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.
South Tyrol
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South Tyrol, also known by its alternative Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of 7,400 square kilometres and its capital is the city of Bolzano. As of 2011, South Tyrol is among the wealthiest regions in Italy, South Tyrol is the term most commonly used in English for the province, and its usage reflects that it was created from a portion of the southern part of the historic County of Tyrol. German and Ladin speakers usually refer to the area as Südtirol, Alto Adige, one of the Italian names for the province, is also used in English. The term had been the name of political subdivisions along the Adige River in the time of Napoleon Bonaparte and it was reused as the Italian name of the current province after its post-World War I creation, and was a symbol of the subsequent forced Italianization of South Tyrol. The official name of the today in German is Autonome Provinz Bozen — Südtirol. German speakers usually refer to it not as a Provinz, provincial institutions are referred to using the prefix Landes-, such as Landesregierung and Landeshauptmann. The official name in Italian is Provincia autonoma di Bolzano — Alto Adige, South Tyrol as an administrative entity originated during the First World War. The Allies promised the area to Italy in the Treaty of London of 1915 as an incentive to enter the war on their side, with the rise of Fascism, the new regime made efforts to bring forward the Italianization of South Tyrol. The German language was banished from public service, German teaching was officially forbidden, the regime also favored immigration from other Italian regions. The subsequent alliance between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini declared that South Tyrol would not follow the destiny of Austria, the region was de facto annexed to the German Reich until the end of the war. This status ended along with the Nazi regime, and Italian rule was restored in 1945, after the war the Allies decided that the province would remain a part of Italy, under the condition that the German-speaking population be granted a significant level of self-government. Italy and Austria negotiated an agreement in 1946, recognizing the rights of the German minority, alcide De Gasperi, Italys prime minister, a native of Trentino, wanted to extend the autonomy to his fellow citizens. This led to the creation of the region called Trentino-Alto Adige/Tiroler Etschland, German and Italian were both made official languages, and German-language education was permitted once more. Still Italians were the majority in the combined region, in a first phase, only public edifices and fascist monuments were targeted. The second phase was bloodier, costing 21 lives, the South Tyrolean question became an international issue. A fresh round of negotiations took place in 1961 but proved unsuccessful, the issue was resolved in 1971, when a new Austro-Italian treaty was signed and ratified
3.
Puster Valley
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The Puster Valley is a valley in the Alps that runs in an east-west direction between Lienz in East Tyrol, Austria and Mühlbach near Brixen in South Tyrol, Italy. The municipalities of the Puster Valley constitute the Puster Valley district, East of Sillian, the Puster Valley leaves the Peradriatic Line and turns to the northeast towards Lienz. Half of the valley drains to the west to the Adriatic via the Adige river, the watershed lies in the shallow valley floor called Toblacher Feld. The Rienz river flows westwards through the Puster Valley and the Drau river flows eastwards into East Tyrol, the eastern part of the valley on the upper Drava is called Upper Puster Valley. The towns in the Puster Valley are located between 750 and 1,180 meters above sea level. The most important of these towns in the valley are Toblach, Welsberg-Taisten, Olang, and Bruneck, the most important in the eastern valley are Innichen, Sexten. The largest tributaries of the Rienz river form the Antholzer Bach, the Ahr, the Pragser Bach, the Gsieser Bach, the Gran Ega, the Pfunderer Bach, the Puster Valleys largest side valley is the Tauferer Ahrntal. The Draus largest eastern tributaries are the Sextner Bach and the Villgraten-Bach, the Puster Valley District was founded in 1969 with the merger of 26 municipalities. Its combined area is 2,071 km² and its population is over 73,000, according to the 2001 census,80. 96% of the population of the valley speak German,13. 40% Ladin, and 5. 64% Italian as their native language. The following municipalities are part of the Puster Valley District, Media related to Puster Valley at Wikimedia Commons Puster Valley District
4.
High Tauern
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The High Tauern are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the border of the Austrian state of Salzburg with Carinthia and East Tyrol. The range includes Austrias highest mountain, the Grossglockner at 3,798 metres above the Adriatic, in the east, the range is adjoined by the Lower Tauern. For the etymology of the name, see Tauern, with an area of about 1,834 square kilometres, it is by far the largest of Austrias seven national parks as well as the largest nature reserve in the Alps. It is divided into a zone including the Grossglockner and Grossvenediger massifs, with complete prohibition of agricultural use. Five special nature sanctuaries are protected from any human disturbance, the park of the IUCN II category comprises the Pasterze and numerous further glaciers, the Krimml Waterfalls, several glacial valleys and alluvial fans, as well as extended tundra areas and forests. Among the flora of the Alps, especially Swiss Pines grow along the line, above subshrub, mainly alpenrose but also the endemic saxifraga rudolphiana. The fauna includes chamois, Alpine ibex and red deer, as well as griffon vulture, the formerly extinct bearded vulture and the Alpine marmot have been successfully reintroduced. The adjacent area in Salzburg followed two years later, and Tyrol finally joined in 1992, tourism only increased marginally since the creation of the national park, but has become less harmful to the environment. A particular emphasis is put on environmental protection and the maintenance of ways of life in the Alps. East of it, the Katschberg Pass on B99 Katschberg Straße highway parallel to the Katschberg Tunnel links Sankt Michael, another road crosses the Staller Sattel between Sankt Jakob in Defereggen and Rasen-Antholz at 2,052 metres. Beside there are numerous bridle and foot paths, in part used since ancient times, Hohe Tauern window
5.
Dolomites
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The Dolomites are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form a part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley in the east, the northern and southern borders are defined by the Puster Valley and the Sugana Valley. The Dolomites are nearly equally shared between the provinces of Belluno, South Tyrol and Trentino. There are also groups of similar geological structure that spread over the River Piave to the east – Dolomiti dOltrepiave. There is also another group called Piccole Dolomiti located between the provinces of Trentino, Verona and Vicenza. The Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park and many other parks are located in the Dolomites. In August 2009, the Dolomites were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, during the First World War, the front line between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces ran through the Dolomites and there was fierce mine warfare. There are now open-air war museums at Cinque Torri and Mount Lagazuoi, many people visit the Dolomites to climb the vie ferrate, protected paths created during the First World War. A number of long distance footpaths run across the Dolomites, which are called alte vie, such long trails, which are numbered from 1 to 8, require at least a week to be walked through and are served by numerous Rifugi. The first and, perhaps, most renowned is the Alta Via 1, radiocarbon dating has been used in the Alta Badia region to draw a connection between landslide movement and climate change. The layering of rocks and organic matter make for a trove of material that can used to perform these scientific investigations. Landslides are caused by processes, most notably the humidity of soil. The region is divided into the Western and Eastern Dolomites. Free climbing has been a tradition in the Dolomites since 1887, the Maratona dles Dolomites, an annual single-day road bicycle racing race covering seven mountain passes of the Dolomites, occurs in the first week of July. Other characteristic places are, Mount Pasubio and Strada delle 52 Gallerie Altopiano di Asiago and Calà del Sasso, with 4444 steps, nomination of the Dolomites for inscription on the World Natural Heritage List UNESCO. Walks and Via Ferrata in the Dolomites, franco Grisa Timelapse Italian official cartography, on-line version, www. pcn. minambiente. it
6.
Messner Mountain Museum
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The Messner Mountain Museum or MMM is a museum project created by Italian mountaineer and extreme climber Reinhold Messner in South Tyrol in northern Italy. The museum project consists of five based at six different locations, Firmian, Juval, Dolomites, Ortles, Ripa. MMM Firmian at Sigmundskron Castle near Bozen is the centerpiece of the museum, the museum includes displays on the geology of the mountains, the religious significance of mountains in the lives of people, and the history of mountaineering and alpine tourism. MMM Juval at Juval Castle in the Burggrafenamt in Vinschgau is dedicated to the magic of the mountains, with an emphasis on mystical mountains and their religious significance. MMM Dolomites at Monte Rite, housed in an old fort, is dedicated to the subject of rocks, particularly in the Dolomites and this museum contains a summit observation platform that offers a 360° panorama of the surrounding Dolomites. MMM Ortles at Sulden on the Ortler is dedicated to the history of mountaineering on ice and the great glaciers of the world. MMM Ripa at Bruneck Castle in South Tyrol is dedicated to the peoples from Asia, Africa, South America and Europe, with emphasis on their cultures, religions. MMM Corones on the plateau of Kronplatz, is dedicated to traditional mountaineering. The centrepiece of the Messner Mountain Museum is based in Sigmundskron Castle near Bolzano, Italy, the castle dates to the Late Middle Ages and houses the museums headquarters, administration and event facilities. There is a theatre that seats 200 people. The museum was opened on 11 June 2006 after three years of restoration to the ruined castle. The concept at MMM Firmian, as this hub of the museum is known, is based on three strands, the castle, the restoration and the exhibitions, the appearance of the castle has not been destroyed by modern alterations. The MMM Firmian itself covers an area of 1,100 square metres, the theme of the museum is the history and art of mountaineering. Messner wants to show what effect the mountain has on people, as well as giving an understanding of mountains and mountain peoples. He demonstrates this by means of pictures, sculptures, symbolic objects and memorabilia of various expeditions, Messner also displays the history of alpinism and the impact of alpinism and tourism on nature and the environment. A separate exhibition on the history of the castle and the region is in a tower and this part of the MMM is housed within Juval Castle near Naturns, a late-medieval castle, and was opened in 1995. This castle is owned by Messner and he uses it as his summer residence. This MMM deals with the mountains as places of mystery and spirituality and its main focus is the sacred mountains of the world such as Kailash, Mount Fuji or Ayers Rock
7.
Zaha Hadid
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Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid, DBE, RA was an Iraqi-born British architect. She was the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize and she received the UKs most prestigious architectural award, the Stirling Prize, in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, she was made a Dame by Elizabeth II for services to architecture and she was described by the The Guardian of London as the Queen of the curve, who liberated architectural geometry, giving it a whole new expressive identity. Her major works include the centre for the London 2012 Olympics, Michigan State Universitys Broad Art Museum in the US. Hadid was born on 31 October 1950 in Baghdad, Iraq and her father, Muhammad al-Hajj Husayn Hadid, was a wealthy industrialist from Mosul. He co-founded the left-liberal al-Ahali group in 1932, a significant political organisation in the 1930s and 1940s and he was the co-founder of the National Democratic Party in Iraq. Her mother, Wajiha al-Sabunji, was an artist from Mosul, in the 1960s Hadid attended boarding schools in England and Switzerland. Hadid studied mathematics at the American University of Beirut before moving, in 1972, there she studied with Rem Koolhaas, Elia Zenghelis and Bernard Tschumi. Her former professor, Koolhaas, described her at graduation as a planet in her own orbit, Zenghelis described her as the most outstanding pupil he ever taught. ‘We called her the inventor of the 89 degrees, nothing was ever at 90 degrees. All the buildings were exploding into tiny little pieces and he recalled that she was less interested in details, such as staircases. The way she drew a staircase you would smash your head against the ceiling, and the space was reducing and reducing and she couldn’t care about tiny details. Her mind was on the broader pictures – when it came to the joinery she knew we could fix that later. She was right. ’ Her fourth-year student project was a painting of a hotel in the form of a bridge, Hadid became a naturalised citizen of the United Kingdom. She earned her reputation with her lecturing and colorful and radical early designs and projects. Her ambitious but unbuilt projects included a plan for Peak in Hong Kong, and her reputation in this period rested largely upon her teaching and the imaginative and colorful paintings she made of her proposed buildings. In 1989 Fehlbaum had invited Frank Gehry, then little-known, to build a museum at the Vitra factory in Weil-am-Rhein. In 1993, he invited Hadid to design a small station for the factory
8.
Brixen
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Brixen is a town in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about 40 kilometres north of Bolzano. First mentioned in 901, Brixen is the third largest city and oldest town in the province, and it is located at the confluence of the Eisack and Rienz rivers,40 kilometres north of Bolzano and 45 kilometres south of the Brenner Pass, on the Italy-Austrian border. It is flanked on the side by the Plose and Telegraph mountains. Brixen is especially known as a skiing resort. Other activities include hydroelectric power, orchards, and vineyards, the area of Brixen has been settled since the Upper Paleolithic. Other settlements from the late Stone Age have been found and in 15 BC, the area was conquered by the Romans and they held it until around 590, when it was occupied by Bavarians. The first mention of Brixen dates to 901 in a document issued by the King of Germany, Louis III the Child, in it a territory called Prihsna is assigned to Zacharias, as time passed, Prihsna turned into the current name of Brixen. The bishops moved here from Säben in 992, after the Cathedral had been finished, in 1039, the Bishop of Brixen, Poppo, was elevated to Pope by emperor Henry III. However his reign lasted for only 23 days, yet in the same century, Brixen became the seat of an independent ecclesiastical principate which, in the following years, struggled for existence against the neighbouring county of Tyrol. In 1115, a first line of walls encircling Brixen was completed, the bishopric was secularized in 1803 and annexed by the Austrian Empire. Between 1851 and 1855, the Czech journalist and writer Karel Havlíček Borovský was exiled by the Austrian government to Brixen, after the end of World War I, Brixen was annexed by Italy. The oldest coat of arms dates back to 1297 with the lamb, on 13 November 1928, a shield with the city walls and a gate on the lawn in the upper half and the lamb in the lower was adopted. The emblem is a turned argent lamb with an or halo on a gules background, the emblem was granted in 1966. The Cathedral, was rebuilt in the 13th century and again in 1745–54 along Baroque lines, the ceiling of the nave has a large fresco by Paul Troger portraying the Adoration of the Lamb. The Hofburg, a Renaissance Bishops Palace, one of the main residences in South Tyrol. The Diocesan Museum has several artworks, including a presepe with 5,000 figures created for Bishop Karl Franz Lodron, the round parish church of Saint Michael. The Gothic choir and the tower are from the 15th century while the nave is from the 16th. The main artwork is a wooden Cireneus from the 15th century, the Pharmacy Museum Pharmaziemuseum Brixen, located in a nearly 500-year-old townhouse, shows the development and changes of the City - Pharmacy
9.
Bolzano
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Bolzano is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 105,713, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol, Bolzano is the seat of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, where lectures and seminars are held in English, German and Italian. The city is home to the Italian Armys Alpini High Command and some of its combat. In 2014 version of the ranking of quality of life in Italian cities. Along with other Alpine towns in South Tyrol, Bolzano engages in the Alpine Town of the Year Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention, the Convention aims to promote and achieve sustainable development in the Alpine Arc. Consequently, Bolzano was awarded Alpine Town of the Year 2009, the Romans built a settlement after the area had been conquered in 15 BC by General Nero Claudius Drusus. The military settlement, Pons Drusi, was named after this Roman General, during this time the area became part of the region Venetia et Histria of ancient Italy. In 1948, excavations of the current Cathedral led to the discovery of an ancient Christian basilica from the 4th century. Also discovered was a Roman cemetery, including the tomb of Secundus Regontius with Latin inscriptions dating to the 3rd century, making him the oldest known inhabitant of Bolzano. During the gradual decline of the Romans influence in the 7th century, Bavarian immigration took place, at that time, the Bavarians named the nearby villages around Bolzano Bauzanum or Bauzana. German populations have been present in the region of Tyrol since this time, in 1027 the area of Bolzano and the rest of the diocese was conferred, by the emperor Conrad II from the Salian dynasty, upon the bishops of Trent. In the late-12th century, the bishop founded a market town, the town therefore became an important trading post on the Transalpine Augsburg-Venice route over the Brenner Pass, elevation 1,371 metres above sea level, within the Holy Roman Empire. In 1277 Bolzano was conquered by Meinhard II, the Count of Tyrol, in 1363, the County of Tyrol fell under the influence of Habsburg Austria and the Holy Roman Empire. In 1381, Duke Leopold granted the citizens of Bolzano the privilege of a town council and this gradually eliminated the influence and power previously held by the bishops of Trent over the next few decades. In 1462, the bishops eventually resigned all their rights of jurisdiction over the town, from the 14th and 15th centuries onwards, a large market fair was organised four times per year to greet tradesmen and merchants en-route the Brenner Pass. The Mercantile Magistrate was therefore founded in 1635 by the Austrian duchess Claudia de Medici, during every market season, two Italian and two Germanic officers, who were appointed among the local tradesmen, worked in this magistrate office. The establishment of a trade organisation strengthened Bolzano as a cultural crossroad in the Alps. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Bolzano became briefly part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy and was incorporated into the Dipartimento Alto Adige
Media related to Bruneck at Wikimedia Commons
