senior army commanders, the future emperor Alexios I Komnenos being the first to be thus honoured. Inheriting a collapsing empire and faced with constant warfare during his reign against both the Seljuq Turks in Asia Minor and the Normans in the western Balkans, Alexios was able to halt the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Turks were also the catalyst that triggered the Crusades.
  Alexios was the son of Ioannis Komnenos and Anna Dalassena, and the nephew of Isaac I Komnenos (emperor 1057–1059). Alexios' father declined the throne on the abdication of Isaac, who was accordingly succeeded by four emperors of other families between 1059 and 1081. Under one of these emperors, Romanos IV Diogenes (1067–1071), Alexios served with distinction against the Seljuq Turks. Under Michael VII Doukas Parapinakes (1071–1078) and Nikephoros III Botaneiates (1078–1081), he was also employed, along with his elder brother Isaac, against rebels in Asia Minor, Thrace, and in Epirus.
  
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  Almoravides
  The Almoravids (Berber: ⵉⵎⵕⴰⴱⴹⴻⵏ Imṛabḍen, Arabic: المرابطون‎ Al-Murābiṭūn) were a Berber dynasty of Morocco, who formed an empire in the 11th-century that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus. Their capital was Marrakesh, a city which they founded in 1062 CE. The dynasty originated amongst the Lamtuna and the Gudala, which were nomadic Berber tribes of the Sahara traversing the territory between southern Morocco, the Niger river and the Senegal river.
  The Almoravids were crucial in avoiding a precipitated fall of Al-Andalus to the Iberian Christian kingdoms, when they decisively beat a coalition of the Castilian and Aragonese armies at the Battle of Sagrajas. This enabled them to control an empire that stretched 3,000 kilometers north to south. However, the rule of the dynasty was relatively short-lived and the Almoravids fell - at the height of their power - when they failed to quell the Masmuda-led rebellion initiated by Ibn Tumart. As a result, their last king Ishaq ibn Ali was killed in Marrakesh in April 1147 CE by the Almohads who replaced them as a ruling dynasty both in Morocco and Al-Andalus.
  
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  Andrea Bocelli
  Andrea Bocelli, OMRI, OMDSM (Italian pronunciation: [anˈdrɛːa boˈtʃɛlli]; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a football accident.
  Since winning the Newcomers section of the Sanremo Music Festival in 1994, Bocelli has recorded thirteen solo studio albums, of both pop and classical music, two greatest hits albums, and eight complete operas, selling over 75 million records worldwide. Thus, he is the biggest-selling solo artist in the history of classical music and has caused core classical repertoire to "cross over" to the top of international pop charts and into previously uncharted territory in popular culture.
  In 1998, he was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. In 1999, his nomination for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards marked the first, and so far only time a classical artist had been nominated in the category, since Leontyne Price, in 1961.The Prayer, his duet with Celine Dion for the animated film The Quest for Camelot, won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song and was nominated for an Academy Award in the same category. With the release of his classical album, Sacred Arias, Bocelli captured a listing in the Guinness Book of World Records, as he simultaneously held the top 3 positions on the US classical albums charts. Six of his albums have since reached the Top 10 on the Billboard 200, and a record-setting 8, have topped the classical albums charts in the United States.
  
  wn.com/Andrea_Bocelli
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  Andrea Pisano
  Andrea Pisano (1290 – 1348), also known as Andrea da Pontedera, was an Italian sculptor and architect.
  Andrea Pisano was born at Pontedera, where he also died.
  He first learned the trade of a goldsmith. Pisano then became a pupil of Mino di Giovanni, about 1300, and worked with him on the sculpture for S. Maria della Spina at Pisa and elsewhere. He made his chief works in Florence, and the formation of his mature style was due rather to Giotto di Bondone than to his earlier master. Of the three world-famed bronze doors of the Baptistery in Florence, the earliest one that on the south side was Pisano's work; he started it in 1330, finishing in 1336. It consists of a number of small quatrefoil panels the lower eight containing single figures of the Virtues, and the rest scenes from the life of John the Baptist.
  Andrea Pisano, while living in Florence, also produced many important works of marble sculpture, all of which show strongly Giotto's influence. In 1340 he succeeded Giotto as Master of the Works of Florence Cathedral. There he produced a series of reliefs, possibly designed by his former teacher as, for instance, the double band of panel-reliefs which Pisano executed for the great campanile. The subjects of these are the Four Great Prophets, the Seven Virtues, the Seven Sacraments, the Seven Works of Mercy and the Seven Planets. The duomo contains the chief of Pisano's other Florentine works in marble. In 1347 he became Master of the Works at Orvieto Cathedral, which had already been designed and begun by Lorenzo Maitani. These and the aforementioned doors are Pisano's only known works. Pisano also contributed to freeing modern art from Byzantine influence. He died in 1348.
  
  wn.com/Andrea_Pisano
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  Antonio Pacinotti
  Antonio Pacinotti (17 June 1841 – 24 March 1912) was an Italian physicist, who was Professor of Physics at the University of Pisa.
  Pacinotti was born in Pisa, where he also died. He was the son of Luigi Pacinotti and Caterina Catanti, attended the istituto arcivescovile Santa Caterina, and took part in the second war of Italian independence as sergente volontario. He was a student of Carlo Matteucci and graduated in mathematics at Pisa under Riccardo Felici. He was appointed as assistant to the astronomer Giovanni Battista Donati in 1862, professor at the technological institute of Bologna in 1864, professor of physics at the University of Cagliari in 1873, and, finally, successor to his father in 1881 in the chair of technological physics at the University of Pisa. Among his students was Augusto Righi.
  He is best known for inventing an improved form of direct-current electrical generator, or dynamo, which he described in a paper published in Il Nuovo Cimento of 1865. It used a ring armature around which was wrapped a coil of wire, to produce a smoother current than that available from previous types of dynamo. He found that the device could also be used as an electric motor.
  
  wn.com/Antonio_Pacinotti
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  Antonio Tabucchi
  Antonio Tabucchi (Italian pronunciation: [anˈtɔnjo taˈbukki]; September 24, 1943 – March 25, 2012) was an Italian writer and academic who taught Portuguese language and literature at the University of Siena, Italy.
  Deeply in love with Portugal, he was an expert, critic and translator of the works of Fernando Pessoa from whom he drew the conceptions of saudade, of fiction and of the heteronyms. Tabucchi was first introduced to Pessoa's works in the 1960s when attending the Sorbonne. He was so charmed that, back in Italy, he attended a course of Portuguese language for a better comprehension of the poet.
  His books and essays have been translated in 18 countries, including Japan. Together with his wife, María José de Lancastre, he translated many works by Pessoa into Italian and has written a book of essays and a comedy about the writer.
  Tabucchi has been awarded the French prize "Médicis étranger" for Indian Nocturne (Notturno indiano) and the premio Campiello, and the Aristeion Prize for Sostiene Pereira. In later life he was mentioned as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature, a feat he never achieved.
  
  wn.com/Antonio_Tabucchi
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  Aurelio Lomi
  Aurelio Lomi (1556–1622) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance and early-Baroque periods, active mainly in his native town of Pisa, Tuscany.
  He may have initially been trained by his father, Giovanni Battista Lomi, but soon he worked under the painters Bronzino, then Lodovico Cardi (known as Cigoli). He painted in Pisa, Florence, Rome, and Genoa. He painted a St. Jerome (1595) for the cathedral in the Piazza del Duomo of Pisa. In addition he painted frescoes of San Frediano and Don Stefano. He painted a St. Anthony of Padua for the church of San Francesco di Casteletto in Genoa, and a Resurrection of Christ and Last Judgement for Santa Maria Assunta in Carignano. In Rome, he painted frescoes in the Pinelli chapel of Santa Maria in Vallicella, including Scenes from the life of the Virgin and Birth of Jesus on the arches, and the Dormition, Coronation, and Funeral of the Madonna on the vault. The walls are frescoed with Rebecca and Eleazar and Yael and Sisera.
  A pupil and half-brother of Lomi was Orazio Gentileschi. Other pupils include Orazio Riminaldi, Simone Balli, Domenico Fiasella, Pietro Gnocchi (painter), and Augustin Montanari.
  
  wn.com/Aurelio_Lomi
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  Baccio Bandinelli
  Bartolommeo (or Baccio) Bandinelli, actually Bartolommeo Brandini (17 October 1493 – shortly before 7 February 1560), was a Renaissance Italian sculptor, draughtsman and painter.
  Bandinelli was the son of a prominent Florentine goldsmith, and first apprenticed in his shop. As a boy, he was apprenticed under Giovanni Francesco Rustici, a sculptor friend of Leonardo da Vinci. Among his earliest works was a Saint Jerome in wax, made for Giuliano de' Medici, identified as Bandinelli's by John Pope-Hennessy
  Giorgio Vasari, a former pupil in Bandinelli's workshop, claimed Bandinelli was driven by jealousy of Benvenuto Cellini and Michelangelo; and recounts that:
  (When) the cartoon of Michelangelo in the Council Hall ("Battle of Cascina" at Palazzo Vecchio)[1] was uncovered, and all the artists ran to copy it, and Baccio (most frequently) among (them),... having counterfeited the key of the chamber. In... 1512, Piero Soderini was deposed and the... Medici reinstated. In the tumult, therefore, Baccio, being by himself, secretly cut the cartoon into several pieces. Some said he did it that he might have a piece of the cartoon always near him, and others that he wanted to prevent other youths from making use of it; others again say that he did it out of affection for Leonardo da Vinci, or from the hatred he bore to Michaelangelo. The loss anyhow to the city was no small one, and Baccio's fault very great.
  
  wn.com/Baccio_Bandinelli
• Benedetto Zaccaria
  Benedetto I Zaccaria (c. 1235 – 1307) was an Italian admiral of the Republic of Genoa. He was the Lord of Phocaea (from 1288) and first Lord of Chios (from 1304), and the founder of Zaccaria fortunes in Byzantine and Latin Greece. He was, at different stages in his life, a diplomat, adventurer, mercenary, and statesman.
  Benedetto was the second son of Fulcone Zaccaria and one of his wives: Giulietta or Beatrice. Benedetto assisted his brothers Manuele and Nicolino, his cousin Tedisio, and his son Paleologo in their commercial enterprises.
  Already by then a successful merchant, Benedetto first appeared as a Genoese ambassador to the Byzantine court in 1264. This was in response to Michael VIII's alliance with the Republic of Venice. After eleven years of negotiations which resulted in a renewed accord between the Empire and Genoa, Benedetto first appeared in Constantinople with his brother Manuele (Manel) in 1275, at imperial invitation. It was then that he was first appointed administrator of the mines of Phocaea. He built a plantation there, from which he traded with a number of Mediterranean and Asian cities, accumulating considerable wealth. In 1282, still in the emperor's service, he acted as an ambassador to Peter III of Aragon, counselling him to continue the war with Angevins over Sicily.
  
  wn.com/Benedetto_Zaccaria
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  Bernard of Clairvaux
  Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist (1090 – August 20, 1153) was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.
  After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val d'Absinthe, about 15 km southeast of Bar-sur-Aube. According to tradition, Bernard founded the monastery on 25 June 1115, naming it Claire Vallée, which evolved into Clairvaux. There Bernard would preach an immediate faith, in which the intercessor was the Virgin Mary.^{[citation needed]} In the year 1128, Bernard assisted at the Council of Troyes, at which he traced the outlines of the Rule of the Knights Templar, who soon became the ideal of Christian nobility.
  
  wn.com/Bernard_of_Clairvaux
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  Caesar Augustus
  Augustus ( /ɔːˈɡʌstəs/;Classical Latin: [awˈɡʊstʊs]; Latin: Imperator Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD. Born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, he was adopted posthumously by his great-uncle Gaius Julius Caesar in 44 BC via his last will and testament, and between then and 27 BC was officially named Gaius Julius Caesar. In 27 BC the Senate awarded him the honorific Augustus ("the revered one"), and thus consequently he was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus.
  The young Octavius came into his inheritance after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC. In 43 BC, Octavian joined forces with Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in a military dictatorship known as the Second Triumvirate. As a triumvir, Octavian ruled Rome and many of its provinces. The triumvirate was eventually torn apart under the competing ambitions of its rulers: Lepidus was driven into exile, and Antony committed suicide following his defeat at the Battle of Actium by Octavian's fleet under the command of Agrippa in 31 BC.
  
  wn.com/Caesar_Augustus
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  Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
  Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkarlo adˈdzɛʎʎo ˈtʃampi] ( listen); born 9 December 1920) is an Italian politician and banker. He was the 49th Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and was the tenth President of the Italian Republic from 1999 to 2006. He is currently a Senator for life in the Italian Senate.
  Ciampi was born in Livorno (Province of Livorno).
  After receiving a doctorate in literature in 1941 from the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, one of the country's most prestigious universities, he was called to military duty in Albania as a lieutenant. On 8 September 1943, on the date of the armistice with the Allies, he refused to remain in the Fascist Italian Social Republic, and took refuge in Abruzzo, in Scanno. He subsequently managed to pass the lines and reach Bari, where he joined the Partito d'Azione (and thus the Italian resistance movement).
  In 1946 he married Franca Pila. That same year, he obtained a doctorate in law from the University of Pisa and began working at the Banca d'Italia. He also joined the CGIL (Trade Union), which he left in 1980.
  
  wn.com/Carlo_Azeglio_Ciampi
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  Carlo Rubbia
  Carlo Rubbia Knight Grand Cross (born on 31 March 1934) is an Italian particle physicist and inventor who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1984 with Simon van der Meer for work leading to the discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN.
  Carlo Rubbia studied at Scuola Normale in Pisa and graduated doing cosmic ray experiments at Pisa University in 1959. He then went to the United States where he spent about one and a half years at Columbia University performing experiments on the decay and the nuclear capture of muons. This was the first of a long series of experiments that Rubbia has performed in the field of weak interactions and which culminated in the Nobel Prize-winning work at CERN. He received his PhD in physics from Columbia in 1959.
  In 1960 he moved back to Europe, attracted by the newly founded CERN, where he worked on experiments on the structure of weak interactions. CERN had just commissioned a new type of accelerator, the Intersecting Storage Rings, using counter-rotating beams of protons colliding against each other. Rubbia and his collaborators conducted experiments there, again studying the weak force. The main results in this field were the observation of the structure in the elastic scattering process and the first observation of the charmed baryons. These experiments were crucial in order to perfect the techniques needed later for the discovery of more exotic particles in a different type of particle collider.
  
  wn.com/Carlo_Rubbia
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  Charlemagne
  Charlemagne ( /ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn/ or /ˈʃɑrləmeɪn/; French pronunciation: [ʃaʁ.lə.maɲ]; c. 742 – 28 January 814), also known as Charles the Great (Latin: Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans (Imperator Romanorum) from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800 in Rome.
  His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the Catholic Church. Through his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define both Western Europe and the European Middle Ages. He is numbered as Charles I in the regnal lists of Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, and France.
  The son of King Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, a Frankish queen, he succeeded his father in 768 and was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I. It has often been suggested that the relationship between Charlemagne and Carloman was not good, but it has also been argued that tensions were exaggerated by Carolingian chroniclers.
  
  wn.com/Charlemagne
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  Cosimo I de Medici
  Cosimo I de' Medici (12 June 1519 – 21 April 1574) was Duke of Florence from 1537 to 1574, reigning as the first Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1569.
  Cosimo was born in Florence, on June 12, 1519, the son of the famous condottiere Giovanni dalle Bande Nere from Forlì and Maria Salviati. Cosimo came to power at 17, when the 26 year old Duke, Alessandro de' Medici, was assassinated in 1537, as Alessandro's only male child was illegitimate. Cosimo was from a different branch of the family, and so far had lived in Mugello, and was almost unknown in Florence: however, many of the influential men in the city favored him, several of them hoping to rule through him and thereby enrich themselves at the state's expense. However, as Benedetto Varchi famously put it "The innkeeper's reckoning was different from the glutton's." Cosimo proved strong-willed, astute and ambitious, and soon rejected the clause he had signed, which entrusted much of the power to a council of Forty-Eight.
  When the Florentine exiles heard of the death of Alessandro, they marshalled their forces with support from France and from disgruntled neighbors of Florence. During this time, Cosimo had an illegitimate daughter, Bia (1537 – 1542), who was portrayed shortly before her premature death in a marvelous painting by Bronzino.
  
  wn.com/Cosimo_I_de_Medici
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  Dante Alighieri
  Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante (UK  /ˈdænti/, US /ˈdɑːnteɪ/; Italian: [ˈdante]; c1265–1321), was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem Commedia, later named La divina commedia (Divine Comedy), considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.
  In Italy he is known as il Sommo Poeta ("the Supreme Poet") or just il Poeta. Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio are also known as "the three fountains" or "the three crowns". Dante is also called the "Father of the Italian language".
  Dante was born in Florence, Italy. The exact date of Dante's birth is unknown, although it is generally believed to be around 1265. This can be deduced from autobiographic allusions in La Divina Commedia, "the Inferno" (Halfway through the journey we are living, implying that Dante was around 35 years old, as the average lifespan according to the Bible (Psalms 89:10, Vulgate) is 70 years; and as the imaginary travel took place in 1300, Dante must have been born around 1265). Some verses of the Paradiso section of the Divine Comedy also provide a possible clue that he was born under the sign of Gemini: "As I revolved with the eternal twins, I saw revealed from hills to river outlets, the threshing-floor that makes us so ferocious" (XXII 151-154). In 1265 the Sun was in Gemini approximately during the period of May 11 to June 11.
  
  wn.com/Dante_Alighieri
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  Desiderius
  Desiderius (also known as Daufer or Dauferius; Didier in French and Desiderio in Italian) was the last king of the Lombard Kingdom of northern Italy (died c. 786). He is chiefly known for his connection to Charlemagne, who married his daughter and conquered his realm.
  Desiderius was originally a royal officer, the dux Langobardorum et comes stabuli, "constable and duke of the Lombards," an office apparently similar to the contemporaneous Frankish office of dux Francorum. King Aistulf made him duke of Istria and Tuscany and he became king after the death of Aistulf in 756. At that time, Aistulf's predecessor, Ratchis, left his monastic retreat of Montecassino and tried to seize the kingdom, but Desiderius put his revolt down quickly with the support of Pope Stephen II. At his coronation, Desiderius promised to restore many lost papal towns to the Holy See, in return for the papacy's endorsement of his claim. Conflict with the Holy See under Pope Stephen III arose, for Stephen opposed Charlemagne's marriage to Desiderius' daughter. Desiderius ceased delivery of the towns after only a few.
  
  wn.com/Desiderius
• Diego Simeone
  Diego Pablo Simeone (born April 28, 1970 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine football manager and former player. A defensive midfielder, he was once the most capped player for Argentina. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid.
  When Simeone was 14, his youth coach Victorio Spinetto nicknamed him Cholo as his energetic play reminded him of former Boca Juniors player and Argentine international Carmelo Simeone (no relation) who had that nickname.
  In his club career that started in 1987, Simeone played for Vélez Sársfield, Pisa, Sevilla, Atlético Madrid, Internazionale, and Lazio.
  Simeone spent most of his career in Italy with Pisa his first European club in 1990 in which he was brought in by manager Mircea Lucescu. After spells at Atlético Madrid where he was part of the club's 1996 La Liga and Copa Del Rey double triumph and Sevilla, Simeone returned to Serie A with Internazionale in 1997 and played two full seasons, winning the UEFA Cup in 1998 in a side spearheaded by Ronaldo up front. They beat his future club Lazio 3–0 in the final.
  
  wn.com/Diego_Simeone
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  Domenico Passignano
  Domenico Passignano (1559 – 17 May 1638), born Cresti or Crespi, was an Italian painter of a late-Renaissance or Contra-Maniera (Counter-Mannerism) style that emerged in Florence towards the end of the 16th century.
  Crespi was born in Passignano, currently a frazione of Tavarnelle Val di Pesa near Florence. He started his works in the stylized Tuscan manner, working with Giovanni Battista Naldini and Girolamo Macchietti. After travelling from Rome to Venice (1581–1589) where he was influenced by Tintoretto's style. He had traveled to Venice as an assistant to Federico Zuccari, who had employed him previously in the completion of Vasari's unmemorable frescoes for the Florentine Duomo.
  He was known to paint with great speed; however, as to be quick he used less paint, most of his works have been severely damaged by time. As a result of this gift, he was nicknamed Passa Ognuno - a possible play upon the name of his birthplace. It is thought that Passignano was derived from it.
  In Florence, he painted frescoes of the Translation and Funeral of Saint Antoninus (1589) for the Cappella Salviati in San Marco and Preaching of John the Baptist (1590) for San Michele Visdomini. He painted a Nativity (1594) for Lucca's Duomo di San Martino. Other works can be found in church of San Frediano in Pisa as fresco and in Uffizi Gallery. He painted famous portraits of Galileo and Michelangelo.
  
  wn.com/Domenico_Passignano
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  Donatello
  Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (circa 1386 – December 13, 1466), also known as Donatello, was an early Renaissance Italian artist and sculptor from Florence. He is, in part, known for his work in bas-relief, a form of shallow relief sculpture that, in Donatello's case, incorporated significant 15th century developments in perspectival illusionism.
  Donatello was the son of Niccolò di Betto Bardi, who was a member of the Florentine Wool Combers Guild, and was born in Florence, most likely in the year 1386. Donatello was educated in the house of the Martelli family. He apparently received his early artistic training in a goldsmith's workshop, and then worked briefly in the studio of Lorenzo Ghiberti.
  While undertaking study and excavations with Filippo Brunelleschi in Rome (1404–1407), work that gained the two men the reputation of treasure seekers, Donatello made a living by working at goldsmiths' shops. Their Roman sojourn was decisive for the entire development of Italian art in the 15th century, for it was during this period that Brunelleschi undertook his measurements of the Pantheon dome and of other Roman buildings. Brunelleschi's buildings and Donatello's sculptures are both considered supreme expressions of the spirit of this era in architecture and sculpture, and they exercised a potent influence upon the artists of the age.
  
  wn.com/Donatello
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  Dunga
  Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri (born October 31, 1963 in Ijuí, Rio Grande do Sul), commonly known as Dunga (pronounced Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈdũɡɐ]), is a former Brazilian football defensive midfielder and a World Champion for Brazil in the 1994 World Cup. Dunga coached the national team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was dismissed by the Brazilian Football Confederation following the team's elimination in the quarter finals.
  His nickname is derived from the Portuguese translation of Dopey, a dwarf from the Snow White tale, and was given to him by his uncle due to his short height during his childhood. It was believed that he would be a short adult and the nickname remained in use even after he grew up and became taller. He is of Italian and German descent.
  At the club level, Dunga played for Internacional (1980–84, 1999–2000), Corinthians (1984–85), Santos (1985–87), Vasco da Gama (1987), Pisa (1987–88), Fiorentina (1988–92), Pescara (1992–93), Stuttgart (1993–95), and Jubilo Iwata (1995–98).
  
  wn.com/Dunga
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  El Cid
  Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (1043 – July 10, 1099), known as El Cid Campeador (Spanish pronunciation: [el ˈθið kampeaˈðor], "The lord-master of military arts"), was a Castilian nobleman, military leader, and diplomat. Exiled from the court of the Spanish Emperor Alfonso VI of León and Castile, El Cid went on to command a Moorish force consisting of Muladis, Berbers, Arabs and Malians, under Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud, Moorish king of the northeast Al-Andalus city of Zaragoza, and his successor, Al-Mustein II.
  After the Christian defeat at the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086, El Cid was recalled to service by Alfonso VI, and commanded a combined Christian and Moorish army, which he used to create his own fiefdom in the Moorish Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia.
  Rodrigo Díaz was educated in the royal court of Castile and became the alférez, the chief general, of Alfonso VI, and his most valuable asset in the fight against the Moors.
  The name El Cid (Spanish: [el ˈθid]) comes from the article el (which means "the" in both Spanish and Arabic), and the dialectal Arabic word سيد sîdi or sayyid, which means "Lord" or "The Master". The title Campeador means "champion" or "challenger" in Spanish. Because of his exceeding prowess in arms, he was the natural challenger in single combats. In Spanish warfare, it was common for leaders of armies to pit two Champions against each other (similar to the story of David and Goliath) to determine the outcome of the conflict. This way neither side would lose a great number of men. The Cid was the champion of King Alfonso VI of Castile. He had gained the title of "Campeador" when he won victory on behalf of Alfonso against the forces of Granada.
  
  wn.com/El_Cid
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  Enrico Fermi
  Enrico Fermi (Italian pronunciation: [enˈriko ˈfermi]; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics. He was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity.
  Fermi is widely regarded as one of the leading scientists of the 20th century, highly accomplished in both theory and experiment. Along with J. Robert Oppenheimer, he is frequently referred to as "the father of the atomic bomb". He also held several patents related to the use of nuclear power.
  Several awards, concepts, and institutions are named after Fermi, such as the Enrico Fermi Award, the Enrico Fermi Institute, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station, a class of particles called fermions, the synthetic element fermium, and many more.
  
  wn.com/Enrico_Fermi
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  Enzio of Sardinia
  Enzio (or Enzo) (Italianisation of Heinz, diminutive of Heinrich) (c. 1218–1272) was an illegitimate son of Emperor Frederick II and King of Sardinia.
  Enzio was an illegitimate son of Frederick II by a certain Adelaide. It is speculated that she was Adelaide of Urslingen. He was the eldest of the illegitimate sons of the emperor, and allegedly the favourite one.
  He had a pleasant personality and a strong physical resemblance to his father. He fought in the wars between his father, the pope, and the Northern Italian communes.
  When Ubaldo of Gallura died in 1238, the Doria family of Genoa, in order to secure the Giudicato of Logudoro from Pisan domination, convinced the emperor to marry Enzio to Ubaldo's widow, Adelasia of Torres. By marrying her, Enzio would accede to half of the island of Sardinia jure uxoris. He was created a knight in Cremona and granted the title "King of Sardinia". He travelled to the island to marry Adelasia in October that year.
  In July 1239, he was assigned as imperial vicar general in Lombardy, as well as General-Legate in Romagna, and left Sardinia never to return. In 1241, he took part in the capture of a papal fleet at Giglio Island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. His first successful move as military leader was the reconquest of Jesi, in the Marche, which was Frederick's birthplace. Later he was captured in a skirmish against the Milanese at Gorgonzola, but soon released. In 1245 or 1246 his marriage was annulled. In 1247, he took part in the unsuccessful siege of Parma.
  
  wn.com/Enzio_of_Sardinia
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  Fibonacci
  Leonardo Pisano Bigollo (c. 1170 – c. 1250) also known as Leonardo of Pisa, Leonardo Pisano, Leonardo Bonacci, Leonardo Fibonacci, or, most commonly, simply Fibonacci, was an Italian mathematician, considered by some "the most talented western mathematician of the Middle Ages."
  Fibonacci is best known to the modern world for the spreading of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system in Europe, primarily through the publication in 1202 of his Liber Abaci (Book of Calculation), and for a number sequence named the Fibonacci numbers after him, which he did not discover but used as an example in the Liber Abaci.
  Leonardo Fibonacci was born around 1170 to Guglielmo Bonacci, a wealthy Italian merchant. Guglielmo directed a trading post (by some accounts he was the consultant for Pisa) in Bugia, a port east of Algiers in the Almohad dynasty's sultanate in North Africa (now Bejaia, Algeria). As a young boy, Leonardo traveled with him to help; it was there he learned about the Hindu–Arabic numeral system.
  Recognizing that arithmetic with Hindu–Arabic numerals is simpler and more efficient than with Roman numerals, Fibonacci traveled throughout the Mediterranean world to study under the leading Arab mathematicians of the time. Leonardo returned from his travels around 1200. In 1202, at age 32, he published what he had learned in Liber Abaci (Book of Abacus or Book of Calculation), and thereby popularized Hindu–Arabic numerals in Europe.
  
  wn.com/Fibonacci
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  Francesco Traini
  Francesco Traini was an Italian painter who was demonstrably active from 1321 to approx. 1365 in Pisa and Bologna.
  He appears to have been a follower of Andrea Orcagna. There is only one work known to be by Traini: in 1345 he signed and dated a polyptych of the Pisan church S. Caterina, showing Saint Dominic and eight hagiographic scenes (now in the Museo Nazionale, Pisa). Most scholars attribute many of the huge frescoes of the Camposanto Monumentale in Pisa to Traini, including the Last Judgement, Inferno, Legends of the Hermits and, the famous Il Trionfo della Morte (the Triumph of Death). Other scholars attribute this last work to Buonamico Buffalmacco.
  The Trionfo della Morte (after 1350) is considered one of the finest and most powerful artworks of the Trecento as it displays the merciless omnipresence of death. It represents- like the earliest examples of Totentanz paintings which were contemporary in Germany - as a reaction to the horrors of the black death in the late 1340s.
  American historian Barbara Tuchman examined the Traini fresco and described it thus: "A scroll warns that 'no shield of wisdom or riches, nobility or prowess' can protect them from the blows of the Approaching One. "They have taken more pleasure in the world than in things of God." In a heap of corpses nearby lie crowned rulers, a Pope in tiara, a knight, tumbled together with the bodies of the poor, while angels and devils in the sky contend for the miniature naked figures that represent their souls."
  
  wn.com/Francesco_Traini
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  Francis of Assisi
  Saint Francis of Assisi (born Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone; 1181/1182 – October 3, 1226) was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St. Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history.
  Francis was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, and he lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man, even fighting as a soldier for Assisi. While going off to war in 1204, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for his worldly life. On a pilgrimage to Rome, he begged with the beggars at St. Peter's. The experience moved him to live in poverty. Francis returned home, began preaching on the streets, and soon amassed a following. His order was endorsed by Pope Innocent III in 1210. He then founded the Order of Poor Clares, which was an enclosed order for women, as well as the Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance. In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan. By this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned to Italy to organize the order. Once his organization was endorsed by the Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs. In 1223, Francis arranged for the first Christmas manger scene. In 1224, he received the stigmata, making him the first recorded person to bear the wounds of Christ's Passion. He died in 1226 while preaching Psalm 141.
  
  wn.com/Francis_of_Assisi
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  Frederick Barbarossa
  Frederick I Barbarossa (1122 – 10 June 1190) was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March as King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155. Two years later in 1157 the term "sacrum" (i.e. "holy") first appeared in a document in connection with his Empire. He was then also formally crowned King of Burgundy at Arles on 30 June 1178. The name Barbarossa came from the northern Italian cities he attempted to rule, and means "red beard" in Italian – a mark of both their fear and respect. In German he was known as Kaiser Rotbart, which has the same meaning.
  Before his royal election, he was by inheritance Duke of Swabia (1147–1152, as Frederick III). He was the son of Duke Frederick II of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. His mother was Judith, daughter of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, from the rival House of Welf, and Frederick therefore descended from Germany's two leading families, making him an acceptable choice for the Empire's prince-electors.
  
  wn.com/Frederick_Barbarossa
• Gaetano Bardini
  Gaetano Bardini (born October 8, 1929 in Riparbella) is an Italian tenor. Bardini has made numerous recitals and in has been a success in the Czech Republic, releasing his recording of his performances at with the Prague Smetana Theatre Orchestra, Brno State Opera Orchestra, Prague Chamber Orchestra, with conductors Jan Štych and Ino Savini.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Gaetano_Bardini
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  Galileo Galilei
  Galileo Galilei (Italian pronunciation: [ɡaliˈlɛːo ɡaliˈlɛi]; 15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism. Galileo has been called the "father of modern observational astronomy", the "father of modern physics", the "father of science", and "the Father of Modern Science".
  His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honour), and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improved military compass and other instruments.
  Galileo's championing of heliocentrism was controversial within his lifetime, when most subscribed to either geocentrism or the Tychonic system. He met with opposition from astronomers, who doubted heliocentrism due to the absence of an observed stellar parallax. The matter was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in 1615, and they concluded that it could only be supported as a possibility, not as an established fact. Galileo later defended his views in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which appeared to attack Pope Urban VIII and thus alienated him and the Jesuits, who had both supported Galileo up until this point. He was tried by the Inquisition, found "vehemently suspect of heresy", forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. It was while Galileo was under house arrest that he wrote one of his finest works, Two New Sciences. Here he summarized the work he had done some forty years earlier, on the two sciences now called kinematics and strength of materials.
  
  wn.com/Galileo_Galilei
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  Giorgio Chiellini
  Giorgio Chiellini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒordʒo kjelˈlini]; born 14 August 1984 in Pisa) is an Italian footballer who currently plays for Serie A club Juventus and the Italian national team. He started out his career as a left back but made his name as a no-nonsense, hard tackling centre back with a penchant for heading in goals from set-pieces. A popular figure with fans, he is second vice-captain, behind Gianluigi Buffon.
  Chiellini joined the youth teams at Livorno at age six and started out as a central midfielder. As he matured, he switched to playing as a winger and finally he found his position as a left back. He played in the clubs' youth academy between 1990 and 2000, before earning first team call-ups for the 2000–01 Serie C1 season. In his first season with the first team, Chiellini made three appearances and followed that up with five more appearances the following season. In the summer of 2002, he was signed by Juventus in co-ownership deal, for €3.1 million, (who also saw Marco Amelia, moved to opposite direction, for €2.8 million) however, he was loaned back to Livorno for the 2002–03 Serie B season, after Livorno had earned promotion. In his first Serie B season, Chiellini made six seasonal appearances, also making his Coppa Italia debut. In his second Serie B season, Chiellini broke into the starting line-up for the club, and would go on to make 42 official appearances, also scoring four goals from his left back position. In June 2004, Livorno officially bought back Chiellini for €3 million. During his four-season spell with the clubs' first team, Chiellini made 57 total appearances, scoring four goals, before his high-profile transfer to European giants and scudetto holders Juventus.
  
  wn.com/Giorgio_Chiellini
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  Giorgio Vasari
  Giorgio Vasari (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒordʒo vaˈzari]; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Renaissance artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.
  Vasari was born in Arezzo, Tuscany. Recommended at an early age by his cousin Luca Signorelli, he became a pupil of Guglielmo da Marsiglia, a skillful painter of stained glass. Sent to Florence at the age of sixteen by Cardinal Silvio Passerini, he joined the circle of Andrea del Sarto and his pupils Rosso Fiorentino and Jacopo Pontormo where his humanist education was encouraged. He was befriended by Michelangelo whose painting style would influence his own.
  In 1529, he visited Rome and studied the works of Raphael and others of the Roman High Renaissance. Vasari's own Mannerist paintings were more admired in his lifetime than afterwards. In 1547 Vasari completes the hall of the chancery in Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome with frescoes that received the name Sala dei Cento Giorni. He was consistently employed by patrons in the Medici family in Florence and Rome, and he worked in Naples, Arezzo and other places. Many of his pictures still exist, the most important being the wall and ceiling paintings in the great Sala di Cosimo I of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, where he and his assistants were at work from 1555, and the frescoes he started inside the vast cupola of the Duomo, completed by Federico Zuccari and with the help of Giovanni Balducci. He also helped organize the decoration of the Studiolo, now reassembled in the Palazzo Vecchio.
  
  wn.com/Giorgio_Vasari
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  Giosuè Carducci
  Giosuè Alessandro Michele Carducci (Italian pronunciation: [dʒozuˈɛ karˈduttʃi]; 27 July 1835 – 16 February 1907) was an Italian poet and teacher. He was very influential and was regarded as the official national poet of modern Italy. In 1906 he became the first Italian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
  He was born in Valdicastello (part of Pietrasanta), a small town in the Province of Lucca in the northwest corner of the region of Tuscany. His father, a doctor, was an advocate of the unification of Italy and was involved with the Carbonari. Because of his politics, the family was forced to move several times during Carducci's childhood, eventually settling for a few years in Florence.
  From the time he was in college, he was fascinated with the restrained style of Greek and Roman antiquity, and his mature work reflects a restrained classical style, often using the classical meters of such Latin poets as Horace and Virgil. He translated Book 9 of Homer's Iliad into Italian.
  He graduated in 1856 from the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and began teaching school. The following year, he published his first collection of poems, Rime. These were difficult years for Carducci: his father died, and his brother committed suicide.
  
  wn.com/Giosuè_Carducci
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  Giovanni Gentile
  Giovanni Gentile (Italian pronunciation: [dʒoˈvanni dʒenˈtiːle]; May 30, 1875 – April 15, 1944) was an Italian neo-Hegelian Idealist philosopher, a peer of Benedetto Croce. He described himself as 'the philosopher of Fascism', and ghostwrote A Doctrine of Fascism (1932) for Benito Mussolini. He also devised his own system of philosophy, Actual Idealism.
  Giovanni Gentile was born in Castelvetrano, Sicily. He was inspired by Italian intellectuals such as Mazzini, Rosmini, Gioberti, and Spaventa from whom he borrowed the idea of autoctisi, “self-construction”, but also was strongly influenced by the German idealist and materialist schools of thought — namely Karl Marx, Hegel, and Fichte with whom he shared the ideal of creating a Wissenschaftslehre, theory for a structure of knowledge that makes no assumptions. Friedrich Nietzsche, too, influenced him, as seen in an analogy between Nietzsche's Übermensch and Gentile's Uomo Fascista.
  He won the fierce competition and became one of the four exceptional students of the mythic Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, where he enrolled at the Faculty of Humanities.
  
  wn.com/Giovanni_Gentile
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  Giovanni Pisano
  Giovanni Pisano (c. 1250 – c. 1315) was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect. Son of the famous sculptor Nicola Pisano, he received his training in the workshop of his father.
  In 1265–1268 he worked with his father at the pulpit in Siena Cathedral. The fountain Fontana Maggiore in Perugia was his next major work with his father. By the end of this project in 1278 his father may already have died. Another possibility is that Nicola Pisano died in 1284 when Giovanni took up residence in Siena. These first works were made in his father's style. It is difficult to tell who did exactly what. However the Madonna with Child can be attributed with certainty to Giovanni, showing a new style with a certain familiarity between Mother and Child.
  His next work was in Pisa, sculpting the statues in the two rows of traceried gables at the exterior of the Baptistry (1277–1284). The vivacity of these statues is a new confirmation that he is leaving the serene style of his father behind.
  He was appointed at the same time chief architect of Siena Cathedral between 1287 and 1296. This compelled him to travel often between these two cities. The elegant sculptures and the architectural design for the facade of the cathedral in Siena show his tendencies to blend Gothic art with reminders of Roman art.
  
  wn.com/Giovanni_Pisano
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  Giuliano Amato
  Giuliano Amato (born 13 May 1938 in Turin) is an Italian politician. He was Prime Minister of Italy twice, first from 1992 to 1993 and then from 2000 to 2001. He was more recently Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted the new European Constitution and headed the Amato Group. He is commonly nicknamed dottor Sottile, (which means "Doctor Subtilis", the sobriquet of the Scottish Medieval philosopher John Duns Scotus, a reference to his political subtlety). From 2006 to 2008, he was the Minister of the Interior in Romano Prodi's government.
  Born in Turin into a Sicilian family, Amato grew up in Tuscany. He received a first degree in law from the University of Pisa in 1960, while attending the prestigious Collegio Medico-Giuridico of the Scuola Normale Superiore, which today is Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, and a masters degree in comparative law from Columbia Law School in 1963. After teaching at the Universities of Modena, Perugia and Florence, he worked as professor of Italian and Comparative Constitutional Law at the University of Rome La Sapienza from 1975 to 1997.
  
  wn.com/Giuliano_Amato
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  Innocent II
  Pope Innocent II (died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was pope from 1130 to 1143, and was probably one of the clergy in personal attendance on the antipope Clement III (Guibert of Ravenna).
  Papareschi came from a Roman family, probably of the rione Trastevere.
  Pope Paschal II made him a cardinal deacon. In this capacity, he accompanied Pope Gelasius II when he was driven into France. He was selected by Pope Calixtus II for various important and difficult missions, such as the one to Worms for the conclusion of the Concordat of Worms, the peace accord made with Holy Roman Emperor Henry V in 1122, and also the one to France in 1123 that made peace with King Louis VI.
  In 1130, as Pope Honorius II lay dying, the cardinals decided to entrust the election to a commission of eight men led by papal chancellor Haimeric, who had his candidate Cardinal Gregory Papareschi hastily elected as Pope Innocent II. He was consecrated on 14 February, the day after Honorius' death. The other cardinals announced that Innocent had not been canonically elected and chose Cardinal Pietro Pierleoni, a Roman whose family were the enemy of Haimeric's supporters, the Frangipani; Pierleoni took the name Pope Anacletus II. Anacletus' mixed group of supporters were powerful enough to take control of Rome while Innocent was forced to flee north. Based on a simple majority of the entire college of cardinals, Anacletus was the canonically elected pope, and Innocent was the anti-Pope. However, the legislation of Pope Nicholas II (in the famous decree of 1059) pre-empted the choice of the majority of the cardinal priests and cardinal deacons. This rule was changed by the Second Lateran council of 1139.
  
  wn.com/Innocent_II
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  Jacopo Chimenti
  Jacopo da Empoli (30 April 1551 – 30 September 1640) was an Italian late-mannerist painter.
  Born in Florence as Jacopo Chimenti (Empoli being the birth place of his father), he worked mostly in his native city. He apprenticed under Maso da San Friano. Like his contemporary in Counter-Maniera (Counter-Mannerism), Santi di Tito, he moved into a style often more crisp, less contorted, and less crowded than mannerist predecessors like Vasari. He collaborated with Alessandro Tiarini in some projects. Among his pupils were Felice Ficherelli, Giovanni Battista Brazzè (Il Bigio), Giovanni Battista Vanni, and Virgilio Zaballi.
  In later years, the naturalism becomes less evident. The porcelain features of his figures accentuated the academic classical trends that restrained Florentine painting during the Baroque period.
  Finally, working in a thematic often shunned by Florentine painters, after 1620s he completed a series of still-life paintings[1][2].
  
  wn.com/Jacopo_Chimenti
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  Jacopo da Empoli
  Jacopo da Empoli (30 April 1551 – 30 September 1640) was an Italian late-mannerist painter.
  Born in Florence as Jacopo Chimenti (Empoli being the birth place of his father), he worked mostly in his native city. He apprenticed under Maso da San Friano. Like his contemporary in Counter-Maniera (Counter-Mannerism), Santi di Tito, he moved into a style often more crisp, less contorted, and less crowded than mannerist predecessors like Vasari. He collaborated with Alessandro Tiarini in some projects. Among his pupils were Felice Ficherelli, Giovanni Battista Brazzè (Il Bigio), Giovanni Battista Vanni, and Virgilio Zaballi.
  In later years, the naturalism becomes less evident. The porcelain features of his figures accentuated the academic classical trends that restrained Florentine painting during the Baroque period.
  Finally, working in a thematic often shunned by Florentine painters, after 1620s he completed a series of still-life paintings[1][2].
  
  wn.com/Jacopo_da_Empoli
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  Jacopo Ligozzi
  Jacopo Ligozzi (1547–1627) was an Italian painter, illustrator, designer, and miniaturist. His art can be categorized as late-Renaissance and Mannerist styles.
  Born in Verona, he was the son of the artist Giovanni Ermano Ligozzi, and part of a large family of painters and artisans. After a time in the Habsburg court in Vienna where he displayed drawings of animal and botanical specimens, he was invited to come to Florence, receiving the patronage of the Medici as one of the court artists.
  Upon the death of Giorgio Vasari in 1574, he became head of the Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno, the officially patronized guild of artists, which was often called to advise on diverse projects. He served Francesco I, Ferdinando I, Cosimo II and Ferdinando II, Grand Dukes of Tuscany. Late in life, he was named director of the grand-ducal Galleria dei Lavori, a workshop providing designs for artworks made mainly for export: embroidered textiles and for the newly popular medium of pietre dure, mosaics of semiprecious stones and colored marbles.
  
  wn.com/Jacopo_Ligozzi
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  Jason Acuña
  Jason Acuña (born May 16, 1973), also known as Wee-Man, is an American TV host and actor. He is one of the stars of Jackass on MTV and the host of Fox Sports Net's skateboarding show 54321. Acuña has achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism, and is 4 ft ½ in (123 cm) tall. He is also a professional skateboarder.
  Born in Pisa, Italy of Chilean origin, Acuña grew up in Torrance, California, and attended North High School. He was the subscription manager for the skateboard magazine Big Brother. His association with that magazine led him to become involved with the Jackass television series in 2001. Acuña's Jackass antics include skating as an Oompa-Loompa, kicking himself in the head (a feat accomplished with the aid of his dwarven proportions), dressing as a king while rolling Johnny Knoxville down a staircase in a red carpet, doing deep-knee bends while holding NBA star Shaquille O'Neal on his back, and having Preston Lacy ask someone to help him with his bags, only to have Wee-Man pop out, causing Preston to give chase.
  
  wn.com/Jason_Acuña
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  Keith Haring
  Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.
  Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Haring grew up in Kutztown with his mother, Joan Haring, and his father, Allen Haring, a cartoonist. He also had three younger sisters, Kay, Karen and Kristen. Keith's parents wanted to name all their children with names that started with K. Haring was interested in art from an early age. From 1976 to 1978 he studied commercial art at The Ivy School of Professional Art, an art school in Pittsburgh. He soon lost interest in commercial art and moved on to study Fine Arts.
  At age 19, in 1978, Haring moved to New York City, where he was inspired by graffiti art, and studied at the School of Visual Arts.
  Haring achieved his first public attention with chalk drawings in the subways of New York (see public art). These were his first recognized pieces of pop art. The exhibitions were filmed by the photographer Tseng Kwong Chi. Around this time, "The Radiant Baby" became his symbol. His bold lines, vivid colors, and active figures carry strong messages of life and unity. Starting in 1980, he organized exhibitions in Club 57. He participated in the Times Square Exhibition and drew, for the first time, animals and human faces. In 1981 he sketched his first chalk drawings on black paper and painted plastic, metal and found objects.
  
  wn.com/Keith_Haring
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  Ligures
  The Ligures (singular Ligus or Ligur; English: Ligurians, Greek: Λίγυες) were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, a region of north-western Italy.
  According to Plutarch they called themselves Ambrones, but this does not necessarily indicate a relationship with the Ambrones of northern Europe. They were ignorant of their own origin.
  Classical references and toponomastics suggest that the Ligurian sphere once extended further than the present boundary of Liguria [1]. Ligurian toponyms have been found in Sicily, the Rhône valley, Corsica and Sardinia.
  Aeschylus represents Hercules as contending with the Ligures on the stony plains near the mouths of the Rhone, and Herodotus speaks of Ligures inhabiting the country above Massilia (modern Marseilles, founded by the Greeks). Thucydides also speaks of the Ligures having expelled the Sicanians, an Iberian tribe, from the banks of the river Sicanus, in Iberia. The Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax describes the Ligyes (Ligures) living along the Mediterranean coast from Antion (Antibes) as far as the mouth of the Rhone; then intermingled with the Iberians from the Rhone to Emporion in Spain. People with Ligurian names were living south of Placentia, in Italy, as late as 102 AD.
  
  wn.com/Ligures
• Liutprand of Cremona
  Liutprand, also Liudprand, Liuprand, Lioutio, Liucius, Liuzo, and Lioutsios (c. 922 – 972) was a Lombard historian and author, and Bishop of Cremona.
  He was born into a prominent family of Pavia towards the beginning of the 10th century. In 931 he entered service as page to Hugh of Arles, who kept court at Pavia as King of Italy and who married the notorious and powerful Marozia of Rome. He was educated at the court and became a cleric at the Cathedral of Pavia. After Hugh died in 947, leaving his son and co-king Lothair on the throne as King of Italy, Liutprand became confidential secretary to the actual ruler of Italy, Berengar II, marchese d'Ivrea, for whom he became chancellor and by whom he was sent on an embassy (949) to the Byzantine court of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. Since both Liutprand's father and his stepfather had been sent as ambassadors to Constantinople, and as Liutprand prepared himself by learning Greek (not widely known in the 10th-century West) he seemed well suited for a mission of that kind. However it proved a fruitless and humiliating four months' experience, for which Liutprand revenged himself in his account, Antapodosis ("retribution").
  
  wn.com/Liutprand_of_Cremona
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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.
  
  wn.com/Lombards
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  Lorenzo de' Medici
  Lorenzo de' Medici (1 January 1449 – 9 April 1492) was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (Lorenzo il Magnifico) by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists, and poets. Perhaps what he is most known for is his contribution to the art world, giving large amounts of money to artists so they may create master works of art. His life coincided with the high point of the early Italian Renaissance; his death marked the end of the Golden Age of Florence. The fragile peace he helped maintain between the various Italian states collapsed with his death. Lorenzo de' Medici is buried in the Medici Chapel in Florence.
  Lorenzo's grandfather, Cosimo de' Medici, was the first member of the Medici family to combine running the Medici bank with leading the Republic. Cosimo, one of the wealthiest men in Europe, spent a very large portion of his fortune in government and philanthropy. He was a patron of the arts and funded public works. Lorenzo's father, Piero 'the Gouty' de' Medici, was also at the center of Florentine life, active as an art patron and collector. His mother Lucrezia Tornabuoni was a poet and writer of sonnets. She was also a friend to figures such as Luigi Pulci and Agnolo Poliziano and became her son's advisor when he took over power.
  
  wn.com/Lorenzo_de'_Medici
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  Masaccio
  Masaccio (Italian pronunciation: [maˈzattʃo]; December 21, 1401 – autumn 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was the first great painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, Masaccio was the best painter of his generation because of his skill at recreating lifelike figures and movements as well as a convincing sense of three-dimensionality. Masaccio died at twenty-six and little is known about the exact circumstances of his death.
  The name Masaccio is a humorous version of Maso (short for Tommaso), meaning "clumsy" or "messy" Tom. The name may have been created to distinguish him from his principal collaborator, also called Maso, who came to be known as Masolino ("little/delicate Tom").
  Despite his brief career, he had a profound influence on other artists. He was one of the first to use Linear perspective in his painting, employing techniques such as vanishing point in art for the first time. He also moved away from the International Gothic style and elaborate ornamentation of artists like Gentile da Fabriano to a more naturalistic mode that employed perspective and chiaroscuro for greater realism.
  
  wn.com/Masaccio
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  Moors
  The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from Northern Africa, who came to conquer, occupy and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years.^{[citation needed]} At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed other religions. They called the territory Al Andalus, comprising most of what is now Spain and Portugal.
  " Moors" are not a distinct or self-defined people. Medieval and early modern Europeans applied the name primarily to Berbers, but also at various times to Arabs, Muslim Iberians and West Africans from Mali and Niger who had been absorbed into the Almoravid dynasty. Mainstream scholars observed in 1911 that "The term 'Moors' has no real ethnological value."
  The Andalusian Moors of the late Medieval era inhabited the Iberian Peninsula after the Moorish conquests of the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates, and the final Umayyad conquest of Hispania.^{[citation needed]} The Moors' rule stretched at times as far as modern-day Mauritania, West African countries, and the Senegal River. Earlier, the Classical Romans interacted with (and later conquered) parts of Mauretania, a state that covered northern portions of modern Morocco and much of north western and central Algeria during the classical period. The people of the region were noted in Classical literature as the Mauri.
  
  wn.com/Moors
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  Nicola Pisano
  Nicola Pisano (also called Niccolò Pisano, Nicola de Apulia or Nicola Pisanus; c. 1220/1225 – c. 1284) was an Italian sculptor whose work is noted for its classical Roman sculptural style. Pisano is sometimes considered to be the founder of modern sculpture.
  His birth date or origins are uncertain. He was born in Apulia, as the son of "Petrus de Apulia", as stated in the archives of the Cathedral of Siena. Nicola Pisano was probably trained in the local workshops of the emperor Frederick II, and he attended his coronation. Here he was trained to give to the traditional representations more movement and emotions, intertwining Classical and Christian traditions. His only remaining works from this period are two griffon heads with a soft chiaroscuro effect.
  Around 1245 he moved to Tuscany to work at the Prato Castle. The lions on the portal of this castle are probably by his hand. "The head of a young girl" (now displayed in the Museo del Palazzo Venezia in Rome), cut in hardstone of Elba, is also ascribed to Nicola Pisano in the same period.
  
  wn.com/Nicola_Pisano
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  Nino Pisano
  Nino Pisano (fl. 1349 – 1368) was an Italian sculptor, the son of Andrea Pisano.
  He collaborated with his father in sculptures for the churches of San Zanipolo at Venice and in Santa Caterina at Pisa, and provided some panels for the bell tower of Santa Maria del Fiore. Nino succeeded his father in the works of the Orvieto Cathedral in 1349.
  Works he made alone include a Madonna with Child in Santa Maria Novella, Florence, a Saint Bishop in the Cathedral of Oristano and a Monument to Bishop Scherlatti now in the Museum of Pisa Cathedral. His other attributed works include a Madonna of the Rose in Santa Maria della Spina and a Madonna del Latte in the Museum of St. Matthew, both in Pisa. An Annunciation, once in Santa Caterina, is now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C..
  
  wn.com/Nino_Pisano
• Oberto Doria
  Oberto D'Oria (died 1295) was an Italian politician and admiral of the Republic of Genoa.
  He was born at Genoa, a member of the powerful Ghibelline family of the D'Oria, and the brother of Lamba Doria. On 28 October 1270, together with latter, as Capitano del Popolo he started a joint dictatorship which ruled Genoa for twenty years. His moves aimed to defend the Genoese Republic's integrity against the Guelph Fieschi, who wanted to create a personal seignory in the Levante Ligure, and the Grimaldi, who had usurped part of the Ponente. He personally moved against Nicolò Fieschi in 1273, storming his capital La Spezia, while his brother Jacopo, at the same time, warred victoriously against the Grimaldi.
  At the same time, he led a prudent conduct against the French Charles of Anjou, then King of Naples and Sicily and also a powerful feudatary in north-western Italy and Provence. Oberto Doria rise to fame however as the admiral of the Genoese fleet in the Battle of Meloria (6 August 1284) in which, together with Benedetto Zaccaria and Corrado Spinola (son of his co-dictator Oberto Spinola) he crushed the Pisans, then Genoa's main rivals in the maritime trades in the Mediterranean together with Venice. This victory allowed Genoa to regain Corsica and Sardinia, and reduced Pisa to a secondary status in Italy.
  
  wn.com/Oberto_Doria
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  Orazio Gentileschi
  Orazio Lomi Gentileschi (1563–1639) was an Italian Baroque painter, one of more important painters influenced by Caravaggio (the so-called Caravaggisti). He was the father of the painter Artemisia Gentileschi.
  In the late 1570s or early 1580s Gentileschi moved to Rome, and was associated with the landscape-painter Agostino Tassi, executing the figures for the landscape backgrounds of this artist in the Palazzo Rospigliosi, and it is said in the great hall of the Quirinal Palace, although by some authorities the figures in the last-named building are ascribed to Giovanni Lanfranco. He worked also in the churches of Santa Maria Maggiore, San Nicola in Carcere, Santa Maria della Pace and San Giovanni in Laterano.
  However, Gentileschi's main influence starting from the early 17th century was Caravaggio, also in Rome at the time, whose style he was one of the best followers of. Sharing with the former shadowy characteristics, he took part in several adventures in Rome's streets. In late August 1603 Giovanni Baglione filed a suit for libel against Caravaggio, Gentileschi, Ottavio Leoni, and Filipo Trisegni in connection with some unflattering poems circulated amongst the artistic community of Rome over the preceding summer. Caravaggios testimony during the trial as recorded in court documents is one of the few insights into his thoughts about the subject of art and his contemporaries. In 1612 he was again called to the Tribunal of Rome, this time to speak against Tassi, who was charged with the rape of his daughter Artemisia Gentileschi. After Caravaggio's flight from Rome, Gentileschi developed a more personal Tuscan lyricism, characterized by lighter colours and precision in detail, reminiscent of his Mannerist beginnings. After a long sojourn in the Marche, in the early 1620s Gentileschi went to Genoa, and then to Paris, at the court of Marie de Medici.
  
  wn.com/Orazio_Gentileschi
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  Otto IV
  Otto IV of Brunswick (1175 – May 19, 1218) was one of two rival kings of the Holy Roman Empire from 1198 on, sole king from 1208 on, and emperor from 1209 on. The only king of the Welf dynasty, he incurred the wrath of Pope Innocent III and was excommunicated in 1215.
  Otto was the third son of Henry the Lion, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, and Matilda Plantagenet. His exact birthplace is not given by any original source.
  He grew up in England in the care of his grandfather King Henry II. Otto became a friend of Richard I of England, who attempted to make him Earl of York in 1190, and, through marriage, king of Scotland.^{[citation needed]} Both attempts failed, and so in 1196, he was made Count of Poitou. He participated in the war against France on the side of Richard.
  After the death of Emperor Henry VI, the majority of the princes of the Empire, situated in the south, elected Henry’s brother, Philip, Duke of Swabia, king in March 1198, after receiving money and promises from Philip in exchange for their support. Those princes opposed to the Staufen dynasty also decided, on the initiative of Richard of England, to elect instead a member of the House of Welf. Otto's elder brother, Henry, was on a crusade at the time, and so the choice fell to Otto. Otto, soon recognized over the north-west and the lower Rhine region, was elected king by his partisans in Cologne on June 9, 1198. Otto took control of Aachen, the place of coronation, and was crowned by Adolf, Archbishop of Cologne, on July 12, 1198. This was of great symbolic importance, since the Archbishop of Cologne alone could crown the King of the Romans. Nevertheless, the coronation was done with fake regalia, because the actual materials were in the hands of the Staufen.
  
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  Pope Celestine III
  Pope Celestine III (ca. 1106 – 8 January 1198), born Giacinto Bobone, was elected Pope on 21 March 1191 and reigned until his death. He was born into the noble Orsini family in Rome, though he was only a cardinal deacon before becoming Pope. He was ordained a priest on 13 April 1191, ruled the church six years, nine months, and nine days before he died on 8 January 1198. He was buried at the Lateran.
  Considered by the Curia as an expert on Spain, Giacinto conducted two legatine missions to Spain in (1154–55) and (1172–75) as Cardinal Deacon of St.Maria at Cosmedin.
  He crowned the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI on the day after his election in 1191 with a ceremony symbolizing his absolute supremacy, as described by Roger of Hoveden. He subsequently excommunicated the same Henry VI for wrongfully keeping King Richard I of England in prison. He placed Pisa under an interdict, which was lifted by his successor Innocent III in 1198. He condemned King Alfonso IX of León for his marriage to Teresa of Portugal on the grounds of consanguinity. Then, in 1196, he excommunicated Alfonso IX for making peace with the Muslims while making war on Castile. Following the marriage between Alfonso and Berenguela of Castile, Celestine excommunicated Alfonso and placed an interdict over León.
  
  wn.com/Pope_Celestine_III
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  Pope Gregory I
  Pope Gregory I (Latin: Gregorius I) (c. 540 – 12 March 604), better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death. Gregory is well known for his writings, which were more prolific than those of any of his predecessors as pope.
  Throughout the Middle Ages he was known as “the Father of Christian Worship” because of his exceptional efforts in revising the Roman worship of his day.
  He is also known as St. Gregory the Dialogist in Eastern Orthodoxy because of his Dialogues. For this reason, English translations of Orthodox texts will sometimes list him as "Gregory Dialogus". He was the first of the popes to come from a monastic background. Gregory is a Doctor of the Church and one of the Latin Fathers. He is considered a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, and some Lutheran churches. Immediately after his death, Gregory was canonized by popular acclaim. The Protestant reformer, John Calvin, admired Gregory and declared in his Institutes that Gregory was the last good pope. He is the patron saint of musicians, singers, students, and teachers.
  
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  Pope Gregory IX
  Pope Gregory IX (c. 1145/70 – 22 August 1241), born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from 19 March 1227 until his death.
  The successor of Pope Honorius III, he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his cousin Pope Innocent III, and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.
  Ugolino was born in Anagni. The date of his birth varies in sources between ca. 1145 and 1170.
  He was created Cardinal-Deacon of the church of Sant'Eustachio by his cousin Innocent III in December 1198. In 1206 he was promoted to the rank of Cardinal Bishop of Ostia e Velletri. He became Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1218 or 1219. He was also Cardinal Protector of the Order of Franciscans.
  As Cardinal Bishop of Ostia he cultivated a wide range of acqaintances, among them Queen of England at that time, Isabella of Angoulême.
  After his elevation to the papal chair at the conclusion of the papal election of 1227, Gregory IX began his pontificate by suspending the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, then lying sick at Otranto, for dilatoriness in carrying out the promised Sixth Crusade. The suspension was followed by excommunication and threats of deposition, as deeper rifts appeared – Frederick II's control of the Sicilian Church, his feudal obligations to the Pope, even his continued presence in Sicily. Frederick II publicly appealed to the sovereigns of Europe complaining of his treatment. Frederick II went to the Holy Land and skirmished with the Saracens to fulfill his vow, but was soon back in Italy, where Gregory IX had taken advantage of his absence by invading his territories. A consequent invasion of the Papal states in 1228 having proved unsuccessful, the Emperor was constrained to give in his submission and beg for absolution.
  
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  Pope Gregory VII
  Pope Gregory VII (c. 1015/1028 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (Italian: Ildebrando da Soana), was Pope from 22 April 1073 until his death.
  One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor that affirmed the primacy of papal authority and the new canon law governing the election of the pope by the College of Cardinals. He was also at the forefront of developments in the relationship between the emperor and the papacy during the years before he became pope.
  He twice excommunicated Henry, who in the end appointed Antipope Clement III to oppose him in the political power struggles between the Catholic Church and his empire. Hailed as one of the greatest of the Roman pontiffs after his reforms proved successful, Gregory was, during his own reign, despised by some for his expansive use of papal powers.
  Gregory was beatified by Gregory XIII in 1584 and canonized in 1728 by Pope Benedict XIII.
  
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  Pope Innocent III
  Pope Innocent III (1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216) was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni.
  Pope Innocent was one of the most powerful and influential popes in the history of the papacy. He exerted a wide influence over the Christian regimes of Europe, claiming supremacy over all of Europe's kings. Pope Innocent was central in supporting the Catholic Church's reforms of ecclesiastical affairs through his decretals and the Fourth Lateran Council. This resulted in a considerable refinement of the Western canon law. Pope Innocent is notable for using interdict and other censures to compel princes to obey his decisions, although these measures were not uniformly successful. The pope called for crusades against militant heretics like the Cathars as well as Muslims. One of Pope Innocent's most critical decisions was calling upon Christian forces to begin the Fourth Crusade. Although the Crusades were, in part, originally intended to support the Byzantine Empire at Constantinople from attack by Turkish invaders, the Fourth Crusade resulted in the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204, which greatly upset Pope Innocent.
  
  wn.com/Pope_Innocent_III
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  Pope Paschal II
  Pope Paschal II (died 21 January 1118), born Ranierius, was Pope from 13 August 1099 until his death. A monk of the Cluniac order, he was created cardinal priest of the Titulus S. Clementi by Pope Gregory VII (1073–85) about 1076, and was consecrated pope in succession to Pope Urban II (1088–99) on 19 August 1099. His reign of almost twenty years was exceptionally long for a Pope of the Middle Ages.
  
  wn.com/Pope_Paschal_II
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  Pope Urban II
  Blessed Pope Urban II (ca. 1035 – 29 July 1099), born Otho de Lagery (alternatively: Otto, Odo or Eudes), was Pope from 12 March 1088 until his death on 29 July 1099. He is best known for starting the First Crusade (1096–1099) and setting up the modern-day Roman Curia in the manner of a royal court to help run the Church.
  Pope Gregory VII named him cardinal-bishop of Ostia ca. 1080. He was one of the most prominent and active supporters of the Gregorian reforms, especially as legate in Germany in 1084 and was among the few whom Gregory VII nominated as possible successors to be Pope. Desiderius, abbot of Monte Cassino was first chosen Pope as Victor III when Gregory VII died in 1085, but after Victor's short reign, Otho was elected Pope Urban II by acclamation (March 1088) at a small meeting of cardinals and other prelates held in Terracina in March 1088. He took up the policies of Pope Gregory VII, and while pursuing them with determination, showed greater flexibility and diplomatic finesse. At the outset, he had to reckon with the presence of the powerful antipope Clement III in Rome, but a series of well-attended synods held in Rome, Amalfi, Benevento, and Troia supported him in renewed declarations against simony, Investiture Controversy, clerical marriages, and continued opposition to Emperor Henry IV.
  
  wn.com/Pope_Urban_II
• Rustichello da Pisa
  Rustichello da Pisa, also known as Rusticiano and Rustigielo (fl. late 13th century), was an Italian romance writer best known for cowriting Marco Polo's autobiography while they were in prison together in Genoa. A native Pisan, he may have been captured by the Genoese at the Battle of Meloria in 1284, amid a conflict between the Republic of Genoa and Pisa. When Polo was imprisoned around 1298, perhaps after a clash between Genoa and Venice (according to tradition the Battle of Curzola), he dictated his tales of travel to Rustichello, and together they turned it into the book known as The Travels of Marco Polo.
  Earlier, Rustichello had written a work in French known as the Roman de Roi Artus (Romance of King Arthur) or simply the Compilation, derived from a book in the possession of Edward I of England, who passed through Italy on his way to fight in the Eighth Crusade in 1270-1274. The Compilation contains an interpolation of the Palamedes, a now-fragmentary prose account of Arthur's Saracen knight Palamedes and the history of the Round Table. It was later divided into two sections, named after their principal protagonists, Meliadus (Tristan's father) and Guiron le Courtois; these remained popular for hundreds of years, and influenced works written in French as well as in Spanish, Italian, and even Greek.
  
  wn.com/Rustichello_da_Pisa
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  Rutilio Manetti
  Rutilio di Lorenzo Manetti (c. 1571 – 22 July 1639) was an Italian painter of late-Mannerism or proto-Baroque, active mainly in Siena.
  He was influenced and/or taught by the local artists Francesco Vanni and Ventura Salimbeni. He is known to have collaborated with Raffaele Vanni, the son of Francesco. He is known for the following works in Siena or nearby towns: Story of St Catherine and Pope Gregory (1597; Palazzo Pubblico), Baptism of Christ (1600; San Giovannino in Pantaneto); a fresco cycle of the Story of St Roch (1605–1610; San Rocco alla Lupa), Pope Alexander I freed from prison by an Angel from San Giovanni Battista in Sant'Ansano in Greti; a Temptation of Saint Anthony (1620, Sant'Agostino), a Death of Blessed Antonino Patrizi (Monticiano, 1616), a Blessed Domenico dal Pozzo at the table now in Certosa of Florence, a Birth of Virgin (1625, Church of Santa Maria dei Servi), and a painting (1628, Church of San Domenico). He painted a remarkable Allegory of the four seasons and a Parable of the blind men, now in private collections. He also contributed to the Casino Mediceo.
  
  wn.com/Rutilio_Manetti
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  Santi di Tito
  Santi di Tito (6 March 1536 – 23 July 1603) was an Italian painter of Late-Mannerist or proto-Baroque style, what is sometimes referred to as Contra-Maniera or Counter-Mannerism.
  Born in Borgo San Sepolcro, in Tuscany. There is little documentation to support the alleged training under Bronzino or Baccio Bandinelli. From 1558-1564, he worked in Rome on frescoes in Palazzo Salviati and the Sala Grande of the Belvedere (Homage of the People) alongside Giovanni de' Vecchi and Niccolò Circignani. He acquired a classical trait, described as Raphaelesque by S.J. Freedburg. This style contrasted with the reigning ornate Roman painterliness of the Federico and Taddeo Zuccari or their Florentine equivalents: Vasari, Alessandro Allori, and Bronzino. Among his pupils was Cigoli. Another pupil named Francesco Mochi became a sculptor in the Baroque style, creating among other pieces, the colossal Saint Veronica', supervised by Gianlorenzo Bernini and placed in the crossing of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
  
  wn.com/Santi_di_Tito
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  Saracen
  Saracen is an historical term for a certain group of people but the meaning changed during its history. In the early centuries AD in Greek and Latin it referred to a people who lived in desert areas in and near the Roman province of Arabia, and who were specifically distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Early Middle Ages, the term began to be used to describe Arab tribes. By the 12th century, "Saracen" had become synonymous with "Muslim" in Medieval Latin literature. This expansion of the meaning had begun centuries earlier among the Byzantine Greeks, as evidenced in Byzantine Greek documents from the era of the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate.
  Ptolemy's Geography from the second century CE describes Sarakene as a region in the northern Sinai peninsula. Ptolemy also mentions a people called the Sarakenoi living in north-western Arabia (near neighbor to the Sinai).Eusebius of Caesarea references Saracens in his Ecclesiastical history, in which he narrates an account wherein Dionysus, Bishop of Alexandria mentions Saracens in a letter while describing the Roman emperor Decius' persecution: "Many were, in the Arabian mountain, enslaved by the barbarous sarkenoi." The Historia Augusta also refers to an attack by Saraceni on Pescennius Niger's army in Egypt in 193 CE but provides little information on who they might have been.
  
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  Sergio Bertoni
  Sergio Bertoni (September 23, 1915 – February 15, 1995) was an Italian football (soccer) player in striker role, and later manager.
  Born in Pisa, he played for Pisa Calcio (1935–1938) and Genoa C.F.C. (1938–1942).
  For the Italian national team he got 6 international caps from 1936 to 1940 and scored 1 goal. He won 1936 Summer Olympics and 1938 FIFA World Cup: with Alfredo Foni, Pietro Rava and Ugo Locatelli, he is one of the only four Italian players who won both tournaments.
  After World War II, he coached Spezia Calcio 1906 in the seasons 1950-1951, 1955–1956, 1956–57 and 1961-1962. He died at 79 years old.
  
  
  
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  Simone Martini
  Simone Martini (c. 1284–1344) was an Italian painter born in Siena. He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style.
  It is thought that Martini was a pupil of Duccio di Buoninsegna, the leading Sienese painter of his time. According to late Renaissance art biographer Giorgio Vasari, Simone was instead a pupil of Giotto di Bondone, with whom he went to Rome to paint at the Old St. Peter's Basilica, Giotto also executing a mosaic there. Martini's brother-in-law was the artist Lippo Memmi. Very little documentation survives regarding Simone's life, and many attributions are debated by art historians.
  Simone was doubtlessly apprenticed from an early age, as would have been the normal practice. Among his first documented works is the Maestà of 1315 in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. A copy of the work, executed shortly thereafter by Lippo Memmi in San Gimignano, testifies to the enduring influence Simone's prototypes would have on other artists throughout the 14th century. Perpetuating the Sienese tradition, Simone's style contrasted with the sobriety and monumentality of Florentine art, and is noted for its soft, stylized, decorative features, sinuosity of line, and courtly elegance. Simone's art owes much to French manuscript illumination and ivory carving: examples of such art were brought to Siena in the fourteenth century by means of the Via Francigena, a main pilgrimage and trade route from Northern Europe to Rome.
  
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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.
  
  wn.com/Strabo
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  Taddeo Gaddi
  Taddeo Gaddi (c. 1290, Florence – 1366, Florence) was a medieval Italian painter and architect.
  He was the son of Gaddo di Zanobi, called Gaddo Gaddi. He was a member of Giotto's workshop from 1313 to 1337, when his master died. According to Giorgio Vasari, he was considered Giotto's most talented pupil: in 1347 he is placed at the top in a list of Florence's most renowned painters.
  His main work is the cycle of Stories of the Virgin in the Baroncelli Chapel of the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence (1328–1338). Soon later he perhaps painted the cabinet tiles in the sacristy of the same church, now divided among the Galleria dell'Accademia of Florence, Munich and Berlin. These works show his mastership of Giotto's new style, to which he added a personal experimentation in the architectural backgrounds, such as in the staircase of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Baroncelli Chapel.
  According to some scholars, he collaborated in the Stefaneschi Polyptych in Rome. His other works include a Madonna in Bern, an Adoration of the Magi in Dijon, the Stories of Job (Pisa, Camposanto Monumentale), the Madonna Enthroned with Child, Angels and Saints (Florence, Uffizi Gallery), the Madonna del Parto (Florence), and the Polyptych in Santa Felicita's sacristy, Florence. Vasari credited him also of the design and reconstruction of the Ponte Vecchio, which is however disputed by modern scholars.
  
  wn.com/Taddeo_Gaddi
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  Titta Ruffo
  Titta Ruffo (9 June 1877 - 5 July 1953), born as Ruffo Titta Cafiero, was an Italian opera star who had a major international singing career. Known as the "Voce del leone" ("voice of the lion"), he was greatly admired, even by rival baritones, such as Giuseppe De Luca, who said of Ruffo: "His was not a voice, it was a miracle" (although not often published is the second part of De Luca's conclusion "...which he [Ruffo] bawled away..."), and Victor Maurel, the creator of Verdi's Iago and Falstaff. Maurel said that the notes of Ruffo's upper register were the most glorious baritone sounds he had ever heard (see Pleasants, cited below). Indeed Walter Legge, the prominent classical record producer, went so far as to call Ruffo "a genius".
  Born Ruffo Titta in Pisa (he reversed his forename and surname for the stage), Ruffo was the son of an engineer. He studied voice with several teachers, but he was an independent thinker and, basically, his vocal method was self-taught.
  Ruffo made his operatic debut in 1898 at the Teatro Constanzi in Rome as the Herald in Wagner's Lohengrin. After a slow start, his career took off in the early 1900s and he quickly achieved international renown due to the power and ardency of voice and acting.
  
  wn.com/Titta_Ruffo
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  Ventura Salimbeni
  Ventura di Archangelo Salimbeni (also later called Bevilacqua; 20 January 1568 – 1613) was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker and among the last representatives of a style influenced by the earlier Sienese School of Quattrocento-Renaissance.
  Salimbeni was born in Siena. He studied painting, together with his half-brother Francesco Vanni, under their father Arcangelo Salimbeni in his native Siena,
  He possibly spent some time,in Northern Italy and then moved to Rome in 1588 to work, together with others, on the fresco painting of the Vatican Library under pope Sixtus V.
  During 1590-1591, he got a commission by Cardinal Bonifazio Bevilacqua Aldobrandini for paintings in the Roman Jesuit Church of the Gesù and the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. These paintings show the influence of the Mannerist Cavalier D'Arpino and Andrea Lillio.
  Salimbeni returned to Siena in 1595. Here he became one of the last leaders of the Mannerist school, in this period between Mannerism and Baroque. He was here influenced by Federico Barocci as can be seen in the draperies, highlighted with abrupt changes of light and flickering surfaces, of his painting "Birth of a Virgin" in the San Domenico church in Ferrara (1607-1608).
  
  wn.com/Ventura_Salimbeni
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  Virgil
  Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BC – September 21, 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil /ˈvɜrdʒəl/ in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. A number of minor poems, collected in the Appendix Vergiliana, are sometimes attributed to him.
  Virgil is traditionally ranked as one of Rome's greatest poets. His Aeneid has been considered the national epic of ancient Rome from the time of its composition to the present day. Modeled after Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the Aeneid follows the Trojan refugee Aeneas as he struggles to fulfill his destiny and arrive on the shores of Italy—in Roman mythology the founding act of Rome. Virgil's work has had wide and deep influence on Western literature, most notably the Divine Comedy of Dante, in which Virgil appears as Dante's guide through hell and purgatory.
  Virgil's biographical tradition is thought to depend on a lost biography by Varius, Virgil's editor, which was incorporated into the biography by Suetonius and the commentaries of Servius and Donatus, the two great commentators on Virgil's poetry. Although the commentaries no doubt record much factual information about Virgil, some of their evidence can be shown to rely on inferences made from his poetry and allegorizing; thus, Virgil's biographical tradition remains problematic.
  
  wn.com/Virgil