1.
Firenze
–
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants, Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, from 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 million tourists each year and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture, the city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florences artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy. Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, it was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe, the language spoken in the city during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as the Italian language. Starting from the late Middle Ages, Florentine money—in the form of the gold florin—financed the development of all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War and they similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European historys most important noble families, Lorenzo de Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century, Leo X, catherine de Medici married king Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future king Louis XIII, the Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, starting with Cosimo I de Medici in 1569 and ending with the death of Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The Etruscans initially formed in 200 BC the small settlement of Fiesole and it was built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated along the Via Cassia, the route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre. Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century, Florence was conquered by Charlemagne in 774 and became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. The population began to again and commerce prospered
Firenze
–
A collage of Florence showing the
Galleria degli Uffizi (top left), followed by the
Palazzo Pitti, a sunset view of the city and the
Fountain of Neptune in the
Piazza della Signoria
Firenze
–
A wooden model of Florence as it would have probably looked during Roman times, showing the ancient amphitheatre
Firenze
–
The façade of the Cathedral
Firenze
–
Leonardo da Vinci statue outside the
Uffizi Gallery.
2.
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.
3.
Rete Ferroviaria Italiana
–
Rete Ferroviaria Italiana is an Italian company, subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato. RFI is the owner of Italys railway network, it provides signalling, maintenance and it also operates train ferries between the Italian Peninsula and Sicily. RFI was founded on 1 July 2001 following the European directive on rail transport, the Italian rail network used to be managed by Ferrovie dello Stato until 2001
Rete Ferroviaria Italiana
–
Overview
4.
Grandi Stazioni
–
Grandi Stazioni S. p. A. is a member company of Italys Ferrovie dello Stato group. It was created to rehabilitate and manage, even commercially, the 13 biggest Italian railway stations, the Roma Termini railway station was the pilot of the Grandi Stazioni program. In 2016 Grandi Stazioni has failed to deliver the contractual obligation to reconstruct the Praha hlavní nádraží and has lost the lease, Grandi Stazioni has decided to sue the Czech Railway Infrastructure Administration for damages without providing the paperwork proving the actual costs spent. Grandi Stazioni SpA is 60% controlled by Ferrovie dello Stato and 40% by Eurostazioni SpA
Grandi Stazioni
–
Torino Porta Nuova
Grandi Stazioni
–
Firenze Santa Maria Novella
Grandi Stazioni
–
The former main entrance of
Praha hlavní nádraží, operated by Grandi Stazioni
Grandi Stazioni
–
Overview
5.
Leopolda railway
–
The Leopolda railway is a line built in the 1840s connecting the Tuscan cities of Florence, Pisa and Livorno via Empoli. It is 101 km long and fully electrified at 3, 000V DC, passenger traffic is managed by Trenitalia. Following its restoration of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany after the Congress of Vienna, in 1824 death of Ferdinand III the government of the Grand Duchy passed to his son Leopold II. The young king was tolerant of liberal ideas, an advocate for important public works and well disposed towards the new technology, after raising the necessary capital in 40 days, the two financiers established a technical committee of nine members headed by Count Luigi Serristori. Stephenson appointed his assistants William Hopper and William Bray to study the route on the ground, in due course Stephenson proposed a route which corresponded with the current line along the Arno valley, he presented the final draft on the 30 April 1839. This proposal was adopted by Grand Duke Leopold II on 25 February 1840. Work started on a track from Livorno to the port of Livorno. On 27 January 1844, the first trips were made between Pisa to Livorno with two test trains, the first consisting of the locomotive and a first-class train took about twenty invited guests from Pisa to Livorno in just a quarter of an hour. The second had three cars and with two hundred guests and arrived in Livorno in 17 minutes. The official inauguration of the first stretch between Livorno and Pisa occurred a few days later on 13 March and the day it was opened to the public. The line a success, both for goods and passengers, and led to the acceleration of construction. The locomotives, rails and infrastructure were all built by Stephensons company, including the bridge over the Arno, the construction of the railway brought great economic benefits but it also had social implications. In the spring of 1850 the doubling of the line was completed, later, with the construction of the Pisa–Rome line and the opening of the new Livorno Centrale railway station in 1910, the San Marco station was greatly reduced in importance. The deviation was authorised in 1995 after a decade of discussion and this service takes 30 minutes operates 15 times each way per day, with a frequency of about one hour between each train. The full distance takes about 31 minutes, list of railway lines in Italy
Leopolda railway
–
The old Livorno San Marco station
6.
Roma Termini railway station
–
Roma Termini is the main railway station of Rome, Italy. It is named after the district of the name, which in turn took its name from ancient Baths of Diocletian. The station has train services to all major Italian cities, as well as daily international services to Munich, Geneva. With 33 platforms and over 150 million passengers each year, Roma Termini is the second largest railway station in Europe after Paris Gare du Nord, Termini is also the main hub for public transport inside Rome. Both current Rome Metro lines intersect at Termini metro station, and a bus station is located at Piazza dei Cinquecento. However, the tram lines of the city cross at Porta Maggiore. On 23 December 2006, the station was dedicated to Pope John Paul II, on 25 February 1863, Pope Pius IX opened the first, temporary Termini Station as the terminus of the Rome–Frascati, Rome–Civitavecchia and Rome-Ceprano lines. The dilapidated Villa Montalto-Peretti, erected in the 16th Century by Pope Sixtus V, was chosen as the site for new station. It was laid out according to a plan by the architect Salvatore Bianchi, the front of this station reached Via Cavour, which means it stuck some 200 metres deeper into the city than the current station. In 1937, it was decided to replace the old station, as part of the planning for the 1942 Worlds Fair, the old station was demolished, and part of the new station was constructed, but works were halted in 1943 as the Italian fascist government collapsed. The side structures of the design by Angiolo Mazzoni del Grande are still part of the current-day station, the building is characterized by the linear lobby hall, a tall space of monumental dimensions. This great hall is fronted by full height glass walls, and is covered with a roof that consists of a flattened and segmented arch. The vault is structurally integrated with a canopy that extends over the entrance drive. The end result is a gravity-defying modernist structure that recalls a similar achievement of Roman architecture. Its bold presence in the urban fabric expresses the diversity of the Citys history, the anodized aluminium frieze panels set in sequence along the length of the glass wall are the work of artist Amerigo Tot. The composition is about capturing the dynamics in sound and speed of a train, a length of the early Roman Servian Wall is preserved outside the station
Roma Termini railway station
–
Roma Termini
Roma Termini railway station
–
Façade of the first permanent Termini station, circa 1890. The
obelisk on the right, a memorial to Italian casualties in
battle of Dogali, is now in a nearby street, via delle Terme di Diocleziano.
Roma Termini railway station
–
Overview
7.
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
8.
Bologna
–
Bologna is the largest city of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy, located in the heart of an area of about one million. The first settlements back to at least 1000 BC. The city has been a centre, first under the Etruscans. Home to the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna, founded in 1088, Bologna is also an important transportation crossroad for the roads and trains of Northern Italy, where many important mechanical, electronic and nutritional industries have their headquarters. According to the most recent data gathered by the European Regional Economic Growth Index of 2009, Bologna is the first Italian city, Bologna is home to numerous prestigious cultural, economic and political institutions as well as one of the most impressive trade fair districts in Europe. In 2000 it was declared European capital of culture and in 2006, the city of Bologna was selected to participate in the Universal Exposition of Shanghai 2010 together with 45 other cities from around the world. Bologna is also one of the wealthiest cities in Italy, often ranking as one of the top cities in terms of quality of life in the country, after a long decline, Bologna was reborn in the 5th century under Bishop Petronius. According to legend, St. Petronius built the church of S. Stefano. After the fall of Rome, Bologna was a stronghold of the Exarchate of Ravenna in the Po plain. In 728, the city was captured by the Lombard king Liutprand, the Germanic conquerors formed a district called addizione longobarda near the complex of S. Stefano. Charlemagne stayed in this district in 786, traditionally said to be founded in 1088, the University of Bologna is widely considered to be the first university. The university originated as a centre of study of medieval Roman law under major glossators. It numbered Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarca among its students, the medical school is especially famous. In the 12th century, the families engaged in continual internecine fighting. Troops of Pope Julius II besieged Bologna and sacked the artistic treasures of his palace, in 1530, in front of Saint Petronio Church, Charles V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement VII. Then a plague at the end of the 16th century reduced the population from 72,000 to 59,000, the population later recovered to a stable 60, 000–65,000. However, there was also great progress during this era, in 1564, the Piazza del Nettuno and the Palazzo dei Banchi were built, along with the Archiginnasio, the centre of the University
Bologna
–
A collage of the city, showing
Fountain of Neptune,
Piazza Maggiore,
Basilica of San Petronio,
Two towers (Due Torri),
Tagliatelle al
ragù bolognese (dish of Bologna origin), and endless city arcades typical for Bologna
Bologna
–
Porta Maggiore, one of the twelve medieval city gates of Bologna.
Bologna
–
Depiction of a 14th-century fight between the militias of the Guelf and Ghibelline factions in Bologna, from the Croniche of Giovanni Sercambi of Lucca.
Bologna
–
Bologna in 1640.
9.
Pisa
–
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its tower, the city of over 90,834 residents contains more than 20 other historic churches, several medieval palaces. Much of the architecture was financed from its history as one of the Italian maritime republics. The origin of the name, Pisa, is a mystery, while the origin of the city had remained unknown for centuries, the Pelasgi, the Greeks, the Etruscans, and the Ligurians had variously been proposed as founders of the city. Archaeological remains from the 5th century BC confirmed the existence of a city at the sea, trading with Greeks, the presence of an Etruscan necropolis, discovered during excavations in the Arena Garibaldi in 1991, confirmed its Etruscan origins. Ancient Roman authors referred to Pisa as an old city, strabo referred Pisas origins to the mythical Nestor, king of Pylos, after the fall of Troy. Virgil, in his Aeneid, states that Pisa was already a center by the times described. The Virgilian commentator Servius wrote that the Teuti, or Pelops, the maritime role of Pisa should have been already prominent if the ancient authorities ascribed to it the invention of the naval ram. Pisa took advantage of being the port along the western coast from Genoa to Ostia. Pisa served as a base for Roman naval expeditions against Ligurians, Gauls, in 180 BC, it became a Roman colony under Roman law, as Portus Pisanus. In 89 BC, Portus Pisanus became a municipium, Emperor Augustus fortified the colony into an important port and changed the name in Colonia Iulia obsequens. It is supposed that Pisa was founded on the shore, however, due to the alluvial sediments from the Arno and the Serchio, whose mouth lies about 11 kilometres north of the Arnos, the shore moved west. Strabo states that the city was 4.0 kilometres away from the coast, currently, it is located 9.7 kilometres from the coast. However it was a city, with ships sailing up the Arno. In the 90s AD, a complex was built in the city. During the later years of the Roman Empire, Pisa did not decline as much as the cities of Italy, probably thanks to the complexity of its river system. After Charlemagne had defeated the Lombards under the command of Desiderius in 774, Pisa went through a crisis, politically it became part of the duchy of Lucca
Pisa
–
Pisa
Pisa
–
Coat of arms
Pisa
–
Hypothetical map of Pisa in the 5th century AD
Pisa
–
Hypothetical map of Pisa in the 11th century AD
10.
Livorno
–
Livorno is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 159,431 residents in February 2015 and it has traditionally been known in English as Leghorn, pronounced /lɛˈɡɔːrn/ leg-AWRN, or /ˈlɛɡhɔːrn/ LEG-hawrn. The construction of the Via Aurelia coincided with the occupation of the region by the Romans, the natural cove called Liburna, later transformed in Livorna then in Livorno, is a reference to the type of ship, the liburna, used by Roman navy. Others ancient toponyms include, Salviano, Antignano which was the place situated before Ardenza where were the beacons for the ships directed to Porto Pisano. The name Livorna is mentioned for the first time in 1017 as a coastal village, the port. In 1077 a tower was built by Matilda of Tuscany, the Republic of Pisa possessed Livorno from 1103 and built there a quadrangular Fort called Quadratura dei Pisani in defence of the port. Porto Pisano was destroyed after the defeat of the Pisan fleet in the Battle of Meloria in 1284. Livorno was bought in 1399 by the Visconti of Milan, then was sold to the Republic of Genoa in 1405, between 1427 and 1429, the census was held. According to the results of the census, there were 118 families in Livorno, monks, Jews, military personnel, and the homeless were not included in the census. In 1551 the population was 1562 residents, in 1745 it had risen to 32,534, the only remainder of medieval Livorno is a fragment of two towers and a wall, located inside the Fortezza Vecchia. Livorno was designed as an Ideal town during the Italian Renaissance, the Porto Mediceo was overlooked and defended by towers and fortresses leading to the town centre. In the late 1580s, Ferdinando I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, declared Livorno a free port, to regulate this trade, in 1593 the Dukes administration established the Leggi Livornine. These laws were in force until 1603, until the beginning of the Counter-Reformation, the laws established a well-regulated market, protecting merchant activities from crime and racketeering, and instituted laws regarding international trade. Additionally, expanding Christian tolerance, the offered the right of public freedom of religion. Livorno became an enlightened European city and one of the most important ports of the entire Mediterranean Basin, many European foreigners moved to Livorno. These included Christian Protestant reformers who supported such leaders as Martin Luther, John Calvin, French, Dutch, and English arrived, along with Orthodox Greeks. Meanwhile, Jews continued to trade under their previous treaties with the Grand Duke, on 19 March 1606, Ferdinando I de Medici elevated Livorno to the rank of city, the ceremony was held in the Fortezza Vecchia Chapel of Francis of Assisi. The Counter-Reformation increased tensions among Christians, dissidents to the Papacy were targeted by various Catholic absolute rulers, livornos tolerance fell victim to the European wars of religion
Livorno
–
View of Livorno
Livorno
–
Fortifications of Livorno in the 17th century.
Livorno
–
Saint Catherine's church
Livorno
–
View of Livorno from the old fortress
11.
Lucca
–
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio, in a fertile plain near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital of the Province of Lucca and it is famous for its intact Renaissance-era city walls. Lucca was founded by the Etruscans and became a Roman colony in 180 BC, the rectangular grid of its historical centre preserves the Roman street plan, and the Piazza San Michele occupies the site of the ancient forum. Traces of the amphitheatre still may be seen in the Piazza dellAnfiteatro, at the Lucca Conference, in 56 BC, Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus reaffirmed their political alliance known as the First Triumvirate. Frediano, an Irish monk, was bishop of Lucca in the sixth century. At one point, Lucca was plundered by Odoacer, the first Germanic King of Italy, Lucca was an important city and fortress even in the sixth century, when Narses besieged it for several months in 553. Under the Lombards, it was the seat of a duke who minted his own coins, the Holy Face of Lucca, a major relic supposedly carved by Nicodemus, arrived in 742. During the eighth-tenth centuries Lucca was a center of Jewish life, Lucca became prosperous through the silk trade that began in the eleventh century, and came to rival the silks of Byzantium. During the tenth–eleventh centuries Lucca was the capital of the margraviate of Tuscany, more or less independent. After the death of Matilda of Tuscany, the city began to constitute itself an independent commune, for almost 500 years, Lucca remained an independent republic. There were many minor provinces in the region between southern Liguria and northern Tuscany dominated by the Malaspina, Tuscany in this time was a part of feudal Europe, dante’s Divine Comedy includes many references to the great feudal families who had huge jurisdictions with administrative and judicial rights. Dante spent some of his exile in Lucca, in 1273 and again in 1277, Lucca was ruled by a Guelph capitano del popolo named Luchetto Gattilusio. In 1314, internal discord allowed Uguccione della Faggiuola of Pisa to make himself lord of Lucca, the Lucchesi expelled him two years later, and handed over the city to another condottiero, Castruccio Castracani, under whose rule it became a leading state in central Italy. Lucca rivalled Florence until Castracanis death in 1328, on 22 and 23 September 1325, in the battle of Altopascio, Castracani defeated Florences Guelphs. For this he was nominated by Louis IV the Bavarian to become duke of Lucca, Castracanis tomb is in the church of San Francesco. His biography is Machiavellis third famous book on political rule, in 1408, Lucca hosted the convocation intended to end the schism in the papacy. Occupied by the troops of Louis of Bavaria, the city was sold to a rich Genoese, Gherardino Spinola, then seized by John, Lucca had been the second largest Italian city state with a republican constitution to remain independent over the centuries. In 1805, Lucca was conquered by Napoleon, who installed his sister Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi as Princess of Lucca, from 1815 to 1847 it was a Bourbon-Parma duchy
Lucca
–
View of Lucca from the
Torre Guinigi
Lucca
–
Coat of arms
Lucca
–
Duomo di San Martino (the Cathedral).
Lucca
–
Palazzo Pfanner, garden view.
12.
Viareggio
–
Viareggio is a city and comune in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. With a population of over 64,000, it is the second largest city within the province of Lucca, the symbol of the carnival of Viareggio and its official mask is Burlamacco, designed and invented by Uberto Bonetti in 1930. The city traces its roots back to the first half of the 16th century when it became the gate to the sea for the Republic of Lucca. Viareggio hosts the Premio letterario Viareggio Répaci for literature, established in 1929, the entire area of Viareggio extends over the coastal flooding plain of Versilia. Located on the Ligurian Sea, it has 10 kilometres of beaches, of which 6 kilometres are managed by private beach resorts. The municipal area comprises the Lake of Massaciuccoli and several canals, the most important ones of which are known as Burlamacca, Farabola, Fossa dellAbate, and Fosso Le Quindici. The climate is characterised by high levels of humidity and a yearly rainfall off 900 to 1,000 millimetres as a result of the proximity of the Apuanian Alps to the coast. The main winds blow from the south-east, the Libeccio and the Ponente which batter the coast for two to three days in a row and cause severe storms. During winter months, high temperatures can vary between 14–15 °C and 4–5 °C, while night temperatures can reach below 0 °C. In the summer, temperatures peak around 31–33 °C, the very high summer humidity and low cloud cover can mean that the heat index temperature is 20 °C or more higher than the air temperature. In 180 BC the Romans defeated the Ligurians and started colonising the Versilia, the most widely accepted theory recognises the citys name as deriving from the Latin Via Regis, the name of the Medieval road linking the fortification built on the beach to Lucca. According to other historians, instead, the name derives from Vicus Regius and this theory is based on the fact that in imperial times, there was a small inhabited centre in the area known as Gli Ortacci which belonged to the empire, hence regius. Several hillside towns started developing in the Middle Ages, some of which are still active, the area currently hosting the city of Viareggio was still marshland and not inhabited. The first mention of Viareggio dates back to 1169 when a tower guarding the coast was built. A little over two years later, in a building named Turris de Via Regia was erected, taking its name from the road that linked it to Lucca. In the following years the area around Viareggio, was involved in the hostilities between Pisa and Lucca, in their attempt to control over the coastal area. The conflict was spurred by the desire of the Lucchesi to finally gain access to the sea and it is during these years that the feudal Lords of Versilia were forced to abdicate in favour of Castruccio Castracani. In the following years the area upon which Viareggio would eventually be built was marked by a number of battles, invasions
Viareggio
–
A view of one of Viareggio's grand hotels along the passeggiata, with the "Fountain of the Four Seasons" by Beppe Domenici in front.
Viareggio
–
The Hotels Excelsior (right) and Principe di Piemonte (left).
Viareggio
–
The Burlamacca canal.
Viareggio
–
Principe di Piemonte Hotel.
13.
Faenza
–
Faenza is an Italian city and comune, in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated 50 kilometres southeast of Bologna. Faenza is noted for its manufacture of glazed earthenware pottery. In the nearby valleys of the rivers Samoggia and Lamone there are great number of 18th and 19th century stately homes. According to mythology, the name of the first settlement, Faoentia, had Etruscan and Celtic roots, meaning in Latin Splendeo inter deos or I shine among the gods, in modern English. The very name, coming from the Romans who developed this center under the name of Faventia, has become synonymous with ceramics in various languages, including French, here Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius defeated populares army of Gnaeus Papirius Carbo in 82 BC. Here Totila and an Ostrogothic army defeated the Byzantine army in Italy in the Battle of Faventia in 542 CE, after a period of decadence from the 2nd century to the early Middle Ages it regained prosperity from 8th century on. The first consuls were elected in 1141 and in 1155 a podestà was in charge of government of the city, in the wars between Guelphs and Ghibellines that began in the following years Faenza was at first loyal to the emperor. In 1178, however, it changed side and entered the Lombard League, the inner disputes anyway favoured acquisition of power by Maghinardo Pagano, who remained podestà and capitano del popolo for several years. At the beginning of the 14th century the Guelph Manfredi began a rule over Faenza that was to last for almost two centuries, the peak of splendour was reached under Carlo II Manfredi, in the second half of the century, when the city centre was renewed. In 1488 Galeotto Manfredi was assassinated by his wife, his son Astorre III succeeded him, but was in turn killed in Rome as a prisoner of Cesare Borgia, after a brief period of Venetian domination Faenza became part of the Papal States until 1797. Faenzas architectural attractions are concentrated in the two main squares, Piazza del Popolo, lined by two double order porticoed wings, and Piazza della Libertà. Faenza Cathedral, located along the east side of Piazza della Libertà, influenced by Tuscan style, it is one of the highest expressions of Renaissance art in Romagna. Built to Giuliano da Maianos design, it was begun in 1474, the marble decoration of the façade remained unfinished. Goldsmiths Portico opposite the Cathedral this open gallery and monumental fountain with bronzes were built in the first decade of the 17th century. Clock Tower, in front of the entrance to the Piazza, is a rebuilding of the 17th century tower that stood at the crossroad of the cardo. Among the other monuments of the centre are Palazzo Milzetti, the richest and most significant Neoclassical building in the region. In the nearby, the Villa Case Grandi dei Ferniani has a collection of 18th and 19th century Faenza ceramics, Faenza is home to the International Museum of Ceramics. Other interesting art collections are located in the Municipal Art Gallery, the Diocese Museum, the Bendandi Museum, the historic production of Faenza majolica is recognized worldwide as one of the highest moments of artistic creativity expressed through pottery
Faenza
–
Faenza
Faenza
–
Cathedral of Faenza.
Faenza
–
An example of Faenza Majolica in the so-called Garofano style.
14.
Pistoia
–
It is a typical Italian medieval city, and it attracts many tourists, especially in the summer. From the 5th century the city was a bishopric, and during the Lombardic kingdom it was a city and had several privileges. In 1254 the taking of Ghibelline Pistoia by Guelph Florence, was among the origins of the division of the Florentine Guelphs into Black and White factions. Pistoia remained a Florentine holding except for a period in the 14th century, when Castruccio Castracani captured it for Lucca. During the 14th century Ormanno Tedici was one of the Lords of the city, dante mentioned in his Divina Commedia the free town of Pistoia as the home town of Vanni Fucci, who is encountered in Inferno tangled up in a knot of snakes while cursing God. In 1786 a famous Jansenist episcopal synod was convened in Pistoia, according to one theory, Pistoia lent its name to the pistol, which started to be manufactured in Pistoia during the 16th century. But today, it is notable for the extensive plant nurseries spreading around it. Consequently, Pistoia is also famous for its markets, as is the nearby Pescia. Although not visited as much as cities in Tuscany, mostly due to the citys industrial environs, Pistoia presents a well-preserved. The original Cathedral of San Zeno burned down in 1108, but was rebuilt during the 12th century, the façade has a prominent Romanesque style, while the interior received heavy Baroque additions which were removed during the 1960s. Its outstanding feature is the Altar of St James, an exemplar of the silversmiths craft begun in 1287 and its various sections contain 628 figures, the total weighing nearly a ton. The Romanesque belfry, standing at some 67 metres, was erected over an ancient Lombard tower, in the square is also the 14th-century Baptistry, in Gothic style, with white and green striped marble revetment characteristic of the Tuscan Gothic. The Palazzo dei Vescovi, is characterized by a Gothic loggiato on the first floor and it is known from 1091, initially as a fortified noble residence. In the 12th century it received a more decorated appearance, with mullioned windows and frescoes, in the 14th century, the Chapel of St. Nicholas was decorated with stories of the namesake saint and other martyrs. The Tower of Catilina is from the High Middle Ages, basilica of Our Lady of Humility, finished by Giorgio Vasari with a 59-metre high cupola. The original project was by Giuliano da Sangallo, but works were begun in 1495 by Ventura Vitoni, the dome was commissioned by Cosimo I de Medici to Vasari, the lantern completed in 1568 and the church consecrated in 1582. In the apse is a painting by Bernardino del Signoraccio, santissima Annunziata, baroque church famous for its Chiostro dei Morti. Damaged during World War II bombardments, it is now used as an exhibition center, San Giovanni Battista al Tempio, owned for a while by the Knights Templar and then by the Hospitaller Knights
Pistoia
–
The Bell Tower of the Cathedral in Piazza Duomo.
Pistoia
–
The octagonal baptistery.
Pistoia
–
The Duomo
Pistoia
–
Interior of
Basilica of Our Lady of Humility.
15.
Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies
–
Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies was Grand Duchess of Tuscany from 1833 to 1859 as the consort of Leopold II. As other women of her family, she was always called Maria Antonietta, a common and graceful form of Maria Antonia. When she was born, the Neapolitan court had moved to Sicily because Napoleonic troops have invaded the Continental part of the Reign. After few months the Royal Family could return to Naples thanks to the Congress of Vienna and she was particularly close to her brother the future Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies who affectionately dubbed her Totò. She was also close to her sister in law, Maria Christina of Savoy who came to the court in 1832, in 1833, when she was eighteen, Maria Antonia married Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who was seventeen years older. They were first cousins because Francis I, Maria Antonias father, marie Antoinette and Leopold had ten children, Archduchess Maria Isabella of Austria. Married her maternal uncle Prince Francis, Count of Trapani, youngest son of Francis I of the Two Sicilies, Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, Princess of Tuscany, Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria, Princess of Tuscany. Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria, Prince of Tuscany and he married Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, second daughter of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria. Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, Princess of Tuscany, archduke Rainer of Austria, Prince of Tuscany. Archduchess Maria Luisa of Austria, Princess of Tuscany, archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria, Prince of Tuscany. Archduke Johann Salvator of Austria, Prince of Tuscany, there was speculation that he survived, using the alias. In her honour were baptised in Florence the Piazza Maria Antonia – today Piazza dellIndipendeza, the railway line Maria Antonia and he had just refused to abdicate in favour of his son Ferdinand
Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies
–
Maria Antonia
16.
Santa Maria Novella
–
Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated just across from the main railway station named after it. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the citys principal Dominican church, the church, the adjoining cloister, and chapter house contain a multiplicity of art treasures and funerary monuments. Especially famous are frescoes by masters of Gothic and early Renaissance and they were financed by the most important Florentine families, who ensured themselves funerary chapels on consecrated ground. This church was called Novella because it was built on the site of the 9th-century oratory of Santa Maria delle Vigne, when the site was assigned to Dominican Order in 1221, they decided to build a new church and adjoining cloister. The church was designed by two Dominican friars, Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi, building began in the mid-13th century, and was finished about 1360 under the supervision of Friar Iacopo Talenti with the completion of the Romanesque-Gothic bell tower and sacristy. At that time, only the part of the Tuscan gothic façade was finished. This same design continues in the wall around the old churchyard. The church was consecrated in 1420, alberti had also designed the façade for the Rucellai Palace in Florence. The four columns with Corinthian capitals on the part of the façade were also added. The pediment and the frieze are clearly inspired by antiquity, but the S-curved scrolls in the part are new. The scrolls, found in all over Italy, all draw their origins from the design of this church. The frieze below the pediment carries the name of the patron, the vast interior is based on a basilica plan, designed as a Latin cross, and is divided into a nave, two aisles with stained-glass windows and a short transept. The large nave is 100 metres long and gives an impression of austerity, there is a trompe loeil effect by which towards the apse the nave seems longer than its actual length. The slender compound piers between the nave and the aisles are progressively closer the deeper the observer moves into the nave, the ceiling in the vault consists of pointed arches with the four diagonal buttresses in black and white. The interior also contains Corinthian columns that were inspired by Greek, the stained-glass windows date from the 14th and 15th century, such as 15th century Madonna and Child and St. John and St. Philip, both in the Filippo Strozzi Chapel. Some stained glass windows have been damaged in the course of centuries and have been replaced, the one on the façade, a depiction of the Coronation of Mary, dates from the 14th century, and is based on a design of Andrea di Bonaiuto da Firenze. The pulpit, commissioned by the Rucellai family in 1443, was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi and this pulpit has a particular historical significance, since it was from this pulpit that the first verbal attack was made on Galileo Galilei, leading eventually to his indictment. The Holy Trinity, situated almost halfway along the aisle, is a pioneering early Renaissance work of Masaccio, showing his new ideas about perspective
Santa Maria Novella
–
The façade of Santa Maria Novella, completed by Leon Battista Alberti in 1470.
Santa Maria Novella
–
Via degli Avelli side
Santa Maria Novella
–
The Holy Trinity by Masaccio.
Santa Maria Novella
–
Fresco by
Andrea di Bonaiuto da Firenze in the Spanish Chapel: Allegory of the Active and Triumphant Church and of the Dominican order (c. 1365)
17.
Unification of Italy
–
The process began in 1815 with the Congress of Vienna and was completed in 1871 when Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The memory of the Risorgimento is central to both Italian politics and Italian historiography, for short period is one of the most contested. Italian nationalism was based among intellectuals and political activists, often operating from exile, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Roman province of Italy remained united under the Ostrogothic Kingdom and later disputed between the Kingdom of the Lombards and the Byzantine Empire. Following conquest by the Frankish Empire, the title of King of Italy merged with the office of Holy Roman Emperor. However, the emperor was a foreigner who had little concern for the governance of Italy as a state, as a result. This situation persisted through the Renaissance but began to deteriorate with the rise of modern nation-states in the modern period. Italy, including the Papal States, then became the site of proxy wars between the powers, notably the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and France. Harbingers of national unity appeared in the treaty of the Italic League, in 1454, leading Renaissance Italian writers Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini expressed opposition to foreign domination. Petrarch stated that the ancient valour in Italian hearts is not yet dead in Italia Mia, Niccolò Machiavelli later quoted four verses from Italia Mia in The Prince, which looked forward to a political leader who would unite Italy to free her from the barbarians. I am an Italian, he explained, the French Republic spread republican principles, and the institutions of republican governments promoted citizenship over the rule of the Bourbons and Habsburgs and other dynasties. The reaction against any outside control challenged Napoleons choice of rulers, as Napoleons reign began to fail, the rulers he had installed tried to keep their thrones further feeding nationalistic sentiments. After Napoleon fell, the Congress of Vienna restored the pre-Napoleonic patchwork of independent governments, vincenzo Gioberti, a Piedmontese priest, had suggested a confederation of Italian states under leadership of the Pope in his 1842 book, Of the Moral and Civil Primacy of the Italians. Pope Pius IX at first appeared interested but he turned reactionary, Giuseppe Mazzini and Carlo Cattaneo wanted the unification of Italy under a federal republic. That proved too extreme for most nationalists, the middle position was proposed by Cesare Balbo as a confederation of separate Italian states led by Piedmont. One of the most influential revolutionary groups was the Carbonari, a political discussion group formed in Southern Italy early in the 19th century. After 1815, Freemasonry in Italy was repressed and discredited due to its French connections, a void was left that the Carbonari filled with a movement that closely resembled Freemasonry but with a commitment to Italian nationalism and no association with Napoleon and his government. The response came from middle class professionals and business men and some intellectuals, the Carbonari disowned Napoleon but nevertheless were inspired by the principles of the French Revolution regarding liberty, equality and fraternity. They developed their own rituals, and were strongly anticlerical, the Carbonari movement spread across Italy
Unification of Italy
–
Five Days of Milan, 18–22 March 1848
Unification of Italy
–
Dante Alighieri
Unification of Italy
–
Niccolò Machiavelli
Unification of Italy
–
Guglielmo Pepe
18.
La Nazione
–
La Nazione is one of the oldest regional newspapers in Italy being established on 8 July 1859. The paper is based in Florence, La Nazione was founded by Bettino Ricasoli, interim head of the Tuscan government. The first issue appeared on 8 July 1859 and its title reflects the hope of Ricasoli for a unified Italy. La Nazione merged with Cavours famous political newspaper, Il_Risorgimento_, based in Florence, Italy, it is published in fourteen editions including those for the regions of Tuscany, Umbria and for the Province of La Spezia in Liguria. The early contributors include Edmondo de Amicis, Carlo Lorenzini, Giovanni Spadolini, Giuseppe Prezzolini, in 2004 the owners were Monrif and the RCS MediaGroup. The publisher of La Nazione is Poligrafici Editoriali, the paper is published in tabloid format. The 1988 circulation of La Nazione was 288,000 copies, between 1998 and 2001 the paper had a 30% share of the Italian language newspaper market in Tuscany. The circulation of the paper was 149,997 copies in 2001 and its circulation was 145,000 copies in 2003 and 144,463 copies in 2004. The paper had a circulation of 138,000 copies in 2007 and 136,993 copies in 2008, in 2012 La Nazione sold 52,653,953 copies. In addition to an issue was organized series of conferences that have enhanced the role of Bettino Ricasoli when the foundation of the newspaper. It has also produced a book at newsstand in January 2009. The book, written by the signing of The Nation has been enriched by Maurizio Naldini pictorial performed by Luca Parenti. The volume is divided into three parts, introduced by four professors and historians, Zefiro Ciuffoletti, Cosimo Cecchi and Sandro Rogai
La Nazione
La Nazione
–
La Nazione editorial office in
Florence
19.
Romano Romanelli
–
Romano Romanelli was an Italian artist, writer, a naval officer. He is best known for his sculptures and his medals, Romanelli Romanelli was born in Florence, the son of sculptor Raffaello Romanelli. Romano’s works occupy an important place in the Avant-Garde movement and form part of the legacy of the Romanelli dynasty. He is buried in the Soffiano cemetery in Florence and his grandfather Pasquale Romanelli had been a collaborator of Lorenzo Bartolini, his father was the acclaimed and talented Raffaello Romanelli He was a decorated Naval officer in the Italian Navy. As a commanding officer in Gibraltar, Romano was to meet Dorothea Hayter and she was the daughter of Rev. William Thomas Baring Hayter. They had three children - a son, Raffaello Romanelli, and two daughters, Costanza married to Bettino, 31st Baron Ricasoli and Ilaria married to Arnaud Faure. He was also a wine producer creating at the turn of the XX century the Tenuta di Riseccoli winery in Greve in Chianti and he also held farms in Somalia, on the Jubba river, where he had plantations of banana trees and grapefruits. In 1965 his wife, whilst driving to the hospital she had created, was sadly murdered by natives. In 2012, his daughters Costanza and Ilaria donated their collection of two thousand drawings by their father to the Florentine Galleria d’Arte Moderna housed in the Palazzo Pitti. As a boy under the guidance of his father, Romano showed an aptitude for sculpting, but Romano first found a career in the Italian Navy. After studying Mathematics at Pisa University, Romano attended the Italian Naval Academy at Livorno, as a cadet and junior officer in the Italian Navy, he made five voyages, visiting the Mediterranean, North America, and Europe including the Azores and Madeira. He served for three years in the Far East, including China, Japan and Siberia, the Dutch and British East Indies, the Indian Ocean, and he left service in 1910 for medical reasons and began to work as a sculptor. Recalled into the Navy for the Italo-Turkish War in 1911-12, he served as a navigator in an armed cruiser patrolling in the area between Corsica and Palermo, Sicily. Recalled once again in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I, he was appointed officer in command of the Southern Adriatic and he was decorated and became an honorary member of the British Legion. During his leaves from naval service Romano found time to develop his sculpting skills and his personal style continued to evolve through his lifetime as he sought to master his craft. In 1905 and 1906 he made two portraits, including one of his brother Renzo, the sculpture alluded to Mussolinis Italy subjugation and conquest of African countries and lands. Romano was traditionally schooled at his father’s studio, learning the techniques of modelling clay, whilst gaining a grounding in the technical elements of sculpting from his father, from the outset Romano’s style was different. The development of his own style was aided by frequenting the studio of other sculptors, initially Giussepe Renda from Naples
Romano Romanelli
–
Detail of the historical frieze at the Voortrekker monument
20.
Marcello Piacentini
–
Marcello Piacentini was an Italian urban theorist and one of the main proponents of Italian Fascist architecture. Born in Rome, he was the son of architect Pio Piacentini, Piacentini became an important colonial architect, particularly in Cyrenaica in Eastern Libya. The style of his buildings is characteristic of the Neo-Moorish period of Italian colonial architecture in Libya in the 1920s and this is evident in his Albergo Italia as well as the Berenice Theatre in Benghazi. Piacentini was made manager of all Italian building works in Cyrenaica. He was also professor of Urban Planning at La Sapienza, of which he was also president, after the fall of the Fascist regime he did not work as architect for several years. Albert Speer e Marcello Piacentini, larchitettura del totalitarismo negli anni trenta, de Rose, Arianna S. Marcello Piacentini, Opere 1903-1926. Luigi Monzo, trasformismo architettonico – Piacentinis Kirche Sacro Cuore di Cristo Re in Rom im Kontext der kirchenbaulichen Erneuerung im faschistischen Italien, in, jahrbuch der Guernica-Gesellschaft,15.2013, p. 83-100. Luigi Monzo, Review to Beese, Christine, Marcello Piacentini, moderner Städtebau in Italien, Berlin 2016. In, architectura, Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Baukunst,45. 2015/1, p. 88-91
Marcello Piacentini
–
Marcello Piacentini portrayed with the uniform of a member of the
Royal Academy of Italy.
Marcello Piacentini
–
The new campus of
Rome University (1935).
21.
Fascio littorio
–
Fasces (/ˈfæsiːz/, is a bound bundle of wooden rods, sometimes including an axe with its blade emerging. The fasces had its origin in the Etruscan civilization, and was passed on to ancient Rome, the image has survived in the modern world as a representation of magisterial or collective power. It should not be confused with the related term fess, which in French heraldry is called a fasce, little is known about the Etruscans, but a few artifacts have been found showing a thin bundle of rods surrounding a two-headed axe. Fasces symbolism might be derived via the Etruscans from the eastern Mediterranean, with the labrys, the Anatolian, and Minoan double-headed axe, later incorporated into the praetorial fasces. By the time of the Roman Republic, the fasces had developed into a bundle of birch rods, sometimes surrounding a single-headed axe. On certain special occasions, the fasces might be decorated with a laurel wreath, the symbolism of the fasces suggested strength through unity, a single rod is easily broken, while the bundle is very difficult to break. This symbolism occurs in Aesops fable The Old Man and his Sons, a similar story is told about the Bulgar Khan Kubrat, giving rise to the Bulgarian National motto Union gives strength. The axe represented the power over life or death through the death penalty, bundled birch twigs symbolise corporal punishment. The fasces lictoriae symbolised power and authority in ancient Rome, beginning with the early Roman Kingdom and continuing through the Republican, by Republican times, use of the fasces was surrounded with tradition and protocol. A corps of apparitores called lictors each carried fasces before a magistrate, the highest magistrate, the dictator, was entitled to twenty-four lictors and fasces, the consul to twelve, the proconsul eleven, the praetor six, the propraetor five, and the curule aediles two. Another part of the symbolism developed in Republican Rome was the inclusion of an axe in the fasces. The axe indicated that the judicial powers included capital punishment. Lictors attending the dictator kept the axes in their fasces even inside the Pomerium—a sign that the dictator had the power in his own hands. An occasional variation on the fasces was the addition of a laurel wreath and this occurred during the celebration of a Triumph - essentially a victory parade through Rome by a returning victorious general. Previously, all Republican Roman commanding generals had held office with imperium. The term is related to the modern Italian word fascio, used in the century to designate peasant cooperatives. Numerous governments and other authorities have used the image of the fasces for a symbol of power since the end of the Roman Empire. It also has used to hearken back to the Roman republic
Fascio littorio
–
Most visibly, fasces bestride the U.S. flag in the
house chamber of the
US Capitol.
Fascio littorio
–
National Guard Bureau insignia
Fascio littorio
–
Mercury dime reverse.
Fascio littorio
–
1989 U.S. Congress Bicentennial commemorative coin reverse, depicting
mace of the United States House of Representatives
22.
Benito Mussolini
–
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 to 1943. He ruled constitutionally until 1925, when he dropped all pretense of democracy, known as Il Duce, Mussolini was the founder of Italian Fascism. In 1912 Mussolini was the member of the National Directorate of the Italian Socialist Party. Mussolini was expelled from the PSI for withdrawing his support for the stance on neutrality in World War I. He served in the Royal Italian Army during the war until he was wounded and discharged in 1917, Mussolini denounced the PSI, his views now centering on nationalism instead of socialism, and later founded the fascist movement. Following the March on Rome in October 1922 he became the youngest Prime Minister in Italian history until the appointment of Matteo Renzi in February 2014, within five years he had established dictatorial authority by both legal and extraordinary means, aspiring to create a totalitarian state. Mussolini remained in power until he was deposed by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1943, a few months later, he became the leader of the Italian Social Republic, a German client regime in northern Italy, he held this post until his death in 1945. Mussolini had sought to delay a major war in Europe until at least 1942, however, Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, resulting in declarations of war by France and the United Kingdom and starting World War II. In the summer of 1941 Mussolini sent Italian forces to participate in the invasion of the Soviet Union, and war with the United States followed in December. On 24 July 1943, soon after the start of the Allied invasion of Italy, the Grand Council of Fascism voted against him, on 12 September 1943, Mussolini was rescued from prison in the Gran Sasso raid by German special forces. In late April 1945, with total defeat looming, Mussolini attempted to escape north and his body was then taken to Milan, where it was hung upside down at a service station for public viewing and to provide confirmation of his demise. Mussolini was born in Dovia di Predappio, a town in the province of Forlì in Romagna on 29 July 1883. During the Fascist era, Predappio was dubbed Duces town, pilgrims went to Predappio and Forlì, to see the birthplace of Mussolini. His father, Alessandro Mussolini, was a blacksmith and a Socialist, while his mother, Benito was the eldest of his parents three children. His siblings Arnaldo and Edvige followed, as a young boy, Mussolini would spend some time helping his father in his smithy. His fathers political outlook combined views of anarchist figures like Carlo Cafiero and Mikhail Bakunin, the military authoritarianism of Garibaldi, in 1902, at the anniversary of Garibaldis death, Benito Mussolini made a public speech in praise of the republican nationalist. The conflict between his parents about religion meant that, unlike most Italians, Mussolini was not baptized at birth, as a compromise with his mother, Mussolini was sent to a boarding school run by Salesian monks. After joining a new school, Mussolini achieved good grades, in 1902, Mussolini emigrated to Switzerland, partly to avoid military service
Benito Mussolini
–
Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
–
Birthplace of Benito Mussolini in
Predappio, now used as a museum
Benito Mussolini
–
Mussolini's father, Alessandro
Benito Mussolini
–
Mussolini's mother, Rosa
23.
National Fascist Party
–
The National Fascist Party was an Italian political party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of fascism. The party ruled Italy from 1922 when Fascists took power with the March on Rome, to 1943, preceding the PNF, Mussolinis first established political party was known as the Fascist Revolutionary Party, which was, according to Mussolini, founded in 1915. After poor November 1919 election results, the PFR was eventually renamed the National Fascist Party in 1921 and this economic system intended to resolve class conflict through collaboration between the classes. It was opposed to Marxist socialism because of its opposition to nationalism. It believed the success of Italian nationalism required respect for tradition, the PNF assumed Italian government in 1922, consequent to the Fascist Leader Mussolinis oratory and Blackshirt paramilitary political violence. In September 1919, the nationalist response of outraged war hero Gabriele dAnnunzio was declaring the establishment of the Italian Regency of Carnaro, consequent to the Treaty of Rapallo the metropolitan Italian military deposed the Regency of Duce D’Annunzio on Christmas 1920. Founded in Rome on 9 November 1921, the National Fascist Party marked the transformation of the paramilitary Fasci Italiani di Combattimento into a coherent political group. The Fascist Party was instrumental in directing and popularizing support for Mussolinis ideology, compared to its predecessor, the PNF abandoned republicanism to turn decisively towards the right-wing of the political spectrum. On 22 October 1922 Mussolini attempted a coup détat which was titled by the Fascist propaganda, generals Gustavo Fara and Sante Ceccherini assisted to the preparations of the March of 18 October. Other organizers of the march included the Marquis Dino Perrone Compagni, on 24 October 1922, Mussolini declared before 60,000 people at the Fascist Congress in Naples, Our program is simple, we want to rule Italy. Meanwhile, the Blackshirts, who had occupied the Po plain, on 26 October, former prime minister Antonio Salandra warned current Prime Minister Luigi Facta that Mussolini was demanding his resignation and that he was preparing to march on Rome. However, Facta did not believe Salandra and thought that Mussolini would govern quietly at his side, to meet the threat posed by the bands of fascist troops now gathering outside Rome, Luigi Facta ordered a state of siege for Rome. Having had previous conversations with the king about the repression of fascist violence, however, King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign the military order. On 28 October, the King handed power to Mussolini, who was supported by the military, the class. Mussolini was asked to form his cabinet on 29 October 1922, Mussolini thus legally reached power, in accordance with the Statuto Albertino, the Italian Constitution. The March on Rome was not the conquest of power which Fascism later celebrated and this transition was made possible by the surrender of public authorities in the face of fascist intimidation. Many business and financial leaders believed it would be possible to manipulate Mussolini, whose speeches and policies emphasized free market. On 15 December the Grand Council of Fascism was founded, it was the organ of the PNF
National Fascist Party
–
Mussolini with Fascist
Blackshirts during the
March on Rome.
National Fascist Party
–
National Fascist Party Partito Nazionale Fascista
National Fascist Party
–
Benito Mussolini, leader of the Fascist Party.
National Fascist Party
–
Italian war poster.
24.
I. K. Brunel
–
Brunel built dockyards, the Great Western Railway, a series of steamships including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship, and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering, though Brunels projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. Brunel set the standard for a railway, using careful surveys to minimise grades and curves. This necessitated expensive construction techniques, new bridges, new viaducts, one controversial feature was the wide gauge, a broad gauge of 7 ft 1⁄4 in, instead of what was later to be known as standard gauge of 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in. Brunel astonished Britain by proposing to extend the Great Western Railway westward to North America by building steam-powered iron-hulled ships and he designed and built three ships that revolutionised naval engineering, the Great Western, the Great Britain, and the Great Eastern. In 2002, Brunel was placed second in a BBC public poll to determine the 100 Greatest Britons, in 2006, the bicentenary of his birth, a major programme of events celebrated his life and work under the name Brunel 200. Brunels name is an amalgamation of his parents names and he inherited the family name of his father, and his middle name is his mothers surname. Brunels first name, Isambard, comes from his fathers middle name, Isambard is a Norman name of Germanic origin, meaning iron-bright. A cognate name is the German surname Eisenbarth, which can still be found today among Bavarians and German-Americans and he had two older sisters, Sophia and Emma, and the whole family moved to London in 1808 for his fathers work. Brunel had a childhood, despite the familys constant money worries. His father taught him drawing and observational techniques from the age of four, during this time he also learned fluent French and the basic principles of engineering. He was encouraged to draw interesting buildings and identify any faults in their structure, when Brunel was eight he was sent to Dr Morrells boarding school in Hove, where he learned the classics. When Brunel was 15, his father Marc, who had accumulated debts of over £5,000, was sent to a debtors prison. After three months went by with no prospect of release, Marc let it be known that he was considering an offer from the Tsar of Russia. In August 1821, facing the prospect of losing a prominent engineer, Brunel subsequently studied under the prominent master clockmaker and horologist Abraham-Louis Breguet, who praised Brunels potential in letters to his father. In late 1822, having completed his apprenticeship, Brunel returned to England, Brunels father, Marc, was the chief engineer, and the project was funded by the Thames Tunnel Company. The composition of the riverbed at Rotherhithe was often more than waterlogged sediment. The latter incident, in 1828, killed the two most senior miners, and Brunel himself narrowly escaped death and he was seriously injured, and spent six months recuperating
I. K. Brunel
–
Isambard Kingdom Brunel by the launching chains of the
SS Great Eastern by
Robert Howlett, 1857 (detail)
I. K. Brunel
–
The
Thames Tunnel in 2005.
I. K. Brunel
–
The
Clifton Suspension Bridge spans
Avon Gorge, linking
Clifton in Bristol to
Leigh Woods in North
Somerset.
I. K. Brunel
–
The
Maidenhead Railway Bridge, at the time the largest span for a brick arch bridge.
25.
Heating plant and Main controls cabin, Florence
–
The Heating plant and Main controls cabin is a technical facilities building in Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station designed by architect Angiolo Mazzoni in 1929. The complex is recognized as one of the masterpiece of Futurist architecture, at that time Mazzoni was assigned to Projects and Construction division of the Ferrovie dello Stato. The heating plant was designed to house four boilerplates for the new central heating system. The heating plant was commissioned to Mazzoni in 1929, later he was also charged with the main controls cabin. The project was approved on 9 February 1932 with a decree by Costanzo Ciano, minister of postal and telegraph services, in 1933, Mazzoni obtained second place at the competition for the Santa Maria Novella station, equally with Sot-Sass, Ferrati and Pascoletti. The competition was won by Gruppo Toscano, the iron works, the four boilerplates and their chimneys, the catwalk above them and the helix stairs was contracted to Anonima Pignone in February 1934. The complex of the plant and the main controls cabin is placed along via della Ghiacciaia. On the other side it overlooks directly the rails, placed a floor up to the roadway, two main blocks, The heating plant, at the ground floor on via della Ghiacciaia, with two technical rooms, one for the ashes and one for the steam accumulators. On the first floor, the room and on the second floor the room with the hoppers to feed the boilers. These two main buildings are joined and completed three other blocks, The two floors building at the corner with via della Citadella. On ground floor the offices and the rooms with the pumps, offices also on the first floor. The building between the plant and the main controls cabin. On ground floor the local for the coal crushers, on the first floor the area to coal and on the second floor. This building is completed with a hinge, with the stairs, the elevator. The complex structure is in reinforced concrete with different types of briks cladding, the retaining wall on rail side, with the rise of 5,20 m between the street floor and rail floor, is made on stones, tapered with a foundation 2 meters. Since after the completion the building aroused vivid admiration and critics, also was sharply bashed, defined as an hideous booth painted in red, and only from the 1970s the project has been reviewed in the general reevalutation of Mazzonis work. The revaluation started with Carlo Severati, who written some articles in charge of Bruno Zevi in 1975, and with Alfredo Forti, also architect Léon Krier, in the same year, described the heating plant as the greatest masterpiece of Futurist-Constructivist-Modernist architecture. After this revalutation, the complex has been defined as, The other gem that can match, on the level of quality, against the coeval train station
Heating plant and Main controls cabin, Florence
–
The Squadra Rialzo building and the water tower also are part of the plan around the new station and designed by Mazzoni
26.
Angiolo Mazzoni
–
Angiolo Mazzoni was a prolific state architect and engineer of the Italian Fascist government of the 1920s and 1930s. Mazzoni designed hundreds of buildings, post offices and train stations during the Interwar period in Italy. Mazzoni was born in Bologna, was moved to Rome in 1905 with his parents, in 1920 Mazzoni practiced for about a year under Marcello Piacentini. Politically astute, Mazzoni also joined the National Fascist Party in 1926 and he owed much of his success and influence to his intimate connections with the Fascist regime, and played a decisive role in using architecture to consolidate positive images of Fascism. The Fascist regime engaged in a national program of public works. As chief architect for the Ministry of Communications and for the State Railways, Italy still contains hundreds of his large and small railway and telecommunications buildings, extant and functioning, a tribute to his mastery of robust, hard-working construction. In many of these he collaborated with architect and engineer Roberto Narducci, Mazzonis relationship with Fascism made it politically difficult for subsequent scholars to acknowledge his importance. Construction on his commission, the vast Roma Termini railway station, was suspended in wartime Italy. Other important buildings by Mazzoni were crudely altered or demolished in the post-war period and his own personal advocacy of Fascism worked against his legacy, even after the end of World War II when he voluntarily exiled himself in Bogota, Colombia until 1963. More recently academics and scholars such as Ezio Godoli, Giorgio Muratore, and Enrico Crispolti have begun a rehabilitation process and his archive is now kept at the Museum of Modern Art in Trento, and efforts are being made to ensure the conservation of his most important surviving buildings. Mazzonis early works shows connections to the Viennese School of Josef Hoffman and Otto Wagner, stylistically eclectic, Mazzoni joined in 1933 to the so-called second phase of the Italian artistic movement Futurism, signing in 1934 the Manifesto of Aerial Architecture with F. T. Marinetti and the journalist Mino Somenzi, architectural evolution of the futurist aeropittura, throughout his work, his stylistic approach varied dramatically, from the overtly bombastic and classical to the dynamically modern. In every case, his handling of composition, solids and voids, light and shade, surfaces and materials, was conceived, spirited, poetic, erudite, strong. Trento had a significance for the Fascist regime as the capital of the Trentino-Alto Adige region. The station stands out due to its use of steel, glass. The station offers platforms on four tracks and its design is intended to facilitate the flow of people from the street to the trains. Wide wood-frame doors open on the entire facade, a wide, shallow staircase leads to the underpassage to the 2nd and 3rd tracks. Spacious waiting space is provided under cover or indoor, Mazzoni was more than an architect
Angiolo Mazzoni
–
Trento station, front colonnade
Angiolo Mazzoni
–
Angiolo Mazzoni
27.
Gothic architecture
–
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture and its characteristics include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress. Gothic architecture is most familiar as the architecture of many of the cathedrals, abbeys. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings, for this reason a study of Gothic architecture is largely a study of cathedrals and churches. A series of Gothic revivals began in mid-18th-century England, spread through 19th-century Europe and continued, largely for ecclesiastical and university structures, the term Gothic architecture originated as a pejorative description. Hence, François Rabelais, also of the 16th century, imagines an inscription over the door of his utopian Abbey of Thélème, Here enter no hypocrites, slipping in a slighting reference to Gotz and Ostrogotz. Authorities such as Christopher Wren lent their aid in deprecating the old medieval style, the Company disapproved of several of these new manners, which are defective and which belong for the most part to the Gothic. Gothic architecture is the architecture of the medieval period, characterised by use of the pointed arch. As an architectural style, Gothic developed primarily in ecclesiastical architecture, the greatest number of surviving Gothic buildings are churches. The Gothic style is most particularly associated with the cathedrals of Northern France. At the end of the 12th century, Europe was divided into a multitude of city states, norway came under the influence of England, while the other Scandinavian countries and Poland were influenced by trading contacts with the Hanseatic League. Angevin kings brought the Gothic tradition from France to Southern Italy, throughout Europe at this time there was a rapid growth in trade and an associated growth in towns. Germany and the Lowlands had large flourishing towns that grew in comparative peace, in trade and competition with other, or united for mutual weal. Civic building was of importance to these towns as a sign of wealth. England and France remained largely feudal and produced grand domestic architecture for their kings, dukes and bishops, the Catholic Church prevailed across Europe at this time, influencing not only faith but also wealth and power. Bishops were appointed by the lords and they often ruled as virtual princes over large estates. The early Medieval periods had seen a growth in monasticism, with several different orders being prevalent. Foremost were the Benedictines whose great abbey churches vastly outnumbered any others in France, a part of their influence was that towns developed around them and they became centers of culture, learning and commerce
Gothic architecture
–
Façade of
Reims Cathedral, France
Gothic architecture
–
The interior of the western end of Reims Cathedral
Gothic architecture
–
Overview of Reims Cathedral from north-east
Gothic architecture
–
South side of
Chartres Cathedral.
28.
Nazi concentration camps
–
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled before and during the Second World War. Used to hold and torture political opponents and union organizers, the camps initially held around 45,000 prisoners, Heinrich Himmlers SS took full control of the police and concentration camps throughout Germany in 1934–35. Himmler expanded the role of the camps to holding so-called racially undesirable elements of German society, such as Jews, criminals, homosexuals, and Romani. The number of people in camps, which had fallen to 7,500, grew again to 21,000 by the start of World War II and peaked at 715,000 in January 1945. The concentration camps were administered since 1934 by Concentration Camps Inspectorate which in 1942 was merged into SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt and were guarded by SS-Totenkopfverbände, use of the word concentration came from the idea of using documents confining to one place a group of people who are in some way undesirable. The term itself originated in the camps set up in Cuba by General Valeriano Weyler in 1897. Concentration camps had in the past been used by the U. S. against Native Americans, between 1904 and 1908, the Schutztruppe of the Imperial German Army operated concentration camps in German South-West Africa as part of their genocide of the Herero and Namaqua peoples. The Shark Island Concentration Camp in Lüderitz was the biggest and the one with the harshest conditions, when the Nazis came to power in Germany, they quickly moved to suppress all real or potential opposition. The general public was intimidated through arbitrary psychological terror of the special courts, especially during the first years of their existence these courts had a strong deterrent effect against any form of political protest. The first camp in Germany, Dachau, was founded in March 1933, the press announcement said that the first concentration camp is to be opened in Dachau with an accommodation for 5,000 people. Dachau was the first regular concentration camp established by the German coalition government of National Socialist Workers Party, Heinrich Himmler, then Chief of Police of Munich, officially described the camp as the first concentration camp for political prisoners. On 26 June 1933, Himmler appointed Theodor Eicke commandant of Dachau, in addition, the remaining SA-run camps were taken over by the SS. Dachau served as a prototype and model for the other Nazi concentration camps, almost every community in Germany had members taken there. The newspapers continuously reported of the removal of the enemies of the Reich to concentration camps making the population more aware of their presence. There were jingles warning as early as 1935, Dear God, make me dumb, between 1933 and the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, more than 3. Many of these Germans had served in government, the military, or in civil positions, as a result of the Holocaust, the term concentration camp carries many of the connotations of extermination camp and is sometimes used synonymously. Regardless of the circumstances of the camp, which can vary a great deal. During the war, new Nazi concentration camps for undesirables spread throughout the continent, Camps were being created near the centers of dense populations, often focusing on areas with large communities of Jews, Polish intelligentsia, Communists or Romani
Nazi concentration camps
–
The Dachau camp was created for holding political opponents. In time for Christmas 1933 roughly 600 of the inmates were released as part of a pardoning action. The picture above depicts a speech by camp commander
Theodor Eicke to prisoners about to be released.
Nazi concentration camps
–
U.S. Army soldiers show the German civilians of
Weimar the corpses found in
Buchenwald Concentration Camp
Nazi concentration camps
–
Inspection by the Nazi party and
Himmler at the Dachau Protective Custody Camp on 8 May 1936.
Nazi concentration camps
–
Jewish prisoners are issued food on a building site at
Salaspils concentration camp, Latvia, in 1941.
Media related to Firenze Santa Maria Novella at Wikimedia Commons
