1.
Geographic coordinate system
–
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
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
2.
Italy
–
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
Italy
–
The
Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of
architecture and
engineering of ancient history.
Italy
–
Flag
Italy
–
The
Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the
Kings of Italy.
Italy
–
Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor
Frederick II,
UNESCO World Heritage site
3.
Umbria
–
Umbria, is a region of historic and modern central Italy. It is the only Italian region having neither a coastline nor a border with other countries and it includes the Lake Trasimeno, Marmores Falls, and is crossed by the River Tiber. Umbria is known for its landscapes, traditions, history, culinary delights, artistic legacy, and influence on culture. Contained within Umbria is Cospaia, a republic created by accident that existed from 1440 to 1826 Umbria is bordered by Tuscany to the west, Marche to the east. It is the only Italian region having neither a coastline nor a border with other countries. The commune of Città di Castello has an exclave named Monte Ruperto within Marche. Umbria is crossed by two valleys, the Umbrian valley, stretching from Perugia to Spoleto, and the Tiber Valley, west of the first one, the Tiber River forms the approximate border with Lazio, although its source is just over the Tuscan border. The Tibers three principal tributaries flow southward through Umbria, the Chiascio basin is relatively uninhabited as far as Bastia Umbra. About 10 kilometres farther on, it joins the Tiber at Torgiano, the third river is the Nera, flowing into the Tiber further south, at Terni, its valley is called the Valnerina. The upper Nera cuts ravines in the mountains, the lower, in antiquity, the plain was covered by a pair of shallow, interlocking lakes, the Lacus Clitorius and the Lacus Umber. They were drained by the Romans over several hundred years, an earthquake in the 4th century and the political collapse of the Roman Empire resulted in the refilling of the basin. The eastern part of the region, being crossed by many faults, has often hit by earthquakes, the last ones have been that of 1997. In literature, Umbria is referred to as il cuore verde dItalia, the phrase is taken from a poem by Giosuè Carducci, the subject of which is the source of the Clitunno River in Umbria. The region is named for the Umbri people, an Italic people which was absorbed by the expansion of the Romans, the Umbris capital city was Gubbio, where today is housed the longest and most important document of any of the Osco-Umbrian group of languages, the Iguvine Tablets. In fact, they belonged to a family of neighbouring peoples with similar roots. Their language was Umbrian, one of the Italic languages, related to Latin, the Etruscans were the chief enemies of the Umbri. The Etruscan invasion went from the western seaboard towards the north and east, eventually driving the Umbrians towards the Apennine uplands, nevertheless, the Umbrian population does not seem to have been eradicated in the conquered districts. The border between Etruria and Umbria was the Tiber river, the ancient name of Todi, Tular, after the downfall of the Etruscans, Umbrians aided the Samnites in their struggle against Rome
Umbria
–
Cityscape of the capital Perugia
Umbria
–
Umbria
Umbria
–
A typical landscape of the Umbrian countryside
Umbria
–
View of
Assisi
4.
Provinces of Italy
–
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
Provinces of Italy
–
Italian Republic
5.
Metropolitan cities of Italy
–
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
Metropolitan cities of Italy
–
Metropolitan cities of Italy.
6.
Province of Perugia
–
The Province of Perugia is the larger of the two provinces in the Umbria region of Italy, comprising two-thirds of both the area and population of the region. Its capital is the city of Perugia, the province covered all of Umbria until 1927, when the province of Terni was carved out of its southern third. The province of Perugia has an area of 6,334 km² covering two-thirds of Umbria, there are 59 comunes in the province. The province has numerous tourist attractions, especially artistic and historical ones, and is home to the Lake Trasimeno and it historically the ancestral origin of the Umbri, while later it was a Roman province and then part of the Papal States until the late 19th century. Probably the Etruscans founded Perugia in the 6th century B. C, the Umbra and Tiber Valleys are located in the province. The eastern part of the province is a hilly region while the rest was covered by forests, the province lies in the basin of the river Tiber and its tributaries Chiaseio, Nestore, Naja and Chiana. The southern regions are less hilly, silk, corn and grass are some of the most important agricultural products of the province. The 1840 version of the Penny Cyclopaedia records that Perugia supplied almost half of the butchers meat required in the city of Rome, the large number of cattle was fed on grass growing on the plain areas irrigated by the water of Tiber and its tributaries. After the province of Rome, Viterbo and Spoleto e Rieti the Perugian province was the fourth most important of the Papal States, the largest lake in central Italy, Lake Trasimeno is located in the Province of Perugia. The lake has three islands – Polvese, Maggiore and Minore, the lake has a circumference of about 30 miles but is relatively shallow. It is fed by springs in the nearby hills, in 200725 people died of consequences of drug overdose in the province of Perugia. This was the highest number of deaths recorded due to drug overdose in any Italian province, the province is well known for its medieval palaces, castles and fortresses. Peter’s bell tower in the city of Perugia, Basilica of Saint Claire, the first Christian monk Saint Benedict was born in Norcia. Assisi is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, the province is also known for its cuisine which includes black truffles, Easter Pizza, lentils from Castelluccio and Salami and cold cuts from Norcia. The principal towns in the province, with a population over 20,000, are, Comuni of the Province of Perugia
Province of Perugia
–
Perugia, Corso Vannucci
Province of Perugia
–
Map highlighting the location of the province of Perugia in Italy
Province of Perugia
–
The
Orvieto Cathedral
Province of Perugia
–
Gubbio
7.
Italian Socialist Party (2007)
–
The Italian Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy. Until October 2009 the party was known as the Socialist Party, since July 2008 Riccardo Nencini, of Tuscany, has been party leader, elected senator with the Democratic Party in 2013, he has been deputy minister of Infrastructures and Transports since 2014. In that occasion the party decided not to join the Democratic Party, at its foundation in October 2007 the PS was joined also by Gavino Angius Democracy and Socialism, a group of former Democrats of the Left most recently affiliated with the Democratic Left. At the 2008 general election the PS stood alone and Boselli was its candidate for Prime Minister, in the event, the party gained less than 1% of the vote, well below thresholds, and failed to win any seats in the Italian Parliament. At the first party congress, which place in July 2008, Riccardo Nencini was elected secretary, replacing Boselli. In October 2008 Angius led his group into the PD, proposing that the entire PS should follow him, in reply Nencini underlined that no former members of the late PSI were leaving the party. In fact, Spini, the only former Socialist in Angius group, however, De Michelis left the party soon after. For the 2009 European Parliament election the PS formed a joint list named Left and Freedom with the Movement for the Left, the Federation of the Greens, SL received a mere 3. 1% of the vote and failed to return any MEPs. Despite this, the council of the PS chose to continue the experience of SL in order to build a secular, libertarian. This led to the exit of Craxi, who launched the United Socialists in October, however, one month later, the PS left SL, having refused to into it. The PS was renamed Italian Socialist Party, chose to support joint candidates with the PD and to run its own lists in the regional elections. At the 2010 regional elections the PSI elected a total of 15 regional councillors, the party obtained its best results in Apulia, Basilicata, Umbria, Campania and Calabria. In December 2010 Boselli, long-time SDI leader and PS/PSI founder, in November 2011 Carlo Vizzini, a senator of The People of Freedom and former leader of the PSDI, joined the party, giving it parliamentary representation after more than three years. While leaving the PdL, Vizzini stated, It seems to me that the PdL is set to become the Italian section of the European Peoples Party. I come from another tradition, I have been secretary of the PSDI, when I joined Forza Italia there were Liberals, Socialists, Radicals. Vizzini was soon elected president of the PSI, the party did well in the 2012 local elections. In Carrara the Socialist mayor Angelo Zubbani was re-elected by a landslide and the party obtained 14. 4% of the vote. The PSI also won 15. 1% in Todi,8. 9% in Narni,7. 2% in Civitanova Marche,9. 5% in Frosinone,11. 8% in Paola, in the 2013 general election the PSI was part of the Italy
Italian Socialist Party (2007)
–
Italian Socialist Party Partito Socialista Italiano
8.
Demonym
–
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
Demonym
–
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary has not adopted the term "demonyn" for these adjectives and nouns
9.
Daylight saving time
–
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
Daylight saving time
–
Ancient
water clock that lets hour lengths vary with season.
Daylight saving time
–
G. V. Hudson invented modern DST, proposing it first in 1895.
Daylight saving time
–
Retailers generally favor DST.
United Cigar Stores hailed a 1918 DST bill.
Daylight saving time
–
William Willett independently proposed DST in 1907 and advocated it tirelessly.
10.
Central European Summer Time
–
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
Central European Summer Time
–
light blue
11.
Apennines
–
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains are a mountain range consisting of parallel smaller chains extending c. 1,200 km along the length of peninsular Italy. In the northwest they join with the Ligurian Alps at Altare, in the southwest they end at Reggio di Calabria, the coastal city at the tip of the peninsula. The system forms an arc enclosing the east side of the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas, the name originally applied to the north Apennines. However, historical linguists have never found a derivation with which they are universally comfortable, wilhelm Deecke said. its etymology is doubtful but some derive it from the Ligurian-Celtish Pen or Ben, which means mountain peak. The mountains lend their name to the Apennine peninsula, which forms the part of Italy. They are mostly verdant, although one side of the highest peak, Corno Grande is partially covered by Calderone glacier and it has been receding since 1794. The eastern slopes down to the Adriatic Sea are steep, while the western slopes form foothills on which most of peninsular Italys cities are located. The mountains tend to be named from the province or provinces in which they are located, for example, as the provincial borders have not always been stable, this practice has resulted in some confusion about exactly where the montane borders are. Often but not always a feature can be found that lends itself to being a border. The Apennines are divided into three sectors, northern, central, and southern, a number of long hiking trails wind through the Apennines. Of note is European walking route E1 coming from northern Europe and traversing the lengths of the northern, the Grand Italian Trail begins in Trieste and after winding through the Alpine arc traverses the entire Apennine system, Sicily and Sardinia. The northern Apennines consist of three sub-chains, the Ligurian, Tuscan-Emilian, and Umbrian Apennines, the Ligurian Apennines border the Ligurian Sea in the Gulf of Genoa, from about Savona below the upper Bormida River valley to about La Spezia below the upper Magra River valley. The range follows the Gulf of Genoa separating it from the upper Po Valley, the northwestern border follows the line of the Bormida River to Acqui Terme. There the river continues northeast to Alessandria in the Po Valley, the upper Bormida can be reached by a number of roads proceeding inland at a right angle to the coast southwest of Savona, the chief one being the Autostrada Torino-Savona. They ascend to the Bocchetta di Altare, sometimes called Colle di Cadibona,436 m, a bronze plaque fixed to a stone marks the top of the pass. In the vicinity are fragments of the old road and three ruins of former fortifications, at Carcare, the main roads connect with the upper Bormida valley before turning west. The Scrivia, the Trebbia and the Taro, tributaries of the Po River, the range contains dozens of peaks. Toward the southern end the Aveto Natural Regional Park includes Monte Penna, nearby is the highest point of Ligurian Apennines, Monte Maggiorasca at 1,780 m
Apennines
–
Abruzzo National Park
Apennines
–
The plaque marking the Bocchetta di
Altare
Apennines
–
Monte Cimone (2165 m) is the highest mountain of the northern Apennines in the
Emilia Romagna
Apennines
–
Source of the Tiber. Marked by a
Column decorated with an Eagle and Wolf heads - Part of the fauna of the Apennines and symbols of
Rome
12.
Tiber
–
It drains a basin estimated at 17,375 square kilometres. The river has achieved lasting fame as the watercourse of the city of Rome. The river rises at Mount Fumaiolo in central Italy and flows in a southerly direction past Perugia. However, it does not form a delta, owing to a strong north-flowing sea current close to the shore, to the steep shelving of the coast. The source of the Tiber consists of two springs 10 metres away from each other on Mount Fumaiolo and these springs are called Le Vene. The springs are in a beech forest 1,268 metres above sea level, during the 1930s, Benito Mussolini placed an antique marble Roman column at the point where the river arises, inscribed QUI NASCE IL FIUME SACRO AI DESTINI DI ROMA. There is an eagle on the top of this column, the first miles of the Tiber run through Valtiberina before entering Umbria. It is probable that the genesis of the name Tiber was pre-Latin, like the Roman name of Tibur, the same root is found in the Latin praenomen Tiberius. There are also Etruscan variants of this praenomen in Thefarie and Teperie, the legendary king Tiberinus, ninth in the king-list of Alba Longa, was said to have drowned in the river Albula, which was afterward called Tiberis. Yet another etymology is from *dubri-, water, considered by Alessio as Sicel and this root *dubri- is widespread in Western Europe e. g. Dover, Portus Dubris. According to the legend, Jupiter made him a god and guardian spirit of the river and this gave rise to the standard Roman depiction of the river as a powerfully built reclining god, also named Tiberinus, with streams of water flowing from his hair and beard. The Tiber was also believed to be the river into which Romulus and Remus were thrown as infants, according to legend, the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC on the banks of the Tiber about 25 kilometres from the sea at Ostia. The island Isola Tiberina in the centre of Rome, between Trastevere and the ancient center, was the site of an important ancient ford and was later bridged. Legend says Romes founders, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, were abandoned on its waters, the river marked the boundary between the lands of the Etruscans to the west, the Sabines to the east and the Latins to the south. Benito Mussolini, born in Romagna, adjusted the boundary between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, so that the springs of the Tiber would lie in Romagna and it was later used to ship stone, timber and foodstuffs to Rome. During the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, the harbour at Ostia became a key naval base and it later became Romes most important port, where wheat, olive oil, and wine were imported from Romes colonies around the Mediterranean. Wharves were also built along the riverside in Rome itself, lining the riverbanks around the Campus Martius area, the Romans connected the river with a sewer system and with an underground network of tunnels and other channels, to bring its water into the middle of the city. Wealthy Romans had garden-parks or horti on the banks of the river in Rome up through the first century BC and these may have been sold and developed about a century later
Tiber
–
The Tiber in
Rome
Tiber
–
Mussolini's headstone near the source of Tiber
Tiber
–
Roman representation of Tiber as a god (
Tiberinus) with
cornucopia at the
Campidoglio, Rome.
Tiber
–
View of the Tiber looking towards the
Vatican City.
13.
Perugia
–
Perugia is the capital city of both the region of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the river Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about 164 kilometres north of Rome and 148 km south-east of Florence and it covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. The region of Umbria is bordered by Tuscany, Lazio, the history of Perugia goes back to the Etruscan period, Perugia was one of the main Etruscan cities. Perugia is also a cultural and artistic centre of Italy. The famous painter Pietro Vannucci, nicknamed Perugino, was a native of Città della Pieve and he decorated the local Sala del Cambio with a beautiful series of frescoes, eight of his pictures can also be admired in the National Gallery of Umbria. Perugino was the teacher of Raphael, the great Renaissance artist who produced five paintings in Perugia, another famous painter, Pinturicchio, lived in Perugia. Galeazzo Alessi is the most famous architect from Perugia, the citys symbol is the griffin, which can be seen in the form of plaques and statues on buildings around the city. Perugia was an Umbrian settlement but first appears in history as Perusia, one of the 12 confederate cities of Etruria. Fabius Pictors account, utilized by Livy, of the carried out against the Etruscan League by Fabius Maximus Rullianus in 310 or 309 BC. At that time a thirty-year indutiae was agreed upon, however, in 295 Perusia took part in the Third Samnite War and was reduced, with Volsinii and Arretium, a number of lead bullets used by slingers have been found in and around the city. Negotiations with the besieging forces fell to the bishop, Herculanus. Totila is said to have ordered the bishop to be flayed and beheaded, st. Herculanus later became the citys patron saint. In the Lombard period Perugia is spoken of as one of the cities of Tuscia. Peter, acknowledged the validity of the statement and recognised the established civic practices as having the force of law. However this dominant tendency was rather an anti-Germanic and Italian political strategy, midway through the 14th century Bartholus of Sassoferrato, who was a renowned jurist, asserted that Perugia was dependent upon neither imperial nor papal support. Civic peace was constantly disturbed in the 14th century by struggles between the party representing the people and the nobles. A citadel known as the Rocca Paolina, after the name of Pope Paul III, was built, in 1797, the city was conquered by French troops. On 4 February 1798, the Tiberina Republic was formed, with Perugia as capital, in 1799, the Tiberina Republic merged to the Roman Republic
Perugia
–
Piazza IV Novembre
Perugia
–
View from Perugia, over a valley below.
Perugia
–
View of other hills around Perugia.
14.
Cesena
–
Cesena is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, south of Ravenna and west of Rimini, on the Savio River, co-chief of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. It is at the foot of the Apennines, and about 15 kilometres from the Adriatic Sea, Cesena was originally an Umbrian or Etruscan town, later known as Caesena. After a brief spell under Gaulish rule, it was taken over by Romans in the 3rd century BC and it was a garrison town of strategic importance which was destroyed in the wars between Gaius Marius and Sulla. Pliny mentions the wines of Cesena as among the best, Cesena was on the border that the Exarchate of Ravenna shared with the Lombards. It was presented to the Papacy by its Frankish conqueror in 754 and passed back and it was then long contested between popes and Holy Roman Emperors. The brief rule by the Forlivese Ordelaffi was crushed in 1357 by Papal troops led by Cardinal Gil de Albornoz, after a long siege heroically endured by Cia degli Ordelaffi, the little comune revolted again in 1377 during the War of the Eight Saints. This time it was recaptured by Breton troops of Giovanni Acuto under the command of Robert, the latter, acting as the legate of Pope Gregory XI, directed the savage murder of between 2,500 and 5,000 civilians. By the laws of war at the time this was regarded as an atrocity that earned the label of the Cesena Bloodbath, the following year what remained of Cesena was assigned by the new pope Urban VI to Galeotto I Malatesta. During the period 1379-1465 the city recovered and prospered under the Malatesta, the Malatestiana Library, built by near the castle by Malatesta Novello, is considered a fine example of a Renaissance library and holds many valuable manuscripts. After Novellos death, Cesena returned to the Papal States, but was seized by a local seignor, Cesare Borgia. The city was elevated to capital of his powerful though short-lived duchy, Cesena subsequently turned into a secondary city of the Papal States. In the 18th and 19th centuries Pope Pius VI and Pope Pius VII were born in the city, during the Napoleonic Wars it was stripped of numerous monasteries and churches. Some of its citizens had notable roles in the unification of Italy, during World War II Cesena was near the Gothic Line, which ran along the Appennini near the city, and suffered heavily from bombing. In 1992 it was elevated to the rank of co-capital of province, on July 30,2015,1000 people gathered at the Parco Ippodromo park in Cesena, and performed Learn to Fly by the Foo Fighters to convince the band to perform there. The group, later known as the Rockin 1000, was organized by Foo Fighters fans who played the guitar, bass, dave Grohl responded with a video where he announced in Italian that the band would visit Cesena and perform there. The show was scheduled for November 3,2015 at the indoor sports arena and concert venue, Carisport. It was completed by the Papal governor Lorenzo Zane in 1480, cathedral of Saint John the Baptist. Pinacoteca Comunale, housed in former Benedictine monastery, art collection of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cesena, housed in the former Celestine monastery
Cesena
–
Panorama of Cesena
Cesena
–
The towers of the Rocca Malatestiana in Cesena.
Cesena
–
The Abbey of St Maria del Monte.
Cesena
–
The
Biblioteca Malatestiana.
15.
Arezzo
–
Arezzo is a city and comune in Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 kilometres southeast of Florence, at an elevation of 296 metres above sea level, in 2013 the population was about 99,000. Described by Livy as one of the Capitae Etruriae, Arezzo is believed to have one of the twelve most important Etruscan cities—the so-called Dodecapolis. Etruscan remains establish that the acropolis of San Cornelio, a hill next to that of San Donatus, was occupied and fortified in the Etruscan period. Increasing trade connections with Greece also brought some elite goods to the Etruscan nobles of Arezzo, conquered by the Romans in 311 BC, Arretium became a military station on the via Cassia, the road to expansion by republican Rome into the basin of the Po. Arretium sided with Marius in the Roman Civil War, and the victorious Sulla planted a colony of his veterans in the half-demolished city, as Arretium Fidens. The old Etruscan aristocracy was not extinguished, Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, around 26-261 AD the town council of Arezzo dedicated an inscription to its patron L. Petronius Taurus Volusianus. See that article for discussion of the possible significance of Volusianuss association with the city. The commune of Arezzo threw off the control of its bishop in 1098 and was an independent city-state until 1384, generally Ghibelline in tendency, it opposed Guelph Florence. In 1252 the city founded its university, the Studium, during this period Piero della Francesca worked in the church of San Francesco di Arezzo producing the splendid frescoes, recently restored, which are Arezzos most famous works. Afterwards the city began an economical and cultural decay, which ensured that its medieval centre was preserved. In the 18th century the neighbouring marshes of the Val di Chiana, south of Arezzo, were drained, in 1860 Arezzo became part of the Kingdom of Italy. The Commonwealth War Graves Commissions Arezzo War Cemetery, where 1,266 men are buried, is located to the North West of the city, Pope Benedict XVI visited Arezzo and two other Italian municipalities on Sunday, May 13,2012. Arezzo is set on a hill rising from the floodplain of the River Arno. In the upper part of the town are the cathedral, the town hall, the upper part of the town maintains its medieval appearance despite the addition of later structures. Notable earthquakes are still a rare phenomenon in the province. Under the Köppen climate classification Arezzo is either a humid climate or an oceanic climate. It has uncharacteristically hot summer days for a climate, with the lows moderating the average temps
Arezzo
–
Piazza Grande; from left - S. Maria della Pieve, the old Tribunal Palace and the Lay Fraternity.
Arezzo
–
Roman pottery shred from Arezzo,
Latium, found at
Arikamedu in
India (1st century AD), an evidence of the role of the city in
Roman trade with India through
Persia during the Augustan period.
Musée Guimet.
Arezzo
–
Piazza Grande.
Arezzo
–
Aerial view.
16.
Marche
–
Marche, or The Marches /ˈmɑːrtʃᵻz/, is one of the twenty regions of Italy. The name of the region derives from the name of marca, originally referring to the medieval March of Ancona and nearby marches of Camerino. Marche is well known for its tradition, with the finest and most luxurious Italian footwear being manufactured in this region. Except for river valleys and the very narrow coastal strip. A railway from Bologna to Brindisi, built in the 19th century, inland, the mountainous nature of the region, even today, allows relatively little travel north and south, except by twisting roads over the passes. Most of the region is mountainous or hilly, the features being the Apennine chain along the internal boundary. With the sole exception of Monte Vettore,2,476 metres high, the hilly area covers two-thirds of the region and is interrupted by wide gullies with numerous – albeit short – rivers and by alluvial plains perpendicular to the principal chain. The parallel mountain chains contain deep river gorges, the best known being those of the Furlo, the Rossa and the Frasassi. The coastal area is 173 kilometres long and is relatively flat, inland, in the mountainous areas, is more continental with cold and often snowy winters, by the sea is more mediterranean. Precipitation varies from 1000-1500 mm. per year inland and 600-800 mm. per year on the Adriatic coast, Marche was known in ancient times as the Picenum territory. The Picens or Picentes were the Italic tribe who lived in Picenum during the Iron Age, in the fourth century BC the northern area was occupied by the Senones, a tribe of Gauls. In Marche was fought the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC, after it, the Romans founded numerous colonies in the areas, connecting them to Rome by the Via Flaminia, Ascoli was a seat of Italic resistance during the Social War. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region was invaded by the Goths, after the Gothic War, it was part of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna. After the fall of the Exarchate it was briefly in the possession of the Lombards, in the ninth to eleventh centuries the marches of Camerino, Fermo and Ancona were created, hence the modern name. Marche was nominally part of the Papal States, but most of the territory was under local lords, in the twelfth century, the commune of Ancona resisted both the imperial authority of Frederick Barbarossa and the Republic of Venice, and was a maritime republic on its own. An attempt to restore Papal suzerainty by Gil de Albornoz in the century was short-lived. During the Renaissance, the region was fought over by rival aristocratic families, such as the Malatesta of Rimini, Pesaro, Fano and the house of Montefeltro of Urbino. The last independent entity, the Duchy of Urbino, was dissolved in 1631, after Napoleons defeat, Marche returned to Papal rule until 4 November 1860, when it was annexed to the unified Kingdom of Italy by a plebiscite
Marche
–
View of Marche countryside
Marche
–
Marche
Marche
–
A view of
Monte Conero
Marche
–
The Renaissance town of
Urbino
17.
Umbri
–
The Umbri were an Italic tribe of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers and it is somewhat smaller than the ancient Umbria. Most ancient Umbrian cities were settled in the 9th-4th centuries BC on easily defensible hilltops, Umbria was bordered by the Tiber and Nar rivers and included the Apennine slopes on the Adriatic. The ancient Umbrian language is a branch of a group called Oscan-Umbrian, also called Ombrii in some Roman sources. Many Roman writers thought the Umbri to be Celtic, Cornelius Bocchus wrote that they descended from an ancient Gaulish tribe, plutarch wrote that the name might be a different way of writing the name of the Celto-Germanic tribe Ambrones, which loosely means King of the Boii. He also suggested that the Insubres, another Gaulish tribe, might be connected, their Celtic name Isombres could possibly mean Lower Umbrians, similarly Roman historian Cato the Elder, in his masterpiece Origines, defines the Gauls the progenitors of the Umbri. The Umbrii are mentioned, with the Lombards and the Suebi, furthermore, according to Roman authors, The Umbrii/Ambrones originated somewhere in Germany or Scandinavia. The Etruscans vanquished 300 Umbrian cities, during the 6th–4th centuries BC, Umbrian communities constructed rural sanctuaries in which they sacrificed to the gods. Bronze votives shaped as animals or deities were also offered, Umbrian deities include Feronia, Valentia, Minerva Matusia and Clitumnus. The Iguvine Tablets were discovered in 1444 at Gubbio, Italy, composed during the 2nd or 3rd centuries BC, they describe religious rituals involving animal sacrifice. Two men held the supreme magistracy of uhtur and were responsible for supervising rituals, other civic offices included the marone, which had a lower status than uhtur, and a religious position named kvestur. The Umbrian social structure was divided into distinct groups based upon military rank. During the reign of Augustus, four Umbrian aristocrats became senators, emperor Nerva’s family was from Umbria. Throughout the 9th-4th centuries BC, imported goods from Greece and Etruria were common, the Romans first made contact with Umbria in 310 BC and settled Latin colonies there in 299 BC,268 BC and 241 BC. They had completed their conquest of Umbria by approximately 260 BC, incorporation into the Roman state occurred during the 3rd century BC when some Umbri were given full citizenship or citizenship without the right to vote. Also during the 3rd century BC about 40,000 Romans settled in the region, the Via Flaminia linking areas of Umbria was complete by 220 BC. Cities in Umbria also contributed troops to Rome for its many wars, Umbrians fought under Scipio Africanus in 205 BC during the Second Punic War. The Praetorian Guard recruited from Etruria and Umbria, the Umbri played a minor role in the Social War and as a result were granted citizenship in 90 BC. Roman veterans were settled in Umbria during the reign of Augustus
Umbri
–
Ligures
18.
Ancient Rome
–
In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
Ancient Rome
–
Senātus Populus que Rōmānus
Ancient Rome
–
Roman Republic
Ancient Rome
–
According to legend,
Rome was founded in 753 BC by
Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf.
Ancient Rome
–
This bust from the
Capitoline Museums is traditionally identified as a portrait of
Lucius Junius Brutus.
19.
Pliny the Younger
–
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo, better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Plinys uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him, both Pliny the Elder and the Younger were witnesses to the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, in which the former died. Pliny the Younger wrote hundreds of letters, of which 247 still survive and are of historical value. Some are addressed to reigning emperors or to such as the historian Tacitus. Pliny served as a magistrate under Trajan, and his letters to Trajan provide one of the few surviving records of the relationship between the imperial office and provincial governors. Pliny rose through a series of civil and military offices, the cursus honorum and he was a friend of the historian Tacitus and might have employed the biographer Suetonius on his staff. Pliny also came into contact with other men of the period, including the philosophers Artemidorus and Euphrates the Stoic. Pliny the Younger was born in Novum Comum around 61 AD, the son of Lucius Caecilius Cilo, born there, and his wife Plinia Marcella, a sister of Pliny the Elder. He was the grandson of Senator and landowner Gaius Caecilius, revered his uncle, Pliny the Elder, Cilo died at an early age, when Pliny was still young. As a result, the boy lived with his mother. His guardian and preceptor in charge of his education was Lucius Verginius Rufus, after being first tutored at home, Pliny went to Rome for further education. There he was taught rhetoric by Quintilian, a teacher and author. It was at time that Pliny became closer to his uncle Pliny the Elder. When Pliny the Younger was 17 or 18, his uncle Pliny the Elder died attempting to rescue victims of the Vesuvius eruption, in the same document the younger Pliny was adopted by his uncle. As a result, Pliny the Younger changed his name from Gaius Caecilius Cilo to Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, there is some evidence that Pliny had a sibling. The trustees are apparently named in the inscription, L. Caecilius Valens and P. Caecilius Secundus, sons of Lucius, the word contubernalis describing Lutulla is the military term meaning tent-mate, which can only mean that she was living with Lucius, not as his wife. The first man mentioned, L. Caecilius Valens, is probably the older son, Pliny the Younger confirms that he was a trustee for the largess of my ancestors. It seems unknown to Pliny the Elder, so Valens mother was not his sister Plinia
Pliny the Younger
–
Statue of Pliny the Younger on the façade of Cathedral of S. Maria Maggiore in
Como.
Pliny the Younger
–
City and
Lago of Como in 1834, painted by
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Pliny the Younger
–
Como in 2003, view from the lake
Pliny the Younger
–
The Younger Pliny Reproved, colorized copperplate print by Thomas Burke (1749–1815)
20.
Totila
–
Totila, original name Baduila was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. Totila proved himself both as a military and political leader, winning the support of the classes by liberating slaves. After a successful defence at Verona, Totila pursued and defeated a superior army at the Battle of Faventia in 542 AD. Building on his victories, Totila followed these victories by defeating the Romans outside Florence, by 543, fighting on land and sea, he had reconqured the bulk of the lost territory. Rome held out, and Totila appealed unsuccessfully to the Senate in a letter reminding them of the loyalty of the Romans to his predecessor Theodoric the Great, when Totila left to fight the Byzantines in Lucania, south of Naples, Belisarius retook Rome and rebuilt its fortifications. After Belisarius retreated to Constantinople in 549, Totila recaptured Rome, by the end of 550, Totila had recaptured all but Ravenna and four coastal towns. The following year Justinian sent his general Narses with a force of 35,000 Lombards, Gepids and Heruli to Italy in a march around the Adriatic to approach Ravenna from the north. In the Battle of Taginae, an engagement during the summer of 552, in the Apennines near present-day Fabriano, the Gothic army was defeated. Totila was succeeded by his relative, Teia, who died at the Battle of Mons Lactarius. Pockets of resistance, reinforced by Franks and Alemanni who had invaded Italy in 553, continued until 562, Totila was the nom de guerre of a man whose real name was Baduila, as can be seen from the coinage he issued. According to Henry Bradley, Totila and Baduila are diminutives of Totabadws, born in Treviso, Totila was a relative of Theudis, king of the Visigoths. Elected king of the Ostrogoths in 541 after the death of his uncle Ildibad, having engineered the assassination of Ildibads short-lived successor, Totilas strategy was to move fast and take control of the countryside, leaving the Byzantine forces in control of well-defended cities, and especially the ports. When Belisarius eventually returned to Italy, Procopius relates that during a space of five years he did not succeed once in setting foot on any part of the land, except where some fortress was, but during this whole period he kept sailing about visiting one port after another. Totila circumvented those cities where a siege would have been required, razing the walls of cities that capitulated to him. Totilas conquest of Italy was marked not only by celerity but also by mercy, and Gibbon says none were deceived, either friends or enemies, after a successful siege of a resisting city, such as at Perugia, however, Totila could be merciless, as Procopius recounts. And he himself, sitting upon a large horse, began to dance under arms skillfully between the two armies. And as he rode he hurled his javelin into the air and caught it again as it quivered above him, then passed it rapidly from hand to hand, shifting it with consummate skill. Procopiuss picture is given a setting, for Totila generally avoided formal battles with opposing armies drawn up in battle array
Totila
–
Totila by
Francesco Salviati
Totila
–
Totila razes the walls of
Florence: illumination from the Chigi ms of
Villani's Cronica
Totila
–
Totila in the 14th century Nuova Cronica
Totila
–
Totila in the
Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493
21.
Donation of Pepin
–
The Donation of Pepin in 756 provided a legal basis for the erection of the Papal States, which extended the temporal rule of the Popes beyond the duchy of Rome. In 751, Aistulf, king of the Lombards, conquered what remained of the exarchate of Ravenna, in 752, Aistulf demanded the submission of Rome and a tribute of one gold solidus per capita. Pope Stephen II and a Roman envoy, John the Silentiary, tried by negotiations and bribes to convince Aistulf to back down. When this failed, Stephen sent envoys to Pepin the Short, king of the Franks, with a letter requesting his support, at the time, the Franks were on good terms with the Lombards. In 753, John the Silentiary returned to Rome with an order that Pope Stephen accompany him to meet Aistulf in the Lombard capital of Pavia. The pope duly requested and received a safe-conduct from the Lombards, with the Frankish envoys who had by then arrived, the pope and the imperial envoy set out for Pavia on 14 October 753. The Roman magnates did not accompany them past the border, John the Silentiary did not accompany them. This was the first time a pope had crossed the Alps, Pope Stephen met Pepin the Short at Quierzy-sur-Oise in 753. The Pope was first met by Pepins eleven-year-old son, Charles, at Quierzy the Frankish nobles finally gave their consent to a campaign in Lombardy. Roman Catholic tradition asserts that it was then and there that Pepin executed in writing a promise to convey to the Papacy certain territories that were going to be wrested from the Lombards. No original document has been preserved, but later 8th century sources quote from it, the gift included Lombard conquests in the Romagna and in the Duchy of Spoleto and Benevento, and the Pentapolis in the Marche. The Donations made the Pope for the first time as a temporal ruler and this strip of territory extended diagonally across Italy from the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic. Pepin confirmed his Donations in Rome in 756, and in 774 his son Charlemagne again confirmed and reasserted the Donation
Donation of Pepin
–
Donation of Pepin
Donation of Pepin
–
Donation de Pépin le Bref à l'abbaye de Saint-Denis en 768
22.
Pepin the Short
–
Pepin the Short was the King of the Franks from 751 until his death. He was the first of the Carolingians to become king, the younger son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude, Pepins upbringing was distinguished by the ecclesiastical education he had received from the monks of St. Denis. Succeeding his father as the Mayor of the Palace in 741, Pepin ruled in Neustria, Burgundy, and Provence, while his brother Carloman established himself in Austrasia, Alemannia and Thuringia. The brothers were active in suppressing revolts led by the Bavarians, Aquitanians, Saxons, in 743, they ended the Frankish interregnum by choosing Childeric III, who was to be the last Merovingian monarch, as figurehead king of the Franks. After Carloman, who was a pious man, retired to religious life in 747. He suppressed a revolt led by his half-brother Grifo, and succeeded in becoming the master of all Francia. Giving up pretense, Pepin then forced Childeric into a monastery and had himself proclaimed king of the Franks with support of Pope Zachary in 751. The decision was not supported by all members of the Carolingian family and Pepin had to put down a revolt led by Carlomans son, Drogo, as King, Pepin embarked on an ambitious program to expand his power. He reformed the legislation of the Franks and continued the reforms of Boniface. Pepin also intervened in favour of the Papacy of Stephen II against the Lombards in Italy and he was able to secure several cities, which he then gave to the Pope as part of the Donation of Pepin. This formed the basis for the Papal States in the Middle Ages. The Byzantines, keen to make good relations with the power of the Frankish empire. Pepin was, however, troubled by the revolts of the Saxons. He campaigned tirelessly in Germany, but the final subjugation of tribes was left to his successors. Pepin died in 768 and was succeeded by his sons Charlemagne, although unquestionably one of the most powerful and successful rulers of his time, Pepins reign is largely overshadowed by that of his more famous son. Pepins father Charles Martel died in 741, Grifo, Charless son by his second wife, Swanahild, demanded a share in the inheritance, but he was imprisoned in a monastery by his two half-brothers. In the Frankish realm the unity of the kingdom was connected with the person of the king. So Carloman, to secure this unity, raised the Merovingian Childeric to the throne, then in 747 Carloman either resolved to or was pressured into entering a monastery
Pepin the Short
–
A statue of Pepin the Younger in
Wurzburg
Pepin the Short
–
Coronation in 751 of Pépin the Younger by Boniface, Archbishop of Mainz
Pepin the Short
–
Muslim troops leaving
Narbonne to Pépin le Bref in 759, after 40 years of occupation
Pepin the Short
–
Pepin's expedition to Septimania and Aquitaine (760)
23.
Pesaro
–
Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italian region of the Marche, capital of the Pesaro e Urbino province, on the Adriatic. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, Pesaro is known as City of Bicycle, thanks to its big net of bicycle paths. The city received this award by Legambiente, the most important ecologist society in Italy, in 2015 and it is also known as City of Music thanks to the bond with Gioacchino Rossini, the famous composer born in Pesaro. For this reason, in 2015, the Italian Government officially candidate Pesaro as Creative City in the group of World Heritage Sites of UNESCO, fishery, furniture industry and tourism are the main strengths of the local economy. The city was founded as Pisaurum by the Romans in 184 BC as colony in the territory of the Picentes, a settlement of the Picentes tribe has been found at Novilara. The northern Picentes were invaded in the 4th century BC by the Gallic Senones, earlier by the Etruscans, within it the Gauls at least were still distinct, as the Romans separated them out and expelled them from the country. Under the Roman administration Pesaro, a hub across the Via Flaminia, became an important center of trading, after the fall of the Western Empire, Pesaro was occupied by the Ostrogoths, and destroyed by Vitigis in the course of the Gothic War. Hastily rebuilt five years later after the Byzantine reconquest, it formed the so-called Pentapolis, after the Lombard and Frankish conquests of that city, Pesaro became part of the Papal States. During the Renaissance it was ruled successively by the houses of Malatesta, Sforza, in 1475, a legendary wedding took place in Pesaro, when Costanzo Sforza and Camilla DAragona married. On 11 September 1860 Piedmontese troops entered the city, and Pesaro was subsequently annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy, rocca Costanza - Massive castle built by Costanzo I Sforza, it has a square plan with four cylindrical corner towers and a wide dry moat. Its sunken court is the precedent for the more famous one at the Roman Villa Giulia. Rooms are frescoed by prominent Mannerist painters Bronzino, Francesco Menzocchi, Girolamo Genga, mura Roveresche - Della Rovere Walls, demolished in the early 20th century), only two gates, Porta del Ponte and Porta Rimini, and a short section remain. Birthplace of Gioacchino Rossini- Now a museum dedicated to the composer and it has a museum with manifestoes, prints, portraits and his spinet. Among the masterpieces is the Pesaro Altarpiece by Giovanni Bellini, oliveriani Museum and Library- Archaeological Collection and Manuscript Library, founded in 1756 by Annibale degli Abati Olivieri. Cathedral of Pesaro Romanesque-Gothic Basilica built over remains of a late Roman edifice, the façade, in Romanesque-Gothic style, is unfinished, it has a simple ogival portal surmounted by a band of small arches. A recent restoration has brought to light floor mosaics, the Baroque Sanctuary of Beata Vergine del Carmelo. Rossini Opera Festival has taken place every summer since 1980 in Pesaro, Pesaro hosts the home games of Victoria Libertas basketball team, better known across Europe as Scavolini Pesaro. Adriatic Arena, third biggest Italian indoor arena behind Mediolanum Forum in Milan, among the town industries is the motocross and enduro brand of TM Racing, a small manufacturer of race-ready motorbikes based in the coastal town since 1978
Pesaro
–
Piazza del Popolo
Pesaro
–
Palazzo Ducale
Pesaro
–
Duomo di Pesaro
Pesaro
–
Rocca Costanza
24.
Rimini
–
Rimini is a city of 146,606 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa and it is one of the most famous seaside resorts in Europe, thanks to its 15-kilometre-long sandy beach, over 1,000 hotels, and thousands of bars, restaurants and discos. The first bathing establishment opened in 1843, an art city with ancient Roman and Renaissance monuments, Rimini is the hometown of the famous film director Federico Fellini as well. In the 19th century, Rimini was one of the most active cities in the revolutionary front, hosting many of the movements aimed at Italian unification. In the course of World War II, the city was the scene of clashes and bombings, finally, in recent years it has become one of the most important sites for trade fairs and conferences in Italy. The total approximate population of the Rimini urban area is 225,000, in 268 BC at the mouth of the Ariminus, the Roman Republic founded the colonia of Ariminum. The city was involved in the wars but remained faithful to the popular party and to its leaders, firstly Gaius Marius. After crossing the Rubicon, the made his legendary appeal to the legions in the Forum of Rimini. Ariminum was seen as a bastion against invaders from Gaul and also as a springboard for conquering the Padana plain, remains of the amphitheater that could seat 12000 people, and a five-arched bridge of Istrian stone completed by Tiberius are also still visible. Later Galla Placidia built the church of San Stefano, when the Ostrogoths conquered Rimini in 493, Odoacer, besieged in Ravenna, had to capitulate. During the Gothic War, Rimini was taken and retaken many times, in its vicinity the Byzantine general Narses overthrew the Alamanni. Under the Byzantine rule, it belonged to the Pentapolis, part of the Exarchate of Ravenna, in 728, it was taken with many other cities by Liutprand, King of the Lombards but returned to the Byzantines about 735. Pepin the Short gave it to the Holy See, but during the wars of the popes, in the 13th century, it suffered from the discords of the Gambacari and Ansidei families. The city became a municipality in the 14th century and with the arrival of the orders, numerous convents and churches were built. In fact, Giotto inspired the 14th-century School of Rimini, which was the expression of cultural ferment. The House of Malatesta emerged from the struggles between municipal factions with Malatesta da Verucchio, who in 1239 was named podestà of the city, despite interruptions, his family held authority until 1528. In 1312 he was succeeded by Malatestino Malatesta, first signore of the city and Pandolfo I Malatesta, ferrantino, son of Malatesta II, was opposed by his cousin Ramberto and by Cardinal Bertrand du Pouget, legate of Pope John XXII. Malatesta II was also lord of Pesaro and he was succeeded by Malatesta Ungaro and Galeotto I Malatesta, uncle of the former, lord also of Fano, Pesaro, and Cesena
Rimini
–
Top left: View of Adriatic Sea and backyard in Rimini, top right: View of Rimini Beach in Lungomare area, bottom left: Malatesta Temple, Bottom middle:Arch of Augustus, Bottom upper right:Rimini City Museum and Pope Paul V in Cavour Square, Bottom lower right:Tiberius Bridge
Rimini
–
Rimini's ancient harbour, portrayed in the mosaic of the boats from the domus of Palazzo Diotallevi
Rimini
–
Portrait of
Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta called the Wolf of Rimini, by
Piero della Francesca, c. 1450,
Louvre
Rimini
–
View of Rimini, engraving by Georg Braun (1572)
25.
Guelphs
–
The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rivalry between two parties formed a particularly important aspect of the internal politics of medieval Italy. The struggle for power between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire had arisen with the Investiture Controversy, which began in 1075, the division between the Guelphs and Ghibellines in Italy, however, persisted until the 15th century. Guelph is an Italian form of the name of the House of Welf, the names were likely introduced to Italy during the reign of Frederick Barbarossa. When Frederick conducted military campaigns in Italy to expand imperial power there, the Lombard League and its allies were defending the liberties of the urban communes against the Emperors encroachments and became known as Guelphs. The Ghibellines were thus the party, while the Guelphs supported the Pope. Broadly speaking, Guelphs tended to come from wealthy mercantile families, the Lombard League defeated Frederick at the Battle of Legnano in 1176. Frederick recognized the autonomy of the cities of the Lombard league under his nominal suzerainty. The division developed its own dynamic in the politics of medieval Italy, smaller cities tended to be Ghibelline if the larger city nearby was Guelph, as Guelph Republic of Florence and Ghibelline Republic of Siena faced off at the Battle of Montaperti,1260. Pisa maintained a staunch Ghibelline stance against her fiercest rivals, the Guelph Republic of Genoa, adherence to one of the parties could therefore be motivated by local or regional political reasons. Within cities, party allegiances differed from guild to guild, rione to rione, moreover, sometimes traditionally Ghibelline cities allied with the Papacy, while Guelph cities were even punished with interdict. Contemporaries did not use the terms Guelph and Ghibellines much until about 1250, at the beginning of the 13th century, Philip of Swabia, a Hohenstaufen, and his son-in-law Otto of Brunswick, a Welf, were rivals for the imperial throne. Philip was supported by the Ghibellines as a relative of Frederick I, Frederick II also introduced this division to the Crusader states in the Levant during the Sixth Crusade. After the death of Frederick II in 1250 the Ghibellines were supported by Conrad IV of Germany and later Manfred, King of Sicily, the Sienese Ghibellines inflicted a noteworthy defeat on Florentine Guelphs at the Battle of Montaperti. In that period the stronghold of Italian Ghibellines was the city of Forlì and that city remained with the Ghibelline factions, partly as a means of preserving its independence, rather than out of loyalty to the temporal power, as Forlì was nominally in the Papal States. Over the centuries, the papacy tried several times to control of Forlì. Essentially the two sides were now fighting either against German influence, or against the power of the Pope. In Florence and elsewhere the Guelphs usually included merchants and burghers and they also adopted peculiar customs such as wearing a feather on a particular side of their hats, or cutting fruit a particular way, according to their affiliation
Guelphs
–
Painting of the Guelph and Ghibelline families, by Ottavio Baussano (
Asti).
Guelphs
–
A 14th Century conflict between the militias of the Guelph and Ghibelline factions in the comune of
Bologna, from the Croniche of Giovanni Sercambi of Lucca
Guelphs
–
Coat of arms of the Roberti family of
Reggio, with Guelph (Anjou) style heraldic chief at top
Guelphs
–
Ghibelline swallow-tailed
merlons of the "Casa di Romeo", of the Montecchi family of
Verona.
26.
Ghibellines
–
The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rivalry between two parties formed a particularly important aspect of the internal politics of medieval Italy. The struggle for power between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire had arisen with the Investiture Controversy, which began in 1075, the division between the Guelphs and Ghibellines in Italy, however, persisted until the 15th century. Guelph is an Italian form of the name of the House of Welf, the names were likely introduced to Italy during the reign of Frederick Barbarossa. When Frederick conducted military campaigns in Italy to expand imperial power there, the Lombard League and its allies were defending the liberties of the urban communes against the Emperors encroachments and became known as Guelphs. The Ghibellines were thus the party, while the Guelphs supported the Pope. Broadly speaking, Guelphs tended to come from wealthy mercantile families, the Lombard League defeated Frederick at the Battle of Legnano in 1176. Frederick recognized the autonomy of the cities of the Lombard league under his nominal suzerainty. The division developed its own dynamic in the politics of medieval Italy, smaller cities tended to be Ghibelline if the larger city nearby was Guelph, as Guelph Republic of Florence and Ghibelline Republic of Siena faced off at the Battle of Montaperti,1260. Pisa maintained a staunch Ghibelline stance against her fiercest rivals, the Guelph Republic of Genoa, adherence to one of the parties could therefore be motivated by local or regional political reasons. Within cities, party allegiances differed from guild to guild, rione to rione, moreover, sometimes traditionally Ghibelline cities allied with the Papacy, while Guelph cities were even punished with interdict. Contemporaries did not use the terms Guelph and Ghibellines much until about 1250, at the beginning of the 13th century, Philip of Swabia, a Hohenstaufen, and his son-in-law Otto of Brunswick, a Welf, were rivals for the imperial throne. Philip was supported by the Ghibellines as a relative of Frederick I, Frederick II also introduced this division to the Crusader states in the Levant during the Sixth Crusade. After the death of Frederick II in 1250 the Ghibellines were supported by Conrad IV of Germany and later Manfred, King of Sicily, the Sienese Ghibellines inflicted a noteworthy defeat on Florentine Guelphs at the Battle of Montaperti. In that period the stronghold of Italian Ghibellines was the city of Forlì and that city remained with the Ghibelline factions, partly as a means of preserving its independence, rather than out of loyalty to the temporal power, as Forlì was nominally in the Papal States. Over the centuries, the papacy tried several times to control of Forlì. Essentially the two sides were now fighting either against German influence, or against the power of the Pope. In Florence and elsewhere the Guelphs usually included merchants and burghers and they also adopted peculiar customs such as wearing a feather on a particular side of their hats, or cutting fruit a particular way, according to their affiliation
Ghibellines
–
Painting of the Guelph and Ghibelline families, by Ottavio Baussano (
Asti).
Ghibellines
–
A 14th Century conflict between the militias of the Guelph and Ghibelline factions in the comune of
Bologna, from the Croniche of Giovanni Sercambi of Lucca
Ghibellines
–
Coat of arms of the Roberti family of
Reggio, with Guelph (Anjou) style heraldic chief at top
Ghibellines
–
Ghibelline swallow-tailed
merlons of the "Casa di Romeo", of the Montecchi family of
Verona.
27.
States of the Church
–
The Papal States, officially the State of the Church, were territories in the Italian Peninsula under the sovereign direct rule of the pope, from the 8th century until 1870. They were among the states of Italy from roughly the 8th century until the Italian Peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. At their zenith, they covered most of the modern Italian regions of Lazio, Marche, Umbria and Romagna and these holdings were considered to be a manifestation of the temporal power of the pope, as opposed to his ecclesiastical primacy. By 1861, much of the Papal States territory had been conquered by the Kingdom of Italy, only Lazio, including Rome, remained under the Popes temporal control. In 1870, the pope lost Lazio and Rome and had no physical territory at all, Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini ended the crisis between unified Italy and the Vatican by signing the Lateran Treaty, granting the Vatican City State sovereignty. The Papal States were also known as the Papal State, the territories were also referred to variously as the State of the Church, the Pontifical States, the Ecclesiastical States, or the Roman States. For its first 300 years the Catholic Church was persecuted and unrecognized and this system began to change during the reign of the emperor Constantine I, who made Christianity legal within the Roman Empire, and restoring to it any properties that had been confiscated. The Lateran Palace was the first significant new donation to the Church, other donations followed, primarily in mainland Italy but also in the provinces of the Roman Empire. But the Church held all of these lands as a private landowner, the seeds of the Papal States as a sovereign political entity were planted in the 6th century. Beginning In 535, the Byzantine Empire, under emperor Justinian I, launched a reconquest of Italy that took decades and devastated Italys political, just as these wars wound down, the Lombards entered the peninsula from the north and conquered much of the countryside. While the popes remained Byzantine subjects, in practice the Duchy of Rome, nevertheless, the pope and the exarch still worked together to control the rising power of the Lombards in Italy. As Byzantine power weakened, though, the took a ever larger role in defending Rome from the Lombards. In practice, the papal efforts served to focus Lombard aggrandizement on the exarch, a climactic moment in the founding of the Papal States was the agreement over boundaries embodied in the Lombard king Liutprands Donation of Sutri to Pope Gregory II. When the Exarchate of Ravenna finally fell to the Lombards in 751, the popes renewed earlier attempts to secure the support of the Franks. In 751, Pope Zachary had Pepin the Younger crowned king in place of the powerless Merovingian figurehead king Childeric III, zacharys successor, Pope Stephen II, later granted Pepin the title Patrician of the Romans. Pepin led a Frankish army into Italy in 754 and 756, Pepin defeated the Lombards – taking control of northern Italy – and made a gift of the properties formerly constituting the Exarchate of Ravenna to the pope. The cooperation between the papacy and the Carolingian dynasty climaxed in 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor, the precise nature of the relationship between the popes and emperors – and between the Papal States and the Empire – is disputed. Events in the 9th century postponed the conflict, the Holy Roman Empire in its Frankish form collapsed as it was subdivided among Charlemagnes grandchildren
States of the Church
–
The
Quirinal Palace, papal residence and home to the civil offices of the Papal States from the
Renaissance until their annexation
States of the Church
–
Flag in 1870
States of the Church
–
Antichristus (1521) by
Lucas Cranach the Elder is a woodcut of the Papal States at war during the Renaissance.
States of the Church
–
The Breach of Porta Pia, on the right, in 1870.
28.
Robert of Geneva
–
Robert of Geneva was elected to the papacy as Clement VII by the French cardinals who opposed Urban VI, and was the first antipope residing in Avignon, France. He was the son of Amadeus III, Count of Geneva and he became Bishop of Thérouanne in 1361, Archbishop of Cambrai in 1368, and a cardinal on 30 May 1371. In 1392, he inherited the title of Count of Geneva, the title then passed from him through his eldest sister Mary to her son, Humbert de Thoire. Clement owed the support of Queen Joanna of Naples and of several of the Italian barons. Charles V of France, who seems to have been sounded beforehand on the choice of the Roman pontiff, Clement eventually succeeded in winning to his cause Scotland, Castile, Aragon, Navarre, a great part of the Latin East, and Flanders. He had adherents, besides, scattered through Germany, while Portugal on two occasions acknowledged him, but afterwards forsook him, burgundy and Savoy also acknowledged his authority. Unable to maintain himself in Italy, he took up his residence at Avignon in the southern French Comtat Venaissin, where he became dependent on the French court. These tempting offers gave rise to a series of expeditions into Italy carried out almost exclusively at Clement’s expense, the campaign was unsuccessful, Louis suddenly died at Bisceglie on 20 September 1384. After the death of Louis, Clement hoped to find equally brave and interested champions in Louis’ son and namesake Louis II of Anjou, to which he donated the larger part of the Pontifical States. Clement then tried to ally with Louis I, Duke of Orléans, the brother of Charles VI, with Charles VI himself, and with John III, Count of Armagnac. The prospect of his brilliant progress to Rome was ever before Clements eyes, moreover, his ambitions and the financial needs of his court had resorted to simony, the loss of land and extortion which discerned among his adherents the germs of disaffection. He had created excellent cardinals, but he seems never to have desired the termination of the schism. He died at Avignon on 16 September 1394, eventually it was determined that he would be recorded as an antipope rather than as a pope. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Valois. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Weber
Robert of Geneva
–
Antipope Clement VII
29.
Pope Martin V
–
Pope Martin V, born Otto Colonna, was Pope from 11 November 1417 to his death in 1431. His election effectively ended the Western Schism and he was born at Genazzano, the son of Agapito Colonna and Caterina Conti, between January 26 and February 20,1369. He belonged to one of the oldest and most distinguished families of Rome and his brother Giordano became Prince of Salerno and Duke of Venosa, while his sister Paola was Lady of Piombino between 1441 and 1445. Oddone studied law at the University of Pavia and he became apostolic protonotary under Pope Urban VI, and was created Cardinal-Deacon of San Giorgio al Velabro by Pope Innocent VII in 1405. In 1409 he took part in the Council of Pisa, and was one of the supporters of Antipope Alexander V and he was excommunicated for this in 1411 by Pope Gregory XII. Oddone was with John XXIIIs entourage at the Council of Constance, later he returned to Constance and took part in the process leading to the deposition of John XXIII. After deposing Antipope John XXIII in 1415, the Council of Constance was long divided by the claims of Pope Gregory XII. Martin was elected pope, at the age of 48, at the Council of Constance on St. Martins Day,11 November 1417, by a conclave consisting of twenty-three cardinals and he was ordained a priest on Saturday November 13,1417 and consecrated bishop the next day. Martin left Constance at the close of the council, but travelled slowly through Italy and his authority in Rome was represented by his brother Giordano, who had fought under Muzio Attendolo against the condottiero Braccio da Montone. After a long stay in Florence, Martin was thus able to enter Rome in September 1420 and he at once set to work, establishing order and restoring the dilapidated churches, palaces, bridges, and other public structures. For this reconstruction he engaged some famous masters of the Tuscan school, by 1415 Bohemia was in turmoil and the subject of much discussion at the Council of Constance. Adherents of Jan Hus adopted the practice of Communion under both kinds, the Council sent earnest letters to the civil and ecclesiastical authorities in Bohemia, insisting they deal with the heresy. Bohemian and Moravian nobles responded that the sentence on Hus was unjust and insulting to their country, prague was placed under interdict for sheltering the excommunicate Johann of Jesenic. Beghards arrived attracted by Bohemias reputation for religious liberty, in 1419 King Wenceslaus, who had resisted what he considered interference in his kingdom, commanded that all ejected Catholic beneficiaries should be reinstated in their offices and revenues. In Kuttenberg, hundreds of captured Hussites were thrown by the miners into the shafts of disused silver mines, King Wenceslaus swore death to all the rebels, but died of a stroke in August,1419. The next months were marked by deeds of violence, many citizens, Wenceslaus was succeeded by his brother Sigismund, German Emperor and King of Hungary, who prepared to restore order. On 1 March 1420, Pope Martin V issued a Bull inviting all Christians to unite in a crusade against the Wycliffites, Hussites, according to Burton Martin authorized a crusade against Africa in 1418 in relation to the slave trade. Martin declared two Crusades in 1420, the first was against heretics in Bohemia, as described above
Pope Martin V
–
Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V
–
Pope Martin's election.
30.
Braccio da Montone
–
Braccio da Montone, born Andrea Fortebracci, and also known as Braccio Fortebraccio, was an Italian condottiero. He was born to the nobleman Oddo Fortebracci and Giacoma Montemelini at Montone and he married Elisabetta Ermanni with whom he had three daughters. After her death in 1419, he married Niccolina Varano, who bore his first son Carlo in 1421 and he later had a son out of wedlock, Oddo, who also became a condottiero. He began his career as a page in Guido dAsciano’s company. When his family was exiled from Perugia and he lost the castle of Montone, he entered Alberico da Barbiano’s Company of St. George, at the head of 150 knights, Braccio performed some guerrilla actions which foreshadowed the tactics that his own company would later adopt. After a short return to Montone, he fought for the Montefeltro, in 1395 he fought again for Barbiano in the Kingdom of Naples, and two years later he was hired by the Republic of Florence. In 1398 he fought for the Pope in the war against Perugia, in 1402, at the death of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, he fought against the Milanese army for the Pope. When his companions denounced him to Alberico, alleging he was planning to kill the commander, in 1406 he fought against Perugia with other exiled, who, the following year, formed the great part of his new company, with which Braccio ravaged the Umbrian countryside. In May 1407 the citizens of Rocca Contrada gave him the seigniory of the town, in exchange for his support in combatting the marquess of Fermo. Later Braccio entered the service of King Ladislaus of Naples, who was at war with Florence and he ravaged the lands of the Trinci of Foligno but, when Perugia accepted Ladislaus suzerainty, Braccio sided against him and moved to Ancona, capturing Jesi. In 1409 Braccio fought at Città di Castello, in Arezzo, for the Florentines and then moved to Rome where he besieged Castel SantAngelo, returning to the Marche for the winter. In the same year he was simultaneously at the service of Florence and Spoleto, the rapid movements of his troops became proverbial, and a new school of the condottieri’s art, the Braccesca, was named after him. The following year the Antipope John XXIII assigned him the fiefdom of Montone, Braccio took advantage of his position to extort huge sums of money from the cities of Romagna. In 1414 he fought in Todi against Sforza, who had hired by the King of Naples, in June he entered Florence. In the next August Ladislaus died, and Braccio freed Bologna after receiving a payment of 180,000 gold ducats and he thus invaded and conquered most of Umbria, his goal being again the beloved Perugia. The city gave itself to Carlo Malatesta, at the battle of SantEgidio, the bracceschi were victorious, and Perugia was finally forced to open its gates to Braccio da Montone. Other Umbrian cities, such as Todi, Narni, Orvieto and Terni named him as lord, at this point, on 14 March 1419 he met the Pope in Florence, obtaining the long-awaited title in exchange for ousting Antongaleazzo Bentivoglio from Bologna. After conquering the latter, he could retreat in Perugia to enjoy ruling the city which had ousted him
Braccio da Montone
–
Braccio da Montone.
31.
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger
–
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, also known as Antonio da San Gallo, was an Italian architect active during the Renaissance, mainly in Rome and the Papal States. Sangallo was born Antonio Cordiani in Florence, the son of Bartolomeo Piccioni and his grandfather Francesco Giamberti was a woodworker, and his uncles Giuliano and Antonio da Sangallo were noted architects of the time. Vasari writes that the young Sangallo followed his uncles to Rome in order to pursue a career in architecture, he ended up taking the name ″Sangallo″ in their tracks. As an assistant to Bramante, Sangallo prepared a number of sketches due to the disability of his master, due to his success, Bramante gave Sangallo a number of projects to complete with no more than an outline of the design and motifs. Eventually, Sangallo was put in charge of the Passetto di Borgo between the Papal apartments and the Castel SantAngelo and that particular project was left unfinished, but it left Sangallo with a working reputation as an architect. Now living in Rome, Sangallo quickly received a commission for the church of Santa Maria di Loreto in 1507. His design called for a square first story and a second story built in travertine and brick. Sangallo also drew the attention of the Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, from whom he received a number of commissions, first and foremost of these is the Farnese Palace on the Piazza Farnese, although it was not completed until after his death. Sangallo also received a number of contracts from the Farnese family. For instance, he designed a palace and the Church of Santa Maria Maddalena in the Farnese town of Gradoli and he also designed fortifications for Capo di Monte and Caprarola, the latter eventually became a country estate, the Villa Farnese. In addition to the Farnese family, Sangallo had a number of patrons in Rome and he designed the Palazzo Baldassini near the Basilica of SantAgostino for Melchiore Baldassini, he designed a tomb for the Cardinal Jaume Serra i Cau in San Giacomo degli Spagnoli. Peters Basilica by Pope Leo X. Sangallo was hired extensively by Leo X, not only as an architect, some time later, Sangallo was hired to build the foundation for the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini on the bank of the Tiber. Jacopo Sansovinos design called for the church to extend into the river, Sangallo successfully completed the foundation, although at such great expense that there was no longer enough money to build the church. Thus the model that Sangallo designed for the church was not built, another project was the Basilica della Santa Casa in Loreto. The church had not been particularly well, with cracking vaults. Sangallo was also hired to do work on the Vatican loggias. Sangallo was also a military architect, working on the fortifications of numerous cities such as Parma, Piacenza, Ancona. In Orvieto, he was tasked by Pope Clement VII with building a well, called Saint Patricks Well
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger
–
The church of Santa Maria di Loreto near the
Trajan's Market in
Rome, considered Sangallo's masterwork.
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger
–
View of St. Patrick's Well in
Orvieto.
32.
Sixtus IV
–
Pope Sixtus IV, born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 9 August 1471 to his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included building the Sistine Chapel and the creation of the Vatican Archives, a patron of the arts, the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpieces of the citys new artistic age. Sixtus aided the Spanish Inquisition, though he fought to prevent abuses therein and he was famed for his nepotism and was personally involved in the infamous Pazzi conspiracy. Francesco was born to a family of modest means from Liguria, Italy and he was born in Celle Ligure, a town near Savona. He went on to lecture at Padua and many other Italian universities, in 1464, Della Rovere was elected Minister General of the Franciscan order at the age of 50. In 1467, he was appointed Cardinal by Pope Paul II with the church being the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli. Before his papal election, Cardinal della Rovere was renowned for his unworldliness and had even written learned treatises entitled On the Blood of Christ and On the Power of God. His pious reputation was one of the factors that prompted the College of Cardinals to elect him pope upon the unexpected death of Paul II at the age of fifty-four. Upon being elected pope Della Rovere adopted the name Sixtus – a name that had not been used since the 5th century, one of his first acts was to declare a renewed crusade against the Ottoman Turks in Smyrna. However, after the conquest of Smyrna, the fleet disbanded, some fruitless attempts were made towards unification with the Greek Church. For the remainder of his pontificate, Sixtus turned to temporal issues, Sixtus IV sought to strengthen his position by surrounding himself with relatives and friends. His nephew Pietro Riario also benefited from his nepotism, Pietro became one of the richest men in Rome and was entrusted with Pope Sixtus foreign policy. However, Pietro died prematurely in 1474, and his role passed to Giuliano della Rovere, six of the thirty-four cardinals that he created were his nephews. Francesco Salviati, Archbishop of Pisa and an organizer of the plot, was hanged on the walls of the Florentine Palazzo della Signoria. To this, Sixtus IV replied with an interdict and two years of war with Florence, however, Infessura had partisan allegiances to the Colonna and so is not considered to be always reliable or impartial. However, such accusations are easily dismissed as propaganda, but did nevertheless prompt the noted historian of the Catholic Church, Ludwig von Pastor. Sixtus continued a dispute with King Louis XI of France, who upheld the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, according to which papal decrees needed royal assent before they could be promulgated in France. This was a cornerstone of the claimed for the Gallican Church
Sixtus IV
–
Pope Sixtus IV appoints Platina as Prefect of the Library, by Melozzo da Forlì, accompanied by his relatives
Sixtus IV
–
Posthumous portrait of Pope Sixtus IV by
Titian
Sixtus IV
–
Ponte Sisto, the first bridge built at Rome since the
Roman Empire
Sixtus IV
–
Tomb of Pope Sixtus IV by Antonio del Pollaiolo
33.
Giuliano della Rovere
–
Pope Julius II, nicknamed The Fearsome Pope and The Warrior Pope, born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1 November 1503 to his death in 1513. In addition to a military policy, he personally led troops into battle on at least two occasions. There is disagreement about Juliuss year of birth, for some sources put it as late as 1453, Giuliano della Rovere was the son of Rafaello della Rovere. Francesco della Rovere was his uncle and he was educated among the Franciscans by his uncle, who took him under his special charge and later sent him to a Franciscan friary in Perugia with the purpose of obtaining knowledge of the sciences. After his uncle was elected Pope Sixtus IV, della Rovere was promoted to be cardinal, taking the title as that formerly held by his uncle. With his uncle he obtained great influence, and in addition to the archbishopric of Avignon he held no fewer than eight bishoprics, including Lausanne from 1472. In June 1474, della Rovere led an army to Todi and Spoleto, around this time, in 1483, an illegitimate daughter was born, Felice della Rovere. Della Rovere, jealous and angry, accused Borgia of being elected over him, in 1494 he joined Charles VIII of France who was undertaking a military expedition into Italy. This was, in Andrew Greeleys view, almost certainly by means of bribery with money, but also, per Ott, Ullman, and Hughes, with promises. Giuliano Della Rovere thenceforth took the name of his fourth century predecessor, Julius I, indeed, on the day of his election, he declared I will not live in the same rooms as the Borgias lived. He desecrated the Holy Church as none before and he usurped the papal power by the devils aid, and I forbid under the pain of excommunication anyone to speak or think of Borgia again. His name and memory must be forgotten and it must be crossed out of every document and memorial. All paintings made of the Borgias or for them must be covered over with black crepe, all the tombs of the Borgias must be opened and their bodies sent back to where they belong—to Spain. The Borgias apartments remained sealed until the 19th Century, the combination was, however, at first little more than nominal, and was not immediately effective in compelling the Venetians to deliver up more than a few unimportant places in the Romagna. With a campaign in 1506, he led an army to Perugia and Bologna. The refusal of Pope Clement VII to grant the annulment led to the English Reformation, the same year, he founded the Swiss Guard to provide a constant corps of soldiers to protect the Pope. On Palm Sunday,1507, Julius II entered Rome, both as a second Julius Caesar, heir to the majesty of Romes imperial glory, and in the likeness of Christ, whose vicar the pope was, and who in that capacity governed the universal Roman Church. Julius, who modelled himself after his namesake Caesar, would lead his army across the Italian peninsula under the imperial war-cry
Giuliano della Rovere
–
Portrait of Pope Julius II by
Raphael
Giuliano della Rovere
–
Giuliano della Rovere (left, future Julius II), and Julius II's future
cardinal-nephew,
Clemente della Rovere (right), who safeguarded Giuliano's affairs while he fled to France following a dispute with Alexander VI.
Giuliano della Rovere
–
Giulliano della Rovere, as cardinal (left), with uncle and patron Francesco della Rovere, Pope Sixtus IV (right).
Giuliano della Rovere
–
Leonardo Grosso della Rovere, the fourth
cardinal-nephew of Julius II accompanied him on his military campaigns in
Bologna and
Perugia, and served as his ambassador to France
34.
Federico III da Montefeltro
–
Federico da Montefeltro, also known as Federico III da Montefeltro KG, was one of the most successful condottieri of the Italian Renaissance, and lord of Urbino from 1444 until his death. Federico was born in Castello di Petroia in Gubbio, the son of Guidantonio da Montefeltro, lord of Urbino, Gubbio and Casteldurante. Two years later he was legitimized by Pope Martin V, with the consent of Guidantonios wife, Caterina Colonna, in the aftermath of the Peace of Ferrara in 1433, he lived in Venice and Mantua as a hostage. In 1437 he was knighted by Emperor Sigismund, and in the year he married Gentile Brancaleoni in Gubbio. At sixteen he began a career as condottiero under Niccolò Piccinino, in 1441 he distinguished himself in the conquest of the castle of St. Leo, which Federico was to hold for the rest of his life. After Piccininos resignation, he went to Pesaro to defend it against his enemy in the Marche, Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta. However, the situation of the small dukedom being in disarray. His first condotta was for Francesco I Sforza, with 300 knights, despite Federicos efforts, the Sforza sovereignty in the Marche was dismantled in the following years. When Sforza left for Lombardy, Sigismondo fomented a riot in Fossombrone, after six years in the service of Florence, Federico was hired in 1450 by Sforza, now Duke of Milan. However, he could not perform his duties as he lost his eye during a tournament. He subsequently carried a vast and disfiguring scar for the rest of his life, after the loss of the eye, Federico – no stranger to conspiracies and one of the leaders that inspired Niccolò Machiavelli to write Il Principe – had surgeons remove the bridge of his nose. In 1453 the Neapolitan army was struck by malaria, and Federico himself risked losing his healthy eye, the Peace of Lodi of the following year seemed to deprive him of occasions to exhibit his ability as a military commander. In 1458 the death of both Alfonso and of his illegitimate son, Buonconte, did not help to raise Federicos mood. His fortunes recovered when Pius II, a man of culture like him, became Pope, after some notable exploits in the Kingdom of Naples, he fought in the Marche against Malatesta, soundly defeating him at the Cesano river near Senigallia. The following year he captured Fano and Senigallia, taking Sigismondo Pandolfo prisoner, the Pope made him vicar of the conquered territories. In 1464 the new Pope Paul II called him to back the Anguillara. The following year he captured Cesena and Bertinoro in Romagna, in 1466 Francesco Sforza died, and Federico assisted his young son Galeazzo Sforza in the government of Milan, and also commanded the campaign against Bartolomeo Colleoni. In 1467 he took part in the Battle of Molinella, after defeating the Papal forces in a great battle on 30 August 1469, he ceded it to Sigismondos son, Roberto Malatesta
Federico III da Montefeltro
–
Federico da Montefeltro. Portrait by
Piero della Francesca. Federico lost his nasal bridge and his right eye at a tournament accident.
Federico III da Montefeltro
–
Federico da Montefeltro and His Son Guidobaldo (c. 1475), by
Justus van Gent or (and)
Pedro Berruguete.
Federico III da Montefeltro
–
Federico Montefeltro with humanist writer
Cristoforo Landino, in an example of
Oriental carpets in Renaissance painting, 15th century.
Federico III da Montefeltro
–
Battista Sforza, Duchess of Urbino. Portrait by
Piero della Francesca.
35.
Tuscany
–
Tuscany is a region in central Italy with an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, traditions, history, artistic legacy, Tuscany produces wines, including Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino. Having a strong linguistic and cultural identity, it is considered a nation within a nation. Tuscany is traditionally a popular destination in Italy, and the main tourist destinations by number of tourist arrivals are Florence, Pisa, Montecatini Terme, Castiglione della Pescaia and Grosseto. The village of Castiglione della Pescaia is also the most visited destination in the region. Additionally, Siena, Lucca, the Chianti region, Versilia and Val dOrcia are also internationally renowned, Tuscany has over 120 protected nature reserves, making Tuscany and its capital Florence popular tourist destinations that attract millions of tourists every year. In 2012, the city of Florence was the worlds 89th most visited city, roughly triangular in shape, Tuscany borders the regions of Liguria to the northwest, Emilia-Romagna to the north and east, Umbria to the east and Lazio to the southeast. The comune of Badia Tedalda, in the Tuscan Province of Arezzo, has an exclave named Ca Raffaello within Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany has a western coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea, containing the Tuscan Archipelago, of which the largest island is Elba. Tuscany has an area of approximately 22,993 square kilometres, surrounded and crossed by major mountain chains, and with few plains, the region has a relief that is dominated by hilly country used for agriculture. Hills make up nearly two-thirds of the total area, covering 15,292 square kilometres, and mountains. Plains occupy 8. 4% of the total area—1,930 square kilometres —mostly around the valley of the River Arno, many of Tuscanys largest cities lie on the banks of the Arno, including the capital Florence, Empoli and Pisa. The pre-Etruscan history of the area in the late Bronze and Iron Ages parallels that of the early Greeks, following this, the Villanovan culture saw Tuscany, and the rest of Etruria, taken over by chiefdoms. City-states developed in the late Villanovan before Orientalization occurred and the Etruscan civilization rose, the Etruscans created the first major civilization in this region, large enough to establish a transport infrastructure, to implement agriculture and mining and to produce vibrant art. The Etruscans lived in Etruria well into prehistory, throughout their existence, they lost territory to Magna Graecia, Carthage and Celts. Despite being seen as distinct in its manners and customs by contemporary Greeks, the cultures of Greece, one reason for its eventual demise was this increasing absorption by surrounding cultures, including the adoption of the Etruscan upper class by the Romans. Soon after absorbing Etruria, Rome established the cities of Lucca, Pisa, Siena, and Florence, endowed the area with new technologies and development, and ensured peace. These developments included extensions of existing roads, introduction of aqueducts and sewers, however, many of these structures have been destroyed by erosion due to weather. The Roman civilization in the West collapsed in the 5th century AD, in the years following 572, the Longobards arrived and designated Lucca the capital of their Duchy of Tuscia
Tuscany
–
Hilly landscape in
Val d'Orcia
Tuscany
–
Tuscany Toscana
Tuscany
–
Tuscan landscape near
Siena
Tuscany
–
Cinerary urns of the
Villanovan culture
36.
Apecchio
–
Apecchio is a comune in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Italian region Marche, located about 90 kilometres west of Ancona and about 60 kilometres southwest of Pesaro. The economy is based on small-scale handicraft, agriculture and tourism. The Biscubio flows near the town, the Campanone, a bell tower with a watch dating to the 15th century. Palazzo Ubaldini, with a courtyard from 1515 with Ionic-style columns. It houses a fossil and minerals museum and its initial design was by Francesco di Giorgio Martini. Medieval bridge Church of Madonna della Vita, with a 15th-century wooden crucifix Jew Quarter, Apecchio is also home to the Globe of Peace, which was until 1999 the worlds largest rotating globe. Official Website Apecchio. net Blog http, //apecchio. gogoo. us Forum
Apecchio
–
Apecchio
37.
Province of Pesaro and Urbino
–
The Province of Pesaro and Urbino is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Pesaro and it also borders the state of San Marino. The province is surrounded by San Marino and Emilia Romagna in the north, Umbria and Tuscany in the west, Ancona in the south, the province is also known as Riviera of Hills. It is mostly covered by hills and is popular for its beaches, the Ceramics museum and the Biblioteca Oliveriana are located in the capital city. The County Council is based in Pesaro while the headquarters of the administration are in Urbino. The coat of arms of the consists of a shield divided into two parts, each part is given the coat of arms of the two capitals. It has a robust economy with low unemployment, based on craft and small and medium industries, agriculture, tourism, resorts and it has a very low per capita energy consumption. The art and craft industry contributes to 22% of the provinces GDP, tourism in the province plays a primary role in the local economy, the main attractions are the sea and the Apennines. The beaches of Gabicce Mare, Pesaro, Fano and Marotta are the most famous ones, just outside Pesaro, in the little hamlet of Santa Venerada, close by the chapel Chiostro di Santo Gaetano is the Lucus Pisaurensis, the Sacred Grove of Pisaurum, ancient Pesaro. Early Roman History Earliest sources of reference indicate a settlement in Pesaro. The city was founded as Pisaurum by the Romans in 184 BC as a colony of the Picentes, recent History After the referendum of 2006, seven municipalities of Montefeltro were detached from the Province to join the Province of Rimini on 15 August 2009. The municipalities are Casteldelci, Maiolo, Novafeltria, Pennabilli, San Leo, SantAgata Feltria and it has an area of 2,564 square kilometres and a total population of 364,896. There are 67 comunes in the province. italythisway. com/places/articles/pesaro-history. php
Province of Pesaro and Urbino
–
Sanctuary of Santa Maria in Val d'Abisso at
Piobbico.
Province of Pesaro and Urbino
–
Map highlighting the location of the province of Pesaro e Urbino in Italy
38.
Province of Arezzo
–
The province of Arezzo or Arretium is the easternmost province in the Tuscany region of northern Italy. Its capital is the city of Arezzo, the province is bordered by the regions of Marche, Emilia-Romagna, Umbria, and the provinces Siena and Florence of Tuscany. It has an area of 3,235 square kilometres, a population of about 347,000 in 37 comuni. The north of the province of Arezzo contains the Pratomagno and Casentino mountain ranges and valleys, and it is believed that the province was a major Etruscan urban centre known as Arretium, and a wall was built around the province in this period of rule. In Roman times, the settlement expanded down from the hills, after attacks from barbarians, the settlement mostly disappeared in around 400 AD. Towards the end of the 11th century, the settlement grew again into a city and its location led to its ownership changing repeatedly, Florence owned the province after the Battle of Campaldino, later lost authority over it, and then annexed it again in 1384. Florence possessed the province until 1859 when Italy was unified, the province is in close proximity to Camaldoli, where the Camaldolese monks originate from. The main comuni by population are, Province homepage
Province of Arezzo
–
Valmareccia
39.
Mercatello sul Metauro
–
Mercatello sul Metauro is a comune in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Italian region Marche, located about 100 kilometres west of Ancona and about 50 kilometres southwest of Pesaro. Economy is mostly based on agriculture and sheep husbandry, mercatello is known as a settlement of the Umbri in the 12th century BC. Later it was conquered by the ancient Romans, destroyed during the barbaric invasions, first under Città di Castello and Massa Trabaria, it was turned into an autonomous fortified communee in 1235 by Pope Gregory IX. In 1437 it was annexed to the Duchy of Urbino, in 1636 it became part of the Papal States, gothic church of St. Francis, wit ha notable collection of paintings from the 12th to 17th centuries. Ducal Palace, also attributed to Francesco di Giorgio Matrini Palazzaccio
Mercatello sul Metauro
–
Mercatello sul Metauro
40.
Montone
–
Montone is a comune in the Province of Perugia in the Italian region Umbria, located about 35 km north of Perugia. Montone is a medieval village with a small industrial and housing estate surrounding the walled town center. The town is the origin of the Fortebracci condottieri family, whose most famous member was Braccio da Montone, believed to be of Medieval origins, Montone appears in the tenth century as a fiefdom of the Margravate of Colle and subsequently of the Del Monte family. By 1121 Montone, now under the control of Perugia, was authorized to be self-governing under its own statutes. In 1414 it was given to Braccio da Montone and his family held it until the early 16th century, when the Vitelli acquired it. Later in the century it was annexed to the Papal States
Montone
–
Montone
41.
Pietralunga
–
Pietralunga is a comune in the Province of Perugia in the Italian region Umbria, located about 35 km north of Perugia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,343, Pietralunga borders the following municipalities, Apecchio, Cagli, Città di Castello, Gubbio, Montone, Umbertide. As a small town in Italy, it has many mentions by travelers and adventurers. It is also home to several ancient Roman ruins, according to history, St. Crescenziano was killed near the towns center. On 11 September 1334 Giovanni di Lorenzo de Picardie traveled through Pietralunga as part of the Ax Miracle of the Holy Face of Lucca
Pietralunga
–
Pietralunga
42.
Sansepolcro
–
Sansepolcro, formerly Borgo Santo Sepolcro, is a town and comune in Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Arezzo. Situated on the reaches of the Tiber river, the town is the birthplace of the painters Piero della Francesca, Raffaellino del Colle, Santi di Tito. It was also the birthplace of the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli, and of Matteo Cioni, today, the economy is based on agriculture, industrial manufacturing, food processing and pharmaceuticals. It is the home of Buitoni pasta, founded by Giulia Buitoni in 1827, according to tradition, the town was founded around 1000 AD by two pilgrims, Arcanus and Aegidius, who brought a stone from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with them from the Holy Land. They founded an oratory dedicated to Saint Leonard, on the site of the current Cathedral, the first historical mentions of Sansepolcro are slightly later, referring to the Benedictine Abbey, the Badia, around which the walled commune clustered. During the conflicts between Guelfs and Ghibellines, the factions were headed by prominent local families, including the Pichi, Bercordati, Graziani. The main church is the Cathedral, built in Gothic-Romanesque style in 1012–49, other churches of note are San Francesco and San Lorenzo. The latter church has a Deposition by Rosso Fiorentino, the English writer Aldous Huxley described the Resurrection by Piero della Francesca, which is in the Museo Civico, as the greatest painting in the world. The museum collection includes three works by Piero della Francesca and many other treasures including paintings by Santi di Tito, Raffaellino del Colle. Diocese of Sansepolcro Eduino Francini St. Quentin Teatro Dante Sansepolcro is twinned with, Neuchâtel, Switzerland Neuves-Maisons, France Sinj, Croatia
Sansepolcro
–
Aerial view of Sansepolcro.
43.
Canoscio
–
Canoscio is an Italian villag and frazione of Città di Castello, Umbria. It is home to the Shrine of the Madonna of Canoscio, the church has its origins in a votive chapel dedicated to the Madonna of the Assumption that was built by a certain Giovanni di Jacopo in 1348, for having been spared during the Black Death. The chapel was enlarged in 1406, the shrine of Madonna di Canoscio remains a center of Marian devotion today. In 1998, Pope John Paul II raised the church to the honor of a Minor Basilica. Another sight on the hill of Canoscio is a large 12th‑century Romanesque church, cosma e Damiano, with medieval votive frescoes. Not all the objects are in forms that can be related to the liturgy, names of Aelianus and Felicitas, probably donors, are inscribed on one of the patens. The large plate that protected the hoard, was shattered by the plough, reassembled, the central section is chased with a Byzantine Cross with alpha and omega, below flow four rivers. At the side of the cross are depicted the hand of God, the larger of the two strainers is engraved with the labarum and alpha and omega, their outlines traced with tiny straining holes. Canoscio at Thayers Gazetteer of Umbria Museo del Duomo, Città di Castello, The Canoscio hoard
Canoscio
–
The façade of the sanctuary in the mist.
44.
Renaissance
–
The Renaissance was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe. This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science, Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, the Renaissance began in Florence, in the 14th century. Other major centres were northern Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Bologna, the word Renaissance, literally meaning Rebirth in French, first appeared in English in the 1830s. The word also occurs in Jules Michelets 1855 work, Histoire de France, the word Renaissance has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century. The Renaissance was a movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism, however, a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life. In addition, many Greek Christian works, including the Greek New Testament, were back from Byzantium to Western Europe. Political philosophers, most famously Niccolò Machiavelli, sought to describe life as it really was. Others see more competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins. During the Renaissance, money and art went hand in hand, Artists depended entirely on patrons while the patrons needed money to foster artistic talent. Wealth was brought to Italy in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries by expanding trade into Asia, silver mining in Tyrol increased the flow of money. Luxuries from the Eastern world, brought home during the Crusades, increased the prosperity of Genoa, unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity, Arab logicians had inherited Greek ideas after they had invaded and conquered Egypt and the Levant. Their translations and commentaries on these ideas worked their way through the Arab West into Spain and Sicily and this work of translation from Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of the greatest transmissions of ideas in history
Renaissance
–
David, by
Michelangelo (
Accademia di Belle Arti,
Florence) is a masterpiece of Renaissance and world art.
Renaissance
–
Renaissance
Renaissance
–
Leonardo da Vinci 's
Vitruvian Man (c. 1490) shows clearly the effect writers of Antiquity had on Renaissance thinkers. Based on the specifications in
Vitruvius '
De architectura (1st century BC), Leonardo tried to draw the perfectly proportioned man.
Renaissance
–
Portrait of a young woman (c. 1480-85) (
Simonetta Vespucci) by
Sandro Botticelli
45.
Giorgio Vasari
–
Vasari was born in Arezzo, Tuscany. Recommended at an age by his cousin Luca Signorelli, he became a pupil of Guglielmo da Marsiglia. He was befriended by Michelangelo whose painting style would influence his own, in 1529, he visited Rome where he studied the works of Raphael and other artists of the Roman High Renaissance. Vasaris own Mannerist paintings were admired in his lifetime than afterwards. In 1547 he completed the hall of the chancery in Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome with frescoes that received the name Sala dei Cento Giorni and he was consistently employed by members of the Medici family in Florence and Rome, and worked in Naples, Arezzo and other places. He also helped to organize the decoration of the Studiolo, now reassembled in the Palazzo Vecchio, aside from his career as a painter, Vasari was also successful as an architect. In Florence, Vasari also built the long passage, now called Vasari Corridor, the enclosed corridor passes alongside the River Arno on an arcade, crosses the Ponte Vecchio and winds around the exterior of several buildings. He also renovated the medieval churches of Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce, at both he removed the original rood screen and loft, and remodelled the retro-choirs in the Mannerist taste of his time. In Santa Croce, he was responsible for the painting of The Adoration of the Magi which was commissioned by Pope Pius V in 1566 and it was recently restored, before being put on exhibition in 2011 in Rome and in Naples. Eventually it is planned to return it to the church of Santa Croce in Bosco Marengo, in 1562 Vasari built the octagonal dome on the Basilica of Our Lady of Humility in Pistoia, an important example of high Renaissance architecture. In Rome, Vasari worked with Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Bartolomeo Ammanati at Pope Julius IIIs Villa Giulia, the Lives also included a novel treatise on the technical methods employed in the arts. The book was rewritten and enlarged in 1568, with the addition of woodcut portraits of artists. The work has a consistent and notorious bias in favour of Florentines, and tends to attribute to them all the developments in Renaissance art – for example, Venetian art in particular, is systematically ignored in the first edition. Between the first and second editions, Vasari visited Venice and while the edition gave more attention to Venetian art. Vasaris biographies are interspersed with amusing gossip, with a few exceptions, however, Vasaris aesthetic judgement was acute and unbiased. He did not research archives for exact dates, as art historians do, and naturally his biographies are most dependable for the painters of his own generation. Modern criticism – with new materials opened up by research – has corrected many of his traditional dates and attributions. Vasari includes a sketch of his own biography at the end of the Lives, according to the historian Richard Goldthwaite, Vasari was one of the earliest authors to use the term competition in its economic sense
Giorgio Vasari
–
Vasari's self-portrait
Giorgio Vasari
–
Giorgio Vasari, Italian humanists, Tuscan Poets: Dante, Petrarch, Guido Cavalcanti, Boccaccio, Cino da Pistoia and Guittone d'Arezzo
Giorgio Vasari
–
Giorgio Vasari, The Garden of Gethsemane
Giorgio Vasari
–
The Uffizi Loggia.
.svg)
Joué-lès-Tours, France, since 1991
Sighișoara, Romania
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Città di Castello". Encyclopædia Britannica. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 399.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "
