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![Alan Watt [22th Sept 2011] - Club of Rome says We're Post-Democratic](http://web.archive.org./web/20130225010701im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/DjR3KRsXrvA/default.jpg "Article Links at www.cuttingthroughthematrix.com")
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- 1900 Summer Olympics
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1908 Summer Olympics
The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic Games. However, the Athens Games of 1906 have since been downgraded by the International Olympic Committee and the 1908 Games are seen as the start of the Fourth Olympiad, in keeping with the now-accepted four-year cycle. The IOC president for these Games was Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
Italian authorities were preparing to hold the games when Mount Vesuvius erupted on April 7, 1906, devastating the city of Naples. Funds were diverted to the reconstruction of Naples, so a new venue was required. London was selected, and the games were held in White City alongside the Franco-British Exhibition, at the time the more noteworthy event. Berlin and Milan were other candidates.
The White City Stadium, built in short time for the games, held 68,000 and was considered by some[who?] a technological marvel. The stadium track was three laps to the mile, not the current standard of 400 metres, with a pool for swimming and diving and platforms for wrestling and gymnastics in the middle.
wn.com/1908_Summer_Olympics -
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same year since 1924, and place them in alternating even-numbered years, beginning in 1994. The 1992 Summer Games were the last to be staged in the same year as the Winter Games. Due to the end of the Cold War, these games were the first without boycotts since 1972.
Barcelona, the birthplace of then-IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, was selected over Amsterdam, Belgrade, Birmingham, Brisbane and Paris in Lausanne, Switzerland, on October 17, 1986, during the 91st IOC Session. It had bid for the 1936 Summer Olympics, losing out to Berlin.
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
169 nations sent athletes to compete in these Games (the number of competitors for each country below is given in brackets). With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, twelve states formed a Unified Team, while the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had their own teams. For the first time, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina competed as independent nations after separation from Socialist Yugoslavia. Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was banned due to UN sanctions, but individual Yugoslav athletes were allowed to take part as Independent Olympic Participants. It was also the first Olympics since 1964 that a unified Germany competed at the Olympics. This was the Olympic debut for Namibia and the unified team of Yemen, after several separate participations of North and South Yemen. South Africa returned to the Games after 32 years. Four National Olympic Committees didn't send their athletes to compete: Afghanistan, Brunei, Liberia and Somalia.
wn.com/1992_Summer_Olympics -
Abkhazia
Abkhazia (Abkhaz: Аҧсны́ Apsny, IPA /apʰsˈnɨ/; Georgian: აფხაზეთი Apkhazeti; Russian: Абхазия Abkhaziya) is a disputed territory on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.
Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny. This status is recognised by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, Tuvalu and Vanuatu and also by the partially recognised states of South Ossetia, Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Georgian government and the majority of the world's governments consider Abkhazia a part of Georgia's territory. Under Georgia's official designation it is an autonomous republic, called the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, whose government sits in exile in Tbilisi. On 28 August 2008, the Parliament of Georgia passed a resolution declaring Abkhazia a "Russian-occupied territory".
The status of Abkhazia is a central issue of the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict. The wider region formed part of the Soviet Union until 1991. As the Soviet Union began to disintegrate towards the end of the 1980s, ethnic tensions grew between Abkhaz and Georgians over Georgia's moves towards independence. This led to the 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia that resulted in a Georgian military defeat, de facto independence of Abkhazia and the mass exodus and ethnic cleansing of the Georgian population from Abkhazia. In spite of the 1994 ceasefire agreement and years of negotiations, the status dispute has not been resolved, and despite the long-term presence of a United Nations monitoring force and a Russian-dominated Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) peacekeeping operation, the conflict has flared up on several occasions. In August 2008, the sides again fought during the South Ossetia War, which was followed by the formal recognition of Abkhazia by Russia, the annulment of the 1994 cease fire agreement and the termination of the UN and CIS missions.[citation needed]
wn.com/Abkhazia -
Achacachi
Achacachi is a town on the Altiplano plateau in the South American Andes in the La Paz Department in Bolivia. It is the capital of the Omasuyos Province.
Achacachi, as an establishment, existed before the arrival of the Spaniards, as shown by descriptions that were made on "cronicas" and "relaciones" (official papers written by authorities) by royal or ecclesiastical Spanish authorities[citation needed]. Achacachi was the capital of a colla "señorio" called Pacasa, in the "Umasuyus" (from Aymara: "shore side") region, which was located alongside the East of Lake Intikjarka (Titicaca) in the Peru-Bolivian plateau.
Achacachi is at an elevation of 3,854 m or 12.647 feet amsl on the Achacachi peninsula on the eastern shores of Lake Titicaca, 96 km (60 mi) northwest of the capital La Paz.
Coordinates: 16°02′40″S 68°41′06″W / 16.04444°S 68.685°W / -16.04444; -68.685
wn.com/Achacachi -
Aeolian Islands
The Aeolian Islands or Lipari Islands (Italian: Isole Eolie, pronounced [ˈiːzole eˈɔːlje], Sicilian: Ìsuli Eoli) are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily, named after the demigod of the winds Aeolus. The locals residing on the islands are known as Eolians (Italian: Eoliani). The Aeolian Islands are a popular tourist destination in the summer, and attract up to 200,000 visitors annually.
The largest island is Lipari. The other islands include Vulcano, Salina, Stromboli, Filicudi, Alicudi, Panarea and Basiluzzo.
The present shape of the Aeolian Islands is the result of volcanic activity over a period of 260,000 years. There are two active volcanoes - Stromboli and Vulcano. The volcanic activity of steaming fumaroles and thermal waters are on most of the islands. Only the one on Stromboli, the northernmost island, is still active.
Scientifically the archipelago is defined as a "volcanic arc". Geology explains the origin of the Aeolian Islands is due to movement of the Earth's crust as a result of plate tectonics. The African continental shelf is in constant movement towards Europe. The resulting collision has created a volcanic area with ruptures in the Earth's crust with consequent eruptions of magma. The "Eolian Arc" extends for more than 140 kilometres, but the area of geological instability caused by the collision of Africa and Europe is very much larger. It includes Sicily, Calabria, Campania together with Greece and the Aegean islands.
wn.com/Aeolian_Islands -
Affile
Affile (Latin: Afilae) is a comune (municipality) in the province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 50 km east of Rome.
Archaeology has showed the existence of a pre-Roman centre here, on the border of the lands of the Hernici and the Aequi. In the 1st century AD it is mentioned as oppidum Afile by Frontinus. It was crossed by the Via Sublacense.
In the 10th century a village existed in the former Roman oppidum, centred on the church of St. Peter. In 1013 a castle (castrum) is cited in Affile, which in 1109 was ceded by Pope Paschal II to the Abbey of St. Scholastica of Subiaco. Later it was a possession of the Altieri and Braschi families.
wn.com/Affile -
Albania
Albania (
i/ælˈbeɪniə/ al-BAY-nee-ə, Albanian: Shqipëri/Shqipëria; Gheg Albanian: Shqipnia), officially known as the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika e Shqipërisë pronounced Albanian pronunciation: [ɾɛpuˈblika ɛ ʃcipəˈɾiːs]), is a country in Southern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the west, and on the Ionian Sea to the southwest. It is less than 72 km (45 mi) from Italy, across the Strait of Otranto which links the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea.
Albania is a member of the UN, NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Council of Europe, World Trade Organisation, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and one of the founding members of the Union for the Mediterranean. Albania has been a potential candidate for accession to the European Union since January 2003, and it formally applied for EU membership on 28 April 2009.
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Albano Laziale
Albano Laziale (IPA: [alˈbaːno latˈtsjaːle], Albanum in Latin, Arbanassi in Roman dialect) is a comune in the province of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Latium, central Italy. It is also a suburb of Rome, which is 25 km distant. It is bounded by other communes of Castel Gandolfo, Rocca di Papa, Ariccia and Ardea. Located in the Castelli Romani area of Lazio. It is sometimes known simply as Albano.
Albano is one of the most important municipalities of the Castelli Romani, and a busy commercial center. It was also a suburbicarian bishopric since the 5th century, a historic principality of the Savelli family, and from 1699 to 1798 the inalienable possession of the Holy See. It now houses, among other things, the Praetor of the district court of Velletri. The territory of Albano is partially included in the Parco Regionale dei Castelli Romani.
The territory of Albano Laziale is 23.80 km 2 and one of the largest of Colli Albani; sixth after Velletri (112.21 km 2), Lanuvio (43.91 2), Rocca di Papa (40.18 2) Rocca Priora ( 28.07 km 2) and Marino (26.10 2). According to the classification given by the Geological Survey of Italy most of the territory is similar to other areas of the Colli Albani, from lands classified as v 2.
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Alberobello
Alberobello is a small town and comune in the province of Bari, in Puglia, Italy. It has about 11,000 inhabitants and is famous for its unique trulli constructions. The Trulli of Alberobello are part of the UNESCO World Heritage sites list since 1996.
Media related to Alberobello at Wikimedia Commons
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Algiers
Algiers (Arabic: الجزائر, al-Jazā’ir; Algerian Arabic: دزاير, Berber: Dzayer / ⴷⵣⴰⵢⴻⵔ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000. An estimate puts the population at about 3,574,000 as of 2010.
Called El-Behdja (البهجة) or alternatively Alger la Blanche ("Algiers the White") for the glistening white of its buildings as seen rising up from the sea, Algiers is situated on the west side of a bay of the Mediterranean Sea. The modern part of the city is built on the level ground by the seashore; the old part, the ancient city of the deys, climbs the steep hill behind the modern town and is crowned by the casbah or citadel, 122 metres (400 ft) above the sea. The casbah and the two quays form a triangle.
The city name is derived (via French Alger and Catalan Alger) from the Arabic name الجزائر al-Jazā’ir, which translates as "The Islands", referring to the four islands which lay off the city's coast until becoming part of the mainland in 1525. Al-Jazā’ir is itself a truncated form of the city's older name جزائر بني مازغان Jazā’ir Banī Mazghannā, "The Islands of the Sons of Mazghanna", used by early medieval geographers such as al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi.
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Allumiere
Allumiere is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 60 km northwest of Rome.
Allumiere is traditionally divided into the contrade of Burò, Ghetto, La Bianca, Nona, Polveriera, and Sant'Antonio.
Allumiere was founded in the late 15th century to house the workers and the administrators of the important mines of alunite of the nearby Monti della Tolfa range. The exploitation lasted until 1941.
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Amalfi Coast
The Amalfi Coast (Italian: Costiera Amalfitana) is a stretch of coastline on the southern coast of the Sorrentine Peninsula in the Province of Salerno in Southern Italy. The Amalfi Coast is a popular tourist destination for the region and Italy as a whole, attracting thousands of tourists annually. During the 10th–11th centuries, the Duchy of Amalfi existed on the territory of the Amalfi Coast, centered in the town of Amalfi, until it was sacked by the Republic of Pisa in 1137. In 1997, the Amalfi Coast was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a cultural landscape.
Like the rest of the region, the Amalfi Coast lies in a Mediterranean climate, featuring warm summers and mild winters. It is located on the relatively steep southern shore of the Sorrentine Peninsula, leaving little room for rural and agricultural territories. The only land route to the Amalfi Coast is the 40 kilometres (25 mi) long Strada Statale 163 which runs along the coastline from the town of Maiori in the east to Positano in the west. Thirteen municipalities are located on the Amalfi Coast, many of them centered around tourism.
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Amsterdam
Amsterdam (English /ˈæmstərdæm/; Dutch: [ˌɑmstərˈdɑm] (
listen)) is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The city's status as the capital of the nation is governed by the constitution. Amsterdam has a population of 790,654 within city limits, an urban population of 1,209,419 and a metropolitan population of 2,289,762. The city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. It comprises the northern part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe, with a population of approximately 7 million.
Amsterdam's name is derived from Amstelredamme, indicative of the city's origin: a dam in the river Amstel. Settled as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age, a result of its innovative developments in trade. During that time, the city was the leading center for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were formed. The 17th-century canals of Amsterdam (in Dutch: 'Grachtengordel'), located in the heart of Amsterdam, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2010.
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Ancona
Ancona ([aŋˈkoːna] ( listen), from Greek: Ἀγκών - Ankon) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 102,997 (2010). Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region.
The city is located 280 km (170 mi) northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic Sea, between the slopes of the two extremities of the promontory of Monte Conero, Monte Astagno and Monte Guasco.
Ancona is one of the main ports on the Adriatic Sea, especially for passenger traffic, and is the main economic and demographic centre of the region.
The climate of Ancona is both Mediterranean and continental. Winters are quite cold (Jan. mean temp. +5°C), with frequent rain and fog. Low temperatures can reach -10°C outside the city centre. Snow is not unusual when the air masses come from the north or from the east, and can be heavy at times. Summers are warm (July mean temp. +22.5°C) and humid, especially by the sea. High temperatures sometimes reach +35°C / +40°C, especially when the wind blows from the south or the west (föhn effect). Thunderstorms are quite common, particularly in August and September. Spring and autumn are really changeable seasons, but generally mild.
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Andorra
Andorra (i/ænˈdɔrə/; Catalan pronunciation: [ənˈdorə], locally: [anˈdɔra]), officially the Principality of Andorra (Catalan: Principat d'Andorra), also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, (Catalan: Principat de les Valls d'Andorra), is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of 468 km2 (181 sq mi) and an estimated population of 84,082 in 2009. Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 ft) above sea level. The official language is Catalan, although Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also commonly spoken.
The Principality was formed in 1278. The role of monarch is exercised jointly by the two co-princes, the Catalan Bishop of Urgell and the President of France (the whole state is a part of Diocese of Urgell).
Andorra is a prosperous country mainly because of its tourism industry, which services an estimated 10.2 million visitors annually, and also because of its status as a tax haven. It is not a member of the European Union, but the euro is the de facto currency. The people of Andorra have the 4th highest human life expectancy in the world — 82 years at birth.
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Andorra la Vella
Andorra la Vella (Catalan pronunciation: [ənˈdorə ɫə ˈβeʎə], locally: [anˈdɔra la ˈβeʎa]) is the capital of the Principality of Andorra, and is located high in the east Pyrenees between France and Spain. It is also the name of the parish that surrounds the capital.
As of 2011, the city has a population of 22,256, and the urban area, which includes Escaldes-Engordany plus satellite villages, has over 40,000 inhabitants.
The principal industry is tourism, although the country also earns foreign income from being a tax haven. Furniture and brandies are local products. Being at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 ft), it is the highest capital city in Europe and a popular ski resort.
The site of Andorra la Vella (literally, "Andorra the Old") has been settled since prior to the Christian era—notably by the Andosin tribe from the late Neolithic. The state is one of the Marca Hispanica created and protected by Charlemagne in the eighth century as a buffer from the Moorish settlers in the Iberian Peninsula.
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Anguillara Sabazia
Anguillara Sabazia is a town and comune in the Province of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, around 30 km northwest of Rome. It nestles on a small cape on the coast of the Lake Bracciano; its medieval center and its beach make it a popular destination for tourists.
Anguillara is served by a local train (line "FR3", or Rome-Capranica-Viterbo Railroad) which connects it with Rome (stations of Roma Ostiense and of Valle Aurelia) in around 40 minutes.
Three kilometres east of the town lies the small, volcanic Lake Martignano, also popular with tourists. The two lakes and the surrounding area have been declared a Regional Park and are under a strict naturalistic control.
A two-part episode of the American sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond was shot in the town.
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Aniene
The Aniene River (in Latin: Anio; formerly called the Teverone) is a 98 km river in Lazio, Italy. It originates in the mountains at Trevi nel Lazio and flows westward past Subiaco, Vicovaro, and Tivoli into the Tiber. In antiquity, most of the Roman aqueducts had their sources either at the Aniene or the streams flowing into it.
Notable historic bridges across the river include the Ponte Nomentano, Ponte Salario and Ponte di San Francesco, all of which were originally fortified with towers. The Roman-built Subiaco Dam at the town of the same name is considered the highest ancient dam and remained in use until its destruction in 1305.
The Aniene in Subiaco
The falls at Tivoli
The falls at Tivoli
Tivoli falls from Villa Gregoriana
Media related to Aniene at Wikimedia Commons
Coordinates: 41°56′30″N 12°30′07″E / 41.941745°N 12.50181°E / 41.941745; 12.50181
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Ankara
Ankara (Turkish pronunciation: [ˈan.ka.ɾa]; historically known as Angora) is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of 938 metres (3,077 ft), and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million.
Centrally located in Anatolia, Ankara is an important commercial and industrial city. It is the center of the Turkish Government, and houses all foreign embassies. It is an important crossroads of trade, strategically located at the centre of Turkey's highway and railway networks, and serves as the marketing centre for the surrounding agricultural area. The city was famous for its long-haired Angora goat and its prized wool (mohair), a unique breed of cat (Angora cat), Angora rabbits and their prized wool (Angora wool), pears, honey, and the region's muscat grapes.
The historical center of Ankara is situated upon a rocky hill, which rises 150 m (492 ft) above the plain on the left bank of the Ankara Çayı, a tributary of the Sakarya (Sangarius) river. The city is located at 39°52'30" North, 32°52' East (39°52′30″N 32°50′00″E / 39.875°N 32.8333°E / 39.875; 32.8333Coordinates: 39°52′30″N 32°50′00″E / 39.875°N 32.8333°E / 39.875; 32.8333), about 450 km (280 mi) to the southeast of Istanbul, the country's largest city. Although situated in one of the driest places of Turkey and surrounded mostly by steppe vegetation except for the forested areas on the southern periphery, Ankara can be considered a green city in terms of green areas per inhabitant, which is 72 m2 per head.
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Anticoli Corrado
Anticoli Corrado is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km northeast of Rome. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 932 and an area of 16.3 km².
Anticoli Corrado borders the following municipalities: Mandela, Marano Equo, Rocca Canterano, Roviano, Saracinesco.
Anticoli became known in the 19thcentury because its young inhabitants used to pose as models for the community of artists living near Piazza di Spagna. Some artists eventually went to see the birthplace of their models and found Anticoli a very picturesque site to the point of living there for some time. The town attracted artists until World War II. Anticoli and some of the neighbouring towns (shown in this page) were portrayed in many paintings. Anticoli can be reached from Tivoli following Via Tiburtina Valeria.
Stanley Kramer's The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) was almost entirely shot here.
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Anzio
Anzio is a city and comune on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about 56 km (35 mi) south of Rome.
Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands of Ponza, Palmarola and Ventotene. The city bears great historical significance as the site of a crucial Allied landing during World War II.
Called Antium in ancient times, it was the capital of the Volsci people until it was conquered by the Romans.
With the latter expansion of Rome it was just far enough away to be insulated from the riots and tumults of Rome. When Cicero returned from exile, it was at Antium that he reassembled the battered remains of his libraries, where the scrolls would be secure. Leading Romans built magnificent seaside villas at Antium. The Julian and Claudian emperors frequently visited it: Gaius Maecenas had a villa at Antium; both Emperor Caligula and Nero were born in Antium; the latter founded a colony of veterans and built a new harbour, the projecting moles of which still exist.
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Aosta
Aosta
listen (help·info) (French: Aoste, Arpitan: Aoûta; Latin: Augusta Prætoria) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, 110 km (68 mi) north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, at the confluence of the Buthier and the Dora Baltea, and at the junction of the Great and Little St. Bernard routes. Aosta is not the capital of the province, because Aosta Valley is the only Italian region not divided into provinces. Provincial administrative functions are instead shared by the region and the communes.
Aosta was settled in proto-historic times and later became a centre of the Salassi, many of whom were killed or sold into slavery by the Romans in 25 BC. The campaign was led by Marcus Terentius Varro, who then founded the Roman colony of Augusta Praetoria Salassorum, housing 3,000 retired veterans. After 11 BC Aosta became the capital of the Alpes Graies ("Grey Alps") province of the Empire. Its position at the confluence of two rivers, at the end of the Great and the Little St Bernard Pass, gave it considerable military importance, and its layout was that of a Roman military camp.
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Apostolic Palace
The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, which is located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Sacred Palace, the Papal Palace and the Palace of the Vatican. The Vatican itself refers to the building as the Palace of Sixtus V in honor of Pope Sixtus V.
The palace is more accurately a series of self-contained buildings within the well-recognised outer structure which is arranged around the Courtyard of Sixtus V (Cortile di Sisto V). It is located North-East of St Peter's Basilica and adjacent to the Bastion of Nicholas V and Palace of Gregory XIII.
Rather than a traditional palace (a residential building surrounded by support buildings) the Apostolic Palace houses both residential and support offices of various functions as well as administrative offices not focused on the life and functions of the Pope himself.
The building contains the Papal Apartments, various government offices of the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy See, private and public chapels, Vatican Museums and the Vatican library, including the Borgia Apartment now used to house artworks.
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Apulia
Coordinates: 41°0′31″N 16°30′46″E / 41.00861°N 16.51278°E / 41.00861; 16.51278
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises 19,345 square kilometers (7,469 sq mi), and its population is about 4.1 million. It is bordered by the other Italian regions of Molise to the north, Campania to the west, and Basilicata to the southwest. It neighbors Greece and Albania, across the Ionian and Adriatic Seas, respectively. The region extends as far north as Monte Gargano, and was the scene of the last stages in the Second Punic War.
Situated at the south-eastern tip of the Italian peninsula, Apulia covers over 19,000 square kilometers (7,336 sq mi) in succession of broad plains and low-lying hills. The central area of the region is occupied by the Murge, a vast, semi-arid karst plateau. The only mountainous areas, the Gargano promontory and the Monti Dauni, do not exceed 1,150 m (3,800 ft) and are to be found in the north of Apulia, which is the least mountainous region in Italy.
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Aquileia
{{For the Titular Archbishop of Aquileia}}
Aquileia (Friulian: Acuilee/Aquilee/Aquilea, Venetian: Aquiłeja/Aquiłegia, Slovene: Oglej) is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso (modern Natissa), the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times. Today, the city is small (about 3,500 inhabitants), but it was large and prominent in Antiquity, and is one of the main archeological sites of Northern Italy.
Aquileia was founded as a colony by the Romans in 180/181 BC along the Natissa River, on land south of the Julian Alps but about 8 miles north of the lagoons. Presumably named from an indigenous word Akylis, the colony served as a frontier fortress at the north-east corner of transpadane Italy and was intended to protect the Veneti, faithful Roman allies, during the Illyrian Wars and act as a buttress to check the advance of other warlike people, such as the hostile Carni and Histri tribes. In fact, Aquileia was founded on a site not far from where Gaulish invaders had attempted to settle in 183 BC.
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Ara Pacis
The Ara Pacis Augustae (Latin, "Altar of Augustan Peace"; commonly shortened to Ara Pacis) is an altar to Peace, envisioned as a Roman goddess. It was commissioned by the Roman Senate on 4 July 13 BC to honor the triumphal return from Hispania and Gaul of the Roman emperor Augustus, and was consecrated on 30 January 9 BC by the Senate to celebrate the peace established in the Empire after Augustus's victories. The altar was meant to be a vision of the Roman civil religion. It sought to portray the peace and fertile prosperity enjoyed as a result of the Pax Augusta (Latin, "Augustan peace") brought about by the military supremacy of the Roman empire, and act as a visual reminder of the Julio-Claudian dynasty that was bringing it about.
The Ara Pacis stood within an enclosure elaborately and finely sculpted entirely in gleaming white marble, depicting scenes of traditional Roman piety, in which the Emperor and his family were portrayed in the act of offering sacrifices to the gods. Various figures bring forth cattle to be sacrificed. Some have their togas drawn over their heads, like a hood; this signifies that they are acting in their official capacity as priests. Others wear laurel crowns, traditional symbols of victory. Men, women, and children all approach the gods. Themes of civil peace are linked to themes of the dynastic Julio-Claudian claims, and the importance of religion as a civilizing force, in rites of which some were consciously being revived for the occasion, according to Augustus himself.
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Arch of Constantine
The Arch of Constantine (Italian: Arco di Costantino) is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was erected to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312. Dedicated in 315, it is the latest of the existing triumphal arches in Rome, from which it differs by spolia, the extensive re-use of parts of earlier buildings.
The arch is 21 m high, 25.9 m wide and 7.4 m deep. It has three archways, the central one being 11.5 m high and 6.5 m wide, the lateral archways 7.4 m by 3.4 m each. The top (called attic) is brickwork reveted with marble. A staircase formed in the thickness of the arch is entered from a door at some height from the ground, in the end towards the Palatine Hill.
The general design with a main part structured by detached columns and an attic with the main inscription above is modelled after the example of the Arch of Septimius Severus on the Roman Forum. It has been suggested that the lower part of the arch is re-used from an older monument, probably from the times of the emperor Hadrian (Conforto et al., 2001; for a defence of the view that the whole arch was constructed in the 4th century, see Pensabene & Panella).
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Arcinazzo Romano
Arcinazzo Romano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 50 km east of Rome.
Arcinazzo Romano borders the following municipalities: Affile, Jenne, Piglio, Roiate, Serrone, Subiaco, Trevi nel Lazio.
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Ariccia
Ariccia (Latin Aricia) is a town and comune in the Province of Rome, central Italy. It is in the Alban Hills of the Lazio (Latium) region and could be considered an extension of Rome's southeastern suburbs. One of the Castelli Romani towns, Ariccia is located in the regional park known as the "Parco Regionale dei Castelli Romani".
Ariccia is the center of a region that was extremely important in Roman and pre-Roman mythology and religion because of its association with the goddess Diana and the god Virbius. Legend also recalls that it served as a temporary burial place of the Greek hero Orestes (Servius on Aeneid, ii. 116). Aricia was one of the oldest cities of ancient Latium, and as the leader of the Latin League was a serious contender against Rome during the early days of the Roman Republic.
In modern times, Ariccia has become famous for its porchetta, pork that is slowly roasted with herbs and wild fennel, and it has been known since historical times for its wine. The comune of Ariccia includes the frazioni of Vallericcia and Fontana di Papa. It is bounded by the communes of Albano Laziale, Castel Gandolfo, Genzano di Roma and Marino Laziale.
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Armenia
Armeniai/ɑrˈmiːniə/ (Armenian: Հայաստան Hayastan [hɑjɑsˈtɑn]), officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun, [hɑjɑstɑˈni hɑnɾɑpɛtuˈtʰjun]), is a landlocked, mountainous country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.
A former republic of the Soviet Union, Armenia is a unitary, multiparty, democratic nation-state with an ancient and historic cultural heritage. The Kingdom of Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its religion, in the early years of the 4th century (the traditional date is 301 AD). The modern Republic of Armenia recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest national church, as the country's primary religious establishment. Armenians have their own unique alphabet invented by Mesrob Mashtots in 406 AD.
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Arnhem
Arnhem (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑrn.ɦɛm] ( listen), South Guelderish: Èrnem) is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located on both banks of the river Nederrijn as well as on the Sint-Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has almost 150,000 residents (per 1 January 2012) as one of the larger cities of the Netherlands. The municipality is part of the city region Arnhem-Nijmegen, a metropolitan area with 736,500 inhabitants. Arnhem is home to the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen and ArtEZ Institute of the Arts.
Arnhem was first mentioned as such in 893 as Arneym or Arentheym, referring to the many eagles that inhabited the hills and forests of Arnhem back then. Traces of human residence date back much further, however.
The oldest archeological findings of human activity around Arnhem are two firestones of about 70,000 years ago. This comes from the stone age, when the Neanderthals lived in this part of Europe. In Schuytgraaf, tracks of a hunter's camp have been discovered from around 5000 BC. In Schaarsbergen, 12 grave mounds were found from 2400 BC, which brought the so-called Neolithic revolution to the area of Arnhem, i.e. the rise of the farmers.
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Arsoli
Arsoli is a town and comune in the province of Rome, central Italy.
The fair held on St. Bartholomew's Day at Arsoli is one of the oldest attested fairs of the region.
Arsoli was mentioned first in AD 997.
The narrow ancient streets of the picturesquely sited and massed medieval centre are still preserved, as well as the castello, once a possession of the Benedictine Order; it dates from the 11th century. The castle is built at the end of a spur, overlooking Arsoli on one side and extending formal gardens on the other. four frescoed rooms on the piano nobile are flanked by guardrooms hung with arms and armor and family portraits: it has been in the possession of the Massimo family, whose head, H.E. the Prince Massimo, is Principe e Signore di Arsoli (Prince and Lord of Arsoli). This rocca has been in his possession since it was purchased by Fabrizio Massimo in 1574. He commissioned Giacomo Della Porta to remodel the church and commissioned the construction of an aqueduct to supplement inadequate wells, for the abundant springs of Arsoli have been tapped to serve the city of Rome since 600 BC, traditional date of an aqueduct, built, according to tradition, by Ancus Marcius.
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Artena
Artena is a village and comune in the province of Rome, Italy. It is situated in the northwest of Monti Lepini, in the upper valley of the Sacco River. It is approximately 40 km southeast by rail, and 30 km direct from Rome.
Economy is based on agriculture, animal husbandry and tourism.
The name of the original village of the Volsci is uncertain; Ecetra or Fortinum are possible suggestions.
In the Middle Ages it was a fief of various Roman baronal families, such as the Colonna, the Orsini and the Borghese.
The modern village was called Monte Fortino until 1873. It owes its present name to an unproven identification of the site with the ancient Volscian Artena, destroyed in 404 BC. Another Artena, which belonged to the district of Caere, and lay between it and Veii, was destroyed in the period of the kings, and its site is unknown.
On the mountain (600 m) above the village are the fine remains of the fortifications of a city built in a very primitive style, in cyclopean blocks of local limestone. Within the walls are traces of buildings, and a massive terrace which supported some edifice of importance.
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Assisi
Assisi (Italian pronunciation: [asˈsiːzi], from the Latin: Asisium) is a town and comune of Italy in the province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio.
It was the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the Franciscan religious order in the town in 1208, and St. Clare (Chiara d'Offreducci), the founder of the Poor Sisters, which later became the Order of Poor Clares after her death. The 19th-century Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows was also born in Assisi.
Around 1000 BC a wave of immigrants settled in the upper Tiber valley as far as the Adriatic Sea, and also in the neighborhood of Assisi. These were the Umbrians, living in small fortified settlements on high ground. From 450 BC these settlements were gradually taken over by the Etruscans. The Romans took control of central Italy by the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC. They built the flourishing municipium Asisium on a series of terraces on Monte Subasio. Roman remains can still be found in Assisi: city walls, the forum (now Piazza del Comune), a theatre, an amphitheatre and the Temple of Minerva (now transformed into the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva). In 1997, the remains of a Roman villa were also discovered containing several well preserved rooms with frescoes and mosaics in a condition rarely found outside sites such as Pompei.
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Astana
Astana (Russian/Kazakh: Астана, formerly known as Akmola (Kazakh: Ақмола / Aqmola, until 1998), Целиноград / Tselinograd until 1992) and Akmolinsk (Russian: Акмолинск, until 1961), is the capital and second largest city (after Almaty) of Kazakhstan, with an officially estimated population of 708,794 as of 1 August 2010. It is located in the north-central portion of Kazakhstan, within Akmola Province, though administrated separately from the province as a federal city area.
The current mayor of Astana is Imangali Tasmagambetov. He was appointed on 4 April 2008.
The word Astana in Kazakh literally means Capital but the word itself originates from Persian Astane (Persian: آستانه means "sublime threshold," "royal porte" implying a royal capital city or a holy shrine town, (from the Persian verb Istadan (آستان) 'to stand' (in respect)), and literally means "threshold" (royal or sacred, where people stand in respect or awe),[citation needed] implying where the court is seated (the capital city) or the body of a sacred person is interred (a shrine town). The city of Turkistan in Kazakhstan that hosts the body of the saint Ahmad Yasavi is also called the "astana" as is the city of Mashhad in Iran that is the burial place of the 8th Shiite Imam Reza. In fact, long before becoming the new capital of Kazakhstan, the city was "an astana," a burial ground of a saint, hence the old name of the city, Ak Mola (Ақмола), "white mausoleum."
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Atlanta
Atlanta ( /ətˈlæntə/, stressed /ætˈlæntə/, locally /ætˈlænə/) is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia with a 2010 population of 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest in the U.S. It is a major component of a growing southeastern megalopolis known as the Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion. Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County, and a small portion of the city extends eastward into DeKalb County.
Atlanta began as a settlement located at the terminus of a railroad line, and it was incorporated in 1845. Today, the city is a major business city and the primary transportation hub of the Southeastern United States (via highway, railroad, and air), with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being the world's busiest airport since 1998. The World Cities Study Group at Loughborough University rated Atlanta as an "alpha(-) world city." With a gross domestic product of US$270 billion, Atlanta's economy ranks 15th among world cities and sixth in the nation. The city is a center for services, finance, information technology, government, and higher education. Metro Atlanta contains the country's third largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies, and is the world headquarters of The Coca-Cola Company, Turner Broadcasting, The Home Depot, AT&T Mobility, UPS, and Delta Air Lines. As of 2010, Atlanta is the seventh most visited city in the United States, with over 35 million visitors per year.
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Aurelian Walls
The Aurelian Walls (Italian: Mura aureliane) is a line of city walls built between 271 AD and 275 AD in Rome, Italy, during the reign of the Roman Emperors Aurelian and Probus.
The walls enclosed all the seven hills of Rome plus the Campus Martius and, on the right bank of the Tiber, the Trastevere district. The river banks within the city limits appear to have been left unfortified, although they were fortified along the Campus Martius.
The full circuit ran for 19 kilometres (12 mi) surrounding an area of 13.7 square kilometres (5.3 sq mi). The walls were constructed in brick-faced concrete, 3.5 metres (11 ft) thick and 8 metres (26 ft) high, with a square tower every 100 Roman feet (29.6 metres (97 ft)).
In the 5th century, remodelling doubled the height of the walls to 16 metres (52 ft). By 500 AD, the circuit possessed 383 towers, 7,020 crenellations, 18 main gates, 5 postern gates, 116 latrines, and 2,066 large external windows.
By the third century AD, the boundaries of Rome had grown far beyond the area enclosed by the old Servian Wall, built during the Republican period in the late 4th century BC. Rome had remained unfortified during the subsequent centuries of expansion and consolidation. The need for better defences became acute during the crisis of the Third Century, when barbarian tribes flooded through the Germanic frontier and the Roman Army struggled to stop them. In 270, the barbarian Juthungi and Vandals invaded northern Italy, inflicting a severe defeat on the Romans at Placentia (modern Piacenza) before eventually being driven back. Further trouble broke out in Rome itself in the summer of 271, when the mint workers rose in rebellion. Several thousand people died in the fierce fighting that resulted.
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Australia
Australia ( /əˈstreɪljə/), officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent as well as the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.
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Austria
Austria (i/ˈɒstriə/ or /ˈɔːstriə/; German: Österreich [ˈøːstɐˌʁaɪç] ( listen)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich (help·info)), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.47 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,855 square kilometres (32,377 sq mi) and has a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speak local Austro-Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other local official languages are Burgenland Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.
The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria became one of the great powers of Europe and, in response to the coronation of Napoleon I as the Emperor of the French, the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary.
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Aventine Hill
The Aventine Hill is one of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the twelfth rione, or ward, of Rome.
The Aventine hill (in Latin, Collis Aventinus) is the southernmost of Rome's seven hills. It comprises two distinct heights, one greater to the northwest and one lesser to the southeast, divided by a steep cleft that provides the base for an ancient roadway between the heights. During the Republican era the two hills may have been recognised as a single entity.
The Augustan reforms of Rome's urban neighbourhoods (vici) recognised the ancient road between the two heights (the modern Viale Aventino) as a common boundary between the new Regio XIII, which absorbed Aventinus Maior, and the part of Regio XII known as Aventinus Minor.
Most Roman sources trace the name of the hill to a legendary king Aventinus. Servius identifies two kings of that name, one ancient Italic, and one Alban, both said to have been buried on the hill in remote antiquity. The hill, he says, was named after the first, Italic Aventinus or after the birds (aves) of ill omen that "rising from the Tiber" nested there. The Alban king would have been named after the hill. He cites and rejects Varro's proposition that the Sabines named the hill after the nearby Aventus river; likewise, he believes, the Aventinus fathered by Hercules on Rhea Silvia was likely named after the Aventine hill, not vice versa.
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Avignon
Coordinates: 43°57′N 4°49′E / 43.95°N 4.81°E / 43.95; 4.81
Avignon (French pronunciation: [aviˈɲɔ̃]; Occitan: Avinhon in classical norm or Avignoun in Mistralian norm) is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city (as of 1 January 2010), about 12,000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.
Often referred to as the "City of Popes" because of the presence of popes and antipopes from 1309 to 1423 during the Catholic schism, it is currently the largest city and capital of the département of Vaucluse. This is one of the few French cities to have preserved its ramparts, its historic centre, the palace of the popes, Rocher des Doms, and the bridge of Avignon. It was classified a World Heritage Site by UNESCO under the criteria I, II and IV.
As a showcase of arts and culture, the fame of its annual theatre festival, known as the Festival of Avignon, has far exceeded the French borders.
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Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (
i/ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ AZ-ər-by-JAHN; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası) is the largest country in the Caucasus region located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having a short borderline with Turkey to the northwest.
Azerbaijan has an ancient and historic cultural heritage. Aside from having been the first Muslim-majority country to have operas, theater and plays, Azerbaijan today is among the Muslim-majority countries where support for secularism and tolerance is the highest. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the first democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world, was established in 1918, but was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920. Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991. Shortly thereafter, during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, neighboring Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, its surrounding territories and the enclaves of Karki, Yukhary Askipara, Barkhudarly and Sofulu. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which emerged in Nagorno-Karabakh, continues to be not diplomatically recognized by any nation and the region is still considered a de jure part of Azerbaijan, despite being de facto independent since the end of the war. Azerbaijan has come under repeated international criticism for its record on human rights.
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Baku
Baku (Azerbaijani: Bakı, IPA: [bɑˈcɯ]), sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal parts: the downtown and the old Inner City (21.5 ha). Baku's urban population at the beginning of 2009 was estimated at just over two million people. Officially, about 25 percent of all inhabitants of the country live in the metropolitan city area of Baku.
Baku is divided into eleven administrative districts (raions) and 48 townships. Among these are the townships on islands in the Baku Bay and the town of Oil Rocks built on stilts in the Caspian Sea, 60 km (37 mi) away from Baku. The Inner City of Baku along with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. According to the Lonely Planet's ranking, Baku is also among the world's top ten destinations for urban nightlife.
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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.
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Bari
Bari listen (help·info) (Bari dialect: Bare; from Latin: Barium) is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia (or, in Italian, Puglia) region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas. The city itself has a decreasing population of about 320,000, as of 2009, over 116 km², while the fast-growing urban area counts 653,028 inhabitants over 203 km². The metropolitan area counts 1 million inhabitants.
Bari is made up of four different urban sections. To the north is the closely built old town on the peninsula between two modern harbours, with the splendid Basilica of Saint Nicholas, the Cathedral of San Sabino (1035–1171) and the Swabian Castle built for Frederick II, which is now also a major nightlife district. To the south is the Murat quarter (erected by Joachim Murat), the modern heart of the city, which is laid out on a rectangular grid-plan with a promenade on the sea and the major shopping district (the via Sparano and via Argiro).
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Basilicata
Coordinates: 40°30′N 16°30′E / 40.5°N 16.5°E / 40.5; 16.5
Basilicata (Italian pronunciation: [baziliˈkaːta]), also known as Lucania, is a region in the south of Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia (Puglia) to the north and east, and Calabria to the south, having one short southwestern coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania in the northwest and Calabria in the southwest, and a longer one to the southeast on the Gulf of Taranto on the Ionian Sea between Calabria in the southwest and Apulia in the northeast. The region can be thought of as the "instep" of Italy, with Calabria functioning as the "toe" and Apulia the "heel". The region covers about 10,000 km2 and in 2010 had a population of about 600,000. The regional capital is Potenza. The region is divided into two provinces: Potenza and Matera.
Basilicata covers an extensive part of the southern Apennines, between Ofanto in the north and the Monte Pollino massif in the south. It is bordered on the east by a large part of the Bradano river depression which is traversed by numerous streams and declines to the south eastern coastal plains on the Ionian sea. The region also has a short coastline to the south west on the Tyrrhenian side of the peninsula.
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Baths of Caracalla
The Baths of Caracalla (Italian: Terme di Caracalla) in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla. Chris Scarre provides a slightly longer construction period 211-217 AD.
They would have had to install over 2,000 tons of material every day for 6 years in order to complete it in this time period. Records show that the idea for the baths were drawn up by Septimius Severus, and merely completed or opened in the lifetime of Caracalla. This would allow for a longer construction time frame.
They are today a tourist attraction.
The baths remained in use until the 6th century when the complex was taken by the Ostrogoths during the Gothic War, at which time the hydraulic installations were destroyed. The bath was free and open to the public.
In the 19th and early 20th century, the design of the baths was used as the inspiration for several modern structures, including St George's Hall, Liverpool and Pennsylvania Station in New York City.
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Beijing
Beijing ( /beɪˈdʒɪŋ/; Chinese: 北京; pinyin: Běijīng, [peɪ˨˩ t͡ɕiŋ˥]), formerly romanized as Peking ( /piːˈkɪŋ/ or /peɪˈkɪŋ/), is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The metropolis, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government, with 14 urban and suburban districts and two rural counties. Beijing Municipality is surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin Municipality to the southeast.
Beijing is China's second largest city by urban population after Shanghai and is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's largest state-owned companies. Beijing is a major transportation hub in the national highway, expressway, railway and high-speed rail network. Beijing's Capital International Airport is the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic.
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Belarus
Belarus (i/bɛləˈruːs/ bel-ə-ROOSS; Belarusian: Беларусь, Russian pronunciation: [bʲɛlaˈrusʲ] Russian: Беларусь, Белоруссия, Belarus', Belorussiya), officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno (Hrodna), Gomel (Homiel), Mogilev (Mahilyow) and Vitebsk (Vitsebsk). Over forty percent of its 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) is forested, and its strongest economic sectors are agriculture and manufacturing.
Until the 20th century, the lands of modern-day Belarus belonged to several countries, including the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, Belarus became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR). The borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939 when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were incorporated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland. The nation and its territory were devastated in World War II, during which Belarus lost about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources. The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. In 1945 the Belorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR.
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Belgium
Belgium (i/ˈbɛldʒəm/ BEL-jəm), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a population of about 11 million people. Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups, the Dutch-speakers, mostly Flemish (about 60%), and the French-speakers, mostly Walloons (about 40%), plus a small group of German-speakers. Belgium's two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region, officially bilingual, is a mostly French-speaking enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in the political history and a complex system of government.
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Belgrade
Belgrade ( /ˈbɛlɡreɪd/; Serbian: Београд; [beǒɡrad] ( listen); names in other languages) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. Its name in English translates to White city. The city proper has a population of over 1.1 million, while its metropolitan area has over 1.6 million people, making it one of the largest cities in Southeast Europe.
One of the largest prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved around the area Belgrade in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco-Dacians inhabited the region, and after 279 BC Celts conquered the city, naming it Singidūn. It was conquered by the Romans during the reign of Augustus, and awarded city rights in the mid 2nd century. It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times before it became the capital of King Stephen Dragutin (1282–1316). In 1521 Belgrade was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and became the seat of a the Sanjak of Smederevo. It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. The north of Belgrade remained a Habsburg outpost until 1918, when it was merged into the capital city. As a strategic location, the city was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times. Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia (in various forms of governments) from its creation in 1918, to its final dissolution in 2006.
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Bellegra
Bellegra is a town and comune in the province of Rome.
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Berlin
Berlin ( /bɜrˈlɪn/; German pronunciation: [bɛɐ̯ˈliːn] ( listen)) is the capital city of Germany and one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.5 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city and is the second most populous city proper and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union. Located in northeastern Germany, it is the center of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, which has 5.9 million residents from over 190 nations. Located in the European Plains, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.
First documented in the 13th century, Berlin was the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) and the Third Reich (1933–1945).Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world. After World War II, the city became divided into East Berlin—the capital of East Germany—and West Berlin, a West German exclave surrounded by the Berlin Wall (1961–1989). Following German reunification in 1990, the city regained its status as the capital of Germany, hosting 147 foreign embassies.
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Bernina Railway
Coordinates: 46°24′32″N 10°1′11″E / 46.40889°N 10.01972°E / 46.40889; 10.01972
The Bernina Railway is a single track metre gauge railway line forming part of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB). It links the spa resort of St. Moritz, in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, with the town of Tirano, in the Province of Sondrio, Italy, via the Bernina Pass. It also ranks as the highest adhesion railway in the Alps, and - with inclines of up to 7% - as one of the steepest adhesion railways in the world.
On 7 July 2008, the Bernina Railway and the Albula Railway, which also forms part of the RhB, were recorded in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, under the name Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes. The whole site is regarded as a cross border joint Swiss-Italian heritage area.
The most famous trains operating on the Bernina Railway are known as the Bernina Express.
In the year following the completion of the Albula Railway in 1904, the Bernina-Bahngesellschaft (BB) was established, with the objective of opening a railway line between St Moritz and Tirano, via the Bernina Pass. After obtaining a concession for such a line in 1906, the BB opened it from 1908 onwards, in several sections: on 1 July 1908 between Pontresina and Morteratasch, and between Tirano and Poschiavo; on 18 August of the same year between Pontresina and Celerina; and on 1 July 1909 between Celerina and St Moritz, and between Morteratsch and Bernina Suot. It was only on 5 July 1910 that the whole line could be opened, upon completion of the most difficult section, between Bernina Suot and Poschiavo. From the beginning, the line was electrically operated with DC current, although in 1935 the voltage was increased from 750 V to 1000 V.
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Biblioteca Angelica
The Angelica Library (Italian: Biblioteca Angelica) is in Rome, Italy. It is a public library located in the Piazza Sant'Agostino square, next to the church of Sant'Agostino, not far from Piazza Navona.
The library holds about 180 000 volumes of manuscripts (among them Codex Angelicus) and 1 100 incunabula, which formerly belonged to the Augustinians. These works are important for our knowledge of the history of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.
The library was established in 1604 by Angelo Rocca (1546–1620), and belonged to the Augustinian monastery. It was the second library in Italy (after Biblioteca Ambrosiana) opened for a public service (in 1609).[citation needed]
Since 1940, the library has housed the archives of the Academy of Arcadia. Since 1975, the library has been under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture.
Coordinates: 41°54′03″N 12°28′29″E / 41.9008°N 12.4746°E / 41.9008; 12.4746
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Bocca della Verità
La Bocca della Verità (in English, "the Mouth of Truth") is an image, carved from Pavonazzetto marble, of a man-like face, located in the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome, Italy. The sculpture is thought to be part of a 1st century ancient Roman fountain, or perhaps a manhole cover, portraying one of several possible pagan gods, probably Oceanus. Most Romans believe that the 'Bocca' represents the ancient god of the river Tiber.
The most famous characteristic of the Mouth, however, is its role as a lie detector. Starting from the Middle Ages, it was believed that if one told a lie with one's hand in the mouth of the sculpture, it would be bitten off. The piece was placed in the portico of the Santa Maria in Cosmedin in the 17th century. This church is also home to the supposed relics of Saint Valentine.
The Mouth of Truth is known to English-speaking audiences mostly from its appearance in the 1953 film Roman Holiday. The film also uses the Mouth of Truth as a storytelling device since both Hepburn's and Peck's characters are not initially truthful with each other.
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Bologna
Bologna (Italian pronunciation: [boˈloɲɲa] ( listen); Emilian: Bulåggna pronounced [buˈləɲɲa]; Latin: Bononia) is the principal city (capital) of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Northern Italy. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history, art, cuisine, music, and culture. It is the seventh largest city in terms of population in Italy and it is the heart of a metropolitan area (officially recognized by the Italian government as a metropolitan city) of about 1,000,000 inhabitants. The urban sprawl of Bologna, including nearby Modena, whose metropolises are adjoining, is continuously expanding.
The city, the first settlements of which date back to at least one millennium before Christ, has always been an important urban center, first under the Etruscans (Velzna/Felsina) and the Celts (Bona), then under the Romans (Bononia), then again in the Middle Ages, as a free municipality (for one century it was the fifth largest European city based on population). Home to the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna, founded in 1088, Bologna hosts thousands of students who enrich the social and cultural life of the city. Famous for its towers and lengthy porticoes, Bologna has a well-preserved historical centre (one of the largest in Italy) thanks to a careful restoration and conservation policy which began at the end of the 1970s, on the heels of serious damage done by the urban demolition at the end of the 19th century as well as that caused by wars.
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Bracciano
Bracciano is a small town in the Italian region of Lazio, 30 km northwest of Rome. The town is famous for its volcanic lake (Lago di Bracciano or "Sabatino", the eighth largest lake in Italy) and for a particularly well-preserved medieval castle Castello Orsini-Odescalchi. The lake is widely used for sailing and is popular with tourists; the castle has hosted a number of events, especially weddings of actors and singers.
The town is served by an urban railway (Line FR3) which connects it with Rome (stations of Ostiense and Valle Aurelia) in about 55 minutes. Close to it lie the two medieval towns of Anguillara Sabazia and Trevignano Romano.
There is no certain information about the origins of Bracciano, on the Via Claudia overlooking the lake. It probably rose from one of the numerous towers built in the tenth century as a defence against the Saracen attacks, as implied by the ancient name of Castrum Brachiani. In the eleventh century the neighbouring territory was acquired by the Prefetti di Vico family, who turned the tower into a castle. Ferdinand Gregorovius dated the possession of Bracciano by the Orsini to 1234. The area was later acquired by the Roman hospital of Santo Spirito in Sassia and, from 1375, was a Papal possession.
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Brasília
Brasília (pronounced [bɾaˈziʎɐ] nationwide, in both colloquial and educated speech) is the federal capital of Brazil and the seat of government of the Federal District. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city is located in the Federal District, and is in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,562,963 (3,716,996 in the metropolitan area) as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the fourth largest city in Brazil. However, as a metropolitan area, it ranks lower at sixth. It is listed as a World Heritage Site UNESCO.
As the national capital, Brasília is the seat of all three branches of the Brazilian government. The city also hosts the headquarters of many Brazilian companies. Planning policies such as the location of residential buildings around expansive urban areas, as well as building the city around large avenues and dividing it into sectors, have sparked a debate and reflection on life in big cities in the 20th century. The city's design divides it into numbered blocks as well as sectors for specified activities, such as the Hotel Sector, the Banking Sector or the Embassy Sector. Brasília hosts 124 foreign embassies.
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Brazil
Brazili/brəˈzɪl/ (Portuguese: Brasil, IPA: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil, listen (help·info)), is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people. It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and the largest lusophone country in the world.
Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas region of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile.
Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until 1815, when it was elevated to the rank of kingdom and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was formed. The colonial bond was in fact broken in 1808, when the capital of the Portuguese colonial empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, after Napoleon invaded Portugal.Independence was achieved in 1822 with the formation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The country became a presidential republic in 1889, when a military coup d'état proclaimed the Republic, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824. Its current Constitution, formulated in 1988, defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.
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Brussels
Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced [bʁysɛl] ( listen); Dutch: Brussel, pronounced [ˈbrʏ.səɫ] ( listen); German: Brüssel, pronounced [ˈbʁyː.səl]), officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region (French: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (help·info), Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (help·info)), is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union (EU). It is also the largest urban area in Belgium, comprising 19 municipalities, including the municipality of the City of Brussels, which is the de jure capital of Belgium, in addition to the seat of the French Community of Belgium and of the Flemish Community.
Brussels has grown from a 10th-century fortress town founded by a descendant of Charlemagne into a metropolis of more than one million inhabitants. The metropolitan area has a population of over 1.8 million, making it the largest in Belgium.
Since the end of the Second World War, Brussels has been a main centre for international politics. Hosting principal EU institutions as well as the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the city has become the polyglot home of numerous international organisations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants.
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Bucharest
Bucharest (Romanian: București pronounced [bukuˈreʃtʲ] ( listen)) is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at 44°25′57″N 26°06′14″E / 44.4325°N 26.10389°E / 44.4325; 26.10389Coordinates: 44°25′57″N 26°06′14″E / 44.4325°N 26.10389°E / 44.4325; 26.10389, and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River.
Bucharest was first mentioned in documents as early as 1459. Since then it has gone through a variety of changes, becoming the state capital of Romania in 1862 and steadily consolidating its position as the centre of the Romanian mass media, culture and arts. Its eclectic architecture is a mix of historical (neo-classical), interbellum (Bauhaus and Art Deco), Communist-era and modern. In the period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname of "Little Paris" (Micul Paris). Although many buildings and districts in the historic centre were damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes, and Nicolae Ceaușescu's program of systematization, many survived. In recent years, the city has been experiencing an economic and cultural boom..
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Budapest
Budapest ( /ˈbuːdəpɛst/, /ˈbuːdəpɛʃt/ or /ˈbʊdəpɛst/; Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt] ( listen); names in other languages) is the capital and the largest city of Hungary, the largest in East-Central Europe and the seventh largest in the European Union. It is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre, sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary. According to 2011 Census, Budapest had 1.74 million inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2.1 million due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter Area is home to 3.3 million people. The city covers an area of 525 square kilometres (202.7 sq mi) within the city limits. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of west-bank Buda and Óbuda with east-bank Pest.
The history of Budapest began with Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement that became the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia.Hungarians arrived in the territory in the 9th century. Their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241-42. The re-established town became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture in the 15th century. Following the Battle of Mohács and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, development of the region entered a new age of prosperity in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Budapest became a global city after the 1873 unification. It also became the second capital of Austria-Hungary, a great power that dissolved in 1918. After the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, when Hungary lost 72% of its former territory, culturally and economically the country became wholly Budapest-dominated. The capital dominates the country both by the size of its population—which dwarfs those of Hungary's other cities Budapest was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919, Operation Panzerfaust in 1944, the Battle of Budapest of 1945, and the Revolution of 1956.
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Bulgaria
Coordinates: 42°45′N 25°30′E / 42.75°N 25.5°E / 42.75; 25.5
Bulgariai/bʌlˈɡɛəriə/ (Bulgarian: България, IPA: [bɤ̞ɫˈɡarijɐ]), is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and the Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south and the Black Sea to the east. With a territory of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi), Bulgaria is Europe's 14th-largest country. Its location has made it a historical crossroad for various civilisations and as such it is the home of some of the earliest metalworking, religious and other cultural artifacts in the world.
Prehistoric cultures began developing on Bulgarian lands during the Neolithic period. Its ancient history was marked by the presence of the Thracians, and later by the Greeks and Romans. The emergence of a unified Bulgarian ethnicity and state dates back to the First Bulgarian Empire, which dominated most of the Balkans and functioned as a cultural hub for Slavic peoples during the Middle Ages. With the downfall of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1396, its territories came under Ottoman rule for nearly five hundred years. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 resulted in the Third Bulgarian State, recognised in 1908. The following years saw several conflicts with its neighbours, which prompted Bulgaria to align with Germany in both World Wars. In 1946 it became a Communist republic with a single-party system until 1989, when the Communist Party allowed multi-party elections. After 1990 Bulgaria transitioned to democracy and a market-based economy.
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Caelian Hill
The Caelian Hill (Latin Collis Caelius, Italian Celio) is one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. Under reign of Tullus Hostilius, the entire population of Alba Longa was forcibly resettled on the Caelian Hill. According to a tradition recounted by Titus Livy, the hill received its name from Caelius Vibenna, either because he established a settlement there or because his friend Servius Tullius wished to honor him after his death.
In Republican-era Rome the Caelian Hill was a fashionable residential district and the site of residences of the wealthy. Archeological work under the Baths of Caracalla have uncovered the remains of lavish villas complete with murals and mosaics. The Caelian is also the site of the Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo and the ancient basilica of Santo Stefano Rotondo, known for its centralized, circular plan. A significant area of the hill is taken up by the villa and gardens of Villa Celimontana.
Coordinates: 41°53′06″N 12°29′48″E / 41.885°N 12.49667°E / 41.885; 12.49667
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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.
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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.
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Caltagirone
Caltagirone (Sicilian: Caltaggiruni) is a town and comune in the province of Catania, on the island (and region) of Sicily, about 70 km southwest of Catania. It is bounded by the comuni of Acate, Gela, Grammichele, Licodia Eubea, Mazzarino, Mazzarrone, Mineo, Mirabella Imbaccari, Niscemi, Piazza Armerina, San Michele di Ganzaria.
The city has been long famous for the production of pottery, particularly maiolica and terra-cotta wares. Nowadays the production is more and more oriented to artistic production of ceramics and terra-cotta sculptures. Other activities are mainly related to agriculture (production of grapes, olives, peaches).
The city's name derives from the Arabic "qal'at-al-ghiran" ("Hill of Vases"). It was inhabited since pre-historical times, as attested by the presence of two necropoleis dating from the second millennium BCE and by numerous other archaeological findings. It was later inhabited by the Sicels pre-Roman population.
The Arabs built here a castle, which in 1030 was attacked by Ligurian troops under the Byzantine general George Maniakes, and which have left traces of Ligurian language in the current dialect. The city flourished under the Norman and Hohenstaufen domination, becoming a renowned center for production of ceramics.
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Camerata Nuova
Camerata Nuova is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 50 km east of Rome.
Camerata Nuova borders the following municipalities: Cappadocia, Cervara di Roma, Rocca di Botte, Subiaco, Vallepietra.
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Campagnano di Roma
Campagnano di Roma is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 30 km northwest of Rome. It was first mentioned in 1076, having been carved out of the great estate assembled on the Roman pattern by Pope Adrian I, ca. 780, his Domusculta Capracorum.
Campagnano di Roma borders the following municipalities: Anguillara Sabazia, Formello, Magliano Romano, Mazzano Romano, Nepi, Rome, Sacrofano, Trevignano Romano.
The Archaeological Park of Veii is nearby.
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Campitelli
Campitelli is the X rione of Rome. In the logo there is the black head of a dragon on a white background. This symbol comes from the legend that Pope Silvester I threw out a dragon staying in the Forum Romanum.
Coordinates: 41°53′17″N 12°29′11″E / 41.888030°N 12.486391°E / 41.888030; 12.486391
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Campo Marzio
Campo Marzio is the IV rione of Rome, which covers a smaller section of the area of the ancient Campus Martius. The logo of today's rione is a silver crescent on a blue background.
Coordinates: 41°54′N 12°28′E / 41.9°N 12.467°E / 41.9; 12.467
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Campobasso
Campobasso (IPA: [kampoˈbasso] ( listen); Campobassan dialect Cambuàsce, IPA: [kambuˈwaʃʃə]) is a city and comune in southern Italy, the capital of the Molise region and of the province of Campobasso. It is located in the high basin of the Biferno river, surrounded by the Sannio and Matese mountains.
Campobasso is renowned for the craftmanship of blades (including scissors and knives), a fact well documented since the 14th century. It is also famous for the production of pears and scamorza (cheese). The city is the home of the University of Molise and of the Archdiocese of Campobasso-Boiano.
The origins of Campobasso are disputed. According to the most widely held theory, the city was founded by the Lombards before the 8th century as a fortified camp on the slope of the hill where the castle stands.[citation needed] The original name was Campus vassorum, suggesting that the city was the seat of the vassals of the Duke of Spoleto.
After the Norman conquest of Southern Italy, Campobasso lost its importance as a defensive stronghold, but became a significant trading and administration centre.
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Canada
Canada ( /ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9,900,000 km2 (3,800,000 sq mi), Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.
The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and later settled, along the region's Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy; the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on Britain.
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Canale Monterano
Canale Monterano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km northwest of Rome. Canale Monterano borders the following municipalities: Blera, Manziana, Oriolo Romano, Tolfa, Vejano.
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Canterano
Canterano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 45 km east of Rome. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 363 and an area of 7.3 km².
Canterano borders the following municipalities: Agosta, Gerano, Rocca Canterano, Rocca Santo Stefano, Subiaco.
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Capena
Capena (until 1933 called Leprignano) is a town and comune in the province of Rome, Lazio region (central Italy). The town has borrowed its modern name from a pre-Roman and Roman settlement that was located three kilometres to its north.
The original Capena occupied the plateau of a nowadays uninhabited hill called La Civitucola. Its territory was known in ancient times as the Ager Capenas, which was a Faliscan area adjacent (and culturally allied) to Etruria. It is frequently mentioned alongside of Veii, Falerii and Lucus Feroniae.
Ancient Capena seems to have been ruthlessly sacked by the Romans sometime around 390 BC, following a long campaign of resistance by the Capenates to the ever-growing influence of Rome in the area. The settlement continued to exist until the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, after which all traces of it were lost. It was not until the pioneering work of Pierluigi Galletti in the mid-18th century that Capena’s former location was decisively identified. Even then, it took more than a hundred years for other historians to reach a consensus that Galletti had been correct.
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Capitoline Hill
Coordinates: 41°53′36″N 12°28′59″E / 41.89333°N 12.48306°E / 41.89333; 12.48306
The Capitoline Hill ( /ˈkæpɨtəlaɪn/ or /kəˈpɪtɵlaɪn/; Latin: Collis Capitōlīnus), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome. It was the citadel (equivalent of the ancient Greek acropolis) of the earliest Romans. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, with the alternative Campidoglio stemming from Capitolium. The English word capitol derives from Capitoline. The Capitoline contains few ancient ground-level ruins, as they are almost entirely covered up by Medieval and Renaissance palaces (now housing the Capitoline Museums) that surround a piazza, a significant urban plan designed by Michelangelo.
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Capranica Prenestina
Capranica Prenestina is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km east of Rome.
It is located in the Monti Prenestini area.
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Carpineto Romano
Carpineto Romano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 60 km southeast of Rome.
It was the birthplace of Pope Leo XIII.
Carpineto Romano borders the following municipalities: Bassiano, Gorga, Maenza, Montelanico, Norma, Roccagorga, Sezze, Supino.
Carpineto Romano is twinned
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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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Casape
Casape is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 30 km east of Rome, on the western slopes of the Monti Prenestini.
Casape borders the following municipalities: Capranica Prenestina, Poli, San Gregorio da Sassola.
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Castel Gandolfo
Castel Gandolfo (Italian pronunciation: [kaˈstɛl ɡanˈdɔlfo],Latin: Castrum Gandulphi, colloquially Castello in the Castelli Romani dialects) is a small Italian town or comune in Lazio that occupies a height overlooking Lake Albano about 15 miles south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills. It is best known as the summer residence of the Pope. It is an Italian town with the population of 8834. The town was voted one of the most beautiful towns in Italy.
The resort community includes almost the whole coastline of Lake Albano that is surrounded by many summer residences, villas and cottages built during the 17th century. It houses the Stadio Olimpico that staged the rowing events during the Rome Olympics.
There are also several places of archaeological interest, including the Emissario del Lago Albano and the remains of the Villa of Domitian. The area is included in the boundaries of the Parco Regionale dei Castelli Romani (Regional Park of Castelli Romani). There are also many points of artistic interest, such as the Collegiate Church of St. Thomas of Villanova, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
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Castel Madama
Castel Madama is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 30 km east of Rome.
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Castelnuovo di Porto
Castelnuovo di Porto is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 25 km north of Rome.
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Castro Pretorio
Castro Pretorio is the XVIII rione of Rome. The logo is the golden banner of the Praetorian Guard on a red background. The rione takes its name by the ruins of the Castrum Praetorium, the barracks of the Praetorian Guard, included in the Aurelian Walls.
Coordinates: 41°54′29″N 12°27′57″E / 41.908078°N 12.465706°E / 41.908078; 12.465706
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Catania
Catania ([kaˈtaːnja] ( listen); Greek: Κατάνη – Katáne; Latin: Catăna and Catĭna) is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.
Catania is known for its seismic history, having been destroyed by a catastrophic earthquake in 1169, another in 1693, and several volcanic eruptions from the neighboring Mount Etna volcano, the most violent of which was in 1669.
Catania has had a long and eventful history, having been founded in the 8th century BC. In the 14th century and the Renaissance, Catania was one of Italy's most important and flourishing cultural, artistic, and political centers, having witnessed the opening in 1434 of the first university in Sicily. Today, Catania is one of the main economic, touristic, and educational centers in the island, being an important hub of industry, thus gaining the nickname, "European Silicon Valley".
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Catanzaro
Catanzaro (pronounced [katanˈdzaːro] ( listen) or [katanˈtsaːro]; Greek: Katantheros (Κατανθέρος), Katastarioi Lokroi (Κατασταρίοι Λοκροί)), also known as the city of the two seas, is an Italian city of 369,134 (2001) inhabitants and the capital of the Calabria region and of its province.
The archbishop seat was the capital of the province of Calabria Ultra for over 200 years. It currently houses the University "Magna Græcia", the second largest University of Calabria.
Catanzaro is an urban center, with intense activity, including some coastal towns, such as Marina Sellia Soverato, and the municipalities of Silas, with a total of 156,196 inhabitants. Catanzaro is currently being consolidated to form a greater metropolitan area, by the Region of Calabria, and in connection with the town of Lamezia Terme, comprising 10 municipalities. This will lead to the creation of an integrated area which will extend from the coast to the Ionian Sea, involving over 200,000 inhabitants.
During the summer months, the Ionian coast from Catanzaro to Soverato is an important tourist attraction, especially for the youth, and is in the presence of several important structures located in the coastal districts of the city and the town of Copanello Soverato.
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Cerreto Laziale
Cerreto Laziale is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km east of Rome.
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Certosa di Padula
Padula Charterhouse, in Italian Certosa di Padula (or Certosa di San Lorenzo di Padula), is a large Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, located in the town of Padula, in the Cilento National Park (near Salerno) in Southern Italy. It is a World Heritage site.
The monastery is the second largest charterhouse in Italy after the one in Pavia. Its building history covers 450 years, but the principal parts of the buildings are in Baroque style. It is a very large monastery, comprising 51,500 m² (12.7 acres), with 320 rooms and halls.
Padula Charterhouse was founded by Tommaso di San Severino on 27 April 1306 on the site of an earlier monastery. It is dedicated to Saint Lawrence, and its architectural structure supposedly recalls the griddle-iron upon which the saint was burnt alive.
The monastery has the biggest cloister in the world, covering 12,000 m² (2.97 acres) and surrounded by 84 columns. A famous spiral staircase of white marble inside an annex leads to the large library.
According to the strict Carthusian distinction between contemplation and work, there are two distinct places for these practices: on the one hand the peaceful cloisters, the library with its fine Vietri ceramic tiled floor, the chapels decorated with fine inlaid marble works. The altar frontals in most of the chapels are inlaid, not with marble, but with some of the most spectacular 18th. century scagliola work ever created in the 18th. Century.This is the highest concentration of such work in one place. One of the centres of production was in Naples. the cloister orchards; and on the other hand the large kitchen, the cellars with their enormous wine vats, the laundries, and the huge external yards, where there were people working in the stables, ovens, stores, and at the olive oil mill. The yards were used for productive activities and for trade between the charterhouse and the external world.
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Cervara di Roma
Cervara di Roma is a comune (municipality) in the province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 50 km east of Rome. Cervara di Roma borders the following municipalities: Agosta, Arsoli, Camerata Nuova, Marano Equo, Rocca di Botte, Subiaco.
It was by Benedictine monks in the 8th or 9th century. The historic center of Cervara can only be reached by foot after a 35 m climb. The village is located in the Monti Simbruini Regional Park.
Cervara has experienced a steady loss of population since World War II as residents left farming for jobs in nearby Rome. With approximately 75 percent of Cervara's inhabitants over the age of 60, the town's population dipped to 465 in 2004.
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Cerveteri
Cerveteri [tʃerˈvɛːteri] is a town and comune of the northern Lazio, in the province of Rome. Originally known as Caere (also Caisra and Cisra), it is famous for a number of Etruscan necropolis that include some of the best Etruscan tombs anywhere.
The most famous attraction of Cerveteri is the Necropoli della Banditaccia, which has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site together with the necropoleis in Tarquinia. It covers an area of 400 ha, of which 10 ha can be visited, encompassing a total of 1,000 tombs often housed in characteristic mounds. It is the largest ancient necropolis in the Mediterranean area. The name Banditaccia comes from the leasing (bando) of areas of land to the Cerveteri population by the local landowners.
The tombs date from the 9th century BC (Villanovan culture) to the late Etruscan age (3rd century BC). The most ancient ones are in the shape of a pit, in which the ashes of the dead were housed; also simple potholes are present.
From the Etruscan period are two types of tombs: the mounds and the so-called "dice", the latter being simple square tombs built in long rows along "roads". The visitable area contains two such "roads", the Via dei Monti Ceriti and the Via dei Monti della Tolfa (6th century BC).
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China
China (i/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
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Ciampino
Ciampino is a town and comune in the province of Rome, Lazio, Italy. It was a frazione of Marino until 1974, when it became a comune; it obtained the city status (being therefore officially known as Città di Ciampino) in 2004 by presidential decree.
It is best known for the local "Giovan Battista Pastine" International Airport, best known as Rome Ciampino, a military airport which also hosts several civil flights, especially from low-cost companies such as Ryanair. The city is named after Giovanni Giustino Ciampini, a religious, scientist and archaeologist who lived here in the 17th century. It grew from 5,000 inhabitants in 1951 to 28,000 in 1971. Today, the city has circa 37,000 inhabitants.
Media related to Ciampino at Wikimedia Commons
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Ciciliano
Ciciliano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 35 km east of Rome. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,257 and an area of 19.0 km².
Ciciliano borders the following municipalities: Capranica Prenestina, Castel Madama, Cerreto Laziale, Pisoniano, Sambuci, San Gregorio da Sassola.
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Cilento
Cilento is an Italian geographical region of Campania in the central and southern part of the Province of Salerno and an important tourist area of southern Italy.
The coast (on Tyrrhenian Sea) is located between Paestum and the Gulf of Policastro, near the town of Sapri. More of touristic towns by the coast are "frazioni"; as for example Santa Maria di Castellabate, Acciaroli, Velia, Palinuro, Marina di Camerota, Scario and Policastro Bussentino.
The inner boundaries are the Alburni mountains and Vallo di Diano, sometimes considered as part of cilentan geographical region, which has in Sala Consilina its largest center. The most important towns in this area are Vallo della Lucania (in the middle), Sapri and Agropoli: this is the largest town of Cilento and the principal harbour. Most of this area is included in "Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park".
The region is steeped in Greek mythology and legends, as in the names of some towns, which is also visible in the remains of the colonies of Velia (ancient Elea) and Paestum (ancient Poseidonia). Velia was also the seat of "Eleatics", a school of pre-Socratic philosophers as Parmenides, Zeno of Elea and Melissus of Samos).
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Cinecittà
Cinecittà (Italian for Cinema City) is a large film studio in Rome that is considered the hub of Italian cinema.
The studios were founded in 1937 by Benito Mussolini and his head of cinema Luigi Freddi for propaganda purposes, under the slogan "Il cinema è l'arma più forte" (Cinema is the most powerful weapon). The studios were bombed by the Western Allies during World War II. Following the war, between 1945 and 1947, the studios of Cinecittà were used as a displaced persons' camp --see "History of Cinecitta" under External Links below. In the 1950s, Cinecittà was the filming location for several large American film productions like Ben-Hur, and then became the studio most closely associated with Federico Fellini.
After a period of near-bankruptcy in the 1980s, Cinecittà was privatized by the Italian government.
It hosted the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest. The venue had been changed from Sanremo because of security concerns.
Pink Floyd performed, on three consecutive nights, at the studio during The Division Bell Tour on September 19-21, 1994.
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Cineto Romano
Cineto Romano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km northeast of Rome. It was named Scarpe until 1882.
It was a fief of the Orsini in the 11th century, then of the Borghese. Main sights include the Baronal Castle and the church of San Giovanni Battista (13th century).
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Circus Maximus
The Circus Maximus (Latin for great or large circus, in Italian Circo Massimo) is an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium and mass entertainment venue located in Rome, Italy. Situated in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire. It measured 621 m (2,037 ft) in length and 118 m (387 ft) in width, and could accommodate about 150,000 spectators. In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire. The site is now a public park.
The Circus was Rome's largest venue for ludi, public games connected to Roman religious festivals. Ludi were sponsored by leading Romans or the Roman state for the benefit of the Roman people (populus Romanus) and gods. Most were held annually or at annual intervals on the Roman calendar. Others might be given to fulfill a religious vow, such as the games in celebration of a triumph. The earliest known triumphal ludi at the Circus were vowed by Tarquin the Proud to Jupiter in the late Regal era for his victory over Pometia.
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City of San Marino
The City of San Marino, also known simply as San Marino, is the capital city of the Republic of San Marino on the Italian peninsula, near the Adriatic Sea. The city has a population of 4,493. It is on the western slopes of San Marino's highest point, Monte Titano.
Although the capital, most of the businesses are in Borgo Maggiore. It is the third largest city in the country, after Dogana and Borgo Maggiore. It borders the San Marino municipalities Acquaviva, Borgo Maggiore, Fiorentino, and Chiesanuova and the Italian municipality San Leo.
Akademio Internacia de la Sciencoj San Marino is centered here.
Due to its being the capital and previously the only city in San Marino, the history of this city is almost the same as the History of San Marino. For more information on that topic, see that article.
The city was founded by Saint Marinus and several Christian refugees in the year 301. From then on the city became a center of Christian refugees who fled from Roman persecution. As a result, the city become the oldest republic in Europe, for the republic's territory at that time only included the single city of San Marino.
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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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Civitella San Paolo
Civitella San Paolo is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region of Lazio, located about 35 km north of Rome.
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Colleferro
Colleferro is a small town of the province of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is a new residential zone of the metropolitan area of Rome where are located many different industries and a lot of sport structures.
On 9 October 2007 one person was killed and eight were injured in an explosion at a weapons factory belonging to Italian company Simmel Difesa, which manufactures ammunitions, explosives, missile warheads and rockets for the armed forces in Italy and abroad.
The development of the town began as early as 1912 with the conversion of a long disused factory (the Valsacco company factory) to one of Explosive. The first group of houses were not located where the town center now stands, but then at the call of the railway station "Segni-Paliano", then called Segni-Station Colleferro Paliano after the birth of the town of Colleferro: a first group of houses (including the Church of St. Joachim) was built in the then territory of Valmontone (aka Segni Scalo).
The engineer Leopoldo Parodi Delfino (former senator and son of the founder of the National Bank, then Bank of Italy) and Senator Giovanni Bombrini founded the 'Bombrini Parodi Delfino explosives factory and, at the same location, was created a new group of houses known as "BPD Village", into which many workers moved their families from different regions of Italy. The town was also the "Lime & Cement Segni" (subsequently acquired by Italcementi), which led to the valley floor and worked the material quarried from the nearby town of Segni to produce cement for construction.
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Colosseum
The Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Italian Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo), is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering.
Occupying a site just east of the Roman Forum, its construction started in 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign (81–96). The name "Amphitheatrum Flavium" derives from both Vespasian's and Titus's family name (Flavius, from the gens Flavia).
Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.
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Comitium
The Comitium (Italian: Comizio) in Rome is the location of the original founding of the city. The area is marked by a number of shrines, temples, altars and churches today from throughout its history. The location was lost due to the cities growth and development over a thousand years, but was excavated at the turn of the twentieth century. It is the location of the Curia Julia and its predecessor, the Curia Hostilia, the seat of the Roman Senate. It was an open air market and gathering place, but was originally the meeting place of the Curiate Assembly. It is located to the west of the Roman forum and is today much reduced from its original size.
Before the Forum Romanum was fully developed the Comitium served as both a marketplace and seat of political power of the Roman Kingdom and the Republic. It served as a templum - a sacred space for ritual purposes - and it contained many of Rome's earliest monuments, including the Rostra, Column Maenia, the Graecostasis and Tabula valeria.
The Comitium was the original public space in ancient Rome, and had major religious and prophetic significance. It was the location for all political and judicial activity of the early Roman Kingdom and Republic. It is the historic meeting place of the comitia curiata, the grown males of Rome who met as the earliest assembly of organised voting divisions of the republic. The senate meeting house or curia is associated with the comitium by both Livy and Cicero.
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Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (German: Wiener Kongress) was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.
This objective resulted in the redrawing of the continent's political map, establishing the boundaries of France, the Duchy of Warsaw, the Netherlands, the states of the Rhine, the German province of Saxony, and various Italian territories, and the creation of spheres of influence through which Austria, Britain, France and Russia brokered local and regional problems. The Congress of Vienna was the first of a series of international meetings that came to be known as the Concert of Europe, which was an attempt to forge a peaceful balance of power in Europe, and served as a model for later organizations such as the League of Nations and United Nations.
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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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Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( /ˈkoʊpənheɪɡən/ or /ˈkoʊpənhɑːɡən/; Danish: København pronounced [kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn] ( listen), Latin: Hafnia) is the capital of Denmark and its most populous city, with an urban population of 1,213,822 (as of 1 January 2012 (2012 -01-01)[update]) and a metropolitan population of 1,935,746 (as of 1 April 2012 (2012 -04-01)[update]). With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region. Within this region, Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö are growing into a combined metropolitan area. Copenhagen is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager.
First documented in the 11th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the beginning of the 15th century. During the 17th century, under the reign of Christian IV, it became a significant regional centre.
Copenhagen is a major regional centre of culture, business, media, and science, as indicated by several international surveys and rankings (see International rankings below). Life science, information technology and shipping are important sectors, and research & development plays a major role in the city's economy. Its strategic location and excellent infrastructure, with the largest airport in Scandinavia,Kastrup, located 14 minutes by train from the city centre, have made it a regional hub and a popular location for regional headquarters and conventions.
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Corniglia
Coordinates: 44°07′16″N 9°42′32″E / 44.121°N 9.709°E / 44.121; 9.709
Corniglia is a frazione ("fraction") of the commune of Vernazza in the province of La Spezia, Liguria, northern Italy. Unlike the other localities of the Cinque Terre, Corniglia is not directly adjacent to the sea. Instead, it is on the top of a promontory about 100 meters high, surrounded on three sides by vineyards and terraces and the fourth side descends steeply on the sea. To reach Corniglia, it is necessary to climb the Lardarina, a long brick flight of steps composed of 33 flights with 382 steps or, otherwise follow a vehicular road that, from the station, leads to the village. Sometimes a small bus runs up and down here.
The village stretches along the main road, Fieschi Road, and the houses have one side facing this road and the other facing the sea. Corniglia is characterized by narrow roads and a terrace obtained in the rock from which all other four Cinque Terre's villages, two on one side and two on the other, can be seen. The town planning structure presents also original characteristics compared to those of the other villages: the houses are lower set, and only more recently higher, similar to those of the villages of the hinterland.
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Cortona
Cortona is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic center of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo.
Originally an Umbrian city, it was conquered and enlarged by the Etruscans, who called it Curtun. Cortona eventually became a Roman colony under the name Corito. The origin-legends and ancient names of Cortona are described by George Dennis. During the barbarian invasions of the 553, Cortona was sacked and destroyed by the Goths. Cortona became a Ghibellinian city state in the 13th century, with its own currency. From 1325 to 1409 the Ranieri-Casali family successfully ruled the town. After being conquered by Ladislaus of Naples in 1409, Cortona was sold to the Medici in 1411. In 1737, the senior branch of the Medici line went extinct and Cortona came under the authority of the House of Lorraine. Following the Italian Wars of Independence, Tuscany - Cortona included - became part of the Kingdom of Italy.
The foundation of Cortona remains mixed in legends dating to classical times. These were later reworked especially in the late Renaissance period under Cosimo I de' Medici. The 17th-century Guide of Giacomo Lauro, reworked from writings of Annio da Viterbo, states that 108 years after the Great Flood, Noah entered the Valdichiana via the Tiber and Paglia rivers. He preferred this place better than anywhere else in Italy, because it was so fertile, and dwelt there for thirty years. One of Noah's descendants was Crano his son who came to the hilltop and, liking the high position, the fine countryside and the calm air, built the city of Cortona on it in 273 years after the Great Flood.
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Croatia
Croatia (i/kroʊˈeɪʃə/ kroh-AY-shə; Croatian: Hrvatska pronounced [xř̩ʋaːtskaː]), officially the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska listen (help·info)), is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of Central Europe, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres (21,851 square miles) and has diverse, mostly continental and Mediterranean climates. Croatia's Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The country's population is 4.29 million, most of whom are Croats, with the most common religious denomination being Roman Catholicism.
In the early 7th century the Croats arrived in area of present-day Croatia. They organised the state into two dukedoms by the 9th century. Tomislav became the first king by 925 AD, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Peter Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir. Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the short-lived State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs that declared independence from Austria–Hungary and co-founded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. A Croatian state briefly existed during World War II as a fascist puppet state. After the war, Croatia became a founding member and a federal constituent of the Second Yugoslavia, a socialist state. In June 1991, Croatia declared independence, which came into effect on 8 October of the same year. The Croatian War of Independence was fought successfully during the four years following the declaration.
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Crown Dependencies
The Crown Dependencies are self-governing possessions of the British Crown, as opposed to overseas territories of the United Kingdom. They comprise the Channel Island Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.
Being independently administered jurisdictions, none forms part of the United Kingdom nor of the European Union.
"The Crown" is defined differently in each Crown Dependency. In Jersey, statements in the 21st century of the constitutional position by the Law Officers of the Crown define it as the "Crown in right of Jersey", with all Crown land in the Bailiwick of Jersey belonging to the Crown in right of Jersey and not to the Crown Estate of the United Kingdom. Legislation of the Isle of Man defines the "Crown in right of the Isle of Man" as being separate from the "Crown in right of the United Kingdom". In Guernsey, legislation refers to the "Crown in right of the Bailiwick", and the Law Officers of the Crown of Guernsey submitted that "The Crown in this context ordinarily means the Crown in right of the république of the Bailiwick of Guernsey" and that this comprises "the collective governmental and civic institutions, established by and under the authority of the Monarch, for the governance of these Islands, including the States of Guernsey and legislatures in the other Islands, the Royal Court and other courts, the Lieutenant Governor, Parish authorities, and the Crown acting in and through the Privy Council." This constitutional concept is also worded as the "Crown in right of the Bailiwick of Guernsey".
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Cyprus
Cyprusi/ˈsaɪprəs/ (Greek: Κύπρος, Kýpros, IPA: [ˈcipɾos]; Turkish: Kıbrıs, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs]), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía, IPA: [cipɾiaˈci ðimokɾaˈtia]; Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs dʒumhuɾijeˈti]), is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria, Lebanon, northwest of Israel and north of Egypt. Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and the Republic of Cyprus is a member state of the European Union.
The earliest known human activity on the island dates back to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this period include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia, which has been declared a World Heritage Site with an "enhanced protection" status in the event of armed conflict by UNESCO, along with the archaeological sites of Paphos and the Painted Churches of the Troodos Region. Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world.
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Czech Republic
The Czech Republic (i/ˈtʃɛk/ CHEK;Czech: Česká republika, pronounced [ˈtʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka] ( listen), short form Česko Czech pronunciation: [ˈtʃɛskɔ]) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the north, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. Its capital and largest city, with 1.3 million inhabitants, is Prague.
It is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary representative democracy, a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group.
The Czech state, formerly known as Bohemia, was formed in the late 9th century as a small duchy around Prague, at that time under dominance of the powerful Great Moravian Empire (which reached its greatest territorial extent during the reign of Svatopluk I from the House of Mojmír). After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power was transferred from Moravia to Bohemia, under the Přemyslids. During the rule of Přemyslid dukes/kings and their successors, the Luxembourgs, the country reached its greatest territorial extent (13th–14th century). Life in the country was significantly affected by the Hussite wars, during which it faced economic embargo and crusades from all over Europe. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy as one of its three principal parts alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary. The Bohemian Revolt (1618–20) led to the further centralization of the monarchy including forced recatholization and Germanization. During radical reforms in the 18th century the Bohemian Crown was even de facto abolished (1749). In the 19th century the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and the core of the Republic of Czechoslovakia which was formed in 1918, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I.
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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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Domus Aurea
The Domus Aurea (Latin, "Golden House") was a large landscaped portico villa. Designed to take advantage of artificially created landscapes, Domus Aurea was built by the Emperor Nero in the heart of ancient Rome, after the great fire in 64 AD had cleared away the aristocratic dwellings on the slopes of the Palatine Hill.
Built of brick and concrete in the few years between the fire and Nero's suicide in 68, the extensive gold leaf that gave the villa its name was not the only extravagant element of its decor: stuccoed ceilings were applied with semi-precious stones and ivory veneers, while the walls were frescoed, coordinating the decoration into different themes in each major group of rooms.Pliny the Elder watched it being built and mentions it in his Naturalis Historia.
Suetonius claims this of Nero and the Domus Aurea:
Though the Domus Aurea complex covered parts of the slopes of the Palatine, Esquiline and Caelian hills, with a man-made lake in the marshy bottomlands, the estimated size of the Domus Aurea is an approximation, as much of it has not been excavated. Some scholars place it at over 300 acres (1.2 km2), while others estimate its size to have been under 100 acres (0.40 km2). Suetonius describes the complex as "ruinously prodigal" as it included groves of trees, pastures with flocks, vineyards and an artificial lake— rus in urbe, "countryside in the city".
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Dublin
Dublin ( /ˈdʌblɨn/; locally /ˈdʊbᵊlən/; Irish: Baile Átha Cliath, meaning "town of the hurdled ford", pronounced [blʲaˈklʲiə] or Áth Cliath, [aː klʲiə], occasionally Duibhlinn) is the capital and most populous city of Ireland. The English name for the city is derived from the Irish name Dubhlinn, meaning "black pool". Dublin is situated near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and the centre of the Dublin Region.
Originally founded as a Viking settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of Dublin and became the island's principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century; it was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire and the fifth largest in Europe. Dublin entered a period of stagnation following the Act of Union of 1800, but it remained the economic centre for most of the island. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, the new parliament, the Oireachtas, was located in Leinster House. Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State and later the Republic of Ireland.
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England
Englandi/ˈɪŋɡlənd/ is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, while the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separate it from continental Europe. Most of England comprises the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain in the North Atlantic. The country also includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in AD 927, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law—the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world—developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England's Royal Society laid the foundations of modern experimental science.
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Esquiline Hill
The Esquiline Hill is one of the celebrated Seven Hills of Rome. Its southern-most cusp is the Oppius (Oppian Hill).
The origin of the name Esquilino is still under much debate. One view is that the Hill was named after the abundance of holm-oaks, exculi, that resided there. Another view is that, during Rome's infancy, the Capitolium, the Palatium, and the northern fringes of the Caelian were the most-populated areas of the city, whose inhabitants were considered inquilini, in-towners; those that inhabited the external regions - Aurelian, Oppius, Cispius, Fagutal - were considered exquilini, suburbanites.
The Esquiline Hill includes three prominent spurs, which are sometimes called ‘hills’ as well:
Rising above the valley in which was later built the Colosseum, the Esquiline was a fashionable residential district.
According to Livy, the settlement on the Esquiline was expanded during the reign of Servius Tullius, Rome' sixth king, in the 6th century BC. The king also moved his residence to the Hill, in order to increase its respectability.
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Estonia
Estoniai/ɨsˈtoʊniə/ (Estonian: Eesti), officially the Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti Vabariik), is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and the Russian Federation (338.6 km). Across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia covers 45,227 km2 (17,462 sq mi), and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. The Estonians are a Finnic people, and the official language, Estonian, is closely related to Finnish.
Estonia is a democratic parliamentary republic divided into 15 counties. The capital and largest city is Tallinn. With a population of 1.29 million, it is one of the least-populous members of the European Union, Eurozone and NATO. Estonia has the highest GDP per person among former Soviet republics. Estonia is listed as a "High-Income Economy" by the World Bank and as an "advanced economy" by the International Monetary Fund; the country is an OECD member. The United Nations lists Estonia as a developed country with a Human Development Index of "Very High". The country is also ranked highly for press freedom, economic freedom, democracy and political freedom and education.
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Faroe Islands
Coordinates: 62°00′N 06°47′W / 62°N 6.783°W / 62; -6.783
The Faroe Islands (Faroese: Føroyar pronounced [ˈfœɹjaɹ], Danish: Færøerne Danish pronunciation: [ˈfæɐ̯øːˀɐnə]) are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Norway and Iceland. The islands form a self-governing country under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark. The total area is approximately 1,400 km² (540 sq mi) with a 2010 population of almost 50,000 people.
The Faroe Islands has been a self-governing dependency of Denmark since 1948. Over the years, the Faroese have taken control of most domestic matters. Areas that remain the responsibility of Denmark include military defence, police, justice, currency and foreign affairs. The Faroe Islands also has representatives in the Nordic Council as members of the Danish delegation.
The Faroe Islands were associated with and taxed by Denmark and Norway up to 1814, when Norway fell under the rule of Sweden. Scandinavia was in political turmoil following the Sixth Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars, when the Treaty of Kiel granted Denmark control over the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland in 1814. The Danish trade monopoly ended in 1856.
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Ferrara
Ferrara listen (help·info) is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north. The town has broad streets and numerous palaces dating from the 14th century and 15th century, when it hosted the court of the House of Este. For its beauty and cultural importance it has been qualified by UNESCO as World Heritage Site. Modern times have brought a renewal of industrial activity. Ferrara is on the main rail line from Bologna to Padua and Venice, and has branches to Ravenna, Poggio Rusco (for Suzzara) and Codigoro. In 2006, due to its important historical significance, Ferrara became the headquarters of the Italian Hermitage Museum. It is the fifth city in the world to have been linked with the Russian museum. From this union was born the Hermitage-Italy Foundation.
The origin of Ferrara is uncertain, it was probably settled by the inhabitants of the lagoons at the mouth of Po river; there are two early centers of settlement, one round the cathedral, the other, the castrum bizantino, being the San Pietro district, on the opposite shore, where the Primaro empties into the Volano channel. Ferrara appears first in a document of the Lombard king Desiderius of 753 AD, as a city forming part of the Exarchate of Ravenna. Desiderius pledged a Lombard ducatus ferrariae ("Duchy of Ferrara") in 757 to Pope Stephen II. After 984 it was a fief of Tedaldo, count of Modena and Canossa, nephew of the emperor Otto I. It afterwards made itself independent, and in 1101 was taken by siege by the countess Matilda. At this time it was mainly dominated by several great families, among them the prominent Adelardi (or Aleardi) family.
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Fiano Romano
Fiano Romano is a town and comune in the province of Rome, Italy, approximately 40 kilometers north that city. It is the birthplace of the Italian actress Sabrina Ferilli.
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Filacciano
Filacciano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km north of Rome.
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Finland
Coordinates: 65°N 27°E / 65°N 027°E / 65; 027
Finlandi/ˈfɪnlənd/ ( Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland (help·info)), officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.
Around 5.4 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern region. It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in Helsinki and local governments in 336 municipalities, and an autonomous region of the Åland Islands. About one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area, which consists of Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa, and a third of the country's GDP is produced there. Other larger cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Kuopio.
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First French Empire
The First French Empire (French: Empire Français), also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France. It was the dominant power of much of continental Europe during the early 19th century.
Napoleon became Emperor of the French (L'Empereur des Français, pronounced: [ɑ̃.pʁœʁ dɛ fʁɑ̃.sɛ]) on 18 May 1804 and crowned Emperor on 2 December 1804, ending the period of the French Consulate, and won early military victories in the War of the Third Coalition against Austria, Prussia, Russia, Portugal, and allied nations, notably at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) and the Battle of Friedland (1807). The Treaty of Tilsit in July 1807 ended two years of bloodshed on the European continent.
The subsequent series of wars known collectively as the Napoleonic Wars extended French influence over much of Western Europe and into Poland. At its height in 1812, the French Empire had 130 départements, ruled over 44 million subjects, maintained an extensive military presence in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Duchy of Warsaw, and could count Prussia and Austria as nominal allies. Early French victories exported many ideological features of the French Revolution throughout Europe. Seigneurial dues and seigneurial justice were abolished, aristocratic privileges were eliminated in all places except Poland, and the introduction of the Napoleonic Code throughout the continent increased legal equality, established jury systems, and legalized divorce. Napoleon placed relatives on the thrones of several European countries and granted many noble titles, most of which were not recognized after the empire fell.
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Fiumicino
Fiumicino is a town and comune in the province of Rome, Lazio, central Italy. It is famous for the presence of the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the sixth busiest in Europe.
Fiumicino was erected as a comune in 1992; previously it was part of Rome, almost totally included in the former "Municipio XIV".
The name means little river. The town of "Fiumicino" should not be confused with its namesake, Fiumicino, a small river near Rimini.
Fiumicino is home to the largest airport in Italy, the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, which includes the Fiumicino Aeroporto railway station. The city also houses the head offices of Alitalia and Blue Panorama Airlines.All Nippon Airways has its Rome Sales Office in the Room 447 in the (Torre Uffici), on the airport property.Cathay Pacific has an office in the airport's Torre Uffici 2. In addition Small Planet Airlines has an office in Fiumicino.
In addition, Fiumicino has a large fishing center on the Tyrrhenian Sea coast and a sea resort.[citation needed]
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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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Fonte Nuova
Fonte Nuova is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 15 km northeast of Rome.
The comune was created in 2001 from the frazioni of Tor Lupara di Mentana and Santa Lucia di Mentana, once belonging to Mentana, and that of Tor Lupara of Guidonia Montecelio.
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Formello
Formello is a town and comune in the province of Rome. It is located southwest of the Monti Sabatini, within the Regional Park of Veii. The communal territory is mostly composed by tuff, and is intensively cultivated. This town is known to be one of the few to have a football club in Serie A: S.S. Lazio.
The area has been settled since prehistoric times. As an Italian comune, it includes some of the archaeological sites associated with the former Etruscan city of Veii, north of the village of Isola Farnese, south of Formello. Settlement in the region declined after Veii's destruction in 396 BC. About 780, with newly peaceful conditions, Pope Adrian I assembled a great estate of which this territory formed part, his Domusculta Capracorum, in contrast with the power of the Abbey of Farfa, but it was destroyed by Saracen attacks in the ninth century. The domus' territories included a fundus Formellum, where a settlement developed that was first mentioned in 1027.
In the 11th century it was a possession of the Roman Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura, and was probably fortified in the same period. In 1279 it became a fief of the Orsini family, who sold it to the Chigi in 1661.
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Foro Italico
Foro Italico, formerly Foro Mussolini, is a sports complex in Rome, Italy. It was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini (literally Mussolini's Forum) under the design of Enrico Del Debbio and, later, Luigi Moretti. Inspired by the Roman forums of the imperial age, its design is lauded as a preeminent masterpiece of Italian Fascist architecture instituted by Mussolini.
It is home to numerous sports venues, such as the largest sports facility in Rome, the Stadio Olimpico, the ornate Stadio dei Marmi and the adjoining building which is the seat of the Italian National Olympic Committee (originally built for the purposes of the Fascist Male Academy of Physical Education). Foro Italico also comprises an aquatics center built for the 1960 summer Olympics, the Stadio del Nuoto ("Swimming Stadium") and a tennis center.
The tennis center is an extensive area with a total of eleven clay surface tennis courts, eight of which are used for tournaments and the rest for training purposes. There are currently three show or stadium courts; the main one formerly had a capacity of 8,000 spectators, however a new center court, the Campo Centrale was constructed for the 2010 tournament, which can seat up to 10,400 spectators. The other show courts are the Stadio Pietrangeli (ex. Pallacorda) and the Supertennis Arena.
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France
France (Englishi/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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Frascati
Frascati (pronounced [fɾaˈskaːti]) is a town and comune in the province of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located 20 kilometres (12 mi) south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with science, being the location of several international scientific laboratories.
Frascati is renowned for its white wine, Frascati. It is also an important historical and artistic centre.
Frascati is the see of the suburbicarian diocese of Frascati
The most important archeological finding in the area, dating back to Ancient Roman times, during the late Republican Age, is a patrician Roman villa probably belonging to Lucullus. In the first century AD its owner was Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus, who married Agrippina the Younger, mother of Nero. His properties were later confiscated by the Flavian imperial dynasty (69–96 AD). Consul Flavius Clemens lived in the villa with his wife Domitilla during the rule of Domitian.
According to the Liber Pontificalis, in the 9th century Frascati was a little village, probably founded two centuries earlier. The name of the city probably comes from a typical local tradition of collecting firewood ("frasche" in Italian)—many place-names around the town refer to trees or wood. After the destruction of nearby Tusculum in 1191, the town's population increased and the bishopric moved from Tusculum to Frascati. Pope Innocent III endorsed the city as a feudal possession of the basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, but in the following centuries its territories were ravaged by frequent raids that impoverished it. It was owned by various baronial families, including the Colonna, until, in 1460, Pope Pius II fortified the city with walls.
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Gallicano nel Lazio
Gallicano nel Lazio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 25 km east of Rome.
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Gavignano
Gavignano is a hill top town of 1,982 inhabitants in the Province of Rome, Lazio, central Italy. Gavignano is approximately 50 km south east of Rome in the lepini hills and can be easily reached by local train service. The nearest train station being located in the town of Colleferro. Nearby within the commune of the town is an archeological site of a Roman villa from the republican era. The villa "Rossilli" is believed to be a country home of the Julii family. The name of the town is believed to be derived from the Roman consul and general Aulus Gabinius a friend of the famous general Pompey and ally of Gaius Julius Caesar. Cicero, the famous Roman senator and orator outlined in a number of letters to his brother Quintus the development and outcome of Gabinius's trials, for which he was acquitted.
Pope Innocent III was born there in 1160.
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Genazzano
Genazzano is a town and comune in the province of Rome, located on a tuff spur at 375 m over the sea level which, starting from the Monti Prenestini, ends on the Sacco River valley.
The name originates from its role as vacation resort for the ancient Roman gens Genucia. In the 11th century AD it was a fief of the Colonna family who, from their Baronal Palace (castle), controlled the road from Naples to Rome.
In the fifth century, during the reign of Pope Sixtus III, the town of Genazzano contributed a large portion of its revenue for the Roman basilica now known as Santa Maria Maggiore. In appreciation, a church was built in Genazzano and was later entrusted to the Augustinian Order in 1356.
The church holds the original fresco of Our Lady of Good Counsel (Latin: Mater boni consilii) a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, after the allegedly miraculous fresco. Measuring 40 by 45 centimeters the image is executed on a thin layer of porcelain no thicker than an egg shell. Over the centuries, devotions to Our Lady of the Good Counsel grew among saints and Popes. More than any other pope, Leo XIII was deeply attached to this devotion. The small Scapular of Our Lady of Good Counsel (the White Scapular) was presented by the Hermits of St. Augustine to Pope Leo XIII, who, in December 1893, approved it and endowed it with indulgences. On April 22, 1903, that same Pope included the invocation "Mater boni consilii" in the Litany of Loreto.
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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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Genzano di Roma
Genzano di Roma is a town and comune in the province of Rome, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is one of the Castelli Romani, at a distance of 29 km from Rome, on the Alban Hills.
The origin of the name Genzano is still disputed. According to a version, the hill overlooking the Lake of Nemi on which the city is situated was once devoted to the goddess Cynthia, whose cult was associated to that of Diana Nemorensis. Another version relates its origin to the Gentiani family. For others the presence on the hills, at that time of the "tribus or gens Cynthia" originators and custodians of the cult of courage, in "Castrum Gentianum" from them the derivation of the name Genzano. During the Roman empire the area was inhabited by wealthy Roman citizens who wished to benefit from the cleaner air, uncontaminated water and cooler temperatures during the hot summer months. The remains of many ancient Roman villas are to be found everywhere in the surroundings. The most impressive being the walls of the "villa of the Antonini" where the later Roman emperor Antoninus Pius (138 -161 AD.) was born. The Herculean Sarcophagus of Genzano, currently in the British Museum was found here.
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Gerano
Gerano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km east of Rome.
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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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Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( /dʒɨˈbrɒltər/) is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. It has an area of 6.8 square kilometres (2.6 sq mi) and a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region. At its foot is the densely populated city area, home to almost 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities.
An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The territory was subsequently ceded to Britain "in perpetuity" under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It was an important base for the Royal Navy; today its economy is based largely on tourism, financial services, and shipping.
The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations as Spain asserts a claim to the territory. Gibraltarians rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in a 1967 referendum and again in 2002. Under the Gibraltar constitution of 2006, Gibraltar governs its own affairs, though some powers, such as defence and foreign relations, remain the responsibility of the UK Government.
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Gorga
Gorga is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 60 km southeast of Rome. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 779 and an area of 26.3 km².
Gorga borders the following municipalities: Anagni, Carpineto Romano, Montelanico, Morolo, Sgurgola, Supino.
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Greece
Greecei/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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Grottaferrata
Grottaferrata, Italy is a small town and comune in the province of Rome, situated on the lower slopes of the Alban Hills, 20 km south east of Rome. It is bounded by other communes, Frascati, Rocca di Papa, Marino, and Rome.
The history of Grottaferrata identifies largely with that of the Basilian Monastery of Santa Maria, founded here in 1004 by Saint Nilus the Younger. The founding legend narrates that, at the spot where the abbey now stands, the Virgin Mary appeared and bade him found a church in her honour.
From Gregory, the powerful Count of Tusculum, father of Popes Benedict VIII and John XIX, Nilus obtained the site, which had been a Roman villa, where among the ruins there remained a low edifice of opus quadratum that had been a sepulchral monument but had been converted to a Christian oratory in the fourth century. Its iron window grates gave the site the name, first of Cryptoferrata then of Grottaferrata, commemorated in the coat-of-arms of the commune. From the site, a Roman bronze of a man and a cow attracted the antiquarian attention of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, who had the group removed to Lucera.
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Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey ( /ˈɡɜrnzi/ GURN-zee; French: Bailliage de Guernesey, IPA: [bajaʒ də ɡɛʁnəzɛ]), is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.
The Bailiwick of Guernsey embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, and Lihou. Furthermore, the Bailiwick includes Alderney and Sark, which each has its own parliament.
Although its defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom, the Bailiwick of Guernsey is not part of the UK; and while it participates in the Common Travel Area, it is not part of the European Union.
The Bailiwick of Guernsey is included (along with the Bailiwick of Jersey) in the grouping known as the Channel Islands.
The name of Guernsey, as well as that of neighbouring Jersey, is of Old Norse origin. The second element of Guernsey (-ey) is the Old Norse for "island". Guern similar to Spanish "Cuerno", French "Coi(r)n", Dutch "Hoorn", Frisian "Hoarn", Swedish "Hörn", Swiss "Gorn" means "Corner". - Corner Island.
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Guidonia Montecelio
Guidonia Montecelio is a town and comune in the province of Rome, Lazio, central Italy.
The community of Guidonia Montecelio lies to the north-east of Rome, some kilometres from the Grande Raccordo Anulare - a ring-shaped motorway which forms a circle around the capital. The terrain of Guidonia Montecelio is mainly flat, and the community lies in between the Via Nomentana and the Via Tiburtina.
Montecelio was founded in 998 as a fortified castrum (Castrum Monticellorum).
In 1915 the Regio Esercito (Italian Royal Army) built a major military airport in the area for its Corpo Aeronautico Militare (Military Aviation Corps), the predecessor of the Italian Royal Air Force founded in 1923.
Guidonia was erected as a comune in 1937 by Benito Mussolini, its name chosen to honour the Regia Aeronautica general Alessandro Guidoni (1880-1928), who had died on 27 April 1928 while testing a new parachute at the air force facilities.
Today the town is part of Rome metropolitan area, with a massive presence of industry (mainly travertine caves and cement industry) and the service sector. The number of residents commuting to Rome is high, with transport in a critical situation.
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Helsinki
Helsinki ( listen (help·info); Swedish: Helsingfors, listen (help·info)) is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is 596,233 (31 January 2012), making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is located some 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of St. Petersburg, Russia and 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia. Helsinki has close historical connections with these three cities.
The Helsinki Metropolitan Area includes the city of Helsinki and three other cities: Espoo and Vantaa, which immediately border Helsinki to the west and north, respectively; and Kauniainen, which is an enclave within the city of Espoo. The Helsinki metropolitan area is the world's northernmost urban area among those with a population of over one million people, and the city is the northernmost capital of a EU member state. Altogether 1.1 million people, approximately one in five Finns, live in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.
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Herculaneum
Coordinates: 40°48′22″N 14°20′54″E / 40.8060°N 14.3482°E / 40.8060; 14.3482
Herculaneum (in modern Italian Ercolano) was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in 79 A.D., located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano, in the Italian region of Campania in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.
It is most famous for having been lost, along with Pompeii, Stabiae and Oplontis, in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, which buried them in superheated pyroclastic material. It also became famous as the source of the first Roman skeletal and physical remains available for study that were located by science, for the Romans almost universally cremated their dead. Since the discovery of bones in 1981, some 300 skeletons have been found, most along the sea shore—the town itself having been effectively evacuated. Herculaneum was a smaller town with a wealthier population than Pompeii at the time of the eruption.
Ancient tradition connected Herculaneum with the name of the Greek hero Herakles (Hercules in Latin and consequently Roman Mythology), an indication that the city was of Greek origin. In fact, it seems that some forefathers of the Samnite tribes of the Italian mainland founded the first civilization on the site of Herculaneum at the end of the 6th century BC. Soon after, the town came under Greek control and was used as a trading post because of its proximity to the Gulf of Naples. The Greeks named the city Ηρακλείου. In the 4th century BC, Herculaneum again came under the domination of the Samnites. The city remained under Samnite control until it became a Roman municipium in 89 BC, when, having participated in the Social War ("war of the allies" against Rome), it was defeated by Titus Didius, a legate of Sulla.
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Hispania
Hispania was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divided into two new provinces, Baetica and Lusitania, while Hispania Citerior was renamed Tarraconensis. Subsequently, the western part of Tarraconensis was split off, first as Hispania Nova, later renamed Callaecia (or Gallaecia, whence modern Galicia). From Diocletian's Tetrarchy (AD 284) onwards, the south of remaining Tarraconensis was again split off as Carthaginensis, and probably then too the Balearic Islands and all the resulting provinces formed one civil diocese under the vicarius for the Hispaniae (that is, the Celtic provinces). The name, Hispania, was also used in the period of Visigothic rule. The modern name Spain derives from Hispania.
The origin of the word Hispania is much disputed and the evidence for the various speculations are based merely upon what are at best mere resemblances, likely to be accidental, and suspect supporting evidence. One theory holds it to be of Punic derivation, from the Phoenician language of colonizing Carthage. Specifically, it may derive from a Punic cognate of Hebrew אי-שפניא (i-shfania) meaning "Island of the Hyrax" or "island of the hare" or "island of the rabbit" (Phoenician-Punic and Hebrew are both Canaanite languages and therefore closely related to each other). Another theory, proposed by the etymologist Eric Partridge in his work Origins, is that it is of Iberian derivation and that it is to be found in the pre-Roman name for Seville, Hispalis, which strongly hints at an ancient name for the country of *Hispa, an Iberian or Celtic root whose meaning is now lost. It may alternatively derive from Heliopolis (Greek for "city of the sun"). Occasionally it was called Hesperia, the western land, by Roman writers, or Hesperia ultima.
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Hungary
Hungaryi/ˈhʌŋɡəri/ (Hungarian: Magyarország [ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ] ( listen)) is a country, which is located in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The country's capital, and largest city, is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the Visegrád Group, and is a Schengen state. The official language is Hungarian, also known as Magyar, which is part of the Finno-Ugric group and is the most widely spoken non-Indo-European language in Europe.
Following a Celt (after c. 450 BC) and a Roman (AD 9 - c. 430) period, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian prince Árpád, whose great-grandson Saint Stephen I was crowned with a crown sent by the pope from Rome in 1000 AD. The Kingdom of Hungary lasted for 946 years, and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centres of the Western world. After about 150 years of partial Ottoman occupation (1541–1699), Hungary was integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy, and later constituted half of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy (1867–1918).
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Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (Asturian, Galician, Leonese, Mirandese, Portuguese and Spanish: Península Ibérica, Catalan: Península Ibèrica, Aragonese and Occitan: Peninsula Iberica, French: Péninsule Ibérique, Basque: Iberiar Penintsula), sometimes called Iberia, is a peninsula located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas. It is bordered on the southeast and east by the Mediterranean Sea, and on the north, west and southwest by the Atlantic Ocean. The Pyrenees form the northeast edge of the peninsula, separating it from the rest of Europe. In the south, it approaches the northern coast of Africa. It is the second-largest peninsula in Europe, with an area of approximately 582,000 km2 (225,000 sq mi).
The English word Iberia was adapted from the use of the Ancient Greek word Ιβηρία (Ibēría) by the Greek geographers under the Roman Empire to refer to what is known today in English as the Iberian Peninsula. At that time the name did not describe a single political entity or a distinct population of people. Strabo's Iberia was delineated from Keltikē by the Pyrenees and included the entire land mass south-west (he named it "west") of there.
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Iceland
Icelandi/ˈaɪslənd/ (Icelandic: Ísland, IPA: [ˈislant]) is a Nordic European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The country has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km2 (40,000 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Reykjavík, with the surrounding areas in the southwestern region of the country being home to two-thirds of the country's population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterised by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle.
According to Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norse settler on the island. Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the following centuries, Norsemen settled Iceland, bringing with them thralls (slaves) of Gaelic origin. From 1262 to 1918 Iceland was part of the Norwegian and later the Danish monarchies. Until the 20th century, the Icelandic population relied largely on fisheries and agriculture, and the country was one of the poorest and least developed in the world. Industrialisation of the fisheries and aid from the Marshall Plan brought prosperity in the years after World War II, and by the 1990s it was one of the world's wealthiest countries. In 1994, Iceland became party to the European Economic Area, which made it possible for the economy to diversify into economic and financial services.
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Isle of Man
The Isle of Man ( /ˈmæn/; Manx: Ellan Vannin, pronounced [ˈɛlʲən ˈvanɪn]), otherwise known simply as Mann (Manx: Mannin, IPA: [ˈmanɪn]), is a self-governing Crown Dependency of the United Kingdom, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The island is not part of the United Kingdom, but its foreign relations and defence are the responsibility of the UK Government. Although the United Kingdom does not usually interfere in the island's domestic matters, its "good government" is ultimately the responsibility of the Crown (that is, in practice, the Government of the United Kingdom).
The island has been inhabited since before 6500 BC. Gaelic cultural influence began in the 5th century AD, and the Manx language, a branch of the Gaelic languages, gradually emerged. In the 9th century, the Norse began to settle there. A Norse-Gaelic culture arose and the island came under Norse control. In 1266, the island became part of Scotland as formalised by the Treaty of Perth. After a period of alternating rule by the kings of Scotland and England, the island came under the feudal overlordship of the English Crown in 1399. The lordship revested into the British Crown in 1764 but the island never became part of Great Britain or its successor the United Kingdom and retained its status as an internally self-governing Crown dependency.
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Israel
Coordinates: 31°N 35°E / 31°N 35°E / 31; 35
Israel, officially the State of Israel ( /ˈɪzriːəl/ or /ˈɪzreɪəl/; Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Medīnat Yisrā'el, IPA: [me̞diˈnät jisʁäˈʔe̞l] ( listen); Arabic: دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل, Dawlat Isrāʼīl, IPA: [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, Egypt and the Gaza Strip on the southwest, and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south, and it contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel is defined as a Jewish and Democratic State in its Basic Laws and is the world's only Jewish-majority state.
Following the adoption of a resolution by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption and implementation of the United Nations plan to partition Palestine, on 14 May 1948 David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, a state independent from the British Mandate for Palestine. Neighboring Arab states invaded the next day in support of the Palestinian Arabs. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Portions of these territories, including east Jerusalem, have been annexed by Israel, but the border with the neighboring West Bank has not yet been permanently defined.[neutrality is disputed] Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, but efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have so far not resulted in peace.
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Italian Peninsula
The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula, also Italy (Italian: Penisola italiana or Penisola appenninica) is one of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe (the other two being the Iberian Peninsula and Balkan Peninsula), spanning 1,000 km (620 mi) from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale (The Boot). Three smaller peninsulas contribute to this characteristic shape, namely Calabria, Salento and Gargano.
Since the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus (end of first century BCE), the northern border of the peninsula has been set on the Alps watershed, but geographically it coincides with a line extending from the Magra to the Rubicone rivers, north of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, which excludes the Po Valley and the southern slope of the Alps.
Nearly all of the peninsula is part of the state of the Italian Republic, apart from San Marino and the Vatican City. Additionally, Sicily, Elba, Malta (an independent state), and other smaller islands, as Palagruža (It. Pelagosa), belonging to Croatia, are usually considered as islands off the peninsula and in this sense geographically grouped along with it.
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Italy
Italyi/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
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Japan
Japani/dʒəˈpæn/ (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.
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Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, French: Bailliage de Jersey ( /ˈdʒɜrzi/, French: [ʒɛʁzɛ]; Jèrriais: Jèrri), is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and other rocks and reefs.
Jersey is a self-governing parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, with its own financial, legal and judicial systems.
The island of Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands. Although the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey are often referred to collectively as 'the Channel Islands', they are not a constitutional or political unit. Jersey has a separate relationship to the British Crown from the other Crown Dependencies of Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It is not part of the United Kingdom, and has an international identity separate from that of the UK but the United Kingdom is constitutionally responsible for the defence of Jersey. Jersey is not a part of the European Union but has a special relationship with it, being treated as part of the European Community for the purposes of free trade in goods.
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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.
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Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan (i/ˌkɑːzəkˈstɑːn/ or /ˌkæzəkˈstæn/) (Kazakh: Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, pronounced [qɑzɑqstɑ́n]; Russian: Казахстан [kəzɐxˈstan]), officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Europe. The ninth largest country in the world by land area, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of 2,727,300 square kilometres (1,053,000 sq mi) is larger than Western Europe. It is neighbored clockwise from the north by Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and also borders on a significant part of the Caspian Sea. Although Kazakhstan does not share a border with Mongolia, its most easterly point is only 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Mongolia's western tip. The terrain of Kazakhstan ranges from flatlands, steppes, taigas, rock-canyons, hills, deltas, and snow-capped mountains to deserts. With 16.6 million people (2011 estimate) Kazakhstan has the 62nd largest population in the world, though its population density is less than 6 people per square kilometre (15 per sq. mi.). The capital was moved in 1998 from Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, to Astana.
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Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv (Ukrainian: Київ [ˈkɪjiw] ( listen); Russian: Киев) is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press.
Kiev is an important industrial, scientific, educational and cultural centre of Eastern Europe. It is home to many high-tech industries, higher education institutions and world-famous historical landmarks. The city has an extensive infrastructure and highly developed system of public transport, including the Kiev Metro.
The name Kiev is said to derive from the name of Kyi, one of four legendary founders of the city (brothers Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv, and sister Lybid). During its history, Kiev, one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, passed through several stages of great prominence and relative obscurity. The city probably existed as a commercial centre as early as the 5th century. A Slavic settlement on the great trade route between Scandinavia and Constantinople, Kiev was a tributary of the Khazars, until seized by the Varangians (Vikings) in the mid-9th century. Under Varangians rule, the city became a capital of the Rus', the first East Slavic state. Completely destroyed during the Mongol invasion in 1240, the city lost most of its influence for the centuries to come. It was a provincial capital of marginal importance in the outskirts of the territories controlled by its powerful neighbours; first the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, followed by Poland and Russia.
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Kosovo
Kosovo ( /ˈkɒsəvoʊˌ ˈkoʊsəvoʊ/; Albanian: Kosovë, Kosova; Serbian: Косово or Косово и Метохија or Космет, Kosovo or Kosovo i Metohija or Kosmet) is a region in southeastern Europe. In antiquity, it was known as the independent kingdom, and later Roman province, of Dardania. Part of the medieval Serbia, it was then conquered by the Ottoman Empire, later incorporated into Serbia after the First Balkan War and before the constitution of Yugoslavia, later still it became the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (Serbian: Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo i Metohija) within Serbia (Serbia then being one of the constituent republics of Yugoslavia). Long-term severe ethnic tensions between Kosovo's Albanian and Serb populations have left Kosovo ethnically divided, resulting in inter-ethnic violence, including the Kosovo War of 1999. Following the Kosovo War, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) relinquished governance of this territory, whose governance was taken over by the United Nations, Kosovo remained legally the sovereign territory of the FRY after the transfer of authority. The partially recognised Republic of Kosovo (Albanian: Republika e Kosovës; Serbian: Република Косово, Republika Kosovo), a self-declared independent state, has de facto control over most of the territory, while North Kosovo, the largest Kosovo Serb enclave, is under the control of institutions of the Republic of Serbia.Serbia does not recognise the unilateral secession of Kosovo and considers it a UN-governed entity within its sovereign territory.
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La Défense
La Défense (pronounced [la de.fɑ̃s]) is a major business district of the Paris aire urbaine. With a population of 20,000, it is centered in an orbital motorway straddling the Hauts-de-Seine département municipalities of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux. The district is at the westernmost extremity of Paris's 10 km long Historical Axis, which starts at the Louvre in Central Paris and continues along the Champs-Élysées, well beyond the Arc de Triomphe before culminating at La Défense.
Around its 110-metre (360 ft)-high Grande Arche and esplanade ("le Parvis"), la Défense holds many of the Paris urban area's tallest high-rises. With its 77.5 acres (314,000 m2), its 72 glass-and-steel slick buildings including 14 high-rises above 150 metres (490 ft), its 180,000 daily workers and 3.5 million square metres (37.7 million sq ft) of office space, La Défense is Europe's largest purpose-built business district.
La Défense is named after the iconic statue La Défense de Paris, which was erected in 1883 to commemorate the soldiers who had defended Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
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Labico
Labico is a comune (municipality) of c. 4,500 inhabitants in the province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 35 km southeast of Rome.
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Ladispoli
Ladispoli is a town and comune in the province of Rome, Lazio, central Italy.
Ladispoli occupies the area existed the ancient Alsium, the port of the Etruscan city of Cerveteri and later a Roman colony cited by Cicero.
Alsium was destroyed in the 6th century AD, during the Gothic War, by the Ostrogoths led by Totila. Later a castle, named Palo, was built in the area: it was a fief of the Orsini and, from 1693, of the Odescalchi family.
Modern Ladispoli was founded in 1888 by Ladislao Odescalchi, whom its name stems from.
In the late 1970s and until the early 1990s, parts of Ladispoli served as refugee camps for Soviet emigrants seeking political and/or religious asylum in Western countries (mostly United States, Canada and Australia). The experience of Jews from the former USSR staying in Ladispoli in the 1980s was first described in English by Maxim D. Shrayer in his literary memoir "Waiting for America" (2007).
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Lanuvio
Lanuvio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 30 km southeast of Rome, on the Alban Hills.
Lanuvio borders the following municipalities: Aprilia, Ariccia, Genzano di Roma, Velletri.
In ancient times Lanuvium was an important town in the nearby of Rome. The emperors Antoninus Pius, Marcantonio Colonna and Commodus were born here. It decayed after the reign of Theodosius I (late 4th century AD), and was mostly abandoned due to the shutting down of its Pagan sanctuaries.
It is mentioned again in the 11th century, when it was a seat of a Benedictine monastery. In the early 15th century it was acquired by the Colonna family, to whom it belonged until 1564.
On February 17 1944, during World War II, it was bombed by sea and air by the Allies, and almost entirely destroyed.
Media related to Lanuvio at Wikimedia Commons
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Lariano
Lariano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 35 km southeast of Rome on the Alban Hills.
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Latvia
Latviai/ˈlætviə/ (Latvian: Latvija), officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republika), is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia (border length 343 km), to the south by Lithuania (588 km), to the east by the Russian Federation (276 km), to the southeast by Belarus (141 km), and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden. With 2,067,887 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi) it is one of the least populous and least densely populated countries of the European Union. The capital of Latvia is Riga. The official language is Latvian and the currency is called Lats (Ls). The country has a temperate seasonal climate.
The Latvians are a Baltic people, culturally related to the Lithuanians. Together with the Finno-Ugric Livs (or Livonians), the Latvians are the indigenous people of Latvia.Latvian is an Indo-European language and along with Lithuanian the only two surviving members of the Baltic branch. Indigenous minority languages are Latgalian and the nearly extinct Finno-Ugric Livonian language. In terms of geography, territory and population Latvia is the middle of three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Latvia and Estonia share a long common history: historical Livonia, times of German (Teutonic Order), Polish-Lithuanian, Swedish, Russian, Nazi German and Soviet rule, 13th century Christianization and 16th century Protestant Reformation. Both countries are home to a large number of ethnic Russians (26.9% in Latvia and 25.5% in Estonia) of whom some are non-citizens. Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant, except for the region of Latgalia in the southeast which is historically predominantly Roman Catholic.
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Lazio
Lazio (pronounced [ˈlattsjo], Latin: Latium) is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy. It includes Rome, capital and largest city of Italy.
Lazio comprises a land area of 17,236 km2 (6,655 sq mi) and it has borders with Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche to the north, Abruzzo and Molise to the east, Campania to the south, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. The region is mainly flat and hilly, with small mountainous areas in the most eastern and southern districts.
The coast of Lazio is mainly composed of sandy beaches, punctuated by the headlands of Circeo (541 m) and Gaeta (171 m). The Pontine Islands, which are part of Lazio, lie opposite the southern coast. Behind the coastal strip, to the north, lies the Maremma Laziale (the continuation of Tuscan Maremma), a costal plain interrupted at Civitavecchia by the Tolfa Mountains (616 m). The central section of the region is occupied by the Roman Campagna, a vast alluvial plain surrounding the city of Rome, with an area of approximately 2,100 km2 (811 sq mi). The southern districts are characterized by the flatlands of Agro Pontino, a once swampy and malarial area, that was reclaimed over the centuries.
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Licenza
Licenza is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km northeast of Rome.
Licenza borders the following municipalities: Mandela, Monteflavio, Percile, Roccagiovine, San Polo dei Cavalieri, Scandriglia.
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Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein, officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (i/ˈlɪktənstaɪn/ LIK-tən-styn; German: Fürstentum Liechtenstein, German pronunciation: [ˈfʏʁstn̩tuːm ˈlɪçtn̩ʃtaɪn]) is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over 160 square kilometres (62 sq mi), and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan. Liechtenstein has the highest gross domestic product per person in the world when adjusted by purchasing power parity, and has the world's lowest external debt. Liechtenstein also has the second lowest unemployment rate in the world at 1.5% (Monaco is first).
Liechtenstein is the smallest yet the richest (by measure of GDP per capita) German-speaking country in the world and the only country to lie entirely within the Alps. It is known as a principality as it is a constitutional monarchy headed by a prince. Liechtenstein is divided into 11 municipalities. Much of its terrain is mountainous, making it a winter sports destination. Many cultivated fields and small farms characterize its landscape both in the south (Oberland, upper land) and in the north (Unterland, lower land). The country has a strong financial sector located in the capital, Vaduz, and has been identified as a tax haven. It is a member of the European Free Trade Association and part of the European Economic Area, the Schengen Area but not of the European Union.
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Lithuania
Lithuania (i/ˌlɪθuːˈeɪniə/ or /ˌlɪθjuːˈeɪniə/; Lithuanian: Lietuva), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika) is a country in Northern Europe, the largest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark. It borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and a Russian exclave (Kaliningrad Oblast) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 3.2 million as of 2011, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. The Lithuanians are a Baltic people, and the official language, Lithuanian, is one of only two living languages (together with Latvian) in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family.
For centuries, the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea was inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, who was crowned as King of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the first Lithuanian state, on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe: present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.
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Ljubljana
Ljubljana (locally: [lʲubˈlʲana] ( listen); German: Laibach, Italian: Lubiana, Latin: Labacum or Aemona) is the capital of Slovenia and its only centre of international importance. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. With approximately 272,000 inhabitants, it classifies as the only Slovenian large town. Throughout its history, it has been influenced by its geographic position at the crossroads of the Slavic world with the Germanic and Latin cultures.
For centuries, Ljubljana was the capital of the historical region of Carniola. Now it is the cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative centre of Slovenia, independent since 1991. Its transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific and research institutions and cultural tradition are contributing factors to its leading position.
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London
Londoni/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's leading financial centre alongside New York City and has the fifth-largest city GDP in the world (and the largest in Europe). London has been described as a world cultural capital. It was the world's most visited city during 2011 and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.
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London Docklands
Docklands is the semi-official name for an area in east and southeast London, England. It forms part of the boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Greenwich. The docks were formerly part of the Port of London, at one time the world's largest port. They have now been redeveloped principally for commercial and residential use. The name London Docklands was used for the first time in a government report on redevelopment plans in 1971 but has since become virtually universally adopted. It also created conflict between the new and old communities of the London Docklands.
In Roman and medieval times, ships tended to dock at small quays in the present-day city of London or Southwark, an area known as the Pool of London. However, this gave no protection against the elements, was vulnerable to thieves and suffered from a lack of space at the quayside. The Howland Great Dock in Rotherhithe (built 1696 and later forming the core of the Surrey Commercial Docks) was designed to address these problems, providing a large, secure and sheltered anchorage with room for 120 large vessels. It was a major commercial success and provided for two phases of expansion during the Georgian and Victorian eras. The first of the Georgian docks was the West India (opened 1802), followed by the London (1805), the East India (also 1805), the Surrey (1807), St Katharine (1828) and the West India South (1829). The Victorian docks were mostly further east, comprising the Royal Victoria (1855), Millwall (1868) and Royal Albert (1880). The King George V Dock was a late addition in 1921.
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Longyearbyen
Coordinates: 78°13′N 15°39′E / 78.22°N 15.65°E / 78.22; 15.65
Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative center of Svalbard, Norway. As of 2008, the town had a population of 2,040. Longyearbyen is located in the valley of Longyeardalen and on the shore of Adventfjorden, a bay of Isfjorden located on the west coast of Spitsbergen. Since 2002, Longyearbyen Community Council has had many of the same responsibilities of a municipality, including utilities, education, cultural facilities, fire department, roads and ports. The town is also the seat of the Governor of Svalbard and is the world's northernmost town.
Known as Longyear City until 1926, the town was established by and named after John Munroe Longyear, whose Arctic Coal Company started coal mining operations in 1906. Operations were taken over by Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani (SNSK) in 1916, which still conducts mining. The town was almost completely destroyed by the German Kriegsmarine on 8 August 1943, but was rebuilt after the Second World War. Traditionally, Longyearbyen was a company town, but most mining operations have moved to Sveagruva since the 1990s, while the town has seen an large increase in tourism and research. This has seen the arrival of institutions such as the University Centre in Svalbard, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and Svalbard Satellite Station. The community is served by Svalbard Airport, Longyear and Svalbard Church.
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Los Angeles
Los Angeles (i/lɒs ˈændʒələs/ loss-AN-jə-ləs; Spanish: [los ˈaŋxeles], which is written Los Ángeles; British pronounciation /lɒs ˈændʒəliːz/ loss-AN-jə-leez) with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in the state of California, and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of 468.67 square miles (1,213.8 km2), and is located in Southern California. Often known by its initials L.A., the city is the focal point of the larger Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan statistical area and Greater Los Angeles Area region, which contain 12,828,837 and nearly 18 million people respectively as of 2010, making it one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world and the second largest in the United States. Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the United States, while the entire Los Angeles area itself has been recognized as the most diverse of the nation's largest cities. The city's inhabitants are referred to as "Angelenos".
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Luxembourg
Luxembourg (i/ˈlʌksəmbɜrɡ/ LUKS-əm-burg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg, French: Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, German: Großherzogtum Luxemburg, Dutch: Groothertogdom Luxemburg), is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland ("good country") in the south. Luxembourg has a population of over half a million people in an area of approximately 2,586 square kilometres (998 sq mi). A representative democracy with a constitutional monarch, it is ruled by a grand duke. It is now the world's only remaining sovereign grand duchy. The country has a highly developed economy, with the world's highest GDP (nominal) per capita according to the IMF. Its historic and strategic importance dates back to its founding as a Roman era fortress site and Frankish count's castle site in the Early Middle Ages. It was an important bastion along the Spanish Road when Spain was the principal European power influencing the whole western hemisphere and beyond in the 16th–17th centuries.
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Madrid
Madrid (English /məˈdrɪd/, Spanish: [ma'ðrid]) is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third largest in the European Union after London and Paris. The city spans a total of 604.3 km2 (233.3 sq mi).
The city is located on the Manzanares river in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid (which comprises the city of Madrid, its conurbation and extended suburbs and villages); this community is bordered by the autonomous communities of Castile and León and Castile-La Mancha. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political centre of Spain. The current mayor is Ana Botella from the People's Party (PP).
Madrid urban agglomeration has the 3rd largest GDP in the European Union and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, environment, media, fashion, science, culture, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. Due to its economic output, high standard of living, and market size, Madrid is considered the major financial centre of Southern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula; it hosts the head offices of the vast majority of the major Spanish companies, such as Telefónica, Iberia or Repsol. Madrid is the most touristic city of Spain, the fourth-most touristic of the continent, and is the 10th most livable city in the world according to Monocle magazine, in its 2010 index. Madrid also ranks among the 12 greenest European cities in 2010. Madrid is currently a Candidate City for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
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Magliano Romano
Magliano Romano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 30 km north of Rome.
Magliano Romano borders the following municipalities: Calcata, Campagnano di Roma, Castelnuovo di Porto, Mazzano Romano, Morlupo, Rignano Flaminio, Sacrofano.
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Malta
Maltai/ˈmɒltə/, officially known as the Republic of Malta (Maltese: Repubblika ta' Malta), is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, 80 km (50 mi) south of Sicily, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya, with Gibraltar 1,755 km (1,091 mi) to the west and Alexandria 1,508 km (937 mi) to the east. Malta covers just over 316 km2 (122 sq mi) in land area, making it one of the world's smallest states. It is also one of the most densely populated countries worldwide. The de facto capital city of Malta is Valletta; the largest town, Birkirkara. The main island comprises many towns, which together form one Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) with a population of 368,250 according to Eurostat. The country has two official languages, Maltese (constitutionally the national language) and English.
Throughout history, Malta's location has given it great strategic importance, and a succession of powers including the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Habsburg Spain, Knights of St John, French and the British ruled the islands. Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964 and became a republic in 1974, whilst retaining membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004. Malta is also party to the Schengen Agreement and in 2008 it became part of the eurozone.
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Manarola
Manarola (Manaea in the local dialect) is a small town, a frazione of the comune (municipality) of Riomaggiore, in the province of La Spezia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is the second smallest of the famous Cinque Terre towns frequented by tourists.
Manarola may be the oldest of the towns in the Cinque Terre, with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338. The local dialect is Manarolese, which is marginally different from the dialects in the nearby area. The name "Manarola" is probably dialectical evolution of the Latin, "magna rota". In the Manarolese dialect this was changed to "magna roea" which means "large wheel", in reference to the mill wheel in the town.
Manarola's primary industries have traditionally been fishing and wine-making. The local wine, called Sciacchetrà, is especially renowned; references from Roman writings mention the high quality of the wine produced in the region. In recent years, Manarola and its neighboring towns have become popular tourist destinations, particularly in the summer months. Tourist attractions in the region include a famous walking trail between Manarola and Riomaggiore (called Via dell'Amore, "Love's Trail") and hiking trails in the hills and vineyards above the town. Manarola is one of the five villages. Mostly all of the houses are bright and colourful.
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Mantua
Mantua (Italian: Mantova [ˈmantova] ( listen); Emilian and Latin: Mantua) is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family made it one of the main artistic, cultural, and especially musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole. Mantua is noted for its significant role in the history of opera, and the city is known for its architectural treasures and artifacts, elegant palaces, and medieval and Renaissance cityscape. It is the nearest town to the birthplace of the Roman writer Virgil. It is also the town to which Romeo was banished in William Shakespeare's Play Romeo and Juliet.
Mantua is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes created during the 12th century. These receive the waters of the river Mincio, a tributary of the Po which descends from Lake Garda. The three lakes are called Lago Superiore, Lago di Mezzo, and Lago Inferiore ("Upper", "Middle", and "Lower Lake"). A fourth lake, Lake Pajolo, which once completed a defensive water ring of the city, dried up at the end of the 18th century.
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Manziana
Manziana is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km northwest of Rome.
Manziana borders the following municipalities: Bracciano, Canale Monterano, Oriolo Romano, Tolfa.
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Marano Equo
Marano Equo is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 45 km east of Rome. It stands on a steep slope descending to the Aniene valley with the Monti Simbruini located nearby.
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Marbella
Marbella is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the region of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the same; it is the head of the judicial district that bears its name.
Marbella is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, between Málaga and the Gibraltar Strait, in the foothills of the Sierra Blanca. The municipality covers an area of 117 km² crossed by highways on the coast, these are its main entrances.
In 2011 the population of the city was 138,662 inhabitants, making it the second most populous municipality in the province of Málaga and the eighth in Andalusia. It is one of the most important tourist cities of the Costa del Sol and throughout most of the year is an international tourist attraction, due mainly to its climate and tourist infrastructure. The city also has a significant archaeological heritage, many museums and performance spaces, and a cultural calendar with events ranging from reggae concerts to opera performances.
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Marcellina
Marcellina is a comune (municipality) in the province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 30 km northeast of Rome.
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Mariehamn
Mariehamn (Finnish: Maarianhamina) is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city. Like all of Åland, Mariehamn is unilingually Swedish-speaking and around 88% of the inhabitants speak it as their native language.
The town was named after Maria Alexandrovna, the Empress consort of Alexander II of Russia. Mariehamn was founded in 1861, around the village of Övernäs, in what was at the time part of the municipality of Jomala. The city has since expanded and incorporated more of Jomala territory. The city is located on a peninsula, and has two important harbours, one located on the western shore and one on the eastern shore. The Western Harbour is an important international harbour with daily traffic to Sweden and mainland Finland. A powerful incentive for Baltic ferries to stop at Mariehamn is that, with respect to indirect taxation, Åland is not part of the EU customs zone and so duty-free goods can be sold aboard. Mariehamn Airport is located in the neighbouring municipality of Jomala, some 3 kilometres (2 mi) north-west of Mariehamn city centre.
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Matera
Matera listen (help·info) is a town and a province in the region of Basilicata, in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Matera. The town lies athwart a small canyon, which has been eroded in the course of years by a small stream, the Gravina.
The area of what is now Matera has been settled since the Palaeolithic. The city was allegedly founded by the Romans in the 3rd century BC, with the name of Matheola after the consul Lucius Caecilius Metellus. In AD 664 Matera was conquered by the Lombards and became part of the Duchy of Benevento. In the 7th and 8th centuries the nearby grottos were colonized by both Benedictine and Greek-Orthodox monastic institutions. The 9th and 10th centuries were characterized by the struggle between Saracens, Byzantines and the German emperors, including Louis II, who destroyed the city. After the settlement of the Normans in Apulia, Matera was ruled by William Iron-Arm from 1043. After a short communal phase and a series of pestilences and earthquakes, the city in the fifteenth century became an Aragonese possession, and was given in fief to the barons of the Tramontano family. In 1514, however, the population rebelled against the oppression and killed Count Giovanni Carlo Tramontano. In the seventeenth century Matera was handed over to the Orsini and then became part of the Terre d'Otranto di Puglia. Later it was capital of Basilicata, a position it retained until 1806, when Joseph Bonaparte reassigned it to Potenza. In 1927 it became capital of the Matera province. On September 21, 1943, the Materani rose against the German occupation, the first Italian city to fight against the Wehrmacht.
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Mazzano Romano
Mazzano Romano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 35 km north of Rome.
Mazzano Romano borders the following municipalities: Calcata, Campagnano di Roma, Castel Sant'Elia, Faleria, Magliano Romano, Nepi.
It was first mentioned in 945, one of the villages that formed from the great estate assembled by Pope Adrian I about 780, his Domusculta Capracorum.. It includes the Regional Park of Veii.
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Melbourne
Melbourne ([ˈmelbən, -bn̩, ˈmæl-],rhotically /ˈmɛlbərn/) is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2010, the greater geographical area had an approximate population of four million. Inhabitants of Melbourne are called Melburnians or Melbournians.
The metropolis is located on the large natural bay known as Port Phillip, with the city centre positioned at the estuary of the Yarra River (at the northernmost point of the bay). The metropolitan area then extends south from the city centre, along the eastern and western shorelines of Port Phillip, and expands into the hinterland. The city centre is situated in the municipality known as the City of Melbourne, and the metropolitan area consists of a further 30 municipalities.
Melbourne was founded in 1835 (47 years after the European settlement of Australia) by settlers from Launceston in Van Diemen's Land. It was named by governor Richard Bourke in 1837, in honour of the British Prime Minister of the day, William Lamb—the 2nd Viscount Melbourne. Melbourne was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria in 1847. In 1851, it became the capital city of the newly created colony of Victoria. During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world's largest and wealthiest cities. After the federation of Australia in 1901, it then served as the interim seat of government of the newly created nation of Australia until 1927.
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Mentana
Mentana is a town and comune in the province of Rome, Lazio, central Italy.
Mentana's name in ancient times was Nomentum, to which the Via Nomentana led from Rome. According to Livy, the town was part of the Latin League, which went to war with Rome during the reign of Rome's king Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. Nomentum was one of a number of towns captured by Tarquinius.
It was a Latin town, but was considered by some to be Sabine, and, like Fidenae and Ficulea, was excluded from the first region by Augustus, who made the Anio river its northern boundary. The city was part of the League defeated by Rome in the Battle of Lake Regillus, and was captured definitively in 338 BCE.
Subsequently Nomentum received the civitas sine suffragio; in its municipal constitution the chief magistrate even in imperial times bore the title of dictator. Pliny and Martial often praise the fertility of its neighbourhood.
In 408 CE it is mentioned as an episcopal see, and in 593 it annexed the diocese of Cures. In 741 it was briefly occupied by the Lombards and the inhabitants moved to a new centre on the Via Nomentana which was more easily defendable. On November 23, 799, it was the site of the meeting of Pope Leo III and Charlemagne.
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Mexico
Mexico (i/ˈmɛksɨkoʊ/; Spanish: México, IPA: [ˈmexiko] ( listen)), officially the United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos (help·info)), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States of America; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi), Mexico is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the thirteenth largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of over 113 million, it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.
In Pre-Columbian Mexico many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory from its base in México-Tenochtitlan, which was administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This territory would eventually become Mexico as the colony's independence was recognized in 1821. The post-independence period was characterized by economic instability, the Mexican-American War and territorial cession to the United States, a civil war, two empires and a domestic dictatorship. The latter led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the country's current political system. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time that an opposition party won the presidency from the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
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Mexico City
Mexico City ( /ˈmɛksɨkoʊ ˈsɪti/; Spanish: Ciudad de México [sjuˈðað ðe ˈmexiko], also known as México D.F., or simply D.F.) is the Federal District (Distrito Federal), capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole. Mexico City is the country's largest city as well as its most important political, cultural, educational and financial center.
As an "alpha" global city Mexico City is one of the most important financial centers in North America. It is located in the Valley of Mexico (Valle de México), a large valley in the high plateaus at the center of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 metres (7,350 ft). The city consists of sixteen boroughs.
The 2009 estimated population for the city proper was around 8.84 million people, and has a land area of 1,485 square kilometres (573 sq mi). According to the most recent definition agreed upon by the federal and state governments, the Mexico City metropolitan area population is 21.2 million people, making it the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere and the fifth largest agglomeration in the world.
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Milan
Milan (Italian: Milano [miˈlaːno] ( listen); Lombard: [miˈlan]; Latin: Mediolanum) is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital of Lombardy as well as of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area is the 5th largest in EU and the largest in Italy with an estimated population of approximately 5 million. The growth of many suburbs and satellite settlements around the city proper, following the Italian economic miracle of 1950s–60s and massive commuting flows, suggest that socioeconomic linkages have expanded well beyond the boundaries of its administrative limits and its agglomeration, creating a region of approximately 9,3 million people. It has been suggested that the Milan metropolitan area is part of the so-called Blue Banana, the area of Europe with the highest population and industrial density. Its health care and education system is considered one of the best of Europe.
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Minsk
Coordinates: 53°54′N 27°34′E / 53.9°N 27.567°E / 53.9; 27.567
Minsk (Russian: Минск, [mʲinsk]; Belarusian: Мінск, pronounced [minsk]) is the capital and largest city in Belarus, situated on the Svislach and Niamiha rivers. Minsk is also a headquarters of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). As the national capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus; it is also the administrative centre of Minsk Region (voblast) and Minsk raion (district). It has a population of 1,836,808 inhabitants (2009).
The earliest historic references to Minsk date to the 11th century (1067), when it was noted as a provincial city within the principality of Polotsk. The settlement developed on the rivers. In 1242, Minsk became a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It received town privileges in 1499.
From 1569, it was a capital of the Minsk Voivodship in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was part of a region annexed by the Russian Empire in 1793, as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland. From 1919–1991, after the Russian Revolution, Minsk was the capital of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union.
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Modena
Modena (Italian: [ˈmɔːdena] ( listen); Modenese: Mòdna; Latin: Mutina) is a city and comune (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.
An ancient town, it is the seat of an archbishop, but is now best known as "the capital of engines", since the factories of the famous Italian sports car makers Ferrari, De Tomaso, Lamborghini, Pagani and Maserati are, or were, located here and all, except Lamborghini, have headquarters in the city or nearby. Lamborghini is headquartered not far away in Sant'Agata Bolognese, in the adjacent Province of Bologna. One of Ferrari's cars, the 360 Modena, was named after the town itself. Also, one of the colors for Ferraris is Modena yellow.
The University of Modena, founded in 1175 and expanded by Francesco II d'Este in 1686, has traditional strengths in economics, medicine and law and is the second oldest athenaeum in Italy, sixth in the whole world[citation needed]. Italian officers are trained at the Italian Military Academy, located in Modena, and partly housed in the Baroque Ducal Palace. The Biblioteca Estense houses historical volumes and 3,000 manuscripts.
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Modena Cathedral
Modena Cathedral is a Romanesque church in Modena, Italy. It is the cathedral, or duomo in Italian, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Modena-Nonantola. Consecrated in 1184, it is one of the most important Romanesque buildings in Europe and a World Heritage Site.
Two previous churches had been constructed on the site since the 5th century, but they had both been destroyed. Work on the modern Cathedral began in 1099, under the direction of the master builder Lanfranco, over the site of the sepulchre of Saint Geminianus, Modena's patron saint. The Saint's remains are still exhibited in the cathedral's crypt. The present cathedral was consecrated by Pope Lucius III on July 12, 1184.
After Lanfranco's work, the Cathedral was embellished by Anselmo da Campione and his heirs, the so-called "Campionese-masters". The current façade therefore exhibits different styles. The majestic rose-window was added by Anselmo in the 13th century, while the two lions supporting the entrance's columns are of Roman age, probably discovered while digging the foundations.
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Modica
Modica (Sicilian: Muòrica, Greek: Μότουκα, Latin: Mutyca or Motyca) is a city and comune in the Province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. The city is situated in the Hyblaean Mountains and, along with Val di Noto, is part of UNESCO Heritage Sites in Italy.
According to Thucydides, the city was founded in 1360 BC or 1031 BC and was inhabited by the Sicels in the 7th century BC. It was probably a dependency of Syracuse. Modica was occupied by the Romans after the battle of the Egadi islands against the Carthaginians in the Punic Wars 241 BC, together with Syracuse and all of Sicily. Modica became one of the thirty-five decuman ("spontaneously submitted") cities of the island and was oppressed by the praetor Verres. It became an independent municipium, and apparently a place of some consequence. The city is also mentioned among the inland towns of the island both by Pliny and Ptolemy; and though its name is not found in the Itineraries, it is again mentioned by the Geographer of Ravenna.Silius Italicus also includes it in his list of Sicilian cities, and immediately associates it with Netum (now Noto Antico), with which it was clearly in the same neighborhood.
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Moldova
Moldovai/mɒlˈdoʊvə/, officially the Republic of Moldova (Moldovan/Romanian: Republica Moldova pronounced [reˈpublika molˈdova]) is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe located between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991 as part of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. On 29 July 1994, the new constitution of Moldova was adopted. A strip of Moldova's internationally recognized territory on the east bank of the river Dniester has been under the de facto control of the breakaway government of Transnistria since 1990.
The nation is a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government. Moldova is a member state of the United Nations, Council of Europe, WTO, OSCE, GUAM, CIS, BSEC and other international organizations. Moldova currently aspires to join the European Union, and has implemented the first three-year Action Plan within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).
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Molise
Coordinates: 41°41′59″N 14°36′40″E / 41.6997°N 14.6111°E / 41.6997; 14.6111
Molise (pronounced [moˈliːze]) (Molisano: Mulise) is a region of Southern Italy, the second smallest of the regions. It was formerly (until 1963) part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise (with Abruzzo) and now a separate entity. The region covers 4,438 km² and has a population of about 300,000.
Molise is the newest Italian region, since it was established in 1963, when the region Abruzzi e Molise was split in two. It became effective only in 1970.
Though there is a large Fiat plant (Termoli), the industrial sector is dominated by the building industry with small and medium-sized farms spread widely throughout the region. Another important industry is food processing: pasta, meat, milk products, oil and wine are the traditional products of the region. In the services sector the most important industries are distribution, hotels and catering, followed by transport and communications, banking and insurance. With few exceptions, in all sectors firms are small, and this explains the difficulties encountered when marketing products on a national scale.
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Monaco
Monacoi/ˈmɒnəkoʊ/, officially the Principality of Monaco (French: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque: Principatu de Múnegu; Italian: Principato di Monaco; Occitan: Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city state, located on the French Riviera in Western Europe. Bordered by France on three sides, with one side bordering the Mediterranean Sea, its center is about 16 km (9.9 mi) from Italy, and is only 15 km (9.3 mi) north east of Nice, France. It has an area of 1.98 km2 (0.76 sq mi), and a population of 35,986, making Monaco the second smallest and the most densely populated country in the world. Monaco has a land border of only 4.4 km (2.7 mi), a coastline of 4.1 km (2.5 mi), and a width that varies between 1.7 km (1.1 mi) and 349 metres (382 yards). The highest point in the country is a narrow pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires district, which is 161 metres (528 feet) above sea level. Monaco's most populated Quartier is Monte Carlo, and the most populated Ward is Larvotto/Bas Moulins. After a recent expansion of Port Hercules, Monaco's total area is 2.05 km2 (0.79 sq mi), with new plans to extend the district of Fontvieille, with land reclaimed from the Mediterranean Sea.
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Monte Compatri
Monte Compatri is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 20 km southeast of Rome on the Alban Hills. It is one of the Castelli Romani.
Monte Compatri has been identified with the ancient Labicum, a colony of Alba Longa. In the Middle Ages it was a fief of the Counts of Tusculum, then of the Annibaldi, the Altemps and the Borghese.
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Monte Mario
Monte Mario is the highest (139 m) hill of Rome, Italy. It lies in the NW side of the city.
The hill was known as Mons Vaticanus or Clivus Cinnae in Roman times. The current name, according to some theories, comes from Mario Mellini, a cardinal who around the middle of 15th century owned there a villa and several hamlets. In the Middle Ages it was however known as Monte Malo ("Bad Mountain"), due to the murder here of patrician Giovanni Crescenzio (998), whence, it is presumed, the modern name.
The eastern part of the hill is a nature reserve [1], on the west side lies the now upmarket district of the same name. Atop one hill is the church and convent of Santa Maria Rosario. On the hilltop, now occupying the site of the 15th century Villa Mellini, is the Monte Mario Observatory, part of the Rome Observatory, and the Museo Astronomico Copernicano. This location (12°27'8.4"E ) was used as the prime meridian (rather than Greenwich) for maps of Italy until the 1960s. The side of the hill was the former site of the Villa Pigneto built by Pietro da Cortona. The ruins of the structure were razed in the 19th century.
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Monte Porzio Catone
Monte Porzio Catone is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 20 km southeast of Rome, on the Alban Hills.
Monte Porzio Catone borders the following municipalities: Frascati, Grottaferrata, Monte Compatri, Rome.
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Monteflavio
Monteflavio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 35 km northeast of Rome.
Monteflavio borders the following municipalities: Licenza, Montorio Romano, Moricone, Palombara Sabina, San Polo dei Cavalieri, Scandriglia.
During the "Polenta" Festival (2nd Sunday in October) it is possible to eat the polenta (the thick maize porridge) with new wines pouring out by stands in the streets and in the main square of Monteflavio.
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Montelanico
Montelanico is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 50 km southeast of Rome.
Montelanico is known for its annual international short films festival, entitled "Arrivano i corti".
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Montelibretti
Montelibretti is a town and comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 30 km northeast of Rome on the slopes of Monti Sabini.
Montelibretti borders the following municipalities: Capena, Fara in Sabina, Fiano Romano, Monterotondo, Montopoli di Sabina, Montorio Romano, Moricone, Nerola, Palombara Sabina.
The name derives from the presence of a Roman villa owned by Caius Brutius Presentis, Commodus' father-in-law. In the Middle Ages, starting from the 15th century, it was a fortress of the Orsini, who were succeeded by the Barberini and then by the Sciarra.
In 1867 it was the location of a battle between Garibaldine and Papal troops, in the course of the Battle of Mentana.
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Montenegro
Montenegro (i/ˌmɒntɨˈneɪɡroʊ/ or /ˌmɒntɨˈniːɡroʊ/; or /ˌmɒntɨˈnɛɡroʊ/; Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора [tsr̩̂ːnaː ɡɔ̌ra] ( listen), meaning "Black Mountain") is a country in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the southeast. Its capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is designated as the Prijestonica (Пријестоница), meaning the former Royal Capital City.
In the 10th century, there existed three Slavic principalities on the territory of Montenegro: Duklja, roughly corresponding to the southern half, Travunia, the west, and Rascia, the north. In 1042, archon Stefan Vojislav led a revolt that resulted in independence of Duklja and the establishment of the Vojislavljević dynasty. Duklja reached its zenith under Vojislav's son, Mihailo (1046–81), and his son Bodin (1081–1101). By the 13th century, Zeta had replaced Duklja when referring to the realm, which at the time was part of the Serbian Grand Principality of the Nemanjić dynasty.
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Monterosso al Mare
Monterosso al Mare is a town and comune in the province of La Spezia, part of the region of Liguria (northern Italy). It is one of the five villages in Cinque Terre. It was extensively damaged by a flood on 24 October 2011.
The town is divided into two distinct parts: the old town and the new town. The two areas are divided by a single tunnel that caters to pedestrians and the very few cars in the town.
The beach at Monterosso runs along most of the coast line and is well used by tourists and locals. The beach is the only extensive sand beach in the Cinque Terre. Monterosso is a small town that in the summer months is overrun by tourists.
The village was briefly excluded from the Cinque Terre trail in 1948, but was re-introduced in mid-1949. This is because Italian officials considered the village too large to be considered part of the historic trail.
Monterosso was devastated by heavy flooding and mudslides on October 25, 2011.
The area is famous for its many lemon trees that can be seen throughout Monterosso. It is also renowned for its white wines, grapes, and olives.
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Monterotondo
Monterotondo is a town and comune in the Province of Rome, central Italy.
According to some historians, Monterotondo is the heir of ancient Sabine town of Eretum, although the modern settlement appeared in the 10th-11th centuries in a different location. The name derives from the medieval corruption (then Mons Teres, then Monte Ritondo) of the original Mons Eretum.
In the Middle Ages, due to its location across the Via Salaria, Monterotondo was a strategic point for the defense of Rome. Initially under the Capocci family, it was sold in the 12th century to the Orsini, who held it until the 18th century. In 1432 it was seized by the condottiero Niccolò Fortebraccio, and in 1485 it was set on fire by the Orsini.
In 1634 the Barberini acquired the town, restoring or enlarging several edifices, and building the Cathedral (1639). On 28 April 1864 the Rome and Monterotondo Rail Road was opened for service.
In 1943, after the Italian armistice with the Allies, 800 German paratroopers tried unsuccessfully to reconquer it.
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Montorio Romano
Montorio Romano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 35 km northeast of Rome.
Montorio Romano borders the following municipalities: Monteflavio, Montelibretti, Moricone, Nerola, Scandriglia.
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Montreal
Montreal (i/ˌmʌntriːˈɒl/;French: Montréal; pronounced [mɔ̃ʁeal] ( listen)) is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the fifteenth largest in North America. Originally called Ville-Marie, or "City of Mary", the city takes its present name from Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, or Mont Réal as it was spelled in Middle French (Mont Royal in present French). The city is located on the Island of Montreal, which took its name from the same source as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard.
As of May 10, 2011, Statistics Canada identifies Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) (land area 4,259 square kilometres (1,644 sq mi)) as Canada's second most populous with an estimated metropolitan area population of 3,824,221 and a population of 1,886,481 in the urban agglomeration of Montreal, which includes all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal. The city of Montreal proper had a population of 1,649,519.
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Moricone
Moricone is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 35 km northeast of Rome.
Moricone borders the following municipalities: Monteflavio, Montelibretti, Montorio Romano, Palombara Sabina.
Moricone is known for its fresh produce and olive oil.
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Morlupo
Morlupo is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 30 km north of Rome. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,230 and an area of 23.9 km².
Morlupo borders the following municipalities: Capena, Castelnuovo di Porto, Magliano Romano, Rignano Flaminio.
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Moscow
Moscow ( /ˈmɒskaʊ/ or /ˈmɒskoʊ/; Russian: Москва́, tr. Moskva; IPA: [mɐˈskva] ( listen)) is the capital and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural and scientific center of Russia and the continent. Moscow is the northernmost megacity on Earth, the most populous city in Europe, and the 6th largest city proper in the world. Its population, according to the results of the 2010 Census, is 11,503,501. Based on Forbes 2011, Moscow has the largest community of billionaires in the world.
Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia. In the course of its history the city has served as the capital of a progression of states, from the medieval Grand Duchy of Moscow and the subsequent Tsardom of Russia to the Soviet Union. Moscow is the site of the Moscow Kremlin, an ancient fortress that is today the residence of the Russian President and of the executive branch of the Government of Russia. The Kremlin is also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament (the State Duma and the Federation Council) also sit in Moscow.
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Multan
Multan (Saraiki, Punjabi, Urdu: : مُلتان pronunciation (help·info)), is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan.According to area its 3rd largest city of Pakistan,but according to population its on 5th number. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about 562 km (349 mi) from Islamabad, 356 km (221 mi) from Lahore and 966 km (600 mi) from Karachi. Multan District has a population of 3.1 million (1998).
Multan is known as the City of Sufis or City of Saints and Madinah-Tul-Awleyah due to the large number of shrines and Sufi saints from the city. According to area its 3rd largest city of Pakistan,but according to population its on 3rd number. The city is full of bazaars, mosques, shrines and ornate tombs. Multan is also the birthplace of Fariduddin Ganjshakar popularly known as Baba Farid who is considered a father of Punjabi language and one of the pioneers in developing Shahmukhī script of Punjabi language which was later adopted by almost all Muslim saints and intellectuals in Punjab region and even in whole of India. Celebrated sufi saint of Punjab and North India Khwaja Ghulam Farid also adopted Shahmukhī script of Punjabi language to convey his teachings.Multan is located in a bend created by five rivers of central Pakistan. The Sutlej River separates it from Bahawalpur and the Chenab River from Muzaffar Garh. The city has grown to become an influential political and economical center for the country, with a dry port and excellent transport links. Multan is famous for its crops: wheat, cotton and sugar cane as well as mangoes, citrus, guavas and pomegranates.
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Mumbai
Mumbai /mʊmˈbaɪ/, also known as Bombay /bɒmˈbeɪ/, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million. Along with the neighbouring urban areas, including the cities of Navi Mumbai and Thane, it is one of the most populous urban regions in the world. Mumbai lies on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. In 2009, Mumbai was named an Alpha world city. Mumbai is also the richest city in India, and has the highest GDP of any city in South, West or Central Asia.
The seven islands that came to constitute Mumbai were home to communities of fishing colonies. For centuries, the islands were under the control of successive indigenous empires before being ceded to the Portuguese and subsequently to the British East India Company. During the mid-18th century, Mumbai was reshaped by the Hornby Vellard project, which undertook the reclamation of the area between the seven constituent islands from the sea. Completed by 1845, the project along with construction of major roads and railways transformed Bombay into a major seaport on the Arabian Sea. Economic and educational development characterised the city during the 19th century. It became a strong base for the Indian independence movement during the early 20th century. When India became independent in 1947, the city was incorporated into Bombay State. In 1960, following the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, a new state of Maharashtra was created with Bombay as capital. The city was renamed Mumbai in 1996.
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Municipio I
The Municipio I, is an administrative subdivision of the city of Rome. It is the center of the municipality of Rome. It was created by Rome's City Council on 19 January 2001 and it has a president who is elected during the mayoral elections.
Municipio I is divided in 8 urbanisms zones:
The territory includes the following Rioni: R.I Monti, R.II Trevi, R.III Colonna, R.IV Campo Marzio, R.V Ponte, R.VI Parione, R.VII Regola, R.VIII Sant'Eustachio, R.IX Pigna, R.X Campitelli, R.XI Sant'Angelo, R.XII Ripa, R.XIII Trastevere, R.XV Esquilino, R.XVI Ludovisi, R.XVII Sallustiano, R.XVIII Castro Pretorio, R.XIX Celio, R.XX Testaccio e R.XXI San Saba.
The list of the Presidents of the Municipio I since 2001:
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Municipio XII
Municipio XII is one of the nineteen municipi, or administrative subdivisions of the city of Rome. It is located in the southern suburb of the city and is the second, after Municipio XX, per extension.
Municipio XII is divided in 13 urbanisms zones:
The territory includes the following districts:
Q.X Ostiense, Q.XXXI Giuliano-Dalmata e Q.XXXII Europa
and the following zones:
Z.XXII Cecchignola, Z.XXIII Castel di Leva, Z.XXIV Fonte Ostiense, Z.XXV Vallerano, Z.XXVI Castel di Decima, Z.XXVII Torrino, Z.XXVIII Tor de' Cenci, Z.XXIX Castel Porziano, Z.XXXI Mezzocammino and Z.XXXIX Tor di Valle.
Media related to Municipio XII at Wikimedia Commons
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Municipio XIII
Municipio XIII is one of the nineteen municipi, or administrative subdivisions of the city of Rome. It is the only one along the Tyrrhenian Sea. About 200,000 people live in this Municipio. Circa 80,000 of them in Ostia Lido (not to be confused with ancient Ostia or Ostia Antica), and circa 70,000 in Acilia.
Municipio XIII is divided in 10 urbanisms zones:
The territory includes the following districts:
Q.XXXIII Lido di Ostia Ponente, Q.XXXIV Lido di Ostia Levante e Q.XXXV Lido di Castel Fusano
and the following zones:
Z.XXVIII Tor de' Cenci, Z.XXIX Castel Porziano, Z.XXX Castel Fusano, Z.XXXI Mezzocammino, Z.XXXII Acilia Nord, Z.XXXIII Acilia Sud, Z.XXXIV Casal Palocco and Z.XXXV Ostia Antica.
The list of the Presidents of the Municipio XIII since 2001:
Media related to Municipio XIII at Wikimedia Commons
Coordinates: 41°44′0″N 12°17′06″E / 41.733333°N 12.285°E / 41.733333; 12.285
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Municipio XIX
The Municipio XIX, is an administrative subdivision of the city of Rome. It is situated to the north-west part of the municipality of Rome.
Municipio XIX is divided in 8 urbanisms zones:
The territory includes the following districts:
Q.XIII Aurelio, Q.XIV Trionfale and Q.XXVII Primavalle
the following "suburbi":
S.X Trionfale and S.XI Della Vittoria
and the following zones:
Z.XLVIII Casalotti, Z.XLIX Santa Maria di Galeria, Z.L Ottavia, Z.LI La Storta and Z.LIII Tomba di Nerone.
The "Municipio" includes the following urban areas:
Balduina, La Lucchina, Monte Mario, Palmarola, Pineta Sacchetti, Proba Pretonia, Quartaccio, Selva Candida, Selva Nera, Tragliatella, Torresina e Torrevecchia.
The list of the Presidents of the Municipio XIII since 2001:
In the "Municipio" there are a lot of green areas, the principal are: the Natural Reserve of the Insugherata, the urban Regional Park of the Pineto, the Natural Monument "Quarto degli Ebrei - Tenuta di Mazzalupetto".
There are the Agostino Gemelli Hospital and the San Filippo Neri Hospital, two of the most important hospitals in Rome.
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Naples
Coordinates: 40°50′42″N 14°15′30″E / 40.845°N 14.25833°E / 40.845; 14.25833
Naples (Italian: Napoli [ˈnaːpoli] ( listen), Neapolitan: Napule; Latin: Neapolis; Ancient Greek: Νεάπολις, meaning "new city") is the capital of Campania and the third-largest city in Italy, after Rome and Milan. As of 2012[update], around 960,000 people live within the city's administrative limits. The wider Naples urban area, covering 777 km2 (300 sq mi), has a population of over 3 million, and is the 10th-most populous urban area in the European Union. Between 4.1 and 4.4 million people live in the overall Naples metropolitan area, one of the largest European cities on the Mediterranean Sea.
Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Greek settlements were established on the island of Megaride in the Gulf of Naples as early as the 9th century BC. A larger mainland colony – initially known as Parthenope (Παρθενόπη) – developed around the 7th century BC, and was refounded as Neápolis (Νεάπολις) in the 5th century BC. Naples became a lynchpin of Magna Graecia and played a key role in the merging of Greek culture into Roman society, eventually becoming a cultural centre of the Roman Republic. Naples remained influential after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, serving as the capital city of the Kingdom of Naples between 1282 and 1816. Thereafter, in union with Sicily, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861. During the Neapolitan War of 1815, Naples strongly promoted Italian unification.
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NATO Defense College
NATO Defense College (NDC) is an international military college for North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries located in Rome, Italy.
The idea of a NATO Defense College originated with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the first Supreme Allied Commander Europe, who identified very early on the need for a new international institution with a unique education mission. On 19 November 1951, the NATO Defense College opened its doors to Course 1 in Paris. In 1966, France withdrew from the Alliance's integrated military structure and the College moved to Rome where it continues to fulfil its mission. First, on 10 September 1999, the new College building, twice the size of the old one, was inaugurated Cecchignola Città Militare, a military zone 2 km from the former site. Then, on 25 September 2001, the NATO Defense College celebrated its 50th Anniversary and hosted the 48th Annual Conference and Seminar of the Association of Anciens. 8 years later on 25 September 2009 celebration of the 60th Anniversary of NATO and the NATO Defense College ten years in Cecchignola.
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Nazi Germany
The Third Reich, also Nazi Germany, is the common name for Germany when it was a totalitarian state ruled by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). On 30 January 1933 Hitler became chancellor of Germany, quickly eliminating all opposition to rule as sole leader. The state idolized Hitler as its Führer ("leader"), centralizing all power in his hands. Historians have emphasized the hypnotic effect of his rhetoric on large audiences, and of his eyes in small groups. Kessel writes, "Overwhelmingly...Germans speak with mystification of Hitler's 'hypnotic' appeal..." Under the "leader principle", the Führer's word was above all other laws. Top officials reported to Hitler and followed his policies, but they had considerable autonomy. The government was not a coordinated, cooperating body, but rather a collection of factions struggling to amass power and curry favor with the Führer. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazi government restored prosperity and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending and a mixed economy of free-market and central-planning practices. Extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of the Autobahns. The return to prosperity gave the regime enormous popularity; the suppression of all opposition made Hitler's rule mostly unchallenged.
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Nazzano
Nazzano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km north of Rome.
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Nemi
Nemi is a town and comune in the province of Rome (central Italy), in the Alban Hills overlooking Lake Nemi, a volcanic crater lake. It is 6 km (4 mi) NW of Velletri and about 30 km (18 mi) southeast of Rome.
The town's name derives from the Latin nemus Aricinum, or "grove of Ariccia": the latter is a small town a quarter of the way around the lake. In antiquity the area had no town, but the grove was the site of one of the most famous of Roman cults and temples: that of Diana Nemorensis, a study of which served as the seed for Sir James Frazer's seminal work on the anthropology of religion, The Golden Bough. In 1514 Marcantonio I Colonna gave to Nemi the "Statuti e Capituli del Castello di Nemi", the first city statute with rules and regulations to observe.
Later on, possibly in connection with this cult (nothing substantial is known of the matter), Caligula built several very large and costly luxury barges for use on the lake. One ship was a shrine dedicated to ceremonies for the Egyptian Isis cult or the cult of Diana Nemorensis, designed to be towed, and the other was a pleasure boat with buildings on it. After Caligula's overthrow, the boats were scuttled.
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Nerola
Nerola is a city and comune of 1,419 inhabitants of the province of Rome, Latium, Italy.
The name Nerola is probably derived from the Sabine word nero or nerio, which meant "strong" and "brave". The inscription on the fountain in the piazza of the town hall A Nerone tuum Nerola nomen habet traces the origin of the name back to the Roman emperor Nero, who belonged to the gens Claudia, which had distant Sabine origins. In the site traces of a Roman era villa have been found, which legend attributes as belonging to Nero himself.
In the second half of the 10th century AD, the castle Castrum Nerulae was founded by the "Sabine chancellor" Benedetto Crescenzi and was held by the Crescenzi family until 1235, when it came under the direct control of the pope. At the end of the twelfth century, the fiefdom was granted to the Orsini family, who constructed the current Castello Orsini. At the end of the 15th century, the castle was subsequently reinforced with strong towers and other defensive works, which fortified the village that it encircled. Near the castle, the chiesa vecchia (Old Church) was constructed in 1483.
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Netherlands
The Netherlands (i/ˈnɛðərləndz/; Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdə(r)lɑnt] or [ˈneɪ̯də(r)lɑnt] ( listen); West Frisian: Nederlân; Papiamento: Hulanda) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with some islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. It is a parliamentary democracy organised as a unitary state. The country capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague. The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces (a case of pars pro toto; see terminology of "the Netherlands").
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Nettuno
Nettuno is a town and comune of the province of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, 60 kilometers south of Rome. It is named in honour of the Roman god Neptune. A resort city and agricultural center on the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Mediterranean Sea it has a population of approximately 46,000.
It has a touristic harbour hosting about 860 boats and a shopping center, selling everything for fishing and sailing. There is also an extensive yacht club.
Nettuno is the city of the D.O.C. wine Cacchione.
The town was founded by the Saracens in the 9th century. It is a popular tourist destination today, where there are a well-preserved old quarter, the Borgo Medievale, with mediaeval streets and small squares, and the Forte Sangallo, a castle built in 1503 by renaissance architect Antonio Da Sangallo Il Vecchio (Antonio da Sangallo the Elder).
It is an important center of pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Maria Goretti. In the shrine there is a crypt where lie the mortal remains of the saint. The church keeps also a priceless polychromed wooden statue of Our Lady of Grace, which is honoured by the town with a procession every year the first Saturday of May.
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New Delhi
New Delhii/ˈnjuː dɛli/ is the capital city of India. As the national capital, New Delhi is the seat of executive, legislative, and judiciary branches of the Government of India. It also serves as the centre of the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi and is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory.
The definition of New Delhi is unclear and the differentiation between Delhi and New Delhi is blurry. Even administratively, the demarcation between Delhi and New Delhi is not clear. Government of India and Government of Delhi have not clearly defined the area and boundaries of New Delhi. The boundaries of areas of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and New Delhi district of Delhi do not completely overlap. In 1920s, when British constructed New Delhi, there were only two Delhis' – the old walled city called Old Delhi and the new city designed by Edwin Lutyens to serve as capital of British India, which was called 'New Delhi'. The rest of Delhi was rural. But after independence as more and more areas around New Delhi urbanized they also became a part of New Delhi as they were also a part of Delhi which was 'new'. Now, almost all of National Capital Territory of Delhi, with exceptions of the old city called Old Delhi, Civil Lines area, Trans-Yamuna region, some rural areas and some underdeveloped parts of Delhi (e.g. Ashok Vihar, Timarpur, Nangloi, Sultanpuri, Mangolpuri, Badarpur etc.), is designated as 'New Delhi' in postal addresses. Especially, almost all the places in South, South-west, Central and West districts of Delhi are designated as New Delhi. Most of the time, the terms Delhi and New Delhi are used interchangeably.
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New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. The city is referred to as New York City or The City of New York to distinguish it from the State of New York, of which it is a part. As a global power city, New York exerts a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. The home of the United Nations Headquarters, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural capital of the world.
Located on one of the world's largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, each of which comprises a state county. The five boroughs—The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island—were consolidated into a single city in 1898. With a Census-estimated 2011 population of 8,244,910 distributed over a land area of just 305 square miles (790 km2), New York is the most densely populated major city in the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. The New York City Metropolitan Area's population is the United States' largest, with 18.9 million people distributed over 6,720 square miles (17,400 km2), and is also part of the most populous combined statistical area in the United States, containing 22.1 million people as of the 2010 Census.
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Nicosia
Nicosia (/ˌnɪkəˈsiːə/ NIK-ə-SEE-ə), known locally as Lefkosia (Greek: Λευκωσία, Turkish: Lefkoşa), is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Nicosia remained the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line. It is located near the center of the island, on the banks of the Pedieos River.
Nicosia is the capital and seat of government of the Republic of Cyprus. The northern part of the city functions as the capital of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a disputed breakaway region whose independence is recognized only by Turkey, and which the rest of the international community considers as occupied territory of the Republic of Cyprus since the Turkish Invasion in 1974.
Despite the division Nicosia has managed to become a sophisticated and cosmopolitan city, rich in history and culture that combines its historic past with the amenities of a modern city.
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North Nicosia
North Nicosia or Northern Nicosia (Turkish: Lefkoşa Greek: Λευκωσία), is the capital and largest city of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. It is the northern half of Nicosia, and governed by the Nicosia Turkish Municipality. Located on the River Pedieos and situated almost in the center of the island, it is the host for the seat of the government as well as the main business center.
Following the intercommunal violence of the 1960s, the capital of Republic of Cyprus was divided between the island's Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in the south and north respectively in 1963. An attempted coup by the Greek military-junta to unite the island with Greece in 1974 led to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
84,893 people live in North Nicosia. North Nicosia is important commercially with many shops, two modern shopping malls, restaurants and entertainment. The city is a trade centre and manufactures textiles, leather, pottery, plastic, and other products. Nicosia is the seat of two Turkish Cypriot Universities.
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Northeast Italy
Northeast Italy (Italian: Italia nord-orientale or just Nordest) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency. Northeast encompasses four of the country's 20 regions:
Italian is the main language of the area but it is often used only with strangers or in the main cities or for cultural reasons, because the most part of the inhabitants speaks their own national language; so we have Venetian language widely spoken in Veneto and on the coast to Trieste and Istria, as well as in the towns of Pordenone and Gorizia in Friuli, and in most part of Trentino, but recognised just by region Veneto; Friulano in the most part of Friuli, it is officially recognised by the Italian state; as for German, the first language of South Tyrol, where Italian is spoken just by less than a third of the inhabitants; as Ladin, spoken by a few thousands people in the Dolomites; then Slovene, spoken (and recognised by Italy) on the border of Italy and in Istria; where main language is Croat, but Italian is recognised as a minority language.
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Northern Cyprus
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) (Turkish: Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti), commonly called Northern Cyprus, is a self-declared state that comprises the northeastern part of the island of Cyprus. Recognised only by Turkey, Northern Cyprus is considered by the international community to be occupied territory of the Republic of Cyprus.
Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the north east, westward to Morphou Bay and Cape Kormakitis (the Kokkina/Erenköy exclave marks the westernmost extent of the area), and southward to the village of Louroujina/Akıncılar. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both states.
Tensions between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot populations in Cyprus culminated in 1974 with a coup d'état, an attempt to annex the island to Greece, and an invasion by Turkey in response. This resulted in the partitioning of the island, the resettlement of many of its inhabitants, and a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.
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Northwest Italy
Northwest Italy (Italian: Italia nord-occidentale or just Nordovest) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency. Northwest encompasses four of the country's 20 regions:
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Norway
Norwayi/ˈnɔrweɪ/ (Norwegian: Norge (Bokmål) or Noreg (Nynorsk)), officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and the subantarctic Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres (148,747 sq mi) and a population of about 5 million. It is the second least densely populated country in Europe. The majority of the country shares a border to the east with Sweden; its northernmost region is bordered by Finland to the south and Russia to the east; in its south Norway borders the Skagerrak Strait across from Denmark. The capital city of Norway is Oslo. Norway's extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea, is home to its famous fjords.
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Noto
Noto (Sicilian: Notu, Latin: Neetum and Netum) is a city and comune in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily (Italy). Its located 32 km southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains and gives its name to the surrounding area,Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and its church were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The older town, Noto Antica, lies 8 km directly north on Mount Alveria. It was ancient Netum, a city of Sicel origin, left to Hiero II by the Romans by the treaty of 263 BCE and mentioned by Cicero as a foederala citilas (Verr. v. 51, 133), and by Pliny as Latinae conditionis (Hist. Nat. iii. 8. 14). According to legend, Daedalus stopped here after his flight over the Ionian Sea, as well as Hercules, after his seventh task.
In the Roman era, it opposed praetor Verres. In 866 it was conquered by the Arabs, who elevated to a capital city of one of three districts of the island (the Val di Noto). Later it was a rich Norman city.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the city brought forth several notable intellectual figures, including Giovanni Aurispa, jurists Andrea Barbazio and Antonio Corsetto, as well as the architect Matteo Carnelivari and the minor composer Mario Capuana. In 1503 king Ferdinand III gave it the title of civitas ingeniosa ("ingenious city"). In the following centuries, the city expanded enlarging its medieval limits; and new buildings, churches and convents were built. These, however, were all totally destroyed by the 1693 earthquake. The devastation of the city on Mount Alveria was accompanied by its economy[clarification needed], which relied mainly on agricultural products– vine, oil, cereals, rice, cotton– and its renowned handicrafts.
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Olevano Romano
Olevano Romano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 45 km east of Rome.
It is the probable birthplace of the composer Giovanni Gentile.
Olevano has a cultural tradition from the past – initiated around 1800 Olevano has had an important role in landscape painting in European art, in particular in the 19th century. Artists from almost all European countries as well as American artists visited and worked in Olevano, and today you will find paintings depicting Olevano, its surrounding landscape and the neighbouring towns in many of the important museums all over Europe. Today the art museum in Olevano Romano exhibits works from its collection as well as organises thematic exhibitions. In the museum in Olevano Romano, you meet both classic and contemporary art, with works of Italian and European artists.
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Oslo
Oslo (English pronunciation: /ˈɒzloʊ/, OZ-loh,Norwegian pronunciation: [²ʊʃlʊ] ( listen) or [²ʊslʊ]) is the capital of and most populous city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 and with Sweden from 1814 to 1905 reduced its influence. After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, the city was moved closer to Akershus Castle during the reign of King Christian IV and renamed Christiania in his honour. It was established as a municipality (formannskapsdistrikt) on 1 January 1838. Following a spelling reform, it was known as Kristiania from 1877 to 1925, when its original Norwegian name was restored.
Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway. The city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to many companies within the maritime sector, some of which are amongst the world's largest shipping companies, shipbrokers and maritime insurance brokers. Oslo is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities programme.
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Palace of Caserta
The Royal Palace of Caserta (Italian: Reggia di Caserta) is a former royal residence in Caserta, southern Italy, constructed for the Bourbon kings of Naples. It was the largest palace and one of the largest buildings erected in Europe during the 18th century. In 1997, the Palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, described in its nomination as "the swan song of the spectacular art of the Baroque, from which it adopted all the features needed to create the illusions of multidirectional space".
The construction of the palace was begun in 1752 for Charles VII of Naples, who worked closely with his architect Luigi Vanvitelli. When Charles saw Vanvitelli's grandly-scaled model for Caserta it filled him with emotion "fit to tear his heart from his breast". In the end, he never slept a night at the Reggia, as he abdicated in 1759 to become King of Spain, and the project was carried to completion for his third son and successor, Ferdinand IV of Naples.
The political and social model for Vanvitelli's palace was Versailles, which, though it is strikingly different in its variety and disposition, solves similar problems of assembling and providing for king, court and government in a massive building with the social structure of a small city, confronting a baroque view of a highly subordinated nature, la nature forcée. The Royal Palace of Madrid, where Charles had grown up, which had been devised by Filippo Juvarra for Charles' father, Philip V of Spain, and Charlottenburg Palace provided models. A spacious octagonal vestibule seems to have been inspired by Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute in Venice, while the palatine chapel is most often compared to Robert de Cotte's royal chapel at Versailles.
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Palatine Hill
The Palatine Hill (Latin: Collis Palatium or Mons Palatinus) is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It stands 40 metres above the Forum Romanum, looking down upon it on one side, and upon the Circus Maximus on the other.
It is the etymological origin of the word "palace" and its cognates in other languages (Italian "Palazzo", French "Palais" etc.).
According to Roman mythology, the Palatine Hill was the location of the cave, known as the Lupercal, where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf that kept them alive. According to this legend, the shepherd Faustulus found the infants, and with his wife Acca Larentia raised the children. When they were older, the boys killed their great-uncle (who seized the throne from their grandfather), and they both decided to build a new city of their own on the banks of the River Tiber. Suddenly, they had a violent argument with each other and in the end Romulus killed his twin brother Remus. This is how "Rome" got its name - from Romulus. Another legend to occur on the Palatine is Hercules' defeat of Cacus after the monster had stolen some cattle. Hercules struck Cacus with his characteristic club so hard that it formed a cleft on the southeast corner of the hill, where later a staircase bearing the name of Cacus was constructed.[citation needed]
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Palazzo Barberini
Palazzo Barberini is a palace in Rome, facing the piazza of the same name in Rione Trevi and is home to the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica.
The sloping site had formerly been occupied by a garden-vineyard of the Sforza family, in which a palazzetto had been built in 1549. The sloping site had passed from one cardinal to another during the sixteenth century, with no project fully getting off the ground.
When Cardinal Alessandro Sforza met financial hardships, the still semi-urban site was purchased in 1625 by Maffeo Barberini, of the Barberini family, who then took the papal throne as Pope Urban VIII.
Three great architects worked to create the Palazzo, each contributing his own style and character to the building. Carlo Maderno, then at work extending the nave of St Peter's, was commissioned to enclose the Villa Sforza within a vast Renaissance block along the lines of Palazzo Farnese; however, the design quickly evolved into a precedent-setting combination of an urban seat of princely power combined with a garden front that had the nature of a suburban villa with a semi-enclosed garden.
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Palazzo Chigi
The Palazzo Chigi (Italian pronunciation: [paˈlatt͡so ˈkiːdʒi]) is a palace or noble residence in Rome, overlooking the Piazza Colonna and the Via del Corso. It was begun in 1562 by Giacomo della Porta and completed by Carlo Maderno in 1580 for the Aldobrandini family. In 1659 it was purchased by the Chigi family. It was then remodelled by Felice della Greca and Giovan Battista Contini. It has five floors, a broad stairway that leads to the living rooms, and a courtyard decorated with a fountain, designed by Giacomo della Porta. The fountain has been copied in many sites in Rome and other Italian cities.
In 1878 it became the residence of the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Italy. In 1916 it was bought by the Italian state and became the seat of the Minister for Colonial Affairs. Later it was the official residence of the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1961 it became the official meeting place of Council of Ministers whose President is the head of the Italian government.
Palazzo Chigi is the official residence of Prime Minister of Italy. Since November 2011, the tenant of Chigi is Mario Monti, prime minister of Italy.
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Palazzo Farnese
Palazzo Farnese is one of the most important High Renaissance palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian state, it was given to the French Government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and currently serves as the French embassy in Italy.
First designed in 1517 for the Farnese family, the building expanded in size and conception when Alessandro Farnese became Pope Paul III in 1534, to designs by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. Its building history involved some of the most prominent Italian architects of the 16th century, including Michelangelo, Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola and Giacomo della Porta.
At the end of the 16th century, the important fresco cycle of The Loves of the Gods in the Farnese Gallery was carried out by the Bolognese painter Annibale Carracci, marking the beginning of two divergent trends in painting during the 17th century, the Roman High Baroque and Classicism. The famous Farnese sculpture collection, now in the National Archeological Museum of Naples, as well as other Farnese collections, now mostly in Capodimonte Museum in Naples, were accommodated in the palace.
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Palazzo Madama
Palazzo Madama is a palace in Rome that is currently the home of the Senate of the Italian Republic.
It was built atop the ruins of the ancient baths of Nero, next to Piazza Navona. The terrain had been acquired in the Middle Ages by the monks of the Abbey of Farfa, who later ceded it to France.
The new building was begun at the end of the 15th century and completed in 1505, for the Medici family. It housed two Medici cardinals and cousins, Giovanni and Giuliano, who both later became popes as Leo X and Clement VII, respectively. Catherine de' Medici, Clement VII's niece, also lived here before she was married to Henry, son of King Francis I of France in 1533. As well as Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, patron of the artist Caravaggio, who died here.
The palace takes its name from Madama Margherita of Austria, illegitimate daughter of Emperor Charles V, who married another illegitimate son, Alessandro de' Medici and, after his death, Ottavio Farnese. Thus part of the art collection of the Florentine Medici family was inherited by the Farnese family.
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Palazzo Montecitorio
The Palazzo Montecitorio (Italian pronunciation: [paˈlatt͡so montetʃiˈtɔːrjo]) is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.
The building was originally designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for the young Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of Pope Gregory XV. However, with the death of Gregory XV by 1623, work stopped, and was not restarted until the papacy of Pope Innocent XII (Antonio Pignatelli), when it was completed by the architect Carlo Fontana, who modified Bernini's plan with the addition of a bell gable above the main entrance. The building was designated for public and social functions only due to Innocent XII's firm antinepotism policies which were in contrast to his predecessors.
In 1696 the Curia apostolica (papal law courts) was installed there. Later it was home to the Governatorato di Roma (the city administration during the papal period) and the police headquarters. The excavated obelisk of the Solarium Augusti, now known as the Obelisk of Montecitorio, was installed in front of the palace by Pius VI in 1789.
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Palazzo Spada
The Palazzo Spada is a palace in the historic centre of Rome, Italy. It is located in the rione Regola, at Piazza Capo di Ferro, 13, very close to the Palazzo Farnese. It has a garden facing towards the River Tiber.
The palace accommodates a large art collection, the Galleria Spada. The collection was originally assembled by Cardinal Bernardino Spada in the 17th century, by his brother Virgilio Spada and added to by his grandnephew Cardinal Fabrizio Spada,
It was originally built in 1540 for Cardinal Girolamo Capodiferro. Bartolomeo Baronino, of Casale Monferrato, was the architect, while Giulio Mazzoni and a team provided lavish stuccowork inside and out.
The palazzo was purchased by Cardinal Spada in 1632. He commissioned the Baroque architect Francesco Borromini to modify it for him, and it was Borromini who created the masterpiece of forced perspective optical illusion in the arcaded courtyard, in which diminishing rows of columns and a rising floor create the visual illusion of a gallery 37 meters long (it is 8 meters) with a lifesize sculpture at the end of the vista, in daylight beyond: the sculpture is 60 cm high. Borromini was aided in his perspective trick by a mathematician.
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Palazzo Venezia
The Palazzo di Venezia (formerly Palace of St. Mark) is a palazzo (palace) in central Rome, Italy, just north of the Capitoline Hill. The original structure of this great architectural complex consisted of a modest medieval house intended as the residence of the cardinals appointed to the Church of San Marco. In 1469 it became a residential papal palace, having undergone a massive extension, and in 1564, Pope Pius IV, to win the sympathies of the Republic of Venice, gave the mansion to the ambassadors of La Serenissima on condition that a part of the building should be kept as a residence for the cardinals—the Apartment Cibo—and that the Venetian Republic should provide for the building's maintenance and future restoration. The palazzo faces Piazza Venezia and Via del Plebiscito. It currently houses the National Museum of the Palazzo Venezia.
It took on a new layout when, in 1451, Pietro Barbo, nephew of Pope Eugenius IV, became cardinal. It was a fortified building, composed of a half-basement and a mezzanine that functioned as a piano nobile, extending over a small area between the basilica and the gate of the present palazzo overlooking the piazza, with a small external tower. It was a building of no exceptional size but was sufficiently dignified as a cardinal's residence so that, even in 1455, Pietro Barbo could proudly boast of it, having a commemorative medal struck in its honor. In 1455, the building manifested some of the first Renaissance architectural features in Rome; although the overall aspect is of a massive, defensible medieval structure with battlemented crown.
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Palazzolo Acreide
Palazzolo Acreide (Sicilian: Palazzolu Acrèidi, in the local dialect: Palazzuolu) is a town and comune of in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily (Italy). It is situated 43 km from the city of Syracuse in the Hyblean Mountains.
The area around Palazzolo Acreide was settled by humans since very ancient times. In the 11th-10th centuries BC the Siculi lived here in small villages. The town occupies the site of the ancient Akrai (Latin Acrae), founded by Syracuse about 664 BC. The city was important as it controlled the paths of communication with the towns on the southern coast of the island. According to Thucydides, the Syracusans defeated the Athenians here in 413 BC.
In the treaty between the Romans and Hiero II of Syracuse in 263 BC it was assigned to the latter. After the Roman conquest, it became a civitas stipendiaria, and was still prospering in the course of the early Christian age.
The old city was probably destroyed by the Arabs, in the first half of the ninth century. The new city was built around a Norman castle, no longer extant. An earthquake in 1693 destroyed almost all of the city, which was slowly rebuilt in the following centuries.
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Palermo
Palermo (Italian: [paˈlɛrmo] ( listen), Sicilian: Palermu, Latin: Panormus, from Greek: Πάνορμος, Panormos, Arabic: بَلَرْم, Balarm; Phoenician: זִיז, Ziz) is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old. Palermo is located in the northwest of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The city was founded by the Phoenicians, but named by the Ancient Greeks as Panormus meaning 'always fit for landing in.' Palermo became part of the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire and eventually part of the Byzantine Empire, for over a thousand years. From 827 to 1071 it was under Arab rule during the Emirate of Sicily when it first became a capital. Following the Norman reconquest, Palermo became capital of a new kingdom (from 1130 to 1816), the Kingdom of Sicily. Eventually it would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860.
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Palestrina
Palestrina (ancient Praeneste; Ancient Greek: Πραίνεστος) is an ancient city and comune (municipality) with a population of about 18,000, in Lazio, c. 35 km east of Rome. It is connected to latter by the Via Prenestina.
It is the namesake of composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.
Palestrina is sited on a spur of the Monti Prenestini, a range in the central Apennines.
Palestrina borders the following municipalities: Artena, Castel San Pietro Romano, Cave, Gallicano nel Lazio, Labico, Rocca di Cave, Rocca Priora, Rome, San Cesareo, Valmontone, Zagarolo.
Early burials show that the site was already occupied in the 8th or 7th century BC. The ancient necropolis lay on a plateau at the foot of the hill below the ancient town. Of the objects found in the oldest graves, and supposed to date from about the 7th century BC, the cups of silver and silver-gilt and most of the gold and amber jewelry are Phoenician (possibly Carthaginian), but the bronzes and some of the ivory articles seem to be of the Etruscan civilization.
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Palombara Sabina
Palombara Sabina is a town and comune in the province of Rome, Italy.
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Papal States
The Papal State(s), the State(s) of the Church, the Pontifical States, the Ecclesiastical States, or the Roman States (Italian: Stato Pontificio, also Stato della Chiesa, Stati della Chiesa, Stati Pontifici, and Stato Ecclesiastico; Latin: Status Pontificius, also Dicio Pontificia) were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia (after which the Papal States, in less territorially extensive form, continued to exist until 1870).
The Papal States comprised territories under direct sovereign rule of the papacy, and at its height it covered most of the modern Italian regions of Romagna, Marche, Umbria and Lazio. This governing power is commonly called the temporal power of the Pope, as opposed to his ecclesiastical primacy.
The plural Papal States is usually preferred; the singular Papal State (equally correct since it was not a mere personal union) tends to be used (normally with lower-case letters) for the modern State of Vatican City, an enclave within Italy's national capital, Rome. The Vatican City was founded in 1929, again allowing the Holy See the political benefits of territorial sovereignty.
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Parco della Musica
Auditorium Parco della Musica is a large multi-functional public music complex in Rome, Italy. The complex is situated in the north of the city, in the area where the 1960 Summer Olympic Games were held.
Parco della Musica was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. Three large concert halls (Sala Petrassi, in memory of Goffredo Petrassi, about 700 seats; Sala Sinopoli, in memory of Giuseppe Sinopoli, about 1200 seats; Sala Santa Cecilia, about 2800 seats) are structurally separated to ensure soundproofing, though joined at the base by a continuous lobby. A fourth "concert hall", called Cavea, is the open air theater recalling ancient Greek and Roman theaters. The fan-shaped layout is formed around the central piazza. Structures have several nicknames such as blobs, beetles, scarabs, turtles, insect carapaces, computer mice.
During construction, excavations uncovered the foundations of a villa and oil press dating from sixth century BC. Renzo Piano redesigned the facility to accommodate the archaeological remains and included a small museum to house the artifacts that were discovered. Such changes delayed the project by a year.
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Paris
Coordinates: 48°51′24″N 2°21′03″E / 48.8567°N 2.3508°E / 48.8567; 2.3508
Paris (i/ˈpærɨs/; French: [paʁi] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of France. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region (or Paris Region, French: Région parisienne). As of January 2008 the city of Paris, within its administrative limits (the 20 arrondissements) largely unchanged since 1860, has an estimated population of 2,211,297 and a metropolitan population of 12,089,098, and is one of the most populated metropolitan areas in Europe. Paris was the largest city in the Western world for about 1,000 years, prior to the 19th century, and the largest in the entire world between the 16th and 19th centuries.
Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centres, and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. It hosts the headquarters of many international organizations such as UNESCO, the OECD, the International Chamber of Commerce or the European Space Agency. Paris is considered one of the greenest and most liveable cities in Europe. It is also one of the most expensive.
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Percile
Percile is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km northeast of Rome.
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Perugia
Perugia (Italian pronunciation: [peˈruːdʒa] ( listen); (Latin: Perusia) is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about 164 kilometres (102 mi) north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area.
The history of Perugia goes back to the Etruscan period. The city is also known as a university town, with the University of Perugia (about 34,000 students), the University for Foreigners (5,000 students), and some smaller colleges, also. There are annual festivals and events: the Eurochocolate Festival (October), the Umbria Jazz Festival, and the International Journalism Festival (in April).
Perugia is a well-known artistic centre of Italy. The famous painter Pietro Vannucci, nicknamed Perugino, was a native of Città della Pieve near Perugia. He decorated the local Sala del Cambio with a beautiful series of frescoes; eight of his pictures can also be admired in the National Gallery of Umbria. Perugino was the teacher of Raphael, the great Renaissance artist who produced five paintings in Perugia (today no longer in the city) and one fresco. Another famous painter, Pinturicchio, lived in Perugia. Galeazzo Alessi is the most famous architect from Perugia. The city symbol is the griffin, which can be seen in the form of plaques and statues on buildings around the city.
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Piazza dei Miracoli
The Piazza del Duomo ("Cathedral Square") is a wide, walled area at the heart of the city of Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as one of the main centers for medieval art in the world. Partly paved and partly grassed, it is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Duomo (cathedral), the Campanile (the cathedral's free standing bell tower), the Baptistry and the Camposanto.
It is otherwise known as Piazza dei Miracoli ("Square of Miracles"). This name was created by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d'Annunzio who, in his novel Forse che si forse che no (1910) described the square in this way:
L’Ardea roteò nel cielo di Cristo, sul prato dei Miracoli.
which means: "The Ardea rotated over the sky of Christ, over the meadow of Miracles."
Often people tend to mistake the term with Campo dei Miracoli ("Field of Miracles"). This one is a fictional magical field in the book Pinocchio, where a gold coin seed will grow a money tree.
In 1987 the whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Piazza del Popolo
Coordinates: 41°54′38″N 12°28′35″E / 41.91056°N 12.47639°E / 41.91056; 12.47639
Piazza del Popolo is a large urban square in Rome. The name in modern Italian literally means "People's Square", but historically it derives from the poplars (populus in Latin, pioppo in Italian) after which the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in the northeast corner of the piazza, takes its name.
The piazza lies inside the northern gate in the Aurelian Walls, once the Porta Flaminia of ancient Rome, and now called the Porta del Popolo. This was the starting point of the Via Flaminia, the road to Ariminum (modern day Rimini) and the most important route to the north. At the same time, before the age of railroads, it was the traveller's first view of Rome upon arrival. For centuries, the Piazza del Popolo was a place for public executions, the last of which took place in 1826.
The layout of the piazza today was designed in neoclassical style between 1811 and 1822 by the architect Giuseppe Valadier, He removed a modest fountain by Giacomo Della Porta, erected in 1572, and demolished some insignificant buildings and haphazard high screening walls to form two semicircles, reminiscent of Bernini's plan for St. Peter's Square, replacing the original cramped trapezoidal square centred on the Via Flaminia.
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Piazza Navona
Coordinates: 41°53′56″N 12°28′23″E / 41.89889°N 12.47306°E / 41.89889; 12.47306
Piazza Navona is a city square in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans came there to watch the agones ("games"), and hence it was known as 'Circus Agonalis' (competition arena). It is believed that over time the name changed to 'in agone' to 'navone' and eventually to 'navona'.
Defined as a public space in the last years of 15th century, when the city market was transferred to it from the Campidoglio, the Piazza Navona was transformed into a highly significant example of Baroque Roman architecture and art during the pontificate of Innocent X, who reigned from 1644-1655, and whose family palace, the Palazzo Pamphili, faced onto the piazza. It features important sculptural and architectural creations: in the center stands the famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or Fountain of the Four Rivers (1651) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, topped by the Obelisk of Domitian, brought here in pieces from the Circus of Maxentius the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone by Francesco Borromini, Girolamo Rainaldi, Carlo Rainaldi and others; and the aforementioned Pamphili palace, also by Girolamo Rainaldi, that accommodates the long gallery designed by Borromini and frescoed by Pietro da Cortona.
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Piazza Venezia
The Piazza Venezia is a piazza in central Rome, Italy. It takes its name from Cardinal Venezia who built the adjacent Palazzo Venezia, the former embassy of the city of the Republic of Venice.
The piazza is at the foot of the Capitoline Hill and near the Roman Forum. It is dominated by the imposing Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II. In 2009, during excavations for the Rome C Metro Line, ancient remains of what has been identified as emperor Hadrian's Athenaeum were unearthed in the middle of the square.
Coordinates: 41°53′47″N 12°28′57″E / 41.89639°N 12.4825°E / 41.89639; 12.4825
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Pienza
Pienza, a town and comune in the province of Siena, in the Val d'Orcia in Tuscany (central Italy), between the towns of Montepulciano and Montalcino, is the "touchstone of Renaissance urbanism."
In 1996, UNESCO declared the town a World Heritage Site, and in 2004 the entire valley, the Val d'Orcia, was included on the list of UNESCO's World Cultural Landscapes.
Pienza was rebuilt from a village called Corsignano, which was the birthplace (1405) of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (Italian: Enea Silvio Piccolomini), a Renaissance humanist born into an exiled Sienese family, who later became Pope Pius II. Once he became Pope, Piccolomini had the entire village rebuilt as an ideal Renaissance town. Intended as a retreat from Rome, it represents the first application of humanist urban planning concepts, creating an impetus for planning that was adopted in other Italian towns and cities and eventually spread to other European centers.
The rebuilding was done by Florentine architect Bernardo Gambarelli (known as Bernardo Rossellino) who may have worked with the humanist and architect Leon Battista Alberti, though there are no documents to prove it for sure. Alberti was in the employ of the Papal Curia at the time and served as an advisor to Pius. Construction started about 1459. Pope Pius II consecrated the Duomo on August 29, 1462, during his long summer visit. He included a detailed description of the structures in his Commentaries, written during the last two years of his life.
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Pincian Hill
The Pincian Hill (Italian: Pincio, from Latin Mons Pincius) is a hill in the northeast quadrant of the historical center of Rome. The hill lies to the north of the Quirinal, overlooking the Campus Martius. It was outside the original boundaries of the ancient city of Rome, and was not one of the Seven hills of Rome, but it lies within the wall built by Roman Emperor Aurelian between 270 and 273.
Several important families in Ancient Rome had villas and gardens (horti) on the south-facing slopes in the late Roman Republic, including the Horti Lucullani (created by Lucullus), the Horti Sallustiani (created by the historian Sallust), the Horti Pompeiani, and the Horti Aciliorum. The hill came to be known in Roman times as Collis Hortulorum (the "Hill of Gardens"). Its current name comes from the Pincii, one of the families that occupied it in the 4th century AD.
The Pincio as seen today was laid out in 1809-14 by Giuseppe Valadier; the French Academy at Rome had moved into the Villa Medici in 1802. The orchards of the Pincio were laid out with wide gravelled allées (viali) that are struck through dense boschi to unite some pre-existing features: one viale extends a garden axis of the Villa Medici to the obelisk (illustration, left) placed at the center of radiating viali. The obelisk was erected in September 1822 to provide an eye-catcher in the vistas; it is a Roman obelisk, not an Egyptian one, erected under the Emperor Hadrian in the early 2nd century, as part of a memorial to his beloved Antinous outside the Porta Maggiore.. The Piazza Napoleone— in fact Napoleon's grand urbanistic example was set from a distance, as he never visited Rome— is a grand open space that looks out over Piazza del Popolo, also laid out by Valadier, and provides views to the west, and of the skyline of Rome beyond. Valadier linked the two spaces with formal staircases broken by generous landings, (illustration) and a switchback carriageway.
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Pisoniano
Pisoniano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km east of Rome. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 741 and an area of 13.2 km².
Pisoniano borders the following municipalities: Bellegra, Capranica Prenestina, Cerreto Laziale, Ciciliano, Gerano, San Vito Romano.
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Plovdiv
Plovdiv (Bulgarian: Пловдив) is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after the capital Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants as of February, 2011. It is administrative center of Plovdiv Province and the municipalities of City of Plovdiv, Maritsa municipality and Rodopi municipality, which municipal body has a population of 403,153 inhabitants as of February, 2011. It is an important economic, transport, cultural and educational center, as well as the second-largest city in the historical international region of Thrace after Istanbul. It is the tenth-largest city in the Balkans after Istanbul, Athens, Bucharest, Sofia, Thessaloniki, Zagreb, Skopje and Tirana.
Plovdiv's history spans 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC and some rank it as Europe's oldest city. Plovdiv is known in the West for most of its history by the Greek name Philippopolis, which was created in 340 BC. Plovdiv was originally a Thracian city before later becoming a Greek and a major Roman one. In the Middle Ages, it retained its strategic regional importance, changing hands between the Byzantine and Bulgarian Empires. It came under Ottoman rule in the 14th century. In 4 January, 1878, Plovdiv was liberated from Ottoman rule by the Russian army and was within the borders of Bulgaria until July, the same year, when it became the capital of an autonomous Ottoman region of Eastern Rumelia. In 1885, it and Eastern Rumelia itself became part of Bulgaria.
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Podgorica
Podgorica (/ˈpɒdɡəriːtsə/ POD-gorr-ee-tsə;Montenegrin/Serbian: Podgorica / Подгорица [pǒdgoritsa], lit. "under the small hill") is the capital and largest city of Montenegro.
Podgorica's favourable position at the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers and the meeting point of the fertile Zeta Plain and Bjelopavlići Valley has encouraged settlement. The city is close to winter ski centres in the north and seaside resorts on the Adriatic Sea.
A census in 2011 put the city's population at 150,977. The Podgorica municipality contains 10.4% of Montenegro's territory and 29.9% of its population. It is the administrative centre of Montenegro and its economic, cultural and educational focus.
The name Podgorica means "under the Gorica" in Montenegrin language. Gorica (meaning "little hill" or hillock) is the name of the cypress-covered hill that overlooks the city centre.
Some three kilometres (1.9 miles) north-west of Podgorica lie the ruins of Doclea, a town known in Greek, pre-Roman and Roman times. The Roman Emperor Diocletian came from this region. In later centuries, Romans "corrected" the name to Dioclea, guessing wrongly that an "i" had been lost in vulgar speech. "Duklja" is the later (Slavic) version of that word.
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Poland
Polandi/ˈpoʊlənd/ (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska; Kashubian: Pòlskô Repùblika; Silesian: Polsko Republika), is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. Poland has a population of over 38 million people, which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world and the sixth most populous member of the European Union, being its most populous post-communist member. Poland is a unitary state made up of 16 voivodeships. Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Economic Area, International Energy Agency, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, International Atomic Energy Agency, G6, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Visegrád Group, Weimar Triangle and Schengen Agreement.
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Pomezia
Pomezia is a municipality (comune) in the province of Rome, Lazio, central Italy. In 2009 it had a population of about 60,000.
The town was built entirely new near the location of ancient Lavinium on land resulting from the final reclamation of the Pontine Marshes under Benito Mussolini, being inaugurated on October 29, 1939. Its new population was extracted from the poor peasants of Romagna, Veneto and Friuli. Peace did not last long. After being occupied by the forces of the 3rd Reich, Pomezia was heavily bombed during the Battle of Anzio in World War II. After the end of the war, Pomezia developed as a strong industrial center, especially in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as a recreational center.
Pratica di Mare is the "frazione" of Pomezia where the ruins of the ancient port of Lavinium are located, now 6 km (3.7 mi) from the Tyrrhenian Sea. The ancient community was on some hilly ground at the mouth of a stream. Currently the flat alluvial sediment between the hill and the beach is occupied by Pratica di Mare Air Force Base, a facility of the Aeronautica Militare that also finds great utility as a secure airport and a location for air shows and races.
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Pons Cestius
The Pons Cestius (Italian: Ponte Cestio, meaning "Cestius' Bridge") is a Roman stone bridge in Rome, Italy, spanning the Tiber to the west of the Tiber Island. The original version of this bridge was built around the 1st century BC (some time between 62 and 27 BC), after the Pons Fabricius, sited on the other side of island. Both the ponti Cestius and Fabricius were long-living bridges; however, whereas the Fabricius remains wholly intact, the Ponte Cestio was partly dismantled in the 19th century, with only some of the ancient structure preserved.
The Pons Cestius is the first bridge that reached the right bank of Tiber from the Tiber Island. Whereas the island was long connected with the left bank of the Tiber and the heart of ancient Rome, even before the pons Fabricius, the right bank (Transtiber) remained unconnected until the Cestius was constructed. Several prominent members of the Cestii clan from the 1st century BC are known, but it is uncertain which of them built this bridge.
In the 4th century the Pons Cestius was rebuilt by the Emperors Valentinian I, Valens and Gratian and re-dedicated in 370 as the Pons Gratiani. The bridge was rebuilt using tuff and peperino, with a facing of travertine. Some of the rebuilding material came from the demolished porticus of the nearby Theatre of Marcellus.
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Pons Fabricius
The Pons Fabricius (Italian: Ponte Fabricio, meaning "Fabricius' Bridge") or Ponte dei Quattro Capi, is the oldest Roman bridge in Rome, Italy, still existing in its original state. Built in 62 BC, it spans half of the Tiber River, from the Campus Martius on the east side to Tiber Island in the middle (the Pons Cestius is west of the island). Quattro Capi ("four heads") refers to the two marble pillars of the two-faced Janus herms on the parapet, which were moved here from the nearby Church of St. Gregory (Monte Savello) in the 14th century.
According to Dio Cassius, the bridge was built in 62 BC, the year after Cicero was consul, to replace an earlier wooden bridge destroyed by fire. It was commissioned by Lucius Fabricius, the curator of the roads and a member of the gens Fabricia of Rome. Completely intact from Roman antiquity, it has been in continuous use ever since.
The Pons Fabricius has a length of 62 m, and is 5.5 m wide. It is constructed from two wide arches, supported by a central pillar in the middle of the stream. Its core is constructed of tuff. Its outer facing today is made of bricks and travertine.
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Ponte Milvio
The Milvian (or Mulvian) Bridge (Italian: Ponte Molle or Ponte Milvio, Latin: Pons Milvius or Pons Mulvius) is a bridge over the Tiber in northern Rome, Italy. It was an economically and strategically important bridge in the era of the Roman Empire and was the site of the famous Battle of Milvian Bridge.
The bridge was built by consul Gaius Claudius Nero in 206 BC after he had defeated the Carthaginan army in the Battle of the Metaurus. In 115 BC, consul Marcus Aemilius Scaurus built a new bridge made of stone in the same position, demolishing the old one. In 63 BC, letters from the conspirators of the Catiline conspiracy were intercepted here allowing Cicero to read them to the Roman Senate the next day. In AD 312, Constantine I defeated his stronger rival Maxentius between this bridge and Saxa Rubra, in the famous Battle of Milvian Bridge.
During the Middle Ages, the bridge was renovated by a monk named Acuzio, and in 1429 Pope Martin V asked a famous architect, Francesco da Genazzano, to repair the collapsing bridge. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the bridge was modified by two artists, Giuseppe Valadier and Domenico Pigiani.
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Ponte Nomentano
The Ponte Nomentano (called Pons Lamentanus in the Middle Ages) is a Roman bridge in Rome, Italy, which carried the Via Nomentana over the Aniene (Latin: Anio). Having laid outside the city limits for most of its history, the picturesque bridge is noted for its medieval bridge tower, which served to protect this important northern approach to Rome.
In antiquity, the Ponte Nomentano was located outside of the Aurelian Wall, at a distance of 3.9 km from the Porta Nomentana. The East Roman historian Procopius records that the bridge was destroyed around 547 AD in the war for Italy by the Ostrogoths under their king Totila, but soon after rebuilt by the victorious Roman general Narses (in 552). The still intact late Republican fabric of the main arch, however, indicates that the bridge could have been only partially damaged in the event.
The lower part of the bridge tower dates, according to an unproven tradition, from the time of Pope Adrian I (772–795), while the imposing castle-like structure was constructed during a general overhaul of the bridge by Pope Nicholas V (1447–1455), after which minor repairs followed in 1461, 1470, and 1474.
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Ponte Sisto
Ponte Sisto is a footbridge in Rome's historic centre, spanning the river Tiber. It connects Via del Pettinari in the Rione of Regola to Piazza Trilussa in Trastevere. The construction of the current bridge was ordered by Pope Sixtus IV using the architect Baccio Pontelli between 1473 and 1479 to replace what remained of a prior Roman bridge named Pons Aurelius.
The predecessor bridge to Ponte Sisto, the Pons Aurelius was first mentioned by authors in the 4th and 5th centuries and was later known in the Middle Ages as "Pons Antoninus", "Pons Antonini in Arenula", and "Pons Ianicularis id est pons ruptus vulgariter nominatus et Tremelus et Antoninus".
The Pons Antoninus was partially destroyed in 772 and rebuilt in its current form by Pope Sixtus IV, after whom it is still named to this day.
The bridge is architecturally characteristic because of its central circular 'Occulus' or eye. It connects the popular night-life areas near Campo de' Fiori and Trastevere and has become part of popular culture and featured in films, music videos, and adverts.
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Ponzano Romano
Ponzano Romano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km north of Rome. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,061 and an area of 19.3 km².
Ponzano Romano borders the following municipalities: Civita Castellana, Civitella San Paolo, Collevecchio, Filacciano, Forano, Nazzano, Sant'Oreste, Stimigliano.
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Porta Pia
Porta Pia is a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. One of Pope Pius IV's civic improvements to the city, it is named after him. Situated at the end of a new street, the Via Pia, it was designed by Michelangelo in replacement for the Porta Nomentana situated several hundred meters southwards, which was closed up at the same time. Construction began in 1561 and ended in 1565, after the artist's death. A 1561 bronze commemorative medal by Gianfederico Bonzagna shows an early plan by Michelangelo, very different from his final design.[1]. The façade on the outside of the city was completed in 1869 under the Neo-Classicist design by Virginio Vespignani.
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Porto Venere
Porto Venere (until 1991 Portovenere) is a town and comune (municipality) located on the Ligurian coast of Italy in the province of La Spezia. It comprises the three villages of Fezzano, Le Grazie and Porto Venere, and the three islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto. In 1997 Porto Venere and the villages of Cinque Terre were designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The ancient Portus Veneris is believed to date back to at least the middle of the 1st century BC. It has been said that the name refers to a temple to the goddess Venus which was sited on the promontory where the church of Peter the Apostle now stands. The name has also been linked to that of the hermit Saint Venerius. In Roman times the city was essentially a fishing community.
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Portugal
Portugali/ˈpɔrtʃʉɡəl/ (Portuguese: Portugal, IPA: [puɾtuˈɣaɫ]), officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa) is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula . Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are part of Portugal. The country is named after its second largest city, Porto, whose Latin name was Portus Cale.
The land within the borders of the current Portuguese Republic has been continuously settled since prehistoric times: occupied by Celts like the Gallaeci and the Lusitanians, integrated into the Roman Republic and later settled by Germanic peoples such as the Suebi, Swabians, Vandals and the Visigoths. In the 8th century most of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered by Moorish invaders professing Islam, which were later expelled by the Knights Templar under the Order of Christ. During the Christian Reconquista, Portugal established itself as an independent kingdom from León in 1139, claiming to be the oldest European nation state.
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Potenza
Potenza (Italian: [poˈtɛntsa] ( listen)) is a city and comune in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). It is the capital of the province of Potenza and the Basilicata region.
The city is the highest regional capital and one of the highest provincial capitals in Italy, overlooking the valley of the Basento river in the Apennine Mountains of Lucania, east of Salerno. Its territory is bounded by the comuni of Anzi, Avigliano, Brindisi Montagna, Picerno, Pietragalla, Pignola, Ruoti, Tito, and Vaglio Basilicata.
The first settlement of Potentia was probably located at a lower elevation than at present, some 10 km south of today's Potenza.
The Lucani of Potenza sided against Rome's enemies during the latter's wars against the Samnites and the Bruttii. Subjugated during the 4th century BC (later gaining the status of municipium), the Potentini rebelled after the Roman defeat at Cannae in 216 BC. However, the Battle of the Metaurus marked the end of any Carthaginian aspirations in Italy, and Potentia was reconquered by the Romans and reduced to the status of military colony.
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Prague
Prague ( /ˈprɑːɡ/; Czech: Praha pronounced [ˈpraɦa] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and fourteenth largest city in European Union. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of nearly 2.0 million. The city has a temperate oceanic climate with warm summers and chilly winters.
Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its 1,100 year existence. Founded during the Romanesque and flourishing by the Gothic and Renaissance eras, Prague was the seat of two Holy Roman Emperors and thus then also the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. It was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire and after World War I became the capital of Czechoslovakia. The city played major roles in the Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years' War, and in modern history generally as the principal conurbation in Bohemia and Moravia whose second city is Brno.
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Prati
Prati is the XXII rione of Rome. Its logo is the shape of Hadrian's mausoleum, in a blue color on a silver background. Hadrian's mausoleum (the modern Castel Sant'Angelo) was not in this area, but in the rione Borgo, bordering Prati to the south. This is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Rome.
Rome's first football team, S.S. Lazio, was founded on 9th January 1900 in Piazza Della Libertà.
In administrative terms, Prati, unlike Trastevere, does not belong to the Center (I Municipio), but to the XVII Municipio, together with the rione of Borgo and the quartieri Trionfale and Della Vittoria (around Piazza Mazzini).
The Via Cola di Rienzo is one of the most famous streets in Rome for shops and cafés.
Coordinates: 41°54′29″N 12°27′57″E / 41.908078°N 12.465706°E / 41.908078; 12.465706
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Pristina
Pristina, also spelled Prishtina listen (help·info) and Priština (Albanian: Prishtinë or Prishtina, Serbian: Приштина or Priština; Turkish: Priştine) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district.
Preliminary results of the 2011 census put the population of Pristina at 198,000. The city has a majority Albanian population, alongside other smaller communities including Bosniaks, Roma and others. It is the administrative, educational, and cultural centre of Kosovo. The city is home to the University of Pristina and is served by the Pristina International Airport.
The name of the city is derived from a Slavic form *Prišьčь, a possessive adjective from the personal name *Prišьkъ, (preserved in the Kajkavian surname Prišek, in the Old Polish personal name Przyszek, and in the Polish surname Przyszek) and the derivational suffix -ina 'belonging to X and his kin'.[citation needed] The name is most likely a patronymic of the personal name *Prišь, preserved as a surname in Polish Przysz and Sorbian Priš, a hypocoristic of the Slavic personal name Pribyslavъ. A false etymology[citation needed] connects the name Priština with Serbo-Croatian prišt (пришт), meaning 'ulcer' or 'tumour', referring to its 'boiling'. However, this explanation cannot be correct, as Slavic place names ending in -ina corresponding to an adjective and/or name of an inhabitant lacking this suffix are built from personal names or denote a person and never derive, in these conditions, from common nouns (SNOJ 2007: loc. cit.). The inhabitants of this city call themselves Prishtinali in local Gheg Albanian or Prištevci (Приштевци) in the local Serbian dialect.
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Province of Rome
The Province of Rome (Italian: Provincia di Roma), is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. The province can be viewed as the extended metropolitan area of the city of Rome, although in its more peripheral portions, especially to the north, it comprises towns surrounded by rural landscape.
The Province of Rome covers almost one-third of the territory of Lazio. It occupies the flat area of the Roman and the Tiber Valley to the mountains and dell'Aniene Lucretili Sabini and, in addition to the mountainous regions of the Tolfa and Monti Sabatini to the north-west, the area of the mountains Tiburtini Prenestini Simbruini and east, the area of the Colli Albani and the northern foothills of the mountains, and high Lepine Sacco valley to the south-east. The western boundary of the province is represented by the Tyrrhenian Sea on which spread to about 130 km from the coast near Rome from Civitavecchia to Torre Astura. In the territory there are several lakes, almost all of volcanic origin, which are concentrated in the north-west of the mountains and Sabatini in the south-east of the Colli Albani.
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Pyramid of Cestius
The Pyramid of Cestius (in Italian, Piramide di Caio Cestio or Piramide Cestia) is an ancient pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the approximate line of the modern Via della Marmorata. Due to its incorporation into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome.
The pyramid was built about 18 BC–12 BC as a tomb for Gaius Cestius, a magistrate and member of one of the four great religious corporations in Rome, the Septemviri Epulonum. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble standing on a travertine foundation, measuring 100 Roman feet (29.6 m) square at the base and standing 125 Roman feet (37 m) high.
In the interior is the burial chamber, a simple barrel-vaulted rectangular cavity measuring 5.95 metres long, 4.10 m wide and 4.80 m high. When it was (re)discovered in 1660, the chamber was found to be decorated with frescoes, which were recorded by Pietro Santi Bartoli, but only the scantest traces of these now remain. There was no trace left of any other contents in the tomb, which had been plundered in antiquity. The tomb had been sealed when it was built, with no exterior entrance; it is not possible for visitors to access the interior, except by special permission typically only granted to scholars.
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Quirinal Hill
The Quirinal Hill (Latin: Collis Quirinalis) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian Head of State, who resides in the Quirinal Palace; by metonymy "the Quirinal" has come to stand for the Italian President.
It was originally part of a group of hills that included Collis Latiaris, Mucialis (or Sanqualis), Salutaris. These are now lost due to building in the 16th century and later.
According to Roman legend, the Quirinal Hill was the site of a small village of the Sabines, and king Titus Tatius would have lived there after the peace between Romans and Sabines. These Sabines had erected altars in the honour of their god Quirinus (naming the hill by this god).[citation needed]
Tombs from the 8th century BC to the 7th century BC that confirm a likely presence of a Sabine settlement area have been discovered; on the hill, there was the tomb of Quirinus, which Lucius Papirius Cursor transformed into a temple for his triumph after the third Samnite war. Some authors consider it possible that the cult of the Capitoline Triad (Jove, Minerva, Juno) could have been celebrated here well before it became associated with the Capitoline Hill. The sanctuary of Flora, an Osco-sabine goddess, was here too.
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Quirinal Palace
The Quirinal Palace (known in Italian as the Palazzo del Quirinale or simply Quirinale) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, the current official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. It is located on the Quirinal Hill, the tallest of the seven hills of Rome. It housed thirty popes, four kings and eleven presidents of the Italian Republic.
The current site of the palace has been in use since Roman times, as excavations in the gardens testify. On this hill, the Romans built temples to several deities, from the Flora to Quirinus, after whom the hill was named. During the reign of Constantine the last complex of Roman baths was built here, as the statues of the twins Castor and Pollux taming the horses decorating the fountain in the square testify. The Quirinal, being the highest hill in Rome, was very sought after and became a popular spot for the Roman patricians, who built their luxurious villas. An example of those are the remains of a villa in the Quirinal gardens, where a mosaic, part of the old floor has been found[citation needed].
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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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Regola
Regola is the VII rione of Rome. The name comes from Arenula, (the name is present in the modern Via Arenula) that was the name of the soft sand (rena in Italian) that the river Tiber left after the floods, and that built strands on the left bank. The logo of the rione is a rampant deer with a turquoise background.
During the Roman empire, the area belonged to the Campus Martius. In particular, in the modern Regola there was the Trigarium, the stadium where the riders of the triga (a cart with three horses) used to train.
Augustus divided Rome into 14 regions; according to this, the modern Regola belonged to the IX region called Circus Flaminius. In the Middle Ages it entered the IV of the 7 ecclesiastic regions, even if at that time the limits of the rioni were not very clear.
Also because of the very frequent floods of the river Tiber, the area was unhealthy and it was drained at the end of the Middle Ages.
In 1586, when rione Borgo was made, the number of rioni increased to 14, and Regola became the VII with the name of Arenule et Chacabariorum. In 1875, after the walls to stop the floods of the Tiber were built, the look of the area changed completely, removing all the things that grew up close to the river during the centuries.
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Republic of Ireland
Ireland (/ˈaɪərlənd/ or /ˈɑrlənd/; Irish: Éire, pronounced [ˈeːɾʲə] ( listen)) is a sovereign state in Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. Its capital is Dublin. The population of the state was 4.59 million in 2011. It is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy, with an elected president serving as head of state. In the 1937 constitution, the name of the state is given as simply "Ireland". The Constitution of Ireland (Article 4) and the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 provides that the "Republic of Ireland" (Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann) is "the description of the state".
Ireland is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organisation and the United Nations. A developed country with the seventh highest Human Development Index, Ireland is also highly ranked for press freedom, economic freedom and democracy and political freedom.
The modern Irish state was established in 1922 as the Irish Free State, a dominion within the British Empire, following the Anglo-Irish Treaty which brought an end to the Irish War of Independence. The partition of Ireland had already been provided for in previous British legislation in 1921 in response to opposition to Irish Home Rule or independence by Unionists, who formed a majority in the north-eastern part of the country. Six of the nine counties in the northern province of Ulster were established under that legislation as Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, with which the Irish state shares its only land border. The state is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, St George's Channel to the south east, and the Irish Sea to the east.
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Reykjavík
Reykjavík (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈreiːcaˌviːk] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city in Iceland.
Its latitude, at 64°08' N, makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay. With a population of around 120,000 (and over 200,000 in the Greater Reykjavík Area), it is the heart of Iceland's economic and governmental activity.
Reykjavík is believed to be the location of the first permanent settlement in Iceland, which Ingólfur Arnarson is said to have established around 870 C.E. Until the 18th century, there was no urban development in the city location. The city was founded in 1786 as an official trading town and grew steadily over the next decades, as it transformed into a regional and later national centre of commerce, population, and governmental activities.
The first permanent settlement in Iceland by Norsemen is believed to have been established in Reykjavík by Ingólfur Arnarson around AD 870; this is described in Landnámabók, or the Book of Settlement. Ingólfur Arnarson is said to have decided the location of his settlement using a traditional Viking method; by casting his high seat pillars (Öndvegissúlur) into the ocean when he saw the coastline, then settled where the pillars came to shore. Steam from hot springs in the region is said to have inspired Reykjavík's name, which loosely translates to Smoke Cove (the city is often referred to as the Bay of Smokes or Bay of Smoke) The original name was Reykjarvík with an additional "r" that vanished around 1300.[citation needed]
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Rhaetian Railway
Coordinates: 46°24′32″N 10°1′11″E / 46.40889°N 10.01972°E / 46.40889; 10.01972
The Rhaetian Railway (German: Rhätische Bahn, Italian: Ferrovia Retica, Romansh: Viafier Retica, abbreviated RhB) is a Swiss transport company, owning the largest network of all the private railways in Switzerland. The company operates most of the railways in the Swiss canton of Graubünden as the Swiss federal railway company SBB-CFF-FFS extend only a few kilometres over the cantonal border to the capital at Chur. Almost the entire network is in Graubünden, with one station at Tirano in Italy.
The Rhaetian Railway serves a number of major tourist centres, including St Moritz and Davos. One of the lines, the Berninabahn, crosses the Bernina Pass to the Italian border and on to Tirano, Lombardy, where there is a link to the Italian railways.
In 2008 the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes (the part from Thusis to Tirano, including St. Moritz) was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. On October 20, 2011 Google announced that the Albula-Bernina line would be the first rail line in the world to be photographed and put on Google Street View.
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Riga
Riga (Latvian: Rīga, pronounced [riːɡa] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 657,424 inhabitants ( 2011) Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltic Sea region.[citation needed] The city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the river Daugava. Riga's territory covers 307.17 km2 (118.60 sq mi) and lies between 1 and 10 metres (3.3 and 33 ft) above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain.
Riga was founded in 1201 and is a former Hanseatic League member. Riga's historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. The city will be the European Capital of Culture in 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden. The city hosted the 2006 NATO Summit, the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 and the 2006 IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. It is home to the European Union's office of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC). Riga is served by Riga International Airport, the largest airport in the Baltic states.
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Rignano Flaminio
Rignano Flaminio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 35 km north of Rome. As of 2007, it had a population of 8,544. It is located across the Via Flaminia.
Rignano Flaminio borders the following municipalities: Calcata, Capena, Civitella San Paolo, Faleria, Magliano Romano, Morlupo, Sant'Oreste.
It has a station on the Roma-Viterbo railway.
Agricultural settlements of the Capenati and Falisci in the area are attested from the 5th/4th centuries BC. In the 6th century AD a popular pilgrimage church, entitled to St. Abondius and Abondantius, was created here; the saints' relics were moved to Rome, on the Tiber Island, in 999. In 1159 Pope Adrian IV died at Rignano.
Rignano was first a possession of Santa Maria in Trastevere, and then of the Savelli family, whom were shortly ousted by Pope Alexander VI. After the fall of the Borgia, the Savelli regained it, and hold the fief until 1607, when they sold it to the Borghese, later followed by the Muti, the Cesi and the Massimo families.
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Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( /ˈriːoʊ deɪ ʒəˈnɛəroʊ/ or /ˈriːoʊ deɪ dʒəˈnɛəroʊ/; Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈʁi.u dʒi ʒaˈnejɾu],River of January), commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th largest in the Americas, and 26th in the world.
The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1815 during the Portuguese colonial era, 1815 to 1821 as the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves, and 1822 to 1960 as an independent nation. Rio is nicknamed the Cidade Maravilhosa or "Marvelous City."
Rio de Janeiro represents the second largest GDP in the country (and 30th largest in the world in 2008), estimated at about R$ 343 billion (IBGE/2008) (nearly US$ 201 billion), and is the headquarters of two major Brazilian companies – Petrobras and Vale, and major oil companies and telephony in Brazil, besides the largest conglomerate of media and communications companies in Latin America, the Globo Organizations. The home of many universities and institutes, it is the second largest center of research and development in Brazil, accounting for 17% of national scientific production – according to 2005 data.
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Riofreddo
Riofreddo is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 45 km northeast of Rome.
Riofreddo borders the following municipalities: Arsoli, Cineto Romano, Oricola, Roviano, Vallinfreda.
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Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore (Rimazùu in the local Ligurian language) is a village and comune in the province of La Spezia, situated in a small valley in the Liguria region of Italy. It is the first of the Cinque Terre one meets when traveling north from La Spezia.
The village, dating from the early thirteenth century, is known for its historic character and its wine, produced by the town's vineyards. Riomaggiore is in the Riviera di Levante region and has shoreline on the Mediterranean's Gulf of Genoa, with a small beach and a wharf framed by tower houses. Riomaggiore's main street is Via Colombo and numerous restaurants, bars & shops can be found on this street.
The Via dell'Amore is a path connecting Riomaggiore to its frazione Manarola, also part of the Cinque Terre.
Riomaggiore is the most southern village of the five Cinque Terre, all connected by trail. The water and mountainside have been declared national parks.
Riomaggiore inspired paintings by Telemaco Signorini (1835-1901), one of the artists of the Macchiaioli group.
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Rocca Canterano
Rocca Canterano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 45 km east of Rome. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 230 and an area of 15.8 km².
Rocca Canterano borders the following municipalities: Agosta, Anticoli Corrado, Canterano, Cerreto Laziale, Gerano, Marano Equo, Saracinesco.
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Rocca di Cave
Rocca di Cave is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 40 km east of Rome.
It is home to the remains Colonna castle, which today houses a Geo-Palaeontological Museum and an astronomical observation point.
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Rocca di Papa
Rocca di Papa is a small town and comune in the province of Rome, Lazio, Italy. It is one of the Castelli Romani about 25 km south east of Rome on the Alban Hills. It is bounded by the other communes of Velletri, Rocca Priora, Monte Compatri, Grottaferrata, Albano and Marino. It is the centre of the Regional Park known as the "Parco Regionale dei Castelli Romani".
Documents from 12th century name Rocca di Papa as Castrum Rocce de Papa ("Rock Castle of the Pope"), because Pope Eugene III lived there.
In 1541 Pier Luigi Farnese, with French troops, destroyed the castle.
In 1855 the people proclaimed the "Rocca di Papa Republic" against prince Colonna and the Papal States government.
In 1889 the "Royal Geodynamic Observatory" was built on the top of Rocca di Papa, near the little Church of the Crucified. Between 1922 and 1935 the scientist Guglielmo Marconi carried out several experiments from this building in radio-transmission, wireless transmission and broadcasting.
In 1944, during World War II, Rocca di Papa was bombed. The Centre of the city was destroyed. Thirty four people died in that air strike and 35 died in a second air strike on May 25. The city was liberated from the Nazi German occupation on June 4, 1944 by the 85th Infantry Division.
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Rocca Priora
Rocca Priora is a small town and comune in the province of Rome, Lazio, Italy. It is one of the Castelli Romani on the Alban Hills about 25 km south east of Rome, situated in the Regional Park known as the "Parco Regionale dei Castelli Romani".
Rocca Priora occupied the area of the old Latins town of Corbium; here several battles, described by famous historians, were fought by Italic peoples.
After the destruction of Tusculum in 1191, the population increased. In the 14th century the Savelli family rose to prominence in the area, after Pope Sixtus V endorsed Rocca Priora as a feudal possession for them. They held the town and its castle until the 17th century, apart from two short periods in 1436-1447 and in the early 16th century, when it went to Cesare Borgia. According to some sources, the town was destroyed by Renzo da Ceri's troops during the conflict between Pope Clement VII and the Colonna, and by the imperial troops in the wake of the Sack of Rome (1527).
After a period as a direct Papal rule, it was sold in part to the Rospigliosi family, who held it until 1870, when it became a commune as part of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy.
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Rocca Santo Stefano
Rocca Santo Stefano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 45 km east of Rome.
Rocca Santo Stefano borders the following municipalities: Affile, Bellegra, Canterano, Gerano, Subiaco.
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Roccagiovine
Roccagiovine is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 35 km northeast of Rome. It is included in tha Natural Park of the Monti Lucretili.
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Roiate
Roiate is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located on the slope of Monte Scalambra on the hills between the Sacco and Aniene Rivers, about 45 km east of Rome.
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Roma Tre University
The University of Rome III (Italian: Università degli Studi di Roma Tre) is an Italian public research university located in Rome, Italy with its main campus situated in the Ostiense quarter. Founded in 1992 by the Ministry of Public Education, it was the third public university to be established in the metropolitan area of Rome.
The university comprises eight schools and 32 departments, enrolling approximately 38,000 students and having 1,370 academic and professional staff. At present, the university offers 54 undergraduate degree programs, 75 master's degree programs, 16 doctoral schools and 5 Ph.D. programs.
The University seal represents the Pyramid of Cestius inside the Porta San Paolo, two monuments which stand near the University campus.
The idea of founding a third university in Rome was flagged in the middle 1980s when the Ministry of Public Education formed a committee of inquiry into higher education to deal with a perceived emergency in university enrollments in Rome. After much debate, a future campus location was selected in what was a semi-industrial part of the city and it was decided that the future university be named with a number in chronological order.
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Roman Forum
Coordinates: 41°53′32″N 12°29′07″E / 41.8922°N 12.4852°E / 41.8922; 12.4852
The Roman Forum (Latin: Forum Romanum, Italian: Foro Romano) is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum.
It was for centuries the center of Roman public life: the site of triumphal processions and elections, venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches, and nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city's great men. The teeming heart of ancient Rome, it has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history. Located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, the Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archeological excavations attracting numerous sightseers.
Many of the oldest and most important structures of the ancient city were located on or near the Forum. The Roman kingdom's earliest shrines and temples were located on the southeastern edge. These included the ancient former royal residence, the Regia (8th century BC), and the Temple of Vesta (7th century BC), as well as the surrounding complex of the Vestal Virgins, all of which were rebuilt after the rise of imperial Rome.
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Roman Ghetto
The Roman (Jewish) Ghetto (Italian: Ghetto di Roma) was a ghetto located in the rione Sant'Angelo, in Rome, Italy, in the area surrounded by today's Via del Portico d'Ottavia, Lungotevere dei Cenci, Via del Progresso and Via di Santa Maria del Pianto close to the Tiber and the Theater of Marcellus. In Italian, the ghetto was called "Serraglio delli Ebrei" ("Enclosure of the Jews").
The Roman Ghetto was established as a result of Papal bull Cum nimis absurdum, promulgated by Pope Paul IV on 14 July 1555. The bull also required the Jews of Rome, which had existed as a community since before Christian times and which numbered about 2,000 at the time, to live in the ghetto. The ghetto was a walled quarter with three gates that were locked at night. The wall was built under the direction of the architect Giovanni Sallustio Peruzzi. The money for its construction – 300 scudi – had to be paid by the Jewish community. The area of Rome chosen for the ghetto was the most undesirable quarter of the city, subject to constant flooding by the Tiber River. At the time of its founding, the four-block area was expected to contain roughly 1,000 inhabitants.
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Roman Kingdom
The Roman Kingdom (Latin: REGNVM ROMANVM) was the period of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a monarchical form of government of the city of Rome and its territories.
Little is certain about the history of the Roman Kingdom, as nearly no written records from that time survive, and the histories about it were written during the Republic and Empire and are largely based on legend. However, the history of the Roman Kingdom began with the city's founding, traditionally dated to 753 BC with settlements around the Palatine Hill along the river Tiber in Central Italy, and ended with the overthrow of the kings and the establishment of the Republic in about 509 BC.
The site of the founding of the Roman Kingdom and eventual Republic and Empire had a ford where the Tiber could be crossed. The Palatine Hill and hills surrounding it presented easily defensible positions in the wide fertile plain surrounding them. All of these features contributed to the success of the city.
The traditional account of Roman history, which has come down to us through Livy, Plutarch, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and others, is that in Rome's first centuries it was ruled by a succession of seven kings. The traditional chronology, as codified by Varro, allots 243 years for their reigns, an average of almost 35 years, which, since the work of Barthold Georg Niebuhr, has been generally discounted by modern scholarship. The Gauls destroyed much of Rome's historical records when they sacked the city after the Battle of the Allia in 390 BC (Varronian, according to Polybius the battle occurred in 387/6) and what was left was eventually lost to time or theft. With no contemporary records of the kingdom existing, all accounts of the kings must be carefully questioned.
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Romania
Romania (i/roʊˈmeɪniə/ roh-MAY-nee-ə; dated: Roumania; or Rumania;Romanian: România [romɨˈni.a] ( listen)) is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south.
At 238,400 square kilometers (92,000 sq mi), Romania is the ninth largest country of the European Union by area, and has the seventh largest population of the European Union with over 19 million people. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, the tenth largest city in the EU with about two million people.
The Kingdom of Romania emerged when the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia were united under Prince Alexander Ioan Cuza in 1859. Independence from the Ottoman Empire was declared on 9 May 1877, and was internationally recognized the following year. At the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the Kingdom of Romania. Greater Romania emerged into an era of progression and prosperity that would continue until World War II. By the end of the War, many north-eastern areas of Romania's territories were occupied by the Soviet Union, and Romania forcibly became a socialist republic and a member of the Warsaw Pact.
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Rome
Rome (/ˈroʊm/; Italian: Roma pronounced [ˈroːma] ( listen); Latin: Rōma) is a city and special comune ("Roma Capitale") in Italy. Rome is the capital of Italy and the capital of Lazio (Latin: Latium). With 2.8 million residents in 1,285.3 km2 (496.3 sq mi), it is also the country's largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. Between 3.2 and 3.7 million people live in the Rome metropolitan area. The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.
Rome's history spans two and a half thousand years. It was the capital city of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, which was the dominant power in Western Europe and the lands bordering the Mediterranean for over seven hundred years from the 1st century BC until the 7th century AD and the city is regarded as one of the birthplaces of western civilization. Since the 1st century AD Rome has been the seat of the Papacy and, after the end of Byzantine domination, in the 8th century it became the capital of the Papal States, which lasted until 1870. In 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic.
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Rome Urbe Airport
Rome Urbe Airport (Italian: Aeroporto di Roma-Urbe) (IATA: none, ICAO: LIRU) is a small civilian airport in Rome, situated in the northern part of the city, between Via Salaria and the Tiber River, about 2.7 NM (5 km, 3,1 mi) inside the Greater Ring Road (Italian: Grande Raccordo Anulare or GRA), the circular motorway around the city.
The airport was inaugurated in Benito Mussolini's presence in 1928, with the name "Lictor Airport" (the name was chosen by Mussolini himself). Until the World War II it was the main civilian airport in Italy, and the base for the italian national airline Ala Littoria. Inside the perimeter it was also constructed a racetrack, named Autodromo del Littorio ("Lictor Racetrack"). In 1931 a car/plane challenge took place on the racetrack inside the airport: Vittorio Suster, piloting a Caproni Ca.100, defeated Tazio Nuvolari, who drove a Alfa Romeo 8C 2300.
Heavily damaged by bombardments during the war, the airport was reactivated with the current name in the first postwar years. But just a few years later the commercial activity was transferred to the Ciampino Airport: since that moment the Rome Urbe Airport turned mostly into a facility for flying club activity, touristic flights and air taxi. It's currently the base for the Aeroclub di Roma (Rome's flying club). In 2010, thanks to the investment of 800.000€ by the ENAC (the civil aviation authority of Italy, that manages the airport) it was opened a new terminal for helicopters. On 18 September 1997 the airport was the scene for a U2 concert, part of their Pop Mart Tour: a 70,000 audience attended the event
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Roviano
Roviano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 45 km northeast of Rome.
Roviano borders the following municipalities: Anticoli Corrado, Arsoli, Cineto Romano, Mandela, Marano Equo, Riofreddo. It is home to polygonal walls dating to the late Aequi age, or to the early Roman domination. It has also a bridge dating to the reign of Nerva, over which the via Valeria crossed the Aniene river.
Other sights include the castle, built by the abbots of Italy, the medieval borough of Rovianello (destroyed by Muzio Colonna in 1585-1590), the 14th century Porta Scaramuccia ("Skirmish Gate").
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Russia
Russiai/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.
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Sabbioneta
Sabbioneta is a town and comune in the province of Mantua, Lombardy region, Northern Italy. It is situated about 30 km north of Parma, not far from the northern bank of the Po River. It was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 2008.
Sabbioneta was founded by Vespasiano I Gonzaga in the late 16th century along the ancient Roman Via Vitelliana, on a sandy bank of the Po (whence the name, meaning "Sandy" in Italian; he was its first duke, using it as a personal fortress and residence.
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It was also during this period that it became a minor musical centre; composers such as Benedetto Pallavicino were employed here by Vespasiano Gonzaga, prior to his moving to the main Gonzaga city of Mantua.
In 2008, Sabbioneta was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a recognition of its perfect example of practical application of Renaissance urban planning theories.
Sabbioneta is also known for its historic Jewish Ghetto and Synagogue, and in particular for its Hebrew printing-press. In 1551 Tobias Foa set up the press; he had, however, published certain "anti-Christian books" and his career was "forcibly ended". His work and possibly his type were taken up by a Christian printer, Vicenzo Conte.
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Sacrofano
Sacrofano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 25 km north of Rome. Located near the Monti Sabatini, at the feet of an extinct volcano, it is included in the Regional Park of Veii.
Sacrofano borders the following municipalities: Campagnano di Roma, Castelnuovo di Porto, Formello, Magliano Romano, Riano, Rome.
They were originally part of the territory of the Etruscan city of Veii. Later it was home to numerous Roman villas, which were abandoned in the 5th-6th centuries. A fundus Scrofanum is mentioned for the first time in 780. A castle was built here probably in the 10th-11th century; in the 13th century it was a possession of the Prefetti di Vico, and later of the Savelli and the Orsini, who acquired it under the reign of Pope Gregory XI (1370–1377). Apart a short conquest by Cesare Borgia (1503–1516), they kept Sacrofano for nearly three centuries: in 1560 it was included in the Duchy of Bracciano. In 1662 the Orsini ceded it to the Chigi family.
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Saint Helier
Saint Helier (French language: Saint-Hélier, Jèrriais: Saint Hélyi) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St. Helier has a population of about 28,000, roughly 31.2% of the total population of Jersey, and is the capital of the Island (although Government House is situated in St. Saviour). The urban area of the parish of St. Helier makes up most of the largest town in Jersey, although some of the town area is situated in adjacent St. Saviour, with suburbs sprawling into St. Lawrence and St. Clement. The greater part of St. Helier is predominantly rural.
The parish covers a surface area of 4.1 square miles (10.6 km2), being 9% of the total land area of the Island (this includes reclaimed land area of 494 acres (2.00 km2) or 200 ha).
The parish crest is two crossed gold axes on a blue background, symbolising the martyrdom of Helier and the sea.
It is thought that the site of St. Helier was settled at the time of the Roman control of Gaul.
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Saint Peter Port
Saint Peter Port is the capital of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2001 was 16,488. In Guernésiais and in French, historically the official language of Guernsey, the name of the town and its surrounding parish is St Pierre Port. The "port" distinguishes this parish from Saint Pierre Du Bois.
As well as being a parish, St. Peter Port is a small town consisting mostly of steep narrow streets and steps on the overlooking slopes. It is known that a trading post/town has existed here since before Roman times, the pre-Christian name of which has not survived into the modern era.
The post code for addresses in this parish starts with GY1.
People from St. Peter Port, were nicknamed "les Villais" (the townspeople) or "cllichards" in Guernésiais.
St. Peter Port is located on the East coast of Guernsey. It borders St Sampson's in the North, The Vale in the North-West, St Andrew's in the West and St Martin's in the South.
The land in the North and by the harbour is low lying but in the South, the land gets much higher (but not as high as St Martin's or the Forest). This means that there are quite a few cliffs on the coast between Havelet and Fermain.
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Sallustiano
Sallustiano is the XVII rione of Rome. The name refers to the ancient Gardens of Sallust which was located here.
Coordinates: 41°54′29″N 12°27′57″E / 41.908078°N 12.465706°E / 41.908078; 12.465706
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Sambuci
Sambuci is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 35 km east of Rome.
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San Cesareo
San Cesareo (Latin: Ad Statuas or Statio ad Statuas) is a town and comune in the province of Rome. In ancient times, it was on the Via Labicana or Via Latina, 18 miles from Rome.
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San Gimignano
San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers, which may be seen from several kilometres outside the town.
The town also is known for the white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, produced from the Vernaccia grape which is grown in the area.
San Gimignano was founded as a small village in the 3rd century BC by the Etruscans. Historical records begin in the 10th century, when it adopted the name of the bishop Saint Geminianus, who had defended it from Attila's Huns.
In the Middle Ages and Renaissance era, it was a stopping point for Catholic pilgrims on their way to Rome and the Vatican, as it sits on the medieval Via Francigena. The city's development also was improved by the trade of agricultural products from the fertile neighbouring hills.
In 1199, during the period of its highest splendour, the city made itself independent from the bishops of Volterra. Divisions between Guelphs and Ghibellines troubled the inner life of the commune, which nonetheless, still managed to embellish itself with artworks and architectures.
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San Leucio
San Leucio is a frazione of the comune of Caserta, in the region of Campania in southern Italy. It is most notable for a resort developed around an old silk factory, included in the UNESCO World Heritage sites list in 1997.
It is located 3.5 km northwest of Caserta, at 145 m above sea level.
In 1750 Charles VII of Naples, advised by minister Bernardo Tanucci, selected this place, originally the site of a royal hunting lodge for the Acquaviva family (now restored, and known as Palazzo del Belvedere), for an unusual social and tecnological experiment, a different model of production based on technical innovation and alert to the needs of workers. In its early days, San Leucio resort was a place for pleasure and a royal hunting preserve, built on the ruins of Saint Leucio church, where an aqueduct carried water to the waterfalls of the Royal Caserta Palace, designed by Vanvitelli. The son of Charles, Ferdinand I, had a hunting lodge built for himself on this site. He was a very skillful hunter who disliked the pleasures and luxury of court life. It was here that Charles and the young king Ferdinand built a silk factory. The complex was transformed into a silk production site and industrial buildings were added, which was quite unique in late 18th-century Europe. Architect Francesco Collecini designed these industrial buildings, where noisy looms were installed next to royal apartments and a sitting room became a chapel for the workers.
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San Marino
San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino (i/sæn məˈriːnoʊ/ san-mə-REE-noh; Italian: Repubblica di San Marino) and also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino (Italian: Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino), is a state situated on the Italian Peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over 61 km2 (24 sq mi) with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino. San Marino has the smallest population of all the members of the Council of Europe.
San Marino is the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world, as the continuation of the monastic community founded on 3 September 301, by stonecutter Marinus of Rab. Legend has it that Marinus left Rab, then the Roman colony of Arba, in 257 when the future emperor, Diocletian, issued a decree calling for the reconstruction of the city walls of Rimini, which had been destroyed by Liburnian pirates.
The constitution of San Marino, enacted in 1600, is the world's oldest constitution still in effect. The country's economy mainly relies on finance, industry, services and tourism. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP (per capita), with a figure comparable to some of the more developed Italian regions, such as Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. San Marino is considered to have a highly stable economy, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, no national debt and a budget surplus.
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San Vito Romano
San Vito Romano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 40 km east of Rome. As of December 31, 2004, it had a population of 3,312 and an area of 12.7 km².
San Vito Romano borders the following municipalities: Bellegra, Capranica Prenestina, Genazzano, Olevano Romano, Pisoniano.
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Santa Marinella
Santa Marinella is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 60 km northwest of Rome.
It includes the beach resort of Santa Severa (the ancient Pyrgi), and a medieval castle.
In antiquity, Santa Marinella was the site of Aquae Caeretanae, a Roman bathing resort.
Actress Ingrid Bergman and director Roberto Rossellini had a villa here. The gypsy punk band, Gogol Bordello also have a song titled "Santa Marinella."
Famous for its "Wheels of Immigration" - a pretzel-like snack consumed by Russian Jewish immigrants who temporarily settled there in the late 1980s on their way to United States or Israel.
Media related to Santa Marinella at Wikimedia Commons
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Saracinesco
Saracinesco is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 40 km northeast of Rome. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 169 and an area of 11.0 km².
Saracinesco borders the following municipalities: Anticoli Corrado, Cerreto Laziale, Mandela, Rocca Canterano, Sambuci, Vicovaro.
The little mountain town of Saracinesco, some 20 km east of Tivoli, has several claims to fame. Founded by Saracens, it is Lazio's smallest comune or municipality with a mere 160 inhabitants. It also has a unique outdoor Museum of Time, with fascinating models of ancient and unusual sundials displayed on street corners and in small squares. Saracinesco is perched on a rocky outcrop towering 900 m above the Aniene river valley. It is reached by branching off from the Rome-L'Aquila highway at the Vicovaro-Mandela exit and follow a steeply twisting mountain road that leads up to and ends at the town. Throughout the Middle Ages, the site was an indomitable stronghold, controlled first by the Benedictine monks of nearby Subiaco and then by the Hohenstaufen family of Svevia, which ruled the greater part of Italy during the 13th century. The town was founded by Saracen refugees, survivors of the battle in which Pope Giovanni X swept the Islamic raiders from the area in 916.
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Sarajevo
Sarajevo (Cyrillic: Сарајево) (pronounced [sǎrajɛʋɔ]) is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an estimated population of over 311,161 people within its administrative limits. It is also the capital of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity, as well as the center of the Sarajevo Canton, which has a population of 438,757. Nestled within the greater Sarajevo valley of Bosnia, it is surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans.
Sarajevo is the leading social and cultural center of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and its region-wide influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts contribute to its status as Bosnia and Herzegovina's major economic center.
The city is historically famous for its traditional cultural and religious diversity, with adherents of Islam, Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Judaism coexisting there for centuries. Due to this long and rich history of religious and cultural variety, Sarajevo is often called the "Jerusalem of Europe" or "Jerusalem of the Balkans". It was, until recently in the 20th century, the only major European city to have a mosque, cathedral, Orthodox church and synagogue within the same neighborhood.
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Sardinia
Sardinia ( /sɑrˈdɪniə/, Italian: Sardegna [sarˈdeɲɲa], Sardinian: Sardigna [sarˈdinja]) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and before Cyprus). It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are (clockwise from north) the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.
The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[], romanised as sardus (feminine sarda); that the name had a religious connotation is suggested from its use also as the adjective for the ancient Sardinian mythological hero-god Sardus Pater "Sardinian Father" (misunderstood by many modern Sardinians/Italians as being "Father Sardus"), as well as being the stem of the adjective "sardonic". Sardinia was called Ichnusa (the Latinised form of the Greek Hyknousa), Sandalion, Sardinia and Sardo by the ancient Greeks and the Romans.
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 23,821 km². It is situated between 38° 51' and 41° 15' latitude north and 8° 8' and 9° 50' east longitude. To the west of Sardinia is the Sea of Sardinia, a unit of the Mediterranean Sea; to Sardinia's east is the Tyrrhenian Sea, which is also an element of the Mediterranean Sea.
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Sassi di Matera
The Sassi di Matera (meaning "stones of Matera") are prehistoric cave dwellings in the Italian city of Matera, Basilicata. Situated in the old town, they are composed of the Sasso Caveoso and the later Sasso Barisano.
The "Sassi" grew in the area of Murgia Plateau, extended between Apulia and Basilicata.
Matera has gained international fame for its "Sassi". The Sassi originate from a prehistoric (troglodyte) settlement, and are suspected to be some of the first human settlements in Italy.
The Sassi are houses dug into the calcarenitic rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Puglia, and is locally called "tufo" though it should not be confused with the volcanic tuff nor with tufa. Many of these "houses" are really only caverns, and the streets in some parts of the Sassi often are located on the rooftops of other houses. The ancient town grew in height on one slope of the ravine created by a river that is now a small stream. The ravine is known locally as "la Gravina".
In the 1950s, the government of Italy forcefully relocated most of the population of the Sassi to areas of the developing modern city. However, people continued to live in the Sassi, and according to the English Fodor's guide:
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Scala sancta
The Scala Sancta (English: Holy Stairs, Italian: Scala Santa) are, according to the Christian tradition, the steps that led up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem, which Jesus Christ stood on during his Passion on his way to trial. The stairs were, reputedly, brought to Rome by St. Helena in the 4th Century. For centuries, the Scala Santa has attracted Christian pilgrims who wished to honor the Passion of Jesus.
It consists of twenty-eight white Marble steps, now encased by wooden steps, located in a building which incorporates part of the old Lateran Palace, located opposite the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. They are located next to a church which was built on ground brought from Mount Calvary. The stairs lead to the Sancta Sanctorum (English: Holy of Holies), the personal chapel of the early Popes in the Lateran palace, known as the chapel of St. Lawrence.
Medieval legends claim that the Holy Stairs were brought from Jerusalem to Rome about 326 by St. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. In the Middle Ages, they were known as Scala Pilati (Stairs of Pilate). From old plans it can be gathered that they led to a corridor of the Lateran Palace, near the Chapel of St. Sylvester, were covered with a special roof. When Sixtus V in 1589 destroyed the then ruined old papal palace to rebuild a new one, he ordered the Holy Stairs be transferred to their present site, before the Sancta Sanctorum (Holy of Holies), which received its name from the many precious relics preserved there, including the celebrated icon of Santissimi Salvatore Acheiropoieton ("not made by human hands") which on certain occasions used to be carried through Rome in procession. These holy treasures, which since Leo X (1513–21) had not been seen by anybody, have been the object of dissertations by Grisar and Lauer.
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Scicli
Scicli is a city in the Province of Ragusa in the south east of Sicily, southern Italy. It is 25 kilometres from Ragusa, and 308 kilometres from Palermo. Alongside seven other cities in the Val di Noto, it has been listed as one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.
Settlements of the area of Scicli dates back to the Copper and Early Bronze Ages (3rd millennium BC to the 15th century BC).
Scicli was founded by the Sicels (whence probably the name) around 300 BCE. In the Middle Ages, like all of Sicily, Scicli was ruled by the Arabs, under whom it lived a flourishing period as agricultural and trade center, and then, after its conquest by Roger I of Hauteville in 1091, by the Normans. Scicli was one of the garrison which rebelled against the Angevine domination in the Sicilian Vespers (April 5, 1282). Following the various dynasties ruling the Kingdom of Sicily, it was an Aragonese-Spanish possession before being united in the Kingdom of Italy in the mid nineteenth century.
Following a catastrophic earthquake in 1693, much of the town was rebuilt in the Sicilian baroque style, which today gives the town the elegant appearance which draws many tourists to visit the city.
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Segni
Segni (in Latin Signia) is an Italian town and comune located in Lazio. The city is situated on a hilltop in the Lepini Mountains, and overlooks the valley of the Sacco River.
According to ancient Latin sources, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh king of Rome, established a Roman colony at the town, then known as Signia.
The ancient architectural remains at the site date mostly from the Republican period. These include a circuit of fortification walls built using polygonal masonry. The walls incorporated a system of gates, including the Porta Saracena which is covered by a large monolithic architrave. Atop the ancient acropolis of Segni sits the podium of the temple of Juno Moneta, which now supports a Medieval church of Saint Peter (tenth century).
On several occasions Segni served as a place of refuge for popes, and Eugene III erected a palace there. In the twelfth century it came into possession of the Counts of Marsi, hereditary enemies of the Orsini. The family called de' Conti produced several popes (Innocent III, Gregory IX and Alexander IV) and many cardinals. In 1558 Segni was sacked by the forces of the Duke of Alba in the war against Pope Paul IV; immense booty was captured, as the inhabitants of the other towns of the Campagna had fled thither.
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Seoul
Seoul (Korean pronunciation: [sʌ.ul] ( listen), English /soʊl/), officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world. The Seoul National Capital Area is the world's second largest metropolitan area with over 25 million inhabitants, which includes the surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province. Almost a quarter of South Koreans live in Seoul, half of South Koreans live in the metropolitan area, along with over 275,000 international residents.
Located in the Han River, Seoul has been a major settlement for over 2,000 years, with its foundation dating back to 18 B.C. when Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, established its capital in what is now south-east Seoul. It continued as the capital of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty and the Korean Empire. The Seoul National Capital Area is home to four UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Changdeokgung, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty.
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Serbia
Serbiai/ˈsɜrbiə/, officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија / Republika Srbija, pronounced [rɛpǔblika sř̩bija]), is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans. Serbia borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; the Republic of Macedonia to the south; and Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the west; additionally, it borders Albania through Kosovo, whose status as part of Serbia is disputed. Serbia covers an area of 88,361 km2 and has a population of just over 7.1 million, while the capital and largest city is Belgrade.
The arrival of the Serbs to the Balkans in the 7th century, established several states, eventually forming the Serbian Empire in the 14th century. By the 16th century, Serbia was conquered and occupied by the Ottoman Empire, at times interrupted by the Habsburgs. In the early 19th century the Serbian revolution re-established the country as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory and pioneered the abolition of feudalism in the Balkans. The former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina united with Serbia in 1918. Following World War I, Serbia formed Yugoslavia with other South Slavic peoples which existed in several forms up until 2006, when the National Assembly of Serbia declared independence and the legal succession to the former State Union. In February 2008 the parliament of UNMIK-governed Kosovo, Serbia's southern province, declared independence, with mixed responses from international governments.
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Servian Wall
The Servian Wall (Latin: Murus Servii Tullii, Italian: Mura serviane) was a defensive barrier constructed around the city of Rome in the early 4th century BC. The wall was up to 10 metres (32.8 ft) in height in places, 3.6 metres (12 ft) wide at its base, 11 km (7 mi) long, and is believed to have had 16 main gates, though many of these are mentioned only from writings, with no other known remains.
It is presumed that the wall is named after the sixth Roman King, Servius Tullius. Although its outline may go back to the 6th century BC, the currently extant wall was, it is estimated, built during the later Roman Republic, possibly as a way to prevent a repeat of the sack of Rome during Battle of the Allia by the Gauls of Brennus. Due to the ease with which the Gauls entered the city, it is conjectured that at some time previous to this, Rome had been forced by its Etruscan rulers to dismantle any significant prior defenses.
The wall was built from large blocks of tuff (a volcanic rock made from ash and rock fragments ejected during an eruption) quarried from the Grotta Oscura quarry near Rome's early rival Veii. In addition to the blocks, some sections of the structure incorporated a deep fossa, or ditch in front of it, as a means to effectively heighten the wall during attack from invaders. Along part of its topographically weaker northern perimeter was an agger, a defensive ramp of earth heaped up to the wall along the inside. This thickened the wall, and also gave defenders a base to stand while repelling any attack. The wall was also outfitted with defensive war engines, including catapults.
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Sicily
Sicily (Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia, [siˈtʃiːlja]; [sɪˈɕilja]) is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea; along with surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana (Sicilian Autonomous Region).
Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean. It extends from the tip of the Apennine peninsula from which it is separated only by the narrow Strait of Messina, towards the North African coast. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, which is at 3,320 m (10,890 ft) the tallest active volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate.
The earliest archeological evidence of human dwelling on the island dates from 8000 BC. At around 750 BC, Sicily became a Greek colony and for the next 600 years it was the site of the Greek-Punic and Roman-Punic wars, which ended with the Roman destruction of Carthage. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, Sicily often changed hands, and during the early Middle Ages it was ruled in turn by the Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Arabs and Normans. Later on, the Kingdom of Sicily lasted between 1130 and 1816, subordinated to the crowns of Aragon, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and finally the Bourbons, as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. It was united with the rest of Italy in 1860, but a subsequent economic collapse led to a wave of emigration, separatism, and the emergence of the Mafia, whose criminal activities pose problems to this day. After the birth of the Italian Republic in 1946, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region.
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Siena
Siena (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsjɛːna] ( listen); in English also spelled Sienna, the historic exonym) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008. Siena is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a horse race held twice a year.
Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans (c. 900–400 BC) when it was inhabited by a tribe called the Saina. The Etruscans were an advanced people who changed the face of central Italy through their use of irrigation to reclaim previously unfarmable land, and their custom of building their settlements in well-defended hill-forts. A Roman town called Saena Julia was founded at the site in the time of the Emperor Augustus. The first document mentioning it dates from AD 70. Some archaeologists assert that Siena was controlled for a period by a Gaulish tribe called the Saenones.
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Skopje
Skopje (Macedonian: Скопје, [ˈskɔpjɛ] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. It was known in the Roman period under the name Scupi.
The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; remains of Neolithic settlements have been found within the old Kale Fortress that overlooks the modern city centre. On the eve of the 1st century AD, the settlement was seized by the Romans and became a military camp. When the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves in 395 AD, Scupi came under Byzantine rule from Constantinople. During much of the early medieval period, the town was contested between the Byzantines and the Bulgarian Empire, whose capital it was between 972 and 992. From 1282 the town was part of the Serbian realm and its capital city since 1346. In 1392 the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks who called the town Üsküp. The town stayed under Ottoman control over 500 years, serving as the capital of pashasanjak of Üsküb and later the Vilayet of Kosovo. At that time the city was famous for its oriental architecture. In 1912 the city was conquered by the Kingdom of Serbia during the Balkan Wars and after the First World War the city became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia). In the Second World War the city was conquered by the Bulgarian Army, which was part of Axis powers. In 1944 it became the capital city of Democratic Macedonia (later Socialist Republic of Macedonia), which was a federal state, part of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia (later Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). The city developed rapidly after World War II, but this trend was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake. In 1991 it became the capital city of independent Macedonia.
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Slovakia
The Slovak Republic (short form: Slovakiai/sloʊˈvɑːkiə/ or /sləˈvækiə/; Slovak: Slovensko (help·info), long form Slovenská republika (help·info)) is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi). Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is the capital, Bratislava, and the second largest is Košice. Slovakia is a member state of the European Union, NATO, United Nations, OECD and WTO among others. The official language is Slovak, a member of the Slavic language family.
The Slavs arrived in the territory of present day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries during the migration period. In the course of history, various parts of today's Slovakia belonged to Samo's Empire (the first known political unit of Slavs), Principality of Nitra (as independent polity, as part of Great Moravia and as part of Hungarian Kingdom), Great Moravia, Kingdom of Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Habsburg Empire, and Czechoslovakia. A separate Slovak state briefly existed during World War II, during which Slovakia was a dependency of Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1944. From 1945 Slovakia once again became a part of Czechoslovakia. The present-day Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
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Slovenia
Slovenia (i/sloʊˈviːniə/ sloh-VEE-nee-ə, Slovene: Slovenija), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija, [reˈpublika sloˈveːnija]) is a Slavic nation state, situated in South-Central Europe, at the crossroad of main European cultural and trade routes. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Croatia to the south and southeast, and Hungary to the northeast. It covers 20,273 square kilometres (7,827 sq mi) and has a population of 2.05 million. It is a parliamentary republic, member of the European Union and NATO. Relative to its geography, history, economy, culture, and language, it is a very diverse country distinguished by a transitional character. It is characterised by a high economic and social level. Its capital and largest city is Ljubljana.
The territory of Slovenia is mainly hilly or mountainous and has an exceptionally high landscape and biological diversity and a mosaic structure, which are a result of natural attributes and the long-lasting presence of humans. Four major European geographic units interweave here: the Alps, the Dinaric Alps, the Mediterranean, with a small portion of coastline along the Adriatic Sea, and the Pannonian Plain. The climate is temperate and significantly influenced by the variety of territory, with a strong interaction of the continental climate, the sub-Mediterranean climate and Alpine climate across most of the country. The country is one of the water-richest in Europe, with a dense river network, a rich aquifer system, and significant karstic underground watercourses. Over half of the territory is covered by forest.
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Sofia
Sofia (Bulgarian: София, pronounced [ˈsɔfijɐ] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 15th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.2 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.
Prehistoric settlements were excavated in the centre of the present city, near the royal palace, as well as in outer districts Slatina and Obelya. The well-preserved town walls (especially their substructures) date back before the 7th century BC, when Thracians established their city around a mineral spring, which exists to the present day. Sofia has had several names in the different periods of its existence. Its ancient name, Serdika or Serdica, derives from the local Celtic tribe of the serdi who inhabited the region since the 1st century BC. Serdica was a Roman capital during the tetrarchic system of government. During the Middle Ages, it was one of the major commercial centres of the Bulgarian Empire, along with Tarnovo. Sofia's population remained small until 1879, when it was declared a capital of the Principality of Bulgaria after the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule.
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South Korea
South Korea ( listen), officially the Republic of Korea (Hangul: 대한민국; Hanja: 大韓民國; Daehan Minguk listen), is a sovereign state in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The name "Korea" is derived from Goryeo, a dynasty which ruled in the Middle Ages (an initial "G" in Korean is pronounced like an English "K").
Its neighbors are China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the Korea Strait to the south. South Korea lies in the north temperate zone with a predominantly mountainous terrain. It covers a total area of 99,392 square kilometers and has a population of almost 50 million. The capital and largest city is Seoul, with a population of 9,794,304.
Archaeological findings show that the Korean Peninsula was occupied by the Lower Paleolithic period.Korean history begins with the founding of Gojoseon in 2333 BC by the legendary Dan-gun. Following the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea under Silla 668 AD, Korea went through the Goryeo Dynasty and Joseon Dynasty as one nation until the end of the Korean Empire in 1910, when it was annexed by Japan. After liberation and occupation by Soviet and U.S. forces at the end of World War II, the nation was divided into North and South Korea. The latter was established in 1948 as a democracy, though political turmoil and times of military rule and martial law characterized much of the period until the foundation of the Sixth Republic in 1987.
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South Ossetia
South Ossetia ( /əˈsɛtiə/ə-SET-ee-ə or /ɒˈsiːʃə/o-SEE-shə; Ossetic: Хуссар Ирыстон, Xussar Iryston; Georgian: სამხრეთ ოსეთი, Samxret Oseti; Russian: Южная Осетия, Yuzhnaya Osetiya) or Tskhinvali Region (Georgian: ცხინვალის რეგიონი, Tsxinvalis regioni; Russian: Цхинвальский регион, Tskhinvalskiy region) is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
South Ossetians declared independence from Georgia in 1990, calling themselves the Republic of South Ossetia. The Georgian government responded by abolishing South Ossetia's autonomy and trying to retake the region by force. This led to the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. Georgian fighting against those controlling South Ossetia occurred on two other occasions, in 2004 and 2008. The last conflict led to the 2008 South Ossetia war, during which Ossetian and Russian forces gained full, de facto control of the territory of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.
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Soviet Union
The Soviet Union (Russian: Советский Союз, tr. Sovetsky Soyuz), officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR; Russian: Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик, tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik; IPA: [sɐˈjus sɐˈvʲetskʲɪx sətsɨəlʲɪˈstʲitɕɪskʲɪx rʲɪsˈpublʲɪk] ( listen); abbreviated СССР, SSSR), was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991.
The Soviet Union was a single-party state ruled by the Communist Party from its foundation until 1990. A union of 15 subnational Soviet republics, the Soviet state was structured under a highly centralized government and economy.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 caused the downfall of the Russian Empire. Following the Russian Revolution, there was a struggle for power between the Bolshevik party, led by Vladimir Lenin, and the anti-communist White movement. In December 1922, the Bolsheviks won the civil war, and the Soviet Union was formed with the merger of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
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Spain
Spain (i/ˈspeɪn/ SPAYN; Spanish: España, pronounced: [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state and a member of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 504,030 square kilometres (194,610 sq mi), it is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France, and the fourth largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France.
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Spanish Steps
The Spanish Steps (Italian: Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti) are a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church at the top. The Scalinata is the widest staircase in Europe.
The monumental stairway of 138 steps was built with French diplomat Étienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds of 20,000 scudi, in 1723–1725, linking the Bourbon Spanish Embassy, and the Trinità dei Monti church that was under the patronage of the Bourbon kings of France, both located above — to the Holy See in Palazzo Monaldeschi located below. The stairway was designed by architects Francesco de Sanctis and Alessandro Specchi.
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Stepanakert
Stepanakert (Armenian: Ստեփանակերտ; called Khankendi (Azerbaijani: Xankəndi) by Azerbaijan) is the largest city and capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a de facto independent republic, though is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan. The city population comprises about 53,000 ethnic Armenians.
According to medieval Armenian sources, the settlement was first mentioned as Vararakn (Վարարակն, meaning "rapid spring" in Armenian) which it remained until it was renamed Khankendi in 1847. Azerbaijani sources generally say that the settlement was founded in the late eighteenth century by a Karabakh khan, and was thus called Khankendi (Turkic for "the khan's village").
In 1923 Khankendi was renamed Stepanakert by the Soviet government to honor Stepan Shahumyan, ethnic Armenian leader of the 26 Baku Commissars, and, after the Shusha pogrom had resulted in major destruction at Shusha, the former regional capital, Stepanakert was made the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. In time, Stepanakert grew to become the region's most important city (a status it received in 1940). Its population rose from 10,459 in 1939 to 33,000 in 1978.
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Stockholm
Stockholm (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈstɔkːˈhɔlm, ˈstɔkːˈɔlm, ˈstɔkːɔlm]( listen to the second one)) is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 864,324 in the municipality (2010), 1.4 million in the urban area (2010), and around 2.1 million in the 6,519 km2 (2,517.00 sq mi) metropolitan area (2010). As of 2010, the Stockholm metropolitan area is home to approximately 22% of Sweden's population.
Founded no later than c. 1250, possibly as early as 1187, Stockholm has long been one of Sweden's cultural, media, political, and economic centres. Its strategic location on 14 islands on the south-central east coast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago, has been historically important. Stockholm has been nominated by GaWC as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha-. In The 2008 Global Cities Index, Stockholm ranked 24th in the world, 10th in Europe, and first in Scandinavia. Stockholm is known for its beauty, its buildings and architecture, its abundant clean and open water, and its many parks. It is sometimes referred to as Venice of the North.
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Stoke Mandeville
Coordinates: 51°47′10″N 0°47′29″W / 51.7861°N 0.7914°W / 51.7861; -0.7914
Stoke Mandeville is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district 3 miles (4.8 km) to the south-east of Aylesbury in the county of Buckinghamshire, England. Although a separate civil parish, the village falls within the Aylesbury Urban Area. Stoke Mandeville Hospital, although named after the village, is located on the parish's border with Aylesbury and has the largest spinal injuries ward in Europe.
The village was originally recorded as Stoches in the Domesday Book of 1086, from the Old English word stoc meaning an outlying farm or hamlet. The suffix Mandeville was first recorded in 1284 when the manor was listed as being in the hands of the powerful Norman de Mandeville family. The former medieval parish church on the outskirts of the village was condemned in the mid 20th Century and was demolished in January 1966. The newer red brick parish church of St Mary, consecrated in July 1866 by Bishop of Oxford Samuel Wilberforce, remains as the only church in the village apart from the Methodist church in Eskdale Road.
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Sukhumi
Sukhumi (Abkhaz: Аҟәа, Aqwa; Georgian: სოხუმი, Sokhumi; Russian: Сухум or Сухуми, Sukhum or Sukhumi) is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered heavily during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s.
In Abkhaz, the city is known as Аҟәа (Aqwa) which according to native tradition signifies water. In Georgian, the city is known as სოხუმი (Sokhumi) or აყუ (Aqu), in Megrelian as აყუჯიხა (Aqujikha), and in Russian as Сухум (Sukhum) or Сухуми (Sukhumi).
The etymology of the name Sokhumi is disputed. The medieval Georgian sources knew the town as Tskhumi (ცხუმი). Later, under the Ottoman control, the town was known in Turkish as Suhum-Kale, which can be derived from the earlier Georgian form Tskhumi or can be read to mean 'water-sand fortress'. Tskhumi in turn is supposed to be derived from the Svan language word for 'hot', or the Georgian word for 'hornbeam tree'. The competing etymologies have been used as putative evidence in the argument over the ethnicity of Sukhumi's historical inhabitants.[citation needed]
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Svalbard
Svalbard (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈsʋɑlbɑɖ]) is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude (inside the Arctic Circle), and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the largest island, followed by Nordaustlandet and Edgeøya. The administrative center is Longyearbyen, and other settlements include the Russian mining community of Barentsburg, the research community of Ny-Ålesund and the mining outpost of Sveagruva. The archipelago is administered by the Governor of Svalbard.
The islands were first used as a whaling base in the 17th and 18th centuries, after which they were abandoned. Coal mining started at the beginning of the 20th century, and several permanent communities were established. The Svalbard Treaty of 1920 recognizes Norwegian sovereignty, and the 1925 Svalbard Act made Svalbard a full part of the Kingdom of Norway. This act also established Svalbard as a free economic zone and a demilitarized zone. The Norwegian Store Norske and the Russian Arktikugol are the only mining companies remaining on the islands. Research and tourism have become important supplementary industries. Two major research facilities are the University Centre in Svalbard and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. No roads connect the settlements; instead snowmobiles, aircraft and boats serve inter-community transport. Svalbard Airport, Longyear serves as the main gateway to the rest of Europe.
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Sweden
Sweden (i/ˈswiːdən/ SWEE-dən; Swedish: Sverige [ˈsværjɛ] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Øresund.
At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.4 million. Sweden has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54 /sq mi) with the population mostly concentrated to the southern half of the country. About 85% of the population live in urban areas. Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also the largest city.
Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, the country expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire. The empire grew to be one of the great powers of Europe in the 17th and early 18th century. Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of Sweden, present-day Finland, was lost to Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, practicing "non-participation in military alliances during peacetime and neutrality during wartime". However, Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995 and is a member of the OECD.
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Switzerland
Switzerland (German: die Schweiz[ˈʃvaɪts]; French: Suisse [sɥis(ə)]; Italian: Svizzera [ˈzvit͡sːɛra]; Romansh: Svizra [ˈʒviːtsrɐ] or [ˈʒviːtsʁːɐ]), in its full name the Swiss Confederation (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica, hence its abbreviation CH), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western Europe, where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.
Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2 (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8 million people is concentrated mostly on the Plateau, where the largest cities are to be found. Among them are the two global cities and economic centres of Zurich and Geneva.
The Swiss Confederation has a long history of armed neutrality—it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815—and did not join the United Nations until 2002. It pursues, however, an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. Switzerland is also the birthplace of the Red Cross and home to a large number of international organizations, including the second largest UN office. On the European level, it is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association and is part of the Schengen Area – although it is notably not a member of the European Union, nor the European Economic Area.
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Sydney
Sydney ( /sɪdni/) is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is classified as an Alpha+ World City indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world.
Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people. Inhabitants of Sydney are called Sydneysiders, comprising a cosmopolitan and international population.
The site of the first British colony in Australia, Sydney was established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, commodore of the First Fleet as a penal colony. The city is built on hills surrounding Port Jackson which is commonly known as Sydney Harbour, where the iconic Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge feature prominently. The hinterland of the metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and the coastal regions feature many bays, rivers, inlets and beaches including the famous Bondi Beach and Manly Beach. Within the city are many notable parks, including Hyde Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens.
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Tallinn
Tallinn (/ˈtɑːlɪn/ or /ˈtælɪn/,Estonian pronunciation: [ˈtɑlʲˑinˑ]) is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of 159.2 km2 (61.5 sq mi) with a population of 416,470. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, 80 km (50 mi) south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is ranked as a global city and has been listed among the top 10 digital cities in the world. The city was a European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with Turku, Finland.
Tallinn is the oldest capital[clarification needed] in Northern Europe. The city was known as Reval from the 13th century until the 1920s.
In 1154 a town called Qlwn or Qalaven (possible derivations of Kalevan or Kolyvan) was put on the world map of the Almoravid by the Muslim cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi, who described it as a small town like a large castle among the towns of Astlanda. It has been suggested that the Quwri in Astlanda may have denoted the predecessor town of today's Tallinn.
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Tarquinia
Tarquinia, formerly Corneto and in Antiquity Tarquinii, is an ancient city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Italy.
Tarquinii (Etruscan Tarch(u)na etc.[citation needed]) is said to have been already a flourishing city when Demaratus of Corinth brought in Greek workmen. It was the chief of the twelve cities of Etruria.
Descendants of Demaratus, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus became kings of ancient Rome. From Tarquinii many of the religious rites and ceremonies of Rome are said to have been derived, and even in imperial times a collegium of sixty haruspices continued to exist there.
In 509 BC, after the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the family of Tarquinius Superbus went into exile in Caere in Etruria. Tarquin sought to regain the throne, at first by the Tarquinian conspiracy and, when that failed, by force of arms. He convinced the cities of Tarquinii and Veii to support him, and led their armies against Rome in the Battle of Silva Arsia. Although the Roman army was victorious, it is recorded by Livy that the forces of Tarquinii fought well on the right wing, initially pushing back the Roman left wing. After the battle the forces of Tarquinii returned home.
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Tbilisi
Tbilisi (Georgian: თბილისი [tʰb̥ilisi] ( listen)) is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi (ტფილისი) and it was officially known as Tpilisi (in Georgian) or Tiflis (in Russian) until 1936. The city covers an area of 726 km2 (280 sq mi) and has 1,480,000 inhabitants.
Founded in the 5th century by Vakhtang Gorgasali, the monarch of Georgia's precursor Kingdom of Iberia, Tbilisi has served, with various intervals, as Georgia's capital for nearly 1500 years and represents a significant industrial, social, and cultural center of the country. Located near the southeastern edge of Europe, Tbilisi's proximity to lucrative east-west trade routes often made the city a point of contention between various rival empires throughout history and the city's location to this day ensures its position as an important transit route for global energy and trade projects. Tbilisi's varied history is reflected in its architecture, which is a mix of medieval, classical, and Soviet structures.
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Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv, officially Tel Aviv-Yafo (Hebrew: תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ; Arabic: تل أبيب), is the second most populous city in Israel. It has a population of 404,400 within city limits, on a land area of 52 km2 (20 sq mi). The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in central-west Israel. In 2010, it was the largest and most populous city in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area of 3,325,700 residents, known as Gush Dan. The city is governed by the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality, headed by Ron Huldai. Residents of Tel Aviv are referred to as Tel Avivim.
Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 by the Jewish Community of Jaffa (Hebrew: יָפוֹ Yafo; Arabic: يافا Yāfā), on the outskirts of the ancient port city. The growth of Tel Aviv soon outpaced Jaffa, which had a majority Arab population at the time. Tel Aviv and Jaffa were merged into a single municipality in 1950, two years after the establishment of the State of Israel. Tel Aviv's White City, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, comprises the world's largest concentration of Bauhaus buildings.
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Temple of Portunus
The Temple of Portunus (Italian: Tempio di Portuno) is an ancient building in Rome, Italy, the main temple dedicated to the god Portunus in the city. It is in the Ionic order and is still more familiar by its erroneous designation, the Temple of Fortuna Virilis ("manly fortune") given it by antiquaries. Located in the ancient Forum Boarium by the Tiber, during Antiquity the site overlooked the Port Tiberinus at a sharp bend in the river; from here, Portunus watched over cattle-barges as they entered the city from Ostia.
The temple was probably built in the second century BC and restored in the 1st century BC.[clarification needed] The rectangular building consists of a tetrastyle portico and cella, raised on high podium reached by a flight of steps, which it retains. Like the Maison Carrée in Nîmes, it has a pronaos portico of four Ionic columns across and two columns deep. The columns of the portico are free-standing, while the five columns on the long sides and the four columns at the rear are engaged along the walls of the cella. This form is sometimes called pseudoperipteral, as distinct from a true peripteral temple like the Parthenon entirely surrounded by free-standing columns. It is built of tuff and travertine with a stucco surface.
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Temple of Saturn
Coordinates: 41°53′33.07″N 12°29′3.06″E / 41.8925194°N 12.4841833°E / 41.8925194; 12.4841833
The Temple of Saturn (Latin: Templum Saturni or Aedes Saturnus, Italian: Tempio di Saturno) is a temple to the god Saturn in ancient Rome. The original dedication of a temple to Saturn was traditionally dated to 497 BC, but ancient writers disagreed greatly about the history of this site. The ruins of the temple stand at the foot of the Capitoline Hill in the western end of the Forum Romanum.
Gradual collapse has left nothing but the remains of the front portico standing. The partially preserved pediment displays the inscription Senatus Populusque Romanus incendio consumptum restituit, meaning "The Senate and People of Rome have restored what fire consumed". The pediment and eight surviving columns represent one of the iconic images of Rome's ancient architectural heritage.
The location of the temple is connected to the much older Altar of Saturn, which tradition associates with the god himself founding a settlement on the Capitoline Hill. Construction of the temple is thought to have begun in the later years of the Roman Kingdom under Tarquinius Superbus. Its inauguration by the Consul Titus Lartius took place in the early years of the Republic. The temple was completely reconstructed by Munatius Plancus in 42 BC.
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Temple of Vesta
Coordinates: 41°53′30″N 12°29′11″E / 41.891664°N 12.486262°E / 41.891664; 12.486262
The Temple of Vesta (Latin Aedes Vestae, Italian Tempio di Vesta) is an ancient edifice in Rome, Italy, located in the Roman Forum near the Regia and the House of the Vestal Virgins. The temple's most recognizable feature is its circular footprint. Since the worship of Vesta began in private homes, the architecture seems to be a reminder of its history. The extant temple used Greek architecture with Corinthian columns, marble, and a central cella. The remaining structure indicates that there were twenty Corinthian columns built on a podium fifteen metres in diameter. The roof probably had a vent at the apex to allow smoke release.
All temples to Vesta were round, and had entrances facing east to symbolize connection between Vesta’s fire and the sun as sources of life. The Temple of Vesta represents the site of ancient cult activity as far back as 7th century BCE. Numa Pompilius is believed to have built this temple along with the original Regia and House of the Vestal Virgins in its original form.
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Testaccio
Testaccio is the 20th rione of Rome, deriving its name from Monte Testaccio. In antiquity, much of the Tiber River trade took place here, and the remains of broken clay vessels (amphorae) were stacked creating the artificial Testaccio hill, which today is a source of much archeological evidence as to the history of ancient everyday Roman life. The rione seal depicts one of these amphorae. In modern times, Testaccio has been a center of activity for butchers and has many nightclubs. The neighborhood is currently gentrifying.
Coordinates: 41°52′34″N 12°28′30″E / 41.87611°N 12.475°E / 41.87611; 12.475
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Theatre of Marcellus
The Theatre of Marcellus (Latin: Theatrum Marcelli, Italian: Teatro di Marcello) is an ancient open-air theatre in Rome, Italy, built in the closing years of the Roman Republic. At the theatre, locals and visitors alike were able to watch performances of drama and song. Today its ancient edifice in the rione of Sant'Angelo, Rome, once again provides one of the city's many popular spectacles or tourist sites. It was named after Marcus Marcellus, Emperor Augustus's nephew, who died five years before its completion. Space for the theatre was cleared by Julius Caesar, who was murdered before it could be begun; the theatre was so far advanced by 17 BC that part of the celebration of the ludi saeculares took place within the theatre; it was completed in 13 BC and formally inaugurated in 12 BC by Augustus.
The theatre was 111 m in diameter; it could originally hold 11,000 spectators. It was an impressive example of what was to become one of the most pervasive urban architectural forms of the Roman world. The theatre was built mainly of tuff, and concrete faced with stones in the pattern known as opus reticulatum, completely sheathed in white travertine. The network of arches, corridors, tunnels and ramps that gave access to the interiors of such Roman theaters were normally ornamented with a screen of engaged columns in Greek orders: Doric at the base, Ionic in the middle. It is believed that Corinthian columns were used for the upper level but this is uncertain as the theater was reconstructed in the Middle Ages, removing the top tier of seating and the columns.
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Theatre of Pompey
The Theatre of Pompey (Latin: Theatrum Pompeium, Italian: Teatro di Pompeo) was a structure in Ancient Rome built during the later part of the Roman Republican era. It was completed in seven years, starting from 55 BC, and was dedicated early in 52 BC before the structure was fully completed. It was one of the first permanent (non-wooden) theatres in Rome. The building itself was a part of a multi-use complex that included a large quadriporticus directly behind the Scaenae frons. Inclosed by the large columned porticos was an expansive garden complex of fountains and statues. Along the stretch of covered arcade were rooms dedicated to the exposition of art and other works collected by Pompey Magnus during his campaigns.
On the opposite end of the garden complex was a curia for political meetings. The senate would often use this building along with a number of temples and halls that satisfied the requirements for their formal meetings. This is infamous as the place of Julius Caesar's murder by the Liberatores of the Roman Senate and elite.
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Tiber Island
The Tiber Island (Italian: Isola Tiberina, Latin: Insula Tiberina), is a boat-shaped island which has long been associated with healing. It is an ait, and is one of the two islands in the Tiber river, which runs through Rome; the other one, much larger, is near the mouth. The island is located in the southern bend of the Tiber. It is approximately 270 m. long and 67 m. wide.
The island has been linked to the rest of Rome by two bridges since antiquity, and was once called Insula Inter-Duos-Pontes which means "the island between the two bridges". The Ponte Fabricio, the only original bridge in Rome, connects the island from the northeast to the Field of Mars in the rione Sant'Angelo (left bank). The Ponte Cestio, of which only some original parts survived, connects the island to Trastevere on the south (right bank).
There is a legend which says that after the fall of the hated tyrant Tarquinius Superbus (510 BC), the angry Romans threw his body into the Tiber. His body then settled onto the bottom where dirt and silt accumulated around it and eventually formed Tiber Island. Another version of the legend says that the people gathered up the wheat and grain of their despised ruler and threw it into the Tiber, where it eventually became the foundation of the island.
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Tinetto
Tinetto is an Italian island situated in the Ligurian Sea. It is part of an archipelago of three closely spaced islands jutting out south from the mainland at Portovenere. In 1997, the archipelago, together with Portovenere and the Cinque Terre, was designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
A subspecies of the common wall lizard, Podarcis muralis tinettoi, is endemic to the island.
Coordinates: 44°01′24.63″N 9°51′04.55″E / 44.0235083°N 9.8512639°E / 44.0235083; 9.8512639
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Tirana
Tiranai/tɨˈrɑːnə/ (indefinite form in Albanian: Tiranë, in the region sub-dialect of Gheg Albanian: Tirona) is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of 400,000 , with metro area population of 763,634 . The city is host to public institutions and private universities, and is the center of the political, economical, and cultural life of the country.
The Municipality of Tirana is located at (41.33°N, 19.82°E) in Tirana District, Tirana County on the river Ishëm, about 32 kilometers (20 mi) inland. Tirana's average altitude is 110 meters (360 ft) above sea level and its highest point measures 1,828 m (5,997.38 ft) at Mali me Gropa. The city is mostly surrounded by hills, with Dajti Mountain on the East and a slight valley opening on the North-West overlooking the Adriatic Sea in the distance. The Tiranë river also runs through the city, whereas the Lanë river is a brook. The city borders the surrounding municipalities of Paskuqan, Dajt, Farkë, Vaqarr, Kashar, and Kamëz. It also contains a total of four artificial lakes: the Tirana Artificial Lake around which was built the Big Park, Paskuqani Lake, Farka Lake, and Tufina Lake. Tirana is on the same parallel as Naples, Madrid, Istanbul, and New York, and on the same meridian as Budapest and Kraków.
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Tiraspol
Tiraspol ( /tɪˈræspəl/, Romanian pronunciation: [tiˈraspol]; Russian and Ukrainian: Тирасполь) is the second largest city in Moldova and is the capital and administrative centre of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria). The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River. Tiraspol is a regional hub of light industry, such as furniture and electrical goods production.
The modern city of Tiraspol was founded by the Russian generalissimo Alexander Suvorov in 1792, although the area had been inhabited for thousands of years by varying ethnic groups. The city celebrates its anniversary every year on October 14.
The toponym consists of two words: Τύρας, Tyras — the ancient Greek name for the Dniester River, and polis, i.e., a city.[citation needed]
Tyras, also spelled Tiras, was a colony of the Greek city Miletus, probably founded about 600 BCE, situated some 10 km. from the mouth of the Tiras River (Dniester). Of no great importance in early times in the 2nd century BCE, it fell under the dominion of indigenous kings whose names appear on its coins. It was destroyed by the Getae about 50 BCE.
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Tokyo
Tokyo (東京, Tōkyō?, "Eastern Capital") [toːkʲoː], English /ˈtoʊki.oʊ/; officially Tokyo Metropolis (東京都, Tōkyō-to?), is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of the world. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family. Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture (東京府, Tōkyō-fu?) and the city of Tokyo (東京市, Tōkyō-shi?).
The Tokyo Metropolitan government administers the 23 special wards of Tokyo (each governed as a city), which cover the area that was the city of Tokyo, as well as 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains. The population of the special wards is over 8 million people, with the total population of the prefecture exceeding 13 million. The prefecture is part of the world's most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 35 million people and the world's largest urban agglomeration economy with a GDP of US$1.479 trillion at purchasing power parity in 2008, ahead of New York City metropolitan area, which ranks second on the list. The city hosts 47 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest amount of any city.
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Tolfa
Tolfa is a town and comune of the province of Rome, in the Lazio region of central Italy; it lies to the ENE of Civitavecchia by road.
It is the main center in the Monti della Tolfa, an extinct volcanic group between Civitavecchia and the Lake of Bracciano.
A beautiful town of medieval origin in the orbit of Viterbo, it was assumed into the Papal States and granted first to the Capocci family, and then to the Roman nobles Ludovico and Pietro Frangipani who walled the community. Tolfa achieved sudden importance following the discovery there in 1461 of large deposits of alunite, the source of alum, with the result that direct control was assumed, after some confrontations with the Frangipani, by the Camera Apostolica. Alum was an essential mordant in the textile industry, which was central to the Late Medieval and Early Modern Italian economy. Previously, the only supplies of alum were imported from the East, from sources controlled by the Ottoman Turks, through Venice, which profited greatly. Suddenly, the monopoly of alum shifted to the Papacy, which controlled Tolfa; Pope Pius II placed its distribution solely in the hands of the Medici, with the explicit thought that the income from this monopoly should be devoted to the Christian res publica as the infidel Turk, elated by his victories, threatened to devour Christendom. Later the monopoly in extraction of alum at Tolfa passed as a papal gift to Agostino Chigi.
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Toronto
Toronto (/təˈrɒntoʊ/, colloquially /ˈtrɒnoʊ/) is the largest city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from the Mississaugas of the New Credit. The settlement was later established as the Town of York and proclaimed as the new capital of Upper Canada by its lieutenant-governor, John Graves Simcoe. In 1834, York was incorporated as a city and renamed to its present name. The city was ransacked in the Battle of York during the War of 1812 and damaged in two great fires in 1849 and in 1904. Since its incorporation, Toronto has repeatedly expanded its borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities, most recently in 1998.
With over 2.6 million residents, it is the fifth most populous city in North America. Its metropolitan area has over 5.5 million residents. Toronto is at the heart of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and is part of a densely populated region in Southern Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe, which has a population of nearly 9 million people as of 2011. The census metropolitan area (CMA) had a population of 5,583,064, and the Greater Toronto Area had a population of 6,054,191 in the 2011 Census. Its cosmopolitan and international population reflects its role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada. Toronto is one of the world's most diverse cities by percentage of non-native-born residents, with about 49% of the population born outside Canada. Toronto is also consistently rated as one of the world's most livable cities by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Mercer Quality of Living Survey.
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Torre Annunziata
Torre Annunziata is a city and comune in the province of Naples, region of Campania in Italy. It is located on the Gulf of Naples at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius.
The city was destroyed in the Vesuvius eruption of 79 AD and in 1631. It is known locally in the Neapolitan dialect as Torre Nunziata. The city was once the seat of important ironwork (Deriver, Dalmine) food processing and pasta industries. Today industries still active include naval, armament and pharmaceutical ones.
The archaeological site of Oplonti is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997.
On the Tabula Peutingeriana Torre Annunziata is called Oplonti.
In the communal territory, one of the richest Roman villas has been excavated. Dating to the 1st century BC, it probably belonged to the gens Poppaea, and is known as Villa Poppaea.
Although a comparatively small town, essentially a suburb of Naples, Torre Annunziata has its own unique dialect, a variation of Neapolitan, quite distinct, particularly in pronunciation, which is known as Torrese.
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Torre dei Conti
The Torre dei Conti is a medieval tower in Rome, Italy, located near the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.
It was built in 1238 by Pope Innocent III as a fortified residence for his family, the Conti di Segni, over one of the four apses of the Forum of Nerva's portico. Currently standing at 29 m, it was once 50–60 m tall, and gained the nickname of Torre Maggiore (Major Tower) for its size. The upper floors were destroyed by a series of earthquakes. It was abandoned starting until 1620, when it was rebuilt by the Papal Chamber.
Coordinates: 41°53′37″N 12°29′17″E / 41.89361°N 12.48806°E / 41.89361; 12.48806
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Torre delle Milizie
Coordinates: 41°53′45.35″N 12°29′11.90″E / 41.8959306°N 12.486639°E / 41.8959306; 12.486639
The Torre delle Milizie ("Tower of the Militia") is a tower in Rome, Italy, annexed to the Trajan's Market in the Imperial fora.
One of the main medieval monuments of the city, the tower is on a square plan, its base sides measure 10.5 × 9.5 m, and it currently stands at almost 50 meters. The earthquake of 1348 caused both the crumbling of an upper floor and the slightly tilting of the structure. In origin it belonged to a series of fortified edifices grouped around a court, in which the tower was located.
It gained the popular nickname of "Nero's Tower" from a tradition that it originated as a Roman construction from which Emperor Nero watched the fire of Rome – this is derived from the classical account that he watched from a tower in the Gardens of Maecenas, though more trustworthy accounts place him out of town, at Antium at the time. Its actual construction probably dates to the time of Pope Innocent III (1198–1216).
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Torrita Tiberina
Torrita Tiberina is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 40 km north of Rome. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,010 and an area of 10.8 km².
Torrita Tiberina borders the following municipalities: Filacciano, Montopoli di Sabina, Nazzano, Poggio Mirteto.
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Transnistria
Transnistria (also called "Trans-Dniestr" or "Transdniestria") is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine. Since its declaration of independence in 1990, and especially after the War of Transnistria in 1992, it is governed as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, also known as "Pridnestrovie"), a state with limited recognition which claims the territory to the east of the river Dniester, the city of Bender and its surrounding localities located on the west bank. The Republic of Moldova does not recognize the secession and considers the territories controlled by the PMR to be part of Moldova's autonomous region of Stînga Nistrului ("Left Bank of the Dniester").
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Trastevere
Trastevere is rione XIII of Rome, on the west bank of the Tiber, south of Vatican City. Its name comes from the Latin trans Tiberim, meaning literally "beyond the Tiber". The correct pronunciation is "tras-TEH-ve-ray", with the accent on the second syllable. Its logo is a golden head of a lion on a red background, the meaning of which is uncertain. To the north, Trastevere borders on to the XIV rione, Borgo.
In Rome's Regal period (753-509 BC), the area across the Tiber belonged to the hostile Etruscans: the Romans named it Ripa Etrusca (Etruscan bank). Rome conquered it to gain control of and access to the river from both banks, but was not interested in building on that side of the river. In fact, the only connection between Trastevere and the rest of the city was a small wooden bridge called the Pons Sublicius (Latin: "bridge built on wooden piles").
By the time of the Republic c. 509 BC, the number of sailors and fishermen making a living from the river had increased, and many had taken up residence in Trastevere. Immigrants from the East also settled there, mainly Jews and Syrians. The area began to be considered part of the city under Augustus, who divided Rome into 14 regions (regiones in Latin); modern Trastevere was the XIV and was called Trans Tiberim.
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Trento
Trento listen (help·info) (traditional English: Trent; Italian: Trento, pronounced [ˈtrɛnto] or [ˈtrento][citation needed]; local dialects: Trènt; German: Trient) is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino. In the 16th century the city was the location of the Council of Trent.
Trento is a major educational, scientific, financial and political centre in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Northern Italy in general. The University of Trento ranks highly out of Italy's top 30 colleges, coming 1st in the Italian Ministry of Education ranking, 1st in Engineering area according to Censis-La Repubblica ranking and 5th in the Il Sole 24 Ore ranking of Italian universities, and amongst the 500 best in the world according to the Times Higher Education, coming 252nd. The city contains a picturesque Medieval and Renaissance historic centre, with ancient buildings such as Trento Cathedral and the Castello del Buonconsiglio.
Modern-day Trento is a cosmopolitan city, with highly-developed and organized modern social services.[citation needed] The city often ranks extremely highly out of all 103 Italian cities for quality of life, standard of living, and business and job opportunities, coming 1st, 6th and 2nd respectively. Trento is also one of the nation's wealthiest and most prosperous, with its province being one of the richest in Italy, although poorer than its neighbours Lombardy and South Tyrol, with a GDP per capita of €29,500 and a GDP (nominal) of €14.878 billion.
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Trevi Fountain
The Trevi Fountain is a fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy. Standing 26 metres (85.3 feet) high and 20 metres (65.6 feet) wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world.
The fountain at the junction of three roads (tre vie) marks the terminal point of the "modern" Acqua Vergine, the revived Aqua Virgo, one of the ancient aqueducts that supplied water to ancient Rome. In 19 BC, supposedly with the help of a virgin, Roman technicians located a source of pure water some 13 km (8.1 mi) from the city. (This scene is presented on the present fountain's façade.) However, the eventual indirect route of the aqueduct made its length some 22 km (14 mi). This Aqua Virgo led the water into the Baths of Agrippa. It served Rome for more than four hundred years. The coup de grâce for the urban life of late classical Rome came when the Goth besiegers in 537/38 broke the aqueducts. Medieval Romans were reduced to drawing water from polluted wells and the Tiber River, which was also used as a sewer.
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Trevignano Romano
Trevignano Romano is a small town and comune near Rome. It has a population of about 5,000. Trevignano is on Lake Bracciano. It is about 47 km away from Rome.
The Castle, erected around 1200 by order of Pope Innocent III, and later reinforced by the Orsini. It had once three line of massive walls, but the siege of Cesare Borgia in 1497 and subsequent earthquakes have reduced the structures in poor state.
It was also the country home of Professor Ernest Nash. It's also a "sailing" town: many clubs offer many possibilities of training.
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Trieste
Trieste (/triːˈɛst/;Italian pronunciation: [triˈɛste] listen (help·info); Slovene: Trst, German: Triest) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city. Trieste is located at the head of the Gulf of Trieste and throughout history it has been influenced by its location at the crossroads of Germanic, Latin and Slavic cultures. In 2009, it had a population of about 205,000 and it is the capital of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trieste province.
Trieste was one of the oldest parts of the Habsburg Monarchy from 1382 until 1918. In the 19th century, it was the most important port of one of the Great Powers of Europe. As a prosperous seaport in the Mediterranean region, Trieste became the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (after Vienna, Budapest, and Prague). In the fin-de-siecle period, it emerged as an important hub for literature and music. However, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Trieste's union to Italy after World War I led to some decline of its "Mittel-European" cultural and commercial importance. Enjoying an economic revival during the 1930s and throughout the Cold War, Trieste was an important spot in the struggle between the Eastern and Western blocs. Today, the city is in one of the richest regions of Italy, and has been a great centre for shipping, through its port (Port of Trieste), shipbuilding and financial services.
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Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali (also spelled Cchinvali or Cxinvali; Georgian: ცხინვალი [t͡sxinvali]; Ossetic: Цхинвал or Чъреба listen (help·info), Tskhinval or Ch'reba; Russian: Цхинвал(и)), is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region which has been recognised as an independent Republic by Russia and another four UN members, and is regarded by Georgia and all other UN member states de jure as a region within Georgian sovereign territory.
It is located on the Great Liakhvi River approximately 100 km (62 mi) northwest of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
The name of Tskhinvali is derived from the Georgian Krtskhinvali (Georgian: ქრცხინვალი), literally meaning "the land of hornbeams", which is the historical name of the city. From 1934 to 1961, the city was named Staliniri (Georgian: სტალინირი), after Joseph Stalin. Modern Ossetians call the city Tskhinval (leaving off the final "i", which is a nominative case ending in Georgian); the other Ossetian (unofficial) name of the city is Chreba.
The area around the present-day Tskhinvali was first populated back in the Bronze Age. The unearthed settlements and archaeological artifacts from that time are unique in that they reflect influences from both Iberian (east Georgia) and Colchian (west Georgia) cultures with possible Sarmatian elements.
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Tunis
Tunis (Arabic: تونس Tūnis) is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants.
Situated on a large Mediterranean Sea gulf (the Gulf of Tunis), behind the Lake of Tunis and the port of La Goulette (Halq al Wadi), the city extends along the coastal plain and the hills that surround it. At the centre of more modern development (from the colonial era and later) lies the old medina. Beyond this district lie the suburbs of Carthage, La Marsa, and Sidi Bou Said.
The medina is found at the centre of the city: a dense agglomeration of alleys and covered passages, full of intense scents and colours, boisterous and active trade, and a surfeit of goods on offer ranging from leather to plastic, tin to the finest filigree, tourist souvenirs to the works of tiny crafts shops.
Just through the Sea Gate (also known as the Bab el Bahr and the Porte de France) begins the modern city, or Ville Nouvelle, transversed by the grand Avenue Habib Bourguiba (often referred to by popular press and travel guides as "the Tunisian Champs-Élysées"), where the colonial-era buildings provide a clear contrast to smaller, older structures. As the capital city of the country, Tunis is the focus of Tunisian political and administrative life; it is also the centre of the country's commercial activity. The expansion of the Tunisian economy in recent decades is reflected in the booming development of the outer city where one can see clearly the social challenges brought about by rapid modernization in 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.
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Turkey
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.
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Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea (Corsican: Mari Tirrenu, French: Mer Tyrrhénienne, Italian: Mare Tirreno, Neapolitan: Mar Tirreno, Sardinian: Mare Tirrenu, Sicilian: Mari Tirrenu, Latin: Mare Tyrrhenum) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.
The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia (to the west), Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria (to the east) and Sicily (to the south).
The maximum depth of the sea is 3,785 metres (12,418 ft).
The Tyrrhenian Sea is situated near where the African and European Plates meet; therefore mountain chains and active volcanoes such as Mount Marsili are found in its depths. The eight Aeolian Islands and Ustica are located in the southern part of the sea, north of Sicily.
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Tyrrhenian Sea as follows:
There are four exits from the Tyrrhenian Sea (north to south):
The Tyrrhenian Sea is divided into two basins (or plains), the Vavilov plain and the Marsili plain. They are separated by the undersea ridge known as the Issel Bridge, after Arturo Issel.[dead link]
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Tórshavn
Tórshavn (IPA: [ˈtʰɔuʂhaun]; Danish: Thorshavn) is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the north west of the town lies the 347-metre (1,138 ft) high mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the 350-metre (1,150 ft) high Kirkjubøreyn. The city proper has a population of 13,000 (2008), and the greater urban area a population of 19,000.
The Vikings established their parliament on the Tinganes peninsula in 850 CE, thus Tórshavn was made capital of Faroe Islands and has remained so ever since. All through the Middle Ages the narrow peninsula jutting out into the sea made up the main part of Tórshavn. Sources do not mention a built-up area in Tórshavn until after the Protestant Reformation in 1539. Early on, Tórshavn became the center of the monopoly trade, thereby being the only legal place for the islanders to sell and buy goods. In 1856, the trade monopoly was abolished and the islands were left open to free trade. The town has grown rapidly ever since the turn of the 20th century into the undisputed administrative, economic and cultural center of the Faroes.
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Ukraine
Ukraine (i/juːˈkreɪn/ yew-KRAYN; Ukrainian: Україна, transliterated: Ukrayina, [ukrɑˈjinɑ]; Russian: Украина; Crimean Tatar: Ukraina) is a country in Central and Eastern Europe. Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after the Russian Federation.
According to a popular and well established theory, the medieval state of Kievan Rus was established by the Varangians in the 9th century as the first historically recorded East Slavic state which emerged as a powerful nation in the Middle Ages until it disintegrated in the 12th century. By the middle of the 14th century, Ukrainian territories were under the rule of three external powers—the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Kingdom of Poland. After the Great Northern War (1700–1721) Ukraine was divided between a number of regional powers and, by the 19th century, the largest part of Ukraine was integrated into the Russian Empire with the rest under Austro-Hungarian control. A chaotic period of incessant warfare ensued, with several internationally recognized attempts at independence from 1917 to 1921, following World War I and the Russian Civil War. Ukraine emerged from its own civil war, and on December 30, 1922 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic became one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian SSR's territory was enlarged westward during the civil war shortly before, and after World War II, and further south in 1954 with the Crimea transfer. In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of the United Nations.
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.
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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.
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Urbino
Urbino listen (help·info) is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482. The town, nestled on a high sloping hillside, retains much of its picturesque medieval aspect, only slightly marred by the large car parks below the town. It hosts the University of Urbino, founded in 1506, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Urbino. Its best-known architectural piece is the Palazzo Ducale, rebuilt by Luciano Laurana.
The modest Roman town of Urvinum Mataurense ("the little city on the river Mataurus") became an important strategic stronghold in the Gothic Wars of the 6th century, captured in 538 from the Ostrogoths by the Byzantine general Belisarius, and frequently mentioned by the historian Procopius.
Though Pippin presented Urbino to the Papacy, independent traditions were expressed in its commune, until, around 1200, it came into the possession of the House of Montefeltro. Although these noblemen had no direct authority over the commune, they could pressure it to elect them to the position of podestà, a title that Bonconte di Montefeltro managed to obtain in 1213, with the result that Urbino's population rebelled and formed an alliance with the independent commune of Rimini (1228), finally regaining control of the town in 1234. Eventually, though, the Montefeltro noblemen took control once more, and held it until 1508. In the struggles between the Guelphs and Ghibellines where factions supported either the Papacy or the Holy Roman Empire, the 13th and 14th century Montefeltro lords of Urbino were leaders of the Ghibellines of the Marche and in the Romagna region.
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Vaduz
Vaduz (German pronunciation: [faˈduːts] or [faˈdʊts]) is the capital of the principality of Liechtenstein and the seat of the national parliament. The town, located along the Rhine, has about 5,100 inhabitants (as of 2009[update]), most of whom are Roman Catholic. Its cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vaduz.
Although Vaduz is the best-known town internationally in the principality, it is not the largest: neighbouring Schaan has a larger population.
Vaduz is said to be mentioned in historic 12th-century manuscripts as Farduzes. It is, however, commonly believed to have been founded circa 1322 by the Counts of Werdenberg. In 1322 a mention of the castle is made, which was sacked by the Swiss in 1499 during the Swabian War. The entire town was also destroyed.
In the 17th century the Liechtenstein family was seeking a seat in the Imperial diet, the Reichstag. However, since they did not hold any territory that was directly under the Imperial throne, they were unable to meet the primary requirement to qualify.
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Val di Noto
Val di Noto (English: Province of Noto) is a geographical area of south east Sicily; it is dominated by the limestone Iblean plateau.
The Val di Noto owes its fame to the reconstruction which underwent after the year 1693, when the entire area was decimated by an enormous earthquake. Following the earthquake, many towns were rebuilt on entirely new sites, such as Noto and Grammichele. The rulers of the time, the kings of Spain, accounted the nobleman Giuseppe Lanza with special powers, which allowed him to redesign the damaged towns based on rational and scenographic town plans.
In fact, since the beginning of the Renaissance, architects had the dream to build an entirely new ideal city, where town planning follows rational design and streets and buildings are organized by functionality and beauty. However, only a very small part of their projects were really used, and most of them were limited to the reorganization of a street, like the Strada Nuova in Florence or the redesign of small villages, like the town of Pienza.
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Valle dei Templi
The Valle dei Templi (English: Valley of the Temples, Sicilian: Vaddi di li Tempri) is an archaeological site in Agrigento (ancient Greek Akragas), Sicily, southern Italy. It is one of the most outstanding examples of Greater Greece art and architecture, and is one of the main attractions of Sicily as well as a national monument of Italy. The area was included in the UNESCO Heritage Site list in 1997. Much of the excavation and restoration of the temples was due to the efforts of archaeologist Domenico Antonio Lo Faso Pietrasanta (1783–1863), who was the Duke of Serradifalco from 1809 through 1812.
The term "valley" is a misnomer, the site being located on a ridge outside the town of Agrigento.
The Valley includes remains of seven temples, all in Doric style. The ascription of the names, apart from that of the Olympeion, are a mere tradition established in Renaissance times. The temples are:
The Valley is also home to the so-called Tomb of Theron, a large tuff monument of pyramidal shape; scholars suppose it was built to commemorate the Romans killed in the Second Punic War.
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Vallepietra
Vallepietra is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 60 km east of Rome, in the Monti Simbruini area.
Vallepietra borders the following municipalities: Camerata Nuova, Cappadocia, Filettino, Jenne, Subiaco, Trevi nel Lazio.
Sanctuary of the Santissima Trinità, probably a rock settlement from the Neolithic era, and later a place of popular adoration connected to the Benedictine abbeys in Subiaco. It is still today the end of pilgrimages, often led by feet. The object of the popular adoration is a fresco portraying the Trinity, dating probably from the 12th century, and which has strong Byzantine influences.
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Valletta
Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt (English: The City) in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,966. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's principal administrative district. However, Valletta, like many historical city centres, forms part of a larger continuous urban agglomeration; this is often referred to as "Greater Valletta."
Valletta contains buildings from the 16th century onwards, built during the rule of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, also known as Knights Hospitaller. The city is essentially Baroque in character, with elements of Mannerist, Neo-Classical and Modern architecture in selected areas, though World War II left major scars on the city. The City of Valletta was officially recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980.
The city is named for Jean Parisot de la Valette, who succeeded in defending the island from an Ottoman invasion in 1565. The official name given by the Order of Saint John was Humilissima Civitas Valletta — The Most Humble City of Valletta, or Città Umilissima in Italian. The bastions, curtains and ravelins along with the beauty of its Baroque palaces, gardens and churches, led the ruling houses of Europe to give the city its nickname Superbissima — 'Most Proud'.
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Vallinfreda
Vallinfreda is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 45 km northeast of Rome.
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Vallo di Diano
The Vallo di Diano (also known as Valdiano) is an italian valley of the south-eastern side of Campania, in the Province of Salerno.
Situated between the Alburni mountains and the borders of Campania with Basilicata, it is considered a geographical subregion of Cilento and is part of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, World Heritage Site of Italy from 1998. The greatest forestal park, mainly located in cilentan side, is Pruno.
The area is composed by 17 municipalities, and the greatest one is Sala Consilina, with c/a 15,000 inhabitants. The others are Atena Lucana, Auletta, Buonabitacolo, Caggiano, Casalbuono, Monte San Giacomo, Montesano sulla Marcellana, Padula, Pertosa, Polla, San Pietro al Tanagro, Sant'Arsenio, San Rufo, Sanza, Sassano and Teggiano.
The valley is served by the A3 motorway Naples-Reggio Calabria, with the exits of Petina , Polla, Atena Lucana, Sala Consilina and Padula-Buonabitacolo. From this last exit it departs a speedway to Policastro Bussentino and Sapri with exits in Buonabitacolo and Sanza.
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Valmontone
Valmontone is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 45 km southeast of Rome.
The historic part of the town is situated on a tuffaceous hill, 303 meters over the sea level, part of a morphological system of valleys and low relieves, known as Alta Valle del Sacco (High Valley of Sacco River). The underground is rich of water and this causes the presence of many natural springs: for this reason the landscape is covered by forests and farmlands.
To preserve this water system, in Valmontone exists the C.E.R.I., a center for the prevention and control of hydro-geological risks.
The origins of Valmontone are uncertain: it seems that a village was founded before the rise of Rome on a hill in the modern municipality of the town, and its ruins were visible until the 18th century. Perhaps these are the remains of the ancient Labicum, which, according to the myth, was founded by Glaucus, Minos’ son: the name of the village derives from a kind of Greek shield. Labicum was in war against Rome, but at last it was defeated and became a Roman castrum, a fortified castle: other testimonies of the Roman period are the post-station Ad Bivium, situated along the road called Via Latina, a village of coal-makers, some furnaces for tiles and vases, a villa and some other remains (two sarcophagus, memorial plates).
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Vancouver
Vancouver (/vænˈkuːvər/) is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. The 2011 census recorded more than 603,000 people in the city, making it the eighth largest among Canadian cities. The metropolitan area, with more than 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country and the most populous in Western Canada. With 5,249 people per square kilometre (13,590 per sq mile), the City of Vancouver is the most densely populated Canadian municipality among those with 5,000 residents or more. Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada, with 52% for whom English is not their first language.
The original settlement, named Gastown, grew around the Hastings Mill logging sawmill and a nearby tavern, both established in 1867. Enlarging to become the townsite of Granville, with the announcement that the railhead would reach the site it was renamed "Vancouver" and incorporated as a city in 1886. By 1887, the transcontinental railway was extended to the city to take advantage of its large natural seaport, which soon became a vital link in a trade route between the Orient, Eastern Canada, and London. As of 2009, Port Metro Vancouver is the busiest and largest port in Canada, and the most diversified port in North America. While forestry remains its largest industry, Vancouver is well known as an urban centre surrounded by nature, making tourism its second-largest industry. Major film production studios in Vancouver and Burnaby have turned Metro Vancouver into the third-largest film production centre in North America after Los Angeles and New York City, earning it the film industry nickname, Hollywood North.
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Vatican City
Vatican Cityi/ˈvætɨkən ˈsɪti/, or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano (pronounced [ˈstaːto della t͡ʃitˈta del vatiˈkaːno]), is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of approximately 44 hectares (110 acres), and a population of just over 800. This makes Vatican City the smallest independent state in the world by both area and population.
Vatican City State was established in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty, signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri, on behalf of Pope Pius XI and by Prime Minister and Head of Government Benito Mussolini on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. Vatican City State is distinct from the Holy See, which dates back to early Christianity and is the main episcopal see of 1.2 billion Latin and Eastern Catholic adherents around the globe. Ordinances of Vatican City are published in Italian; official documents of the Holy See are issued mainly in Latin. The two entities have distinct passports: the Holy See, not being a country, issues only diplomatic and service passports, whereas Vatican City State issues normal passports. In each case very few passports are issued.
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Vatican Library
The Vatican Apostolic Library (Latin: Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly called simply the Vatican Library, is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from throughout history. From July 2007, the library had been temporarily closed to the public for rebuilding, and reopened in September 2010.
Scholars have traditionally divided the history of the library into five periods.
Pope Nicholas V established the library in the Vatican in 1448 by combining some 350 Greek, Latin and Hebrew codices inherited from his predecessors with his own collection and extensive acquisitions, among them manuscripts from the imperial Library of Constantinople. The Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana was established in 1475.
When its first librarian, Bartolomeo Platina, produced a listing in 1481, the library held over 3,500 items, making it by far the largest in the Western world. Around 1587, Pope Sixtus V commissioned the architect Domenico Fontana to construct a new building for the library; it is still in use today. Books were displayed on benches to which they were chained.
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Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums (Italian: Musei Vaticani), in Viale Vaticano in Rome, inside the Vatican City, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries, including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world.
Pope Julius II founded the museums in the early 16th century. The Sistine Chapel and the Stanze della Segnatura decorated by Raphael are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums. They were visited by 4,310,083 people in the year 2007. The Vatican Museums broke attendance records in 2011 with just over 5 million people.
The Vatican Museums trace their origin to one marble sculpture, purchased 500 years ago. The sculpture of Laocoön, the priest who, according to Greek mythology, tried to convince the people of ancient Troy not to accept the Greeks' "gift" of a hollow horse, was discovered 14 January 1506, in a vineyard near the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Pope Julius II sent Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo Buonarroti, who were working at the Vatican, to examine the discovery. On their recommendation, the pope immediately purchased the sculpture from the vineyard owner. The pope put the sculpture of Laocoön and his sons in the grips of a sea serpent on public display at the Vatican exactly one month after its discovery.
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Velletri
Velletri ([velˈleːtri]; Latin Velitrae) is an Italian town of 53,298 inhabitants. It is a comune in the province of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Lazio (Latium) - Italy. It is bounded by other communes of Rocca di Papa, Lariano, Cisterna di Latina, Artena, Aprilia, Nemi, Genzano di Roma, Lanuvio. Its motto is: Est mihi libertas papalis et imperialis.
It was an ancient city of the Volsci tribe, and its status was influential in the time of King Ancus Marcius, enough to be on a par with Rome and has been the site of two historical battles in 1744 and 1849. In the Middle Ages it was one of the few “free cities” in Lazio and central Italy.
Today, Velletri is home to a circuit court and a prison, in addition to several colleges and high schools. It is the terminus of the Rome-Velletri railway, inaugurated by Pius IX in 1863, and the city is one of the centers through which the Via Appia Nuova passes through.
The territory of Velletri stretches between two distinct areas. The northern part is situated on the southern foothills of the Colli Albani range and was geologically formed about 150,000 years ago, after the collapse of the Volcano Laziale caldera. The southern boundary forms around Agro Pontino, whose reclamation started at the time of Pope Pius VI and was accomplished during the regime of Benito Mussolini.
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Venice
Venice (Italian: Venezia [veˈnɛttsja] ( listen), Venetian: Venexia [veˈnɛsja]; (Latin: Venetia) is a city in northeast Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. The city in its entirety is listed as World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.
Venice is the capital of the Veneto region. In 2009, there were 270,098 people residing in Venice's comune (the population estimate of 272,000 inhabitants includes the population of the whole Comune of Venezia; around 60,000 in the historic city of Venice (Centro storico); 176,000 in Terraferma (the Mainland), mostly in the large frazioni of Mestre and Marghera; 31,000 live on other islands in the lagoon). Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE) (population 1,600,000).
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Vernazza
Vernazza is a town and comune located in the province of La Spezia, Liguria, northwestern Italy. It is one of the five towns that make up the Cinque Terre region. Vernazza is the fourth town heading north, has no car traffic and remains one of the truest "fishing villages" on the Italian Riviera.
Vernazza's name is derived from the Latin adjective verna meaning "native" and the aptly named indigenous wine, "vernaccia" ("local" or "ours"), helped give birth to the village's moniker.
First records recognizing Vernazza as a fortified town date back to the year 1080. Referred to as an active maritime base of the Obertenghi, a family of Italian nobility, it was a likely point of departure for naval forces in defence of pirates.
Over the next two centuries Vernazza was vital in Genova's conquest of Liguria, providing port, fleet and soldiers. In 1209, the approximately 90 most powerful families of Vernazza pledged their allegiance to the republic of Genova.
The first documented presence of a Church dates back to 1251, with the parish of San Pietro sited in 1267. Reference to the Church of Santa Margherita d'Antiochia of Vernazza occurs in 1318. Some scholars are of the opinion, due to the use of materials and mode of construction, that the actual creation of the Church of Santa Margherita d'Antiochia took place earlier, sometime in the 12th century. The Church of Santa Margherita d'Antiochia was expanded upon and renovated over the course of the 16th and 17th centuries, and thereafter was erected the octoganal bell tower that rises from the apse.
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Verona
Verona (Italian pronunciation: [veˈroːna] ( listen); Venetian Verona (pron. Veròna); German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of northeast Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km2 (550.58 sq mi) and has a population of 714,274 inhabitants. It is one of the main tourist destinations in northern Italy, owing to its artistic heritage, several annual fairs, shows, and operas, such as the lyrical season in the Arena, the ancient amphitheatre built by the Romans.
The city has been awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture.
The precise details of Verona's early history remain a mystery. The origin of the name Verona is also unknown. One theory is it was a city of the Euganei, who were obliged to give it up to the Cenomani (550 BC). With the conquest of the Vaecame Roman (about 300 BC) Verona became a Roman colonia in 89 BC, and then a municipium in 49 BC; Verona had the franchise in 59.
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Via Condotti
Via Condotti (officially Via dei Condotti) is a busy and fashionable street of Rome, Italy. In Roman times it was one of the streets that crossed the ancient Via Flaminia and enabled people who transversed the Tiber to reach the Pincio hill. It begins at the foot of the Spanish steps and is named after conduits or channels which carried water to the Baths of Agrippa. Today, it is the street which contains the greatest number of Rome-based Italian fashion retailers, equivalent to Milan's Via Montenapoleone, Paris' Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, Florence's Via de' Tornabuoni or London's Bond Street.
Caffé Greco (or Antico Caffé Greco), perhaps the most famous café in Rome was established at Via dei Condotti 84 in 1760, and attracted figures such as Stendhal, Goethe, Byron, Liszt and Keats to have coffee there. Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of radio, lived at Via dei Condotti 11, until his death in 1937.
Being near the Spanish steps, the street is visited by large numbers of tourists. In May 1986, fashion designer Valentino filed suit to close a McDonald's shortly after it opened near the Spanish steps, complaining of "noise and disgusting odours" below his six-story palazzo in the vicinity of Via Condotti. But to the dismay of some Romans, McDonald's overcame the obstacles and is successful.
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Via Veneto
Via Veneto is one of the most famous and expensive streets in Rome, Italy. The official name is via Vittorio Veneto, after the Battle of Vittorio Veneto. Federico Fellini's classic 1960 film La Dolce Vita was mostly centered around the Via Veneto area.
Initially, like other streets in the neighborhood, was dedicated to the Italian region. After the First World War the name was changed to commemorate the Battle of Vittorio Veneto. The street was designed at the end of the nineteenth century. This made the street famous in the 1960s–1970s and turned it into a center due to the cafes and shops along the street. Following a period of stagnation in the 1980s the street has now found a new life. Today some of Rome's best hotels are located there. The Embassy of the United States is located on the street.
Via Veneto is home to the famous Café de Paris and Harry's Bar, immortalised in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, as well known haunts for celebrities in Rome.
The street can be accessed via Line A of the Rome Metro at the Barberini – Fontana di Trevi station.
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Vicenza
Vicenza listen (help·info), a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately 60 km west of Venice and 200 km east of Milan.
Vicenza is a thriving and cosmopolitan city, with a rich history and culture, and many museums, art galleries, piazzas, villas, churches and elegant Renaissance palazzi. With the Palladian Villas of the Veneto in the surrounding area, and his renowned Teatro Olimpico (Olympic Theatre), the "city of Palladio" has been enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994.
As of December 2008, Vicenza had an estimated population of c. 115,927, and a metropolitan area of 270 000. Vicenza is the third-largest Italian industrial centre as measured by the value of its exports, and is one of the country's wealthiest cities. Especially due to its textile and steel industries which employ tens of thousands and about one fifth of the country's gold and jewelry is made in Vicenza, greatly contributing to the city's economy. Another important branch is the engineering/computer components industry (Federico Faggin, the microprocessor's co-inventor was born in Vicenza).
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Vicovaro
Vicovaro (Latin: Varia) is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 45 km northeast of Rome.
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Vienna
Vienna ( /viːˈɛnə/; German: Wien (help·info) [viːn]) is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million (2.4 million within the metropolitan area, more than 25% of Austria's population), and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 9th-largest city by population in the European Union. Until the beginning of the 20th century it was the largest German speaking city in the world, and before the first world war and the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian empire the city had 2 million inhabitants. Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city lies in the east of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region. Along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Villa Ada
Villa Ada is the largest park in Rome, Italy, with a surface of 450 acres/182 hectares. It is located in the northeastern part of the city. Its highest prominence is Monte Antenne, 67 m (220 ft), an ancient archeological site.
The wooded expanse was owned by the Italian royal House of Savoy in the latter half of the nineteenth century; it contained the royal residence (1872–1878). In 1878 the area came under the control of Count Tellfner of Switzerland, who named it in honor of his wife Ada. The royal family regained control of the land in 1904 but did not change the name. They retained control of the area until 1946.
As of 2009 the area contains both public and private areas. The public area is controlled by the Council of Rome; the private area is controlled by the Egyptian Embassy, although the Town Council has made a formal claim to take control of the whole area. The private portion is under constant patrol by police or army personnel.
The public portion of the park is much larger than the private area. It contains an artificial lake and many trees, including stone pines, holm oaks, laurels and a very rare metasequoia, imported from Tibet in 1940. Entrance to the park is free. One may rent canoes, bicycles, or riding horses. There is a large swimming pool.
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Villa Doria Pamphili
The Villa Doria Pamphili is a seventeenth century villa with what is today the largest landscaped public park in Rome, Italy. It is located in the quarter of Monteverde, on the Gianicolo (or the Roman Janiculum), just outside the Porta San Pancrazio in the ancient walls of Rome where the ancient road of the Via Aurelia commences.
It began as a villa for the Pamphili family and when the line died out in the eighteenth century, it passed to Prince Giovanni Andrea IV Doria from which time it has been known as the Villa Doria Pamphili
The nucleus of the villa property, the Villa Vecchia or ‘old villa’ , already existed before 1630, when it was bought by Pamfilio Pamfili, who had married the heiress Olimpia Maidalchini to enjoy as a suburban villa . Thereafter he set about buying up neighbouring vineyards to accumulate a much larger holding, which was often known as the Bel Respiro or 'beautiful breath' as it stood on high ground, above the malarial areas of Rome, and offered spectacular views which were a desirable feature of Baroque villa settings.
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Villa Farnesina
The Villa Farnesina is a Renaissance suburban villa in the Via della Lungara, in the district of Trastevere in Rome, central Italy.
The villa was built for Agostino Chigi, a rich Sienese banker and the treasurer of Pope Julius II. Between 1506–1510, the Sienese artist and pupil of Bramante, Baldassarre Peruzzi, aided by Giuliano da Sangallo, designed and erected the villa. The novelty of this suburban villa design can be discerned from its differences from that of a typical urban palazzo (palace). Renaissance palaces typically faced onto a street and were decorated versions of defensive castles: rectangular blocks with rusticated ground floors and enclosing a courtyard. This villa, intended to be an airy summer pavilion, presented a side towards the street and was given a U shaped plan with a five bay loggia between the arms. In the original arrangement, the main entrance was through the north facing loggia which was open. Today, visitors enter on the south side and the loggia is glazed.
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Villa Mattei
The Villa Mattei or Villa Celimontana is a villa on the Caelian Hill in Rome, best known for its gardens. Its grounds cover most of the valley between the Aventine Hill and the Caelian.
The Villa Celimontana is situated on the summit of the Celian Hill in the south-east of Rome in the Rione Celio. The principal entrance is near the Piazza della Navicella, beside the Basilica Santa Maria in Domnica. A secondary entrance is situated on the Clivo di Scauro near the Basilica Santi Giovanni e Paolo. The park is a continuation of Baths of Caracalla.
Tradition holds that Numa Pompilius met the nymph Egeria on the site, and within the grounds of the present villa, to the left of the present entrance from piazza della Navicella, was the base of the 5th cohort of the Vigiles - these Trajanic-era remains were excavated in 1820, 1931 and 1958. In the mid-16th century the site of the grounds was occupied by a vineyard belonging to the Paluzzelli family, near Santa Maria in Domnica. That family ordered excavations there which found the coloured marbles (probably from a temple) which were re-used in Sangallo's Sala Regia at the Vatican.
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Vilnius
Vilnius ([ˈvʲɪlʲnʲʊs] ( listen); see also other names) is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 554,060 (838, 852 together with Vilnius County) as of 2011. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County. The first known written record of Vilnius as the Lithuanian capital is known from Gediminas' letters in 1323. Vilnius is classified as a Gamma global city according to GaWC studies.
The name of the city originated from the Vilnia River. The city has also been known by many derivate spellings in various languages throughout its history. The most notable non-Lithuanian names for the city include: Polish: Wilno, Belarusian: Вiльнюс, Вiльня, German: Wilna, Latvian: Viļņa, Russian: Вильнюс, Yiddish: ווילנע (Vilne). An older Russian name was Вильна / Вильно (Vilna/Vilno), although Вильнюс (Vilnius) is now used. The names Wilno, Wilna and Vilna have also been used in older English, German, French and Italian language publications. The name Vilna is still used in Finnish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Hebrew.
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Viminal Hill
The Viminal Hill (Latin Collis Viminalis, Italian Viminale) is the smallest of the famous seven hills of Rome. A finger-shape cusp pointing toward central Rome between the Quirinal Hill to the northwest and the Esquiline Hill to the southeast, it is home to the Teatro dell'Opera and the Termini Railway Station. At the top of Viminal Hill there is the palace of Viminale that hosts the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior; currently the term Il Viminale means the Ministry of the Interior.
According to Livy, the hill first became part of the city of Rome, along with the Quirinal Hill, during the reign of Servius Tullius, Rome' sixth king, in the 6th century BC.
Coordinates: 41°53′57″N 12°29′39″E / 41.89917°N 12.49417°E / 41.89917; 12.49417
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Vivaro Romano
Vivaro Romano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 50 km northeast of Rome. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 204 and an area of 12.5 km².
A picture of a pasture in the Vivaro Romano near Rome, Italy.
Vivaro Romano borders the following municipalities: Carsoli, Oricola, Orvinio, Pozzaglia Sabina, Turania, Vallinfreda.
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Warsaw
Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa [varˈʂava] ( listen); see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly 260 kilometres (160 mi) from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres (190 mi) from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most populous city proper in the European Union. The area of the city covers 516.9 square kilometres (199.6 sq mi), while the city's agglomeration covers 6,100.43 square kilometres (2,355.39 sq mi).
Warsaw is an Alpha- global city, a major international tourist destination and an important economic hub in Central Europe. It is also known as the "phoenix city" because it has survived many wars throughout its history. Most notably, the city had to be painstakingly rebuilt after the extensive damage it suffered from World War II, during which 80% of its buildings were destroyed. On 9 November 1940 the city was awarded Poland's highest military decoration for heroism, the Virtuti Militari, for the Siege of Warsaw (1939).
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West Germany
West Germany (German: Westdeutschland) is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990.
During this period, West Germany and the communist East Germany were divided by the Inner German border. After 1961, West Berlin was physically separated from East Berlin as well as from East Germany by the Berlin Wall. This situation ended when East Germany was dissolved and its five states joined the ten states of the Federal Republic of Germany along with the reunified city-state of Berlin. The enlarged Federal Republic of Germany with sixteen states (known simply as "Germany") is thus the continuation of the pre-1990 Federal Republic of Germany.
The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven states formed in the three Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France (the "Western Zones"). The city of Bonn was its provisional capital city. The fourth Allied occupation zone (the East Zone, or Ostzone) was held by the Soviet Union. The parts of this zone lying east of the Oder-Neisse were in fact annexed by the Soviet Union and communist Poland; the remaining central part around Berlin became the communist German Democratic Republic (abbreviated GDR; in German Deutsche Demokratische Republik or DDR) with its de facto capital in East Berlin. As a result, West Germany had a territory about half the size of the interwar democratic Weimar Republic.
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Yerevan
Coordinates: 40°11′00″N 44°31′00″E / 40.183333°N 44.516667°E / 40.183333; 44.516667
Yerevan (Armenian: Երևան, Armenian pronunciation: [jɛɾɛˈvɑn]) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country. It has been the capital since 1918, the thirteenth in the history of Armenia.
The history of Yerevan dates back to the 8th century BC, with the founding of the fortress of Erebuni in 782 BC by king Argishti I at the western extreme of the Ararat plain. After World War I, Yerevan became the capital of the Democratic Republic of Armenia as thousands of survivors of the Armenian Genocide settled in the area. The city expanded rapidly during the 20th century as Armenia became one of the fifteen republics in the Soviet Union. In fifty years, Yerevan was transformed from a town of a few thousand residents within the Russian Empire, to Armenia's principal cultural, artistic, and industrial center, as well as becoming the seat of national government.
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Zagarolo
Zagarolo is a town and comune in the province of Rome, in the region of Lazio of central Italy.
It has 14,620 inhabitants, a total area of 28 km2.
Zagarolo borders the following municipalities: Colonna, Gallicano nel Lazio, Monte Compatri, Palestrina, Rome, San Cesareo (former frazione of Zagarolo).
It is the birthplace of composer Goffredo Petrassi..
The Touro College, thanks to an agreement with the Province of Rome and the City of Zagarolo, has started preparations to open a new branch at the Rospigliosi Palace. As an integral part of its project and a prelude to the opening of its new branch, Touro University, Rome, in collaboration with the City of Zagarolo, will be organizing, starting in Fall 2008, independent, not-for-credit English courses for the population of Zagarolo and the surrounding area.
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Zagreb
Zagreb (Croatian pronunciation: [zǎːɡrɛb]) is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately 122 m (400 ft) above sea level. In the last official census of 2011, the population of the settlement of Zagreb was 686,568, while the total population of its administrative area was 792,875. The wider Zagreb metropolitan area includes the City of Zagreb and the separate Zagreb County with a population of 317,642, bringing the total metropolitan area population up to 1,110,517. It is the only metropolitan area in Croatia with a population of over one million.
Its favourable geographic position in the southwestern part of the Pannonian Basin, which extends to the Alpine, Dinaric, Adriatic and Pannonic regions, provides an excellent connection for traffic between Central Europe and the Adriatic Sea. The transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific and research institutions and industrial tradition underlie its leading economic position in Croatia. Zagreb is the seat of the central government, administrative bodies and almost all government ministries.
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Åland Islands
The Åland Islands (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈoːland], Finnish: Ahvenanmaa) form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland. The islands collectively constitute the smallest region of Finland, with only 0.49% of its land area, and 0.50% of its population.
Åland comprises Fasta Åland (the "Main Island," with 90% of the population), together with an archipelago to the east that comprises over 6,500 skerries and islands. Fasta Åland is separated from the coast of Sweden by 38 kilometres (24 mi) of open water to the west. In the east, the Åland archipelago is contiguous with the Finnish Archipelago Sea. Åland's only land border is located on the uninhabited skerry of Märket, which it shares with Sweden.
Because of the autonomous status of the Åland Islands, the powers exercised at the provincial level by representatives of the central state administration in the rest of Finland are largely exercised by the Government of Åland in Åland.
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Aeneas
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( /ɪˈniːəs/; Greek: Αἰνείας, Aineías, derived from Greek Αἰνή meaning "to praise") was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was the second cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas Priam's second cousin, once removed. The journey of Aeneas from Troy (with help from Aphrodite), which led to the founding of a hamlet south of Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid. He is considered an important figure in Greek and Roman legend. Aeneas is a character in Homer's Iliad, Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica, and Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida.
In the Iliad, Aeneas is the leader of the Trojans' Dardanian allies (Trojans — descendants of Dardanus), as well as a third cousin and principal lieutenant of Hector, son of the Trojan king Priam. In the poem, Aeneas' mother Aphrodite frequently comes to his aid on the battlefield; he is a favorite of Apollo. Aphrodite and Apollo rescue Aeneas from combat with Diomedes of Argos, who nearly kills him, and carry him away to Pergamos for healing. Even Poseidon, who normally favors the Greeks, comes to Aeneas' rescue after he falls under the assault of Achilles, noting that Aeneas, though from a junior branch of the royal family, is destined to become king of the Trojan people. Aeneas killed 28 people in the Trojan War.
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Agostino Chigi
Agostino Andrea Chigi (29 November 1466 – April 11, 1520) was an Italian banker and patron of the Renaissance.
Born in Siena, he was the son of the prominent banker Mariano Chigi, a member of an ancient and illustrious house. He moved to Rome around 1487, collaborating with his father. The heir of a rich fund of capital, and enriched further after lending huge amounts of money to Pope Alexander VI (and to other rulers of the time as well) he strayed from common mercantile practice by obtaining lucrative monopolies like the salt monopoly of the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples, as well as that of the alum excavated in Tolfa,Agnato and Ischia di Castro. Alum was an essential mordant in the textile industry.
After the death of the Borgia pope, Alexander VI and his short-lived Sienese successor Pius III Piccolomini, he helped Pope Julius II in the expenses attendant upon his election: the latter rewarded him, linking Chigi to the della Rovere family, and creating him treasurer and notary of the Apostolic Camera. The personal bond between the Pope and his banker remained close: Agostino accompanied Julius in the field in both his great military campaigns, of 1506 and 1510. In 1511 Agostino was sent to Venice, to buy Venetian support for the papal forces in the War of the League of Cambrai.
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Alaric I
Alaric I (Gothic: Alareiks; 370 - 410) was the King of the Visigoths from 395–410. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire.
Born c. 370 on Peuce Island at the mouth of the Danube in present day Romania, Alaric belonged to the noble Balti dynasty of the Tervingian Goths. After their setbacks against the Huns, Alaric was probably a child during the Goths mass-migration across the Danube and their subsequent war with Rome. Alaric's first appearance was as the leader of a mixed band of Goths and allied peoples who invaded Thrace in 391, who were stopped by the half-Vandal Roman General Stilicho. Later joining the Roman army, he began his career under the Gothic soldier Gainas. In 394 Alaric led a Gothic force of 20,000 that helped the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius defeat the Frankish usurper Arbogast at the Battle of Frigidus. Despite sacrificing around 10,000 of his men, Alaric received little recognition from the Emperor. Disappointed, he left the army and was elected chief of the Visigoths in 395, and marched toward Constantinople until he was diverted by Roman forces. He then moved southward into Greece, where he sacked Piraeus (the port of Athens) and destroyed Corinth, Megara, Argos, and Sparta. As a response, the Eastern emperor Flavius Arcadius appointed Alaric magister militum (“master of the soldiers”) in Illyricum.
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Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (June 15, 1920 – February 25, 2003) was an Italian actor. He was also a film director and the dubbing voice of Oliver Hardy in the Italian version of the Laurel & Hardy films.
Born in Rome to a schoolteacher and a musician, Sordi enrolled in Milan's dramatic arts academy but was kicked out because of his thick Roman accent. In the meantime he studied to be an opera singer, a bass. It was his accent and voice that would later prove to be his trademark.
In a career that spanned seven decades, Sordi established himself as an icon of Italian cinema with his representative skills at both comedy and light drama. His movie career began in the late 1930s with bit parts and secondary characters in wartime movies. After the war he began working as a dubber for the Italian versions of Laurel and Hardy shorts, voicing Oliver Hardy. Early roles included Fellini's The White Sheik in 1952, Fellini's I vitelloni (1953), a movie about young slackers, in which he plays a weak, effeminate immature loafer and a starring role in Lo scapolo (The Bachelor) playing a single man trying to find love. In 1959 he appeared in Monicelli's The Great War, considered by many critics and film historians to be one of the best Italian comedies. The Hollywood Foreign Press recognized his abilities when he was awarded a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Il diavolo (1963). Sordi acted alongside Britain’s David Niven in the World War II comedy The Best of Enemies and in 1965 he was in another highly regarded comedy, I complessi (Complexes).
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Aldo Fabrizi
Aldo Fabrizi (November 1, 1905, Rome, Italy – April 2, 1990, Rome, Italy) was an Italian actor and cinema and theatre director.
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Anna Magnani
Anna Magnani (Italian pronunciation: [ˈanna maɲˈɲani]; 7 March 1908 – 26 September 1973) was an Italian stage and film actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, along with four other international awards, for her portrayal of a Sicilian widow in The Rose Tattoo.
Born in Rome, she worked her way through Rome's Academy of Dramatic Art by singing at night clubs. During her career, her only child was stricken by polio when he was 18 months old and remained crippled.
She was referred to as "La Lupa," the "perennial toast of Rome" and a "living she-wolf symbol" of the cinema. Time magazine described her personality as "fiery", and drama critic Harold Clurman said her acting was "volcanic". In the realm of Italian cinema, she was "passionate, fearless, and exciting," an actress that film historian Barry Monush calls "the volcanic earth mother of all Italian cinema." Director Roberto Rossellini called her "the greatest acting genius since Eleonora Duse". Playwright Tennessee Williams became an admirer of her acting and wrote The Rose Tattoo specifically for her to star in, a role for which she received her first Oscar in 1955.
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Annibale Carracci
Annibale Carracci (Italian pronunciation: [anˈnibale karˈrattʃi]; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian Baroque painter.
Annibale Carracci was born in Bologna, and in all likelihood first apprenticed within his family. In 1582, Annibale, his brother Agostino, and his cousin Ludovico Carracci opened a painters' studio, initially called by some the Academy of the Desiderosi (desirous of fame and learning) and subsequently the Incamminati (progressives; literally "of those opening a new way"). While the Carraccis laid emphasis on the typically Florentine linear draftsmanship, as exemplified by Raphael and Andrea del Sarto, their interest in the glimmering colours and mistier edges of objects derived from the Venetian painters, notably the works of Venetian Oil Painter Titian, which Annibale and Agostino studied during their travels around Italy in 1580-81 at the behest of the elder Caracci Lodovico. This eclecticism was to become the defining trait of the artists of the Baroque Emilian or Bolognese School.
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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.
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Aurelian
Aurelian (Latin: Lucius Domitius Aurelianus Augustus; 9 September 214 or 215 – September or October 275), was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following year he conquered the Gallic Empire in the west, reuniting the Empire in its entirety. He was also responsible for the construction of the Aurelian Walls in Rome, and the abandonment of the province of Dacia. His successes effectively ended the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century, earning him the title Restorer of the World. Although Domitian was the first Emperor who had demanded to be officially hailed as dominus et deus (master and god), these titles never occurred in written form on official documents until the reign of Aurelian.
Aurelian was born in Serdica (today Sofia in Bulgaria) in Moesia or what was later called Dacia Ripensis to an obscure provincial family; his father was tenant to a senator named Aurelius, who gave his name to the family. Aurelian probably joined the army in 235 at around age twenty. He distinguished himself in several wars during the tumultuous mid-century; his successes as a cavalry commander ultimately made him a member of emperor Gallienus' entourage. In 268, Aurelian and his cavalry participated in general Claudius' victory over the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. Later that year Gallienus traveled to Italy and fought Aureolus, his former general and now usurper for the throne. Driving Aureolus back into Mediolanum, Gallienus promptly besieged his adversary in the city. However, while the siege was ongoing the Emperor was assassinated. One source says Aurelian, who was present at the siege, participated and supported general Claudius for the purple – which is plausible.
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Austria
Austria (i/ˈɒstriə/ or /ˈɔːstriə/; German: Österreich [ˈøːstɐˌʁaɪç] ( listen)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich (help·info)), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.47 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,855 square kilometres (32,377 sq mi) and has a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speak local Austro-Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other local official languages are Burgenland Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.
The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria became one of the great powers of Europe and, in response to the coronation of Napoleon I as the Emperor of the French, the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary.
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Bartolomeo Scappi
Bartolomeo Scappi (c. 1500 – 13 April 1577) was a famous Renaissance chef. His origins had been the subject of speculation, but a recent research shows that he came from the town of Dumenza in Lombardy, according to the inscription on a stone plaque in the church of Luino. Prior to this, the first known fact in his life had been that in April 1536, he organized a banquet while he was in the service of Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio. He served several other cardinals after this, then began to serve pope Pius IV, entering the service of the Vatican kitchen. He continued to work as a chef for the pope Pius V.
He acquired fame in 1570 when his monumental cookbook Opera dell'arte del cucinare was published. In the book he lists approximately 1000 recipes of the Renaissance cuisine and describes cooking techniques and tools, giving the first known picture of a fork. He declared parmesan to be the best cheese on earth, and noted that "the liver of [a] domestic goose raised by the Jews is of extreme size and weighs [between] two and three pounds", indicating that Jews of the time were practicing the overfeeding needed to produce foie gras. Reprints of Opera were continually published from 1570 to 1643.
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Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (Italian pronunciation: [beˈniːto musːoˈliːni]; 29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945) was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party, ruling the country from 1922 to his ousting in 1943, and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of fascism.
Originally a member of the Italian Socialist Party and editor of the Avanti! from 1912 to 1914, Mussolini fought in World War I as an ardent nationalist and created the Fasci di Combattimento in 1919, catalyzing his nationalist and socialist beliefs in the Fascist Manifesto, published in 1921. Following the March on Rome in October 1922 he became the 27th Prime Minister of Italy and began using the title Il Duce by 1925, about which time he had established dictatorial authority by both legal and extraordinary means, aspiring to create a totalitarian state. After 1936, his official title was Sua Eccellenza Benito Mussolini, Capo del Governo, Duce del Fascismo e Fondatore dell'Impero ("His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire") Mussolini also created and held the supreme military rank of First Marshal of the Empire along with King Victor Emmanuel III, which gave him and the King joint supreme control over the military of Italy. Mussolini remained in power until he was replaced in 1943; for a short period after this until his death, he was the leader of the Italian Social Republic.
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Bernardo Bellotto
Bernardo Bellotto (ca. 1721/2 – 17 October 1780) was a Venetian urban landscape painter or vedutista, and printmaker in etching famous for his vedutes of European cities (Dresden, Vienna, Turin and Warsaw). He was the pupil and nephew of Canaletto and sometimes used the latter's illustrious name, signing himself as Bernardo Canaletto. Especially in Germany, paintings attributed to Canaletto may actually be by Bellotto rather than by his uncle; in Poland, they are by Bellotto, who is known there as "Canaletto".
Bellotto's style was characterized by elaborate representation of architectural and natural vistas, and by the specific quality of each place's lighting. It is plausible that Bellotto, and other Venetian masters of vedute, may have used the camera obscura in order to achieve superior precision of urban views.
Bellotto was born in Venice, the son of Lorenzo Antonio Bellotto and Fiorenza Canal, sister of the famous Canaletto, and studied in his uncle's workshop.
In 1742 he moved to Rome, where he produced vedute of that city. In 1744 and 1745 he traveled northern Italy, again depicting vedute of each city. Among others, he worked for Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy.
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Bulgari
Bulgari (Italian pronunciation: [ˈbulɡari]) is an Italian jeweler and luxury goods retailer which has been owned by the French firm LVMH since October 2011. The trademark is usually written "BVLGARI" in the classical Latin alphabet (where V = English U), and is derived from the surname of the company's Greek founder, Sotirio Voulgaris (Greek: Σωτήριος Βούλγαρης, Greek pronunciation: [soˈtirjos ˈvulɣaris], Italian: Sotirio Bulgari, 1857–1932). Although the company made a name for itself with jewelry, today it is a recognized luxury brand that markets several product lines including watches, handbags, fragrances, accessories, and hotels.
Sotirios Voulgaris began his career as a jeweller in his home village Paramythia (Epirus, Ottoman Empire), where his first store can still be seen. In 1877, he left for Corfu and then Naples. In 1881 he finally moved to Rome, where in 1884 he founded his company and opened his second shop in via Sistina.
The current flagship store in via dei Condotti was opened in 1905 by Bulgari with the help of his two sons, Costantino (1889–1973) and Giorgio (1890–1966). The store quickly became a place where the world's rich and famous came for the unique, high quality jewelry designs combining Greek and Roman art.
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Caligula
Caligula (Latin: Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus; 31 August AD 12 – 24 January AD 41), also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most beloved public figures. The young Gaius earned the nickname Caligula (meaning "little soldier's boot", the diminutive form of caliga, n. hob-nailed military boot) from his father's soldiers while accompanying him during his campaigns in Germania.
When Germanicus died at Antioch in 19 AD, his wife Agrippina the Elder returned to Rome with her six children where she became entangled in an increasingly bitter feud with Tiberius. This conflict eventually led to the destruction of her family, with Caligula as the sole male survivor. Unscathed by the deadly intrigues, Caligula accepted the invitation to join the emperor on the island of Capri in 31, where Tiberius himself had withdrawn five years earlier. At the death of Tiberius in 37, Caligula succeeded his great-uncle and adoptive grandfather.
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Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (Italian pronunciation: [karaˈvaddʒo]; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610) was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque school of painting.
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Carlo Verdone
Carlo Verdone (born 17 November 1950) is an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director.
Carlo Verdone was born in Rome to Mario Verdone, an important Italian film critic, and during his youth he earned a degree in Modern Literature at Sapienza University of Rome and a degree in Film Direction at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. During 1970s he started a television career highlighting his varied comic style.
Verdone made his debut as director in 1980 with the movie Fun is beautiful, in which he played three different characters. He used the same formula of the first work in 1981, when he directed Bianco, rosso e Verdone, a funny movie about three men during the election day. The movie, produced by Sergio Leone, was a great success in Italy, thanks to his brilliant comic energy and to his odd characters. Carlo Verdone, in a long directing career, has refined very well his style, using very much the typical standard of the commedia all'italiana and paying attention to social themes and to pondering stories. In 2005 he took part in the Italian blockbuster romantic comedy named Manuale d'amore, and in the sequels named Manuale d'amore 2 - Capitoli successivi (2007) and Manuale d'amore 3 (2011), both directed by Giovanni Veronesi.
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Cesare Pascarella
Cesare Pascarella (28 April 1858 - 8 May 1940), was an Italian dialect poet and a painter. He was appointed to the Royal Academy of Italy in 1930.
Pascarella was born in Rome and initially was a painter. His literary activity began in 1881 with the publication of sonnets in Romanesco dialect. In the same period he made friends with Gabriele D'Annunzio. He made a series of journeys through Africa, India and the Americas in 1882–1885. On his return to Rome he published the collection Villa Glori, who was hailed as a masterwork by Giosuè Carducci. Also well received was the imaginative La scoperta dell'America (1893).
In 1905 Pascarella began Storia nostra, a history of Rome which was planned as a sequence of 350 sonnets, but was left unfinished after 270 had been written.
Posthumous publications:
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Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( /ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn/ or /ˈʃɑrləmeɪn/; French pronunciation: [ʃaʁ.lə.maɲ]; c. 742 – 28 January 814), also known as Charles the Great (Latin: Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans (Imperator Romanorum) from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800 in Rome.
His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the Catholic Church. Through his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define both Western Europe and the European Middle Ages. He is numbered as Charles I in the regnal lists of Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, and France.
The son of King Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, a Frankish queen, he succeeded his father in 768 and was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I. It has often been suggested that the relationship between Charlemagne and Carloman was not good, but it has also been argued that tensions were exaggerated by Carolingian chroniclers.
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Cosimo Rosselli
Cosimo Rosselli (1439 – 1507) was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento, active mainly in his birthplace of Florence.
Born in Florence, at the age of fourteen he became a pupil of Neri di Bicci, and in 1460 he worked as assistant to his cousin Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli. A first youthful work of Cosimo mentioned by Giorgio Vasari is the Assumption of the Virgin altarpiece in the third chapel on the left of the nave in Sant'Ambrogio in Florence. In the same church, on the wall of one of the chapels, is a fresco by Cosimo which Vasari praises highly, especially for a portrait of the young scholar Pico of Mirandola. The scene, a procession bearing a miracle-working chalice, is painted with vigor and less mannerism than most of this artist's work. A picture painted by Rosselli for the church of the Annunziata, with figures of SS. Barbara, Matthew and the Baptist, is in the Academy of Florence.
Rosselli also spent some time in Lucca, where he painted several altar-pieces for various churches. A picture attributed to him, taken from the church of St. Girolamo at Fiesole, is now in the National Gallery of London. It is a large retable, with, in the center, St. Jerome in the wilderness kneeling before a crucifix, and at the sides standing figures of St. Damasus and St. Eusebius, St. Paula and St. Eustochium; below is a predella with small subjects. Though dry and hard in treatment, the figures are designed with much dignity.
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Daniele De Rossi
Daniele De Rossi, Ufficiale OMRI (born 24 July 1983 in Rome) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Roma. He is the current Roma's vice-captain and nicknamed as Capitan Futuro (English: Future Captain) due to his high probability as heir-apparent to Francesco Totti's captain armband.
With Roma he has won the Coppa Italia twice and the 2007 Supercoppa Italiana. He was named Serie A Young Footballer of the Year in 2006 and the Italian Footballer of the Year in 2009.
De Rossi has represented Italy at under-19, under-20, under-21, and senior levels. He was part of the 2006 FIFA World Cup winning-squad and has also participated at Euro 2008, the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
De Rossi joined the youth system of Roma from Ostia Mare, where he had played as a striker in 2000. He made his first-team debut on 10 October 2001 against Belgian side Anderlecht in the Champions League. He made his Serie A debut on 25 January 2003 against Como. His first Serie A start, along with his first goal, came on 10 May 2003 against Torino.
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Dino De Laurentiis
Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian film producer.
He was born at Torre Annunziata in the province of Naples, and grew up selling spaghetti produced by his father. His studies at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome were interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War.
Following his first movie, L'ultimo Combattimento, (1940) he produced nearly 150 films during the next seven decades. In 1946 his company, the Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica, moved into production. In the early years, De Laurentiis produced neorealist films such as Bitter Rice (1946) and the Fellini classics La Strada (1954) and Nights of Cabiria (1956), often in collaboration with producer Carlo Ponti. In the 1960s, Dino De Laurentiis built his own studio facilities, although these financially collapsed during the 1970s. During this period, though, De Laurentiis produced such films as Barabbas (1961) a Christian religious epic, Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die, an imitation James Bond film; Navajo Joe (1966), a spaghetti western; Anzio (1968), a World War II film; Barbarella (1968) and Danger: Diabolik (1968), both successful comic book adaptations; and The Valachi Papers made to coincide with the popularity of The Godfather.
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Domenico Ghirlandaio
Domenico Ghirlandaio (Italian pronunciation: [doˈmeniko ɡirlanˈdajo]; 1449 – 11 January 1494) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Among his many apprentices was Michelangelo.
Ghirlandaio's full name is given as Domenico di Tommaso di Currado di Doffo Bigordi. The occupation of his father Tommaso Bigordi and his uncle Antonio in 1451 was given as "'setaiuolo a minuto', that is, dealers of silks and related objects in small quantities." He was the eldest of six children born to Tommaso Bigordi by his first wife Antonia di ser Paolo Paoli; of these, only Domenico and his brothers and collaborators Davide and Benedetto survived childhood. Tommaso had two more children by his second wife, also named Antonia, whom he married in 1464. Domenico's half-sister Alessandra (b. 1475) married the painter Bastiano Mainardi in 1494.
Domenico was at first apprenticed to a jeweller or a goldsmith, most likely his own father. The nickname "Il Ghirlandaio" (garland-maker) came to Domenico from his father, a goldsmith who was famed for creating the metallic garland-like necklaces worn by Florentine women. In his father's shop, Domenico is said to have made portraits of the passers-by, and he was eventually apprenticed to Alesso Baldovinetti to study painting and mosaic. According to Gunter Passavent he was apprenticed in Florence to Andrea del Verrocchio.
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Donato Bramante
Donato Bramante (1444 – 11 March 1514) was an Italian architect, who introduced the Early Renaissance style to Milan and the High Renaissance style to Rome, where his most famous design was St. Peter's Basilica.
Bramante was born in Monte Asdrualdo (now Fermignano), under name Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio, near Urbino: here, in 1467 Luciano Laurana was adding to the Palazzo Ducale an arcaded courtyard and other features that seemed to have the true ring of a reborn antiquity to Federico da Montefeltro's ducal palace.
Bramante's architecture has eclipsed his painting skills: he knew the painters Melozzo da Forlì and Piero della Francesca well, who were interested in the rules of perspective and illusionistic features in Mantegna's painting. Around 1474, Bramante moved to Milan, a city with a deep Gothic architectural tradition, and built several churches in the new Antique style. The Duke, Ludovico Sforza, made him virtually his court architect, beginning in 1476, with commissions that culminated in the famous trompe-l'oeil choir of the church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro (1482–1486). Space was limited, and Bramante made a theatrical apse in bas-relief, combining the painterly arts of perspective with Roman details. There is an octagonal sacristy, surmounted by a dome.
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Enrico Montesano
Enrico Montesano (born 7 June 1945, in Rome, Italy), is a popular actor for theater and cinema in Italy, as well as a showman.
Montesano comes from a family involved in theatre, and he made his debut in 1966 in a show named Humor nero, alongside of Vittorio Metz. Later he became a very popular actor both on theatre and on television, thanks to his burlesque and brilliant style, and so during seventies he took part in several Italian comedies. He is probably best known for the role of Armando "Er Pomata" Pellicci in the cult movie Febbre da cavallo (1976), directed by Steno, but also for the role of Caleb, the good thief from Il ladrone (1980), directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile. Montesano won a David di Donatello as best new director for the movie A me mi piace (1985), in which he is both actor and director.
Montesano is married to Teresa Trisorio. He is the father of six children: from a previous marriage (to Tamara Moltrasio) he has two sons and one daughter (Tommaso, Oliver, Lavinia); another son (Mattia) was born to him by a longtime fiancée, Marina Spadaro; and two more (Enrico Michele, and Marco Valerio) he has by his present wife. He is an avid fan of the football team S.S. Lazio.
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Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini (Italian pronunciation: [fedeˈriːko felˈliːni]; January 20, 1920 – October 31, 1993) was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century, and is widely revered. He won five Academy Awards and was nominated for 12 in a career that spanned over forty years.
Fellini was born on January 20, 1920 to middle-class parents in Rimini, then a small town on the Adriatic Sea. His father, Urbano Fellini (1894–1956), born to a family of Romagnol peasants and small landholders from Gambettola, moved to Rome in 1915 as a baker apprenticed to the Pantanella pasta factory. His mother, Ida Barbiani (1896–1984), came from a bourgeois Catholic family of Roman merchants. Despite her family’s vehement disapproval, she eloped with Urbano in 1917 to live at his parents' home in Gambettola. A civil marriage followed in 1918 with the religious ceremony held at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome a year later. The couple settled in Rimini where Urbano became a traveling salesman and wholesale vendor. Fellini had two siblings: Riccardo (1921–1991), a documentary director for RAI Television, and Maria Maddalena (m. Fabbri; 1929–2002).
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Francesco Borromini
Francesco Borromini, byname of Francesco Castelli (25 September 1599 – 3 August 1667) was an architect from Ticino who, with his contemporaries, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona, was a leading figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture.
A keen student of the architecture of Michelangelo and the ruins of Antiquity, Borromini developed an inventive and distinctive, if somewhat idiosyncratic, architecture employing manipulations of Classical architectural forms, geometrical rationales in his plans and symbolic meanings in his buildings. He seems to have had a sound understanding of structures, which perhaps Bernini and Cortona, who were principally trained in other areas of the visual arts, lacked. His soft lead drawings are particularly distinctive. He appears to have been a self-taught scholar, amassing a large library by the end of his life.
His career was constrained by his personality. Unlike Bernini who easily adopted the mantle of the charming courtier in his pursuit of important commissions, Borromini was both melancholic and quick in temper which resulted in him withdrawing from certain jobs, and his death was by suicide.
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Francesco Totti
Francesco Totti, Ufficiale OMRI, (born 27 September 1976 in Rome) is an Italian footballer who is the captain of Serie A club Roma. His primary position is that of a trequartista, though he has also been successfully utilized as a lone striker. Totti has spent his entire career at Roma, is the number-one goalscorer and the most capped player in the club's history. He is considered as one of the finest players in his generation, and also Roma's greatest player ever.
A 2006 World Cup winner and Euro 2000 finalist, Totti was selected in the All-Star team for both tournaments. He has won many individual awards, including a record five Italian Footballer of the Year awards and two Serie A Footballer of the Year awards. He was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. In 2011, Totti has been recognized by IFFHS as the most popular footballer in Europe.
Often referred to as Il Bimbo d'Oro (The Golden Boy), Er Pupone (The Big Baby), and Il Gladiatore (The Gladiator) by the Italian sports media, Totti is currently the top active Serie A goalscorer and fifth all-time in league history with 215 goals.
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Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (also spelled Gianlorenzo or Giovanni Lorenzo) (Naples, 7 December 1598 – Rome, 28 November 1680) was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect. In addition he painted, wrote plays, and designed metalwork and stage sets.
A student of Classical sculpture, Bernini possessed the unique ability to capture, in marble, the essence of a narrative moment with a dramatic naturalistic realism which was almost shocking. This ensured that he effectively became the successor of Michelangelo, far outshining other sculptors of his generation, including his rival, Alessandro Algardi. His talent extended beyond the confines of his sculpture to consideration of the setting in which it would be situated; his ability to synthesise sculpture, painting and architecture into a coherent conceptual and visual whole has been termed by the art historian Irving Lavin the "unity of the visual arts." A deeply religious man, working in Counter Reformation Rome, Bernini used light as an important metaphorical device in the perception of his religious settings, often using hidden light sources that could intensify the focus of religious worship, or enhance the dramatic moment of a sculptural narrative.
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Gianni Alemanno
Giovanni "Gianni" Alemanno (born 3 March 1958 in Bari, Italy) is an Italian politician who is currently Mayor of Rome.
He joined the neofascist Italian Social Movement, at a very early age and became national secretary of the youth organization of the party in 1988. After being elected regional deputy of Lazio in 1990, he was elected for the first time to the Chamber of Deputies in the 1994 general election.
In 1995, along with Francesco Storace, he founded the Social Right, which was intended to be the more right-wing, socially oriented and socially conservative faction within National Alliance, the new party in which the Italian Social Movement was merged after repudation of extremism.
Between 2001 and 2006, Alemanno was Minister of Agriculture in Berlusconi II and III Cabinet.
After having been heavily defeated by Walter Veltroni in the 2006 mayoral election of Rome, in April 2008 he defeated Francesco Rutelli and became Mayor of the city. Alemanno rejected a formal alliance with the far-right party, but his critics emphasized that his victory was greeted by crowds of supporters, among them far right skinheads, who chanted "Duce! Duce!" and raised their arms in a fascist salute; then Alemanno said: «People calling me Duce makes me laugh. I’m not at all fascist and I think that today the word belongs to the history books. I’ve grown to hate all forms of totalitarianism, whether of the left or of the right».
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Gigi Proietti
Luigi "Gigi" Proietti (born 2 November 1940) is an Italian actor, director, dubber and singer.
He was born in Rome to Romano Proietti, a man from Umbria, and Giovanna Ceci, a housewife. During his youth he was keen on singing and on playing guitar, piano, accordion and double bass in several roman night clubs. During the 1960s Proietti started a long and prolific theatrical career.
He's a very popular comic actor in Italy, and he's well known for the role of Bruno "Mandrake" Fioretti in Febbre da cavallo (1976), directed by Steno. He also played Michele Bruni in Lady Liberty (1971), directed by Mario Monicelli, opposite Sophia Loren, Susan Sarandon and Danny DeVito. He took part in some international movies, like The Appointment (1969), directed by Sidney Lumet, A Wedding (1978), directed by Robert Altman, and Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978), directed by Ted Kotcheff.
Proietti has dubbed several famous actors including Robert De Niro, Sean Connery, Sylvester Stallone, Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Dustin Hoffman, Charlton Heston and Marlon Brando.
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Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno (1548 – February 17, 1600), (Latin: Iordanus Brunus Nolanus) born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in proposing that the Sun was essentially a star, and moreover, that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited worlds populated by other intelligent beings. He was burned at the stake by civil authorities in 1600 after the Roman Inquisition found him guilty of heresy for his pantheism and turned him over to the state, which at that time considered heresy illegal. After his death he gained considerable fame, particularly among 19th- and early 20th-century commentators who, focusing on his astronomical beliefs, regarded him as a martyr for free thought and modern scientific ideas.
Some assessments suggest that Bruno's ideas about the universe played a smaller role in his trial than his pantheist beliefs, which differed from the interpretations and scope of God held by the Catholic Church. In addition to his cosmological writings, Bruno also wrote extensively on the art of memory, a loosely organized group of mnemonic techniques and principles. The work of Frances Yates, especially influential in anglophone scholarship, argues that Bruno was deeply influenced by the astronomy found in Arab astrology, Neoplatonism and Renaissance Hermeticism. Other recent studies of Bruno have focused on his qualitative approach to mathematics and his application of the spatial paradigms of geometry to language.
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Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe ɡariˈbaldi] (Joseph Marie Garibaldi at birth, 4 July 1807, Nice, French Empire – 2 June 1882, Caprera, Kingdom of Italy) was an Italian general, politician and patriot. He is considered, with Camillo Cavour, Victor Emmanuel II and Giuseppe Mazzini, as one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland".
Garibaldi was a central figure in the Italian Risorgimento, since he personally commanded and fought in many military campaigns that led eventually to the formation of unified Italy. He generally tried to act on behalf of a legitimate power, which does not make him exactly a revolutionary: for example, he was appointed general by the provisional government of Milan in 1848, General of the Roman Republic in 1849 by the Minister of War, and led the Expedition of the Thousand on behalf and with the consent of Victor Emmanuel II.
He has been called the "Hero of Two Worlds" because of his military enterprises which he conducted in both South America and Europe. These earned him a considerable reputation both in Italy and abroad. This is also due to the exceptional international media coverage that he received at the time. Many of the greatest intellectuals of his time, such as Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and George Sand, showered him with their admiration. The United Kingdom and the United States helped him a great deal, offering him financial and military support in difficult circumstances.
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Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe matˈtsini]; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872), nicknamed The Beating Heart of Italy, was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century. He also helped define the modern European movement for popular democracy in a republican state.[citation needed]
Mazzini was born in Genoa, then part of the Ligurian Republic, under the rule of the French Empire. His father, Giacomo, originally from Chiavari, was a university professor who had adhered to Jacobin ideology; his mother, Maria Drago, was renowned for her beauty and religious (Jansenist) fervour. Since a very early age, Mazzini showed good learning qualities (as well as a precocious interest towards politics and literature), and was admitted to the University at only 14, graduating in law in 1826, initially practicing as a "poor man's lawyer". He also hoped to become a historical novelist or a dramatist, and in the same year he wrote his first essay, Dell'amor patrio di Dante ("On Dante's Patriotic Love"), which was published in 1837. In 1828–29 he collaborated with a Genoese newspaper, L'indicatore genovese, which was however soon closed by the Piedmontese authorities. He then became one of the leading authors of L'Indicatore Livornese, published at Livorno by F.D. Guerrazzi, until this paper was closed down by the authorities, too.
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Hadrian
Hadrian (Latin: Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus 24 January 76 – 10 July 138), was a Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in all his tastes. He was the third of the so-called Five Good Emperors.
Hadrian was born Publius Aelius Hadrianus to an ethnically Italian family in Italica near Seville. His predecessor Trajan was a maternal cousin of Hadrian's father. Trajan never officially designated an heir, but according to his wife Pompeia Plotina, Trajan named Hadrian emperor immediately before his death. Trajan's wife and his friend Licinius Sura were well-disposed towards Hadrian, and he may well have owed his succession to them.
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Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus. The rhetorician Quintillian regarded his Odes as almost the only Latin lyrics worth reading, justifying his estimate with the words: "He can be lofty sometimes, yet he is also full of charm and grace, versatile in his figures, and felicitously daring in his choice of words."
Horace also crafted elegant hexameter verses (Sermones and Epistles) and scurrilous iambic poetry (Epodes). The hexameters are playful and yet serious works, leading the ancient satirist Persius to comment: "as his friend laughs, Horace slyly puts his finger on his every fault; once let in, he plays about the heartstrings". Some of his iambic poetry, however, can seem wantonly repulsive to modern audiences.
His career coincided with Rome's momentous change from Republic to Empire. An officer in the republican army that was crushed at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, he was befriended by Octavian's right-hand man in civil affairs, Maecenas, and became something of a spokesman for the new regime. For some commentators, his association with the regime was a delicate balance in which he maintained a strong measure of independence (he was "a master of the graceful sidestep") but for others he was, in John Dryden's phrase, "a well-mannered court slave".
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Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (Classical Latin: [ˈɡaː.i.ʊs ˈjuː.lɪ.ʊs ˈkaj.sar], July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.
In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus and Pompey formed a political alliance that was to dominate Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to amass power through populist tactics were opposed by the conservative elite within the Roman Senate[citation needed], among them Cato the Younger with the frequent support of Cicero. Caesar's conquest of Gaul, completed by 51 BC, extended Rome's territory to the English Channel and the Rhine. Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both when he built a bridge across the Rhine and conducted the first invasion of Britain.
These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse Pompey's standing. The balance of power was further upset by the death of Crassus in 53 BC. Political realignments in Rome finally led to a standoff between Caesar and Pompey, the latter having taken up the cause of the Senate. Ordered by the Senate to stand trial in Rome for various charges, Caesar marched on Rome with one legion—legio XIII—from Gaul to Italy, crossing the Rubicon in 49 BC. This sparked a civil war from which he emerged as the unrivaled leader of the Roman world.
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Laura Biagiotti
Laura Biagiotti (born 1943 in Rome) is an Italian high fashion designer. She studied literature in Rome, expecting to become an archeologist. Then she started to help out at Mum and Dad's dressmaking business and had her first fashion show in 1972. Her mother, Delia Biagiotti had designed the uniforms for Alitalia staff in 1964.
The House of Biagiotti (based on Via dei Condotti in Rome) is now listed among the largest fashion houses in Italy. She moved to Beijing for some time and was the first Italian designer to present a collection in China in April 1988
According to her company's website in 1995 she received an award from the President of Italy for her contributions to fashion and later the Marco Polo award from the Chinese government for promoting fashion in China. She also received the Leonardo Prize in Italy. The Italian post office issued a 41 Euro cent stamp with her name in 2002.
She received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2011.
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Livy
Titus Livius Patavinus (59 BC – AD 17) — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Books from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own time. He was on familiar terms with the Julio-Claudian family, advising Augustus's grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, as a young man not long before 14 AD in a letter to take up the writing of history. Livy and Augustus's wife, Livia, were from the same clan in different locations, although not related by blood.
Livy was born as Titus Livius in Patavium in northern Italy, now modern Padua. There is a debate about the year of Titus Livius' birth, 64 BC or more likely 59 BC. At the time of Livy’s birth, his home city of Patavium was the second wealthiest city in the Italian peninsula. Patavium was a part of the province of Cisalpine Gaul at the time. In his works, Livy often expressed his deep affection and pride for Patavium, and the city was well known for its conservative values in morality and politics.
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Lombards
The Lombards or Langobards (Latin: Langobardī), were a Germanic tribe who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy.
The Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the Historia Langobardorum that the Lombards descended from a small tribe called the Winnili, dwelling in southern Scandinavia (Scadanan), who had migrated southward to seek new lands. In the 1st century AD they formed part of the Suebi, in northwestern Germany. By the end of the 5th century they had moved into the area roughly coinciding with modern Austria north of the Danube river, where they subdued the Heruls and later fought frequent wars with the Gepids. The Lombard king Audoin defeated the Gepid leader Thurisind in 551 or 552; his successor Alboin eventually destroyed the Gepids at the Battle of Asfeld in 567.
Following this victory, Alboin decided to lead his people to Italy, which had become severely depopulated after the long Gothic War (535–554) between the Byzantine Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom there. The Lombards were joined by numerous Saxons, Heruls, Gepids, Bulgars, Thuringians, and Ostrogoths, and their invasion of Italy was almost unopposed. By late 569 they had conquered all the principal cities north of the Po River except Pavia, which fell in 572. At the same time, they occupied areas in central Italy and southern Italy. They established a Lombard Kingdom in Italy, later named Regnum Italicum ("Kingdom of Italy"), which reached its zenith under the eighth-century ruler Liutprand. In 774, the Kingdom was conquered by the Frankish King Charlemagne, and integrated into his Empire. However, Lombard nobles continued to rule parts of the Italian peninsula well into the 11th century, when they were conquered by the Normans, and added to their Kingdom of Sicily. Their legacy is apparent in the regional appellation, Lombardy.
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Luca Signorelli
Luca Signorelli (c. 1445 – 16 October 1523) was an Italian Renaissance painter who was noted in particular for his ability as a draughtsman and his use of foreshortening. His massive frescoes of the Last Judgment (1499–1503) in Orvieto Cathedral are considered his masterpiece.
He was born Luca d'Egidio di Ventura in Cortona, Tuscany (some sources call him Luca da Cortona). The precise date of his birth is uncertain; birth dates of 1441–1445 are proposed. He died in 1523 in Cortona, where he is buried. He was perhaps eighty-two years old. He is considered to be part of the Tuscan school, although he also worked extensively in Umbria and Rome.
His first impressions of art seem to be due to Perugia — the style of Benedetto Bonfigli, Fiorenzo di Lorenzo and Pinturicchio. Lazzaro Vasari, the great-grandfather of art historian Giorgio Vasari, was brother to Luca's mother; according to Giorgio Vasari he got Luca apprenticed to Piero della Francesca. In 1472 the young man was painting at Arezzo, and in 1474 at Città di Castello. He presented to Lorenzo de' Medici a picture which is probably the one named the School of Pan. Janet Ross and her husband Henry discovered the painting in Florence circa 1870 and subsequently sold it to the Kaiser Frederick Museum in Berlin. The painting was destroyed by allied bombs in WWII. See Benjamin, Sarah (2006) A Castle In Tuscany at 63-67 (image of the painting at 64-65) Murdoch Books Australia. The painting's subject is almost the same which he painted also on the wall of the Petrucci palace in Siena—the principal figures being Pan himself, Olympus, Echo, a man reclining on the ground and two listening shepherds.
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Marcello Piacentini
Marcello Piacentini (December 8, 1881 - May 19, 1960) was an Italian architect and urban theorist.
Born in Rome, he was the son of architect Pio Piacentini. When he was only 26 he was commissioned the revamping of the historical center of Bergamo (1907); subsequently he worked in most of Italy, but his best work are those commissioned to him by the Fascist government in Rome.
Piacentini devised a "simplified neoclassicism" which could be midway from the neo-classicism of the Novecento Italiano group (Gio Ponti and others) and the rationalism of the Gruppo 7 of Giuseppe Terragni, Adalberto Libera and others. His style became a mainstay of Fascist architecture in Rome, including the new university campus (Università di Roma La Sapienza, 1932) and the E.U.R district, of which he was not only designer, but also High Commissar by will of Benito Mussolini. His other works include the renovation of Livorno, the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria, the opening of Via della Conciliazione in Rome and the restoration of the Rome Opera House (1928–1958).
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Menelaus
In Greek mythology, Menelaus (Ancient Greek: Μενέλαος, Menelaos) was a legendary king of Mycenaean (pre-Dorian) Sparta, the husband of Helen of Troy, and a central figure in the Trojan War. He was the son of Atreus and Aerope, and brother of Agamemnon king of Mycenae and, according to the Iliad, leader of the Spartan contingent of the Greek army during the War. Prominent in both the Iliad and Odyssey, Menelaus was also popular in Greek vase painting and Greek tragedy; the latter more as a hero of the Trojan War than as a member of the doomed House of Atreus.
Although early authors such as Aeschylus refer in passing to Menelaus' early life, detailed sources are quite late, post-dating 5th-century BC Greek tragedy. According to these sources, Menelaus' father Atreus had been feuding with his brother Thyestes over the throne of Mycenae. After a back-and-forth struggle that featured adultery, incest and cannibalism, Thyestes gained the throne after his son Aegisthus murdered Atreus. As a result, Atreus’ sons, Menelaus and Agamemnon, went into exile. They first stayed with King Polyphides of Sicyon, and later with King Oeneus of Calydon. But when they thought the time was ripe to dethrone Mycenae's hostile ruler, they returned. Assisted by King Tyndareus of Sparta, they drove Thyestes away, and Agamemnon took the throne for himself.
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Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), commonly known as Michelangelo (Italian pronunciation: [mikeˈlandʒelo]), was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Despite making few forays beyond the arts, his versatility in the disciplines he took up was of such a high order that he is often considered a contender for the title of the archetypal Renaissance man, along with fellow Italian Leonardo da Vinci.
Michelangelo was considered the greatest living artist in his lifetime, and ever since then he has been held to be one of the greatest artists of all time. A number of his works in painting, sculpture, and architecture rank among the most famous in existence. His output in every field during his long life was prodigious; when the sheer volume of correspondence, sketches, and reminiscences that survive is also taken into account, he is the best-documented artist of the 16th century. Two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, were sculpted before he turned thirty. Despite his low opinion of painting, Michelangelo also created two of the most influential works in fresco in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling and The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. As an architect, Michelangelo pioneered the Mannerist style at the Laurentian Library. At 74 he succeeded Antonio da Sangallo the Younger as the architect of St. Peter's Basilica. Michelangelo transformed the plan, the western end being finished to Michelangelo's design, the dome being completed after his death with some modification.
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Moses
Moses (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה, Modern Moshe Tiberian Mōšéh ISO 259-3 Moše; Greek: Mωϋσῆς Mōüsēs; Arabic: موسىٰ Mūsa) was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew (מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ, Lit. "Moses our Teacher/Rabbi"), he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and is also considered an important prophet in Christianity and Islam, as well as a number of other faiths.
The existence of Moses as well as the veracity of the Exodus story is disputed amongst archaeologists and Egyptologists, with experts in the field of biblical criticism citing logical inconsistencies, new archaeological evidence, historical evidence, and related origin myths in Canaanite culture. Other historians maintain that the biographical details, and Egyptian background, attributed to Moses imply the existence of a historical political and religious leader who was involved in the consolidation of the Hebrew tribes in Canaan towards the end of the Bronze Age.
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Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte (French: Napoléon Bonaparte [napoleɔ̃ bɔnɑpaʁt]) (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the latter stages of the French Revolution. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815. His legal reform, the Napoleonic Code, has been a major influence on many civil law jurisdictions worldwide, but he is best remembered for his role in the wars led against France by a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars. He established hegemony over most of continental Europe and sought to spread the ideals of the French Revolution, while consolidating an imperial monarchy which restored aspects of the deposed Ancien Régime. Due to his success in these wars, often against numerically superior enemies, he is generally regarded as one of the greatest military commanders of all time and his campaigns are studied at military academies throughout much of the world.
Napoleon was born in Corsica to parents of noble Genoese ancestry, and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France. He rose to prominence under the French First Republic and led successful campaigns against the First and Second Coalitions arrayed against France. In 1799, he staged a coup d'état and installed himself as First Consul; five years later the French Senate proclaimed him emperor. In the first decade of the 19th century, the French Empire under Napoleon engaged in a series of conflicts—the Napoleonic Wars—involving every major European power.
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Napoleon III
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (20 April 1808 – 9 January 1873) was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the emperor of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. Elected President by popular vote in 1848, he initiated a coup d'état in 1851, before ascending the throne as Napoleon III on 2 December 1852, the forty-eighth anniversary of Napoleon I's coronation. He ruled as Emperor of the French until 4 September 1870. He holds the unusual distinction of being both the first titular president and the last monarch of France.
Napoleon III is primarily remembered for an energetic foreign policy which aimed to jettison the limitations imposed on France since 1815 by the Concert of Europe and reassert French influence in Europe and abroad. A brief war against Austria in 1859 largely brought an end to the process of Italian unification. In the Near East, Napoleon III spearheaded allied action against Russia in the Crimean War and restored French presence in the Levant, claiming for France the role of protector of the Maronite Christians. A French garrison in Rome likewise secured the Papal States against annexation by Italy, defeating the Italians at Mentana and winning the support of French Catholics for Napoleon's regime.
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Nero
Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus); 15 December 37 – 9 June 68) was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death. During his reign, Nero focused much of his attention on diplomacy, trade, and enhancing the cultural life of the Empire. He ordered theaters built and promoted athletic games. During his reign, the redoubtable general Corbulo conducted a successful war and negotiated peace with the Parthian Empire. His general Suetonius Paulinus crushed a revolt in Britain and also annexed the Bosporan Kingdom to the Empire, beginning the First Roman–Jewish War.
In 64, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, which many Romans believed Nero himself had started in order to clear land for his planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. In 68, the rebellion of Vindex in Gaul and later the acclamation of Galba in Hispania drove Nero from the throne. Facing assassination, he committed suicide on 9 June 68. His death ended the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, sparking a brief period of civil wars known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Nero's rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance. He is known for many executions, including those of his mother and the probable murder by poison of his stepbrother, Britannicus.
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Nicola Salvi
Nicola Salvi or Niccolò Salvi (August 6, 1697 – February 8, 1751) was an Italian architect most famous for the Trevi fountain.{cn}}
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Nino Manfredi
Nino Manfredi (born Saturnino Manfredi, 22 March 1921 - 4 June 2004) was an Italian actor, one of the most prominent in the commedia all'italiana genre.
Born at Castro dei Volsci, province of Frosinone, Lazio, he studied law before going into acting in the theatre company featuring also Vittorio Gassman and Tino Buazzelli, especially in dramatic roles. In 1949 he played for the Piccolo Teatro di Milano under Giorgio Strehler, in tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet and The Storm. In 1952-1952 he collaborated with Eduardo De Filippo, along with Paolo Panelli and Bice Valori.
In 1962 he played the eponymous character in the musical Rugantino (see also Rugantino in the Italian Wikipedia).
He made his film debut in 1957, and later branched out into directing. He even composed songs for the soundtrack of one of his films. He continued appearing in films and on television into old age.
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Paolo Portoghesi
Paolo Portoghesi (born 2 November 1931, Rome) is an Italian architect, theorist, historian and professor of architecture at the University La Sapienza in Rome. He is a former President of the architectural section of the Venice Biennale (1979–92), Editor-in-chief of the journal Controspazio (1969–83), and dean of the Faculty of Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano university (1968–78).
Portoghesi studied architecture at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Rome, completing his studies in 1957. He began teaching the history of criticism at the same faculty in 1961. Portoghesi opened an architectural practice with architect-engineer Vittorio Gigliotti (born 1921) in Rome in 1964.
He has specialized in teaching and researching Classical architecture, especially Baroque architecture, and in particular Borromini, but also Michelangelo. His interest in more contemporary architecture coincided largely with that of his colleague in Rome, Bruno Zevi, in championing a more organic form of modernism, evident in, for instance, the work of Victor Horta and Frank Lloyd Wright, and in Italy with neorealism and the Neo-Liberty style. This attitude has continued throughout Portoghesi's career, and is clearly visible in his own architecture. It is also evident in his concern for the studies of nature, brought to the fore in his more recent book Nature and Architecture (2000).
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Pepin the Short
Pepin (or Pippin) (died 24 September 768), called the Younger (Pippin der Jüngere), was the first King of the Franks (752–768) of the Carolingian dynasty. In 741 he and his brother Carloman succeeded their father, Charles Martel, as mayors of the palace and de facto rulers of the kingdom during an interregnum (737–743). After the retirement of Carloman (747), Pepin obtained the permission of Pope Zachary to depose the last of the Merovingian kings, Childeric III, and assume the throne (752).
He is sometimes called the Short or the Little (Pépin le Bref) or, rarely the Great (Pippin der Grosse), As he was named for his grandfather, Pepin of Heristal, in turn named for his grandfather, Pepin of Landen, both mayors of the palace, Pepin the Short has sometimes been numbered Pepin III.
Pepin's father Charles Martel died in 741. He divided the rule of the Frankish kingdom between Pepin and his elder brother, Carloman, his surviving sons by his first wife: Carloman became Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, Pepin became Mayor of the Palace of Neustria. Grifo, Charles's son by his second wife, Swanahild (also known as Swanhilde), demanded a share in the inheritance, but he was imprisoned in a monastery by his two half-brothers.
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Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrybə(n)s]; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640), was a Flemish Baroque painter, and a proponent of an extravagant Baroque style that emphasised movement, colour, and sensuality. He is well-known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.
In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar, art collector, and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV, King of Spain, and Charles I, King of England.
Rubens was born in Siegen, Westphalia, to Jan Rubens and Maria Pypelincks. His father, a Calvinist, and mother fled Antwerp for Cologne in 1568, after increased religious turmoil and persecution of Protestants during the rule of the Spanish Netherlands by the Duke of Alba. Jan Rubens became the legal advisor (and lover) of Anna of Saxony, the second wife of William I of Orange, and settled at her court in Siegen in 1570. Following Jan Rubens's imprisonment for the affair, Peter Paul Rubens was born in 1577. The family returned to Cologne the next year. In 1589, two years after his father's death, Rubens moved with his mother to Antwerp, where he was raised as a Catholic. Religion figured prominently in much of his work and Rubens later became one of the leading voices of the Catholic Counter-Reformation style of painting (he had said "My passion comes from the heavens, not from earthly musings").
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Pietro Perugino
Pietro Perugino (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpjɛːtro peruˈdʒiːno]) (c. 1446/1450–1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil.
He was born Pietro Vannucci in Città della Pieve, Umbria, the son of Cristoforo Vannucci; his nickname characterizes him as from Perugia, the chief city of Umbria. Despite what stated by his biographer Giorgio Vasari, the Vannucci were one of the richest in the town. His exact date of birth is not known, although, basing on his age at the death mentioned by Vasari and Giovanni Santi, it has been dated between 1446 and 1452.
He most likely began to study painting in Perugia, in local workshops such as those of Bartolomeo Caporali or Fiorenzo di Lorenzo. The date of this first Florentine sojourn is unknown; some make it as early as 1466/1470, others push the date to 1479. According to Vasari, he apprenticed in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio alongside Leonardo da Vinci, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Lorenzo di Credi, Filippino Lippi and others. He may have learned perspective from Piero della Francesca. In 1472 he must have completed his apprenticeship, for he was enrolled as a painter in the confraternity of St Luke.
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Plautia Urgulanilla
Plautia Urgulanilla (fl. 1st century) was the first wife of the Roman Emperor Claudius. They married sometime around the year 9 CE, when Claudius was 18 years old. According to Suetonius, Claudius divorced her in 24 on grounds of adultery by Plautia and his suspicions of her involvement in the murder of her sister-in-law Apronia.
Her father was Marcus Plautius Silvanus, a general who was consul for the year 2 BC. He had been honored with a triumph.
Urgulanilla was named for her grandmother, Urgulania, a close friend of the Empress Livia Drusilla.
She gave birth to a son, Claudius Drusus, whose betrothal to a daughter of Sejanus instilled unfulfilled expectations in the prefect Claudius. Claudius Drusus died young.
Urgulanilla had a daughter, Claudia, who was born five months after her divorce from Claudius. As Claudia was widely known to be the illegitimate daughter of the freedman, Boter, Claudius repudiated the child and he had her laid at Urgulanilla's doorstep. Her adopted nephew was Tiberius Plautius Silvanus Aelianus.
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Plutarch
Plutarch (English pronunciation: /'pluːtɑːk/; Greek: Πλούταρχος, Ploútarkhos, Koine Greek: [plŭːtarkʰos]) then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus (Μέστριος Πλούταρχος),c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He was born to a prominent family in Chaeronea, Boeotia, a town about twenty miles east of Delphi.
Plutarch was born in 46 AD in the small town of Chaeronea, in the Greek region known as Boeotia. His family was wealthy. The name of Plutarch's father has not been preserved, but it was probably Nikarchus (Greek: Nίκαρχoς), from the common habit of Greek families to repeat a name in alternate generations. The name of Plutarch's grandfather was Lamprias, as he attested in Moralia and in his Life of Antony.
His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are frequently mentioned in his essays and dialogues, where Timon is spoken of in the most affectionate terms. Rualdus, in his 1624 work Life of Plutarchus, recovered the name of Plutarch's wife, Timoxena, from internal evidence afforded by his writings. A letter is still extant, addressed by Plutarch to his wife, bidding her not give way to excessive grief at the death of their two year old daughter, who was named Timoxena after her mother. Interestingly, he hinted at a belief in reincarnation in that letter of consolation.
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Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus (Ancient Greek: Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, Pontios Pīlātos), known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate ( /ˈpɒntʃəs ˈpaɪlət/(US), /ˈpɒnti.əs ˈpaɪlət/ (UK)), was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus. As prefect, he served under Emperor Tiberius.
The sources for Pilate's life are the four canonical gospels, Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, a brief mention by Tacitus, and an inscription known as the Pilate Stone, which confirms his historicity and establishes his title as prefect. Based on these sources, it appears that Pilate was an equestrian of the Pontii family, and succeeded Valerius Gratus as prefect of Judaea in AD 26. Once in his post he offended the religious sensibilities of his subjects, leading to harsh criticism from Philo and Josephus. According to Josephus, he was ordered back to Rome after harshly suppressing a Samaritan uprising, arriving just after the death of Tiberius, which occurred on 16 March in the year 37. He was replaced by Marcellus.
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Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI (Spanish: Alejandro VI, or Alexander Sextus), born Roderic Llançol i de Borja (Spanish: Rodrigo Lanzol; 1 January 1431 – 18 August 1503) was pope (Bishop of Rome) from 1492 until his death in 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his Italianized surname Borgia became a byword for libertinism and nepotism, which are traditionally considered as characterizing his papacy. However, his reputation is mostly drawn from his enemies, the Italian prelates and barons whose power he subverted. Two of Alexander's successors, Sixtus V and Urban VIII, described him as one of the most outstanding popes since St. Peter. His reputation rests more on his considerable skills as a diplomat, politician and civil administrator rather than as a pastor, although regarding the latter he was no more or less effective than any of the other renaissance pontiffs.
Rodrigo Llançol was born on 1 January 1431 in the town of Xàtiva in the Kingdom of Valencia, one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon, in present-day Spain. His parents were the Valencian Jofré Llançol i Escrivà (died bef. 24 March 1437) and his wife and distant cousin the Aragonese Isabel de Borja y Cavanilles (died 19 October 1468). His family name is written Llançol in Valencian and Lanzol in Spanish. Rodrigo adopted his mother's family name of Borja in 1455 following the elevation to the papacy of his maternal uncle Alonso de Borja (Italianized to Alfonso Borgia) as Calixtus III.
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Pope Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV (31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was Pope from 17 August 1740 to 3 May 1758.
Lambertini was born into a noble family of Bologna, which was at that time the second largest city in the Papal States. He was created Cardinal-Priest of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme on 10 May 1728 and was elected Pope in 1740. The conclave that elected him had lasted for six months, and he is reported to have said to the cardinals: "If you wish to elect a saint, choose Gotti; a statesman, Aldrovandi; an honest man, me". His Papacy began in a time of great difficulties, chiefly caused by the disputes between Catholic rulers and the Papacy about governmental demands to nominate bishops rather than leaving the appointment to the Church. He managed to overcome most of these problems — the Holy See's disputes with the Kingdom of Naples, Sardinia, Spain, Venice, and Austria were settled.
He had a very active papacy, reforming the education of priests, the calendar of feasts of the Church, and many papal institutions. Perhaps the most important act of Benedict XIV's pontificate was the promulgation of his famous laws about missions in the two bulls, Ex quo singulari and Omnium solicitudinum. In these bulls he ruled on the custom of accommodating Christian words and usages to express non-Christian ideas and practices of the native cultures, which had been extensively done by the Jesuits in their Indian and Chinese missions.
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Pope Clement VII
Clement VII (26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534), born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, was a cardinal from 1513 to 1523 and was Pope from 1523 to 1534.
He was born in Florence one month after his father's death. His father, Giuliano de' Medici, had been assassinated. Although his parents had not had a formal marriage, a canon law loophole allowing for the parents to have been betrothed per sponsalia de presenti meant that Giulio was considered legitimate. He was thus the nephew of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who educated him in his youth. Clement's mother, Fioretta Gorini, also died leaving him an orphan.
Giulio was made a Knight of Rhodes and Grand Prior of Capua, and, upon the election of his cousin Giovanni de' Medici to the pontificate as Leo X (1513–21), he soon became a powerful figure in Rome. Upon his cousin's accession to the papacy, Giulio became his principal minister and confidant, especially in the maintenance of the Medici interest at Florence as archbishop of that city. On 23 September 1513, he was made cardinal and he was consecrated on 29 September. He had the credit of being the main director of papal policy during the whole of Leo X's pontificate, especially as cardinal protector of England. He was also the titular Bishop of Worcester in the county of Worcestershire in England as Administrator or the See of Worcester.
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Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II (5 December 1443 – 21 February 1513), nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" (Il Papa Terribile) and "The Warrior Pope" (Il Papa Guerriero), born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513. His papacy was marked by an active foreign policy, ambitious building projects, and patronage for the arts.
There is disagreement about Julius' date of birth. Some sources put his birth as late as 1453. Giuliano della Rovere was the son of Rafaello della Rovere brother of Pope Sixtus IV and of Theodora Manerola, a lady of Greek extraction. Giuliano was an altar boy of his uncle Pope Sixtus IV (Francesco della Rovere). He was educated among the Franciscans by his uncle, who took him under his special charge and later sent him to a convent in La Pérouse with the purpose of obtaining knowledge of the sciences. However, he does not appear to have joined the order of St. Francis, but rather remained a member of the secular clergy until his elevation to bishop of Carpentras, France, in 1471; very shortly after his uncle succeeded to the papal chair.
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Pope Leo III
Pope Saint Leo III (750 – 12 June 816) was Pope from 795 to his death in 816. Protected by Charlemagne from his enemies in Rome, he subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position by crowning him as Roman Emperor.
Leo, who was of non-noble birth, had risen in the hierarchy of Rome and was elected Pope only one day after the burial of his predecessor, Pope Adrian I, who had worked for good relations between Rome and the Frankish Empire under Charlemagne. Leo announced his election to Charlemagne, sending him the keys of Saint Peter's tomb and the banner of Rome, requesting an envoy. Charlemagne's reply stated that it was his function to defend the Church, and the function of the Pope to pray for the realm and for the victory of his army.
Leo aroused the hostility of Rome's nobility, who saw the papal post as reserved only for noble candidates. During his rule, he was accused of adultery and perjury. In April 799, he was attacked by a gang who unsuccessfully attempted to gouge out his eyes and cut off his tongue for his earlier actions, only to be saved by Magnus Forteman and 700 Frisian nobles of his army. He was then formally deposed and sent to a monastery, but escaped and made his way to Paderborn, where he met Charlemagne.
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Pope Leo IV
Pope Saint Leo IV was pope from 10 April 847 to 17 July 855.
A Roman by birth, he was unanimously chosen to succeed Sergius II. When he was elected, on 10 April 847, he was cardinal of Santi Quattro Coronati and had been subdeacon of Gregory IV and archpriest under his predecessor. His pontificate was chiefly distinguished by his efforts to repair the damage done by the Saracens during the reign of his predecessor to various churches of the city, especially those of St Peter and St Paul.
The Saracens were besieging Gaeta, which led to Leo's order that the walls of the city be restored and strengthened between 848 and 849. When the Muslims approached Portus, he summoned the Repubbliche Marinare (or mariner cities of Italy) – Naples, Gaeta and Amalfi – to form a league. The command of the unified fleet was given to Cesarius, son of Duke Sergius I of Naples. The subsequent Battle of Ostia was one of the most famous in history of the papacy of the Middle Ages and is celebrated in a famous fresco by Raphael and his pupils in his Rooms of the Vatican Palace in the Vatican City. Another episode of Leo's life celebrated by the Urbinate in his series of frescoes for the Incendio di Borgo is the burning of the Anglo-Saxon district of Rome (the "Borgo"), which, according to the legend, was stopped by Leo simply making the sign of the cross.
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Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X (11 December 1475 – 1 December 1521), born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, was the Pope from 1513 to his death in 1521. He was the last non-priest (only a deacon) to be elected Pope. He is known for granting indulgences for those who donated to reconstruct St. Peter's Basilica and his challenging of Martin Luther's 95 Theses. He was the second son of Lorenzo de' Medici, the most famous ruler of the Florentine Republic, and Clarice Orsini. His cousin, Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, would later succeed him as Pope Clement VII (1523–34).
Giovanni di Lorenzo de Medici was born in Italy, the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, head of the Florentine Republic, and Clarice Orsini.
From an very early age, he was destined for an ecclesiastical career. He received the tonsure at the age of seven and was soon loaded with rich benefices and preferments. His father prevailed on his relative Innocent VIII to name him cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria in Domnica on 8 March 1489, although he was not allowed to wear the insignia or share in the deliberations of the college until three years later. Meanwhile he received a distinguished education at Lorenzo's brilliant humanistic court under such men as Angelo Poliziano, Pico della Mirandola, Marsilio Ficino and Bernardo Dovizio Bibbiena. From 1489 to 1491 he studied theology and canon law at Pisa under Filippo Decio and Bartolomeo Sozzini.
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Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III (29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation. During his reign, and in the spirit of the Counter-Reformation, new Catholic religious orders and societies, such as the Jesuits, the Theatines, the Barnabites and the Congregation of the Oratory, attracted a popular following and he convened the Council of Trent in 1545. He was a significant patron of the arts and employed nepotism to advance the power and fortunes of his family. It is to Pope Paul III that Nicolaus Copernicus dedicated De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres).
Born in 1468 at Canino, Latium (then part of the Papal States), Alessandro Farnese was the oldest son of Pier Luigi I Farnese, Signore di Montalto (1435–1487) and his wife Giovanna Caetani, a member of the Caetani family which had also produced Pope Boniface VIII. The Farnese family had prospered over the centuries but it was Alessandro’s ascendency to the papacy and his dedication to furthering family interests which saw the vastly significant increase in the family’s wealth and power.
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Pope Pius IV
Pius IV (31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was Pope from 1559 to 1565. He is notable for presiding over the culmination of the Council of Trent.
Giovanni Angelo Medici was born of humble parentage in Milan, distantly related to the Medicis of Florence. His early career connects itself in some measure with the rise of his elder brother, Gian Giacomo Medici, from the position of a mere bravo to that of Marchese di Marignano.
After studying at Bologna and acquiring a reputation as a jurist, he went in 1527 to Rome, and as the favourite of Pope Paul III was rapidly promoted to the governorship of several towns, the archbishopric of Ragusa, the vice-legateship of Bologna, and in April 1549, to the cardinalate. On the death of Pope Paul IV, he was elected Pope Pius IV on 25 December 1559, and installed on 6 January 1560. His first public acts of importance were to grant a general pardon to the participators in the riot which had closed the previous pontificate, and to bring to trial the nephews of his predecessor, of whom Cardinal Carlo Carafa was strangled, and Duke Giovanni Carafa of Paliano, with his nearest connections, beheaded.
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Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX (13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878), born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal infallibility. The Pope defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, meaning that Mary was conceived without original sin. Pius IX also granted the Marian title of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, a famous Byzantine icon from Crete entrusted to the Redemptorist priests. In addition to this, Pius IX was also the last Pope to rule as the Sovereign of the Papal States, which fell completely to Italian nationalist armies by 1870 and were incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy. He was beatified in 2000.
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Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII (baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions. However, the massive debts incurred during his papacy greatly weakened his successors, who were unable to maintain the papacy's longstanding political and military influence in Europe. He was also involved in a controversy with Galileo and his theory on heliocentrism during his reign.
Maffeo Barberini was born in 1568 into the wealthy merchant Barberini family in Florence, Italy. He was educated by the Jesuits and received a doctorate of law from the University of Pisa in 1589.
In 1601, Maffeo, through the influence of an uncle who had become apostolic protonotary, was able to secure from Clement VIII, the appointment as papal legate to the court of King Henry IV of France. In 1604 Clement VIII appointed him archbishop of Nazareth, although this was an honorary position as the Holy Land was under Turkish rule. On the death of his uncle, he inherited his riches, with which he bought a palace in Rome which he made a luxurious Renaissance residence.
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Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (April 6 or March 28, 1483 – April 6, 1520), better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period.
Raphael was enormously productive, running an unusually large workshop, and despite his death at 37, a large body of his work remains. Many of his works are found in the Apostolic Palace of The Vatican, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, and the largest, work of his career. The best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was self-designed, but for the most part executed by the workshop from his drawings, with considerable loss of quality. He was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. After his death, the influence of his great rival Michelangelo was more widespread until the 18th and 19th centuries, when Raphael's more serene and harmonious qualities were again regarded as the highest models. His career falls naturally into three phases and three styles, first described by Giorgio Vasari: his early years in Umbria, then a period of about four years (from 1504–1508) absorbing the artistic traditions of Florence, followed by his last hectic and triumphant twelve years in Rome, working for two Popes and their close associates.
wn.com/Raphael -
Renzo Piano
Renzo Piano, Ufficiale OMRI (born 14 September 1937 in Genoa) is an Italian Pritzker Prize-winning architect. Architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff said of Piano's works that the "...serenity of his best buildings can almost make you believe that we live in a civilized world."
In 2006, Piano was selected by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He was selected as the 10th most influential person in the "Arts and Entertainment" category of the 2006 Time 100.
Piano was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1937 into a family of builders. He was educated and subsequently taught at the Politecnico di Milano. He graduated from the University in 1964 and began working with experimental lightweight structures and basic shelters. From 1965 to 1970 he worked with Louis Kahn and Z.S. Makowsky. He worked together with Richard Rogers from 1971 to 1977; their most famous joint project is the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (1977). He also had a long collaboration with the engineer Peter Rice, with whom he shared a practice (L'Atelier Piano and Rice) between 1977 and 1981.
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Ridolfo Ghirlandaio
Ridolfo Ghirlandaio (or Ghirlandajo) (14 February 1483 – 6 June 1561) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Florence, the son of Domenico Ghirlandaio.
He was born in Florence. Being less than eleven years old when his father died, Ridolfo was brought up by his uncle Davide Ghirlandaio, a painter of moderate talents. Vasari states that Ridolfo trained under Fra Bartolomeo.
His works between the dates 1504 and 1508 show a marked influence from Fra Bartolomeo and Raphael, with whom he was friends. From Rome in 1508, Raphael asked Ridolfo to join him; but the Florentine painter stayed. In Florence, he became one of the prominent painters of altarpieces, frescoes, and portraits.
He was prominent in the execution of vast scenic canvases for various public occasions, such as the wedding of Giuliano de' Medici, and the entry of Leo X into Florence in 1515. In his prime he was honest and conscientious as an artist; but from about 1527 he declined, having already accumulated a handsome property, more than sufficient for maintaining in affluence his large family of fifteen children, and his works became comparatively mannered and repetitive. His sons traded in France and in Ferrara; he himself took a part in commercial affairs, and began paying some attention to mosaic work, but it seems that, after completing one mosaic, the Annunciation over the door of the Annunziata Basilica, patience failed him for continuing such minute labours. In his old age Ridolfo was greatly disabled by gout. He appears to have been of a kindly, easy-going character, much regarded by his friends and patrons.
wn.com/Ridolfo_Ghirlandaio -
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period (starting at about 27 BC). The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor. If a man was "proclaimed emperor" this normally meant he was proclaimed augustus, or (for generals) imperator (from which English emperor ultimately derives). Several other titles and offices were regularly accumulated by emperors, such as caesar, princeps senatus, consul and Pontifex Maximus. The power of emperors was generally based on the accumulation of powers from republican offices and the support of the army.
Roman emperors refused to be considered "kings", instead claiming to be leaders of a republic, however nominal. The first emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically Republican, his successor, Tiberius, could not convincingly make the same claim. Nonetheless, the Republican institutional framework (senate, consuls, magistracies etc.) was preserved until the very end of the Western Empire.
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Romani people
The Romani are an ethnic group living mostly in Europe, who trace their origins to the Indian Subcontinent. Romani are widely known in the English-speaking world by the exonym Gypsies (or Gipsies).
They are known collectively in the Romani language as Romane or Rromane (depending on the dialect concerned) and also as Romany, Romanies, Romanis, Roma or Roms.
Romani are widely dispersed, with their largest concentrated populations in Europe, especially the Roma of Central and Eastern Europe and Anatolia, followed by the Kale of Iberia and Southern France.
The Americas are also home to large numbers of Romani. There are an estimated one million Roma in the United States; 800,000 in Brazil, to which Kale were deported by the government of Portugal during the colonial era; and in more recent migrations, Romani have also moved to other parts of the New World.
The Romani language is divided into several dialects, which add up to an estimated number of speakers larger than two million. The total number of Romani people is at least twice as large (several times as large according to high estimates). Many Romani are native speakers of the language current in their country of residence, or of mixed languages combining the two.
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Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus are the twin brothers and central characters of Rome's foundation myth. Their mother was Rhea Silvia, daughter to Numitor, king of Alba Longa. Before their conception, Numitor's brother Amulius had seized power, killed Numitor's male heirs and forced Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin, sworn to chastity. Rhea Silvia conceived the twins by the god Mars, or by the demi-god Hercules; once the twins were born, Amulius had them abandoned to die in the river Tiber. They were saved by a series of miraculous interventions: the river carried them to safety, a she-wolf found and suckled them, and a woodpecker fed them. A shepherd and his wife found and fostered them to manhood, as simple shepherds. The twins, still ignorant of their true origins, were natural leaders. Each acquired many followers. When they discovered the truth of their birth, they killed Amulius and restored Numitor to his throne. Rather than wait to inherit Alba Longa they chose to found a new city.
Romulus wanted to found a city on the Palatine Hill; Remus preferred the Aventine Hill. They agreed to determine the site through augury but when each claimed the results in his own favor, they quarreled and Remus was killed. Romulus founded the new city, named it Rome, after himself, and created its first legions and senate. The new city grew rapidly, swelled by landless refugees; as most were unmarried, Romulus arranged the abduction of women from the neighboring Sabines. The ensuing war ended with the joining of Sabines and Romans as one Roman people. Thanks to divine favour and Romulus' inspired leadership, Rome became a dominant force, but Romulus himself became increasingly autocratic, and disappeared or died in mysterious circumstances. In later forms of the myth, he ascended to heaven, and was identified with Quirinus, the divine personification of the Roman people.
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Sabines
The Sabines (/ˈseɪbaɪn/; Latin: Sabini; Ancient Greek: Σαβῖνοι) were an Italic tribe that lived in the central Appennines of ancient Italy, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The above names, English, Latin and Greek, are all exonyms.
The Sabine language is scantily attested, mainly by glosses of ancient commentators on classical authors and inscriptions, where the commentator gives an alternative word he says is the Sabine. In recent times one or possibly two Sabine inscriptions have been tentatively identified. Based on all the evidence the Linguist List classifies Sabine, again tentatively, as a member of the Umbrian Group of Italic languages of Indo-European family.
The Sabines divided into two populations just after the founding of Rome, which is described by Roman legend. The division, however it came about, is not legendary. The population closest to Rome transplanted itself to the new city and united with the pre-existing citizenry, beginning a new heritage that descended from the Sabine but was also Latinized. The second population remained a mountain tribal state, coming finally to war against Rome for their independence, along with all the other Italic tribes, losing, and being assimilated into the Roman Republic.
wn.com/Sabines -
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader and one of the twelve apostles of Jesus who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles and who is venerated as a saint. The son of John or of Jonah, he was from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee or Gaulanitis. His brother Andrew was also an apostle. Peter is venerated in multiple churches and is regarded as the first Pope by the Catholic Church. After working to establish the church of Antioch, presiding for seven years as the leader of the city's Christian community, he preached to scattered communities of believers, Jews, Hebrew Christians and the gentiles, in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia Minor and Bithynia.[citation needed] He then went to Rome, where in the second year of Claudius, it is claimed, he overthrew Simon Magus and held the Sacerdotal Chair for 25 years.[citation needed] He is said to have been put to death at the hand of Emperor Nero.
Peter wrote two General epistles. The Gospel of Mark is also ascribed to him (as Mark was his disciple and interpreter). On the other hand, several books bearing his name—the Acts of Peter, Gospel of Peter, Preaching of Peter, Revelation of Peter, and Judgement of Peter—are rejected by the Catholic Church as Apocryphal.
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Sandro Botticelli
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsandro bottiˈtʃɛlli]; c. 1445 – May 17, 1510) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. He belonged to the Florentine school under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici, a movement that Giorgio Vasari would characterize less than a hundred years later as a "golden age", a thought, suitably enough, he expressed at the head of his Vita of Botticelli. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century; since then his work has been seen to represent the linear grace of Early Renaissance painting. Among his best known works are The Birth of Venus and Primavera.
There are very few details of Botticelli's life, but it is known that he became an apprentice when he was about fourteen years old, which would indicate that he received a fuller education than other Renaissance artists. He was born in the city of Florence in a house in the Via Nuova, Borg'Ognissanti. Vasari reported that he was initially trained as a goldsmith by his brother Antonio. Probably by 1462 he was apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi; many of his early works have been attributed to the elder master, and attributions continue to be uncertain. Influenced also by the monumentality of Masaccio's painting, it was from Lippi that Botticelli learned a more intimate and detailed manner. As recently discovered, during this time, Botticelli could have traveled to Hungary, participating in the creation of a fresco in Esztergom, ordered in the workshop of Filippo Lippi by János Vitéz, then archbishop of Hungary.[citation needed]
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Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt ( /ˈroʊzəvɛlt/ ROH-zə-velt; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919) was the 26th President of the United States of America (1901–1909). He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the short-lived Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party of 1912. Before becoming President, he held offices at the city, state, and federal levels. Roosevelt's achievements as a naturalist, explorer, hunter, author, and soldier are as much a part of his fame as any office he held as a politician. Roosevelt was 42 years old when sworn in as President of the United States in 1901, making him the youngest president ever; he beat out the youngest elected president, John F. Kennedy, by only one year. Roosevelt was also one of only three sitting presidents to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the other two being Woodrow Wilson and Barack Obama.
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Trajan
Trajan ( /ˈtreɪdʒən/; Latin: Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus Augustus; 18 September 53 – 9 August 117), was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against a revolt on the Rhine led by Antonius Saturninus.
In September 96, Domitian was succeeded by Marcus Cocceius Nerva, an old and childless senator who proved to be unpopular with the army. After a brief and tumultuous year in power, a revolt by members of the Praetorian Guard compelled him to adopt the more popular Trajan as his heir and successor. Nerva died on 27 January 98, and was succeeded by his adopted son without incident.
As a civilian administrator, Trajan is best known for his extensive public building program which reshaped the city of Rome and left multiple enduring landmarks such as Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Market and Trajan's Column. Early in his reign, he annexed the Nabataean kingdom, creating the province of Arabia Petraea. His conquest of Dacia enriched the empire greatly — the new province possessed many valuable gold mines.
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Trilussa
Carlo Alberto Salustri (Rome, 1873-1950) was an Italian dialect poet, better known by his pen name of Trilussa (an anagram of “Salustri”). He is best known for the poems, some of them sonnets, written in the dialect of Rome.
Trilussa lived a very poor childhood, as his father had died when he was only three years old. After irregular studies, he made a very early poetical debut in 1887 on the Rugantino magazine directed by Alfredo Zanazzo. Later he wrote also for Don Chisciotte, Capitan Fracassa, Il Messaggero and Il Travaso delle idee. His first collection, Le stelle de Roma ("Rome's Stars"), is from 1889
Trilussa's fame grew in the 1920s and 1930s, though he was not a part of any literary circle, preferring to be in the streets and taverns, which were the source of his inspiration. His poetry features the petite bourgeoisie of Rome: the housewife, the store clerk, the servant, but also contain strong satirical denunciations against governments and the vices of rich people. Some of the sonnets are Aesop-like moralistic fables. Trilussa's own sketches and drawings were featured alongside his poetry.
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Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably through Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey. The Iliad relates a part of the last year of the siege of Troy; the Odyssey describes Odysseus's journey home. Other parts of the war are contained in a cycle of epic poems, which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid.
The war originated from a quarrel between the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite, after Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, gave them a golden apple, sometimes known as the Apple of Discord, marked "for the fairest". Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris, who judged that Aphrodite, as the "fairest", should receive the apple. In exchange, Aphrodite made Helen, the most beautiful of all women and wife of Menelaus, fall in love with Paris, who took her to Troy. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and the brother of Helen's husband Menelaus, led an expedition of Achaean troops to Troy and besieged the city for ten years because of Paris' insult. After the deaths of many heroes, including the Achaeans Achilles and Ajax, and the Trojans Hector and Paris, the city fell to the ruse of the Trojan Horse. The Achaeans slaughtered the Trojans (except for some of the women and children whom they kept or sold as slaves) and desecrated the temples, thus earning the gods' wrath. Few of the Achaeans returned safely to their homes and many founded colonies in distant shores. The Romans later traced their origin to Aeneas, one of the Trojans, who was said to have led the surviving Trojans to modern day Italy.
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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.
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William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was the 27th President of the United States (1909–1913) and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States (1921–1930). He is the only person to have served in both of these two offices.
Before becoming President, Taft was selected to serve on the Ohio Superior Court in 1887. In 1890, Taft was appointed Solicitor General of the United States and in 1891 a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. In 1900, President William McKinley appointed Taft Governor-General of the Philippines. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Taft Secretary of War in an effort to groom Taft, then his close political ally, into his handpicked presidential successor. Taft assumed a prominent role in problem solving, assuming on some occasions the role of acting Secretary of State, while declining repeated offers from Roosevelt to serve on the Supreme Court.
Riding a wave of popular support for fellow Republican Roosevelt, Taft won an easy victory in his 1908 bid for the presidency.
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Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913. Running against Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party candidate Theodore Roosevelt and Republican candidate William Howard Taft, Wilson was elected President as a Democrat in 1912.
In his first term as President, Wilson persuaded a Democratic Congress to pass major progressive reforms. Historian John M. Cooper argues that, in his first term, Wilson successfully pushed a legislative agenda that few presidents have equaled, and remained unmatched up until the New Deal. This agenda included the Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission Act, the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Federal Farm Loan Act and an income tax. Child labor was curtailed by the Keating–Owen Act of 1916, but the U.S. Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1918. He also had Congress pass the Adamson Act, which imposed an 8-hour workday for railroads. Wilson, after first sidestepping the issue, became a major advocate for the women's suffrage.
wn.com/Woodrow_Wilson
RELEASE
ALBUMS
- The Chronicles of Kronstadt
- The Angry Brigade
- The Spanish Drummer
- To Teach Obedience
- The Death of Longing
- Our Holy Rue
- The Night-Born
- The Pyre Glade
- In Cruel Fire
- A Pact of Blood
- The Merchant Fleet
- A Cross of Wheat
- L'homme revolte
- Les deracines
- Le Châtiment du Traître
- L'assassin
- Le vertige du vide
- Les exigences de la foi
- La commune
- Sous la dague
- Les îles noires
- Un adieu a la folie
- La rose et la hache
- Chanson de gestes
- To a Generation of Destroyers
- The Accidents of Gesture
- Odessa
- The Secret Sons of Europe
- The Hollow Self
- A Legacy of Unrest
- To Die Among Strangers
- A Culture of Fragments
- We Who Fell in Love With the Sea
- Swords to Rust - Hearts to Dust
- Flowers From Exile
- Flight in Formation
- Sonnengötter
- Der Brandtaucher
- Das Feuerordal
- Der Tote Spielmann
- Wir Götter der Stadt
- Die Nelke
- Der Erscheinungen Flucht
- Die Brandstifter
- Kriegsgötter
- Wir Moorsoldaten
- Neue Erinnerung
- Nachtklang
- Ni dieu ni maitre
- The Consolation of Man
- Le carillon
- Der Wolfsmantel
- Querkraft
- The Torture Detachment
- Le voile de l'oubli
- The Joys of Stealth
- This Twisted Crown
- Novemberblut
- Wilde Lager
- L'adieu aux anciens
- I Belong to You (Every Time I See Your Face)
- Do You Like This
- Crazy Love
- I Gotta Be Down
- That's The Way I Feel About Cha'
- Do Me Right
- Let Me Come Home
- Never Find Another Love Like Mine
- Feelin' Kinda Good
- Real Joy
- Der Zeitsturm
- A Burden of Flowers
- Reversion
- A la faveur de la nuit
- Das Unbedingte
- Rape Blossoms
- Beasts of Prey
- The Blade Unmasked
- Hope Dies Painless
- Nera
- Birds of Prey
- Les Hirondelles
- I Belong to You (Every Time I See Your Face)
- Do You Like This
- Crazy Love
- Just Once, Once More, Three Times
- I Gotta Be Down
- Do Me Right
- That's the Way I Feel About 'cha
- Real Love
- Feelin' Kinda Good
- Let Me Come Home
- Never Find Another Love Like Mine
- Real Joy
- Heaven
- Leaving Perdition
- Intermodal
- Lunar White
- She's a Black Belt
- Rohm
- Radiolucence (version)
- Deepest Laws
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Red Bull X-Fighters 2011 Rome Post Event Show
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:42
- Updated: 03 Jan 2013
Rome, Italy -- The wave would not stop rolling through the Stadio Olimpico crowd as Nate Adams and Andre Villa were revving up for the start of the final showdown battle on two wheels. When it finally did, Adams got off 18 flawless jumps within the 120-second time limit to win over the five-member gladiator jury, picking up his fifth victory in the 11-year history of the Red Bull X-Fighters. "Now I'm going for the Tour title," the 27-year-old American said afterwards. "It was the most difficult win in my career after I had a crash in Qualifying." On the biggest FMX course ever built in Italy -- with 11 kickers and 8 dirt landings -- the athletes pushed themselves to their limits, jumping distances of up to 30 meters and as high as 15 meters. Co-favorite Dany Torres (ESP), who won in Rome last year, sent a shiver through the big crowd when he crashed at the end of a botched landing in the second round. His bike veered off the course and into a barrier. "I came here with five broken bones that weren't quite healed but nevertheless won the Qualifying round," he said. Check out www.RedBull.com for more X-Fighters action
http://wn.com/Red_Bull_X-Fighters_2011_Rome_Post_Event_Show
Rome, Italy -- The wave would not stop rolling through the Stadio Olimpico crowd as Nate Adams and Andre Villa were revving up for the start of the final showdown battle on two wheels. When it finally did, Adams got off 18 flawless jumps within the 120-second time limit to win over the five-member gladiator jury, picking up his fifth victory in the 11-year history of the Red Bull X-Fighters. "Now I'm going for the Tour title," the 27-year-old American said afterwards. "It was the most difficult win in my career after I had a crash in Qualifying." On the biggest FMX course ever built in Italy -- with 11 kickers and 8 dirt landings -- the athletes pushed themselves to their limits, jumping distances of up to 30 meters and as high as 15 meters. Co-favorite Dany Torres (ESP), who won in Rome last year, sent a shiver through the big crowd when he crashed at the end of a botched landing in the second round. His bike veered off the course and into a barrier. "I came here with five broken bones that weren't quite healed but nevertheless won the Qualifying round," he said. Check out www.RedBull.com for more X-Fighters action
Rome Total War Online Battle #2062: FFA (post commentary)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 29:04
- Updated: 24 Feb 2013
Time for a Free-For-All battle (involving 6 players). The video is live, but the commentary was added after the game. The reason for this is because my microphone was turned off when I fought this battle lol THE COMMANDERS: - Prince_of_Macedon (SELEUCIDS) - Solstice (MACEDON) - MoreMilan77 (ARMENIA) - Thyki (BRUTII ROME) - Bonbonhunter (SCIPII ROME) - nolonger (GERMANIA) MAP: Nordic Woodlands VICTORY CONDITIONS: Last Man Standing RULES: CWB DENARII: 10000
http://wn.com/Rome_Total_War_Online_Battle_2062_FFA_post_commentary
Time for a Free-For-All battle (involving 6 players). The video is live, but the commentary was added after the game. The reason for this is because my microphone was turned off when I fought this battle lol THE COMMANDERS: - Prince_of_Macedon (SELEUCIDS) - Solstice (MACEDON) - MoreMilan77 (ARMENIA) - Thyki (BRUTII ROME) - Bonbonhunter (SCIPII ROME) - nolonger (GERMANIA) MAP: Nordic Woodlands VICTORY CONDITIONS: Last Man Standing RULES: CWB DENARII: 10000
- published: 07 Feb 2013
- views: 15542
- author: PrinceofMacedon
Red Bull X-Fighters 2010 Rome - Ronnie Renner's post show Renner Awards
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:19
- Updated: 19 Jan 2013
Hosted by the one and only Ronnie Renner, The Renner Awards takes a lighthearted look over the awesome year of the X-Fighters 2010 Tour. The highlights feature some of the years best tricks, runs and celebrations from the worlds best FMX riders including Nate Adams, Andre Villa, Adam Jones, Levi Sherwood and Robbie Maddison. See more X-Fighters at RedBullXFighters.com
http://wn.com/Red_Bull_X-Fighters_2010_Rome_Ronnie_Renner's_post_show_Renner_Awards
Hosted by the one and only Ronnie Renner, The Renner Awards takes a lighthearted look over the awesome year of the X-Fighters 2010 Tour. The highlights feature some of the years best tricks, runs and celebrations from the worlds best FMX riders including Nate Adams, Andre Villa, Adam Jones, Levi Sherwood and Robbie Maddison. See more X-Fighters at RedBullXFighters.com
- published: 12 Oct 2010
- views: 40597
- author: redbull
Federer Press Conference Rome (post Gulbis)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:10
- Updated: 18 May 2012
The World No. 1 saved six match points but it wasn't enough as he lost to Ernests Gulbis. Visit www.tennistv.com to watch the remainder of the action this week from the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome.
http://wn.com/Federer_Press_Conference_Rome_post_Gulbis
The World No. 1 saved six match points but it wasn't enough as he lost to Ernests Gulbis. Visit www.tennistv.com to watch the remainder of the action this week from the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome.
- published: 28 Apr 2010
- views: 11529
- author: ATP
Alan Watt [22th Sept 2011] - Club of Rome says We're Post-Democratic
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 46:41
- Updated: 19 Dec 2012
Article Links at www.cuttingthroughthematrix.com
http://wn.com/Alan_Watt_22th_Sept_2011_Club_of_Rome_says_We're_Post-Democratic
Article Links at www.cuttingthroughthematrix.com
- published: 23 Sep 2011
- views: 718
- author: GoodFightUK
Let's Play Rome Total War - 107 (Taking Stock Of Our Post Progress Progressionthon)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 32:52
- Updated: 21 Feb 2013
Thong? No. Progress-o-thon. We made some PROGRESS! The impact wasn't really major though. OH WELL.
http://wn.com/Let's_Play_Rome_Total_War_107_Taking_Stock_Of_Our_Post_Progress_Progressionthon
Thong? No. Progress-o-thon. We made some PROGRESS! The impact wasn't really major though. OH WELL.
- published: 19 Feb 2011
- views: 13066
- author: jefmajor
Gold Ring - Metal Detecting find - UK (not Roman, but Post Medieval)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:19
- Updated: 23 Dec 2012
On my third metal detecting holiday in Essex I found this nice gold ring. It has enameling on the outside and an inscription on the inside. It reads: "LEI TRVTEE ADVANCE. ECHE. FORTVNES CHAVNG" This ring is now in the collections of the Colchester Museum.
http://wn.com/Gold_Ring_Metal_Detecting_find_UK_not_Roman,_but_Post_Medieval
On my third metal detecting holiday in Essex I found this nice gold ring. It has enameling on the outside and an inscription on the inside. It reads: "LEI TRVTEE ADVANCE. ECHE. FORTVNES CHAVNG" This ring is now in the collections of the Colchester Museum.
- published: 14 Mar 2010
- views: 14459
- author: cjpenning
Civilization 5: Rome ep. 28 "Post War Plans"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:14
- Updated: 22 Feb 2013
Boys, Remember to Like
http://wn.com/Civilization_5_Rome_ep_28_Post_War_Plans
Rome : Total War HD Online Commentary Battle 77 Two Battles with Belle
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 14:33
- Updated: 18 Feb 2013
Well I get to knock out two request from my viewers here: post a battle playing as Gaul vs Rome and post a loss. Sorry for the spoiler. Bell is a great player (much better than myself) and makes good youtube videos. Click the link to check them out. She posted our two battles as well. www.youtube.com Hope you enjoy and learn some lessons here!
http://wn.com/Rome_Total_War_HD_Online_Commentary_Battle_77_Two_Battles_with_Belle
Well I get to knock out two request from my viewers here: post a battle playing as Gaul vs Rome and post a loss. Sorry for the spoiler. Bell is a great player (much better than myself) and makes good youtube videos. Click the link to check them out. She posted our two battles as well. www.youtube.com Hope you enjoy and learn some lessons here!
- published: 08 Mar 2011
- views: 9467
- author: HeirofCarthage
DE ROSSI POST CP ITALIA (Roma Channel)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:39
- Updated: 08 Feb 2013
DE ROSSI POST CP ITALIA (Roma Channel)
http://wn.com/DE_ROSSI_POST_CP_ITALIA_Roma_Channel
Roma Citta Libera
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:02
- Updated: 18 Oct 2011
Post-war Rome is the setting for this lyrical and heartbreaking character study of bitterness, loneliness and reconciliation in the months following Italy's liberation by the Allies. On a rainy night in the heart of the city, a cat burglar (Nando Bruno of ROME, OPEN CITY) inadvertently saves the life of a would-be suicide (BLACK SUNDAY's Andrea Checchi), despondent over having been betrayed by his fiancée while fighting in the war. Joining the avuncular thief for a night of misadventure, the young man intervenes in the arrest of an impoverished typist (Valentina Cortese, of Fellini's JULIET OF THE SPIRITS) who has turned to prostitution to pay for her boardinghouse room. Ducking out of the rain into a coffee bar, the strangers share hard luck stories over cognac and encounter a distinguished amnesiac (THE BICYCLE THIEF writer-director Vittorio De Sica), begging to be told who he is. When the new friends find themselves invited to an illegal private casino, old lovers are reunited, old grudges are revived and first love is given a second chance.
http://wn.com/Roma_Citta_Libera
Post-war Rome is the setting for this lyrical and heartbreaking character study of bitterness, loneliness and reconciliation in the months following Italy's liberation by the Allies. On a rainy night in the heart of the city, a cat burglar (Nando Bruno of ROME, OPEN CITY) inadvertently saves the life of a would-be suicide (BLACK SUNDAY's Andrea Checchi), despondent over having been betrayed by his fiancée while fighting in the war. Joining the avuncular thief for a night of misadventure, the young man intervenes in the arrest of an impoverished typist (Valentina Cortese, of Fellini's JULIET OF THE SPIRITS) who has turned to prostitution to pay for her boardinghouse room. Ducking out of the rain into a coffee bar, the strangers share hard luck stories over cognac and encounter a distinguished amnesiac (THE BICYCLE THIEF writer-director Vittorio De Sica), begging to be told who he is. When the new friends find themselves invited to an illegal private casino, old lovers are reunited, old grudges are revived and first love is given a second chance.
- published: 25 Jul 2006
- views: 9805
- author: noshamefilms
Rome Snowboards: Local GNAR Winning Entry
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:26
- Updated: 09 Mar 2012
Check out the winning Local GNAR of 2010 from Ian Post. Congrats on taking home the two Rome Artifacts, 2 pairs of 390 Bindings and a cool $1000.
http://wn.com/Rome_Snowboards_Local_GNAR_Winning_Entry
Check out the winning Local GNAR of 2010 from Ian Post. Congrats on taking home the two Rome Artifacts, 2 pairs of 390 Bindings and a cool $1000.
- published: 17 Sep 2010
- views: 5005
- author: romesds
Stoic Politics and The Huffington Post with Rome's Last Citizen Author and HuffPo Editor Jimmy Soni
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 48:35
- Updated: 12 Jan 2013
www.facebook.com twitter.com thelip.tv Author and Huffington Post Managing Editor Jimmy Soni joins Media Mayhem to talk about the Roman figure Cato, and the shadow he casts on the contemporary political landscape. Allison also takes Jimmy to task on the Huff Post's business model of resourcing their stories and things get interesting. GUEST BIO: Jimmy Soni is the current managing editor of The Huffington Post and will be joining us via skype on Thursday. He is also the co-author of the book, Rome's Last Citizen, The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar. ADD'L LINKS: www.huffingtonpost.com twitter.com EPISODE BREAKDOWN: 00:01 Today on Media Mayhem 01:43 Introducing Jimmy Soni. 02:52 Why write about Cato? 06:38 Balancing sources on Cato-the donut hole biography. 09:28 Stoicism as a political device? 11:37 One last thing before dying. 15:42 Relating Cato and stoicism to Obama. 22:35 Becoming managing editor of the Huffington Post. 24:36 Taking issue with the Huff Post's business model. 33:49 Entrepreneurialism and stoicism. 37:48 Civil Liberties and Cato's government. 45:29 Is there a modern disciple of Cato?
http://wn.com/Stoic_Politics_and_The_Huffington_Post_with_Rome's_Last_Citizen_Author_and_HuffPo_Editor_Jimmy_Soni
www.facebook.com twitter.com thelip.tv Author and Huffington Post Managing Editor Jimmy Soni joins Media Mayhem to talk about the Roman figure Cato, and the shadow he casts on the contemporary political landscape. Allison also takes Jimmy to task on the Huff Post's business model of resourcing their stories and things get interesting. GUEST BIO: Jimmy Soni is the current managing editor of The Huffington Post and will be joining us via skype on Thursday. He is also the co-author of the book, Rome's Last Citizen, The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar. ADD'L LINKS: www.huffingtonpost.com twitter.com EPISODE BREAKDOWN: 00:01 Today on Media Mayhem 01:43 Introducing Jimmy Soni. 02:52 Why write about Cato? 06:38 Balancing sources on Cato-the donut hole biography. 09:28 Stoicism as a political device? 11:37 One last thing before dying. 15:42 Relating Cato and stoicism to Obama. 22:35 Becoming managing editor of the Huffington Post. 24:36 Taking issue with the Huff Post's business model. 33:49 Entrepreneurialism and stoicism. 37:48 Civil Liberties and Cato's government. 45:29 Is there a modern disciple of Cato?
- published: 26 Oct 2012
- views: 442
- author: TheLipTV
Drive Like Jehu - Here Come The Rome Plows
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:49
- Updated: 20 Feb 2013
Artist: Drive Like Jehu Album: Yank Crime Year: 1994 Sad to say its over now, here come the huns pick a side, or pick a spot here come, here come the rome plows why waste your time here come the huns be my date tonight here come, here come the rome plows cal state no fun stay put here comes to clean the slate to pass the time to erase yank crime yeah we're on the recieving end i never been dear heart, dear friend i never been on the recieving end not a scratch, not a dent i never been on the recieving end, i never been
http://wn.com/Drive_Like_Jehu_Here_Come_The_Rome_Plows
Artist: Drive Like Jehu Album: Yank Crime Year: 1994 Sad to say its over now, here come the huns pick a side, or pick a spot here come, here come the rome plows why waste your time here come the huns be my date tonight here come, here come the rome plows cal state no fun stay put here comes to clean the slate to pass the time to erase yank crime yeah we're on the recieving end i never been dear heart, dear friend i never been on the recieving end not a scratch, not a dent i never been on the recieving end, i never been
- published: 05 Oct 2009
- views: 44279
- author: dabears11694
TEST: Alex Roy's "The Driver - The Battle Of Rome"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:45
- Updated: 22 Feb 2013
(TEST POST/NO TITLING/MAPS/NARRATION) Team Polizei's Alex Roy & Jon Goodrich forge toward Rome on the penultimate day of the 2005 Gumball 3000 Rally. This excerpt from the upcoming multi-part video depicting "The Battle of Rome" takes place JUST before the now legendary duel with Spencer Bourne, one of the most legendary and skilled Gumballers of all time. The speedometer is on the left - 12 o'clock is 100mph. The flashing red LED to the right of the gauge cluster indicates the M5's police lights are active. Read "The Driver": www.gumball144.com The full video will be released soon. www.teampolizei.com http
http://wn.com/TEST_Alex_Roy's_The_Driver_The_Battle_Of_Rome
(TEST POST/NO TITLING/MAPS/NARRATION) Team Polizei's Alex Roy & Jon Goodrich forge toward Rome on the penultimate day of the 2005 Gumball 3000 Rally. This excerpt from the upcoming multi-part video depicting "The Battle of Rome" takes place JUST before the now legendary duel with Spencer Bourne, one of the most legendary and skilled Gumballers of all time. The speedometer is on the left - 12 o'clock is 100mph. The flashing red LED to the right of the gauge cluster indicates the M5's police lights are active. Read "The Driver": www.gumball144.com The full video will be released soon. www.teampolizei.com http
- published: 04 Jan 2008
- views: 51032
- author: Alex Roy
Rome Total War: Total World Domination Part II
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:42
- Updated: 18 Dec 2012
One of the most random vids I'll ever post. This is a continuation of the last video I posted after I found out I didn't actually conquer the whole map, so here it is and there actually is an ending scene when Roman law and order has been established. The region in question is called Themiskyra which was supposedly the name for the Amazon Citadel in Greek Mythology. Here was the first video: www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/Rome_Total_War_Total_World_Domination_Part_II
One of the most random vids I'll ever post. This is a continuation of the last video I posted after I found out I didn't actually conquer the whole map, so here it is and there actually is an ending scene when Roman law and order has been established. The region in question is called Themiskyra which was supposedly the name for the Amazon Citadel in Greek Mythology. Here was the first video: www.youtube.com
- published: 14 Aug 2009
- views: 6331
- author: aceblazer25
FIVB smart Grand Slam Rome 2012 - Top 10 Plays
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:11
- Updated: 19 Nov 2012
What's your #1? Post in comments below! --- Top 10 plays of the final four at the 2012 FIVB smart Grand Slam Rome. Results: Winner Gibb/Rosenthal 2nd Alison/Emanuel 3rd Heyer/Chevallier 4th Fuerbringer/Lucena
http://wn.com/FIVB_smart_Grand_Slam_Rome_2012_Top_10_Plays
What's your #1? Post in comments below! --- Top 10 plays of the final four at the 2012 FIVB smart Grand Slam Rome. Results: Winner Gibb/Rosenthal 2nd Alison/Emanuel 3rd Heyer/Chevallier 4th Fuerbringer/Lucena
- published: 21 Jun 2012
- views: 1997
- author: somelamenickname
Dichiarazioni Totti post Roma-Juve (1-2) del 8.3.2005 (updated)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:27
- Updated: 18 Dec 2012
il quarto uomo a bordocampo aveva addiritura il telefonino in tasca.....
http://wn.com/Dichiarazioni_Totti_post_Roma-Juve_1-2_del_832005_updated
il quarto uomo a bordocampo aveva addiritura il telefonino in tasca.....
- published: 03 Dec 2006
- views: 32757
- author: cashm
Rome Total War Online Battle #2065: Free For All
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 31:04
- Updated: 24 Feb 2013
Read about the Arverni (Rome 2's latest playable faction): wiki.totalwar.com HAPPY ARVERNI DAY! Unfortunately, I didn't get to use the Gauls. You'll find out why in the commentary. Time for a 4 player Free-For-All. THE COMMANDERS: - Prince_of_Macedon (THE BRITONS) - BIG_BAD_NERD (THE GAULS) - spy71 (GREEK CITY-STATES) - Abcamaikata (JULII ROMANS) DENARII: 5000 RULES: CWB VICTORY CONDITIONS: Last Man Standing
http://wn.com/Rome_Total_War_Online_Battle_2065_Free_For_All
Read about the Arverni (Rome 2's latest playable faction): wiki.totalwar.com HAPPY ARVERNI DAY! Unfortunately, I didn't get to use the Gauls. You'll find out why in the commentary. Time for a 4 player Free-For-All. THE COMMANDERS: - Prince_of_Macedon (THE BRITONS) - BIG_BAD_NERD (THE GAULS) - spy71 (GREEK CITY-STATES) - Abcamaikata (JULII ROMANS) DENARII: 5000 RULES: CWB VICTORY CONDITIONS: Last Man Standing
- published: 10 Feb 2013
- views: 23794
- author: PrinceofMacedon
Ally's trip to ROME!!
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:44
- Updated: 22 Feb 2013
This is a documentary of my trip to Rome, which was AMAZING! Thought I'd post the clips that I have! *********READ**************** If you are planning on attending the SNOWBALL just before Christmas, which is a Wizard Rock event in Edinburgh, book your transport ASAP!!! It's getting expensive. The websites to join the info are... twitter.com www.myspace.com www.facebook.com We ARE performing, so come MEET US :D :D Plus we'd love the support!!! ***************** alwayspureblood
http://wn.com/Ally's_trip_to_ROME!!
This is a documentary of my trip to Rome, which was AMAZING! Thought I'd post the clips that I have! *********READ**************** If you are planning on attending the SNOWBALL just before Christmas, which is a Wizard Rock event in Edinburgh, book your transport ASAP!!! It's getting expensive. The websites to join the info are... twitter.com www.myspace.com www.facebook.com We ARE performing, so come MEET US :D :D Plus we'd love the support!!! ***************** alwayspureblood
- published: 23 Sep 2009
- views: 17408
- author: alwayspureblood
Rome M. & Andrew V. (Captivity) Whip It -Nicki Minaj (Full Choreography)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:06
- Updated: 23 Feb 2013
READ!!!: This was intended to be a fun dance nothing serious(: Music Disclaimer: I do not own this song, it belongs to its rightful owners. No copyright infringement intended Not very good quality, but we said we would post the rest of this "Whip It"choreography, since we're are busy with our up and coming show this will do haha (there was more to this routine in the begining not just this incase you wanted to know. We'll be posting our full duo within these next 2 weeks along with other video projects we've been working on!!!) This perfomance we did was for "The Healing Journey", which is an organization that helps deal and bring awarness to preventing abuse (physical/sexual), assists survivors of domestic /sexual assaults and child molestation. If you or someone you know is going through something like this. SPEAK UP! You could help save a life Captivity placed 1st wining up to $500.00
http://wn.com/Rome_M_Andrew_V_Captivity_Whip_It_-Nicki_Minaj_Full_Choreography
READ!!!: This was intended to be a fun dance nothing serious(: Music Disclaimer: I do not own this song, it belongs to its rightful owners. No copyright infringement intended Not very good quality, but we said we would post the rest of this "Whip It"choreography, since we're are busy with our up and coming show this will do haha (there was more to this routine in the begining not just this incase you wanted to know. We'll be posting our full duo within these next 2 weeks along with other video projects we've been working on!!!) This perfomance we did was for "The Healing Journey", which is an organization that helps deal and bring awarness to preventing abuse (physical/sexual), assists survivors of domestic /sexual assaults and child molestation. If you or someone you know is going through something like this. SPEAK UP! You could help save a life Captivity placed 1st wining up to $500.00
- published: 25 Apr 2012
- views: 8138
- author: romemendozadds
Rome Ramirez - Hung Up
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:49
- Updated: 21 Feb 2013
I don't own any of this, I figured I'd just do the public a service by being the first one (to my knowledge) to post this to Youtube.
http://wn.com/Rome_Ramirez_Hung_Up
I don't own any of this, I figured I'd just do the public a service by being the first one (to my knowledge) to post this to Youtube.
- published: 17 Jun 2012
- views: 20727
- author: joscala24
EATMEWHILEIMHOT - WHEN IN ROME (HQ)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:10
- Updated: 04 Feb 2013
lulululz, couldn't find a video for this song so heeeere. when in rome by eatmewhileimhot ;D (YES, this is a picture of christofer.. i found it like this on his photobucket, ROFL. &NO;, i won't post a link for you to download this song, OR post the lyrics... simply because i have no idea what they are, and you can BUY THE EP, lmfao). btw don't start stupid shit in comments.. i uploaded this so people could listen to the song. JEEEEEEEEEEEESUS.
http://wn.com/EATMEWHILEIMHOT_WHEN_IN_ROME_HQ
lulululz, couldn't find a video for this song so heeeere. when in rome by eatmewhileimhot ;D (YES, this is a picture of christofer.. i found it like this on his photobucket, ROFL. &NO;, i won't post a link for you to download this song, OR post the lyrics... simply because i have no idea what they are, and you can BUY THE EP, lmfao). btw don't start stupid shit in comments.. i uploaded this so people could listen to the song. JEEEEEEEEEEEESUS.
- published: 09 Dec 2008
- views: 27983
- author: jjjjjesi
photo: Public Domain
23 Feb 2013
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. "No one who works full-time should have to live in poverty." -President Barack Obama, State of the Union Address, 2013. As of late, I have grown very fond and reflective of the workers at McDonalds. Since I do not have the internet in my apartment, I usually go there every Sunday where I drink coffee and read the latest online news ... the exploitation of one class by another....(size: 3.7Kb)
photo: AP / Photo
22 Feb 2013
MALINDI, Kenya — In a room by the stairs, Shukrani Malingi, a Pokomo farmer, writhed on a metal cot, the skin on his back burned off. Down the hall, at a safe distance, Rahema Hageyo, an Orma girl, stared blankly out of a window, a long scar above her thimble-like neck. She was nearly decapitated by a machete chop — and she is only 9 months old. Connect With Us on Twitter ... Twitter List. Reporters and Editors ... ... Op-Ed ... N.Y ... ....(size: 6.3Kb)
photo: AP / SANA
22 Feb 2013
MOSCOW ' Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the United States on Friday of having double standards on Syria, saying it had blocked a UN Security Council statement condemning a car bomb attack in Damascus. Washington denied it had blocked the statement and said it had only asked for balance ... “We believe these are double standards,” Lavrov said after talks with China’s foreign minister ... ....(size: 3.0Kb)
photo: UN / Sylvain Liechti
24 Feb 2013
Presidents from Africa's Great Lakes regional nations are set to sign a new peace deal aimed at bringing stability to the war-torn east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) ... But after almost two decades of war, expectations are low ... Several of its leaders have been hit by UN sanctions over alleged atrocities ... ... Programmes The Stream Witness Inside Story Listening Post People & Power Fault Lines Fabulous Picture Show ... ....(size: 7.7Kb)
The Dallas Morning News
25 Feb 2013
What’s more, they lost defenseman Aaron Rome in the first period to a foot injury after he was hit with a puck, and they didn’t flinch ... Yeah, we’re not sure if Rome will play Monday in Nashville or if Kari Lehtonen is ready to go (he skated today in Frisco and looked quite spry after the game, so things are looking good) ... I thought Rome did a good job [of clearing that]....(size: 10.5Kb)
The Salt Lake Tribune
25 Feb 2013
Heavy rain had been forecast for Rome, and some drizzle dampened the square earlier in the morning ... summer residence in the hills outside Rome while he waits for the monastery to be ready ... "There will be the pope of Rome, the elected pope, and there will be the bishop emeritus of Rome, who will live the life of a monk inside the Vatican walls."....(size: 5.1Kb)
Celebrity Café
25 Feb 2013
5 After 4’s album, Rome in a Day, features a pleasant mix of soothing tempos and upbeat rhythms that will you keep you both relaxed and intrigued ... Most of the tracks are around four minutes long, though “Rome in a Day” and “Animal Crackers” certainly surpass that at around 12 and 15 minutes, respectively ... 0. No votes yet ... None ... ....(size: 1.8Kb)
The New York Times
25 Feb 2013
ROME — Italians began voting on Sunday in a two-day general election that is being closely watched by Italy’s European partners as well as investors, who share the concern that unless a clear winner emerges from the voting, a new period of political and market instability lies ahead ... di Cagno, a Rome teacher who voted on Sunday morning....(size: 5.0Kb)
Newstrack India
25 Feb 2013
Tweet. Rome, Feb 25 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Activists of Ukrainian women's rights group Femen stripped to the waist at a polling station in Milan where ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi arrived to vote in Italy's general election, state TV reported ... --IANS/RIA Novosti. pm/. Read More ... French Guiana . French Polynesia . Italy . Una . Vadodara ... Post comments.. ) .. ). ... . . . . . .. . . .. ....(size: 1.9Kb)
New Straits/Business Times
25 Feb 2013
A 26-9 win in torrential rain in Rome earned the Welsh a second straight victory, with Jonathan Davies and Alex Cuthbert scoring their second-half tries and fullback Leigh Halfpenny kicking 16 points ... Wales led 9-6 at the break in rainy Rome but did all the damage in the second half, with Davies collecting a chip through that bounced awkwardly for ......(size: 2.8Kb)
Irish Times
25 Feb 2013
PADDY AGNEW, In Rome. At the polling station in Trevignano yesterday I bumped into “Giulia”, a married mother of one. Her family has long been on the left, with her parents having been card-carrying members of the old Partito Comunista Italiano (PCI) ... Man of destiny ... ... . ” ... As I walked around a half-empty Rome yesterday morning, there were PDL posters everywhere reflecting his last desperate attempt to win votes ... ....(size: 3.6Kb)
Irish Times
25 Feb 2013
SIMON CARSWELL ... The 2004 Democratic presidential nominee flew to London yesterday on the first stop of an 11-day trip to nine countries. He will visit Berlin, Paris, Rome, Ankara, Cairo, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Doha ... Syrian opposition . In Rome Kerry will meet members of the Syrian opposition to discuss their attempts to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. About 70,000 people have been killed in the 22-month conflict in Syria ... ....(size: 3.7Kb)
Irish Times
25 Feb 2013
PADDY AGNEW, in Rome. The countdown to the end of Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate continued apace yesterday when the Pope offered his last Sunday Angelus homily to a packed St Peter’s Square ... Those same critics point to a series of “fin de regime” appointments made in the last few days, involving the Vatican bank IOR and other posts, as further testimony to the overweaning influence of Cardinal Bertone.Email Us....(size: 2.9Kb)
Irish Times
25 Feb 2013
Irish-born Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Scotland’s most senior Catholic, is set to fly to Rome this week to vote in the papal conclave, despite facing allegations of abuse 30 years ago of young clerics ... He was then questioned about Los Angeles-based Cardinal Roger Mahony’s intention to travel to Rome for the conclave, even though he had ......(size: 4.4Kb)
Irish Times
25 Feb 2013
EILEEN BATTERSBY ... Initially an interest in antiquities was shared by the wealthy, many of whom had taken the Grand Tour which included the sites of classical Greece and Rome ... The Conyngham, his mother’s name, came later when he decided in 1781 to adopt it by royal licence ... A few years later, during the mid 1750s, he set off on the regulation European Grand Tour and had his portrait painted in Rome by the great Anton Raphael Mengs....(size: 4.6Kb)
Reuters
25 Feb 2013
ROME, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Italians finish voting in one of the most closely watched and unpredictable elections in years on Monday with a surge in protest votes fuelling concern that the ballot may not produce a government strong enough to pull Italy from its economic slump ... Luigi Bartoletti, a 57-year-old salesman from Rome said he had voted for the ......(size: 5.2Kb)
Mashable
25 Feb 2013
Every week, we see the headlines soar by so quickly that it can be difficult to absorb the world's events. Instead, feast your eyes on these photos that summarize the biggest news of the week ... A voter casts his ballot at a polling station in Rome, Italy ... The Apostolic Palace and The Ponifical Villas of Castelgandolfo, 10 miles south Rome, are the summer residence of popes, and will host Pope Benedict XVI during the next conclave ... U.S....(size: 5.8Kb)
For the civilization of classical antiquity, see Ancient Rome. For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation).
| Rome Roma |
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|---|---|---|---|
| — Comune — | |||
| Roma Capitale | |||
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|
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| Nickname(s): The Eternal City, Caput Mundi, the City of seven hills |
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 Rome
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| Coordinates: 41°54′N 12°30′E / 41.9°N 12.5°E / 41.9; 12.5Coordinates: 41°54′N 12°30′E / 41.9°N 12.5°E / 41.9; 12.5 | |||
| Country | Italy | ||
| Region | Lazio | ||
| Province | Rome (RM) | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Gianni Alemanno (PDL) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 1,285.31 km2 (496.26 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 20 m (70 ft) | ||
| Population (September 2011)[1][2] | |||
| • Total | 2,777,979  |
||
| Demonym | Roman | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 00100; 00121 to 00199 | ||
| Dialing code | 06 | ||
| Patron saint | Saint Peter and Saint Paul | ||
| Saint day | 29 June | ||
| Website | Official website | ||
Rome (/ˈroʊm/; Italian: Roma pronounced [ˈroːma] ( listen); Latin: Rōma) is a city and special comune ("Roma Capitale") in Italy. Rome is the capital of Italy and the capital of Lazio (Latin: Latium). With 2.8 million residents in 1,285.3 km2 (496.3 sq mi), it is also the country's largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. Between 3.2 and 3.7 million people live in the Rome metropolitan area.[3][4][5][6][7] The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.
Rome's history spans two and a half thousand years. It was the capital city of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, which was the dominant power in Western Europe and the lands bordering the Mediterranean for over seven hundred years from the 1st century BC until the 7th century AD and the city is regarded as one of the birthplaces of western civilization. Since the 1st century AD Rome has been the seat of the Papacy and, after the end of Byzantine domination, in the 8th century it became the capital of the Papal States, which lasted until 1870. In 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic.
After the Middle Ages, Rome was ruled by popes such as Alexander VI and Leo X, who transformed the city into one of the major centers of the Italian Renaissance, along with Florence.[8] The current version of St Peter's Basilica was built and the Sistine Chapel was painted by Michelangelo. Famous artists and architects, such as Bramante, Bernini and Raphael resided for some time in Rome, contributing to its Renaissance and Baroque architecture.
Rome has been ranked by GaWC in 2010 as a beta+ world city,[9] as well as the 28th most important global city.[10] In 2007, Rome was the 11th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy.[11] The city is one of Europe's and the world's most successful city "brands", both in terms of reputation and assets.[12] Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.[13] Monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are amongst the world's 50 most visited tourist destinations (the Vatican Museums receiving 4.2 million tourists and the Colosseum receiving 4 million tourists every year).[14] Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Etymology[link]
About the origin of the name Roma several hypotheses have been advanced.[15] The most important are the following:
- from Rommylos (Romulus), descendant of Ascanius and founder of the city;
- from Rumon or Rumen, archaic name of the Tiber. It has the same root of the Greek verb ῥέω (rhèo) and of the Latin verb ruo, which both mean "flow";[16]
- from the Etruscan word ruma, whose root is *rum- "teat", with possible reference either to the totem wolf that adopted and suckled the cognately named twins Romulus and Remus, or to the shape of the Palatine and Aventine Hills;
- from the Greek word ῤώμη (rhòme), which means strength;[17]
History[link]
Main articles: History of Rome and Timeline of Rome history
Earliest history[link]
Main article: Founding of Rome
There is archaeological evidence of human occupation of the Rome area from at least 14,000 years ago, but the dense layer of much younger debris obscures Palaeolithic and Neolithic sites.[18] Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to at least 10,000 years of human presence. However, the power of the well known tale of Rome's legendary foundation tends to deflect attention from its actual, and much more ancient, origins.
Founding of Rome[link]
The founding of Rome can be investigated through archaeology, but traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth. The most familiar of these myths, and perhaps the most famous of all Roman myths, is the story of Romulus and Remus, the twins who were suckled by a she-wolf.[19] This story had to be reconciled with a dual tradition, set earlier in time, that had the Trojan refugee Aeneas escape to Italy and found the line of Romans through his son Iulus, the namesake of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.[20]
Monarchy, republic, empire[link]
Rome's early history is shrouded in legend.[21] According to Roman tradition, the city was founded by Romulus[22] on 21 April 753 BC.[23] The legendary origin of the city tells that Romulus and Remus decided to build a city. After an argument, Romulus killed his brother Remus. The Roman poet Virgil refers to this belief when he depicts Aeneas as escaping the fall of Troy by coming to Latium to found a line descending to Romulus, first king of Rome. Archaeological evidence supports the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built in the area of the future Roman Forum. While some archaeologists argue that Rome was indeed founded in the middle of the 8th century BC, the date is subject to controversy.[24] The original settlement developed into the capital of the Roman Kingdom (ruled by a succession of seven kings, according to tradition), and then the Roman Republic (from 510 BC, governed by the Senate), and finally the Roman Empire (from 27 BC, ruled by an Emperor). This success depended on military conquest, commercial predominance, as well as selective assimilation of neighbouring civilisations, most notably the Etruscans and Greeks. From its foundation Rome, although losing occasional battles, had been undefeated in war until 386 BC, when it was briefly occupied by the Gauls.[25] According to the legend, the Gauls offered to deliver Rome back to its people for a thousand pounds of gold, but the Romans refused, preferring to take back their city by force of arms rather than ever admitting defeat, after which the Romans recovered the city in the same year.
The Republic was wealthy, powerful and stable before it became an empire. According to tradition, Rome became a republic in 509 BC. However, it took a few centuries for Rome to become the great city of popular imagination, and it only became a great empire after the rule of Augustus (Octavian). By the 3rd century BC, Rome had become the pre-eminent city of the Italian peninsula, having conquered and defeated the Sabines, the Etruscans, the Samnites and most of the Greek colonies in Sicily, Campania and Southern Italy in general. During the Punic Wars between Rome and the great Mediterranean empire of Carthage, Rome's stature increased further as it became the capital of an overseas empire for the first time. Beginning in the 2nd century BC, Rome went through a significant population expansion as Italian farmers, driven from their ancestral farmlands by the advent of massive, slave-operated farms called latifundia, flocked to the city in great numbers. The victory over Carthage in the First Punic War brought the first two provinces outside the Italian peninsula, Sicily and Corsica et Sardinia. Parts of Spain (Hispania) followed, and in the beginning of the 2nd century the Romans got involved in the affairs of the Greek world. By then all Hellenistic kingdoms and the Greek city-states were in decline, exhausted from endless civil wars and relying on mercenary troops. This saw the fall of Greece after the Battle of Corinth (146 BC) and the establishment of Roman control over Greece.[26]
The Roman Empire had begun more formally when Emperor Augustus (63 BC–AD 14; known as Octavian before his throne accession) founded the Principate in 27 BC.[28] This was a monarchy system which was headed by an emperor holding power for life, rather than making himself dictator like Julius Caesar had done, which had resulted in his assassination on 15 March, 44 BC.[29] At home, Emperor Augustus started off a great programme of social, political and economic reform and grand-scale reconstruction of the city of Rome. The city became dotted with impressive and magnificent new buildings, palaces, fora and basilicae. Augustus became a great and enlightened patron of the arts, and his court was attended by such poets as Virgil, Horace and Propertius.[28] His rule also established the Pax Romana, a long period of relative peace which lasted approximately 200 years.[30] Following his rule were emperors such as Caligula, Nero, Trajan, and Hadrian, to name a few. Roman emperor Nero was well known for his extravagance, cruelty, tyranny, and the myth that he was the emperor who "fiddled while Rome burned" during the night of 18 to 19 July 64 AD.[31] The Antonine Plague of 165–180 is believed to have killed as much as one-third of the population.[32]
Roman dominance expanded over most of Western Europe and the shores of the Mediterranean, though its influence through client states and the sheer power of its presence was wider than its formal borders. Its population surpassed one million inhabitants.[33] For almost seven hundred years, Rome was the most politically important, richest, and largest city in the Western world. After the Empire started to decline and was split, it lost its capital status to Milan and then to Ravenna, and was surpassed in prestige by the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople, whose Greek inhabitants continued through the centuries to call themselves Roman.
Middle Ages[link]
The Bishop of Rome, called the Pope, was important since the early days of Christianity because of the martyrdom of both the apostles Peter and Paul there. The Bishops of Rome were also seen (and still are seen) as the successors of Peter, him being the first Bishop of Rome. The city thus became of increasing importance in the Catholic Church. After the Sack of Rome in 410 AD by Alaric I and the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, Rome alternated between Byzantine and Germanic control. Its population declined from more than a million in 210 AD to a mere 35,000 during the Early Middle Ages,[34] reducing the sprawling city to groups of inhabited buildings interspersed among large areas of ruins and vegetation. Rome remained nominally part of the Byzantine Empire until 751 AD, when the Lombards finally extinguished the Exarchate of Ravenna which was the last holdout of the Byzantines in northern Italy. In 756, Pepin the Short gave the Pope temporal jurisdiction over Rome and surrounding areas, thus creating the Papal States. In 846, Muslim Arabs invaded Rome and looted St. Peter's Basilica.[35]
Rome remained the capital of the Papal States until its annexation by the Kingdom of Italy in 1870; the city became a major pilgrimage site during the Middle Ages and the focus of struggles between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire starting with Charlemagne, who was crowned its first emperor in Rome in 800 by Pope Leo III. Apart from brief periods as an independent city during the Middle Ages, Rome kept its status as Papal capital and "holy city" for centuries, even when the Papacy briefly relocated to Avignon (1309–1377).
Early modern[link]
Main article: Roman Renaissance
The latter half of the 15th century saw the seat of the Italian Renaissance move to Rome from Florence. The Papacy wanted to equal and surpass the grandeur of other Italian cities and to this end created ever more extravagant churches, bridges, town squares and public spaces, including a new Saint Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, Ponte Sisto (the first bridge to be built across the Tiber since antiquity), and Piazza Navona. The Popes were also patrons of the arts engaging such artists as Michelangelo, Perugino, Raphael, Ghirlandaio, Luca Signorelli, Botticelli, and Cosimo Rosselli.
The period was also infamous for papal corruption, with many Popes fathering children, and engaging in nepotism and simony. The corruption of the Popes and the extravagance of their building projects led, in part, to the Reformation and, in turn, the Counter-Reformation. Popes, such as Alexander VI, were well known for their decadence, wild parties, extravagance and immoral lives.[36] However, under these extravagant and rich popes, Rome was transformed into a centre of art, poetry, music, literature, education and culture. Rome became able to compete with other major European cities of the time in terms of wealth, grandeur, the arts, learning and architecture.
File:Sistine Chapel ceiling left.png
Michelangelo's ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.
The Renaissance period changed Rome's face dramatically, with works like the Pietà by Michelangelo and the frescoes of the Borgia Apartment, all made during Innocent's reign. Rome reached the highest point of splendour under Pope Julius II (1503–1513) and his successors Leo X and Clement VII, both members of the Medici family. In this twenty-year period Rome became one of the greatest centres of art in the world. The old St. Peter's Basilica built by Emperor Constantine the Great[37] (which by then was in a terrible state) was demolished and a new one begun. The city hosted artists like Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Botticelli and Bramante, who built the temple of San Pietro in Montorio and planned a great project to renovate the Vatican. Raphael, who in Rome became one the most famous painters of Italy creating frescos in the Villa Farnesina, the Raphael's Rooms, plus many other famous paintings. Michelangelo started the decoration of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and executed the famous statue of the Moses for the tomb of Julius. Rome lost in part its religious character, becoming increasingly a true Renaissance city, with a great number of popular feasts, horse races, parties, intrigues and licentious episodes. Its economy was rich, with the presence of several Tuscan bankers, including Agostino Chigi, who was a friend of Raphael and a patron of arts. Before his early death, Raphael also promoted for the first time the preservation of the ancient ruins. The fight between France and Spain in Europe caused the first plunder of the City in more than one thousand years. In 1527 the Landsknechts of Emperor Charles V sacked the city, putting to an abrupt end the golden age of the Renaissance in Rome.[38]
Beginning with the Council of Trent in 1545, the Church began the Counter-Reformation as an answer to the Reformation, a large-scale questioning of the Church's authority on spiritual matters and governmental affairs. (This loss of confidence then lead to major shifts of power away from the Church.) [38] Under the popes from Pius IV to Sixtus V, Rome became the center of the reformed Catholicism and saw the installment of new monuments which celebrated the papacy's restored greatness.[39] The popes and cardinals of the 17th and early 18th centuries continued the movement by having city's landscape enriched with baroque buildings. During the Age of Enlightenment, new ideas reached also the Eternal City, where the papacy supported archeological studies and improved the people's welfare.[38] But not everything went well for the Church during the Counter-Reformation.
There were setbacks in the attempts to restrain the anti-Church policies of European powers of the time. The most notable setback perhaps being in 1773 when Pope Clement XIV was forced by secular powers to have the Jesuit order suppressed.[38]
Late modern and contemporary[link]
The rule of the Popes was interrupted by the short-lived Roman Republic (1798), which was built under the influence of the French Revolution. During Napoleon's reign, Rome was annexed into the French Empire. After the fall of Napoleon, the Church State under the pope was reinstated through the Congress of Vienna of 1814. In 1849, another Roman Republic arose within the framework of revolutions of 1848. Two of the most influential figures of the Italian unification, Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, fought for the short-lived republic.
Rome became the focus of hopes of Italian reunification when the rest of Italy was reunited under the Kingdom of Italy with a temporary capital at Florence. In 1861, Rome was declared the capital of Italy even though it was still under the control of the Pope. During the 1860s, the last vestiges of the Papal States were under French protection, thanks to the foreign policy of Napoleon III. And it was only when this was lifted in 1870, owing to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, that Italian troops were able to capture Rome entering the city through a breach near Porta Pia. Afterwards, Pope Pius IX declared himself as prisoner in the Vatican, and in 1871 the capital of Italy was moved from Florence to Rome.[40]
Soon after World War I, Rome witnessed the rise to power of Italian Fascism guided by Benito Mussolini, who marched on the city in 1922, eventually declaring a new Empire and allying Italy with Nazi Germany. The interwar period saw a rapid growth in the city's population, that surpassed 1,000,000 inhabitants. In World War II, due to its status of an open city, Rome largely escaped the tragic destiny of other European cities, but was occupied by the Germans from the Italian Armistice until its liberation on 4 June 1944. However, on 19 June 1943 Rome was bombed by Anglo-American forces, being one of the hardest hit areas in the San Lorenzo district, resulting in about 3,000 deaths and 11,000 wounded.
Rome grew momentously after the war, as one of the driving forces behind the "Italian economic miracle" of post-war reconstruction and modernisation. It became a fashionable city in the 1950s and early 1960s, the years of "la dolce vita" ("the sweet life"), with popular classic fims such as Ben Hur, Quo Vadis, Roman Holiday and La Dolce Vita[41] being filmed in the city's iconic Cinecittà Studios. A new rising trend in population continued until the mid-1980s, when the comune had more than 2,800,000 residents; after that, population started to slowly decline as more residents moved to nearby suburbs.
Government[link]
See also: List of mayors of Rome and Administrative subdivision of Rome
Local government[link]
| Composition of the City Council | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Members | |
| PDL | 35 | |
| PD | 17 | |
| Left | 2 | |
Rome constitutes a comune speciale, named "Roma Capitale",[42] and is the largest both in terms of land area and population among the 8,101 comuni of Italy. It is governed by a mayor, currently Gianni Alemanno, and a city council. The seat of the comune is the Palazzo Senatorio on the Capitoline Hill, the historic seat of the city government. The local administration in Rome is commonly referred to as "Campidoglio", the Italian name of the hill.
Administrative and historical subdivisions[link]
Since 1972 the city has been divided into 19 (originally 20) [43] administrative areas, called municipi (sing. municipio) (until 2001 named circoscrizioni).[44] They were created for administrative reasons to increase decentralisation in the city. Each municipio is governed by a president and a council of four members who are elected by its residents every five years. The municipi frequently cross the boundaries of the traditional, non-administrative divisions of the city.
Rome is also divided into differing types of non-administrative units. The historic centre is divided into 22 rioni, all of which are located within the Aurelian Walls except Prati and Borgo.
These originate from the Regiones of ancient Rome, which evolved in the Middle Ages into the medieval rioni.[45] In the Renaissance, under Pope Sixtus V, they reached again the number of fourteen, and their boundaries were finally defined under Pope Benedict XIV in 1743.
A new subdivision of the city under Napoleon was ephemeral, and there were no sensible changes in the organisation of the city until 1870, when Rome became the third capital of Italy. The needs of the new capital led to an explosion both in the urbanisation and in the population within and outside the Aurelian walls. In 1874 a fifteenth rione, Esquilino, was created on the newly urbanised zone of Monti. At the beginning of the 20th century other rioni where created (the last one was Prati – the only one outside the Walls of Pope Urban VIII – in 1921). Afterward, for the new administrative subdivisions of the city the name "quartiere" was used. Today all the rioni, except Borgo and Prati, are part of the first Municipio, which therefore coincides almost completely with the historical city (Centro Storico).
Provincial and regional government[link]
Rome is the principal town of the homonymous Province, which includes the city's metropolitan area and extends further north until Civitavecchia. The Province of Rome is the 9th largest by area in Italy. At 5,352 square kilometres (2,066 sq mi), its dimensions are comparable to the region of Liguria. Moreover, the city is also the capital of the Lazio region.
National government[link]
Rome is the national capital of Italy and is the seat of the Italian Government. The official residences of the President of the Italian Republic and the Italian Prime Minister, the seats of both houses of the Italian Parliament and that of the Italian Constitutional Court are located in the historic centre. The state ministries are spread out around the city; these include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is located in Palazzo della Farnesina near the Olympic stadium.
Geography[link]
Location[link]
Rome is in the Lazio region of central Italy on the Tiber river (Italian: Tevere). The original settlement developed on hills that faced onto a ford beside the Tiber Island, the only natural ford of the river in this area. The Rome of the Kings was built on seven hills: the Aventine Hill, the Caelian Hill, the Capitoline Hill, the Esquiline Hill, the Palatine Hill, the Quirinal Hill, and the Viminal Hill. Modern Rome is also crossed by another river the Aniene which flows into the Tiber north of the historic centre.
Although the city center is about 24 kilometres (15 mi) inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea, the city territory extends to the shore, where the south-western district of Ostia is located. The altitude of the central part of Rome ranges from 13 metres (43 ft) above sea level (at the base of the Pantheon) to 139 metres (456 ft) above sea level (the peak of Monte Mario).[46] The Comune of Rome covers an overall area of about 1,285 square kilometres (496 sq mi), including many green areas.
Topography[link]
Throughout the history of Rome, the urban limits of the city were considered to be the area within the city walls. Originally, these consisted of the Servian Wall, which was built twelve years after the Gaulish sack of the city in 390 BC. This contained most of the Esquiline and Caelian hills, as well as the whole of the other five. Rome outgrew the Servian Wall, but no more walls were constructed until almost 700 years later, when, in 270 AD, Emperor Aurelian began building the Aurelian Walls. These were almost 19 kilometres (12 mi) long, and were still the walls the troops of the Kingdom of Italy had to breach to enter the city in 1870. Modern Romans frequently consider the city's urban area to be delimited by its ring-road, the Grande Raccordo Anulare, which circles the city centre at a distance of about 10 km.
The Comune of Rome, however, covers considerably more territory and extends to the sea at Ostia, the largest town in Italy that is not a comune in its own right. The comune covers an area roughly three times the total area within the Raccordo and is comparable in area to the entire provinces of Milan and Naples, and to an area six times the size of the territory of these cities. It also includes considerable areas of abandoned marsh land which is suitable neither for agriculture nor for urban development.
As a consequence, the density of the comune is not that high, its territory being divided between highly urbanised areas and areas designated as parks, nature reserves, and for agricultural use.
Climate[link]
Rome enjoys a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa),[47] with mild, humid winters and warm, dry summers.
Its average annual temperature is above 20 °C (68 °F) during the day and 10 °C (50 °F) at night. In the coldest month – January, the average temperature is 12 °C (54 °F) during the day and 3 °C (37 °F) at night. In the warmest months – July and August, the average temperature is 30 °C (86 °F) during the day and 18 °C (64 °F) at night.
Traditionally, many businesses were accustomed to closing during August, while Romans flocked to holiday resorts in Italy and abroad. In more recent years, however, in response to growing tourism and changing work habits, the city has been staying open for the whole summer.
December, January and February are the coldest months, with average temperatures around 12.5 °C (54.5 °F) during the day and 3.6 °C (38.5 °F) at night. Temperatures generally vary between 10 and 15 °C (50 and 59 °F) during the day and between 3 and 5 °C (37 and 41 °F) at night, with colder or warmer spells occurring frequently. Snowfall is rare but not unheard of, with light snow or flurries occurring almost every winter, generally without accumulation, and major snowfalls once every 20 or 25 years (the last one in 2012).[48]
The average relative humidity is 75%, varying from 72% in July to 77% in November.
| Climate data for Rome-Ciampino Airport (altitude: 105 m sl, satelitte view) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 11.9 (53.4) |
13.0 (55.4) |
15.2 (59.4) |
17.7 (63.9) |
22.8 (73.0) |
26.9 (80.4) |
30.3 (86.5) |
30.6 (87.1) |
26.5 (79.7) |
21.4 (70.5) |
15.9 (60.6) |
12.6 (54.7) |
20.4 (68.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 7.5 (45.5) |
8.2 (46.8) |
10.2 (50.4) |
12.6 (54.7) |
17.2 (63.0) |
21.1 (70.0) |
24.1 (75.4) |
24.5 (76.1) |
20.8 (69.4) |
16.4 (61.5) |
11.4 (52.5) |
8.4 (47.1) |
15.2 (59.4) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 3.1 (37.6) |
3.5 (38.3) |
5.2 (41.4) |
7.5 (45.5) |
11.6 (52.9) |
15.3 (59.5) |
18.0 (64.4) |
18.3 (64.9) |
15.2 (59.4) |
11.3 (52.3) |
6.9 (44.4) |
4.2 (39.6) |
10.0 (50.0) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 66.9 (2.634) |
73.3 (2.886) |
57.8 (2.276) |
80.5 (3.169) |
52.8 (2.079) |
34.0 (1.339) |
19.2 (0.756) |
36.8 (1.449) |
73.3 (2.886) |
113.3 (4.461) |
115.4 (4.543) |
81.0 (3.189) |
804.3 (31.665) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 7.0 | 7.6 | 7.6 | 9.2 | 6.2 | 4.3 | 2.1 | 3.3 | 6.2 | 8.2 | 9.7 | 8.0 | 79.4 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 120.9 | 132.8 | 167.4 | 201.0 | 263.5 | 285.0 | 331.7 | 297.6 | 237.0 | 195.3 | 129.0 | 111.6 | 2,472.8 |
| Source: Servizio Meteorologico,[49] data of sunshine hours[50] | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Rome-Fiumicino Airport, near sea (altitude: 15 m sl, satelitte view) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 13.4 (56.1) |
13.9 (57.0) |
15.6 (60.1) |
17.8 (64.0) |
22.2 (72.0) |
25.9 (78.6) |
28.8 (83.8) |
29.4 (84.9) |
26.2 (79.2) |
22.1 (71.8) |
17.2 (63.0) |
14.2 (57.6) |
20.6 (69.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 8.6 (47.5) |
9.0 (48.2) |
10.7 (51.3) |
12.9 (55.2) |
17.1 (62.8) |
20.8 (69.4) |
23.6 (74.5) |
24.1 (75.4) |
21.1 (70.0) |
17.1 (62.8) |
12.4 (54.3) |
9.6 (49.3) |
15.6 (60.1) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 3.8 (38.8) |
4.1 (39.4) |
5.7 (42.3) |
8.0 (46.4) |
11.9 (53.4) |
15.6 (60.1) |
18.3 (64.9) |
18.8 (65.8) |
16.0 (60.8) |
12.1 (53.8) |
7.7 (45.9) |
5.0 (41.0) |
10.6 (51.1) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 66.8 (2.63) |
73.3 (2.886) |
56.9 (2.24) |
68.2 (2.685) |
42.2 (1.661) |
19.4 (0.764) |
14.8 (0.583) |
30.1 (1.185) |
69.7 (2.744) |
114.2 (4.496) |
102.6 (4.039) |
82.5 (3.248) |
740.7 (29.161) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 8.2 | 8.0 | 7.1 | 7.9 | 4.2 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 5.1 | 7.2 | 9.2 | 7.9 | 71.8 |
| Source: Servizio Meteorologico[51] | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Rome Urbe Airport, on the outskirts (altitude: 24 m sl, satelitte view) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 12.6 (54.7) |
14.0 (57.2) |
16.5 (61.7) |
18.9 (66.0) |
23.9 (75.0) |
28.1 (82.6) |
31.5 (88.7) |
31.7 (89.1) |
27.5 (81.5) |
22.4 (72.3) |
16.5 (61.7) |
13.2 (55.8) |
21.4 (70.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 7.4 (45.3) |
8.4 (47.1) |
10.4 (50.7) |
12.9 (55.2) |
17.3 (63.1) |
21.2 (70.2) |
24.2 (75.6) |
24.5 (76.1) |
20.9 (69.6) |
16.4 (61.5) |
11.2 (52.2) |
8.2 (46.8) |
15.3 (59.5) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 2.1 (35.8) |
2.7 (36.9) |
4.3 (39.7) |
6.8 (44.2) |
10.8 (51.4) |
14.3 (57.7) |
16.9 (62.4) |
17.3 (63.1) |
14.3 (57.7) |
10.5 (50.9) |
5.8 (42.4) |
3.1 (37.6) |
9.1 (48.4) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 69.5 (2.736) |
75.8 (2.984) |
59.0 (2.323) |
76.2 (3) |
49.1 (1.933) |
40.7 (1.602) |
21.0 (0.827) |
34.1 (1.343) |
71.8 (2.827) |
107.0 (4.213) |
109.9 (4.327) |
84.4 (3.323) |
798.5 (31.437) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 7.6 | 7.4 | 7.8 | 8.8 | 5.6 | 4.1 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 5.6 | 7.7 | 9.1 | 8.5 | 77.7 |
| Source: Servizio Meteorologico[52] | |||||||||||||
Demographics[link]
Main article: Demographics of Italy
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1861 | 194,500 | — |
| 1871 | 212,432 | +9.2% |
| 1881 | 273,952 | +29.0% |
| 1901 | 422,411 | +54.2% |
| 1911 | 518,917 | +22.8% |
| 1921 | 660,235 | +27.2% |
| 1931 | 930,926 | +41.0% |
| 1936 | 1,150,589 | +23.6% |
| 1951 | 1,651,754 | +43.6% |
| 1961 | 2,188,160 | +32.5% |
| 1971 | 2,781,993 | +27.1% |
| 1981 | 2,840,259 | +2.1% |
| 1991 | 2,775,250 | −2.3% |
| 2001 | 2,663,182 | −4.0% |
| 2010 (Est.) | 2,754,440 | +3.4% |
| Source: ISTAT 2001 | ||
At the time of the Emperor Augustus, Rome was the largest city in the world: with a population of about one million people (about the size of London in the early 19th century, when London was the largest city in the world).[53][54][55][56]
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city's population fell dramatically to less than 50,000 people, and continued to either stagnate or shrink until the Renaissance.[57] When the Kingdom of Italy annexed Rome in 1870, the city had a population of about 200,000, which rapidly increased to 600,000 by the eve of World War I. The Fascist regime of Mussolini tried to block an excessive demographic rise of the city, but failed to prevent it from reaching one million people by early 1930s. After the Second World War, growth continued, helped by a post-war economic boom. A construction boom also created a large number of suburbs during the 1950s and 1960s.
In mid-2010, there were 2,754,440 residents in the city proper, while some 4.2 million people lived in the greater Rome area (which can be approximately identified with its administrative province, with a population density of about 800inhab./km2 stretching over more than 5,000 km2). Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 17.00 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 20.76 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of a Roman resident is 43 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Rome grew by 6.54 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.56 percent.[58] The current birth rate of Rome is 9.10 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.
Ethnic groups[link]
According to the latest statistics conducted by ISTAT,[59] approximately 9.5% of the population consists of non-Italians. About half of the immigrant population consists of those of various other European origins (chiefly Romanian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Albanian) numbering a combined total of 131,118 or 4.7 percent of the population. The remaining 4.8 percent are those with non-European origins, chiefly Filipinos (26,933), Bangladeshis (12,154), Peruvians (10,530), and Chinese (10,283).
The Esquilino district, off Termini Railway Station, has evolved into a largely immigrant neighbourhood, it is now seen as Rome's Chinatown, but in fact immigrants from more than a hundred different countries crowd its busy streets and piazzas. A thriving commercial district, Esquilino boasts dozens of restaurants featuring every kind of international cuisine. There are innumerable wholesale clothes shops: of the 1,300 or so commercial premises operating in the district 800 are Chinese-owned, around 300 are run by immigrants from other countries around the world and some 200 are owned by Italians.[60]
Hundreds of Romani gypsies live in illegal trailer camps on the city's outskirts. There is a growing population of homeless people in Rome, mostly not Italian and estimated at 7000.
Religion[link]
Main article: Religion in Rome
Much like the rest of Italy, Rome is predominantly Roman Catholic, and the city has been an important centre of religion and pilgrimage for centuries, the base of the ancient Roman Religion with the pontifex maximus and later the seat of the Vatican City and the pope. Before the arrival of the Christians in Rome, the Religio Romana (literally, the "Roman Religion") was the major religion of the city in classical antiquity. The first gods held sacred by the Romans were Jupiter, the most high, and Mars, god of war, and father of Rome's twin founders, Romulus and Remus, according to tradition. Other gods and goddesses such as Vesta and Minerva were honoured. Rome was also the base of several mystery cults, such as Mithraism. Later, after St Peter and St Paul were martyred in the city, and the first Christians began to arrive, Rome became Christian, and the St. Peter's Basilica was first constructed in 313 AD. Despite some interruptions (such as the Avignon papacy), Rome has for centuries been the home of the Roman Catholic Church and the bishop of Rome, otherwise known as the pope.
Despite the fact that Rome is home to the Vatican City and St. Peter's Basilica, Rome's cathedral is the Basilica of St. John Lateran, located to the south-east of the city-centre. There are around 900 churches in Rome in total, aside from the cathedral itself, some others of note include: the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, the Basilica di San Clemente, San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane and the Church of the Gesu. There are also the ancient Catacombs of Rome underneath the city. Numerous highly important religious educational institutions are also in Rome, such as the Pontifical Lateran University, Pontifical Biblical Institute, Pontifical Gregorian University, and Pontifical Oriental Institute.
The territory of Vatican City is part of the Mons Vaticanus, and of the adjacent former Vatican Fields, where St. Peter's Basilica, the Apostolic Palace, the Sistine Chapel, and museums were built, along with various other buildings. The area was part of the Roman rione of Borgo until 1929. Being separated from the city on the west bank of the Tiber river, the area was an outcrop of the city that was protected by being included within the walls of Leo IV, later expanded by the current fortification walls of Paul III/Pius IV/Urban VIII.
When the Lateran Treaty of 1929 that gave the state its present form was being prepared, the boundaries of the proposed territory was influenced by the fact that much of it was all but enclosed by this loop. For some tracts of the frontier, there was no wall, but the line of certain buildings supplied part of the boundary, and for a small part of the frontier a modern wall was constructed.
The territory includes Saint Peter's Square, separated from the territory of Italy only by a white line along the limit of the square, where it touches Piazza Pio XII. St. Peter's Square is reached through the Via della Conciliazione, which runs from the Tiber River to St. Peter's. This grand approach was constructed by Benito Mussolini after the conclusion of the Lateran Treaty. According to the Lateran Treaty, certain properties of the Holy See that are located in Italian territory, most notably Castel Gandolfo and the major basilicas, enjoy extraterritorial status similar to that of foreign embassies.
In recent years, there has been a significant growth in Rome's Muslim community, mainly due to immigration from North African and Middle Eastern countries into the city. As a consequence of this increase of the local practitioners of the Islamic faith, the comune promoted the building of the largest mosque in Europe, which was designed by architect Paolo Portoghesi and inaugurated on 21 June 1995. Since the end of the Roman Republic Rome is also the center of an important Jewish community,[61] which was once based in Trastevere, and later in the Roman Ghetto. There lies also the major synagogue in Rome, the Tempio Maggiore.
Cityscape[link]
See also: List of tourist attractions in Rome and List of streets in Rome
Architecture[link]
Main article: Architecture of Rome
Rome's architecture over the centuries has greatly developed, especially from the Classical and Imperial Roman styles to modern Fascist architecture. Rome was for a period one of the world's main epicentres of classical architecture, developing new forms such as the arch, the dome and the vault.[62] The Romanesque style in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries was also widely used in Roman architecture, and later the city became one of the main centres of Renaissance and Baroque architecture.[62]
Ancient Rome[link]
Main articles: List of ancient monuments in Rome and Ancient Roman architecture
One of the symbols of Rome is the Colosseum (70–80 AD), the largest amphitheatre ever built in the Roman Empire. Originally capable of seating 60,000 spectators, it was used for gladiatorial combat. A list of important monuments and sites of ancient Rome includes the Roman Forum, the Domus Aurea, the Pantheon, Trajan's Column, Trajan's Market, the Catacombs, the Circus Maximus, the Baths of Caracalla, Castel Sant'Angelo, the Mausoleum of Augustus, the Ara Pacis, the Arch of Constantine, the Pyramid of Cestius, and the Bocca della Verità.
Medieval[link]
Often overlooked, Rome's medieval heritage is one of the largest in Italian cities. Basilicas dating from the Paleochristian age include Santa Maria Maggiore and San Paolo Fuori le Mura (the latter largely rebuilt in the 19th century), both housing precious 4th century AD mosaics. Later notable medieval mosaic and fresco art can be also found in the churches of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Santi Quattro Coronati, and Santa Prassede. Lay buildings include a number of towers, the largest being the Torre delle Milizie and the Torre dei Conti, both next the Roman Forum, and the huge staircase leading to the basilica of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli.
Renaissance and Baroque[link]
Rome was a major world centre of the Renaissance, second only to Florence, and was profoundly affected by the movement. Among others, a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture in Rome is the Piazza del Campidoglio by Michelangelo. During this period, the great aristocratic families of Rome used to build opulent dwellings as the Palazzo del Quirinale (now seat of the President of the Italian Republic), the Palazzo Venezia, the Palazzo Farnese, the Palazzo Barberini, the Palazzo Chigi (now seat of the Italian Prime Minister), the Palazzo Spada, the Palazzo della Cancelleria, and the Villa Farnesina.
Many of the famous city's squares – some huge, majestic and often adorned with obelisks, some small and pictoresque – got their present shape during the Renaissance and Baroque. The principal ones are Piazza Navona, Piazza di Spagna, Campo de' Fiori, Piazza Venezia, Piazza Farnese, Piazza della Rotonda and Piazza della Minerva. One of the most emblematic examples of Baroque art is the Fontana di Trevi by Nicola Salvi. Other notable 17th-century baroque palaces are the Palazzo Madama, now the seat of the Italian Senate and the Palazzo Montecitorio, now the seat of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy.
Neoclassicism[link]
In 1870, Rome became the capital city of the new Kingdom of Italy. During this time, neoclassicism, a building style influenced by the architecture of antiquity, became a predominant influence in Roman architecture. During this period, many great palaces in neoclassical styles were built to host ministries, embassies, and other governing agencies. One of the best-known symbols of Roman neoclassicism is the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II or "Altar of the Fatherland", where the Grave of the Unknown Soldier, that represents the 650,000 Italians that fell in World War I, is located.
Fascist architecture[link]
See also: Fascist architecture
The Fascist regime that ruled in Italy between 1922 and 1943 developed an architectural style that was characterised by its links with ancient Roman architecture. The most important Fascist site in Rome is the E.U.R district, designed in 1938 by Marcello Piacentini. It was originally conceived for the 1942 world exhibition, and was called "E.42" ("Esposizione 42"). The world exhibition, however, never took place because Italy entered the Second World War in 1940. The most representative building of the Fascist style at E.U.R. is the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana (1938–1943), the iconic design of which has been labelled the cubic of Square Colosseum. After World War II, the Roman authorities found that they already had the seed of an off-centre business district of the type that other capitals were still planning (London Docklands and La Défense in Paris). Also the Palazzo della Farnesina, the current seat of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was designed in 1935 in pure Fascist style.
Parks and gardens[link]
Main article: List of parks and gardens in Rome
Public parks and nature reserves cover a large area in Rome, and the city has one of the largest areas of green space amongst European capitals.[63] The most notable part of this green space is represented by the large number of villas and landscaped gardens created by the Italian aristocracy. While many villas were destroyed during the building boom of the late 19th century, a great many remain. The most notable of these are Villa Borghese, Villa Ada, and Villa Doria Pamphili. Villa Doria Pamphili is west of the Gianicolo hill comprising some 1.8 km2. Also on the Gianicolo hill there is Villa Sciarra, with playgrounds for children and shaded walking areas. In the nearby area of Trastevere the Orto Botanico (Botanical Garden) is a cool and shady green space. The old Roman hippodrome (Circus Maximus) is another large green space but the main attraction is the ancient site of the chariot racing and it has few trees. Nearby is the lush Villa Celimontana, close to the gardens surrounding the Baths of Caracalla and Rose Garden (‘roseto comunale’). The Villa Borghese garden is the best known large green space in Rome, with famous art galleries among its shaded walks. It is close to the Spanish Steps that climb the slope to the Piazza Trinita dei Monti from the Piazza di Spagna,and Piazza del Popolo with its Augustinian Church built in the 13th century. Rome also has a number of regional parks of much more recent origin including the Pineto Regional Park and the Appian Way Regional Park. There are also nature reserves at Marcigliana and at Tenuta di Castelporziano.
Fountains and aqueducts[link]
Main articles: List of fountains in Rome and List of aqueducts in the city of Rome
Rome is a city famous for its numerous fountains, built in all different styles, from Classical and Medieval, to Baroque and Neoclassical. The city has had fountains for more than two thousand years, and they have provided drinking water and decorated the piazzas of Rome. During the Roman Empire, in 98 AD, according to Sextus Julius Frontinus, the Roman consul who was named curator aquarum or guardian of the water of the city, Rome had nine aqueducts which fed 39 monumental fountains and 591 public basins, not counting the water supplied to the Imperial household, baths and owners of private villas. Each of the major fountains was connected to two different aqueducts, in case one was shut down for service.[64]
During the 17th and 18th century the Roman popes reconstructed other ruined Roman acqueducts and built new display fountains to mark their termini, launching the golden age of the Roman fountain. The fountains of Rome, like the paintings of Rubens, were expressions of the new style of Baroque art. They were crowded with allegorical figures, and filled with emotion and movement. In these fountains, sculpture became the principal element, and the water was used simply to animate and decorate the sculptures. They, like baroque gardens, were "a visual representation of confidence and power."[65]
Statues[link]
Main article: Talking statues of Rome
Rome is well known for its statues but, in particular, the talking statues of Rome. These are usually ancient statues which have become popular soapboxes for political and social discussion, and places for people to (often satirically) voice their opinions. There are two main talking statues: the Pasquino and the Marforio, yet there are four other noted ones: il Babuino, Madama Lucrezia, il Facchino and Abbot Luigi. Most of these statues are ancient Roman or classical, and most of them also depict mythical gods, ancient people or legendary figures; il Pasquino represents Menelaus, Abbot Luigi is an unknown Roman magistrate, il Babuino is supposed to be Silenus, Marforio represents Oceanus, Madama Lucrezia is a bust of Isis, and il Facchino is the only non-Roman statue, created in 1580, and not representing anyone in particular. They are often, due to their status, covered with placards or graffiti expressing political ideas and points of view. Other statues in the city, which are not related to the talking statues, include those of the Ponte Sant'Angelo, or several monuments scattered across the city, such as that to Giordano Bruno in the Campo de'Fiori.
Obelisks and columns[link]
Main article: List of obelisks in Rome
The city contains eight ancient Egyptian and five ancient Roman obelisks, together with a number of more modern obelisks; there was also formerly (until 2005) an ancient Ethiopian obelisk in Rome.[67] The city contains some of obelisks in piazzas, such as in Piazza Navona, St Peter's Square, Piazza Montecitorio, and Piazza del Popolo, and others in villas, thermae parks and gardens, such as in Villa Celimontana, the Baths of Diocletian, and the Pincian Hill. Moreover, the centre of Rome hosts also Trajan's and Antonine Column, two ancient Roman columns with spiral relief.
Bridges[link]
Main article: List of bridges in Rome
The city of Rome contains numerous famous bridges which cross the Tiber. Famous ones include the Ponte Cestio, the Ponte Milvio, the Ponte Nomentano, the Ponte Sant'Angelo, the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, the Ponte Sisto and the Ponte dei Quattro Capi. Currently there are five ancient Roman bridges still remaining in the city.[68] Most of the city's public bridges were built in Classical or Renaissance style, but also in Baroque, Neoclassical and Modern styles. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the finest ancient bridge remaining in Rome is the Ponte Sant'Angelo, which was completed in 135AD, and was decorated with 10 statues of the angels, designed by Bernini in 1688.[69]
Catacombs[link]
Main article: Catacombs of Rome
Rome has extensive amount of ancient catacombs, or underground burial places under or near the city, of which there are at least forty, some discovered only in recent decades. Though most famous for Christian burials, they include pagan and Jewish burials, either in separate catacombs or mixed together. The first large-scale catacombs were excavated from the 2nd century onwards. Originally they were carved through tuff, a soft volcanic rock, outside the boundaries of the city, because Roman law forbade burial places within city limits. Currently maintenance of the catacombs is in the hands of the Papacy which has invested in the Salesians of Don Bosco the supervision of the Catacombs of St. Callixtus on the outskirts of Rome.
Economy[link]
Being the capital city of Italy, Rome hosts all the principal institutions of the nation, like the Presidency of the Republic, the government (and its single Ministeri), the Parliament, the main judicial Courts, and the diplomatic representatives of all the countries for the states of Italy and the Vatican City (curiously, Rome also hosts, in the Italian part of its territory, the Embassy of Italy for the Vatican City, a unique case of an Embassy within the boundaries of its own country). Many international institutions are located in Rome, notably cultural and scientific ones – such as the American Institute, the British School, the French Academy, the Scandinavian Institutes, the German Archaeological Institute – for the honour of scholarship in the Eternal City, and Specialized Agencies of the United Nations, such as the FAO. Rome, also hosts major international and worldwide political and cultural organisations, such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Food Programme (WFP), the NATO Defence College and ICCROM, the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property [1]. Rome is currently an beta+ world city, falling down from its alpha- status in 2008, along with Berlin, Stockholm, Athens, Prague, Montreal and Vancouver, to name a few.[9] With a score of 2.56, Rome was also ranked in 2010 as 28th in the Global Cities Index (moving up two places from its 2008 position), being the highest-ranking city in Italy (Milan comes second at 42nd).[10] Furthermore, Rome was in 2008, also ranked 15th out of all the cities of the world for global importance, mainly for cultural experience.[70]
With a 2005 GDP of €94.376 billion (US$121.5 billion),[71] the city produces 6.7% of the national GDP (more than any other single city in Italy), and its unemployment rate, lowered from 11.1% to 6.5% between 2001 and 2005, is now one of the lowest rates of all the European Union capital cities.[71] Rome grows +4.4% annually and continues to grow at a higher rate in comparison to any other city in the rest of the country.[71] This means that were Rome a country, it would be the world's 52nd richest country by GDP, near to the size to that of Egypt. Rome also had a 2003 GDP per capita of €29,153 (US$ 37,412), which was second in Italy, (after Milan), and is more than 134.1% of the EU average GDP per capita.[72] Rome, on the whole, has the highest total earnings in Italy, reaching €47,076,890,463 in 2008,[73] yet, in terms of average workers' incomes, the city places itself 9th in Italy, with €24,509[73] On a global level, Rome's workers receive the 30th highest wages in 2009, coming three places higher than in 2008, in which the city ranked 33rd.[74]
Although the economy of Rome is characterised by the absence of heavy industry and it is largely dominated by services, high-technology companies (IT, aerospace, defence, telecommunications), research, construction and commercial activities (especially banking), and the huge development of tourism are very dynamic and extremely important to its economy. Rome's international airport, Fiumicino, is the largest in Italy, and the city hosts the head offices of the vast majority of the major Italian companies, as well as the headquarters of three of the world's 100 largest companies: Enel, Eni, and Telecom Italia.[75]
Universities, national radio and television and the movie industry in Rome are also important parts of the economy: Rome is also the hub of the Italian film industry, thanks to the Cinecittà studios, working since the 1930s. The city is also a centre for banking and insurance as well as electronics, energy, transport, and aerospace industries. Numerous international companies and agencies headquarters, government ministries, conference centres, sports venues, and museums are located in Rome's principal business districts: the Esposizione Universale Roma (EUR); the Torrino (further south from the EUR); the Magliana; the Parco de' Medici-Laurentina and the so-called Tiburtina-valley along the ancient Via Tiburtina.
Education[link]
Rome is a nation-wide and major international centre for higher education, containing numerous academies, colleges and universities. According to the City Brands Index, Rome is considered the world's second most historically, educationally and culturally interesting and beautiful city.[76] It boasts a large variety of academies and colleges, and has always been a major worldwide intellectual and educational centre, especially during Ancient Rome and the Renaissance, along with Florence.[77]
Rome has a large number of universities and colleges. Its first university, La Sapienza (founded in 1303), is the largest in Europe and the second-largest in the world, with more than 140,000 students attending; in 2005 it ranked as Europe's 33rd best university[79] and currently ranks amongst Europe's 50 and the world's 150 best colleges.[80] In order to decrease the overcrowding of La Sapienza, two new public universities were founded during the last decades: Tor Vergata in 1982, and Roma Tre in 1992. Rome hosts also the LUISS School of Government, Italy's most important graduate university in the areas of international affairs and European studies.
Rome contains also a large number of pontifical universities and other institutes, including the British School at Rome, the French School in Rome, the Pontifical Gregorian University (The oldest Jesuit university in the world, founded in 1551), Istituto Europeo di Design, the St. John's University, the American University of Rome, the Scuola Lorenzo de' Medici, the Link Campus of Malta, and the Università Campus Bio-Medico. Rome is also the location of the John Felice Rome Center, a campus of Loyola University Chicago. The Roman Colleges are several seminaries for students from foreign countries studying for the priesthood at the Pontifical Universities.[81] Examples include the Venerable English College, the Pontifical North American College, the Scots College, and the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome.
Rome's major libraries include: the Biblioteca Angelica, opened in 1604, making it Italy's first public library; the Biblioteca Casanatense, opened in 1701; the Biblioteca Vallicelliana; Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute of Art History, a German library located in Rome, often noted for excellence in the arts and sciences;[82] the National Central Library, one of the two national libraries in Italy, which contains 4,126,002 volumes; The Biblioteca del Ministero degli Affari Esteri, specialised in diplomacy, foreign affairs and modern history; the Biblioteca dell'Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana; the Biblioteca Don Bosco, one of the largest and most modern of all Salesian libraries; the Biblioteca e Museo teatrale del Burcardo, a museum-library specialised in history of drama and theatre; the Biblioteca della Società Geografica Italiana, which is based in the Villa Celimontana and is the most important geographical library in Italy, and one of Europe's most important;[83] and the Vatican Library, one of the oldest and most important libraries in the world, which was formally established in 1475, though in fact much older and has 75,000 codices from throughout history.[84]
Culture[link]
Main article: Culture in Rome
Entertainment and performing arts[link]
Main articles: Music of Rome and Events in Rome
Rome is an important centre for music, and it has an intense musical scene, including several prestigious music conservatories and theatres. It hosts the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (founded in 1585), for which new concert halls have been built in the new Parco della Musica, one of the largest musical venues in the world. Rome also has an opera house, the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, as well as several minor musical institutions. The city also played host to the Eurovision Song Contest in 1991 and the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2004.
Rome has also had a major impact in music history. The Roman School was a group of composers of predominantly church music, which were active in the city during the 16th and 17th centuries, therefore spanning the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. The term also refers to the music they produced. Many of the composers had a direct connection to the Vatican and the papal chapel, though they worked at several churches; stylistically they are often contrasted with the Venetian School of composers, a concurrent movement which was much more progressive. By far the most famous composer of the Roman School is Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, whose name has been associated for four hundred years with smooth, clear, polyphonic perfection. However, there were other composers working in Rome, and in a variety of styles and forms.
Tourism[link]
| Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura * | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Country | Italy and Holy See |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, ii, iii, iv, vi |
| Reference | 91 |
| Region ** | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1980 (4th Session) |
| Extensions | 1990 |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO |
|
Rome today is one of the most important tourist destinations of the world, due to the incalculable immensity of its archaeological and artistic treasures, as well as for the charm of its unique traditions, the beauty of its panoramic views, and the majesty of its magnificent "villas" (parks). Among the most significant resources are the many museums – (Musei Capitolini, the Vatican Museums, Galleria Borghese, including those dedicated to modern and contemporary art and great many others) – aqueducts, fountains, churches, palaces, historical buildings, the monuments and ruins of the Roman Forum, and the Catacombs. Rome is the 3rd most visited city in the EU, after London and Paris, and receives an average of 7–10 million tourists a year, which sometimes doubles on holy years. The Colosseum (4 million tourists) and the Vatican Museums (4.2 million tourists) are the 39th and 37th (respectively) most visited places in the world, according to a recent study.[85]
Rome is a major archaeological hub, and one of the world's main centres of archaeological research. There are numerous cultural and research institutes located in the city, such as the American Academy in Rome,[86] and The Swedish Institute at Rome,[87] to name a few. Rome contains numerous ancient sites, including the Forum Romanum, Trajan's Market, Trajan's Forum,[88] the Colosseum, and the Pantheon, to name but a few. The Colosseum, arguably one of Rome's most iconic archaeological sites, is regarded as a wonder of the world.[89][90]
Rome contains a vast and impressive collection of art, sculpture, fountains, mosaics, frescos, and paintings, from all different periods. Rome first became a major artistic centre during ancient Rome, with forms of important Roman art such as architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Metal-work, coin die and gem engraving, ivory carvings, figurine glass, pottery, and book illustrations are considered to be 'minor' forms of Roman artwork.[91] Rome later became a major centre of Renaissance art, since the popes spent vast sums of money for the constructions of grandiose basilicas, palaces, piazzas and public buildings in general. Rome became one of Europe's major centres of Renaissance artwork, second only to Florence, and able to compare to other major cities and cultural centres, such as Paris and Venice. The city was affected greatly by the baroque, and Rome became the home of numerous artists and architects, such as Bernini, Caravaggio, Carracci, Borromini and Cortona, to name a few.[92] In the late 18th century and early 19th century, the city was one of the centres of the Grand Tour,[93] when wealthy, young English and other European aristocrats visited the city to learn about ancient Roman culture, art, philosophy and architecture. Rome hosted a great number of neoclassical and rococo artists, such as Pannini and Bernardo Bellotto. Today, the city is a major artistic centre, with numerous art institutes[94] and museums.
Rome has a growing stock of contemporary and modern art and architecture. The National Gallery of Modern Art has works by Balla, Morandi, Pirandello, Carrà, De Chirico, De Pisis, Guttuso, Fontana, Burri, Mastroianni, Turcato, Kandisky, Cézanne on permanent exhibition. 2010 sees the opening of Rome's newest arts foundation, a contemporary art and architecture gallery designed by acclaimed Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. Known as Maxxi National Museum of XXIst century Art and Architecture it restores a dilapidated area with striking modern architecture. Maxxi[95] features a campus dedicated to culture, experimental research laboratories, international exchange and study and research. It is one of Rome's most ambitious modern architecture projects alongside Renzo Piano's Auditorium Parco della Musica[96] and Massimiliano Fuksas' Rome Convention Center, Centro Congressi Italia EUR, in the EUR district, due to open in 2011.[97] The Convention Center features a huge translucent container inside which is suspended a steel and teflon structure resembling a cloud and which contains meeting rooms and an auditorium with two piazzas open to the neighbourhood on either side.
Rome is also widely recognised as a world fashion capital. Although not as important as Milan, Rome is the world's 4th most important center for fashion in the world, according to the 2009 Global Language Monitor after Milan, New York and Paris, and beating London.[98] Major luxury fashion houses and jewellery chains, such as Bulgari, Fendi,[99] Laura Biagiotti and Brioni (fashion), just to name a few, are headquartered or were founded in the city. Also, other major labels, such as Chanel, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani and Versace have luxury boutiques in Rome, primarily along its prestigious and upscale Via dei Condotti.
Cuisine[link]
Main article: Roman cuisine
Rome's cuisine has evolved through centuries and periods of social, cultural, and political changes. Rome became a major gastronomical centre during Ancient Rome. Ancient Roman Cuisine was highly influenced by Ancient Greek culture, and after, the empire's enormous expansion exposed Romans to many new, provincial culinary habits and cooking techniques. In the beginning, the differences between social classes were not very great, but disparities developed with the empire's growth. Later, during the Renaissance, Rome became well known as a centre of high-cuisine, since some of the best chefs of the time, worked for the popes. An example of this could be Bartolomeo Scappi, who was a chef, working for Pius IV in the Vatican kitchen, and he acquired fame in 1570 when his cookbook Opera dell'arte del cucinare was published. In the book he lists approximately 1000 recipes of the Renaissance cuisine and describes cooking techniques and tools, giving the first known picture of a fork.[100] Today, the city is home to numerous formidable and traditional Italian dishes. A Jewish influence can be seen, as Jews have lived in Rome since the 1st century BCE. Vegetables, especially globe artichokes, are common.[101] Examples of these include "Saltimbocca alla Romana" – a veal cutlet, Roman-style; topped with raw ham and sage and simmered with white wine and butter; "Carciofi alla giudia" – artichokes fried in olive oil, typical of Roman Jewish cooking; "Carciofi alla romana" – artichokes Roman-style; outer leaves removed, stuffed with mint, garlic, breadcrumbs and braised; "Spaghetti alla carbonara" – spaghetti with bacon, eggs and pecorino, and "Gnocchi di semolino alla romana" – semolina dumpling, Roman-style, to name but a few.
Cinema[link]
Main articles: List of films set in Rome and List of films set in ancient Rome
Rome hosts the Cinecittà Studios,[102] the largest film and television production facility in continental Europe and the centre of the Italian cinema, where a large number of today's biggest box office hits are filmed. The 99-acre (40 ha) studio complex is 5.6 miles (9.0 km) from the centre of Rome and is part of one of the biggest production communities in the world, second only to Hollywood, with well over 5,000 professionals – from period costume makers to visual effects specialists. More than 3,000 productions have been made on its lot, from recent features like The Passion of the Christ, Gangs of New York, HBO's Rome, The Life Aquatic and Dino De Laurentiis’ Decameron, to such cinema classics as Ben-Hur, Cleopatra, and the films of Federico Fellini.
Founded in 1937 by Benito Mussolini, the studios were bombed by the Western Allies during the Second World War. In the 1950s, Cinecittà was the filming location for several large American film productions, and subsequently became the studio most closely associated with Federico Fellini. Today Cinecittà is the only studio in the world with pre-production, production, and full post-production facilities on one lot, allowing directors and producers to walk in with their script and "walk out" with a completed film.
Language[link]
Main articles: Roman dialect and Latin
Although associated today only with Latin ancient Rome was in fact multilingual. In highest antiquity Sabine tribes shared the area of what is today Rome with Latin tribes. The Sabine language was one of the Italic group of ancient Italian languages, along with Etruscan, which would have been the main language of the kings of ancient Rome who ruled till their overthrow in 509 BC and the founding of the Republic. Urganilla,or Plautia Urgulanilla, wife of Emperor Claudius, is thought to have been a speaker of Etruscan many centuries after this date, according to Suetonius' entry on Claudius. However Latin, in various evolving forms, was the main language of classical Rome, but as the city had immigrants, slaves, residents, ambassadors from many parts of the world it was also multilingual. Many educated Romans also spoke Greek, and there was a large Greek, Syriac and Jewish population in parts of Rome from well before the Empire. Latin, which evolved during the Middle Ages into Italian. The latter emerged as the confluence of various regional dialects, among which the Tuscan dialect predominated, but the population of Rome also developed its own dialect, the Romanesco. The ancient Romanesco, used during the Middle Ages, was a southern Italian dialect, very close to the Neapolitan. The influence of the Florentine culture during the renaissance, and, above all, the immigration to Rome of many Florentines, amongst them the two Medici Popes (Leo X and Clement VII) and their suite, caused a major shift in the dialect, which began to resemble more the Tuscan varieties. This remained largely confined to Rome until the 19th century, but then expanded to other zones of Lazio (Civitavecchia, Latina), from the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to the rising population of Rome and to better transportation systems. As a consequence, Romanesco abandoned its traditional forms to mutate into the dialect spoken within the city, which is more like standard Italian, although it remains distinct from the other Romanesco-influenced local dialects of Lazio. Dialectal literature in the traditional form Romanesco includes the works of such authors as Giuseppe Gioachino Belli, Trilussa, and Cesare Pascarella. Contemporary Romanesco is mainly represented by popular actors such as Aldo Fabrizi, Alberto Sordi, Nino Manfredi, Anna Magnani, Gigi Proietti, Enrico Montesano, and Carlo Verdone.
Rome's historic contribution to language in a worldwide sense is much more extensive however. Through the process of Romanisation, the peoples of Gallia, the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and Dacia developed languages which derive directly from Latin and were adopted in large areas of the world both through colonization and cultural influence. Moreover, also modern English, because of the Norman Conquest, borrowed a large percentage of its vocabulary from the Latin Language. The Roman or Latin alphabet is the most widely used writing system in the world used by the greatest number of languages.[103]
Rome has long hosted artistic communities, foreign resident communities and a large number of foreign religious students or pilgrims and so has always been a multilingual space. Today because of mass tourism many languages are used in servicing tourism, especially English which is widely known in tourist areas, and the city hosts large numbers of immigrants and so has many multilingual immigrant areas.
Sports[link]
Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Rome, as in the rest of the country. The city hosted the final games of the 1934 and 1990 FIFA World Cup. The latter took place in the Olympic Stadium, which is also the home stadium for local Serie A clubs A.S. Roma and S.S. Lazio, whose rivalry has become a staple of Roman sports culture. Footballers who play for these teams and are also born in the city tend to become especially popular, as has been the case with players such as Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi (both for A.S. Roma). Atletico Roma is a minor team that plays in First Division; its home stadium is Stadio Flaminio.
Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics, with great success, using many ancient sites such as the Villa Borghese and the Thermae of Caracalla as venues. For the Olympic Games many new structures were created, notably the new large Olympic Stadium (which was also enlarged and renewed to host qualification and the final match of the 1990 FIFA World Cup), the Villaggio Olimpico (Olympic Village, created to host the athletes and redeveloped after the games as a residential district), etc. Rome made a bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics but it was withdrawn before the deadline for applicant files.[105][106]
Rugby union is gaining wider acceptance. The Stadio Flaminio is the home stadium for the Italy national rugby union team, which has been playing in the Six Nations Championship since 2000, albeit with less than satisfactory performances, as they have never won the championship. Rome is home to local rugby teams, such as Unione Rugby Capitolina, Rugby Roma, and S.S. Lazio.
Every May, Rome hosts the ATP Masters Series tennis tournament on the clay courts of the Foro Italico. Cycling was popular in the post-World War II period, although its popularity has faded. Rome has hosted the final portion of the Giro d'Italia twice, in 1989 and 2000. Rome is also home to other sports teams, including basketball (Virtus Roma), volleyball (M. Roma Volley), handball or waterpolo.
Pilgrimage[link]
Rome has been a major Christian pilgrimage site since the Middle Ages. People from all over the Christian world visit Vatican City, within the city of Rome, the seat of the papacy. The Pope was the most influential figure during the Middle Ages. the city became a major pilgrimage site during the Middle Ages and the focus of struggles between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire starting with Charlemagne, who was crowned its first emperor in Rome in 800 by Pope Leo III. Apart from brief periods as an independent city during the Middle Ages, Rome kept its status as Papal capital and "holy city" for centuries, even when the Papacy briefly relocated to Avignon (1309–1377).[citation needed] Catholics believe that the Vatican is the last resting place of St. Peter. to this day, thousand of believers flock to the city to Rome. One of the pilgrimage stopping point is Pilate's stairs where, according to the Christian tradition, the steps that led up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem, which Jesus Christ stood on during his Passion on his way to trial.[107] The stairs were, reputedly, brought to Rome by St. Helena in the 4th Century. For centuries, the Scala Santa has attracted Christian pilgrims who wished to honor the Passion of Jesus.
Pilgrimages to Rome can involve visits to a large number of sites, both within the Vatican City and in Italian territory in the city of Rome itself. Some of these are the catacombs of antiquity in which Christians prayed, buried their dead and performed worship during periods of persecution, and various national churches, most famously the Church of St. Louis of the French, or churches associated with individual religious orders, such as the Jesuit Church of Jesus. Traditionally there have been seven churches known as the Pilgrim churches, visited because an individual saint is venerated there, or in the Middle Ages to obtain indulgences, or for national reasons since there are national churches in Rome for most Catholic countries. St Peter’s basilica is the main destination for pilgrimage, because of the presence of the pope and the burial of many past popes there, including St Peter, recognised by Catholics as the first pope. St Peters and three other major churches, all within Italian territory and therefore outside Vatican City form what are called the four main basilicas, these are the Basilica of St John Lateran, the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, where St Paul is believed buried, and Saint Mary Major. Three other minor basilicas, all within Rome, form the seven pilgrimage sites.
Transportation[link]
Main article: Transport in Rome
Rome is at the centre of the radial network of roads that roughly follow the lines of the ancient Roman roads that began at the Capitoline Hill and connected Rome with its empire. Today Rome is circled, at a distance of about 10 km (6 mi), by the ring-road (the Grande Raccordo Anulare or GRA).
Due to its location in the centre of the Italian peninsula, Rome is a principal railway node for central Italy. Rome's main train station, Termini, is one of the biggest train stations in Europe and the most heavily used in Italy, with around 400 thousand travellers passing through every day. The second-largest station in the city, Roma Tiburtina, is currently being redeveloped as a high-speed rail terminus.[108]
Rome is served by three airports. The intercontinental Leonardo da Vinci International Airport is Italy's chief airport and is commonly known as "Fiumicino Airport", as it is located within the nearby Comune of Fiumicino, south-west of Rome. The older Rome Ciampino Airport is a joint civilian and military airport. It is commonly referred to as "Ciampino Airport", as it is located beside Ciampino, south-east of Rome. A third airport, the Roma-Urbe Airport, is a small, low-traffic airport located about 6 km north of the city centre, which handles most helicopter and private flights.
The city suffers from traffic problems largely due to this radial street pattern, making it difficult for Romans to move easily from the vicinity of one of the radial roads to another without going into the historic centre or using the ring-road. These problems are not helped by the limited size of Rome's metro system when compared to other cities of similar size. In addition, Rome has only 21 taxis for every 10,000 inhabitants, far below other major European cities.[109] Chronic congestion caused by cars during the 1970s and 1980s led to restrictions being placed on vehicle access to the inner city-centre during the hours of daylight. Areas where these restriction apply are known as Limited Traffic Zones (Zona a Traffico Limitato (ZTL) in Italian). More recently, heavy night-time traffic in Trastevere and San Lorenzo has led to the creation of night-time ZTLs in those districts, and there are also plans to create another night-time ZTL in Testaccio.
A 2-line metro system called the Metropolitana operates in Rome. Construction on the first branch started in the 1930s. The line had been planned to quickly connect the main train station with the newly planned E42 area in the southern suburbs, where the 1942 World Fair was supposed to be held. The event never took place because of war. The area was later partly redesigned and renamed EUR (Esposizione Universale di Roma: Rome Universal Exhibition) in the 1950s to serve as a modern business district. The line was finally opened in 1955, and it is now part of the B Line.
The A line opened in 1980 from Ottaviano to Anagnina stations, later extended in stages (1999–2000) to Battistini. In the 1990s, an extension of the B line was opened from Termini to Rebibbia. This underground network is generally reliable (although it may become very congested at peak times and during events, especially the A line) as it is relatively short. As of 2005, its total length is 38 km (24 mi).
The two existing lines, A and B, intersect at Roma Termini station. A new branch of the B line (B1) is under construction with an estimated cost of €500 million. It is scheduled to open in 2012. B1 will connect to line B at Piazza Bologna and will have four stations over a distance of 3.9 km (2 mi). A third line, line C, is under construction with an estimated cost of €3 billion and will have 30 stations over a distance of 25.5 km (16 mi). It will partly replace the existing Rail Road line, Termini-Pantano. It will feature full automated, driverless trains.[110] The first section is due to open in 2011 and the final sections in 2015, but archaeological findings often delay underground construction work. A fourth line, D line, is also planned. It will have 22 stations over a distance of 20 km (12 mi). The first section is projected to open in 2015 and the final sections before 2035.
Above-ground public transport in Rome is made up of a bus, tram and urban train network (FR lines). The bus and tram network is run by Trambus S.p.A. under the auspices of Atac S.p.A. (which originally stood for the Municipal Bus and Tramways Company, Azienda Tramvie e Autobus del Comune in Italian). The bus network has in excess of 350 bus lines and over 8 thousand bus stops, whereas the more-limited tram system has 39 km of track and 192 stops.[111] There is also one trolleybus line, opened in 2005, and additional trolleybus lines are planned.[112]
International entities, organisations and involvement[link]
Rome is unique in having a sovereign state located entirely within its city limits, the Vatican City. The Vatican is a enclave of Rome and a sovereign possession of the Holy See, the supreme government of the Roman Catholic Church. Rome hosts foreign embassies to both Italy and the Holy See, although frequently the same ambassador is accredited to both.
Another body, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), took refuge in Rome in 1834, due to the conquest of Malta by Napoleon in 1798. It is sometimes classified as having sovereignty but does not claim any territory in Rome or anywhere else, hence leading to dispute over its actual sovereign status.
Rome is also the seat of international agencies of the United Nations, such as the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Rome has traditionally been involved in the process of European political integration. In 1957, the city hosted the signing of the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community (predecessor to the European Union), and also played host to the official signing of the proposed European Constitution in July 2004.
Rome is the seat of the NATO Defense College and is the place where the Statute of the International Criminal Court was formulated.
Twin towns, sister cities and partner cities[link]
Rome is since 1956 exclusively and reciprocally twinned only with:
- Paris, France
- (French) Seule Paris est digne de Rome; seule Rome est digne de Paris.
- (Italian) Solo Parigi è degna di Roma; solo Roma è degna di Parigi.
- "Only Paris is worthy of Rome; only Rome is worthy of Paris."[113][114][115]
Rome's sister and partner cities are:
- Achacachi, Bolivia.
- Algiers, Algeria.
- Beijing, China.[116][117]
- Belgrade, Serbia.
- Brasília, Brazil.
- Cairo, Egypt.
- Kiev, Ukraine.
- London, United Kingdom.
- Multan, Pakistan.
- Mumbai, India.
- Madrid, Spain.[118]
- Marbella, Spain.
- Montreal, Canada.
- New York City, United States.[119]
- Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
- New Delhi, India.
- Seoul, South Korea.
- Sydney, Australia.
- Tirana, Albania.[120][121]
- Tokyo, Japan.
- Tongeren, Belgium.
- Tunis, Tunisia.[122]
- Washington, D.C.[123]
See also[link]
- Outline of Italy
- List of tallest buildings in Rome
- Large Cities Climate Leadership Group
- List of shopping areas and markets in Rome
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- ^ Height of shaft, base and above ground: Jones 2000, p. 220
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- ^ "The Bridges of Ancient Rome". Citrag.it. http://www.citrag.it/archi/page/bridges/e_f_pn_ro.htm. Retrieved 3 February 2010. [dead link]
- ^ "Sant'Angelo Bridge". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/523159/SantAngelo-Bridge. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ "The 2008 Global Cities Index". Foreignpolicy.com. 15 October 2008. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4509. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ a b c "Rapporto Censis 2006". Censis.it. http://www.censis.it/277/372/5732/5766/5783/5784/content.asp. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ Observatoribarcelona.org[dead link]
- ^ a b "La classifica dei redditi nei comuni capoluogo di provincia". Il Sole 24 ORE. http://www.ilsole24ore.com/speciali/redditi_comuni_08/. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
- ^ "World's richest cities in 2009". City Mayors. 22 August 2009. http://www.citymayors.com/economics/richest_cities.html. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
- ^ DeCarlo, Scott (30 March 2006). "The World's 2000 Largest Public Companies". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/2006/03/29/06f2k_worlds-largest-public-companies_land.html. Retrieved 16 January 2007. [dead link]
- ^ "How the world views its cities" – The Anholt City Brands Index 2006[dead link]
- ^ "Roman Academies". Catholic Encyclopedia. Newadvent.org. 1 March 1907. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01083b.htm. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ "Il Tempo – È il più grande ateneo d'Europa". Iltempo.ilsole24ore.com. http://iltempo.ilsole24ore.com/2008/09/20/929140-grande_ateneo_europa.shtml. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
- ^ Arwu.org[dead link]
- ^ Arwu.org[dead link]
- ^ "About the NAC". Pontifical North American College. http://www.pnac.org/about-us/about-the-nac/. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
- ^ Max Planck Gesellschaft e.V (17 May 2006). "Max Planck Society – Hanno and Ilse Hahn Prize". Mpg.de. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080613192334/http://www.mpg.de/english/aboutTheSociety/aboutUs/scientificAwards/awardsOfMPS/hannoIlseHahnPrize/index.html. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
- ^ Amedeo Benedetti, La Biblioteca della Società Geografica Italiana, "Biblioteche oggi", n. 3, aprile 2009, p. 41.
- ^ Vatican Film Library informational pamphlet
- ^ ITVnews.tv[dead link]
- ^ "AIRC-HC Program in Archaeology, Classics, and Mediterranean Culture". Romanculture.org. http://www.romanculture.org/index.php?page=airc-hc-rome-program-in-archaeology-and-classical-studies. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ "Isvroma.it". Isvroma.it. Archived from the original on 8 July 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080708234610/http://www.isvroma.it/public/EN/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=+. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ James E. Packer (January/February 1998). "Trajan's Glorious Forum". Archaeology (Archaeological Institute of America) 51 (1). http://www.archaeology.org/9801/abstracts/trajan.html. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
- ^ I H Evans (reviser), Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (Centenary edition Fourth impression (corrected); London: Cassell, 1975), page 1163
- ^ Francis Trevelyan Miller, Woodrow Wilson, William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt. America, the Land We Love (1915), page 201 Google Books Search
- ^ Toynbee, J. M. C. (December 1971). "Roman Art". The Classical Review 21 (3): 439–442. DOI:10.1017/S0009840X00221331. JSTOR 708631.
- ^ "Baroque Art of Rome (ROME 211)". Trincoll.edu. http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/rome/curriculum/rome211.html. Retrieved 3 February 2010. [dead link]
- ^ Matt Rosenberg. "Grand Tour of Europe: The Travels of 17th & 18th Century Twenty-Somethings". About.com. http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/a/grandtour.htm. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ "The Franca Camiz Memorial Field Seminar in Art History". Trinity College, Hartford Connecticlt. Archived from the original on 30 May 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080530094628/http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/rome/curriculum/rome350.html. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ "Maxxi_Museo Nazionale Delle Arti Del Xxi Secolo". Maxxi.beniculturali.it. http://www.maxxi.beniculturali.it/english/. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ "Auditorium Parco della Musica". Auditorium.com. http://www.auditorium.com/. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ "ROME | Congress Center Italia EUR "Nuvola di Fuksas" (Fuksas)". SkyscraperCity. http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=866754. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ "The Global Language Monitor » Fashion". Languagemonitor.com. 20 July 2009. http://www.languagemonitor.com/popular-culture/fashion. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
- ^ "Fendi". fendi.com. http://www.fendi.com/. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
- ^ (Rolland 2006, p. 273).
- ^ Piras, 291.
- ^ "history of Cinecittà Studios in Rome". Romefile.com. http://www.romefile.com/culture/cinecitta.php. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
- ^ Ostler, N. (2007), Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin. London: HarperCollins
- ^ "Brief Guide to Olympic Stadium of Rome | SPOSTARE LA FINALE DA ROMA? NO! GRAZIE". Maspostatevilaregina.com. 23 April 2009. http://www.maspostatevilaregina.com/2009/05/05/brief-guide-to-olympic-stadium-of-rome/. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
- ^ "Media". Olympic.org. http://www.olympic.org/media?articleid=138217. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
- ^ "Candidate Cities for Future Olympic Games". Bladesplace.id.au. http://www.bladesplace.id.au/olympic-games-candidates.html. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
- ^ Steps Jesus walked to trial restored to glory, Daily Telegraph, Malcolm Moore, 14/06/2007
- ^ – Entry on Roma Tiburtina station on the official website of the Italian high-speed rail service (Italian)
- ^ Kiefer, Peter (30 November 2007). "Central Rome Streets Blocked by Taxi Drivers". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/world/europe/30rome.html?scp=93&sq=Rome&st=nyt. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
- ^ Kington, Tom (14 May 2007). "Roman remains threaten metro". Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/may/14/italy.artnews. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
- ^ The figures are from the ATAC website (Italian).
- ^ Webb, Mary (ed.) (2009). Jane's Urban Transport Systems 2009–2010, p. 195. Coulsdon (UK): Jane's Information Group. ISBN 978-0-7106-2903-6.
- ^ "Twinning with Rome". http://www.paris.fr/portail/english/Portal.lut?page_id=8139&document_type_id=5&document_id=29903&portlet_id=18784. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
- ^ "Les pactes d'amitié et de coopération". Mairie de Paris. http://www.paris.fr/portail/accueil/Portal.lut?page_id=6587&document_type_id=5&document_id=16468&portlet_id=14974. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
- ^ "International relations: special partners". Mairie de Paris. http://www.paris.fr/en/city_government/international/special_partners.asp. Retrieved 14 October 2007. [dead link]
- ^ "Sister Cities". Beijing Municipal Government. http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/Sister_Cities/Sister_City/. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
- ^ "Le jumelage avec Rome" (in French). Municipalité de Paris. http://www.paris.fr/portail/accueil/Portal.lut?page_id=6587&document_type_id=5&document_id=16467&portlet_id=14974. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
- ^ "Mapa Mundi de las ciudades hermanadas". Ayuntamiento de Madrid. http://www.munimadrid.es/portal/site/munimadrid/menuitem.dbd5147a4ba1b0aa7d245f019fc08a0c/?vgnextoid=4e84399a03003110VgnVCM2000000c205a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=4e98823d3a37a010VgnVCM100000d90ca8c0RCRD&vgnextfmt=especial1&idContenido=1da69a4192b5b010VgnVCM100000d90ca8c0RCRD. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
- ^ "NYC's Sister Cities". Sister City Program of the City of New York. 2006. http://www.nyc.gov/html/unccp/scp/html/sc/main.shtml. Retrieved 1 September 2008. [dead link]
- ^ "Twinning Cities: International Relations" (PDF). Municipality of Tirana. www.tirana.gov.al. http://www.tirana.gov.al/common/images/International%20Relations.pdf. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
- ^ Twinning Cities: International Relations. Municipality of Tirana. www.tirana.gov.al. Retrieved on 25 January 2008.
- ^ "Cooperation Internationale" (in French). 2003–2009 City of Tunis Portal. Archived from the original on 8 May 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080508191341/http://www.commune-tunis.gov.tn/fr/mairie_cooperation1.htm. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ^ "Visita a Washington del Sindaco". http://www.comune.roma.it/wps/portal/pcr?contentId=NEW183956&jp_pagecode=newsview.wp&ahew=contentId:jp_pagecode. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
Bibliography[link]
- Bertarelli, Luigi Vittorio (1925) (in Italian). Guida d'Italia. IV. Rome: CTI.
- Brilliant, Richard (2006). Roman Art. An American's View. Rome: Di Renzo Editore. ISBN 88-8323-085-X.
- Coarelli, Filippo (1984) (in Italian). Guida archeologica di Roma. Milano: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore.
- Hughes, Robert (2011). Rome. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
- Lucentini, Mario (2002) (in Italian). La Grande Guida di Roma. Rome: Newton & Compton Editori. ISBN 88-8289-053-8.
- Rendina, Mario (2007) (in Italian). Roma ieri, oggi, domani. Rome: Newton & Compton Editori.
- Spoto, Salvatore (1999) (in Italian). Roma Esoterica. Rome: Newton & Compton Editori. ISBN 88-8289-265-4.
- Rome – Eyewitness Travel. DK. 2006. ISBN 1-4053-1090-1.
Documentaries[link]
- The Holy Cities: Rome produced by Danae Film Production, distributed by HDH Communications; 2006.
External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Roma |
- Official
- APT (official Tourist Office) of the City of Rome (English)
- Rome Museums – Official site (Italian)
- Capitoline Museums (English)
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
Jimmy Soni is the current Managing Editor of The Huffington Post.[1][2]
Background[link]
Soni graduated from Duke University in 2007.[3] During his time at Duke he was chairman of the Honors Council and Vice President of Duke Student Government.[4][5]
Career[link]
Soni has been the managing editor at The Huffington Post since January 2012.[6] Previously he had worked as a strategy consultant at McKinsey and Company, as well as a speech writer at the office of the Mayor of the District of Columbia.[7]
In 2012, Thomas Dunne Books a division of St. Martin's Press, will publish Soni's first book, a biography of Cato the Great, titled Rome's Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar.[6][8][9]
In 2012, Soni was was named to AdWeek's "Young Influentials", a list of 20 people under 40 "who are wicked smart and rebooting your world".[2] He was featured at a TEDx event held at Duke University in March 2012.[4][10]
His work has been featured in Politico, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, AdWeek, and The Atlantic, among others.[1][2][6][11][12]
References[link]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Byers, Dylan (January 10, 2012). "Nico Pitney out, Jimmy Soni in at HuffPost". Politico. http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/01/pitney-out-soni-in-at-huffington-post-110352.html.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "The Young Influentials Adweek picks 20 under 40 who are wicked smart and rebooting your world". AdWeek. March 19 2012. http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/young-influentials-138997.
- ↑ Pompeo, Joe (January 10, 2012). "Top Arianna Huffington Deputy, managing editor Nico Pitney, to leave The Huffington Post". Capital New York. http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2012/01/4962177/top-arianna-huffington-deputy-managing-editor-nico-pitney-leave-huffin.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "A Day in the Life of a Day". TEDx. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5qUHNUHPVo.
- ↑ Soni, Jimmy. "WLP Alumni Profile – Jimmy Soni, Class of 2004". Washington Leadership Program. http://www.thewlp.com/2010/05/wlp-alumni-profile-jimmy-soni-class-of-2004.html.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lincoln, Kevin (January 10, 2012). "This 26-Year-Old Is About To Become The Managing Editor Of The Huffington Post". Business Insider. http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-01-10/tech/30610702_1_huffington-post-arianna-huffington-cato.
- ↑ Tate, Ryan (January 10, 2012). "Meet the 26-Year-Old Assistant Now Managing the Huffington Post Newsroom". Gawker. http://gawker.com/5874851/meet-the-26+year+old-assistant-now-managing-the-huffington-post-newsroom.
- ↑ "Rome's Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar". Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Romes-Last-Citizen-Legacy-Mortal/dp/0312681232.
- ↑ "Jimmy Soni on DukeConnect". DukeConnect. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8JJneUWqqE.
- ↑ Lloyd, Glorida (April 2, 2012). "TEDxDuke speakers encourage innovation". Duke Chronicle. http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/tedxduke-speakers-encourage-innovation-1.
- ↑ Soni, Jimmy (May 29, 2012). "National Security As Culture War: Why Civil Libertarians Lose the Argument". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jimmy-soni/national-security-culture-war_b_1553200.html.
- ↑ Soni, Jimmy (August 10, 2011). "Happy Birthday, Herbert Hoover: The Lost Legacy of a Hated President". The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/08/happy-birthday-herbert-hoover-the-lost-legacy-of-a-hated-president/243406/.
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Alex Roy | |
|---|---|
 Alex Roy |
|
| Born | (1971-11-23)November 23, 1971 |
| Employer | Europe by Car |
| Known for | Rally racing, transcontinental driving record |
Alexander Roy (born November 23, 1971) is an American rally race driver who has won the Spirit of Gumball trophy and in 2006 set a transcontinental driving record across the United States in 31 hours, 4 minutes.[1]
Contents |
Driving career[link]
Roy distinguished himself on the Gumball 3000 and Bullrun rallies with a modified BMW M5, and later a Bentley Continental GT comically decorated as Canadian, German, Spanish, Swedish, Italian and Bahamanian police cars (complete with lights, sirens, and an inflatable sex doll) for Team Polizei 144.[1] He won the Gumball's 2003 Spirit trophy for his car, eccentric costumes, and mock French or German interview replies.[1] In 2004, he and his co-driver wore costumes based on the Disney science fiction film Tron, winning the Style trophy.[1]
Roy meticulously prepares for rallies with the goal of avoiding police stops,[1] using maps, GPS navigation, and spreadsheets. During the 2004 rally, he would use the police-car disguise to startle other drivers into pulling over, where he would then videotape their reactions.[1]
Transcontinental record[link]
A prior record for crossing the U.S. from New York City to Los Angeles of 32 hours, 7 minutes was set in 1983 by David Diem and Doug Turner during the US Express, an unofficial successor to the Cannonball Run. The record was unofficial and never documented or confirmed.[2] When documentary filmmaker Cory Welles called it to Roy's attention, he decided he should be the one to break it.[3]
Roy and co-driver Jonathan Goodrich, his longtime friend, completed a practice run in December 2005, finishing with a time of 34 hours and 46 minutes. A subsequent attempt in April 2006 added a spotter plane, but the failure of his M5's fuel pump ended the run in Oklahoma. On October 7 of 2006 Roy and replacement co-driver David Maher, a New York investment banker (who was also his 2003 Gumball co-driver), embarked on another run. On this, the successful 31:04 run Roy claims 2,794 mapped miles and 2800 road miles - which he covered at an average speed of 90.1 mph.[3] The run took place over Columbus Day weekend so as to meet minimal traffic, in part for safety; they also avoided any type of reckless driving such as tailgating, although they reached top speeds of 160 mph.[4] Roy's route, which hit only four toll booths, three or four red lights, and only one close call with the highway patrol in Oklahoma, ended at the Santa Monica Pier.[4]
The record was witnessed in part by Davey Johnson and Mike Spinelli, contributor and managing editor of the automobile blog Jalopnik.[3][1] The time was recorded by a time clock which was punched as they left New York and flown to California before they arrived.[4]
Another rally driver team, comprising Gumball veterans Richard Rawlings and Dennis Collins, claim they beat the record in May 2007 at 31:59 on a 2,811 mile route; they also claim that Roy did not "stick to the route" of the original Cannonball Run. Alex Roy, on the other hand, claims that almost every year's route was different, and that the only rule was total time point-to-point.[5] The 31:04 record was set with sufficient margin to break the record even with the same route as the longest ever cross-country race.[5] The originator of the Cannonball Run, Brock Yates, does not acknowledge any records or sanction races due to his concern that "somebody was going to get killed".[3] Roy expresses similar concern with regard to anyone attempting to break his claimed record.[4]
In October 2007, Roy published a book on his racing career, The Driver: My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World (Harper Collins, ISBN 978-0-06-122793-6). Information on the record-setting run was withheld until publication.[3]
Record Manhattan Lap[link]
On September 10, 2001, Roy set the record for fastest driven lap around Manhattan. With a time of approximately 27 minutes, he recalls in his book, mentioned above, that he hit top speeds of 144 mph while committing 151 moving violations — enough to have his New York driver's license suspended 78 times over.[2]
He used a route that would allow him to skip the most northerly and heavily policed sections of the city. Starting at the World Trade Center, Roy drove through the Battery Park Underpass, up the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, across the George Washington Bridge Interchange, down the Henry Hudson Parkway which turns into the West Side Highway finally ending back at the World Trade Center. Though he discusses the lap thoroughly in his book, the video footage has never been released.[2]
In October 2010, a video was uploaded onto YouTube showing Roy's record being broken. The participants in the video are shown taking the same route (though the Battery Park Underpass is saved for the end) and achieving a time of 26 minutes and 3 seconds. The video can be viewed here.
Professional Motorsport[link]
In April 2009 Alex Roy announced that he has signed on with Grand-Am Series team TRG, aka The Racer's Group, to sponsor a 2008 Porsche GT3 in the Grand-Am event on May 17, 2009 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca near Monterey, California. Henri Richard and René Villeneuve will take the wheel for Team Polizei.
Business career[link]
Roy is the president of Europe by Car,[3] a rental agency based in New York City that his father Henry Roy started in the post-war era by negotiating deals with European rental and leasing car companies. He also currently works with the Youtube show Fastlane Daily in a segment known as "Road Testament". The show covers driver safety, track day guides, road rallying, and more. [6]
Personal life[link]
Roy is a regular at youth charity balls, formerly chaired the board of New York City's live storytelling series The Moth, and in 2004 won a British reality television series, The Ultimate Playboy.[1]
References[link]
- ^ a b c d e f g FastLaneDaily (November 2010). "Gran Turismo 5 Review, Part 1 - Road Testament". FastLaneDaily. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snECHAQgHuo#t=05m40s. Retrieved 2010-11-25.
- ^ a b c Charles Graeber (October 2007). "The Pedal-to-the-Metal, Totally Illegal, Cross-Country Sprint for Glory". Wired Magazine. http://www.wired.com/cars/coolwheels/magazine/15-11/ff_cannonballrun. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
- ^ a b c d e f David Shaftel (2007-10-17). "Tale of Outlaw Racing, With the U.S. as a Course". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/sports/othersports/17speed.html. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
- ^ a b c d Rick Leventhal (October 19, 2007). "Transcontinental Driving Record Claimed to be Broken". Fox News.com. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,303396,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
- ^ a b "One on one with Alex Roy". Attack of the show. 2007-10-18. http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/videos/18572/The_Loop_One_On_One_with_Alex_Roy.html.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=801yyOO9iO0
External links[link]
- Team Polizei Homepage
- Europe By Car Homepage
- The Moth Homepage
- Biography on Team Polizei 144 site
- Alexander Roy at the Internet Movie Database
- Alex Roy on GTspirit
- 4ngiefest Official Website - Charity Event that Alex attended on April 5, 2008
- Wired Magazine - "The Pedal-to-the-Metal, Totally Illegal, Cross-Country Sprint for Glory"
- Alex Roy on Facebook
- Current Fastest Driven Lap of Manhattan
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Roy, Alex |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | November 23, 1971 |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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Related pages:
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is about the lead singer and guitarist in the band Sublime With Rome. For the American R&B singer, see Rome (musician).
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| Rome Ramirez | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Roman Rene Ramirez |
| Also known as | Rome |
| Born | (1988-06-11) June 11, 1988 (age 24) Fremont, California, United States |
| Genres | Ska punk, dub, reggae, hip hop |
| Occupations | Musician, producer |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Associated acts | Sublime with Rome, The Dirty Heads |
Roman René Ramírez[1] (born June 11, 1988[2] in Fremont, California[3]), better known as Rome Ramirez or simply Rome,[4] is an American singer and guitarist currently playing with Josh Freese[5] and Eric Wilson from Sublime in a new venture.[6] Despite the supposed "reunion," the family of deceased Sublime member Bradley Nowell legally challenged the use of the Sublime name by the surviving members.[7] Nowell actually registered the trademark "Sublime" under his own name prior to his death and had sole ownership. The lineup featuring Rome, Wilson and Gaugh currently perform together as Sublime with Rome and released their debut album Yours Truly on July 12, 2011.
Rome co-wrote the song Lay Me Down with The Dirty Heads and is featured in the song singing the chorus.
Biography[link]
Ramirez was born and raised in Fremont, California. Both of his parents are of Mexican heritage, his mother being from Guadalajara and his father's parents from Tijuana, but his father from Oakland.[8] He first started playing guitar at age 11, and one of the first songs he learned was a Sublime song. He met through Lewis Richards, owner of 17th Street Recording Studio; who subsequently asked him if he wanted to "jam".[9] He collaborated with Eric Wilson of Sublime on video on RAWsession (also at 17th Street Recording Studio) where he played Sublime songs such as "Saw Red" and "Boss DJ", and eventually began to play with the two remaining members. The trio then went on tour together playing covers of original Sublime material. Rome continues to play individually, but the focus remains on Sublime with Rome.
Rome has said interviews that his influences are Sublime, Muse, Jimi Hendrix, Bad Brains, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys and Primus.[10][11]
Rome's debut solo single, "Dedication," was premiered on the Rolling Stone website May 30, 2012. "The song's about loving someone who is struggling with getting their life together and eventually having to move on," says Rome. "It's probably some of the most personal stuff I've put in a song. Sometimes all you need is the right people to pull the best out of you, and that's what I feel happened with the three of us. The right individuals, at the right place and time." His debut EP will be released on June 12, 2012.[12]
References[link]
- ^ According to Family Tree Legends, a "Roman Rene Ramirez" was born June 11, 1988 in Alameda County (Oakland). Coincidence? [1]
- ^ "Rome Ramirez's Official Facebook profile". facebook.com. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=1011168579&ref=ts. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
- ^ A 2009 post on a MySpace Blog[dead link] says Rome is 21 years old and is from Northern California.
- ^ The band "Sublime with Rome" suggests he is commonly called Rome.
- ^ (http://www.ocweekly.com/2011-12-15/music/mental-notes-floyd-bud-gaugh-sublime-with-rome-slayer-bob/)
- ^ Sublime To Reunite For Cypress Hill's Smokeout Fest. Last accessed September 1, 2009.
- ^ Brad Nowell's family none too pleased about Sublime "reunion". Last accessed October 26, 2009.
- ^ A 2009 post on a MySpace Blog[dead link] says is 21 years old and is from Northern California.
- ^ Interview with Rome Ramirez of Sublime with Rome – Latest Nerdy Pop Culture News
- ^ Rome Ramirez Talks About Sublime Reunion | News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com
- ^ Sublime With Rome Finish New Album | News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com
- ^ Blistein, Jon. "Song Premiere: Rome, 'Dedication'". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/song-premiere-rome-dedication-20120530. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
- Reservoired Dog. "Interview with Rome Ramirez of Sublime with Rome", NerdSociety.com April 24, 2010.
http://www.hearingthevoice.com/blog/interviews/interview-wsublime-with-rome/
External links[link]
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ramirez, Rome |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | June 11, 1988 |
| Place of birth | Fremont, California, United States |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Rome_Ramirez
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_Ramirez
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
