Livorno
or until recently in English Leghorn
(), is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno and the third-largest port on the western coast of Italy, having a population of approximately 170,000 residents as of the year 2007.
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History
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Livorno was defined as an "
ideal town" during the
Italian Renaissance. Today, it reveals its history through the structure of its
neighbourhoods, crossed by
canals and surrounded by
fortified town walls, through the tangle of its
streets, which embroider the town's
Venice district, and through the
Medici Port characteristically overlooked by
towers and fortresses leading to the
town centre. Designed by the
architect Bernardo Buontalenti at the end of the 16th century, Livorno underwent a period of great
town planning expansion at the end of the 17th century. Near the defensive pile of the Old Fortress, a new fortress, together with the town-walls and the system of navigable canals, was then built.
In the late 1580s,
Ferdinando I de
Medici declared Livorno a "
porto Franco
", which meant that the goods
traded here were
duty free. The "
Leggi Livornine
" were
laws in force between 1590 and 1603. These laws helped the trading activities of the
merchant,
freedom of religion and
amnesty for some
penance. Thanks to these laws, Livorno became a
cosmopolitan city and one of the most important ports of the entire
Mediterranean area. Many
foreigners moved to Livorno;
Armenians,
Dutch,
English,
Greeks, and
Jews, were among those who relocated to live and trade. Some
Moriscos (
Muslim Spaniards forcibly
converted to
Catholicism), much later, also moved to Livorno (from
Spain and during the 18th century). On the 19th of March 1606, the Granduca di Toscana
Ferdinando I de' Medici, in the Fortezza Vecchia Chapel of Saint Francis of Assisi elevated Livorno to the rank of city.
During the
Napoleonic Wars, trade with
England was prohibited and the
economy of Livorno suffered greatly. Then, in 1868, after Livorno became part of the new
Kingdom of Italy, she lost her, by now, traditional status of “
Porto Franco
” and the city's importance declined.
Main sights
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Nowadays the Venice district preserves most of its original town planning and architectural features such as the bridges, the narrow
lanes, the
noblemen's
houses and a dense network of canals which once linked the port to its
storehouses. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Livorno, by then grown up and open to the world, had a lively appearance marked by
neo-classical buildings,
public parks housing important
museums and
cultural institutions, "Liberty"
villas with
sea views and the
market.
The Museo Mascagnano houses memorabilia, documents and operas by the great composer
Pietro Mascagni. Every year some of his operas are traditionally played during the lyric music season, which is organised by the Traditional Theatre of Livorno. Also the “Terrazza Mascagni”, a walkway divided from the sea by a handrail, is named in honor to Pietro Mascagni.
Up in the hills the
Sanctuary of Montenero, which is dedicated to Our Lady of the Graces, the patron saint of Tuscany, is a fixed destination for pilgrims. It is famous for the adjacent gallery, decorated with ex-voti mainly connected to stories of miraculous sea rescue.
The "Monumento dei quattro mori" ("Monument of the Four
Moors"), dedicated to Grand Duke
Ferdinando I de' Medici of Tuscany, is one of the most important monuments of Livorno.
In Livorno there is an important square called "Piazza della Repubblica" that contains two important monuments of Italian politicians. Thus, this square is also a bridge: in fact, under the bridge there is an old, big canal. Piazza della Repubblica is the largest bridge of Europe.
Another important monument is the old fortress; an old building made with red bricks that at the time of Medici defended the city from pirates attacks. It has 3 bastion, named “Capitana”, “Ampolletta” and “Canaviglia”.
The old fortress was made before the Renaissance. The new Fortress, distinct from the old one, was made at the end of the 16th century.
There are some graveyards where foreign people who moved to Livorno used to be buried.
Culture
Politically, Livorno is one of the most
left-leaning cities of Italy. The
Communist Party of Italy was founded in Livorno on
21 January 1921.
There is a breed of chicken called
leghorn, named after the city. This in turn gave its name to the cartoon character
Foghorn Leghorn.
Economy
Tuaca liqueur is produced in Livorno as is
Galliano. The city also has a substantial
petrochemical industry.
Sport
Livorno has a
football team in
Serie A,
A.S. Livorno Calcio. The football club reflects the left-leaning tendencies of the city with Livorno Calcio's left-wing
ultras.
Dialect
Livorno inhabitants speak a colourful variant of the
Tuscan dialect of Italy named
vernacolo
, which is especially characterized by the popular interjection
dé
, which has a very wide range of meanings, usually recognizable only by the tone of the pronunciation, and a tourist is soon discovered if they pronounce the word as
dè
, because it is not the correct pronunciation.
There is a satirical comic/magazine written mainly in the Livornese dialect called
Il Vernacoliere
.
Sister cities
- 20px Bat Yam, Israel
- Cerignola, Italy
- 20px Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain
- 20px Haiphong, Vietnam
- 20px Novorossiysk, Russia
Notable people
- Mario Ancona (1860-1931), opera baritone
- Chaim Joseph David Azulai (1724-1807), prolific Rabbinic scholar
- Andrea Baldini (born 1985), fencer, double World Championship silver medallist
- Elijah Benamozegh (1822-1900), rabbi and scholar of Kabbalah
- Leonetto Cappiello (1875-1942), painter
- Giorgio Caproni (1912-1990), poet
- David Castelli (1836-1901), Jewish Biblical scholar
- Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (born 1920), former President of the Republic of Italy
- Piero Ciampi (1934-1980), musician
- Vittorio Matteo Corcos (1859-1933), painter
- Giovanni Fattori (1825-1908), painter
- Alberto Fremura (born 1936), artist
- Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi (1804-1873), writer and politician
- Francis Levett, English merchant, the Levant Company
- Cristiano Lucarelli (born 1975), football player
- Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945), opera composer
- Matteo Mazzantini (born 1976), rugby player
- Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920), painter and sculptor
- Aldo Montano (born 1978), fencer, Olympic gold medalist
- Moses Haim Montefiore (1784-1885), financier and philanthropist in Britain
- Sabato Morais (1823-1897), rabbi in Philadelphia, USA, and founder of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City
- Alfredo Muller (1869-1940), artist
- Nedo Nadi, won 5 gold medals in fencing at the 1920 Olympics
- Armando Picchi (1935-1971), football player and manager
- Dario Resta (1884-1924), Racecar driver, Indy 500 winner
- Angiolo Tommasi (1858-1923), artist
- Samuel Uziel (Seventeenth century), rabbi and Talmudist
- Devrim Hakan (Seventeenth century), Cantidal
Points of interest
- Museo di Storia Naturale del Mediterraneo
- Orto Botanico del Mediterraneo
- Cisternoni of Livorno
See also
- Jewish community of Livorno
Images