1.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
2.
Regions of Italy
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The regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of Italy, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are 20 regions, of five are constitutionally given a broader amount of autonomy granted by special statutes. Each region, except for the Aosta Valley, is divided into provinces, regions are autonomous entities with powers defined in the Constitution. As the administrative districts of the state during the Kingdom of Italy. The original draft list comprised the Salento region, friuli and Venezia Giulia were separate regions, and Basilicata was named Lucania. Abruzzo and Molise were identified as regions in the first draft. They were later merged into Abruzzo e Molise in the constitution of 1948. Implementation of regional autonomy was postponed until the first Regional Elections of 1970, the ruling Christian Democracy party did not want the opposition Italian Communist Party to gain power in the regions, where it was historically rooted. Regions acquired a significant level of autonomy following a reform in 2001. In June 2006 the proposals, which had been associated with Lega Nord. The results varied considerably among the regions, ranging from 55. 3% in favour in Veneto to 82% against in Calabria, number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1995, Macroregions are the first-level NUTS of the European Union. These regions, whose statutes are approved by their councils, were created in 1970. Since the constitutional reform of 2001 they have had residual legislative powers, the regions have exclusive legislative power with respect to any matters not expressly reserved to state law. Yet their financial autonomy is quite modest, they just keep 20% of all levied taxes, Article 116 of the Italian Constitution grants to five regions home rule, acknowledging their powers in relation to legislation, administration and finance. These regions became autonomous in order to take into account cultural differences, moreover, the government wanted to prevent their secession from Italy after the Second World War. Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol constitutes a special case, the region is nearly powerless, and the powers granted by the regions statute are mostly exercised by the two autonomous provinces within the region, Trentino and South Tyrol. In this case, the regional institution plays a coordinating role, the latter is directly elected by the citizens of each region, with the exceptions of Aosta Valley and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, where he is chosen by the regional council. Under the 1995 electoral law, the winning coalition receives a majority of seats on the council
3.
Umbria
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Umbria, is a region of historic and modern central Italy. It is the only Italian region having neither a coastline nor a border with other countries and it includes the Lake Trasimeno, Marmores Falls, and is crossed by the River Tiber. Umbria is known for its landscapes, traditions, history, culinary delights, artistic legacy, and influence on culture. Contained within Umbria is Cospaia, a republic created by accident that existed from 1440 to 1826 Umbria is bordered by Tuscany to the west, Marche to the east. It is the only Italian region having neither a coastline nor a border with other countries. The commune of Città di Castello has an exclave named Monte Ruperto within Marche. Umbria is crossed by two valleys, the Umbrian valley, stretching from Perugia to Spoleto, and the Tiber Valley, west of the first one, the Tiber River forms the approximate border with Lazio, although its source is just over the Tuscan border. The Tibers three principal tributaries flow southward through Umbria, the Chiascio basin is relatively uninhabited as far as Bastia Umbra. About 10 kilometres farther on, it joins the Tiber at Torgiano, the third river is the Nera, flowing into the Tiber further south, at Terni, its valley is called the Valnerina. The upper Nera cuts ravines in the mountains, the lower, in antiquity, the plain was covered by a pair of shallow, interlocking lakes, the Lacus Clitorius and the Lacus Umber. They were drained by the Romans over several hundred years, an earthquake in the 4th century and the political collapse of the Roman Empire resulted in the refilling of the basin. The eastern part of the region, being crossed by many faults, has often hit by earthquakes, the last ones have been that of 1997. In literature, Umbria is referred to as il cuore verde dItalia, the phrase is taken from a poem by Giosuè Carducci, the subject of which is the source of the Clitunno River in Umbria. The region is named for the Umbri people, an Italic people which was absorbed by the expansion of the Romans, the Umbris capital city was Gubbio, where today is housed the longest and most important document of any of the Osco-Umbrian group of languages, the Iguvine Tablets. In fact, they belonged to a family of neighbouring peoples with similar roots. Their language was Umbrian, one of the Italic languages, related to Latin, the Etruscans were the chief enemies of the Umbri. The Etruscan invasion went from the western seaboard towards the north and east, eventually driving the Umbrians towards the Apennine uplands, nevertheless, the Umbrian population does not seem to have been eradicated in the conquered districts. The border between Etruria and Umbria was the Tiber river, the ancient name of Todi, Tular, after the downfall of the Etruscans, Umbrians aided the Samnites in their struggle against Rome
4.
Provinces of Italy
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In Italy, a province is an administrative division of intermediate level between a municipality and a region. There are currently 107 provinces in Italy, a further 4 such cities were added later. The reorganization of the Italian provinces became operative by January 2015, a province of the Italian Republic is composed of many municipalities. Usually several provinces together form a region, the region of Aosta Valley is the sole exception – it is not subdivided into provinces, the three main functions devolved to provinces are, local planning and zoning, provision of local police and fire services, transportation regulation. The number of provinces in Italy has been growing in recent years. Usually, the name is the same as that of its capital city. According to the 2014 reform, each province is headed by a President assisted by a body, the Provincial Council, and an executive body. President and members of Council are elected together by mayors and city councilors of each municipality of the province, the Executive is chaired by the President who appoint others members, called assessori. Since 2015 the President and others members of the Council will not receive a salary, in each province there is also a Prefect, a representative of the central government who heads an agency called prefettura-ufficio territoriale del governo. The Questor is the head of States Police in the province, there is also a provinces police force depending from local government, called provincial police. Sardinia - following the outcome of the referendums of 2012 it was decreed that such institutions should be reformed or abolished by March 2013. In January 2014 the Sardinian Regional Administrative Court declared unconstitutional the abolition of the Sardinian provinces, sicily - provinces were replaced by Free Communal Consortia in 2013. In 1861, at the birth of the Kingdom of Italy, however, at that time the national territory was smaller than the current one, regions of Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino Alto Adige and Lazio were not included in the kingdom. In 1866, following the Third Independence War, territories of Veneto, Friuli, there were therefore nine more provinces, Belluno, Mantua, Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona, Vicenza and Udine, all previously part of the Austrian Empire. Eventually, in 1870, following the annexion of Rome and its province from the Papal States, after the First World War, new territories were annexed to Italy. The Province of Trento was created in 1920, Provinces of La Spezia, Trieste and Ionio in 1923. In 1924 the new provinces of Fiume, Pola, and Zara were created, in 1927, following a Royal charter, a general province rearrangement took place. 17 new provinces were created and the province of Caserta was suppressed, in the same year the institution of circondari, sub-provincial wards created before the unification, was abolished
5.
Province of Perugia
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The Province of Perugia is the larger of the two provinces in the Umbria region of Italy, comprising two-thirds of both the area and population of the region. Its capital is the city of Perugia, the province covered all of Umbria until 1927, when the province of Terni was carved out of its southern third. The province of Perugia has an area of 6,334 km² covering two-thirds of Umbria, there are 59 comunes in the province. The province has numerous tourist attractions, especially artistic and historical ones, and is home to the Lake Trasimeno and it historically the ancestral origin of the Umbri, while later it was a Roman province and then part of the Papal States until the late 19th century. Probably the Etruscans founded Perugia in the 6th century B. C, the Umbra and Tiber Valleys are located in the province. The eastern part of the province is a hilly region while the rest was covered by forests, the province lies in the basin of the river Tiber and its tributaries Chiaseio, Nestore, Naja and Chiana. The southern regions are less hilly, silk, corn and grass are some of the most important agricultural products of the province. The 1840 version of the Penny Cyclopaedia records that Perugia supplied almost half of the butchers meat required in the city of Rome, the large number of cattle was fed on grass growing on the plain areas irrigated by the water of Tiber and its tributaries. After the province of Rome, Viterbo and Spoleto e Rieti the Perugian province was the fourth most important of the Papal States, the largest lake in central Italy, Lake Trasimeno is located in the Province of Perugia. The lake has three islands – Polvese, Maggiore and Minore, the lake has a circumference of about 30 miles but is relatively shallow. It is fed by springs in the nearby hills, in 200725 people died of consequences of drug overdose in the province of Perugia. This was the highest number of deaths recorded due to drug overdose in any Italian province, the province is well known for its medieval palaces, castles and fortresses. Peter’s bell tower in the city of Perugia, Basilica of Saint Claire, the first Christian monk Saint Benedict was born in Norcia. Assisi is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, the province is also known for its cuisine which includes black truffles, Easter Pizza, lentils from Castelluccio and Salami and cold cuts from Norcia. The principal towns in the province, with a population over 20,000, are, Comuni of the Province of Perugia
6.
Castelnuovo (Assisi)
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Castelnuovo is a frazione of the comune of Assisi in the Province of Perugia, Umbria, central Italy. Castelnuovo is situated about 9 km from Assisi and is located in the southwest of Santa Maria degli Angeli, is surrounded also with the territories of other 2 fractions Assisi, Tordandrea to the west, and Rivotorto to the east. To the south is bordered by the comune of Cannara and it stands at an elevation of 195 metres above sea level. At the time of the Istat census of 2001 it had 754 inhabitants, the most important watercourse is the river Ose, which basically it specify the frontier between Castelnuovo and Cannara
7.
Demonym
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A demonym is a word that identifies residents or natives of a particular place, which is derived from the name of that particular place. It is a neologism, previously gentilic was recorded in English dictionaries, e. g. the Oxford English Dictionary, thus a Thai may be any resident or citizen of Thailand, of any ethnic group, or more narrowly a member of the Thai people. Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms, for example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British person, a Brit, or a Briton. In some languages, when a parallel demonym does not exist, in English, demonyms are capitalized and are often the same as the adjectival form of the place, e. g. Egyptian, Japanese, or Greek. Significant exceptions exist, for instance the adjectival form of Spain is Spanish, English widely includes country-level demonyms such as Ethiopian or Guatemalan and more local demonyms such as Seoulite, Wisconsinite, Chicagoan, Michigander, Fluminense, and Paulista. Some places lack a commonly used and accepted demonym and this poses a particular challenge to those toponymists who research demonyms. The word gentilic comes from the Latin gentilis and the English suffix -ic, the word demonym was derived from the Greek word meaning populace with the suffix for name. National Geographic attributes the term demonym to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a recent work from 1990 and it was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals. However, in What Do You Call a Person From, a Dictionary of Resident Names attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names Names, A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon, which is apparently where the term first appears. Several linguistic elements are used to create demonyms in the English language, the most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location name, slightly modified in some instances. Cairo → Cairene Cyrenaica → Cyrene Damascus → Damascene Greece → Greek Nazareth → Nazarene Slovenia → Slovene Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations. Kingston-upon-Hull → Hullensian Leeds → Leodensian Spain → Spaniard Savoy → Savoyard -ese is usually considered proper only as an adjective, thus, a Chinese person is used rather than a Chinese. Monaco → Monégasque Menton → Mentonasque Basque Country → Basque Often used for French locations, mostly they are from Africa and the Pacific, and are not generally known or used outside the country concerned. In much of East Africa, a person of an ethnic group will be denoted by a prefix. For example, a person of the Luba people would be a Muluba, the plural form Baluba, similar patterns with minor variations in the prefixes exist throughout on a tribal level. And Fijians who are indigenous Fijians are known as Kaiviti and these demonyms are usually more informal and colloquial. In the United States such informal demonyms frequently become associated with mascots of the sports teams of the state university system. In other countries the origins are often disputed and these will typically be formed using the standard models above
8.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
9.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
10.
Rufinus of Assisi
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For other saints named Rufinus, see Saints Rufinus. According to legend, Rufinus of Assisi, who is the saint of Assisi. He was responsible for converting Assisi to Christianity, but at what date is disputed. He is said to have died as a martyr at Costano, where the church was dedicated to him in 1038, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia he is likely the same saint denoted under 11 August in the Roman Martyrology as Episcopus Marsorum. His remains were put to rest in a Roman sarcophagus, the front is sculpted in low relief with the myth of Selene and Endymion. It is now located under the altar of the Cathedral of San Rufino. The feast day of this saint is 30 July, bibliotheca hagiographica latina, II,1068, Elisei Studio sulla chiesa cattedrale di S. Rufino D. de Vincentiis, Notizie di S. Rufino Ekkart Sauser, Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, vol. XXI pp 1284f This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles
11.
World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
12.
San Damiano, Assisi
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San Damiano is a church with a monastery near Assisi, Italy. Built in the 12th century, it was the first monastery of the Order of Saint Clare, the church has a hut-shaped façade, the entrance is preceded by a short portico with three round arcades supported by brickwork pillars. Above the central arch is a rose window. The interior has a nave with ogival barrel vaults. The right wall is home to a chapel with, at the altar. The nave ends with an apse with a modern stone altar, a Baroque wooden tabernacle. According to Franciscan sources, a miracle in which Saint Francis heard an exhortation from Christ occurred in 1205 in this church, finding himself near San Damiano, which threatened ruin, old as it was, driven by the impulse of the Holy Spirit, he entered to pray. On hearing that voice, Francis remained astonished and trembling, being in the church alone and, perceiving in his heart the power of divine language, the San Damiano cross which putatively spoke to Francis currently hangs in the Basilica di Santa Chiara in Assisi. Other artworks in the include a 14th-century Madonna with Child between Sts. Damian and Rufinus fresco, located in the apse and this convent became the home of Saint Clare of Assisi and her followers in 1212. Work was carried out to buildings for this religious community. The Sisters stayed until Clares death in 1253 when it was too dangerous to remain. The convent is open free of charge to the public, downstairs off the cloister is the refectory in its original state. A fresco in the refectory recalls the visit of Pope Gregory IX when he asked Clare to bless the loaves, upstairs are St Clares Oratory where the Blessed Sacrament was kept. Next to this is the dormitory, a cross marks the place where Clare died on 11 August 1253. Assisi, Casa Editrice Francescana dei Fratei Minori Conventuali
13.
Eremo delle Carceri
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The word Carceri is from the Latin carceres and means isolated places. In the 13th century, Saint Francis of Assisi returned here during his life to pray, when he first came in 1205, the only building here was a tiny 12th-century oratory. Soon, other men followed him to the mountain, finding their own isolated caves nearby in which to pray, the oratory became known as Santa Maria delle Carceri after the small prisons occupied by friars in the area. The site and the oratory was probably given by the Benedictines to St. Francis in 1215, Francis dedicated himself to a life of preaching and missions, but throughout his life he would frequently withdraw to the Carceri to pray. At a stone bridge the oak still exists, in the branches of which birds were living, whom S. Francis had preached to, as the legend tells. Around 1400, Saint Bernardino of Siena built a friary, which includes a little choir with wood stalls of c.1400. St. Bernardine also built a church called Santa Maria delle Carceri, today with an altarpiece fresco of the Virgin and Child. In the centuries that followed, various buildings were added around St. Francis cave, today some Franciscan monks live there and visitors are welcome
14.
Monte Subasio
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Mount Subasio is a mountain of the Apennine mountains, in the province of Perugia, Umbria, central Italy. On its slopes are located the ancient towns of Assisi and Spello, the mountain stands about 1290 metres above sea level. Its pink colored stones were used for many Franciscan buildings at the World Heritage site of Assisi, the area is included in the natural park Parco del Monte Subasio. The Benedictine Abbot of St. Benedict of Monte Subasio gave the church of Porziuncola around 1208 to St. Francis of Assisi. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles. St. Agnes of Assisi Park of Mount Subasio at Assisi Online Parco del Monte Subasio at parks. it Thayers Gazetteer of Umbria
15.
Propertius
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Sextus Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet of the Augustan age. He was born around 50–45 BC in Assisium and died shortly after 15 BC, Propertius surviving work comprises four books of Elegies. He was a friend of the poets Gallus and Virgil and, with them, had as his patron Maecenas and, through Maecenas, although Propertius was not as renowned in his own time as other Latin elegists, he is today regarded by scholars as a major poet. Very little information is known about Propertius outside of his own writing and his praenomen Sextus is mentioned by Aelius Donatus, a few manuscripts list him as Sextus Propertius, but the rest of his name is unknown. From numerous references in his poetry it is clear he was born and raised in Umbria, modern Assisi claims for itself the honor of his birthplace. As a boy his father died and the family lost land as part of a confiscation, combining this with cryptic references in Ovid implying he was younger than his contemporary Tibullus, a birthdate after 55 BC seems appropriate. It was during this time that he met Cynthia, the woman who would inspire him to express his poetic genius. Propertius published a first book of elegies in 25 BC, with Cynthia herself as the main theme. The Monobiblos must have attracted the attention of Maecenas, a patron of the arts who took Propertius into his circle of court poets. A second, larger book of elegies was published perhaps a later, one that includes poems addressed directly to his patron. Propertius most recent and best editor, Paul Fedeli, accepts this hypothesis, gould, editor of the Loeb edition. The publication of a book came sometime after 23 BC. Its content shows the beginning to move beyond simple love themes. The book also shows the poet growing tired of the demanding yet fickle Cynthia, Book IV, published sometime after 16 BC, displays more of the poets ambitious agenda, and includes several aetiological poems explaining the origin of various Roman rites and landmarks. Book IV, the last Propertius wrote, has half the number of poems as Book I. It is also possible that Propertius had children, either with Cynthia or a later liaison, an elegy of Ovid dated to 2 BC makes it clear that Propertius was dead by this time. Propertius fame rests on his four books of elegies, totaling around 92 poems, all his poems are written using the elegiac couplet, a form in vogue among the Roman social set during the late 1st century BC. Like nearly all the elegists, Propertius work is dominated by the figure of a single woman, scholars guess that she was probably a courtesan
16.
Francis of Assisi
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Saint Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, informally named as Francesco, was an Italian Roman Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the mens Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis, Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history. Pope Gregory IX canonized Francis on 16 July 1228, along with Saint Catherine of Siena, he was designated Patron saint of Italy. In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan to put an end to the conflict of the Crusades, by this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned to Italy to organize the Order, once his community was authorized by the Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs. Francis is also known for his love of the Eucharist, in 1223, Francis arranged for the first Christmas live nativity scene. He died during the hours of 3 October 1226, while listening to a reading he had requested of Psalm 142. Pietro was in France on business when Francis was born in Assisi, upon his return to Assisi, Pietro took to calling his son Francesco, possibly in honor of his commercial success and enthusiasm for all things French. Since the child was renamed in infancy, the change can hardly have had anything to do with his aptitude for learning French, as some have thought. While going off to war in 1202, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, in 1205, Francis left for Apulia to enlist in the army of Walter III, Count of Brienne. Francis lived the high-spirited life typical of a young man. In 1201, he joined an expedition against Perugia and was taken as a prisoner at Collestrada. It is possible that his conversion was a gradual process rooted in this experience. Upon his return to Assisi in 1203, Francis returned to his carefree life, in 1204, a serious illness led him to a spiritual crisis. A strange vision made him return to Assisi, deepening his ecclesiastical awakening, on a pilgrimage to Rome, he joined the poor in begging at St. Peters Basilica, an experience that moved him to live in poverty. Francis returned home, began preaching on the streets, and soon gathered followers and his Order was authorized by Pope Innocent III in 1210. He then founded the Order of Poor Clares, which became a religious order for women. As a youth, Francesco became a devotee of troubadours and was fascinated with all things Transalpine, in this account, he was selling cloth and velvet in the marketplace on behalf of his father when a beggar came to him and asked for alms
17.
Franciscans
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The Franciscans are a group of related mendicant religious orders within the Catholic Church, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. These orders include the Order of Friars Minor, the Order of Saint Clare, Francis began preaching around 1207 and traveled to Rome to seek approval from the Pope in 1209. The original Rule of Saint Francis approved by the Pope disallowed ownership of property, the austerity was meant to emulate the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Franciscans traveled and preached in the streets, while boarding in church properties, Saint Clare, under Franciss guidance, founded the Poor Clares in 1212, which remains a Second Order of the Franciscans. The extreme poverty required of members was relaxed in final revision of the Rule in 1223, the degree of observance required of members remained a major source of conflict within the order, resulting in numerous secessions. The Order of Friars Minor, previously known as the Observant branch, is one of the three Franciscan First Orders within the Catholic Church, the others being the Capuchins and Conventuals. The Order of Friars Minor, in its current form, is the result of an amalgamation of smaller orders completed in 1897 by Pope Leo XIII. The latter two, the Capuchin and Conventual, remain distinct religious institutes within the Catholic Church, observing the Rule of Saint Francis with different emphases, Franciscans are sometimes referred to as minorites or greyfriars because of their habit. In Poland and Lithuania they are known as Bernardines, after Bernardino of Siena, the name of original order, Friars Minor, means lesser brothers, and stems from Francis of Assisis rejection of extravagance. Francis was the son of a cloth merchant, but gave up his wealth to pursue his faith more fully. Francis adopted of the tunic worn by peasants as the religious habit for his order. Those who joined him became the original Order of Friars Minor and they all live according to a body of regulations known as the Rule of St Francis. First Order The First Order or the Order of Friars Minor are commonly called simply the Franciscans and this Order is a mendicant religious order of men, some of whom trace their origin to Francis of Assisi. Their official Latin name is the Ordo Fratrum Minorum, St. Francis thus referred to his followers as Fraticelli, meaning Little Brothers. Franciscan brothers are informally called friars or the Minorites and they all live according to a body of regulations known as the Rule of St Francis. These are The Order of Friars Minor, known as the Observants, most commonly simply called Franciscan friars, official name, the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin or simply Capuchins, official name, Friars Minor Capuchin. The Conventual Franciscans or Minorites, official name, Friars Minor Conventual, Second Order The Second Order, most commonly called Poor Clares in English-speaking countries, consists of religious sisters. The order is called the Order of St. Clare, but in the century, prior to 1263, this order was referred to as The Poor Ladies, The Poor Enclosed Nuns
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Religious order
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The order is composed of initiates and, in some traditions, ordained clergy. Religious orders exist in many of the worlds religions, in Buddhist societies, a religious order is one of the number of monastic orders of monks and nuns, many of which follow under a different school of teaching, such as Zen. A well-known Chinese Buddhist order is the ancient Shaolin order in Chan Buddhism, a Catholic religious institute is a society whose members pronounce vows that are accepted by a superior in the name of the Church and who live a life of brothers or sisters in common. Catholic religious orders and congregations are the two categories of Catholic religious institutes. Religious institutes are distinct from secular institutes, another kind of institute of consecrated life, in the Catholic Church, members of religious institutes, unless they are also deacons or priests in Holy Orders, are not clergy, but belong to the laity. Several religious orders evolved during the Crusades to incorporate a military mission thus became religious military orders, hence they cannot move – nor be moved by their abbot or abbess – to another abbey. An independent house may occasionally make a new foundation which remains a dependent house until it is granted independence by Rome, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, there is only one type of monasticism. The profession of monastics is known as tonsure and is considered by monks to be a Sacred Mystery, the Rite of Tonsure is printed in the Euchologion, the same book as the other Sacred Mysteries and services performed according to need. Religious orders in England were dissolved by King Henry VIII upon the separation of the English church from Roman primacy, with the Catholic Revival in the Church of England and worldwide Anglicanism in the middle of the nineteenth century, several orders appeared. In 1841, the first order for women was established, there are presently thirteen active religious orders for men, fifty-three for women, and eight mixed gender. The Methodist Church of Great Britain, and its ancestors, have established a number of orders of Deaconesses, the Methodist Diaconal Order currently admits both men and women to the Order. Since the functions of a deacon are primarily pastoral, the MDO may therefore be regarded as an order of Regular clerics, the Order of Saint Luke is a religious order in the United Methodist Church dedicated to sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education, and practice. While Martin Luther had concerns with the value of monastic life, there are Lutheran religious orders in the United States. This order has strong ties to Lutheran Benedictine orders in Sweden, in 2011, an Augustinian religious order, the Priestly Society of St. Augustine was established by the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church. Its headquarters is at Christ Lutheran Church ALCC, jens Bargmann, Ph. D. is the Grand Prior. Among their corporations, the Religious Order of Jehovahs Witnesses cares for matters specific to Jehovahs Witnesses special full-time servants, in a particular branch, traveling overseers, special pioneers, and branch staff are considered members of the Order of Special Full-time Servants and the Bethel Family. Globally, their order is the Worldwide Order of Special Full-Time Servants of Jehovah’s Witnesses, male and female members of such religious orders typically make a formal vow of poverty and are granted certain status and exemptions by many governments. Jehovahs Witnesses do not have a separate class, but consider an adherents qualified baptism to constitute his ordination as a minister
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Clare of Assisi
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Saint Clare of Assisi is an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. Following her death, the order she founded was renamed in her honor as the Order of Saint Clare, St. Clare was born in Assisi, the eldest daughter of Favorino Sciffi, Count of Sasso-Rosso and his wife Ortolana. Traditional accounts say that Clares father was a representative of an ancient Roman family, who owned a large palace in Assisi. Ortolana belonged to the family of Fiumi, and was a very devout woman who had undertaken pilgrimages to Rome, Santiago de Compostela. Later in life, Ortolana entered Clares monastery, as did Clares sisters, Beatrix, as a child, Clare was devoted to prayer. Although there is no mention of this in any historical record, however, at the age of 18 she heard Francis preach during a Lenten service in the church of San Giorgio at Assisi and asked him to help her to live after the manner of the Gospel. On the evening of Palm Sunday, March 20,1212, she left her fathers house and accompanied by her aunt Bianca, there, her hair was cut, and she exchanged her rich gown for a plain robe and veil. Francis placed Clare in the convent of the Benedictine nuns of San Paulo and her father attempted to force her to return home. She clung to the altar of the church and threw aside her veil to show her cropped hair and she resisted any attempt, professing that she would have no other husband but Jesus Christ. In order to provide the greater solitude Clare desired, a few days later Francis sent her to Sant Angelo in Panzo, Clare was soon joined by her sister Catarina, who took the name Agnes. They remained with the Benedictines until a small dwelling was built for them next to the church of San Damiano, other women joined them, and they were known as the Poor Ladies of San Damiano. They lived a life of poverty, austerity and seclusion from the world. San Damiano became the center of Clares new religious order, which was known in her lifetime as the Order of Poor Ladies of San Damiano, hugolino wanted San Damiano as part of the order he founded because of the prestige of Clares monastery. San Damiano emerged as the most important house in the order, by 1263, just ten years after Clares death, the order had become known as the Order of Saint Clare. Unlike the Franciscan friars, whose members moved around the country to preach, Saint Clares sisters lived in enclosure and their life consisted of manual labour and prayer. The nuns went barefoot, slept on the ground, ate no meat, for a short period, the order was directed by Francis himself. Then in 1216, Clare accepted the role of abbess of San Damiano, as abbess, Clare had more authority to lead the order than when she was the prioress and required to follow the orders of a priest heading the community. Clare defended her order from the attempts of prelates to impose a rule on them more closely resembled the Rule of Saint Benedict than Francis stricter vows
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Poor Clares
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The Poor Clares were the second Franciscan Order to be established. Founded by Saints Clare of Assisi and Francis of Assisi on Palm Sunday in the year 1212, they were organized after the Order of Friars Minor, as of 2011 there were over 20,000 Poor Clare nuns in over 75 countries throughout the world. They follow several different observances and are organized into federations, the Poor Clares follow the Rule of St. Clare, which was approved by Pope Innocent IV the day before Clares death in 1253. The main branch of the Order follows the observance of Pope Urban, other branches established since that time, who operate under their own unique Constitutions, are the Colettine Poor Clares, the Capuchin Poor Clares and the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration. The Poor Clares were founded by Clare of Assisi in the year 1212, little is known of Clares early life, although popular tradition hints that she came from a fairly well-to-do family in Assisi. At the age of eighteen, inspired by the preaching of Francis in the cathedral, Clare ran away home to join his community of friars at the Portiuncula. Although, according to tradition, her family wanted to take her back by force, Clares dedication to holiness and she was given the habit of a nun and transferred to Benedictine monasteries, first at Bastia and then at Sant Angelo di Panzo, for her monastic formation. By 1216 Francis was able to offer Clare and her companions a monastery adjoining the chapel of San Damiano where she became abbess, Clares mother, two of her sisters and some other wealthy women from Florence soon joined her new Order. Clare dedicated her order to the principles of Francis, setting a rule of extreme poverty far more severe than that of any female order of the time. By this time the order had grown to number three monasteries, the movement quickly spread, though in a somewhat disorganized fashion, with several monasteries of women devoted to the Franciscan ideal springing up elsewhere in Northern Italy. At this point Ugolino, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia, was given the task of overseeing all such monasteries, communities adopting this less rigorous came to be known as the Order of Saint Clare or the Urbanist Poor Clares. Clare herself resisted the Ugolino Rule, since it did not closely follow the ideal of complete poverty advocated by Francis. Originally applying only to Clares community at San Damiano, this rule was adopted by many monasteries. Communities that followed this rule were fewer in number than the followers of the rule formulated by Cardinal Ugolino. The situation was further complicated a century later when Saint Colette of Corbie restored the rule of strict poverty to 17 French monasteries. Her followers came to be called the Colettine Poor Clares, two further branches, the Capuchin Poor Clares and the Alcantarines, also followed the strict observance. The later group disappeared as a group when their observance among the friars was ended. The spread of the began in 1218 when a monastery was founded in Perugia, new foundations quickly followed in Florence, Venice, Mantua
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Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
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Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows was an Italian Passionist clerical student. Born to a family, he gave up ambitions of a secular career to enter the Passionist Congregation. His life in the monastery was not extraordinary, yet he followed the rule of the congregation perfectly and was known for his devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary. He died from tuberculosis at the age of 23 in Isola del Gran Sasso and he was canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920. Francesco Possenti was born on March 1,1838, in Assisi Italy, the eleventh of thirteen born to his mother, Agnes. The family were resident in the town of Assisi where Sante worked for the local government. Possenti was baptised on the day of his birth in the font in which Saint Francis of Assisi had been baptised. Shortly after Francis birth Sante Possenti was transferred to a post at Montalta and thence to Spoleto where, in 1841, he was appointed legal assessor. In Spoleto the family was struck with a number of bereavements, the deaths of a girl, Rosa, in December 1841, of seven-year-old Adele in January 1842. As a child and young man, Francis Possenti was well liked by his peers and had a reputation for charity and piety. He was also known for the care he took with regard to his appearance. Francis could be a child and was liable to bouts of anger. Francis was deeply involved with the scene of Spoleto and soon earned for himself the nickname of the dancer. He was a man, and had several romantic involvements. He was educated first by the Christian Brothers and then by the Jesuits in the college and there excelled. In 1851 Francis became desperately ill and promised to enter religious life if he recovered, once he had recovered, his promise was soon forgotten. The same thing happened when he escaped a stray bullet during a hunting expedition with friends. His brother Paul had died in 1848 and his brother Lawrence committed suicide in 1853, in 1853 Francis again fell ill, this time afflicted with a throat abscess
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Tiber
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It drains a basin estimated at 17,375 square kilometres. The river has achieved lasting fame as the watercourse of the city of Rome. The river rises at Mount Fumaiolo in central Italy and flows in a southerly direction past Perugia. However, it does not form a delta, owing to a strong north-flowing sea current close to the shore, to the steep shelving of the coast. The source of the Tiber consists of two springs 10 metres away from each other on Mount Fumaiolo and these springs are called Le Vene. The springs are in a beech forest 1,268 metres above sea level, during the 1930s, Benito Mussolini placed an antique marble Roman column at the point where the river arises, inscribed QUI NASCE IL FIUME SACRO AI DESTINI DI ROMA. There is an eagle on the top of this column, the first miles of the Tiber run through Valtiberina before entering Umbria. It is probable that the genesis of the name Tiber was pre-Latin, like the Roman name of Tibur, the same root is found in the Latin praenomen Tiberius. There are also Etruscan variants of this praenomen in Thefarie and Teperie, the legendary king Tiberinus, ninth in the king-list of Alba Longa, was said to have drowned in the river Albula, which was afterward called Tiberis. Yet another etymology is from *dubri-, water, considered by Alessio as Sicel and this root *dubri- is widespread in Western Europe e. g. Dover, Portus Dubris. According to the legend, Jupiter made him a god and guardian spirit of the river and this gave rise to the standard Roman depiction of the river as a powerfully built reclining god, also named Tiberinus, with streams of water flowing from his hair and beard. The Tiber was also believed to be the river into which Romulus and Remus were thrown as infants, according to legend, the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC on the banks of the Tiber about 25 kilometres from the sea at Ostia. The island Isola Tiberina in the centre of Rome, between Trastevere and the ancient center, was the site of an important ancient ford and was later bridged. Legend says Romes founders, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, were abandoned on its waters, the river marked the boundary between the lands of the Etruscans to the west, the Sabines to the east and the Latins to the south. Benito Mussolini, born in Romagna, adjusted the boundary between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, so that the springs of the Tiber would lie in Romagna and it was later used to ship stone, timber and foodstuffs to Rome. During the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, the harbour at Ostia became a key naval base and it later became Romes most important port, where wheat, olive oil, and wine were imported from Romes colonies around the Mediterranean. Wharves were also built along the riverside in Rome itself, lining the riverbanks around the Campus Martius area, the Romans connected the river with a sewer system and with an underground network of tunnels and other channels, to bring its water into the middle of the city. Wealthy Romans had garden-parks or horti on the banks of the river in Rome up through the first century BC and these may have been sold and developed about a century later
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Adriatic Sea
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The Adriatic Sea /ˌeɪdriˈætᵻk/ is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula and the Apennine Mountains from the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto to the northwest, the countries with coasts on the Adriatic are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro and Slovenia. The Adriatic contains over 1,300 islands, mostly located along its eastern, Croatian and it is divided into three basins, the northern being the shallowest and the southern being the deepest, with a maximum depth of 1,233 metres. The Otranto Sill, a ridge, is located at the border between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The prevailing currents flow counterclockwise from the Strait of Otranto, along the eastern coast, tidal movements in the Adriatic are slight, although larger amplitudes are known to occur occasionally. The Adriatics salinity is lower than the Mediterraneans because the Adriatic collects a third of the water flowing into the Mediterranean. The surface water temperatures range from 30 °C in summer to 12 °C in winter. The Adriatic Sea sits on the Apulian or Adriatic Microplate, which separated from the African Plate in the Mesozoic era, the plates movement contributed to the formation of the surrounding mountain chains and Apennine tectonic uplift after its collision with the Eurasian plate. In the Late Oligocene, the Apennine Peninsula first formed, separating the Adriatic Basin from the rest of the Mediterranean, all types of sediment are found in the Adriatic, with the bulk of the material transported by the Po and other rivers on the western coast. The western coast is alluvial or terraced, while the eastern coast is indented with pronounced karstification. There are dozens of protected areas in the Adriatic, designed to protect the seas karst habitats. The sea is abundant in flora and fauna—more than 7,000 species are identified as native to the Adriatic, many of them endemic, rare and threatened ones. The Adriatics shores are populated by more than 3.5 million people, the earliest settlements on the Adriatic shores were Etruscan, Illyrian, and Greek. By the 2nd century BC, the shores were under Romes control, following Italian unification, the Kingdom of Italy started an eastward expansion that lasted until the 20th century. Following World War I and the collapse of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, the former disintegrated during the 1990s, resulting in four new states on the Adriatic coast. Italy and Albania agreed on their maritime boundary in 1992, Fisheries and tourism are significant sources of income all along the Adriatic coast. Adriatic Croatias tourism industry has grown faster economically than the rest of the Adriatic Basins, maritime transport is also a significant branch of the areas economy—there are 19 seaports in the Adriatic that each handle more than a million tonnes of cargo per year. The largest Adriatic seaport by annual cargo turnover is the Port of Trieste, in the southeast, the Adriatic Sea connects to the Ionian Sea at the 72-kilometre wide Strait of Otranto
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Umbri
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The Umbri were an Italic tribe of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers and it is somewhat smaller than the ancient Umbria. Most ancient Umbrian cities were settled in the 9th-4th centuries BC on easily defensible hilltops, Umbria was bordered by the Tiber and Nar rivers and included the Apennine slopes on the Adriatic. The ancient Umbrian language is a branch of a group called Oscan-Umbrian, also called Ombrii in some Roman sources. Many Roman writers thought the Umbri to be Celtic, Cornelius Bocchus wrote that they descended from an ancient Gaulish tribe, plutarch wrote that the name might be a different way of writing the name of the Celto-Germanic tribe Ambrones, which loosely means King of the Boii. He also suggested that the Insubres, another Gaulish tribe, might be connected, their Celtic name Isombres could possibly mean Lower Umbrians, similarly Roman historian Cato the Elder, in his masterpiece Origines, defines the Gauls the progenitors of the Umbri. The Umbrii are mentioned, with the Lombards and the Suebi, furthermore, according to Roman authors, The Umbrii/Ambrones originated somewhere in Germany or Scandinavia. The Etruscans vanquished 300 Umbrian cities, during the 6th–4th centuries BC, Umbrian communities constructed rural sanctuaries in which they sacrificed to the gods. Bronze votives shaped as animals or deities were also offered, Umbrian deities include Feronia, Valentia, Minerva Matusia and Clitumnus. The Iguvine Tablets were discovered in 1444 at Gubbio, Italy, composed during the 2nd or 3rd centuries BC, they describe religious rituals involving animal sacrifice. Two men held the supreme magistracy of uhtur and were responsible for supervising rituals, other civic offices included the marone, which had a lower status than uhtur, and a religious position named kvestur. The Umbrian social structure was divided into distinct groups based upon military rank. During the reign of Augustus, four Umbrian aristocrats became senators, emperor Nerva’s family was from Umbria. Throughout the 9th-4th centuries BC, imported goods from Greece and Etruria were common, the Romans first made contact with Umbria in 310 BC and settled Latin colonies there in 299 BC,268 BC and 241 BC. They had completed their conquest of Umbria by approximately 260 BC, incorporation into the Roman state occurred during the 3rd century BC when some Umbri were given full citizenship or citizenship without the right to vote. Also during the 3rd century BC about 40,000 Romans settled in the region, the Via Flaminia linking areas of Umbria was complete by 220 BC. Cities in Umbria also contributed troops to Rome for its many wars, Umbrians fought under Scipio Africanus in 205 BC during the Second Punic War. The Praetorian Guard recruited from Etruria and Umbria, the Umbri played a minor role in the Social War and as a result were granted citizenship in 90 BC. Roman veterans were settled in Umbria during the reign of Augustus
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Bethlehem, Palestine[5]
Santiago de Compostela, Spain
San Francisco, USA
Wadowice, Poland
Monte Sant'Angelo, Italy (since 2013)
Assisi travel guide from Wikivoyage
Ashby, Thomas (1911). "Asisium". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 762.
