1.
Raffaele Fitto
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Raffaele Fitto is an Italian politician, leader of Conservatives and Reformists, an Italian conservative party. Raffaele Fitto was born in Maglie, Province of Lecce and his father, Salvatore Fitto, who was an exponent of the Christian Democracy and President of Apulia from 1985, died in 1988. Raffaele Fitto became regional councilor of Apulia in 1990 for DC, in 1995, he was re-elected councilor for Forza Italia, in May 2008 Fitto was appointed Minister for Regional Affairs and Local Communities in Berlusconi IV Cabinet, he held the position until November 16,2011. In February 2013 he was re-elected in Montecitorio for PDL, in May 2014 Fitto was elected at European Parliament for FI and he was the most voted candidate in a single constituencies for all political parties in Italy in this European election. In July 2014 Fitto, the candidate of FI, became a member, with all politicians of FI elected at European Parliament. Following strong disagreement with Berlusconi about the leadership of FI, Fitto founded in February 2015 a counter-movement within Forza Italia called the Rebuilders, on 17 May 2015 Fitto left FI and the European Peoples Party parliamentary group for joining the European Conservatives and Reformists parliamentary group. Fitto, member of ECR Group since 19 May 2015 and Member of the Bureau for Italy of ECR Group from 21 May 2015 to 12 December 2016, was elected as new Vice President of ECR Group on 13 December 2016. The coalition of DI has the goal of creating a party list for the Italian liberal-conservatives ahead of the 2018 general election. According to the prosecution this amount was suspected of being a bribe to secure for the Apulia region the management of eleven nursing homes. A request to arrest Fitto, who in the meantime had become a Member of the Italian Parliament, was rejected by the Italian Chamber of Deputies. Fitto in December 2009 was found guilty of abuse of office, corruption and illegal financing of political parties, Fitto was acquitted of some other charges in June 2012. Fitto in February 2013 was sentenced by the Court of first instance to four years in prison and five years disqualification from public office, Fitto in September 2015 was acquitted of all charges by the Court of second instance. Fitto in February 2009 was accused of conspiring, during his presidency of the Apulia region, to short-sell the trading company Cedis, the charges were filed in April 2009, however in March 2017 Fitto was acquitted of all charges by the Court of second instance. Official website Website of the Ministry for Regional Business Personal profile of Raffaele Fitto in the European Parliaments database of members
2.
Michele Emiliano
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Michele Emiliano is an Italian politician and former judge. He was the mayor of Bari from 2004 to 2014, since June 2015, he has served as president of the Apulia Region. He is also standing in the Democratic Party leadership election,2017. Emilianos father was a football player and small business owner. In 1962, he and his moved to Bologna. In 1968 they returned to Bari, while growing up there he spent time playing basketball. He graduated from university with a law degree in 1983, for some time he worked as a trainee in a lawyers office. In 1988 he married his current wife, Elena
3.
Chamber of Deputies (Italy)
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The Chamber of Deputies is a house of the bicameral Parliament of Italy. The two houses form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. Pursuant to article 56 of the Italian Constitution, the Chamber of Deputies has 630 seats, of which 618 are elected from Italian constituencies, Deputies are styled The Honourable and meet at Palazzo Montecitorio. Previously, the seat of the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy had been briefly at the Palazzo Carignano in Turin and the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Under the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, from 1939 to 1943, the Chamber is composed of all members meeting in session at the Montecitorio. The assembly also has the right to meetings of the Government. If required, the Government is obligated to attend the session, conversely, the Government has the right to be heard every time it requires. The term of office of the House is five years,61.2 of the Constitution, states that representatives whose term has expired shall continue to exercise their functions until the first meeting of the new Chamber. An extension of the term, provided for by art,60.2, can be enacted only in case of war. Election of members to the Chamber of Deputies is by voluntary, universal, terms last for a total of five years, unless an early dissolution of the Chamber is called by the President of the Republic, at which point a snap election is held. Unlike the Senate, which members to be 40 years of age. The current system for elections to the Chamber of Deputies has been in operation since 2015, the territory of Italy is divided into 100 constituencies electing between 3 and 9 deputies depending on their size. For each constituency, the parties designate a list of candidates, head of list candidates can run in up to 10 constituencies, if two preference votes are expressed, they must be of a different sex, otherwise, the second preference is discarded. Only parties passing a 3% minimum threshold in the first round are assigned seats, if the party receiving the plurality of the votes passes a 40% threshold, it is attributed a minimum of 340 seats. The remaining 277 seats are allocated to the other parties using the largest remainder method. This provision was however rendered null and void by a Constitutional Courts judgment in January 2017, the President of the Chamber of Deputies performs the role of speaker of the house and is elected during the first session after the election. During this time the prerogatives of speaker are assumed by the vicepresident of Chamber of Deputies of the legislature who was elected first. If two were elected simultaneously, the oldest deputy serves as president of Chamber of Deputies, the President of Chamber of Deputies has also the role of President during the Parliament joint sessions, when the upper and lower houses have to vote together
4.
Apulia
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Apulia is a region of Italy in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its southernmost portion, known as the Salento peninsula, forms a stiletto on the boot of Italy, the region comprises 19,345 square kilometers, and its population is about 4 million. It is bordered by the other Italian regions of Molise to the north, Campania to the west, across the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, it faces Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, and Montenegro, The Apulia region extends as far north as Monte Gargano. Puglias coastline is longer than any other mainland Italian region, in the north, the Gargano promontory extends out into the Adriatic, while in the south, the flat and dry Salento peninsula forms the heel of Italys boot. It is home to the Alta Murgia and Gargano National Parks, see also, History of Apulia Apulia is one of the richest archaeological regions in Italy. It was first colonized by Mycenaean Greeks, a number of castles were built in the area by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, including Castel del Monte, sometimes called the Crown of Apulia. After 1282, when the island of Sicily was lost, Apulia was part of the Kingdom of Naples, as a result of the French–Spanish war of 1501–1504, Naples again came under the rule of Aragon and the Spanish Empire from 1504 to 1714. When Barbary pirates of North Africa sacked Vieste in 1554, they took an estimated 7,000 slaves, in 1861 the region became part of the Kingdom of Italy, with the new capital city at Turin. In the words of one historian, Turin was so far away that Otranto is today closer to seventeen foreign capitals than it is to Turin, the regions contribution to Italys gross value added was around 4. 6% in 2000, while its population was 7% of the total. The per capita GDP is low compared to the national average, in comparison with the country as a whole, the economy of Apulia is characterised by a greater emphasis on agriculture and services and a smaller part played by industry. In the last 20 years the base of the regions economy has changed radically. The majority of firms are financed by local capital. In certain of these sectors – especially textiles, clothing, footwear, vehicles, the region has a good network of roads but the railway network is somewhat inadequate, particularly in the south. Apulias 800 kilometers of coastline is studded with ports, which make this region an important terminal for transport and tourism to Greece, between 2007 and 2013 the economy of Apulia expanded more than that of the rest of southern Italy. Such growth, over decades, is a severe challenge to the hydrogeological system. Emigration from the depressed areas to northern Italy and the rest of Europe was very intense in the years between 1956 and 1971. Subsequently, the trend declined as economic conditions improved, to the point where there was net immigration in the years between 1982 and 1985, since 1986 the stagnation in employment has led to a new inversion of the trend, caused by a decrease in immigration. Since 1 June 2015, former judge and mayor of Bari Michele Emiliano of the Democratic Party has served as President, Apulia is divided into five administrative provinces and one metropolitan city, Cuisine plays an important role throughout Apulia
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Bari
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Bari is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, the city itself has a population of about 326,799, as of 2015, over 116 square kilometres, while the urban area has 700,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area has 1.3 million inhabitants, Bari is made up of four different urban sections. To the south is the Murat quarter, the heart of the city, which is laid out on a rectangular grid-plan with a promenade on the sea. Modern residential zones surrounding the centre of Bari were built during the 1960s and 1970s replacing the old suburbs that had developed along roads splaying outwards from gates in the city walls, in addition, the outer suburbs developed rapidly during the 1990s. The city has an airport named after Pope John Paul II, Karol Wojtyła Airport. The city was founded by the Peucetii. Its harbour, mentioned as early as 181 BC, was probably the one of the districts in ancient times, as it is at present. The first historical bishop of Bari was Gervasius who was noted at the Council of Sardica in 347, the bishops were dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople until the 10th century. Until the arrival of the Normans, Bari continued to be governed by the Byzantines, throughout this period, and indeed throughout the Middle Ages, Bari served as one of the major slave depots of the Mediterranean, providing a central location for the trade in Slavic slaves. The city was conquered and the Emirate extinguished in 871, due to the efforts of Emperor Louis II, in 885, Bari became the residence of the local Byzantine catapan, or governor. In 1025, under the Archbishop Byzantius, Bari became attached to the see of Rome and was granted provincial status, in 1071, Bari was captured by Robert Guiscard, following a three-year siege. Maio of Bari, a Lombard merchants son, was the third of the admirals of Norman Sicily. The Basilica di San Nicola was founded in 1087 to receive the relics of this saint, the saint began his development from Saint Nicholas of Myra into Saint Nicholas of Bari and began to attract pilgrims, whose encouragement and care became central to the economy of Bari. In 1095 Peter the Hermit preached the first crusade there, the Greeks were not brought over to the Latin way of thinking, and the Great Schism was inevitable. A civil war broke out in Bari in 1117 with the murder of the archbishop, control of Bari was seized by Grimoald Alferanites, a native Lombard, and he was elected lord in opposition to the Normans. By 1123, he had increased ties with Byzantium and Venice, Grimoald increased the cult of St Nicholas in his city. He later did homage to Roger II of Sicily, but rebelled and was defeated in 1132, Bari was occupied by Manuel I Komnenos between 1155 and 1158
6.
Foggia
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Foggia is a city and comune of Apulia, in southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013 its population was 153,143, Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the granary of Italy. The name Foggia derives from Latin fovea, meaning pit, referring to the pits where wheat was stored. Although the area had settled since Neolithic times, and a Greek colony known as Argos Hippium existed nearby. According to the legend, the first settlers were peasants who had found a panel portraying the Madonna, the area was marshy and unhealthy. Robert Guiscard directed draining the wetland, boosting the economic and social growth of the city, the city was the seat of Henry, Count of Monte SantAngelo during the last twenty years of the 11th century. In the 12th century, William II of Sicily built a cathedral here, frederick II had a palace built in Foggia in 1223, in which he often sojourned. It was also seat of his court and a studium, including figures such as the mathematician and scholar Michael Scot. In 1447, King Alfonso V of Aragon built a Custom Palace to tax the local sheep farmers and this caused a decline of the local economy and the progressive ruin of the land, which again became marshy. In 1456, an earthquake struck Foggia, followed by others in 1534,1627 and 1731, the House of Bourbon promoted a certain economic growth by boosting the cereal agriculture of Capitanata and rebuilding much of the settlement. In the 19th century, Foggia received a station and important public monuments. The citizens also took part in the riots led to the annexation to Italy in 1861. By 1865, there was a shift from the custom of sheep farming in favour of an agricultural economy. The historical lack of resources was solved with the construction of the Apulian aqueduct in 1924. This role pushed the Allies to bomb Foggia during World War II, in particular on July 22 and August 19,1943, killing more than 20,000 civilians and reducing much of the city to rubble. On October 1,1943, the British 8th Army liberated Foggia, in 1959 and 2006, Foggia received, respectively, the Gold Medal for Civil and Military value for its role in World War II. The cathedral of Santa Maria de Fovea, which is linked with the patron saint Madonna dei Sette Veli This important site has two levels of architectural style. The lower part is Romanic as with many Pugliese churches, the upper part is a very remarkable example of Baroque
7.
Bitonto
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Bitonto is a city and comune in the province of Bari, Italy. It is nicknamed the City of Olives, due to the olive groves surrounding the city. Bitonto lies approximately 11 kilometres to the west of the city of Bari, the communes next to Bitonto are, Bari, Bitetto, Palo del Colle, Altamura, Toritto, Ruvo di Puglia, Terlizzi, and Giovinazzo. The city was founded by the Peucetii, and its inhabitants referred to by the Greek settlers of the region as Butontinoi, according to one tradition, the city was named after Botone, an Illyrian king. Its first city wall can be dated to the fifth to fourth centuries BC, similarities of coinage suggest that Bitonto was under the hegemony of Spartan Tarentum, but bearing the numismatic legend BITONTINON. The foundations of a Paleochristian basilica came to light in excavations beneath the cathedrals crypt, though there is no evidence that a Lombard gastaldo had his seat at Bitonto, Lombard customs and law insinuated themselves deeply in local social fabric. During the ninth century, Bitonto successfully withstood a Saracen raid, in 1552 the citizens paid for the citys freedom the considerable sum of 66,000 ducats. The territory stolen had an area of about 16 square kilometers. The city includes a medieval burg and a modern area, the main landmarks include, The Castle and the walls The Romanesque Bitonto Cathedral, built in the 11th-12th centuries and influenced by the Basilica of San Nicola in Bari. The interior has a nave and two aisles, the artwork is the marble ambo, a masterwork of medieval Apulian sculpture. The Basilica of SS Cosma e Damiano The church of San Francesco and it was built in 1283 over a pre-existing Roman fortification, to celebrate the 1222 visit of St. Francis of Assisi. It has kept the original late-Romanesque façade, flanked by a 16th-century bell tower, the portal has figures of bovine animals, probably an allusion to the founder family of the church, Bove. It is surmounted by a mullioned window. The interior has frescoes and 16th-century altars. The city also produces wine, beer, cereals, almonds, recently, Bitonto has also become a popular tourist destination. Bitonto is not directly connected to the Italian national railway system, however, it is serviced by an electric rail line operated privately by Ferrotramviaria. Bitonto is 8 kilometres away from the international Karol Wojtyła Airport of Bari, around Bitonto, there is a ring road looking like a perfect circle from which however the eastmost part is missing
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Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
