1.
Geneva
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Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic, the municipality has a population of 198,072, and the canton has 484,736 residents. In 2014, the compact agglomération du Grand Genève had 946,000 inhabitants in 212 communities in both Switzerland and France, within Swiss territory, the commuter area named Métropole lémanique contains a population of 1.25 million. This area is essentially spread east from Geneva towards the Riviera area and north-east towards Yverdon-les-Bains, Geneva is the city that hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world. It is also the place where the Geneva Conventions were signed, Geneva was ranked as the worlds ninth most important financial centre for competitiveness by the Global Financial Centres Index, ahead of Frankfurt, and third in Europe behind London and Zürich. A2009 survey by Mercer found that Geneva has the third-highest quality of life of any city in the world, the city has been referred to as the worlds most compact metropolis and the Peace Capital. In 2009 and 2011, Geneva was ranked as, respectively, the city was mentioned in Latin texts, by Caesar, with the spelling Genava, probably from a Celtic toponym *genawa- from the stem *genu-, in the sense of a bending river or estuary. The medieval county of Geneva in Middle Latin was known as pagus major Genevensis or Comitatus Genevensis, the name takes various forms in modern languages, Geneva /dʒᵻˈniːvə/ in English, French, Genève, German, Genf, Italian, Ginevra, and Romansh, Genevra. The city in origin shares its name, *genawa estuary, with the Italian port city of Genoa, Geneva was an Allobrogian border town, fortified against the Helvetii tribe, when the Romans took it in 121 BC. It became Christian under the Late Roman Empire, and acquired its first bishop in the 5th century, having been connected to the bishopric of Vienne in the 4th. In the Middle Ages, Geneva was ruled by a count under the Holy Roman Empire until the late 14th century, around this time the House of Savoy came to dominate the city. In the 15th century, a republican government emerged with the creation of the Grand Council. In 1541, with Protestantism in the ascendancy, John Calvin, by the 18th century, however, Geneva had come under the influence of Catholic France, which cultivated the city as its own. France also tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, in 1798, revolutionary France under the Directory annexed Geneva. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, on 1 June 1814, in 1907, the separation of Church and State was adopted. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of international organizations. Geneva is located at 46°12 North, 6°09 East, at the end of Lake Geneva. It is surrounded by two chains, the Alps and the Jura
2.
Umberto II of Italy
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Umberto II or Humbert II, was the last King of Italy, reigning for slightly over a month, from 9 May 1946 to 12 June 1946. However, he was de facto head of state from 1944 to 1946 and he was nicknamed the May King. Umberto was the son of the five children of King Victor Emmanuel III. In an effort to repair the image after the fall of Benito Mussolinis regime. As a referendum was in preparation on the abolition of the monarchy in 1946, however, the referendum passed, Italy was declared a republic, and Umberto lived out the rest of his life in exile in Cascais, Portugal. Umberto was born at the Castle of Racconigi in Piedmont and he was the third child, and the only son, of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Queen Elena of Montenegro. As such, he became heir apparent upon his birth as the Italian throne was limited to male-line descendants only and he was the first cousin of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia. He was accorded with the title of Prince of Piedmont, which was formalised by Royal Decree on 29 September, Umberto was married in Rome on 8 January 1930 to Marie José of Belgium, daughter of King Albert I of Belgium. They had four children, Maria Pia Vittorio Emanuele Maria Gabriella Maria Beatrice As Prince of Piedmont, Umberto visited South America, with his preceptor, Bonaldi, he went to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. This trip was part of the plan of Fascism to link the Italian people living outside of Italy with their mother country. The Prince of Piedmont was educated for a career and in time became the commander in chief of the Northern Armies. However, his role was merely formal, the de facto belonging to Benito Mussolini. By mutual agreement, Umberto and Mussolini always kept a distance, an attempted assassination of the prince took place in Brussels on 24 October 1929, the day of the announcement of his betrothal to Princess Marie José. The Prince was about to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Belgian Unknown Soldier at the foot of the Colonne du Congrès, with a cry of Down with Mussolini. The culprit, Fernando de Rosa, fired a shot that missed the Prince of Piedmont. De Rosa was arrested and under interrogation claimed to be a member of the Second International and his trial became a major political event, and although he was found guilty of attempted murder, he was given a light sentence of five years in prison. This sentence caused an uproar in Italy and a brief rift in Belgian-Italian relations. Following the Savoyards tradition, he kept apart from politics until he was finally named Lieutenant General of the Realm
3.
King of Italy
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King of Italy was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a military leader, in the late 5th century. With the Frankish conquest of Italy in the 8th century, the Carolingians assumed the title, the last Emperor to claim the title was Charles V in the 16th century. During this period, the holders of the title were crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy, although Napoleon I used the title from 1805 to 1814, it was not until the Unification of Italy in the 1860s that a Kingdom of Italy was restored. From 1861 the House of Savoy held the title as monarchs of the peninsula until the last King of Italy, Umberto II. After the deposition of the last Western Emperor in 476, Heruli leader Odoacer was appointed Dux Italiae by the reigning Byzantine Emperor Zeno. Later, the Germanic foederati, the Scirians and the Heruli, as well as a segment of the Italic Roman army. In 493, the Ostrogothic king Theoderic the Great killed Odoacer, Ostrogothic rule ended when Italy was reconquered by the Byzantine Empire in 552. In the 8th century, estrangement between the Italians and the Byzantines allowed the Lombards to capture the remaining Roman enclaves in northern Italy. However, in 774, they were defeated by the Franks under Charlemagne, after the death of Charles III the Fat in 887, Italy fell into instability and a number of kings attempted to establish themselves as independent Italian monarchs. During this period, known as the Feudal Anarchy, the title Rex Italicorum was introduced, after the breakup of the Frankish empire, Otto I added Italy to the Holy Roman Empire and continued the use of the title Rex Italicorum. The last to use this title was Henry II, subsequent emperors used the title king of Italy until Charles V. At first they were crowned in Pavia, later Milan, in 1805, Napoleon I was crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at the Milan Cathedral. The next year, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated his imperial title, from the deposition of Napoleon I until the Italian Unification, there was no Italian monarch claiming the overarching title. The Risorgimento successfully established a dynasty, the House of Savoy, over the peninsula, uniting the kingdoms of Sardinia. The monarchy was superseded by the Italian Republic, after a referendum was held on 2 June 1946 after the World War II. The Italian monarchy formally ended on 12 June of that year, Guy of Spoleto opponent of Berengar, ruled most of Italy but was deposed by Arnulf. Lambert of Spoleto subking of his father Guy before 894, reduced to Spoleto 894–895, Arnulf of Carinthia Ratold In 896, Arnulf and Ratold lost control of Italy, which was divided between Berengar and Lambert, Berengar I seized Lamberts portion upon the latters death in 898
4.
Exile
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To be in exile means to be away from ones home, while either being explicitly refused permission to return or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return. It can be a form of punishment and solitude and it is common to distinguish between internal exile, i. e. forced resettlement within the country of residence, and external exile, which is deportation outside the country of residence. Although most commonly used to describe a situation, the term is also used for groups. Exile can also be a departure from ones homeland. Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. In some cases the head of state is allowed to go into exile following a coup or other change of government. A wealthy citizen who departs from an abode for a lower tax jurisdiction in order to reduce his/her tax burden is termed a tax exile. Creative people such as authors and musicians who achieve sudden wealth sometimes find themselves among this group, in 2012, Eduardo Saverin, one of the founders of Facebook, made headlines by renouncing his U. S. citizenship before his companys IPO. In some cases a person lives in exile to avoid legal issues. For example, nuns were exiled following the Communist coup détat of 1948 in Czechoslovakia, many Jewish prayers include a yearning to return to Jerusalem and the Jewish homeland. The entire population of Crimean Tatars that remained in their homeland Crimea was exiled on 18 May 1944 to Central Asia as a form of ethnic cleansing and collective punishment on false accusations. At Diego Garcia, between 1967 and 1973 the British Government forcibly removed some 2,000 Chagossian resident islanders to make way for a military base today jointly operated by the US, since the Cuban Revolution over one million Cubans have left Cuba. Most of these self-identify as exiles as their motivation for leaving the island is political in nature, most of the exiles children also consider themselves to be Cuban exiles. It is to be noted that under Cuban law, children of Cubans born abroad are considered Cuban citizens, during a foreign occupation or after a coup détat, a government in exile of a such afflicted country may be established abroad. Exile is a motif in ancient Greek tragedy. In the ancient Greek world, this was seen as a worse than death. The motif reaches its peak on the play Medea, written by Euripides in the fifth century BC, euripides’ Medea has remained the most frequently performed Greek tragedy through the 20th century. After Medea was abandoned by Jason and had become a murderer out of revenge, she fled to Athens and married king Aigeus there, due to a conflict with him, she must leave the Polis and go away into exile
5.
Constitution of Italy
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The Constitution of the Italian Republic was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended 15 times, was promulgated in the edition of Gazzetta Ufficiale No.298 on 27 December 1947. The Constituent Assembly was elected by universal suffrage on 2 June 1946, the Constitution came into force on 1 January 1948, one century after the Statuto Albertino had been enacted. Although the latter remained in force after Benito Mussolinis March on Rome in 1922, wherever an Italian died to redeem freedom and dignity, go there young people and ponder, because that was where our Constitution was born. All the different political and social views of the Assembly contributed in shaping and influencing the final text of the Constitution and this has been repeatedly described as the constitutional compromise, and all the parties that shaped the Constitution were referred to as the arco costituzionale. These members came from all walks of life, including politicians, philosophers and partisans and it is important to note that the Constitution primarily contains general principles, it is not possible to apply them directly. As with many written constitutions, only few articles are considered to be self-executing, the majority require enabling legislation, referred to as accomplishment of constitution. This process has taken decades and some contend that, due to political considerations. While the Principles recognise a central government and the integrity of the State, they also recognise and promote local autonomies. They also promote scientific, technical and cultural development, and safeguard the environmental, historical, the State and the Church are recognised as independent and sovereign, each within its own sphere. In fact, the treaty was modified by a new agreement between church and state in 1984. The last of the Principles establishes the Italian tricolour as the Flag of Italy, green, white and red, articles 13–28 are the Italian equivalent of a bill of rights in common law jurisdictions. Every citizen is free to travel, both outside and inside the territory of the Republic, with restrictions granted only for eventual health, security, citizens have the right to freely assemble, both in private and public places, peacefully and unarmed. Notifications to the authorities is required only for meetings on public lands. The Constitution recognises the freedom of association, within the limits of criminal law, secret associations and organisations having military character are forbidden. Freedom of expression, press and religion are guaranteed in public places, for example, hate speech, calumny and obscenity in the public sphere are considered criminal offences by the Italian Criminal Code. Every citizen is protected from persecution and cannot be subjected to personal or financial burden outside of the law. The right to a trial is guaranteed, with everyone having the right to protect their rights regardless of their economic status
6.
Sanremo Music Festival
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Usually referred to as Festival di Sanremo, or outside Italy as Sanremo Music Festival or Sanremo Music Festival Award, it was the inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest. Starting from 1955 all the editions of the Festival have been broadcast live by the Italian TV station Rai 1. During this era of the festival, it was custom that one version of the song was performed by a native Italian artist while the version was performed by an international guest artist. The Festival airs annually in Australia on the multicultural broadcaster SBS One, in the aftermath of World War II, one of the proposals to revitalize the economy and the reputation of Sanremo was to create an annual music festival to be held in the city. Officially titled Festival della Canzone Italiana, the first edition of the show was held at the Sanremo Casino on 29,30 and 31 January 1951, the final of the competition was broadcast by Rete Rossa, the second most important RAI radio station. Twenty songs took part in the competition, performed by three artists only–Nilla Pizzi, Duo Fasano and Achille Togliani, starting from the third edition of the festival, held in 1953, each song was performed by two different artists with different orchestras and arrangements. Two years later, in 1955, the festival made its first appearance on television, the last night of the show was also broadcast in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The same rule was applied in the years contest. Between 1967 and 1971, entries were not forced to be interpreted by foreign artists, starting from 1972, each entry was sung by one artist only. The competing artists were split for the first time into Big artists, the competition had one winner only, but the entries in the Young artists category had to go through an elimination round, while Big artists were directly admitted to the final. In 1977, the Sanremo Casino, which hosted all the editions of the contest, was not available for renovations. The theater later became the location for the annual contest, hosting it every year except in 1990. In 1980, pre-recorded backing tracks replaced the orchestra, while playback performances were allowed in 1983 during the final, in 1984 and 1985, all the artists were forced to perform in playback, while live performances with the orchestra were reintroduced in 1986. During the same years, several changes were introduced in the contest. In 1982, accredited music journalists decided to create an award to recognise the best song competing in the festival, starting from 1983, the prize was officially awarded during the event. The critics prize was later entitled to Mia Martini, who was the first artist receiving it in 1982 for her entry E non finisce mica il cielo, moreover, starting from 1984, the separation between newcomers and established artists was marked introducing two different competitions with separate winners. In 1989 a third category, the Upcoming Artists Section, was introduced, only in 1998 the top three artists in the newcomers section were allowed to compete in the main competition. This led to the victory of the debuting Annalisa Minetti, which generated several controversy, the distinction among different categories was abolished again in 2004
7.
Philippe of Belgium
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Philippe is the seventh king of the Belgians, having ascended the throne on 21 July 2013, following his fathers abdication. He is the eldest child of King Albert II, whom he succeeded upon Alberts abdication for health reasons and he married Countess Mathilde dUdekem dAcoz, with whom he has four children. King Philippes elder daughter, Princess Elisabeth, is next in the line of succession, Philippe was born on 15 April 1960 during the reign of his uncle, King Baudouin of Belgium. His father, Prince Albert, Prince of Liège was the son of King Leopold III of Belgium. His mother, Paola, Princess of Liège, is a daughter of Italian aristocrat Fulco VIII, Prince Ruffo di Calabria, 6th Duke of Guardia Lombarda. His mother descends from the French House of La Fayette, and he was born at the Belvédère Castle in Laeken north of Brussels. He was baptised one month later at the church of Saint Jacques-sur-Coudenberg in Brussels on 17 May and his godparents were his paternal grandfather, King Leopold III, and his maternal grandmother, Donna Luisa, Princess Ruffo di Calabria. From 1978 to 1981, Philippe was educated at the Belgian Royal Military Academy in the 118th Promotion Toutes Armes, on 26 September 1980, he was appointed second lieutenant and took the officers oath. He continued his education at Trinity College, Oxford and he attended school at Stanford University, California. He obtained his pilots wings and his certificates as a parachutist. In 1989, he attended a series of sessions at the Royal Higher Defence Institute. The same year, he was promoted to Colonel, on 25 March 2001, the Prince was appointed to the rank of Major-General in the Land Component and the Air Component and to the rank of Rear-Admiral in the Naval Component. He succeeded his father, who had been Honorary Chairman of the BFTB since 1962, on 3 May 2003, Philippe was appointed Honorary chairman of the board of the Foreign Trade Agency, replacing the BFTB. In this capacity, Philippe has headed more than 60 economic missions, upon his accession as seventh King of the Belgians, this role was taken over by his sister Princess Astrid. King Albert II announced on 3 July 2013 that he would abdicate in favour of Philippe on 21 July 2013, approximately one hour after King Albert IIs abdication, Prince Philippe was sworn in as King of the Belgians. His eldest child, Princess Elisabeth became his heir apparent and is expected to become Belgiums first queen regnant,26 September 1980 –21 March 1983, Belgian Air Force, Second lieutenant. January – end March 1983, Platoon leader, 15th Comp, 3rd Parachutists Battalion of the Paracommando Regt 21 March 1983 –1 December 1989, Belgian Air Force, Captain. 1 December 1989 –5 April 2001, Belgian Air Force, Colonel Belgian Army, since 21 July 2013, Belgian Air Component, General Belgian Land Component, General Belgian Marine Component, Admiral
8.
Albert I of Belgium
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Albert I reigned as King of the Belgians from 1909 to 1934. This was a period in the History of Belgium, which included the period of World War I, when 90 percent of Belgium was overrun, occupied. King Albert died in a accident in eastern Belgium in 1934, at the age of 58. Born Albert Léopold Clément Marie Meinrad in Brussels, he was the child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders. Prince Philippe was the son of Leopold I, the first King of the Belgians, and his wife, Marie-Louise of France. Princess Marie was a relative of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Albert grew up in the Palace of Flanders, initially as third in the line of succession to the Belgian throne as his reigning Uncle Leopold IIs son had already died. Retiring and studious, Albert prepared himself strenuously for the task of kingship, shortly before his accession to the throne in 1909, Albert undertook an extensive tour of the Belgian Congo, which had been annexed by Belgium in 1908, finding the country in poor condition. Upon his return to Belgium, he recommended reforms to protect the native population and he was the 1, 152nd Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Austria and the 851st Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1914. Albert was married in Munich on 2 October 1900 to Duchess Elisabeth Gabrielle Valérie Marie in Bavaria, a Wittelsbach princess whom he had met at a family funeral. A daughter of Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, and his wife, the Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal, she was born at Possenhofen Castle, Bavaria, Germany, on 25 July 1876, and died on 23 November 1965. Based on the letters written during their engagement and marriage the couple appear to have been deeply in love. The letters express a mutual affection based on a rare affinity of spirit. They also make clear that Albert and Elisabeth continually supported and encouraged each other in their roles as king. The spouses shared a commitment to their country and family. Together, they cultivated the friendship of prominent scientists, artists, mathematicians, musicians, charles-Théodore Henri Antoine Meinrad, Count of Flanders, Prince of Belgium, Regent of Belgium. Marie José Charlotte Sophie Amélie Henriette Gabrielle, Princess of Belgium and she was married at Rome, Italy on 8 January 1930 to Prince Umberto Nicola Tommaso Giovanni Maria, Prince of Piemonte. He became King Umberto II of Italy, following the death of his uncle, Leopold II, Albert succeeded to the Belgian throne in December 1909, since Alberts own father had already died in 1905. Previous Belgian kings had taken the royal accession oath only in French, an important aspect of the early years of Alberts reign was his institution of many reforms in the administration of the Belgian Congo, Belgiums only colonial possession
9.
Vatican City
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Vatican City, officially Vatican City State or the State of Vatican City, is a walled enclave within the city of Rome. With an area of approximately 44 hectares, and a population of 842, however, formally it is not sovereign, with sovereignty being held by the Holy See, the only entity of public international law that has diplomatic relations with almost every country in the world. It is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Bishop of Rome – the Pope, the highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various national origins. Vatican City is distinct from the Holy See, which dates back to early Christianity and is the episcopal see of 1.2 billion Latin. According to the terms of the treaty, the Holy See has full ownership, exclusive dominion, within Vatican City are religious and cultural sites such as St. Peters Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the worlds most famous paintings and sculptures, the unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by the sale of postage stamps and tourist mementos, fees for admission to museums, and the sale of publications. The name Vatican City was first used in the Lateran Treaty, signed on 11 February 1929, the name is taken from Vatican Hill, the geographic location of the state. Vatican is derived from the name of an Etruscan settlement, Vatica or Vaticum meaning garden, located in the area the Romans called vaticanus ager. The official Italian name of the city is Città del Vaticano or, more formally, Stato della Città del Vaticano, although the Holy See and the Catholic Church use Ecclesiastical Latin in official documents, the Vatican City officially uses Italian. The Latin name is Status Civitatis Vaticanæ, this is used in documents by not just the Holy See. The name Vatican was already in use in the time of the Roman Republic for an area on the west bank of the Tiber across from the city of Rome. Under the Roman Empire, many villas were constructed there, after Agrippina the Elder drained the area and laid out her gardens in the early 1st century AD. In AD40, her son, Emperor Caligula built in her gardens a circus for charioteers that was completed by Nero, the Circus Gaii et Neronis, usually called, simply. Even before the arrival of Christianity, it is supposed that this originally uninhabited part of Rome had long considered sacred. A shrine dedicated to the Phrygian goddess Cybele and her consort Attis remained active long after the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter was built nearby, the particularly low quality of Vatican water, even after the reclamation of the area, was commented on by the poet Martial. The Vatican Obelisk was originally taken by Caligula from Heliopolis in Egypt to decorate the spina of his circus and is thus its last visible remnant and this area became the site of martyrdom of many Christians after the Great Fire of Rome in AD64. Ancient tradition holds that it was in this circus that Saint Peter was crucified upside-down, opposite the circus was a cemetery separated by the Via Cornelia. Peters in the first half of the 4th century, the Constantinian basilica was built in 326 over what was believed to be the tomb of Saint Peter, buried in that cemetery
10.
Pope John Paul II
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Pope Saint John Paul II, born Karol Józef Wojtyła, was Pope from 1978 to 2005. He is called by some Catholics Saint John Paul the Great and he was elected by the second Papal conclave of 1978, which was called after Pope John Paul I, who had been elected in August after the death of Pope Paul VI, died after thirty-three days. Cardinal Wojtyła was elected on the day of the conclave. John Paul II is recognised as helping to end Communist rule in his native Poland, John Paul II significantly improved the Catholic Churchs relations with Judaism, Islam, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. He upheld the Churchs teachings on such matters as artificial contraception and the ordination of women and he was one of the most travelled world leaders in history, visiting 129 countries during his pontificate. By the time of his death, he had named most of the College of Cardinals, consecrated or co-consecrated a large number of the worlds bishops, a key goal of his papacy was to transform and reposition the Catholic Church. His wish was to place his Church at the heart of a new alliance that would bring together Jews, Muslims. He was the second longest-serving pope in history after Pope Pius IX. Born in Poland, John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope since the Dutch Pope Adrian VI, John Paul IIs cause for canonisation commenced in 2005 one month after his death with the traditional five-year waiting period waived. A second miracle attributed to John Paul IIs intercession was approved on 2 July 2013, John Paul II was canonised on 27 April 2014, together with Pope John XXIII. On 11 September 2014, Pope Francis added John Paul IIs optional memorial feast day to the worldwide General Roman Calendar of saints, in response to worldwide requests. It is traditional to celebrate saints feast days on the anniversary of their deaths, Karol Józef Wojtyła was born in the Polish town of Wadowice. He was the youngest of three born to Karol Wojtyła, an ethnic Pole, and Emilia Kaczorowska, whose mothers maiden surname was Scholz. Emilia, who was a schoolteacher, died in childbirth in 1929 when Wojtyła was eight years old and his elder sister Olga had died before his birth, but he was close to his brother Edmund, nicknamed Mundek, who was 13 years his senior. Edmunds work as a physician led to his death from scarlet fever. As a boy, Wojtyła was athletic, often playing football as goalkeeper, during his childhood, Wojtyła had contact with Wadowices large Jewish community. School football games were organised between teams of Jews and Catholics, and Wojtyła often played on the Jewish side. I remember that at least a third of my classmates at school in Wadowice were Jews
11.
Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
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The Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs is a titular basilica church in Rome, Italy built inside the frigidarium of the Baths of Diocletian in the Piazza della Repubblica. The most recent Cardinal priest of the Titulus S. Mariae Angelorum in Thermis is William Henry Keeler, the basilica is dedicated to the Christian martyrs, known and unknown. By a brief dated 27 July 1561, Pius IV ordered the church built, a story that these Martyrs were Christian slave labourers who had been set to constructing the Baths is modern. It was also a monument of Pope Pius IV, whose tomb is in the apsidal tribune that culminates the series of spaces. The thermae of Diocletian dominated the Quirinal Hill with their mass and had successfully resisted Christianization. Michelangelo Buonarroti worked from 1563 to 1564 to adapt a section of the structure of the baths to enclose a church. Some later construction directed by Luigi Vanvitelli in 1749 only superficially distracts from the grand, at Santa Maria degli Angeli, Michelangelo achieved an unexampled sequence of shaped architectural spaces with few precedents or followers. There is no true facade, the entrance is set within one of the coved apses of a main space of the thermae. The plan is developed from a Greek cross, with a transept so dominant, with its chapels at each end. Of the Saint Bruno, Pope Clement XIV said that he would speak, were it not for the vow of silence of the order he founded, raising the floor truncated the red granite Roman columns that articulate the transept and its flanking spaces. Michelangelo made the transept 27 meters wide, thus providing vast cubical spaces at each end of the transept, in 2006, Polish-born sculptor Igor Mitoraj created new bronze doors as well as a statue of John the Baptist for the basilica. In April 2010, a five metre high statue of Galileo Galilei Divine Man was unveiled in a courtyard within the complex. The statue was a donation from CCAST and WFS, Santa Maria degli Angeli was the official state church during the Kingdom of Italy. More recently, national burials have been held in the church, the church hosts the tombs of General Armando Diaz and Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, who were the commanders responsible for winning World War I on the Italian front. Also today the Basilica is used for ceremonies, included the funeral of soldiers killed abroad. Alan Cook remarked, The disposition, the stability and the precision are much better than those of the famous meridian. in Bologna, bianchinis sundial was built along the meridian that crosses Rome, at longitude 12°30 E. At solar noon, which according to the equation of time from around 10,54 a. m. UTC in late October to 11.24 a. m, UTC in February, the sun shines through a small hole in the wall to cast its light on this line each day
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Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Justice of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 1st Class[29][33]
Monaco: Knight Grand Officer of the Order of Saint-Charles[29][34][35]
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