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.
Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
3.
Roman Republic
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It was during this period that Romes control expanded from the citys immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. During the first two centuries of its existence, the Roman Republic expanded through a combination of conquest and alliance, by the following century, it included North Africa, most of the Iberian Peninsula, and what is now southern France. Two centuries after that, towards the end of the 1st century BC, it included the rest of modern France, Greece, and much of the eastern Mediterranean. By this time, internal tensions led to a series of wars, culminating with the assassination of Julius Caesar. The exact date of transition can be a matter of interpretation, Roman government was headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and advised by a senate composed of appointed magistrates. Over time, the laws that gave exclusive rights to Romes highest offices were repealed or weakened. The leaders of the Republic developed a tradition and morality requiring public service and patronage in peace and war, making military. Many of Romes legal and legislative structures can still be observed throughout Europe and much of the world in modern nation states, the exact causes and motivations for Romes military conflicts and expansions during the republic are subject to wide debate. While they can be seen as motivated by outright aggression and imperialism and they argue that Romes expansion was driven by short-term defensive and inter-state factors, and the new contingencies that these decisions created. In its early history, as Rome successfully defended itself against foreign threats in central and then northern Italy, with some important exceptions, successful wars in early republican Rome generally led not to annexation or military occupation, but to the restoration of the way things were. But the defeated city would be weakened and thus able to resist Romanizing influences. It was also able to defend itself against its non-Roman enemies. It was, therefore, more likely to seek an alliance of protection with Rome and this growing coalition expanded the potential enemies that Rome might face, and moved Rome closer to confrontation with major powers. The result was more alliance-seeking, on the part of both the Roman confederacy and city-states seeking membership within that confederacy. While there were exceptions to this, it was not until after the Second Punic War that these alliances started to harden into something more like an empire and this shift mainly took place in parts of the west, such as the southern Italian towns that sided with Hannibal. In contrast, Roman expansion into Spain and Gaul occurred as a mix of alliance-seeking, in the 2nd century BC, Roman involvement in the Greek east remained a matter of alliance-seeking, but this time in the face of major powers that could rival Rome. This had some important similarities to the events in Italy centuries earlier, with some major exceptions of outright military rule, the Roman Republic remained an alliance of independent city-states and kingdoms until it transitioned into the Roman Empire. It was not until the time of the Roman Empire that the entire Roman world was organized into provinces under explicit Roman control
4.
Roman Empire
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Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
5.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
6.
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
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Frederick I, also known as Frederick Barbarossa, was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and he became King of Italy in 1155 and was crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155. Two years later, the term sacrum first appeared in a document in connection with his Empire and he was later formally crowned King of Burgundy, at Arles on 30 June 1178. He was named Barbarossa by the northern Italian cities which he attempted to rule, Barbarossa means red beard in Italian, in German, he was known as Kaiser Rotbart, before his imperial election, Frederick was by inheritance Duke of Swabia. He was the son of Duke Frederick II of the Hohenstaufen dynasty and Judith, daughter of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, Frederick therefore descended from the two leading families in Germany, making him an acceptable choice for the Empires prince-electors. Historians consider him among the Holy Roman Empires greatest medieval emperors, in 1147 he became Duke of the southern German region of Swabia, and shortly afterwards made his first trip to the East, accompanied by his uncle, the German king Conrad III, on the Second Crusade. The expedition proved to be a disaster, but Frederick distinguished himself, when Conrad died in February 1152, only Frederick and the prince-bishop of Bamberg were at his deathbed. Frederick energetically pursued the crown and at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 the kingdoms princely electors designated him as the next German king and he was crowned King of the Romans at Aachen several days later, on 9 March 1152. Fredericks father was from the Hohenstaufen family, and his mother was from the Welf family, the Hohenstaufens were often called Ghibellines, which derives from the Italianized name for Waiblingen castle, the family seat in Swabia, the Welfs, in a similar Italianization, were called Guelfs. The reigns of Henry IV and Henry V left the status of the German empire in disarray, for a quarter of a century following the death of Henry V in 1125, the German monarchy was largely a nominal title with no real power. The king was chosen by the princes, was given no resources outside those of his own duchy, the royal title was furthermore passed from one family to another to preclude the development of any dynastic interest in the German crown. When Frederick I of Hohenstaufen was chosen as king in 1152, royal power had been in abeyance for over twenty-five years. The only real claim to lay in the rich cities of northern Italy. The Salian line had died out with the death of Henry V in 1125, one of the Hohenstaufens gained the throne as Conrad III of Germany. When Frederick Barbarossa succeeded his uncle in 1152, there seemed to be excellent prospects for ending the feud, the Welf duke of Saxony, Henry the Lion, would not be appeased, however, remaining an implacable enemy of the Hohenstaufen monarchy. Barbarossa had the duchies of Swabia and Franconia, the force of his own personality, the Germany that Frederick tried to unite was a patchwork of more than 1600 individual states, each with its own prince. A few of these, such as Bavaria and Saxony, were large, many were too small to pinpoint on a map. The titles afforded to the German king were Caesar, Augustus, by the time Frederick would assume these, they were little more than propaganda slogans with little other meaning
7.
Mediolanum
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Mediolanum, the ancient Milan, was originally an Insubrian city, but afterwards became an important Roman city in northern Italy. Mediolanum appears to have been founded around 600 BC by the Celtic Insubres, after whom this region of northern Italy was called Insubria. The Romans, led by consul Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, fought the Insubres and captured the city in 222 BC, Mediolanum was important for its location as a hub in the road network of northern Italy. Polybius describes the country as abounding in wine, and every kind of grain, herds of swine, both for public and private supply, were bred in its forests, and the people were well known for their generosity. During the Augustan age Mediolanum was famous for its schools, it possessed a theater, a large stone wall encircled the city in Caesars time, and later was expanded in the late third century AD, by Maximian. Mediolanum was made the seat of the prefect of Liguria by Hadrian, in the third century Mediolanum possessed a mint, a horreum and imperial mausoleum. In 259, Roman legions under the command of Emperor Gallienus soundly defeated the Alemanni in the Battle of Mediolanum, in 286 Diocletian moved the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Rome to Mediolanum. He chose to reside at Nicomedia in the Eastern Empire, leaving his colleague Maximian at Milan, Maximian increased the city area surrounded by a new, larger stone wall encompassing an area of 375 acres with many 24-sided towers. The monumental area had twin towers, one that was included in the convent of San Maurizio Maggiore remains 16, Constantine was in Milan to celebrate the wedding of his sister to the Eastern Emperor, Licinius. In the mid-fourth century, the Arian controversy divided the Christians of Mediolanum, Constantius supported Arian bishops, auxentius of Milan was a respected Arian theologian. At the time of the bishop St. Ambrose, who quelled the Arians, the city also possessed a number of basilicas, added in the late fourth century AD. These are San Simpliciano, San Nazaro, San Lorenzo and the chapel of San Vittore, in general, the Late Empire encouraged the development of the applied arts in Mediolanum, with ivory and silver work being common in public building projects. In the crypt of the Duomo survive ruins of the ancient church of Saint Tecla, in 402, the city was besieged by the Goths and the Imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. The Lombards took Ticinum as their capital, and Early Medieval Milan was left to be governed by its archbishops, the Colonne di San Lorenzo, a colonnade in front of the church of S. Lorenzo. Roman lapidary material in the Archi di Porta Nuova, the scant remains of a large amphitheatre, now in an archaeological park dedicated to their preservation. A tower of the circus, now inside the Convento di San Maurizio Maggiore, a bit of moenia and a tower with 24 sides the church of San Lorenzo and the San Aquilino chapel. Some ruins from the Baths of Hercules, further remains of ceilings, the body of St. Ambrose and those possibly of SS. Gervasius and Protasius — or at any rate, of earlier men, crypt of San Giovanni in Conca a bit of the moenia and some remnants of pavements in piazza Missori and in the namesake station of Milan Metro
8.
Western Roman Empire
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Theodosius I divided the Empire upon his death between his two sons. As the Roman Republic expanded, it reached a point where the government in Rome could not effectively rule the distant provinces. Communications and transportation were especially problematic given the vast extent of the Empire, for this reason, provincial governors had de facto rule in the name of the Roman Republic. Antony received the provinces in the East, Achaea, Macedonia and Epirus, Bithynia, Pontus and Asia, Syria, Cyprus and these lands had previously been conquered by Alexander the Great, thus, much of the aristocracy was of Greek origin. The whole region, especially the cities, had been largely assimilated into Greek culture. Octavian obtained the Roman provinces of the West, Italia, Gaul, Gallia Belgica and these lands also included Greek and Carthaginian colonies in the coastal areas, though Celtic tribes such as Gauls and Celtiberians were culturally dominant. Lepidus received the province of Africa. Octavian soon took Africa from Lepidus, while adding Sicilia to his holdings, upon the defeat of Mark Antony, a victorious Octavian controlled a united Roman Empire. While the Roman Empire featured many distinct cultures, all were often said to experience gradual Romanization, minor rebellions and uprisings were fairly common events throughout the Empire. Conquered tribes or cities would revolt, and the legions would be detached to crush the rebellion, while this process was simple in peacetime, it could be considerably more complicated in wartime, as for example in the Great Jewish Revolt. In a full-blown military campaign, the legions, under such as Vespasian, were far more numerous. To ensure a commanders loyalty, an emperor might hold some members of the generals family hostage. To this end, Nero effectively held Domitian and Quintus Petillius Cerialis, governor of Ostia, the rule of Nero ended only with the revolt of the Praetorian Guard, who had been bribed in the name of Galba. The Praetorian Guard, a sword of Damocles, were often perceived as being of dubious loyalty. Following their example, the legions at the increased participation in the civil wars. The main enemy in the West was arguably the Germanic tribes behind the rivers Rhine, Augustus had tried to conquer them but ultimately pulled back after the Teutoburg reversal. The Parthian Empire, in the East, on the hand, was too remote. Those distant territories were forsaken to prevent unrest and also to ensure a more healthy, the Parthians were followed by the Sasanian Empire, which continued hostilities with the Roman Empire
9.
Maximian
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Maximian was Roman Emperor from 286 to 305. He was Caesar from 285 to 286, then Augustus from 286 to 305 and he shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximians military brawn. Maximian established his residence at Trier but spent most of his time on campaign, in the late summer of 285, he suppressed rebels in Gaul known as the Bagaudae. From 285 to 288, he fought against Germanic tribes along the Rhine frontier, together with Diocletian, he launched a scorched earth campaign deep into Alamannic territory in 288, temporarily relieving the Rhine provinces from the threat of Germanic invasion. The man he appointed to police the Channel shores, Carausius, rebelled in 286, causing the secession of Britain, Maximian failed to oust Carausius, and his invasion fleet was destroyed by storms in 289 or 290. Maximians subordinate, Constantius, campaigned against Carausius successor, Allectus, the rebel leader was ousted in 296, and Maximian moved south to combat piracy near Hispania and Berber incursions in Mauretania. When these campaigns concluded in 298, he departed for Italy, at Diocletians behest, Maximian abdicated on May 1,305, gave the Augustan office to Constantius, and retired to southern Italy. In late 306, Maximian took the title of Augustus again, in April 307, he attempted to depose his son, but failed and fled to the court of Constantius successor, Constantine, in Trier. At the Council of Carnuntum in November 308, Diocletian and his successor, Galerius, in early 310, Maximian attempted to seize Constantines title while the emperor was on campaign on the Rhine. Few supported him, and he was captured by Constantine in Marseille, Maximian committed suicide in the summer of 310 on Constantines orders. During Constantines war with Maxentius, Maximians image was purged from all public places, however, after Constantine ousted and killed Maxentius, Maximians image was rehabilitated, and he was deified. Maximian was born near Sirmium in the province of Pannonia, around 250 into a family of shopkeepers, beyond that, the ancient sources contain vague allusions to Illyricum as his homeland, to his Pannonian virtues, and to his harsh upbringing along the war-torn Danube frontier. Maximian joined the army, serving with Diocletian under the emperors Aurelian and he probably participated in the Mesopotamian campaign of Carus in 283 and attended Diocletians election as emperor on November 20,284 at Nicomedia. With his great energy, firm aggressive character and disinclination to rebel, the fourth-century historian Aurelius Victor described Maximian as a colleague trustworthy in friendship, if somewhat boorish, and of great military talents. Despite his other qualities, Maximian was uneducated and preferred action to thought, the panegyric of 289, after comparing his actions to Scipio Africanus victories over Hannibal during the Second Punic War, suggested that Maximian had never heard of them. His ambitions were military, he left politics to Diocletian. Maximian had two children with his Syrian wife, Eutropia, Maxentius and Fausta, there is no direct evidence in the ancient sources for their birthdates. Modern estimates of Maxentius birth year have varied from c.277 to 287, barnes concludes that Theodora was born no later than c.275 to an unnamed earlier wife of Maximian, possibly one of Hannibalianus daughters
10.
Thermae
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In ancient Rome, thermae and balneae were facilities for bathing. Thermae usually refers to the large bath complexes, while balneae were smaller-scale facilities, public or private. Most Roman cities had at least one, if not many, such buildings, which were not only for bathing. Roman bath-houses were also provided for private villas, town houses and they were supplied with water from an adjacent river or stream, or more normally, by an aqueduct. The water would be heated by a log fire before being channelled into the hot bathing rooms, the design of baths is discussed by Vitruvius in De Architectura. Thermae, balneae, balineae, balneum and balineum may all be translated as bath or baths, thus Cicero terms the baths at the villa of his brother Quintus balnearia. Balneae and balineae, which according to Varro have no number, were the public baths. Pliny also, in the sentence, makes use of the neuter plural balnea for public. Writers, however, use these terms without distinction, thus the baths erected by Claudius Etruscus, the freedman of the Emperor Claudius, are styled by Statius balnea, and by Martial Etrusci thermulae. In an epigram by Martial—subice balneum thermis—the terms are not applied to the whole building, a public bath was built around three principal rooms, the caldarium, the tepidarium and the frigidarium. Some thermae also featured baths, the sudatorium, a moist steam bath, and the laconicum. By way of illustration, this article describe the layout of Pompeiis Forum Baths adjoining the forum. The references are to the floor plan pictured to the right, the whole building comprises a double set of baths, one for men and the other for women. It has six different entrances from the street, one of which gives admission to the womens set only. Five other entrances lead to the department, of which two, communicate directly with the furnaces, and the other three with the bathing apartments. These together formed the vestibule of the baths, in which the servants waited and this atrium was the exercise ground for the young men, or perhaps served as a promenade for visitors to the baths. Within this court the keeper of the baths, who exacted the quadrans paid by each visitor, was also stationed. In this court, advertisements for the theatre, or other announcements of general interest, were posted up, one of which, announcing a gladiatorial show, at the sides of the entrance were seats
11.
Hectare
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The hectare is an SI accepted metric system unit of area equal to 100 ares and primarily used in the measurement of land as a metric replacement for the imperial acre. An acre is about 0.405 hectare and one hectare contains about 2.47 acres, in 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1⁄100 km2. When the metric system was further rationalised in 1960, resulting in the International System of Units, the are was not included as a recognised unit. The hectare, however, remains as a non-SI unit accepted for use with the SI units, the metric system of measurement was first given a legal basis in 1795 by the French Revolutionary government. At the first meeting of the CGPM in 1889 when a new standard metre, manufactured by Johnson Matthey & Co of London was adopted, in 1960, when the metric system was updated as the International System of Units, the are did not receive international recognition. The units that were catalogued replicated the recommendations of the CGPM, many farmers, especially older ones, still use the acre for everyday calculations, and convert to hectares only for official paperwork. Farm fields can have long histories which are resistant to change, with names such as the six acre field stretching back hundreds of years. The names centiare, deciare, decare and hectare are derived by adding the standard metric prefixes to the base unit of area. The centiare is a synonym for one square metre, the deciare is ten square metres. The are is a unit of area, equal to 100 square metres and it was defined by older forms of the metric system, but is now outside of the modern International System of Units. It is commonly used to measure real estate, in particular in Indonesia, India, and in French-, Portuguese-, Slovakian-, Serbian-, Czech-, Polish-, Dutch-, in Russia and other former Soviet Union states, the are is called sotka. It is used to describe the size of suburban dacha or allotment garden plots or small city parks where the hectare would be too large, the decare is derived from deka, the prefix for 10 and are, and is equal to 10 ares or 1000 square metres. It is used in Norway and in the former Ottoman areas of the Middle East, the hectare, although not strictly a unit of SI, is the only named unit of area that is accepted for use within the SI. The United Kingdom, United States, Burma, and to some extent Canada instead use the acre, others, such as South Africa, published conversion factors which were to be used particularly when preparing consolidation diagrams by compilation. In many countries, metrication redefined or clarified existing measures in terms of metric units, non-SI units accepted for use with the International System of Units
12.
Via Monte Napoleone
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Via Monte Napoleone, also spelled Via Montenapoleone, is an upscale shopping street in Milan, Italy, famous for its ready-to-wear fashion and jewelry shops. It is the most important street of the Milan fashion district known as the Quadrilatero della moda where many well-known fashion designers have high-end boutiques, the most exclusive Italian shoemakers maintain boutiques on this street. In 2002, the Street Association started a project including the Radio. The street traces the Roman city walls erected by Emperor Maximian, in 1783, a financial institution known as the Monte Camerale di Santa Teresa opened there in Palazzo Marliani, with the function of managing the public debt. In 1786 the street itself was named after the monte, the bank was closed in 1796 but re-opened in 1804, when Milan was capital of the Napoleonic Italian Republic, as the Monte Napoleone, from this the street derived its current name. During the first part of the 19th century the street was almost entirely rebuilt in the Neoclassical manner with palaces inhabited by the highest of the aristocracy. Notable buildings from this period are the Palazzo Melzi di Cusano, the Palazzo Gavazzi, the Casa Carcassola, and the Palazzetta Tarverna. The much earlier Palazzo Marliani however, regarded as one of the finest houses to survive from the era of the Sforza, was preserved until its destruction during the Allied bombing campaign of 1943. Caffè Cova, founded in 1817 and one of the city’s oldest cafés and confectioners, list of upscale shopping districts Media related to Via Monte Napoleone at Wikimedia Commons
13.
Pusterla di Sant'Ambrogio (Milan)
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The Pusterla di Sant’Ambrogio was originally built in 1171 after the city was destroyed by Frederik I Barbarossa in 1162. This postern was one of the ten gates of Milan medieval walls. When in the 16th century the new set of city walls went up, in 1939 this postern was completely restored with the original features. The Pusterla di Sant’Ambrogio is sited near the Basilica of SantAmbrogio, above the two arches of the door there is a tabernacle with Saint Ambrose, the patron of Milan, Saint Gervase and Saint Protase. Walls of Milan Media related to Pusterla di SantAmbrogio at Wikimedia Commons Le città darte, Milano, Guide brevi Skira, ed.2008, autori vari
14.
Moat
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A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams. In older fortifications, such as hillforts, they are referred to simply as ditches. In later periods, moats or water defences may be largely ornamental and they could also act as sewerage. Some of the earliest evidence of moats has been uncovered around ancient Egyptian castles, one example is at Buhen, a castle excavated in Nubia. Other evidence of ancient moats is found in the ruins of Babylon, and in reliefs from ancient Egypt, Assyria, and other cultures in the region. Evidence of early moats around settlements has been discovered in archaeological sites throughout Southeast Asia, including Noen U-Loke, Ban Non Khrua Chut, Ban Makham Thae. The use of the moats could have been either for defensive or agriculture purposes, moats were excavated around castles and other fortifications as part of the defensive system as an obstacle immediately outside the walls. In suitable locations they might be filled with water, a moat made access to the walls difficult for siege weapons, such as siege towers and battering rams, which needed to be brought up against a wall to be effective. A water-filled moat made the practice of mining, digging tunnels under the castles in order to effect a collapse of the defences, segmented moats have one dry section and one section filled with water. Dry moats cut across the part of a spur or peninsula are called neck ditches. Moats separating different elements of a castle, such as the inner and outer wards are cross ditches, the shared derivation implies that the two features were closely related and possibly constructed at the same time. The term moat is also applied to natural formations reminiscent of the artificial structure, the walls were further protected from infantry attack by wet or dry moats, sometimes in elaborate systems. When this style of fortification was superseded by lines of forts in the mid-19th century. The Walls of Benin were a combination of ramparts and moats, called Iya and it was considered the largest man-made structure lengthwise, second only to the Great Wall of China and the largest earthwork in the world. With more recent work by Patrick Darling, it has established as the largest man-made structure in the world. It enclosed 6,500 km² of community lands and its length was over 16,000 km of earth boundaries. It was estimated that earliest construction began in 800 and continued into the mid-15th century, the walls are built of a ditch and dike structure, the ditch dug to form an inner moat with the excavated earth used to form the exterior rampart
15.
Seveso
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Seveso is a town and comune in the Province of Monza and Brianza, in the Region of Lombardy. The economy of the town has traditionally based on the furniture industry. Its name comes from the river of the name which crosses the comune in a north-south direction. Seveso received the title of city with a presidential decree on 18 June 2003. The town is situated 21 kilometres to the north of Milan in the Brianza lowlands, the territory of the commume is highly urbanised, with the majority of inhabitants living in the town. Seveso lies on the trunk road Statale dei Giovi, which connects Milan to Como. Seveso railway station is located on the Milan–Asso railway, while Seveso-Baruccana railway station is located on the Saronno–Seregno railway, neighbouring communes are Meda, Seregno, Barlassina, Cogliate, Cesano Maderno. Sevesos origins date back to about the 3rd century BC, when certain areas around Brianza were used as staging posts for the Roman conquest of Gaul. Towards 780, the monastery at Meda was founded, the jurisdiction of which extended to the territory of Seveso, in 1252 the church of Saint Peter Martyr was constructed in homage to the Dominican order brother who had been assassinated in Seveso. The Church of the Seminary preserves in its crypt the knife which was used to kill him, the town was struck in the 16th century by two episodes of famine and plague. During the 17th century, the town was ruled by several families, in 1798, Prince Giuseppe II of the Napoleonic Cisalpine Republic ordered the Dominicans to leave the monastery and church of Saint Peter. In the unification of the Kingdom of Italy, territory from Barlassina was passed to Seveso and this decision was rejected by the population and the two comuni were again separated in 1901. Seveso made world headlines when, on 10 July 1976, storage vessels at the ICMESA chemical plant ruptured, releasing several kilograms of the dioxin TCDD into the atmosphere. Tens of thousands of animals and pets died or were later deliberately slaughtered. The event came later to be known as the Seveso disaster, nowadays in the main contaminated area there is a park called Bosco delle Querce. The track Suffocation, in the 1980 album See You Later by Greek composer Vangelis, was inspired by the Seveso disaster
16.
Porta Nuova, Gate of Milan
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Porta Nuova is one of the two medieval gates of Milan that still exist in the modern city. It is sited along the ancient Navigli Ring on the perimeter of the walls of the city. The external facade, overlooking Cavour square, preserve the appearance with a marble shrine of the Madonna. Walls of Milan Media related to Archi di Porta Nuova at Wikimedia Commons Le città darte, Milano, Guide brevi Skira, ed.2008, Milano e Provincia, Touring club Italiano, ed.2003, autori vari. Le lapidi di Porta Nuova, in AA. VV, la Porta Nuova delle mura medievali di Milano. Dai Novellii ad oggi venti secoli di storia milanese, a cura delle Civiche Raccolte Archeologiche e Numismatiche di Milano, Milano 1991, pp. 59–81
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Relief
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Relief is a sculptural technique where the sculpted elements remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term relief is from the Latin verb relevo, to raise, to create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane. What is actually performed when a relief is cut in from a surface of stone or wood is a lowering of the field. The technique involves considerable chiselling away of the background, which is a time-consuming exercise. In other materials such as metal, clay, plaster stucco, ceramics or papier-mâché the form can be just added to or raised up from the background, and monumental bronze reliefs are made by casting. There are different degrees of relief depending on the degree of projection of the form from the field. There is also sunk relief, which was restricted to Ancient Egypt. However the distinction between high relief and low relief is the clearest and most important, and these two are generally the only used to discuss most work. Hyphens may or may not be used in all these terms, works in the technique are described as in relief, and, especially in monumental sculpture, the work itself is a relief. Reliefs are common throughout the world on the walls of buildings and a variety of settings. Relief is more suitable for depicting complicated subjects with figures and very active poses, such as battles. Most ancient architectural reliefs were painted, which helped to define forms in low relief. Rock reliefs are carved into solid rock in the open air. This type is found in cultures, in particular those of the Ancient Near East and Buddhist countries. A stele is a standing stone, many of these carry reliefs. The distinction between high and low relief is somewhat subjective, and the two are often combined in a single work. In particular, most later high reliefs contain sections in low relief, a low relief or bas-relief is a projecting image with a shallow overall depth, for example used on coins, on which all images are in low relief. Other versions distort depth much less and it is a technique which requires less work, and is therefore cheaper to produce, as less of the background needs to be removed in a carving, or less modelling is required
18.
Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio
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The Basilica of SantAmbrogio is a church in Milan, northern Italy. One of the most ancient churches in Milan, it was built by St. Ambrose in 379–386, the first name of the church was in fact Basilica Martyrum. When St. Ambrose arrived in Milan, the churches were in conflict with each other over the conflict between Arianism and the Nicene Creed as well as numerous local issues. He was firmly in support of the Nicene side of the conflict and he did this through both preaching and construction. He built three or four churches surrounding the city, Basilica Apostolorum, Basilica Virginum, and Basilica Martyrum, a fourth church, Basilica Salvatoris is attributed to him as well, but may not actually be from the 4th century. These churches were dedicated with anti-Arian language and as symbols of the wealth, initially, the basilica was outside the city of Milan, but over the following centuries, the city grew up around it. It became a center of life and a community of canons developed in the church. In 789, a monastery was established within the basilica grounds, the canons, however, retained their own community and identity instead of fading away. Two, separate, distinct religious communities shared the basilica, in the 11th century, the canons adopted orders and became Canons Regular. There were now two separate monastic orders following different rules living in the basilica, the canons were in the northern building, the cloister of the canons, while the monks were in the two southern buildings. The two towers symbolize the division in the basilica, the 9th century Torre dei Monaci tower was used by the monks to call the faithful to the monks mass. The monks supported themselves, partly, from the offerings given after mass, however, the canons did not have a bell tower and were not allowed to ring bells until they finished their own tower in the 12th Century. The monastery and church became a landholder in northern Italy. On 4 August 1528 it was the so-called Peace of St. Ambrose, in 1492 the Benedictines commissioned Donato Bramante, structural architect of St. Peters Basilica, to renovate the new rectory. In August 1943 the Allied bombings heavily damaged the basilica, in particular the apse, as a result of this a new building, painted in pink, was constructed to house the Abbotts offices and the museum. The church is built in brickwork of different origins and colors, with parts of stone. The current Romanesque church was begun around 1080, the nave dates to about 1128 and the rib vaults of the nave are from about 1140. The altar occupies about the place as in the time of St. Ambrose
19.
Ferrante Gonzaga
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Ferrante I Gonzaga was an Italian condottiero, a member of the House of Gonzaga and the founder of the branch of the Gonzaga of Guastalla. He was born in Mantua, the son of Francesco II Gonzaga. At the age of sixteen he was sent to the court of Spain as a page to the future emperor Charles V and he became a Knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1531. He defended Naples from the assault of the French troops under Odet of Foix, Viscount of Lautrec, for this feat Pope Clement VII, a member of the Medici who had been ousted from that city, named him papal governor of Benevento. Again for Charles V, he fought against the Turks at Tunis in 1535 and he served Charles as Viceroy of Sicily, and Forte Gonzaga was named in his honour. He accompanied the Emperor to Germany in 1543 and fought the campaign that enforced the Treaty of Crépy. He then served as Governor of the Duchy of Milan, in which role he fought in the War of Parma, in 1534 Ferrante married Isabella di Capua, who brought him the fiefdoms of Molfetta and Giovinazzo. Ferrantes villa near Milan, La Gualtiera, is now known as La Simonetta, Ferrante rebuilt it in the 1550s, commissioning the services of the Tuscan architect Domenico Giuntallodi of Prato. His son Cesare commissioned from Leone a more public monument from Leone, a bronze Triumph of Ferrante Gonzaga over Envy, like all the Gonzaga, Ferrante was a patron of tapestry-makers, a series Fructus Belli was woven for him, and a lighter series of Putti. He died in Brussels from a fall from a horse and battle fatigue received at the Battle of St. Quentin and he was buried in the sacristy of the Milan Cathedral. Ferrante was succeeded in Guastalla by his son Cesare and he was the ambassador to Henry VIII of England in 1543. In conspiracy theories, Ferrante has been alleged to be the fourteenth Grand Master of the Priory of Sion, according to the Grand Masters version found in Dossiers Secrets dHenri Lobineau
20.
Kilometre
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The kilometre or kilometer is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres. K is occasionally used in some English-speaking countries as an alternative for the kilometre in colloquial writing. A slang term for the kilometre in the US military is klick, there are two common pronunciations for the word. It is generally preferred by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, many scientists and other users, particularly in countries where the metric system is not widely used, use the pronunciation with stress on the second syllable. The latter pronunciation follows the pattern used for the names of measuring instruments. The problem with this reasoning, however, is that the meter in those usages refers to a measuring device. The contrast is more obvious in countries using the British rather than American spelling of the word metre. When Australia introduced the system in 1975, the first pronunciation was declared official by the governments Metric Conversion Board. However, the Australian prime minister at the time, Gough Whitlam, by the 8 May 1790 decree, the Constituent assembly ordered the French Academy of Sciences to develop a new measurement system. In August 1793, the French National Convention decreed the metre as the length measurement system in the French Republic. The first name of the kilometre was Millaire, although the metre was formally defined in 1799, the myriametre was preferred to the kilometre for everyday use. The term myriamètre appeared a number of times in the text of Develeys book Physique dEmile, ou, Principes de la de la nature. French maps published in 1835 had scales showing myriametres and lieues de Poste, the Dutch, on the other hand, adopted the kilometre in 1817 but gave it the local name of the mijl. It was only in 1867 that the term became the only official unit of measure in the Netherlands to represent 1000 metres. In the US, the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 prohibits the use of highway funds to convert existing signs or purchase new signs with metric units. Although the State DOTs had the option of using metric measurements or dual units, all of them abandoned metric measurements, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices since 2000 is published in both metric and American Customary Units. Some sporting disciplines feature 1000 m races in major events, but in other disciplines, even though records are catalogued
21.
Stendhal
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Marie-Henri Beyle, better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Born in Grenoble, Isère, he was a child, disliking his unimaginative father and mourning his mother, whom he passionately loved. He spent the happiest years of his life at the Beyle country house in Claix near Grenoble and his closest friend was his younger sister, Pauline, with whom he maintained a steady correspondence throughout the first decade of the 19th century. The military and theatrical worlds of the First French Empire were a revelation to Beyle and he was named an auditor with the Conseil dÉtat on 3 August 1810, and thereafter took part in the French administration and in the Napoleonic wars in Italy. He travelled extensively in Germany and was part of Napoleons army in the 1812 invasion of Russia, Stendhal witnessed the burning of Moscow from just outside the city. Stendhal was appointed Commissioner of War Supplies and sent to Smolensk to prepare provisions for the returning army and he crossed the Berezina River by finding a usable ford rather than the overwhelmed pontoon bridge, which probably saved his life and those of his companions. Stendhal arrived in Paris in 1813, largely unaware of the fiasco that the retreat had become. Stendhal became known, during the Russian campaign, for keeping his wits about him and he also maintained his daily routine, shaving each day during the retreat from Moscow. After the 1814 Treaty of Fontainebleau, he left for Italy and he formed a particular attachment to Italy, where he spent much of the remainder of his career, serving as French consul at Trieste and Civitavecchia. His novel The Charterhouse of Parma, written in 52 days, is set in Italy, Stendhal was a dandy and wit about town in Paris, as well as an inveterate womaniser who was obsessed with his sexual conquests. His genuine empathy towards women is evident in his books, Simone de Beauvoir spoke highly of him in The Second Sex. One of his works is On Love, a rational analysis of romantic passion that was based on his unrequited love for Mathilde, Countess Dembowska. This fusion of, and tension between, clear-headed analysis and romantic feeling is typical of Stendhals great novels, he could be considered a Romantic realist, Stendhal suffered miserable physical disabilities in his final years as he continued to produce some of his most famous work. Modern medicine has shown that his problems were more attributable to his treatment than to his syphilis. Stendhal died on 23 March 1842, a few hours after collapsing with a seizure on the streets of Paris and he is interred in the Cimetière de Montmartre. Before settling on the pen name Stendhal, he published under pen names, including Louis Alexandre Bombet. The only book that Stendhal published under his own name was The History of Painting, from the publication of Rome, Naples, Florence onwards, he published his works under the pseudonym M. de Stendhal, officier de cavalerie. He borrowed this nom de plume from the German city of Stendal, birthplace of Johann Joachim Winckelmann, in 1807 Stendhal stayed near Stendal, where he fell in love with a woman named Wilhelmine, whom he called Minette, and for whose sake he remained in the city
22.
Milan Cathedral
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Milan Cathedral is the cathedral church of Milan, Italy. Dedicated to St Mary of the Nativity, it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, the Gothic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete. It is the largest church in Italy and the fifth largest in the world, the first cathedral, the new basilica dedicated to St Thecla, was completed by 355. It seems to share, on a smaller scale, the plan of the contemporaneous church recently rediscovered beneath Tower Hill in London. An adjoining basilica was erected in 836, the old octagonal baptistery, the Battistero Paleocristiano, dates to 335 and still can be visited under the Milan Cathedral. When a fire damaged the cathedral and basilica in 1075, they were rebuilt as the Duomo, in 1386, Archbishop Antonio da Saluzzo began construction of the cathedral. Before actual work began, three buildings were demolished, the palace of the Archbishop, the Ordinari Palace and the Baptistry of St. Stephen at the Spring. Maria Maggiore was exploited as a stone quarry, enthusiasm for the immense new building soon spread among the population, and the shrewd Gian Galeazzo, together with his cousin the archbishop, collected large donations for the work-in-progress. The construction program was strictly regulated under the Fabbrica del Duomo, Orsenigo initially planned to build the cathedral from brick in Lombard Gothic style. Visconti had ambitions to follow the newest trends in European architecture, in 1389, a French chief engineer, Nicolas de Bonaventure, was appointed, adding to the church its Rayonnant Gothic, a French style not typical for Italy. He decided that the structure should be panelled with marble. Galeazzo gave the Fabbrica del Duomo exclusive use of the marble from the Candoglia quarry and exempted it from taxes. Ten years later another French architect, Jean Mignot, was called from Paris to judge and improve upon the work done, Mignot declared all the work done up till then as in pericolo di ruina, as it had been done sine scienzia. In the following years Mignots forecasts proved untrue, but they spurred Galeazzos engineers to improve their instruments, work proceeded quickly, and at the death of Gian Galeazzo in 1402, almost half the cathedral was complete. John the Evangelist, by Cristoforo de Mottis, and Saint Eligius and San John of Damascus, in 1452, under Francesco Sforza, the nave and the aisles were completed up to the sixth bay. The exterior long remained without any decoration, except for the Guglietto dellAmadeo and this is a Renaissance masterwork which nevertheless harmonized well with the general Gothic appearance of the church. During the subsequent Spanish domination, the new church proved usable, even though the interior remained unfinished, and some bays of the nave. In 1552 Giacomo Antegnati was commissioned to build an organ for the north side of the choir
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Alps
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The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc, Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,810 m is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains about a hundred peaks higher than 4000 metres, the altitude and size of the range affects the climate in Europe, in the mountains precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m. Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era, a mummified man, determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established, Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800 Napoleon crossed one of the passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, in World War II, Adolf Hitler kept a base of operation in the Bavarian Alps throughout the war. The Alpine region has a cultural identity. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, at present, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors. The English word Alps derives from the Latin Alpes, maurus Servius Honoratus, an ancient commentator of Virgil, says in his commentary that all high mountains are called Alpes by Celts. The term may be common to Italo-Celtic, because the Celtic languages have terms for high mountains derived from alp and this may be consistent with the theory that in Greek Alpes is a name of non-Indo-European origin. According to the Old English Dictionary, the Latin Alpes might possibly derive from a pre-Indo-European word *alb hill, Albania, a name not native to the region known as the country of Albania, has been used as a name for a number of mountainous areas across Europe. In Roman times, Albania was a name for the eastern Caucasus, in modern languages the term alp, alm, albe or alpe refers to a grazing pastures in the alpine regions below the glaciers, not the peaks. An alp refers to a mountain pasture where cows are taken to be grazed during the summer months and where hay barns can be found. The Alps are a crescent shaped geographic feature of central Europe that ranges in a 800 km arc from east to west and is 200 km in width, the mean height of the mountain peaks is 2.5 km. The range stretches from the Mediterranean Sea north above the Po basin, extending through France from Grenoble, the range continues onward toward Vienna, Austria, and east to the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia. To the south it dips into northern Italy and to the north extends to the border of Bavaria in Germany
24.
Porta Romana (Milan)
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Porta Romana is a former city gate of Milan, Italy. The name Porta Romana is used both to refer to the proper and to the surrounding district, part of the Zone 4 administrative division of Milan. The Roman walls of Milan already had a gate facing in the direction as Porta Romana, yet it was located much closer to the city centre. In the Middle Ages the walls were enlarged, and the gate was moved outwards in the direction of modern Corso di Porta Venezia. In the 16th century, a system of walls was built under the Spanish rule. The construction of the gate was completed by 1596, on the occasion of Queen Margaret of Spain visiting Milan, for two centuries, Porta Romana was the most sumptuous gate of Milan. Porta Romana is located at the centre of a city square called Piazza Medaglie dOro and it is placed at the conjunction of several major streets, namely Corso Lodi, Viale Montenero, and Corso di Porta Romana. The structure of the gate is inspired by Roman triumphal arches of the doric order, the area around the Porta Romana gate is one of the historic districts of Milan, the rione had its own coat of arms, vermilion red. Several institutions, including embassies and high schools, are based in this area. Milanese celebrities that have lived here include Enzo Biagi, Enzo Bearzot, the southern part of the district, farther away from the centre, is correspondingly less luxurious. Specific situations of urban decay, such as developing in abandoned traits of the old railway, have been reported
25.
Porta Vittoria
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Porta Vittoria was a city gate in the Spanish walls of Milan, Italy. While the walls and the gate have been demolished, the name Porta Vittoria has remained to refer to the district where the used to be. This district is part of the Zone 4 administrative division of Milan, Porta Tosa was the eastern gate of the Spanish walls of Milan, dating back to the 16th century. During the Five Days of Milan, Porta Tosa was the first to be conquered by the Milanese rebels, in 1861, when the Italian unification was completed, the gate was renamed Porta Vittoria after that victorious episode. What remained of the Spanish walls and gates was demolished in the 19th century, in 1881, Giuseppe Grandi designed an obelisk to be placed in the square where the gate used to be, it was inaugurated on 18 March 1895. The centre of the Porta Vittoria district is the square where Grandis obelisk is located, most streets, avenues, and square in the district are named after heroes and prominent events of the Milanese Risorgimento and the Five Days. A large avenue crossing Piazza Cinque Giornate in east-west direction is called Corso di Porta Vittoria to the west, in the north-south direction, the Piazza is crossed by one of the main ring roads of Milan, the Circonvallazione Interna. In the Porta Vittoria district, the Circonvallazione Interna is composed of streets Viale Montenero, the area is mostly a shopping district, with Piazza Cinque Giornate, as well as the two Corsos, being lined with large stores and shops. To the east, it borders on Città Studi, where major universities of Milan have their headquarters
26.
Porta Venezia
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Porta Venezia is one of the historical gates of the city of Milan, Italy. In its present form, the dates back to the 19th century, nevertheless, its origins can traced back to the Medieval. The name Porta Venezia is commonly used to both to the gate proper and to the surrounding district, part of the Zone 3 of Milan. The name Porta Venezia was formally given in 1862, possibly in the hope that Venice would soon join Milan in the newly born Kingdom of Italy, previously, the gate was mostly called Porta Orientale, with Porta Renza being another widely used name. Stendhal, who lived in Milan, uses a variation Porta Rense, the origin and meaning of former names of Porta Venezia are disputed. Furthermore, it has to be noted that Milanese gates are not, in general, named after cardinal directions, as a consequence, some scholars argue that Porta Orientale might actually be a corruption of Porta Renza, rather than the other way round, as some have suggested. As Renza has no meaning in Italian, this is usually regarded as a popular corruption of another name. Other candidates to be the form of Porta Renza are Porta Argentea and Porta Fiorenza. The name Porta Argentea, in turn, is derived from the name of a settlement in the area of Gorgonzola or Crescenzago. A gate whose location and direction roughly correspond to those of modern Porta Venezia was already part of the Roman walls of Milan and it connected Milan to eastern Brianza and Bergamo. Over time, the walls lost their purpose, and so did the gates. During the Austrian Empire rule, between 1783 and 1786, the walls in the Porta Venezia area were redesigned, and avenues and city parks were created in the area, yet the gate itself remained. The renewal of Porta Venezia was commissioned to architect Giuseppe Piermarini, who is responsible for a part of the renewal of Milan. Piermarini made plans for the renewal of the gate in neoclassic style, piermarinis work was continued by his student Luigi Cagnola, who built a first temporary triumphal arch to celebrate the visit of Eugène de Beauharnais. He then proceeded to the design, which was still incomplete in 1825 when Emperor Francis II visited Milan. The gate was completed between 1827 and 1828 with the addition of customs offices designed by Rodolfo Vantini, the neoclassical bas-reliefs and statues were added in 1833. Until recently, they were covered by advertising posters, in 2004 these posters were removed. Each building has doric porticos on three sides, bas-relief-adornated architraves, and a set of four niches each hosting a statue, bas-relief and statues, coherently with the building structure, are of classical taste, and reproduce Roman deities and subjects
27.
Porta Nuova (Milan)
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Porta Nuova is the main business district of Milan, Italy. It is named after the well-preserved Napoleonic gate built in 1810–13 on this site, the gates of Porta Nuova were built in 1810–1813 from a design of the poet Giuseppe Zanoia. Stylistically, it is a Neoclassic triumphal arch of Corinthian influence and it was built in friable sandstone, and as a consequence its decorations have decayed over time. After a long period of decay, the Porta Nuova district is now undergoing a massive renewal. The project, which has been under construction since the late 2000s, includes several high rise buildings, cultural centres. This project effects areas from the neighborhoods of Isola, Varesine, construction started in 2009, with completion planned in 2014. The project involves the work of noted architects such as Cesar Pelli, Stefano Boeri, the redevelopment area extends from Porta Garibaldi station to piazza della Repubblica and from Porta Nuova gate to Palazzo Lombardia
28.
Porta Garibaldi (Milan city gate)
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The Porta Garibaldi, previously known as the Porta Comasina, is a city gate located in Milan, Italy, on the old road to Como. The Neoclassical arch was built to commemorate the visit of Francis I of Austria in 1825 and it was reconstructed from 1826 to 1828 by Giacomo Moraglia and dedicated to Garibaldi in 1860. Built in the Doric style, the gate is flanked by two portals overlooking the street, the customs houses were added in 1836. Its less than monumental proportions are better suited to the streets as the gate used to be at the end of a winding road. Today Porta Garibaldi is also one of the districts of Milan
29.
Porta Sempione
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Porta Sempione is a city gate of Milan, Italy. The name Porta Sempione is used both to refer to the proper and to the surrounding district, a part of the Zone 1 division. The gate is marked by a triumphal arch called Arco della Pace, dating back to the 19th century. A gate that roughly corresponds to modern Porta Sempione was already part of Roman walls of Milan and it was called Porta Giovia and was located at the end of modern Via San Giovanni sul Muro. At the time, the gate was meant to control an important road leading to what is now Castelseprio, in the Middle Ages, part of the Roman walls in the Porta Sempione area were adapted as part of the new walls. The gate itself was moved north, in a place that is now occupied by the Sforza Castle, the Castle itself was completed in the 15th Century, under Duke Filippo Maria Visconti, and the gate itself became part of the Castle. In 1807, under the Napoleonic rule, the Arch of Peace was built by architect Luigi Cagnola and this new gate marked the place where the new Strada del Sempione entered Milan. This road, which is still in use today, connects Milan to Paris through the Simplon Pass crossing the Alps, at the time, the gate was still called Porta Giovia. When the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy fell and Milan was conquered by the Austrian Empire, the gate was not yet completed, and the construction was abandoned for a while. The construction of the Arch was resumed, again by Cagnola, in 1826, for Emperor Francis II, when Cagnola died in 1833, his project was taken over by Francesco Londonio and Francesco Peverelli, who brought it to completion in 1838. The gate was the scene of prominent events in the Milanese history of the 19th century. On 22 March 1848, the Austrian army led by marshal Josef Radetzky escaped from Milan through Porta Giovia after being defeated in the Five Days of Milan rebellion. On 8 June 1859, four days after the Battle of Magenta, Napoleon III, the Simplon Gate is located at the center of a wide round square known as Piazza Sempione. It is adjacent to the Simplon Park, the city park of Milan. It is neoclassical triumphal arch,25 m high and 24 m wide, decorated with a number of bas-reliefs, statues, bas-reliefs and statues are made of a variety of materials, including marble, bronze, wood, and stucco. Other decorations have classical mythology subjects such as Mars, Ceres, Minerva, Apollo, there are also a group of statues that are allegories of major rivers in North Italy such as the Po, the Adige and the Ticino. At the sides of the Arch of Peace there are two rectangular buildings that used to be the customs office. The area surrounding Porta Sempione is a prominent historic district of Milan, the district also includes part of Corso Sempione, a large avenue leading to Porta Sempione from the northwest
30.
Porta Ticinese
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Porta Ticinese is a former city gate of Milan, Italy. The gate, facing south-west, was first created with the Spanish walls of the city, in the 16th century, the name Porta Ticinese is used both to refer to the gate proper and to the surrounding district, part of the Zone 6 administrative division. In the same there is also a homonymous medieval gate. The gate of Porta Ticinese is one of the buildings of Milan. The name Porta Ticinese means Gate to the Ticino, referred to the Ticino river, the name Porta Cicca came about during the Spanish rule of Milan in the 16th century, Cicca being a distortion of the Spanish word chica, i. e. small. The current location of the gate was established during the Spanish rule, in the early 19th century, most of the Spanish gates were demolished and replaced with new structures that were meant to serve as toll-gates. This was also the case with Porta Ticinese, the new structure was designed by Luigi Cagnola in neoclassic style, and realized between 1801 and 1814. Cagnolas structure consists of pillars and ionic order columns surmounted by a large tympanum. In 1815, after the Napoleonic wars, an inscription was added to the tympanum which reads PACI POPVLORVM SOPITAE, the area surrounding Porta Ticinese is a historic quartiere of Milan, it has its coat of arms, a three-legged red stool on a silver background. SantEustorgio is located in a well known city park called Parco delle Basiliche, which includes another prominent basilica. Nearby are also the Colonne di San Lorenzo, which are among the best preserved Roman ruins in Milan, the plaza where the Colonne di San Lorenzo are located is also one of the key places of the so-called Milanese movida, i. e. night-life
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Francesco Melzi d'Eril
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Francesco Melzi dEril was an Italian politician and patriot, serving as vice-president of the Napoleonic Italian Republic. He was a consistent supporter of the Italian unification ideals that would lead to the Italian Risorgimento shortly after his death, Francesco Melzi dEril was born to Gaspare and Marianna Teresa dEril in 1753. Despite the House of Melzi dEril being one of the prominent families in the Milanese aristocracy, as a consequence of this situation, Francesco Melzi dEril was raised by his uncle. Francescos uncle had him educated by the Jesuits, first at the Collegio dei Nobili in Brera and then at the Scuole Palatine, in the latter institute, Francesco met scientist Ruggero Giuseppe Boscovich, who would thereafter be one of his best friends. In 1773, as a consequence of Emperor Joseph IIs Enlightenment-influenced reforms, religious schools lost the right to confer degrees and he also had the opportunity to travel abroad and become knowledgeable about the emerging, Enlightenment-influenced European political systems as well as the English parliamentary system. He also thoroughly embraced the cause of the Italian unification, Melzi dErils attitude towards Napoleon was as mixed as that he had had towards the French Revolution. When Napoleon began his Italian campaign, and entered Milan, Melzi dEril first supported the new rule, later on, when he realized that Napoleon had no interest in the unity of Italy, Melzi dEril retired and eventually moved abroad. After the Battle of Marengo, Melzi was invited to France to participate in the definition of the new order for Italy. When the Italian Republic was founded, with Napoleon as the head of state, nevertheless, when the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1805, Napoleon chose Eugène de Beauharnais as his governor, and Melzi dEril was somehow set aside from the new government. As a compensation of sorts, he was made Duke of Lodi and he thus retired, but remained a strong supporter of the autonomy of Italy and a frank critic of the Napoleonic rule. In 1815, Milan fell under the Austrian rule, Melzi dEril was cautious in his relationships with the Austrian Empire, avoiding direct confrontation but also refusing to bow to the new rulers. It is notable, for example, that in 1815 he refused to welcome Austrian emissary Annibale Sommariva who had sent on a diplomatic mission to meet him in his house in Bellagio. Melzi dErial died on 16 January 1816 at the age of 63, in his house in Milan, the newspaper did not report on his death, for fear that the news might cause uprisings in Milan while the Emperor was there. The very day of his death, his house was sealed by the police, the funeral was delayed until 28 March, but it was solemn and largely participated by the population. His body was buried in Villa Melzi dEril, his villa in Bellagio, nino del Bianco, Francesco Melzi DEril. Francesco Melzi dEril, 1753–1816, milanese scomodo e grande uomo di Stato, visto da un lontano pronipote
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Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)
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The Kingdom of Italy was a French client state founded in Northern Italy by Napoleon I, fully influenced by revolutionary France, that ended with his defeat and fall. Napoleon I was crowned at the Duomo di Milano, Milan on May 26 and his title was Emperor of the French and King of Italy, showing the importance of this Italian Kingdom for him. Even though the republican Constitution was never abolished, a series of Constitutional Statutes completely altered it. The second one, dating from March 29, and regulated the regency, the Great Officials of the kingdom, the Consulta, Legislative Council, and Speakers, were all merged in a Council of State, whose opinions became only optional and not binding for the king. The Legislative Body, the old parliament, remained in theory, but it never summoned after 1805, the fourth Statute, decided on February 16,1806, indicated Beauharnais as the heir to the throne. The seventh Statute, on September 21, created a new nobility of dukes, counts and barons, the eighth, in 1812, a Court of Accounts was added. The Duchy of Guastalla was annexed on May 24, with the Convention of Fontainebleau with Austria of October 10,1807, Italy ceded Monfalcone to Austria and gained Gradisca, putting the new border on the Isonzo River. The conquered Republic of Ragusa was annexed in spring 1808 by general Marmont and that was the only time in modern history that Ragusa was united to Italy. On April 2,1808, following the dissolution of the Papal States, at its maximum extent, the Kingdom had 6,700,000 inhabitants and was composed by 2,155 communes. Small changes to the borders between Italy and France in Garfagnana and Friuli came in act on August 5,1811, in practice, the Kingdom was a dependency of the French Empire. The Kingdom served as a theater in Napoleons operations against Austria during the wars of the various coalitions, trading with the United Kingdom was forbidden. The kingdom was given a new currency, replacing the local coins circulating in the country, the Italian lira, of the same size, weight. Mintage being decided by Napoleon with a decree on March 21,1806. The monetary unit was the silver lira, which was 5 grams heavy, there were multiples of £2 and £5, and precious coins of £20 and £40. The army of the kingdom, inserted into the Grande Armée, in the course of its existence from 1805 to 1814 the Kingdom of Italy provided Napoleon I with roughly around 200,000 soldiers. In 1805 Italian troops served on duty along the English Channel, during 1806-1807 they took part in the sieges of Kolberg and Danzig. From 1808 to 1813 whole Italian divisions served in Spain, especially distinguishing themselves under Suchet at Tarragona and Saguntum. In 1809, Eugènes Army of Italy formed the wing of Napoleon Is invasion of the Austrian Empire, winning a considerable victory at Raab
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