1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
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 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
3.
Lazio
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Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With almost 5.9 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the second most populated region of Italy and its capital is Rome, capital and largest city of Italy. Lazio comprises an area of 17,236 km2 and it has borders with Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche to the north, Abruzzo and Molise to the east, Campania to the south. The region is flat and hilly, with small mountainous areas in the most eastern and southern districts. The coast of Lazio is mainly composed of beaches, punctuated by the headlands of Circeo. The Pontine Islands, which are part of Lazio, lie opposite the southern coast, behind the coastal strip, to the north, lies the Maremma Laziale, a coastal plain interrupted at Civitavecchia by the Tolfa Mountains. The central section of the region is occupied by the Roman Campagna, the southern districts are characterized by the flatlands of Agro Pontino, a once swampy and malarial area, that was reclaimed over the centuries. To the south of the Tiber, other groups form part of the Preapennines, the Alban Hills, also of volcanic origin. The highest peak is Mount Gorzano on the border with Abruzzo, see also, History of Italy The Italian word Lazio descends from the Latin word Latium. The name of the region also survives in the designation of the ancient population of Latins, Latini in the Latin language spoken by them. Although the demography of ancient Rome was multi-ethnic, including, for example, Etruscans and other Italics besides the Latini, in Roman mythology, the tribe of the Latini took their name from king Latinus. Much of Lazio is in flat or rolling. The lands originally inhabited by the Latini were extended into the territories of the Samnites, the Marsi, the Hernici, the Aequi, the Aurunci and the Volsci, all surrounding Italic tribes. This larger territory was still called Latium, but it was divided into Latium adiectum or Latium Novum, the lands or New Latium, and Latium Vetus, or Old Latium. The northern border of Lazio was the Tiber river, which divided it from Etruria, the emperor Augustus officially united almost all of present-day Italy into a single geo-political entity, Italia, dividing it into eleven regions. However, the wars against the Longobards weakened the region. With the Donation of Sutri in 728, the Bishop of Rome acquired the first territory in the region beyond the Duchy of Rome, the strengthening of the religious and ecclesiastical aristocracy led to continuous power struggles between secular lords and the Pope until the middle of the 16th century. Other popes tried to do the same, during the period when the papacy resided in Avignon, France, the feudal lords power increased due to the absence of the Pope from 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.
Metropolitan cities of Italy
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The metropolitan city is an administrative division of Italy, operative since 2015. In 2009, amendments added Reggio Calabria to the list, the metropolitan areas individuated by the autonomous regions were, Trieste in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Cagliari in Sardinia, Catania, Messina and Palermo in Sicily. On 3 April 2014 the Italian Parliament approved a law that establishes 10 metropolitan cities in Italy, the new metropolitan cities have been operative since 1 January 2015. The metropolitan city is composed by the municipalities that before had been members of the same province, each metropolitan city is headed by a metropolitan mayor assisted by a legislative body, the Metropolitan council, and by a non-legislative assembly, the metropolitan conference. Members of the Metropolitan council are elected and chosen by mayors and city councilors of each municipality in the metropolitan city, the metropolitan conference is composed by the mayors of the municipalities closest to the capital. The main functions devolved to the new cities are, local planning and zoning, provision of local police services, transport. Regions of Italy Provinces of Italy Municipalities of Italy Media related to Metropolitan cities of Italy at Wikimedia Commons
6.
Pavona
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For the stony coral genus, see Pavona Pavona is a town in Lazio, central Italy. It is a frazione of the comune of Albano Laziale, however, its traditional territory is also included in those of Castel Gandolfo and Rome. The Albano fraction includes some 7,600 inhabitants, the other two amounting to c.3,500 and 2,000, respectively, the patron saint of Pavona is St. Joseph, celebrated on May 1. Cecchina Media related to Pavona at Wikimedia Commons Pavona. info
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.
Saint Sebastian
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Saint Sebastian was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to Christian belief, he was killed during the Roman emperor Diocletians persecution of Christians and he is commonly depicted in art and literature tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows. Despite this being the most common depiction of Sebastian, he was, according to legend. Shortly afterwards he went to Diocletian to warn him about his sins and he is venerated in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The details of Saint Sebastians martyrdom were first spoken of by 4th -century bishop Ambrose of Milan, Ambrose stated that Sebastian came from Milan and that he was already venerated there at that time. Saint Sebastian is a male saint, especially among athletes. In 283, Sebastian entered the army in Rome under Emperor Carinus to assist the martyrs, because of his courage he became one of the captains of the Praetorian Guards under Diocletian and Maximian, who were unaware that he was a Christian. According to tradition, Marcus and Marcellian were twin brothers from a family and were deacons. Both brothers married, and they resided in Rome with their wives, the brothers refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods and were arrested. They were visited by their parents Tranquillinus and Martia in prison, Sebastian succeeded in converting Tranquillinus and Martia, as well as Saint Tiburtius, the son of Chromatius, the local prefect. Another official, Nicostratus, and his wife Zoe were also converted and it has been said that Zoe had been a mute for six years, however, she made known to Sebastian her desire to be converted to Christianity. As soon as she had, her returned to her. Nicostratus then brought the rest of the prisoners, these 16 persons were converted by Sebastian, Chromatius and Tiburtius converted, Chromatius set all of his prisoners free from jail, resigned his position, and retired to the country in Campania. Marcus and Marcellian, after being concealed by a Christian named Castulus, were martyred, as were Nicostratus, Zoe. Sebastian had prudently concealed his faith, but in 286 was detected, Diocletian reproached him for his supposed betrayal, and he commanded him to be led to a field and there to be bound to a stake so that certain archers from Mauritania would shoot arrows at him. And the archers shot at him till he was as full of arrows as an urchin is full of pricks, miraculously, the arrows did not kill him. The widow of Castulus, Irene of Rome, went to retrieve his body to bury it and she brought him back to her house and nursed him back to health. Sebastian later stood by a staircase where the emperor was to pass, Sebastian was said to be a defense against the plague
11.
Latin language
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Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
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Castelli Romani
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The so-called Roman Castles are a group of comunes in the Metropolitan City of Rome. They are located at short distance south-east of the city of Rome, at the feet of the Alban Hills, the area of the castles occupies a fertile volcanic area which has allowed since ancient times a flourishing agriculture. The former crater is occupied by two lakes, the Lake of Nemi and that of Albano, families which ruled in the castles include Orsini, Colonna, Chigi, Aldobrandini, Savelli, Annibaldi and Ruspoli. The DOC red and rosés are composed of Cesanese Comune, Merlot, Montepulciano, Nero Buono, the white wines of the region are composed of Malvasia Candia, Puntinata and Trebbiano with up to 30% of other local white grape varieties. Ariccia is celebrated for its porchetta, local sweets include maritozzi, a kind of sweet bun. History of Rome History of Lazio Castelli Romani Portal of the Castelli Romani Cultural/tourist Portal of the Castles Roman Italy Travel video in English of the Castelli Romani
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Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
14.
Alban Hills
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The Alban Hills are the site of a quiescent volcanic complex in Italy, located 20 km southeast of Rome and about 24 kilometres north of Anzio. The dominant peak is Monte Cavo at 950 m, there are two small calderas which contain lakes, Lake Albano and Lake Nemi. The rock of the hills is called peperino a variety of tuff, a combination of ash and small rocks that is useful for construction. The hills, especially around the shores of the lakes, have been popular since prehistoric times, from the 9th to 7th century BC, there were numerous villages. The area was inhabited by the Latini during the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, the ancient Romans called the hill Albanus Mons. In Roman times, the area was used by the rich as a way to escape the heat and crowds of Rome, as it is today as shown by the many villas. The towns and villages in the Alban Hills are known as the Castelli Romani, examination of deposits have dated the four most recent eruptions to two temporal peaks, around 36,000 and 39,000 years ago. The area exhibits small localised earthquake swarms, bradyseism, and release of carbon dioxide, the volcano emits large amounts of carbon dioxide which can potentially reach lethal concentrations if it accumulates in depressions in the ground in the absence of wind. Eight sheep were killed in an incident in October 2001
15.
Lake Albano
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Lake Albano is a small volcanic crater lake in the Alban Hills of Lazio, at the foot of Monte Cavo,20 kilometres southeast of Rome. Castel Gandolfo, overlooking the lake, is the site of the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo, in Roman times it was known as Albanus Lacus and lay not far from the ancient city of Alba Longa. With a depth of about 170 m, Lake Albano is the deepest in Lazio. The lake is 3.5 km long by 2.3 km wide, plutarch reports that in 406 BC the lake surged over the surrounding hills, despite there being no rain nor tributaries flowing into the lake to account for the rise in water level. The ensuing flood destroyed fields and vineyards before eventually pouring into the sea and it is thought to have been caused by volcanic gases, trapped in sediment at the bottom of the lake and gradually building up until suddenly releasing, causing the water to overflow. Around 395 BC, during the wars between Rome and Veii, a tunnel was built crossing the crater walls. It served as an emissary whenever the water level overflowed its mouth, the emissary is at 293 meters over the sea level. The tunnel ends at a spot called Le Mole, below Castel Gandolfo and it hosted the canoeing and rowing events of the 1960 Summer Olympic Games that were held in Rome. The lane marking system developed for these events is referred to as the Albano buoy system. Lakes of Italy Britannica. com Italian Tourism - Lakes The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date,2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Columbia University Press
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Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo
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Now a museum, it had served for centuries as a summer residence and vacation retreat for the pope, the leader of the Catholic Church. Although situated within Castel Gandolfo, the residence was afforded status as one of the properties of the Holy See and was not under the jurisdiction of Castel Gandolfo or Italy. The building ceased to be a palace in October 2016. “The oldest parts of the date back to the 13th century, ” said Saverio Petrillo. “It was acquired by the Vatican in 1596 when the Savelli family, the palace was designed by Swiss-Italian architect Carlo Maderno for Pope Urban VIII. Pope Pius XI had the facilities modernized and began using the retreat again in 1934, in accordance with the Lateran Treaty of 1929, the palace and the adjoining Villa Barberini added to the complex by Pope Pius XI are extraterritorial properties of the Holy See. Pope Pius XII died at the palace in 1958 as did Pope Paul VI in 1978, Pope John Paul II had a swimming pool built at the Palace, which was criticized by some. Paparazzi used the opportunity to take photos of him, Pope Benedict XVI flew to the palace at the conclusion of his papacy on 28 February 2013 and spent several weeks there before returning to Vatican City on 2 May. On 23 March 2013, Pope Francis visited Benedict XVI at the palace for lunch, on 7 December 2013, Pope Francis named Osvaldo Gianoli as the Director of the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo. In March 2014, the Vatican opened the Barberini Gardens to paid visitors on guided tours during morning hours every day but Sunday, on October 21,2016, it was opened to the public for viewing. 17th century in architecture List of palaces in Italy Petrillo, Saverio, velletri, Edizioni Tra 8 &9. Dalla leggendaria Alba Longa a Castel Gandolfo, Castel Gandolfo, Il Vecchio Focolare
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Pope
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The pope is the Bishop of Rome and, therefore, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013, the office of the pope is the papacy. The pope is considered one of the worlds most powerful people because of his diplomatic and he is also head of state of Vatican City, a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved within the Italian capital city of Rome. The papacy is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history, the popes in ancient times helped in the spread of Christianity and the resolution of various doctrinal disputes. In the Middle Ages, they played a role of importance in Western Europe. Currently, in addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and doctrine, the popes are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, charitable work, Popes, who originally had no temporal powers, in some periods of history accrued wide powers similar to those of temporal rulers. In recent centuries, popes were gradually forced to give up temporal power, the word pope derives from Greek πάππας meaning father. The earliest record of the use of title was in regard to the by then deceased Patriarch of Alexandria. Some historians have argued that the notion that Peter was the first bishop of Rome, the writings of the Church Father Irenaeus who wrote around AD180 reflect a belief that Peter founded and organised the Church at Rome. Moreover, Irenaeus was not the first to write of Peters presence in the early Roman Church, Clement of Rome wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, c. 96, about the persecution of Christians in Rome as the struggles in our time and presented to the Corinthians its heroes, first, the greatest and most just columns, the good apostles Peter and Paul. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote shortly after Clement and in his letter from the city of Smyrna to the Romans he said he would not command them as Peter and Paul did. Given this and other evidence, many agree that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero. Protestants contend that the New Testament offers no proof that Jesus established the papacy nor even that he established Peter as the first bishop of Rome, others, using Peters own words, argue that Christ intended himself as the foundation of the church and not Peter. First-century Christian communities would have had a group of presbyter-bishops functioning as leaders of their local churches, gradually, episcopacies were established in metropolitan areas. Antioch may have developed such a structure before Rome, some writers claim that the emergence of a single bishop in Rome probably did not occur until the middle of the 2nd century. In their view, Linus, Cletus and Clement were possibly prominent presbyter-bishops, documents of the 1st century and early 2nd century indicate that the Holy See had some kind of pre-eminence and prominence in the Church as a whole, though the detail of what this meant is unclear. It seems that at first the terms episcopos and presbyter were used interchangeably, the consensus among scholars has been that, at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, local congregations were led by bishops and presbyters whose offices were overlapping or indistinguishable
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Properties of the Holy See
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The properties of the Holy See are regulated by the 1929 Lateran Treaty signed with the Kingdom of Italy. Although part of Italian territory, some of them enjoy immunities, archbasilica of St. John Lateran Basilica of St. Mary Major Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls. Lateran Palace, Lateran University, the Scala Santa and adjoining buildings, certain buildings on the Gianicolo Hill, namely the Pontifical Urbaniana University, the Pontifical North American College, and the Bambino Gesù Hospital. Palazzo della Cancelleria between the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and Campo de Fiori, palazzo di Propaganda Fide in the Piazza di Spagna. Palace of the Holy Office - home of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Piazza del SantUffizio, Palace of the Holy Apostles attached to the Basilica dei Santi Apostoli. Palace attached to the Church of San Carlo ai Catinari Collegio Bellarmino in Via del Seminario near the Church of SantIgnazio, archaeological Institute, Pontifical Oriental Institute, Lombard College and the Russian College on Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore. The two Palaces of SantApollinare between the Piazza SantApollinare and Via della Serola, the House of Retreat for the Clergy of Saints John and Paul, including the Nympheum of Nero, on the Caelian Hill. Area of Santa Maria di Galeria, where the antennae of Vatican Radio are located, the area was ceded by Italy to the Holy See in an agreement in 1951. The Basilica of the Holy House at Loreto, Province of Ancona, the Basilica of St Francis at Assisi, Province of Perugia. The Basilica of St Anthony at Padua, Province of Padua, papal States Vatican City State Index of Vatican City-related articles
19.
Villa
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A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably, after the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity, sometimes transferred to the Church for reuse as a monastery. Then they gradually re-evolved through the Middle Ages into elegant upper-class country homes, in modern parlance, villa can refer to various types and sizes of residences, ranging from the suburban semi-detached double villa to residences in the wildland–urban interface. In ancient Roman architecture a villa was originally a house built for the élite. The Roman villae rusticae at the heart of latifundia were the earliest versions of what later, not included as villae were the domus, a city house for the élite and privileged classes, and insulae, blocks of apartment buildings for the rest of the population. In Satyricon, Petronius described the range of Roman dwellings. Another type of villae is the villa marittima, a seaside villa, a concentration of Imperial villas existed on the Gulf of Naples, on the Isle of Capri, at Monte Circeo and at Antium. Examples include the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, and the Villa of the Mysteries, wealthy Romans also escaped the summer heat in the hills round Rome, especially around Tibur (Tivoand Frascati, such as at Hadrians Villa. Cicero allegedly possessed no fewer than seven villas, the oldest of which was near Arpinum, pliny the Younger had three or four, of which the example near Laurentium is the best known from his descriptions. Roman writers refer with satisfaction to the self-sufficiency of their latifundium villas, archeologists have meticulously examined numerous Roman villas in England. The grand villa at Woodchester preserved its mosaic floors when the Anglo-Saxon parish church was built upon its site, grave-diggers preparing for burials in the churchyard as late as the 18th century had to punch through the intact mosaic floors. The even more palatial villa rustica at Fishbourne near Winchester was built as an open rectangle. Villae rusticae are essential in the Empires economy, two kinds of villa-plan in Roman Britain may be characteristic of Roman villas in general. The more usual plan extended wings of all opening onto a linking portico. The other kind featured a central hall like a basilica. The villa buildings were often independent structures linked by their enclosed courtyards, timber-framed construction, carefully fitted with mortises and tenons and dowelled together, set on stone footings, were the rule, replaced by stone buildings for the important ceremonial rooms. Traces of window glass have been found, as well as ironwork window grilles, with the decline and collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries, the villas were more and more isolated and came to be protected by walls. In England the villas were abandoned, looted, and burned by Anglo-Saxon invaders in the fifth century, in regions on the Continent, aristocrats and territorial magnates donated large working villas and overgrown abandoned ones to individual monks, these might become the nuclei of monasteries
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Cottages
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A cottage is, typically, a small house. It may carry the connotation of being an old or old-fashioned building, in modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cosy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. The word comes from the architecture of England, where it referred to a house with ground floor living space. In British English the term now denotes a small dwelling of traditional build, Cottages may be detached houses, or terraced, such as those built to house workers in mining villages. The tied accommodation provided to workers was usually a cottage. Peasant farmers were known as cotters. The holiday cottage exists in many cultures under different names, in American English, cottage is one term for such holiday homes, although they may also be called a cabin, chalet, or even camp. In certain countries the term cottage has local synonyms, In Finnish mökki, in Estonian suvila, in Swedish stage, in Norwegian hytte, in Slovak chalupa, in Russian дача. There are cottage-style dwellings in American cities that were primarily for the purpose of housing slaves In places such as Canada. Originally in the Middle Ages, cottages housed agricultural workers and their friends, the term cottage denoted the dwelling of a cotter. Thus, cottages were smaller peasant units, in that early period, a documentary reference to a cottage would most often mean, not a small stand-alone dwelling as today, but a complete farmhouse and yard. Thus, in the Middle Ages, the word cottage denoted not just a dwelling, but included at least a dwelling and a barn, as well as, usually, a fenced yard or piece of land enclosed by a gate. The word is probably a blend of Old English cot, cote hut and Old French cot hut, cottage, from Old Norse kot hut, examples of this may be found in 15th century manor court rolls. The house of the cottage bore the Latin name, domus, later on, cottage might also have denoted a smallholding comprising houses, outbuildings, and supporting farmland or woods. A cottage, in sense, would typically include just a few acres of tilled land. Examples of this included the Welsh Tŷ unnos or house in a night. Much later, from around the 18th century onwards, the development of industry led to the development of weavers cottages, in England and Wales the legal definition of a cottage is a small house or habitation without land. However, originally under an Elizabethan statute, the cottage had to be built with at least 4 acres of land, traditionally the owner of the cottage and small holding would be known as a cottager
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1960 Summer Olympics
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The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11,1960, in Rome, Italy. Rome had been awarded the organization of the 1908 Summer Olympics, on June 15,1955, at the 50th IOC Session in Paris, France, Rome beat out Lausanne, Detroit, Budapest, Brussels, Mexico City and Tokyo for the rights to host the Games. Tokyo and Mexico City would eventually host the following 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics, Toronto was initially interested in the bidding, but appears to have been dropped during the final bid process. This is the first of five attempts by Toronto from 1960 to 2001, swedish sprint canoeist Gert Fredriksson won his sixth Olympic title. Fencer Aladár Gerevich of Hungary won his sixth gold medal in the team sabre event The Japanese mens gymnastics team won the first of five successive golds. The United States mens national basketball team—led by future Basketball Hall of Famers Walt Bellamy, Jerry Lucas, Oscar Robertson, danish sailor Paul Elvstrøm won his fourth straight gold medal in the Finn class.2 seconds. Wilma Rudolph, US, a polio patient, won three gold medals in sprint events on the track. She was acclaimed as the fastest woman in the world, jeff Farrell, US, won two gold medals in swimming. He underwent an emergency appendectomy six days before the Olympic Trials, abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the marathon bare-footed to become the first black African Olympic champion. Cassius Clay, US, later known as Muhammad Ali, won boxings light-heavyweight gold medal, ramon Buddy Carr was one of the coaches that led this team to winning gold. Herb Elliott, AUS, won the mens 1500 meters in one of the most dominating performances in Olympic history, rafer Johnson, US, defeated his rival and friend C. K. Yang in one of the greatest Decathlon events in Olympic history. The future Constantine II, last King of Greece won his country a gold in sailing, the Pakistani Mens Field Hockey team broke a run of Indian teams victories since 1928, defeating India in the final and winning Pakistans first Olympic gold medal. Singapore competed for the first time under its own flag, which was to become its national flag after independence, coincidentally, it was the first time an athlete from Singapore won an Olympic medal when Tan Howe Liang won silver in the Weightlifting lightweight category. Wrestlers Shelby Wilson, and Doug Blubaugh, US, won medals in their respective weight classes. South Africa appeared in the Olympic arena for the last time under its apartheid regime and it would not be allowed to return until 1992, after which apartheid in sport had been abolished. Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen collapsed during his race under the influence of Roniacol and it was the second time an athlete died in competition at the Olympics, after the death of Portuguese marathon runner Francisco Lázaro at the 1912 Summer Olympics. Finnish Vilho Ylönen, a shooter, shot a bullseye to a wrong target. Peter Camejo, a 2004 American vice-presidential candidate for the Green Party, the future Queen Sofía of Spain represented her native Greece in sailing events
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St. Thomas of Villanova
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St. Thomas of Villanova O. S. A. was a Spanish friar of the Order of Saint Augustine who was a noted preacher, ascetic and religious writer of his day. He became an archbishop who was famous for the extent of his care for the poor of his see and he was born Tomás García y Martínez in Fuentellana, Spain, in 1488. His father was a miller, who regularly distributed food and provisions to the poor and he grew up and was educated in Villanueva de los Infantes, in the Province of Ciudad Real, Spain, therefore the name Thomas of Villanueva. Part of the house still stands, with a coat of arms in the corner. In spite of his familys wealth, as a boy he often went about naked because he had given his clothing to the poor. At the age of sixteen years, Thomas entered the University of Alcalá de Henares to study Arts and he became a professor there, teaching arts, logic, and philosophy, despite a continuing absentmindedness and poor memory. In 1516, he decided to join the Augustinian friars in Salamanca and he became renowned for his eloquent and effective preaching in the churches of Salamanca. Thomas composed beautiful sermons, among which stands out the Sermon on the Love of God, charles V, upon hearing him preach, exclaimed, This monsignor can move even the stones. Charles named Thomas one of his councilors of state and court preacher in Valladolid and his scathing attacks on his fellow bishops earned him the title of reformer. Some of his sermons attacked the cruelty of bullfighting and he also had a great devotion to the Virgin Mary, whose heart he compared to the burning bush of Moses that is never consumed. Within the Order, he held the positions of prior of his local monastery, Visitor General. In 1533, Thomas sent out the first Augustinian friars to arrive in Mexico, charles V offered him the post of Archbishop of Granada but he would not accept it. In 1544 he was nominated as Archbishop of Valencia and he continued to refuse the position until ordered to accept by his superior, given a donation to decorate his residence, he sent the money to a hospital in need of repair. He began his episcopacy by visiting every parish in the Archdiocese to discover what were the needs of the people, aided by his assistant bishop, Juan Segriá, he put in order an archdiocese that for a century had not had direct pastoral government. He organized a special college for Moorish converts, and in particular an effective plan for social assistance, welfare, in 1547 he ordained as a priest the future Saint Luis Beltrán, O. P. a noted missionary in South America. Thomas started Presentation Seminary in 1550 and he was well known for his great personal austerity and wore the same habit that he had received in the novitiate, mending it himself. Thomas was known as “father of the poor. ”His continual charitable efforts were untiring, especially orphans, poor women without a dowry. Charity is not just giving, rather removing the need of those who receive charity and liberating them from it when possible and he established boarding schools and high schools
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Gian Lorenzo Bernini
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Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was the sculptor of his age. Bernini was also a figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture along with his contemporaries, the architect Francesco Borromini. Early in their careers they had all worked at the time at the Palazzo Barberini, initially under Carlo Maderno and, following his death. Later on, however, they were in competition for commissions, Peters Basilica, completed under Pope Paul V with the addition of Madernos nave and facade and finally re-consecrated by Pope Urban VIII on 18 November 1626, after 150 years of planning and building. Berninis design of the Piazza San Pietro in front of the Basilica is one of his most innovative, during his long career, Bernini received numerous important commissions, many of which were associated with the papacy. At an early age, he came to the attention of the nephew, Cardinal Scipione Borghese. Although he did not fare so well during the reign of Innocent X, under Alexander VII, he again regained pre-eminent artistic domination. Bernini and other artists fell from favor in later neoclassical criticism of the Baroque, the art historian Howard Hibbard concludes that, during the seventeenth century, there were no sculptors or architects comparable to Bernini. Bernini was born in Naples in 1598 to Angelica Galante and Mannerist sculptor Pietro Bernini and he was the sixth of their thirteen children. Gianlorenzo Bernini was the definition of childhood genius and he was “recognized as a prodigy when he was only eight years old, he was consistently encouraged by his father, Pietro. His precocity earned him the admiration and favor of powerful patrons who hailed him as ‘the Michelangelo of his century’” and his father was so impressed by his son’s obvious talent that he took him to Rome to showcase him to the cardinals and Pope. Bernini was presented before Pope Paul V, for whom he did a sketch of Saint Paul, once he was brought to Rome, he never left. “For Bernini there could be only one Rome, ‘You are made for Rome, ’ said Pope Urban VIII to him, ‘and Rome for you’”. It was in world of 17th century Rome and religious power. Under the patronage of the wealthy and most powerful Cardinal Scipione Borghese. By the time he was twenty-two, he was considered talented enough to have given a commission for a papal portrait. Berninis reputation, however, was established by four masterpieces
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Tuff
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Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is compacted into a rock in a process called consolidation. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly used as construction material. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered tuffaceous, Tuff is a relatively soft rock, so it has been used for construction since ancient times. Since it is common in Italy the Romans used it often for construction, the Rapa Nui people used it to make most of the moai statues in Easter Island. Tuff can be classified as either sedimentary or igneous rocks and they are usually studied in the context of igneous petrology, although they are sometimes described using sedimentological terms. The material that is expelled in a volcanic eruption can be classified into three types, Volcanic gases, a mixture mostly of water vapour, carbon dioxide. Lava, the name of magma when it emerges and flows over the surface, and tephra, chunks of solid material of all shapes and sizes ejected and thrown through the air. Tephra is made when magma inside the volcano is blown apart by the expansion of hot volcanic gases. It is common for magma to explode as the gas dissolved in it comes out of solution as the pressure decreases when it flows to the surface and these violent explosions produce solid chunks of material that can then fly from the volcano. When these chunks are smaller than 2 mm in diameter they are called volcanic ash and it is made of small, slaggy pieces of lava and rock that have been tossed into the air by outbursts of steam and other gases. Among the loose beds of ash that cover the slopes of many volcanoes, in addition to true ashes of the kind described above, there are lumps of the old lavas and tuffs forming the walls of the crater, etc. In some great volcanic explosions nothing but materials of the kind were emitted. The ashes vary in size from large blocks twenty feet or more in diameter to the minutest impalpable dust, the large masses are called volcanic bombs, they have mostly a rounded, elliptical or pear-shaped form owing to rotation in the air before they solidified. Many of them have ribbed or nodular surfaces, and sometimes they have a crust intersected by many cracks like the surface of a loaf of bread, any ash in which they are very abundant is called an agglomerate. But many volcanoes stand near the sea, and the ashes cast out by them are mingled with the sediments that are gathering at the bottom of the waters, in this way ashy muds or sands or even in some cases ashy limestones are being formed. As a matter of fact most of the found in the older formations contain admixtures of clay, sand, and sometimes fossil shells. The showers of ashes often follow one another after longer or shorter intervals, the coarsest materials or agglomerates show this least distinctly, in the fine beds it is often developed in great perfection
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Nilus the Younger
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Saint Nilus the Younger, was a monk, abbot, and founder of Italo-Greek monasticism in southern Italy. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, born to a Greek family of Rossano, in the Byzantine theme of Calabria, for a time he was married and had a daughter. Sickness brought about his conversion, however, and from time he became a monk. He was known for his life, his virtues. For a time he lived as a hermit, later he spent certain periods of his life at various monasteries which he founded or restored. He was for some time at Monte Cassino, and again at the Alexius monastery in Rome, when Pope Gregory V was driven out of Rome, Nilus opposed the usurpation of Philogatos of Piacenza as antipope. Later when Philogatos was tortured and mutilated he reproached Gregory and the Emperor Otto III for this crime. Nilus chief work was the foundation in 1004 of the famous Greek monastery of Grottaferrata, near Frascati, on lands granted him by Gregory, count of Tusculum, the abbey continues in the Byzantine rite. He spent the end of his life partly in the SantAgata monastery in Tusculum and he died in the SantAgata monastery in 1005. Saint Nilus is revered as the saint of scribes and calligraphers. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles. Santa Maria di Grottaferrata Nilus the Younger David Paul Hester, monasticism and Spirituality of the Italo-Greeks. Patriarachal Institute for Patristic Studies,1992
26.
Grottaferrata
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Grottaferrata is a small town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, situated on the lower slopes of the Alban Hills,20 kilometres south east of Rome. Nearby communes include 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 now stands. Its iron window grates gave the site the name, first of Cryptoferrata then of Grottaferrata, 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. Nilus died soon afterwards in the Sant Agata monastery in Tusculum, the monastic building was carried out by his successors, especially the fourth abbot, Saint Bartholomew, who is usually considered the second founder. Building materials scavenged from the villa were incorporated into the new structure, marble columns, sections of carved cornice. The sanctuary was complete enough in 1024 to be consecrated by the Tusculan Pope John XIX, the high repute of the monks attracted many gifts, eleventh- and thirteenth-century mosaics remain, but of the ambitious ensemble of Cosmatesque inlay, only the polychrome stone paving remains. The abbeys possessions in lands were numerous and widespread, and in 1131 King Roger II of Sicily made the abbot Baron of Rossano with an extensive fief. Between the 12th and 15th centuries the monastery suffered from the strife of warring factions, Romans and Tusculans, Guelphs and Ghibellines, popes and antipopes, Colonna. From 1163 till the destruction of Tusculum in 1191, the part of the monastic community sought refuge in a dependency of the abbey. In the middle of the 13th century the Emperor Frederick II made the abbey his headquarters during the siege of Rome, the fifteenth century saw the bloody feuds of the Colonna and the Orsini raging round the walls. According to the humanist Ambrogio Traversari, in 1432 the appearance of the abbey was that of a rather than a monastery. In 1462 began a line of non-resident abbots in commendam, fifteen in number, of whom all, the most distinguished were the Greek Bessarion, Giulio della Rovere, and the last of the line, Cardinal Consalvi, secretary of state to Pius VII. Cardinal Bessarion, himself a Basilian monk, increased the scanty and impoverished community, Cardinal Giulio della Rovere, for more selfish motives, erected the castle and surrounded the whole monastery with the imposing fortifications that still exist. Cardinal Alessandro Farnese replaced the ceiling, gian Lorenzo Bernini was commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Barberini to provide the high altar, completed in 1665. Till 1608 the community was ruled by priors dependent on abbots in commendam, the revenues of the community were separated from those of the commendatory abbots, and the first of a series of triennially appointed regular abbots was appointed. The triennial system survived the suppression of the commendam and lasted till the end of the century, with one break from 1834 to 1870. In 1901, new constitutions came into force and Arsenio Pellegrini was installed as the first perpetual regular abbot since 1462
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Stanislaus Poniatowski
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Stanisław II Augustus was the last King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and the last monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He remains a figure in Polish history. He is criticized primarily for his failure to stand against the partitions, arriving at the Russian imperial court in Saint Petersburg in 1755, he became romantically involved with the twenty-six-year-old Catherine Alexeievna, three years his senior. With her support, in 1764 he was elected king of Poland, against expectations, he attempted to reform and strengthen the ailing Commonwealth. The defining crisis of his reign, the War of the Bar Confederation. The latter part of his reign saw reforms wrought by the Great Sejm, stripped of all meaningful power, Poniatowski abdicated in November 1795 and spent the last years of his life in semi-captivity in Saint Petersburg. Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski was born on 17 January 1732 in Wołczyn, then located in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and now part of Belarus, to Stanisław Poniatowski, the Poniatowski family of the Ciołek coat of arms was among the highest of the Polish nobility. He spent the first few years of his childhood in Gdańsk, afterward and he was educated by his mother, then by private tutors, including Russian ambassador Herman Karl von Keyserling. He did not have friends in his teenage years, instead, he developed a fondness for books. He made his first foreign voyage in 1748, when he accompanied the Russian army as it advanced to Germany, during that trip he visited Aachen and the Netherlands. Later that year he returned to the Commonwealth, stopping in Dresden, Poniatowski spent the following year as an apprentice in the chancellery of Michał Fryderyk Czartoryski, then the Deputy Chancellor of Lithuania. In 1750, he traveled to Berlin, there he met the British diplomat Charles Hanbury Williams, who became his mentor and friend. In 1751, Poniatowski was elected to the Treasury Tribunal in Radom and he spent most of January 1752 at the Austrian court in Vienna. Later that year, after serving at a Radom Tribunal and meeting with King Augustus III of Poland, during that Sejm his father acquired for him the title of starost of Przemyśl. In March 1753 he left on another trip, this time through Hungary to Vienna. He spent more time in the Netherlands, where he met many key members of that political and economical sphere. By late August he arrived in Paris, where he entered the high social circles. In February 1754 he left Paris and traveled to England, where he spent the few months
28.
Propaganda Fide
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The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in Rome is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for missionary work and related activities. It is perhaps better known by its title, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. It was renamed by Pope John Paul II in 1982 and its mission continues unbroken, the early Congregation was established in the Palazzo Ferratini, donated by Juan Bautista Vives, to the south of the Piazza di Spagna. The current Prefect of the Congregation is Cardinal Fernando Filoni, the current Secretary is Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai from Hong Kong. The Adjunct Secretary is Archbishop Protase Rugambwa, the Under-Secretary is Father Tadeusz Wojda, S. A. C. The Archivist of the Archives of the Congregation is Bishop Luis Manuel Cuña Ramos, monsignors Lorenzo Piva and Camillus Nimalan Johnpillai assist as Office Heads of the Congregation. The Congregation was originally housed in a palace, the Palazzo Ferratini, donated by Vives. In 1634 a small chapel was built according to designs by Bernini. In 1642, Father Valerio, with Bernini, redesigned the façade to the Piazza di Spagna, and the development was continued along the Via Due Macelli by Gaspare de’Vecchio from 1639-1645. Initially Borromini designed an oval chapel plan but this was superseded by a rectilinear design, with the greater length parallel to the street. Construction of the chapel commenced in 1660 and although the part was built by 1665. The Re Magi chapel, dedicated to the Three Kings, has a plan with four side chapels and galleries above. On the interior, the wall and the vault are differentiated horizontally by a line but there is a vertical continuity of wall. The criss cross arrangement in the Re Magi Chapel is such that an octagon is formed at the centre and his first designs for the façade onto the Via di Propaganda Fide had five bays but he expanded this to seven. The façade is dominated by the giant pilasters that originally supported a balustrade above the narrow entablature, the central door leads into the courtyard where Borromini intended a curved arcade but this was not built. Only the left side of the façade relates to the chapel. Other parts of the College have further minor works by Borromini, the intrinsic importance of its duties and the extraordinary extent of its authority and of the territory under its jurisdiction caused the Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda to be known as the red pope. This was the direction for the Catholic Church to look for evangelizing
29.
Marino, Italy
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Marino is an Italian city and comune in Lazio, on the Alban Hills, Italy,21 kilometres southeast of Rome, with a population of 37,684 and a territory of 26.10 square kilometres. It is bounded by communes, Castel Gandolfo, Albano Laziale, Rocca di Papa, Grottaferrata. Marino is famous for its wine, and for its Grape Festival. The territory of Marino was inhabited by Latin tribes from the 1st millennium BC, the ancient cities of Bovillae, Mugilla and Ferentum were part of the Latin League. Under the Roman Republic it was a resort for Roman patricians. From 1090 it was a dominium of the Counts of Tusculum, and later a fief of the Frangipane and, beginning in 1266, in 1272, San Bonaventura founded the first confraternity of Italy there. In 1347 it was besieged in vain by Cola di Rienzo, fifty years later, it was the site of the battle between Alberico da Barbiano and the French troops supporting Antipope Clement VII. In 1419 it was bought by the Colonna, who maintained it until 1914, Marino hosted famous historical figures, from Charles VIII of France to Alfonso II dEste and many others. Vittoria Colonna was born in Marino in 1492 and lived there for part of her life, in 1571, Marinos people welcomed Marcantonio Colonna, a protagonist of the Battle of Lepanto, with a triumph, remembered yearly by a festival. It became part of Italy in 1870, on 14 March 1880 the railway Rome-Ciampino-Marino was opened for service. On 1 April 1906 an electric tram replaced the former. In 1954 the electric line was replaced by buses. On 2 February 1944, during World War II, Marino was heavily bombed by USAAF B-25 aircraft from the US XII Air Force and it is in Baroque style, with an imposing façade dating to 1653, and a Latin-cross plan with a nave and two aisles. Among other works of art, it houses the Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew by Guercino and it houses a Mystery of the Holy Trinity, now recognized as from a pupil of Guido Reni. It has a nave with side chapels. It is home to a painting of St. Roch attributed to Domenichino and, in a niche at the high altar, rosario, an example of Rococo art. Palazzo Colonna Fontana dei Mori, depicting prisoners from the aforementioned Battle of Lepanto, mithraeum, with an important fresco portraying the God Mithras slaughtering the bull. Grape Festival, Every 1st Sunday of October, doughnut Festival, Every 2nd Sunday of October
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Tyrrhenian Sea
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The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian people, identified since the 6th century BCE with the Etruscans of Italy, the sea is bounded by the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, the Italian peninsula to the east, and the island of Sicily. The maximum depth of the sea is 3,785 metres, the Tyrrhenian Sea is situated near where the African and Eurasian 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 part of the sea. On the Southwest, A line running from Cape Lilibeo to the South extreme of Cape Teulada in Sardinia, in the Strait of Bonifacio, A line joining the West extreme of Cape Testa in Sardinia with the Southwest extreme of Cape Feno in Corsica. On the North, A line joining Cape Corse in Corsica, with Tinetto Island and thence through Tino, there are four exits from the Tyrrhenian Sea, The Tyrrhenian Basin is divided into two basins, the Vavilov plain and the Marsili plain. They are separated by the ridge known as the Issel Bridge. Its name derives from the Greek name for the Etruscans, who were said to be emigrants from Lydia, the Etruscans settled along the coast of modern Tuscany and referred to the water as the Sea of the Etruscans. The main ports of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Italy are, Naples, Palermo, Civitavecchia, Salerno, Trapani, in France the most important port is Bastia. Note that even though the port of Rome is frequently used. Instead, the port of Rome refers to the facilities at Civitavecchia, some 68 km to the northwest of Rome. Giglio Porto is an island port in this area. It rose to prominence, when the Costa Concordia ran aground a few metres off the coast of Giglio, the ship was recently removed and towed to Genoa. In Greek mythology, it is believed that the cliffs above the Tyrrhenian Sea housed the four winds kept by Aeolus, the winds are the Mistral from the Rhône valley, the Libeccio from the southwest, and the Sirocco and Ostro from the south
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Mediterranean climate
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A Mediterranean climate /ˌmɛdɪtəˈreɪniən/ or dry summer climate, is the climate typical of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin. The Mediterranean climate is characterised by dry summers and mild, moist winters, the Azores High is associated with the Mediterranean climate found in southern Europe and north Africa and the Sahara Desert with France and England both bordering this climate, France especially. The South Atlantic High is similarly associated with the Namib Desert, under the Köppen climate classification, hot dry-summer climates and cool dry-summer climates are often referred to as mediterranean. Under the Köppen climate system, the first letter indicates the climate group, temperate climates or C zones have an average temperature above 0 °C, but below 18 °C, in their coolest months. The second letter indicates the precipitation pattern, Köppen has defined a dry summer month as a month with less than 30 mm of precipitation and with less than one-third that of the wettest winter month. Some, however, use a 40 mm level, the third letter indicates the degree of summer heat, a represents an average temperature in the warmest month above 22 °C, while b indicates the average temperature in the warmest month below 22 °C. Under the Köppen classification, dry-summer climates usually occur on the sides of continents. Under Trewarthas system, at least eight months must have average temperatures of 10 °C or higher, during summer, regions of mediterranean climate are dominated by subtropical high pressure cells, with dry sinking air capping a surface marine layer of varying humidity and making rainfall unlikely. In many Mediterranean climates there is a strong character to daily temperatures in the warm months. The majority of the regions with mediterranean climates have relatively mild winters, however winter and summer temperatures can vary greatly between different regions with a mediterranean climate. Or to consider summer, Athens experiences rather high temperatures in that season, in contrast, San Francisco has cool summers with daily highs around. In North America, areas with Csc climate can be found in the Olympic, Cascade, Klamath and these locations are found at high altitude nearby lower altitude regions characterized by a warm-summer mediterranean climate or hot-summer mediterranean climate. A rare instance of this occurs in the tropics, on Haleakalā Summit in Hawaii. In South America, Csc regions can be found along the Andes in Chile, the town of Balmaceda is one of the few towns confirmed to have this climate. Small areas with a Csc climate can also be found at elevations in Corsica. Mediterranean climate Explanation of Mediterranean Climate
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Colli Albani
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The Alban Hills are the site of a quiescent volcanic complex in Italy, located 20 km southeast of Rome and about 24 kilometres north of Anzio. The dominant peak is Monte Cavo at 950 m, there are two small calderas which contain lakes, Lake Albano and Lake Nemi. The rock of the hills is called peperino a variety of tuff, a combination of ash and small rocks that is useful for construction. The hills, especially around the shores of the lakes, have been popular since prehistoric times, from the 9th to 7th century BC, there were numerous villages. The area was inhabited by the Latini during the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, the ancient Romans called the hill Albanus Mons. In Roman times, the area was used by the rich as a way to escape the heat and crowds of Rome, as it is today as shown by the many villas. The towns and villages in the Alban Hills are known as the Castelli Romani, examination of deposits have dated the four most recent eruptions to two temporal peaks, around 36,000 and 39,000 years ago. The area exhibits small localised earthquake swarms, bradyseism, and release of carbon dioxide, the volcano emits large amounts of carbon dioxide which can potentially reach lethal concentrations if it accumulates in depressions in the ground in the absence of wind. Eight sheep were killed in an incident in October 2001
