1.
Turin
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Turin is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region and was the first capital city of Italy. The city is located mainly on the bank of the Po River, in front of Susa Valley and surrounded by the western Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 892,649 while the population of the area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million, in 1997 a part of the historical center of Torino was inscribed in the World Heritage List under the name Residences of the Royal House of Savoy. Turin is well known for its Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-classical, many of Turins public squares, castles, gardens and elegant palazzi such as Palazzo Madama, were built between the 16th and 18th centuries. This was after the capital of the Duchy of Savoy was moved to Turin from Chambery as part of the urban expansion, the city used to be a major European political center. Turin was Italys first capital city in 1861 and home to the House of Savoy, from 1563, it was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, then of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the Royal House of Savoy and finally the first capital of the unified Italy. Turin is sometimes called the cradle of Italian liberty for having been the birthplace and home of notable politicians and people who contributed to the Risorgimento, such as Cavour. The city currently hosts some of Italys best universities, colleges, academies, lycea and gymnasia, such as the University of Turin, founded in the 15th century, in addition, the city is home to museums such as the Museo Egizio and the Mole Antonelliana. Turins attractions make it one of the worlds top 250 tourist destinations, Turin is ranked third in Italy, after Milan and Rome, for economic strength. With a GDP of $58 billion, Turin is the worlds 78th richest city by purchasing power, as of 2010, the city has been ranked by GaWC as a Gamma World city. Turin is also home to much of the Italian automotive industry, the Taurini were an ancient Celto-Ligurian Alpine people, who occupied the upper valley of the Po River, in the center of modern Piedmont. In 218 BC, they were attacked by Hannibal as he was allied with their long-standing enemies, the Taurini chief town was captured by Hannibals forces after a three-day siege. As a people they are mentioned in history. It is believed that a Roman colony was established in 27 BC under the name of Castra Taurinorum, both Livy and Strabo mention the Taurinis country as including one of the passes of the Alps, which points to a wider use of the name in earlier times. In the 1st century BC, the Romans created a military camp, the typical Roman street grid can still be seen in the modern city, especially in the neighborhood known as the Quadrilatero Romano. Via Garibaldi traces the path of the Roman citys decumanus which began at the Porta Decumani. The Porta Palatina, on the side of the current city centre, is still preserved in a park near the Cathedral
2.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
3.
Car
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A car is a wheeled, self-powered motor vehicle used for transportation and a product of the automotive industry. The year 1886 is regarded as the year of the modern car. In that year, German inventor Karl Benz built the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, cars did not become widely available until the early 20th century. One of the first cars that was accessible to the masses was the 1908 Model T, an American car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Cars were rapidly adopted in the United States of America, where they replaced animal-drawn carriages and carts, cars are equipped with controls used for driving, parking, passenger comfort and safety, and controlling a variety of lights. Over the decades, additional features and controls have been added to vehicles, examples include rear reversing cameras, air conditioning, navigation systems, and in car entertainment. Most cars in use in the 2010s are propelled by a combustion engine. Both fuels cause air pollution and are blamed for contributing to climate change. Vehicles using alternative fuels such as ethanol flexible-fuel vehicles and natural gas vehicles are also gaining popularity in some countries, electric cars, which were invented early in the history of the car, began to become commercially available in 2008. There are costs and benefits to car use, the costs of car usage include the cost of, acquiring the vehicle, interest payments, repairs and auto maintenance, fuel, depreciation, driving time, parking fees, taxes, and insurance. The costs to society of car use include, maintaining roads, land use, road congestion, air pollution, public health, health care, road traffic accidents are the largest cause of injury-related deaths worldwide. The benefits may include transportation, mobility, independence. The ability for humans to move flexibly from place to place has far-reaching implications for the nature of societies and it was estimated in 2010 that the number of cars had risen to over 1 billion vehicles, up from the 500 million of 1986. The numbers are increasing rapidly, especially in China, India, the word car is believed to originate from the Latin word carrus or carrum, or the Middle English word carre. In turn, these originated from the Gaulish word karros, the Gaulish language was a branch of the Brythoic language which also used the word Karr, the Brythonig language evolved into Welsh where Car llusg and car rhyfel still survive. It originally referred to any wheeled vehicle, such as a cart, carriage. Motor car is attested from 1895, and is the formal name for cars in British English. Autocar is a variant that is attested from 1895
4.
Railroad car
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A railroad car or railcar, railway wagon or railway carriage, also called a train car or train wagon, is a vehicle used for the carrying of cargo or passengers on a rail transport system. Such cars, when coupled together and hauled by one or more locomotives, alternatively, some passenger cars are self-propelled in which case they may be either single railcars or make up multiple units. The term car is used by itself in American English when a rail context is implicit. Indian English sometimes uses bogie in the manner, though the term has other meanings in other variants of English. In American English, railcar is a term for a railway vehicle, in other countries railcar refers specifically to a self-propelled, powered. Tables may be provided between seats facing one another, alternatively, seats facing in the same direction may have access to a fold-down ledge on the back of the seat in front. If the aisle is located between seats, seat rows may face the direction, or be grouped, with twin rows facing each other. In some vehicles intended for services, seats are positioned with their backs to the side walls. This gives a wide accessway and allows room for standing passengers at peak times, if the aisle is at the side, the car is usually divided into small compartments. These usually contain six seats, although sometimes in second class they contain eight, modern cars usually have either air-conditioning or windows that can be opened, or sometimes both. Various types of onboard train toilet facilities may also be provided, other types of passenger car exist, especially for long journeys, such as the dining car, parlor car, disco car, and in rare cases theater and movie theater car. In some cases another type of car is converted to one of these for an event. Observation cars were built for the rear of many trains to allow the passengers to view the scenery. Sleeping cars outfitted with small bedrooms allow passengers to sleep through their night-time trips, long-distance trains often require baggage cars for the passengers luggage. In European practice it used to be common for day coaches to be formed of compartments seating 6 or 8 passengers, in the UK, Corridor coaches fell into disfavor in the 1960s and 1970s partially because open coaches are considered more secure by women traveling alone. Another distinction is between single- and double deck train cars, an example of a double decker is the Amtrak superliner. A trainset is a semi-permanently arranged formation of cars, rather than one created ad hoc out of cars are available. These are only broken up and reshuffled on shed, trains are then built of one or more of these sets coupled together as needed for the capacity of that train
5.
Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits
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The Orient Express was a showcase of luxury and comfort at a time when travelling was still rough and dangerous. CIWL soon developed a network of luxury trains all over Europe, whose names are still remembered today. Such as the Blue Train, the Golden Arrow, North Express, CIWL became the first and most important modern multinational dedicated to transport, travel agency, hospitality with activities spreading from Europe to Asia and Africa. Now part of the French Newrest group, Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits was founded by Georges Nagelmackers during 1872, CIWL quickly established itself as the premier provider and operator of European railway sleepers and dining cars during the late 19th and the 20th centuries. The holding company, CIWLT, is an owned subsidiary of the Accor Group. During his trip to the United States in 1867–1868 the 23-year-old Belgian Georges Nagelmackers was impressed by the Pullman night trains, upon his return home, he decided to establish a network of such trains in Europe. He envisioned that such trains should be luxurious and travel across borders, in 1874 Nagelmackers founded the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits and the et des Grands Express Européens addition became part of the name ten years later. By 1886 his company had become the organiser for most European heads of state. The symbol WL held by two lions became a trade mark. These cars were drawn by locomotives of the various state railways. Prior to World War I, CIWL held a monopoly being the only catering to the needs of the international railroad traveller. The Companys trains also reached Manchuria, China and Cairo, in 1894 the Compagnie Internationale des Grands Hotels was founded as a subsidiary and began operating a chain of luxury hotels in major cities. Among these were the Hôtel Terminus in Bordeaux and Marseille, the Hôtel Pera Palace in Istanbul, the Hôtel de la Plage in Ostend, with the start of World War I CIWLs coaches were confiscated for military use. In Germany and Austro-Hungary Mitropa was founded to take over the property, in 1918, the communists in Russia expropriated CIWLs local rolling stock and hotels. After the conclusion of World War I CIWL demanded to have its central European service routes restored and it regained these for Austria, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, however, in Germany the Reichsbahn and Mitropa sabotaged this process. On April 23,1925, CIWL and Mitropa agreed to separate spheres of influence, CIWL received transit routes through Germany and routes between Germany and Belgium, France, Italy, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Czechoslovakia. Mitropa took over the routes between Germany and the Netherlands and Scandinavia, as well as trains within Germany, and to Danzig, Trains between Germany and Austria were served by both companies. In the interbellum period CIWL flourished again, the companys blue and gold livery was introduced
6.
Orient Express
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The Orient Express was a long-distance passenger train service created in 1883 by Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits The route and rolling stock of the Orient Express changed many times. Several routes in the past concurrently used the Orient Express name, although the original Orient Express was simply a normal international railway service, the name became synonymous with intrigue and luxury travel. The two city names most prominently associated with the Orient Express are Paris and Constantinople, the endpoints of the timetabled service. The Orient Express was a showcase of luxury and comfort at a time travelling was still rough. In 1977, the Orient Express stopped serving Istanbul and its immediate successor, a through overnight service from Paris to Vienna, ran for the last time from Paris on Friday, June 8,2007. The new curtailed service left Strasbourg at 22,20 daily, shortly after the arrival of a TGV from Paris, on 14 December 2009, the Orient Express ceased to operate and the route disappeared from European railway timetables, reportedly a victim of high-speed trains and cut-rate airlines. In March 2014 Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. was renamed Belmond, in 1882, Georges Nagelmackers, a Belgian bankers son, invited guests to a railway trip of 2,000 km on his Train Eclair de luxe. The train left Paris Gare de lEst on Tuesday, October 10,1882, just after 18,30 and arrived in Vienna the next day at 23,20. The return trip left Vienna on Friday, October 13,1882, at 16,40 and, Georges Nagelmackers was the founder of Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, which expanded its luxury trains, travel agencies and hotels all over Europe, Asia and North Africa. Its most famous train remains the Orient-Express, on June 5,1883, the first Express dOrient left Paris for Vienna. Vienna remained the terminus until October 4,1883, the train was officially renamed Orient Express in 1891. The original route, which first ran on October 4,1883, was from Paris, Gare de lEst, to Giurgiu in Romania via Munich, at Giurgiu, passengers were ferried across the Danube to Ruse, Bulgaria, to pick up another train to Varna. They then completed their journey to Constantinople by ferry, in 1885, another route began operations, this time reaching Istanbul via rail from Vienna to Belgrade and Niš, carriage to Plovdiv and rail again to Istanbul. In 1889, the eastern terminus became Varna in Bulgaria. On June 1,1889, the first direct train to Istanbul left Paris, Istanbul remained its easternmost stop until May 19,1977. The eastern terminus was the Sirkeci Terminal by the Golden Horn, ferry service from piers next to the terminal would take passengers across the Bosphorus to Haydarpaşa Terminal, the terminus of the Asian lines of the Ottoman Railways. The onset of World War I in 1914 saw Orient Express services suspended and they resumed at the end of hostilities in 1918, and in 1919 the opening of the Simplon Tunnel allowed the introduction of a more southerly route via Milan, Venice and Trieste. The service on this route was known as the Simplon Orient Express, the Treaty of Saint-Germain contained a clause requiring Austria to accept this train, formerly, Austria allowed international services to pass through Austrian territory only if they ran via Vienna
7.
Bugatti
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Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a French car manufacturer of high-performance automobiles, founded in 1909 in the then German city of Molsheim, Alsace by Italian-born Ettore Bugatti. Bugatti cars were known for their beauty and for their many race victories. Famous Bugattis include the Type 35 Grand Prix cars, the Type 41 Royale, the Type 57 Atlantic and the Type 55 sports car. The death of Ettore Bugatti in 1947 proved to be the end for the marque, no more than about 8,000 cars were made. The company struggled financially, and released one last model in the 1950s, in the 1990s, an Italian entrepreneur revived it as a builder of limited production exclusive sports cars. Today, the name is owned by German automobile manufacturing group Volkswagen, the company was known both for the level of detail of its engineering in its automobiles, and for the artistic manner in which the designs were executed, given the artistic nature of Ettores family. During the war Ettore Bugatti was sent away, initially to Milan and later to Paris and he exhibited three light cars, all of them closely based on their pre-war equivalents, and each fitted with the same overhead camshaft 4-cylinder 1, 368cc engine with four valves per cylinder. Smallest of the three was a Type 13 with a body and using a chassis with a 2,000 mm wheelbase. The others were a Type 22 and a Type 23 with wheelbases of 2,250 and 2,400 mm respectively, the company also enjoyed great success in early Grand Prix motor racing, in 1929 a privately entered Bugatti won the first ever Monaco Grand Prix. Racing success culminated with driver Jean-Pierre Wimille winning the 24 hours of Le Mans twice, Bugatti cars were extremely successful in racing. The little Bugatti Type 10 swept the top four positions at its first race, the 1924 Bugatti Type 35 is probably the most successful racing car of all time, with over 2,000 wins. The Type 35 was developed by Bugatti with master engineer and racing driver Jean Chassagne who also drove it in the car’s first ever Grand Prix in 1924 Lyon, Bugattis swept to victory in the Targa Florio for five years straight from 1925 through 1929. Louis Chiron held the most podiums in Bugatti cars, and the modern marque revival Bugatti Automobiles S. A. S. named the 1999 Bugatti 18/3 Chiron concept car in his honour. But it was the racing success at Le Mans that is most remembered—Jean-Pierre Wimille and Pierre Veyron won the 1939 race with just one car. In the 1930s, Ettore Bugatti got involved in the creation of a racer airplane and this would be the Bugatti 100P, which never flew. It was designed by Belgian engineer Louis de Monge who had already applied Bugatti Brescia engines in his Type 7.5 lifting body, Ettore Bugatti also designed a successful motorised railcar, the Autorail Bugatti. The death of Ettore Bugattis son, Jean Bugatti, on 11 August 1939 marked a point in the companys fortunes. Jean died while testing a Type 57 tank-bodied race car near the Molsheim factory, World War II left the Molsheim factory in ruins and the company lost control of the property
8.
Maserati
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Maserati is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna. The companys headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident and it has been owned by the Italian-American car giant Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and FCAs Italian predecessor Fiat S. p. A. since 1993. In May 2014, due to plans and product launches. This caused them to production of the Quattroporte and Ghibli models. Maserati is placing a production output cap at 75,000 vehicles globally, the Maserati brothers, Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, Ettore, and Ernesto were all involved with automobiles from the beginning of the 20th century. Alfieri, Bindo and Ernesto built 2-litre Grand Prix cars for Diatto, in 1926, Diatto suspended the production of race cars, leading to the creation of the first Maserati and the founding of the Maserati marque. One of the first Maseratis, driven by Alfieri, won the 1926 Targa Florio, Maserati began making race cars with 4,6,8 and 16 cylinders. The trident logo of the Maserati car company is based on the Fountain of Neptune in Bolognas Piazza Maggiore, in 1920, one of the Maserati brothers, artist Mario, used this symbol in the logo at the suggestion of family friend Marquis Diego de Sterlich. Alfieri Maserati died in 1932, but three brothers, Bindo, Ernesto and Ettore, kept the firm going, building cars that won races. The brothers continued in engineering roles with the company, Racing successes continued, even against the giants of German racing, Auto Union and Mercedes. In back-to-back wins in 1939 and 1940, a Maserati 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500, the war then intervened, Maserati abandoned car making to produce components for the Italian war effort. During this time, Maserati worked in fierce competition to construct a V16 town car for Benito Mussolini before Ferry Porsche of Volkswagen built one for Adolf Hitler and this failed, and the plans were scrapped. Once peace was restored, Maserati returned to making cars, the Maserati A6 series did well in the racing scene. Key people joined the Maserati team, alberto Massimino, an old Fiat engineer, with both Alfa Romeo and Ferrari experiences oversaw the design of all racing models for the next ten years. With him joined engineers Giulio Alfieri, Vittorio Bellentani, and Gioacchino Colombo, the focus was on the best engines and chassis to succeed in car racing. These new projects saw the last contributions of the Maserati brothers and this new team at Maserati worked on several projects, the 4CLT, the A6 series, the 8CLT, and, pivotally for the future success of the company, the A6GCS. Other racing projects in the 1950s were the 200S, 300S, 350S, Maserati retired from factory racing participation because of the Guidizzolo tragedy during the 1957 Mille Miglia, though they continued to build cars for privateers. Maserati became more and more focused on building road-going grand tourers, the 1957 Maserati 3500 GT marked a turning point in the marques history, as its first ground-up grand tourer design and first series produced car
9.
Carmagnola
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Carmagnola is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located 29 kilometres south of Turin. The town is on the side of the Po river. The nature of the determined, as time was passing. Carmagnola borders the municipalities, Poirino, Villastellone, Carignano, Lombriasco, Ceresole Alba, Racconigi, Sommariva del Bosco. The municipality is mentioned for the first time during the 11th century, the land, originally owned by the Arduinic dynasty, passed to the Marquisate of Saluzzo, who had a castle built here. The Saluzzo dynasty soon underwent a rapid decadence ending with a French domination period which lasted 40 years, in 1588 Carmagnola became a possession of the House of Savoy, when Charles Emmanuel I besieged and conquered it. French took possession of Carmagnola a second time during the 17th century, in 1690 the city was once again occupied by the French general Catinat, but just one year later Victor Amadeus II of Savoy brought it back among Piedmontese possessions. The characteristic of both agricultural and commercial site remained important until after World War II, which caused a massive immigration, industry experienced a notable growth during the 1960s, when FIAT opened an important factory, thus attracting a growing number of immigrants from southern Italy. The rapid growth of FIAT made also possible other activities in the metallurgy, electronics, optics, chemical industry, also well-developed are the banking, financial and insurance sectors. Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola, better known as Il Carmagnola - Renaissance condottiero, enrico Saroldi - sculptor Antonio Tortone - sculptor Guglielmo Diatto - 19th century founder of the Diatto industrial enterprise. Francesca Maria Rubatto - Catholic nun, founder of the Capuchin Sisters of Mother Rubatto Peppers Fair and it is held between the last week of August and the first of September, it is an eno-gastronomic fair dedicated to the most typical product of Carmagnolas agriculture. It attracts over 250,000 visitors each year, held annually in March, dedicated to agricultural commerce, it features many collateral events. Opatija, Croatia Río Tercero, Argentina Official website
10.
Po (river)
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The Po is a river that flows eastward across northern Italy. The Po flows either 652 km or 682 km – considering the length of the Maira, the headwaters of the Po are a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face of Monviso. The Po ends at a delta projecting into the Adriatic Sea near Venice and it has a drainage area of 74,000 km² in all,70,000 in Italy, of which 41,000 is in montane environments and 29,000 on the plain. The Po is the longest river in Italy, at its widest point its width is 503 m, the Po extends along the 45th parallel north. The river flows through many important Italian cities, including Turin, Piacenza and it is connected to Milan through a net of channels called navigli, which Leonardo da Vinci helped design. Near the end of its course, it creates a delta at the southern part of which is Comacchio. The Po valley was the territory of the Roman Cisalpine Gaul, divided into Cispadane Gaul, the Po begins in the Alps, and is in Italy, and flows eastward. The river is subject to heavy flooding, consequently, over half its length is controlled with argini, or dikes. The slope of the valley decreases from 0. 35% in the west to 0. 14% in the east and it is characterized by its large discharge. The vast valley around the Po is called the Po Basin or Po Valley, in 2002, more than 16 million people lived there, at the time nearly ⅓ of the population of Italy. The two main uses of the valley are for industry and for agriculture, both major uses. The industrial centres, such as Turin and Milan, are located on higher terrain and they rely for power on the numerous hydroelectric stations in or on the flanks of the Alps, and on the coal/oil power stations which use the water of the Po basin as coolant. Drainage from the north is mediated through several large, scenic lakes, the streams are now controlled by so many dams as to slow the rivers sedimentation rate, causing geologic problems. The main products of the farms around the river are cereals including – unusually for Europe – rice, the latter method is the chief consumer of surface water, while industrial and human consumption use underground water. The Po Delta wetlands have been protected by the institution of two parks in the regions in which it is situated, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna. The Po Delta Regional Park in Emilia-Romagna, the largest, consists of four parcels of land on the bank of the Po. Executive authority resides in an assembly of the presidents of the provinces, the mayors of the comuni and they employ a Technical-Scientific Committee and a Park Council to carry out directives. In 1999 the park was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and was added to Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, the 53,653 ha of the park contain wetlands, forest, dunes and salt pans
