1.
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
2.
Church (building)
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A church building, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly worship services. The term in its sense is most often used by Christians to refer to their religious buildings. In traditional Christian architecture, the church is arranged in the shape of a Christian cross. When viewed from plan view the longest part of a cross is represented by the aisle, towers or domes are often added with the intention of directing the eye of the viewer towards the heavens and inspiring church visitors. The earliest identified Christian church was a church founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, a cathedral is a church, usually Roman Catholic, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox, housing the seat of a bishop. In standard Greek usage, the word ecclesia was retained to signify both a specific edifice of Christian worship, and the overall community of the faithful. This usage was retained in Latin and the languages derived from Latin, as well as in the Celtic languages. In the Germanic and some Slavic languages, the word kyriak-ós/-ē/-ón was adopted instead, in Old English the sequence of derivation started as cirice, then churche, and eventually church in its current pronunciation. German Kirche, Scottish kirk, Russian церковь, etc. are all similarly derived, according to the New Testament, the earliest Christians did not build church buildings. Instead, they gathered in homes or in Jewish worship places like the Second Temple or synagogues, the earliest archeologically identified Christian church is a house church, the Dura-Europos church, founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, in addition to being a place of worship, the cathedral or parish church was used by the community in other ways. It could serve as a place for guilds or a hall for banquets. Mystery plays were performed in cathedrals, and cathedrals might also be used for fairs. The church could be used as a place to thresh and store grain, a common architecture for churches is the shape of a cross. These churches also often have a dome or other large vaulted space in the interior to represent or draw attention to the heavens. Other common shapes for churches include a circle, to represent eternity, or an octagon or similar star shape, another common feature is the spire, a tall tower on the west end of the church or over the crossing. The Latin word basilica was used to describe a Roman public building
3.
Francesco Borromini
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He seems to have had a sound understanding of structures, which perhaps Bernini and Cortona, who were principally trained in other areas of the visual arts, lacked. His soft lead drawings are particularly distinctive and he appears to have been a self-taught scholar, amassing a large library by the end of his life. His career was constrained by his personality, later critics of the Baroque, such as Francesco Milizia and the English architect Sir John Soane, were particularly critical of Borromini’s work. From the late nineteenth century onwards, interest has revived in the works of Borromini, Borromini was born at Bissone, near Lugano in the Ticino, which was at the time a bailiwick of the Swiss Confederacy. He was the son of a stonemason and began his career as a stonemason himself and he soon went to Milan to study and practice his craft. He moved to Rome in 1619 and started working for Carlo Maderno, his distant relative, at St. Peters, when Maderno died in 1629, he and Pietro da Cortona continued to work on the palace under the direction of Bernini. Once he had established in Rome, he changed his name from Castelli to Borromini. In 1634, Borromini received his first major independent commission to design the church, cloister, situated on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, the complex was designed for the Spanish Trinitarians, a religious order. The monastic buildings and the cloister were completed first after which construction of the church took place during the period 1638-1641, the church is considered by many to be an exemplary masterpiece of Roman Baroque architecture. San Carlino is remarkably small given its significance to Baroque architecture, the site was not an easy one, it was a corner site and the space was limited. Borromini positioned the church on the corner of two intersecting roads, Borromini devised the complex ground plan of the church from interlocking geometrical configurations, a typical Borromini device for constructing plans. The area of the marks the transition from the lower wall order to the oval opening of the dome. Illuminated by windows hidden from a viewer below, interlocking octagons, crosses, in the late sixteenth century, the Congregation of the Filippini rebuilt the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella in central Rome. In the 1620s, on an adjacent to the church. These exercises combined preaching and music in a form which became immensely popular, the architect Paolo Maruscelli drew up plans for the site and the sacristy was begun in 1629 and was in use by 1635. After a substantial benefaction in January 1637, however, Borromini was appointed as architect, by 1640, the oratory was in use, a taller and richer clock tower was accepted, and by 1643, the relocated library was complete. The striking brick curved facade adjacent to the entrance has an unusual pediment. The white oratory interior has a vault and a complex wall arrangement of engaged pilasters along with freestanding columns supporting first level balconies
4.
Baroque
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The style began around 1600 in Rome and Italy, and spread to most of Europe. The aristocracy viewed the dramatic style of Baroque art and architecture as a means of impressing visitors by projecting triumph, power, Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases, and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence. However, baroque has a resonance and application that extend beyond a reduction to either a style or period. It is also yields the Italian barocco and modern Spanish barroco, German Barock, Dutch Barok, others derive it from the mnemonic term Baroco, a supposedly laboured form of syllogism in logical Scholastica. The Latin root can be found in bis-roca, in informal usage, the word baroque can simply mean that something is elaborate, with many details, without reference to the Baroque styles of the 17th and 18th centuries. The word Baroque, like most periodic or stylistic designations, was invented by later critics rather than practitioners of the arts in the 17th, the term Baroque was initially used in a derogatory sense, to underline the excesses of its emphasis. In particular, the term was used to describe its eccentric redundancy and noisy abundance of details, although it was long thought that the word as a critical term was first applied to architecture, in fact it appears earlier in reference to music. Another hypothesis says that the word comes from precursors of the style, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and he did not make the distinctions between Mannerism and Baroque that modern writers do, and he ignored the later phase, the academic Baroque that lasted into the 18th century. Long despised, Baroque art and architecture became fashionable between the two World Wars, and has remained in critical favour. In painting the gradual rise in popular esteem of Caravaggio has been the best barometer of modern taste, William Watson describes a late phase of Shang-dynasty Chinese ritual bronzes of the 11th century BC as baroque. The term Baroque may still be used, usually pejoratively, describing works of art, craft, the appeal of Baroque style turned consciously from the witty, intellectual qualities of 16th-century Mannerist art to a visceral appeal aimed at the senses. It employed an iconography that was direct, simple, obvious, germinal ideas of the Baroque can also be found in the work of Michelangelo. Even more generalised parallels perceived by some experts in philosophy, prose style, see the Neapolitan palace of Caserta, a Baroque palace whose construction began in 1752. In paintings Baroque gestures are broader than Mannerist gestures, less ambiguous, less arcane and mysterious, more like the stage gestures of opera, Baroque poses depend on contrapposto, the tension within the figures that move the planes of shoulders and hips in counterdirections. Baroque is a style of unity imposed upon rich, heavy detail, Baroque style featured exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism. There were highly diverse strands of Italian baroque painting, from Caravaggio to Cortona, the most prominent Spanish painter of the Baroque was Diego Velázquez. The later Baroque style gradually gave way to a more decorative Rococo, while the Baroque nature of Rembrandts art is clear, the label is less often used for Vermeer and many other Dutch artists. Flemish Baroque painting shared a part in this trend, while continuing to produce the traditional categories
5.
Ivo of Kermartin
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Also known Yvo or Ives, was a parish priest among the poor of Louannec, the only one of his station to be canonized in the Middle Ages. He is the patron of Brittany, lawyers and abandoned children, poetically, he is referred to as Advocate of the Poor. Born at Kermartin, a manor near Tréguier in Brittany, on 17 October 1253, Ivo was the son of Helori, lord of Kermartin, in 1267 Ivo was sent to the University of Paris, where he graduated in civil law. While other students partied, Ivo studied, prayed and visited the sick and he also refused to eat meat or drink wine. Among his fellow-students were the scholars Duns Scotus and Roger Bacon and he went to Orléans in 1277 to study canon law under Peter de la Chapelle, a famous jurist who later became bishop of Toulouse and a cardinal. On his return to Brittany, having received minor orders he was appointed an official and he protected orphans and widows, defended the poor, and rendered fair and impartial verdicts. It’s said that even those on the losing side respected his decisions, Ivo also represented the helpless in other courts, paid their expenses and visited them in prison. He earned the title “Advocate of the Poor. ”Although it was common to give judges “gifts and he often helped disputing parties settle out of court so they could save money. Meanwhile, he studied Scripture, and there are reasons for believing the tradition held among Franciscans that he joined the Third Order of St. Francis sometime later at Guingamp. Ivo was ordained to the priesthood in 1284 and he continued to practice law and once, when a mother and son couldn’t resolve their differences, he offered a Mass for them. Ivo was soon invited by the Bishop of Tréguier to become his official and he displayed great zeal and rectitude in the discharge of his duty and did not hesitate to resist taxation by the king, which he considered an encroachment on the rights of the Church. Due to his charity he gained the title of advocate and patron of the poor, having been ordained he was appointed to the parish of Tredrez in 1285 and eight years later to Louannec, where he died of natural causes after a life of hard work and repeated fasting. Tours was near Orleans, the bishop held his court there, one day he found his widow-landlady in tears. Her tale was that day she must go to court to answer to the suit of a traveling merchant who had tricked her. That day, Doe had come back, and called for the casket, saying that his partner Roe was detained elsewhere, and she in good faith in his story had delivered the casket to Doe. But then later came Roe demanding it, charging his partner with wronging him, and if she had to pay for those valuables it would ruin her. Have no fear, said young Ivo, I will go to court tomorrow, for you. When the case was called before the Judge, and the merchant Roe charged the widow with breach of faith, Not so, pleaded Ivo, the plaintiff has not proved his case
6.
Star of David
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The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David, is a generally recognized symbol of modern Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles, unlike the menorah, the Lion of Judah, the shofar and the lulav, the Star of David was never a uniquely Jewish symbol. During the 19th century the symbol began to proliferate amongst the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, a significant motivating factor was the desire to imitate the influence of the Christian cross. The earliest Jewish usage of the symbol was inherited from medieval Arabic literature by Kabbalists for use in talismanic protective amulets where it was known as a Seal of Solomon. The symbol was used in Christian churches as a decorative motif many centuries before its first known use in a Jewish synagogue. The symbol became representative of the worldwide Zionist community, and later the broader Jewish community, the identification of the term Star of David or Shield of David with the hexagram shape dates to the 17th century. The term Shield of David is also used in the Siddur as a title of the God of Israel, the hexagram does appear occasionally in Jewish contexts since antiquity, apparently as a decorative motif. For example, in Israel, there is a bearing a hexagram from the arch of a 3rd–4th century synagogue in the Galilee. Originally, the hexagram may have employed as an architectural ornament on synagogues, as it is, for example, on the cathedrals of Brandenburg and Stendal. A pentagram in this form is found on the ancient synagogue at Tell Hum, in the synagogues, perhaps, it was associated with the mezuzah. Similarly, the symbol illuminates a medieval Tanakh manuscript dated 1307 belonging to Rabbi Yosef bar Yehuda ben Marvas from Toledo, Spain. A Siddur dated 1512 from Prague displays a large hexagram on the cover with the phrase, turcomans who ruled in Anatolia during the 13th century, inherited it from the Seljuk Turks. A hexagram has been noted on a Jewish tombstone in Taranto, Apulia in Southern Italy, the Jews of Apulia were noted for their scholarship in Kabbalah, which has been connected to the use of the Star of David. Medieval Kabbalistic grimoires show hexagrams among the tables of segulot, the six sfirot of the masculine Zer Anpin correspond to the six items on the seder plate, while the seventh sfira being the feminine Malkhut corresponds to the plate itself. However, these triangles are parallel, one above the other. According to G. S. Oegema Isaac Luria provided the hexagram with a further mystical meaning, similarly, M. Costa wrote that M. Some say that one represents the ruling tribe of Judah. It is also seen as a dalet and yud, the two assigned to Judah
7.
Pietro da Cortona
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Pietro da Cortona was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini and he was also an important designer of interior decorations. He was born Pietro Berrettini, but is known by the name of his native town of Cortona in Tuscany. He worked mainly in Rome and Florence, only a limited number of his architectural projects were built but nonetheless they are as distinctive and as inventive as those of his rivals. Berrettini was born into a family of artisans and masons, in Cortona and he trained in painting in Florence under Andrea Commodi, but soon he departed for Rome at around 1612/3, where he joined the studio of Baccio Ciarpi. In Rome, he had encouragement from many prominent patrons, according to Cortonas biographers his gifted copy of Raphaels Galatea fresco brought him to the attention of Marcello Sacchetti, papal treasurer during the Barberini papacy. Such contacts helped him gain a major commission in Rome. In 1633, Pope Urban VIII commissioned from Cortona a large painting for the main salon ceiling of the Barberini family palace. It was completed six years later, following Cortonas influential visit to northern Italy where he would have seen at first hand perspectival works by Paolo Veronese, Cortonas huge Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power marks a watershed in Baroque painting. The ornamented architectural framework essentially forms five compartments, the central and most significant part celebrates the glorification of the reign of Urban VIII in a light filled scene populated with allegorical figures and Barberini family emblems. The illusion of spatial extension through paint, the grandiose theme, the first two represented the ages of silver and gold. In 1641, he was recalled to paint the Bronze Age and he began work on the decoration of the grand-ducal reception rooms on the first floor of the Palazzo Pitti, now part of the Palatine Gallery. These highly ornate ceilings with frescoes and elaborate stucco work essentially celebrate the Medici lineage, Pietro left Florence in 1647, and his pupil and collaborator, Ciro Ferri, completed the cycle by the 1660s. For a number of years, Cortona was involved for decades in the decoration of the frescoes in the Oratorian Chiesa Nuova in Rome. Other frescoes are in Palazzo Pamphilj in Piazza Navona, in 1660, he executed The Stoning of Saint Stephen for the church of San Ambrogio della Massima in Rome. The work currently hangs in the Hermitage, towards the end of his life he devoted much of his time to architecture, but he published a treatise on painting in 1652 under a pseudonym and in collaboration. He refused invitations to both France and Spain and he was elected as director of the Academy of St Luke the painters guild in Rome, in 1634. It was at the Academy in 1636 that Cortona and Andrea Sacchi were involved in controversies regarding the number of figures that were appropriate in a painted work
8.
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
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The church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, also called San Carlino, is a Roman Catholic church in Rome, Italy. The church was designed by the architect Francesco Borromini and it was his first independent commission and he received the commission in 1634, under the patronage of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, whose palace was across the road. However, this financial backing did not last and subsequently the project suffered various financial difficulties. It is one of at least three churches in Rome dedicated to San Carlo, including San Carlo ai Catinari and San Carlo al Corso. The monastic buildings and the cloister were completed first after which construction of the church took place during the period 1638-1641, Berninis oval church of SantAndrea al Quirinale would later be built further along the Strada Pia. The inscriptions found in San Carlo, a valuable source illustrating the history of the church, have collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella. The concave-convex facade of San Carlo undulates in a non-classic way, tall corinthian columns stand on plinths and bear the main entablatures, these define the main framework of two storeys and the tripartite bay division. The medallion once contained a 1677 fresco by a Pietro Giarguzzi of the Holy Trinity, the plan and section show the layout of the cramped and difficult site, the church is on the corner with the cloister next to it and both face onto the Via Pia. The monastic buildings straddle the site, beyond which Borromini intended to design a garden, the church interior is both extraordinary and complex. The three principal parts can be identified vertically as the order at ground level, the transition zone of the pendentives. In the lower part of the church, the altar is on the same longitudinal axis as the door. One altar is dedicated to Saint Michael de Sanctis, the dedicated to Saint John Baptist of the Conception. Between these, and arranged in groups of four, sixteen columns carry a broad and this creates an undulating movement effect which is enhanced by the variation in treatment of the bays between the columns with niches, mouldings, and doors. The pendentives are part of the area where the undulating almost cross-like form of the lower order is reconciled with the oval opening to the dome. The oval entablature to the dome has a crown of foliage and frames a view of deep set interlocking coffering of octagons, crosses, light floods in from windows in the lower dome that are hidden by the oval opening and from windows in the side of the lantern. Flanking the apse of the altar is a pair of identical doorways. The right door leads to the convent through which the crypts below may be accessed, the door on the left leads to an external chapel known as Capella Barberini which contains a shrine to blessed Elisabeth Canori Mora. The crypt below follows the size and form of the church and has a low pierced vault, chapels open off this space, including an octagonal chapel on the south-east side where Borromini intended to be buried
9.
Pope Urban VIII
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Pope Urban VIII, reigned as Pope from 6 August 1623 to his death in 1644. He expanded the territory by force of arms and advantageous politicking, and was also a prominent patron of the arts. However, the debts incurred during his pontificate greatly weakened his successors. He was also involved in a controversy with Galileo and his theory on heliocentrism during his reign and he is the most recent pope to date to take the pontifical name of Urban upon being elected as pope. He was born Maffeo Barberini in April 1568 to Antonio Barberini, a Florentine nobleman and his father died when he was only three years old and his mother took him to Rome, where he was put in the charge of his uncle, Francesco Barberini, an apostolic protonotary. At the age of 16 he became his uncles heir and he was educated by the Society of Jesus, and received a doctorate of law from the University of Pisa in 1589. In 1601, Barberini, through the influence of his uncle, was able to secure from Pope Clement VIII appointment as a legate to the court of King Henry IV of France. In 1604, the pope appointed him as the Archbishop of Nazareth. At the death of his uncle, he inherited his riches, on 6 August 1623, at the papal conclave following the death of Pope Gregory XV, Barberini was chosen as Gregory XVs successor and took the name Urban VIII. Upon Pope Urban VIIIs election, Zeno, the Venetian envoy, wrote the description of him. His Holiness is tall, dark, with features and black hair turning grey. He is exceptionally elegant and refined in all details of his dress, has a graceful and aristocratic bearing and he is an excellent speaker and debater, writes verses and patronises poets and men of letters. Urban VIIIs papacy covered 21 years of the Thirty Years War, despite an early friendship and encouragement for his teachings, Urban VIII was responsible for summoning the scientist and astronomer Galileo to Rome in 1633 to recant his work. Urban VIII practiced nepotism on a scale, various members of his family were enormously enriched by him. He elevated his brother Antonio Marcello Barberini and then his nephews Francesco Barberini and he also bestowed upon their brother, Taddeo Barberini, the titles Prince of Palestrina, Gonfalonier of the Church, Prefect of Rome and Commander of SantAngelo. Historian Leopold von Ranke estimated that during his reign, Urban VIIIs immediate family amassed 105 million scudi in personal wealth, Urban VIII was a skilled writer of Latin verse, and a collection of Scriptural paraphrases as well as original hymns of his composition have been frequently reprinted. The 1638 papal bull Commissum Nobis protected the existence of Jesuit missions in South America by forbidding the enslavement of natives who were at the Jesuit Reductions. At the same time, Urban VIII repealed the Jesuit monopoly on missionary work in China and Japan, opening these countries to missionaries of other orders and missionary societies
10.
Church of Our Saviour, Copenhagen
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It is also noted for its carillon, which is the largest in northern Europe and plays melodies every hour from 8 am to midnight. When Christian IV planned Christianshavn in 1617, it was intended as an independent merchants town on the island of Amager, a temporary church was inaugurated in 1639 but construction of the present Church of Our Saviour, the design of Lambert van Haven, did not start until 1682. The church was inaugurated 14 years later in 1695 but important interior features like the altar had a temporary character. The church got its permanent altar in 1732 but plans for construction of the spire was not revitalized until 1747 under the reign of Frederik V, the new architect on the project was Lauritz de Thurah. He soon abandoned van Havens original design in favour of his own project that was approved by the King in 1749, three years later the spire was finished and the King climbed the tower at a ceremony on 28 August 1752. There is an urban legend stating that the architect killed himself by jumping from the top of the spire. This is not about Lambert van Haven, since the spire was added to the church almost 50 years after his death, the church is built in a Dutch baroque style and its basic layout is a Greek cross. The walls rest on a foundation and are made of red and yellow tiles. The facade is segmented by pilasters in the giant order. The pilasters are of the Tuscan order with bases and capitals in sandstone, the cornice is also in sandstone but with a frieze in tiles. Between the pilasters are tall round-arched windows with glass and iron cames. There are entrances at the gable of the cross arms except for the gable where the sacristy is added. The main entrance is in the gable below the tower and has a sandstone portal. All entrances are raised four steps from street level, at each side of the tower, there is a gate at street level leading to the two crypts of the church. The roof is vaulted and covered in black-glazed tiles, the altarpiece is the work of Nicodemus Tessins and is considered a masterpiece. It depicts a scene from the Garden of Gethsemane between two columns, where Jesus is comforted by an angel while another angel hangs in the air beside them, on each side, two figures of Pietas and Justitia illustrate the Kings motto. The two columns carry a broken, curved architrave and gable, behind the opening of the broken gable is placed a pane with Jahves name in Hebrew inscribed and lit from behind. Around the pane is an arrangement of gilded beans and cloud formations, the huge organ with Christian V’s gilded monogram was built by the Botzen Brothers from 1698-1700 and is mounted on the wall and supported by two elephants
11.
Copenhagen
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Copenhagen, Danish, København, Latin, Hafnia) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. Copenhagen has an population of 1,280,371. The Copenhagen metropolitan area has just over 2 million inhabitants, the city is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand, another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road, originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century. Beginning in the 17th century it consolidated its position as a centre of power with its institutions, defences. After suffering from the effects of plague and fire in the 18th century and this included construction of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and founding of such cultural institutions as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Later, following the Second World War, the Finger Plan fostered the development of housing, since the turn of the 21st century, Copenhagen has seen strong urban and cultural development, facilitated by investment in its institutions and infrastructure. The city is the cultural, economic and governmental centre of Denmark, Copenhagens economy has seen rapid developments in the service sector, especially through initiatives in information technology, pharmaceuticals and clean technology. Since the completion of the Øresund Bridge, Copenhagen has become integrated with the Swedish province of Scania and its largest city, Malmö. With a number of connecting the various districts, the cityscape is characterized by parks, promenades. Copenhagen is home to the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen, founded in 1479, is the oldest university in Denmark. Copenhagen is home to the FC København and Brøndby football clubs, the annual Copenhagen Marathon was established in 1980. Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, the Copenhagen Metro serves central Copenhagen while the Copenhagen S-train network connects central Copenhagen to its outlying boroughs. Serving roughly 2 million passengers a month, Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, is the largest airport in the Nordic countries, the name of the city reflects its origin as a harbour and a place of commerce. The original designation, from which the contemporary Danish name derives, was Køpmannæhafn, meaning merchants harbour, the literal English translation would be Chapmans haven. The English name for the city was adapted from its Low German name, the abbreviations Kbh. or Kbhvn are often used in Danish for København, and kbh. for københavnsk. The chemical element hafnium is named for Copenhagen, where it was discovered, the bacterium Hafnia is also named after Copenhagen, Vagn Møller of the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen named it in 1954. Excavations in Pilestræde have also led to the discovery of a well from the late 12th century, the remains of an ancient church, with graves dating to the 11th century, have been unearthed near where Strøget meets Rådhuspladsen
12.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
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