LIVORNO

:''"Leghorn" redirects here. For the breed of chicken, see Leghorn chicken.
'Livorno' (archaic ) is a port city on the Tyrrhenian 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 170,000 as of 2004.

Contents

History

Main sights

Culture

Economy

Sport

Dialect

Sister cities

Notable people

Images

External links

History

Livorno was defined as an "ideal town" during the Renaissance. Nowadays it reveals its history through 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 late 1580s Ferdinando I de Medici declared Livorno a "porto Franco": it means the goods which were traded here were duty free.
The "Leggi Livornine" were laws that ruled between 1590 and 1603. These laws helped the trading activity of the merchant, freedom of religion and amnesty for some penance.
Thanks to these laws, many foreigners people moved to Livorno, which became a cosmopolitan city. Hebrews, Armenians, Greeks, Netherlanders, and some English people were among them. Livorno became one of the most important ports of the Mediterranean area.
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, town parks housing important museums and cultural institutions, Liberty villas with sea views, the market.
Some Moriscos (Muslim Spaniards forcibly converted to Catholicism) moved from Spain to Livorno in the 18th century.
During the Napoleonic War trade with England was prohibited and the economy of Livorno suffered greatly because of this. In 1868, after Livorno became part of the Kingdom of Italy, it lost its status of “Porto Franco” and its importance decreased.

Main sights

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 Turks"), dedicated to Grand Duke Ferdinando II 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 frome 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. 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 try to use 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

★ Bat Yam (Israel)

★ Guadalajara (Spain)

★ Haiphong (Vietnam)

★ Novorossiysk (Russia)

Notable people

★ Mario Ancona (1860-1931), opera baritone

★ Chaim Joseph David Azulai (1724-1807), prolific Rabbinc scholar

★ Leonetto Cappiello (1875-1942), painter

★ Giorgio Caproni (1912-1990), poet

★ Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (born 1920), former President of the Republic of Italy

★ Piero Ciampi (1934-1980), musician

★ Galeazzo Ciano (1903-1944), Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs during the fascist regime

★ Giovanni Fattori (1825-1908), painter

★ Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi (1804-1873), writer and politician

★ 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

★ Alfredo Muller (1869-1940), artist

★ 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

★ Alberto Fremura (born 1936), artist
Francis Levett, English merchant

Images

External links

★ Municipal website

★ ItalianVisits.com

★ Photographic map of Livorno

★ Ferdinando I De Medici, Document Inviting Jewish Merchants to Settle in Livorno and Pisa, in Italian, Manuscript on Vellum, Florence, Italy, 10 June 1593 (fac-simile)