Leghorn

Geography

The commune of Leghorn has a surface of 104 km ² and it is located at 3 meters with the top of the sea level. Leghorn is on a plane surface, except in the south of the city, where start to take shape some hills. The coasts of the city on the Tyrrhenian Sea are plane, as it is the case of Carrare to Piombino. The city is crossed by no important River, but only by some small torrents.

History

Origins

Leghorn was at its origin a small village of fishermen, on the Tyrrhénienne coast, in a small natural bay, with a few kilometers in the south of the mouth of the Arno and town of Pisa. Whereas its Tuscan colleagues, Florence, Lucques and Pisa knew a large artistic activity, cultural and commercial, Leghorn remains in margin of the history.

The event which will change in a final and irreversible way the destiny of the small village of Leghorn, is the natural and progressive stranding of the single outlet on the sea which the Republic of Pisa had, the antique " Port Pisano " , already known of the Etruscan and the Roman . Pisa was thus forced to find an alternative solution, to allow the continuation of the sea traffic and its commercial exchanges. It is thus on the small village of Leghorn, which was strengthened and equipped, that the Republic of Pisa threw its reserved. At the beginning of the 14th century, a headlight (called " it Fanale " , Italian fire) was built and towards the end of the same century, a strengthened enclosure was high all around the city.

The flourishing rise of the port caused the covetousness of the large neighbors of Pisa, who are Genoa and Florence. With the decline of the Republic of Pisa, Leghorn changed hand on several occasions, initially with Génois, then with the French. It is finally under the domination of Florence that the city fell in 1421, for 100.000 Florin S of gold.

Médicis

It will be necessary to await 1500 and the arrival of the Médicis, Large-duke of Tuscany, to attend the demographic and commercial explosion of Leghorn. Médicis, to begin with Cosme I {{er}}, first Large-duke of Tuscany, succeeded in doing of Leghorn one of the largest ports of the the Mediterranean. It was built there a navigable channel ( Canale dei Navicelli ), between Pisa and Leghorn, Médicis created the Ordre of the Knights of San Stefano , whose fleet was based in the wearing of Leghorn.

The oldest son of Cosme Ier, François I {{er}} of Médicis, asked architects and famous artists of the time, like Bernardo Buontalenti, Alessandro Pieroni and Giovanni de Médicis, to carry out the plans of the new city. This one was to be the " idéale" city;. The result is a splendid city, with districts, places and roads drawn with a great direction of town planning. But it was to also be a fortress city, of pentagonal form, surrounded by imposing walls, ramparts and " fortifications with modern the ". But what marked definitively the destiny of Leghorn was its transformation into free port and the introduction of the " Leggi Livornine ".

The laws livournaises, Leggi Livornine

In 1587, Ferdinand I {{er}}, brother of François I {{er}} of Médicis and wire of Cosme I {{er}}, takes the load of large-duke. It is with him that the city owes its statute of free port, and consequently, the commercial exchanges underwent a vertiginous increase. Between 1590 and 1603, were proclaimed the " Laws livournaises " ( Leggi Livornine ) also known as " Constitution Livournaise " ( Constituzione Livornina ).

These laws envisaged immunity, of the privileges and of the exemptions in favor of the merchants, some is their source, but not only. These laws also guaranteed and especially freedom of worship. Moreover, any person having been condemned for offenses (except for the murder and of the counterfeit money) had free access with the " Ground of Leghorn " ( Terra di Livorno ). Following the Incipit of " the livornina " Ferdinand Ier, large-duke of Tuscany, proclaimed the July 30th 1591:

" … has tutti voi, mercanti di qualsivoglia nazione, Levantini, Ponentini, Spagnoli, Portoghesi, Greci, Tedeschi, Italiani, Ebrei, Turchi, Mori, Armeni, Persiani ED altri concediamo reale, libero E amplissimo salvacondotto E released facoltà E licenza che possiate venire, stare, trafficare, passare E abitare idiot the famiglie E, senza partire, tornare E negoziare nella città di Pisa E will terra di Livorno… "

These laws will give to Leghorn the characteristics of a cosmopolitan, tolerant, multiracial city and multi-nun. No matter who can profess his worship, of many religious buildings and cemeteries will be built by the various religious communities and foreign of the city: Jews (Gorneyim), Armenians, Greeks, Dutchman…

XVIIIe century: The House of Lorraine

Jean Gaston de Médicis is the last one representing dynasty of Médicis, after Cosme II, Ferdinand II and Cosme III. He dies in the year 1737 without descent, and Leghorn, to which he had been allotted the title of Ville to the whole beginning of the 17th century, exceeds the 30.000 inhabitants then. The city thus sees the Maison of Lorraine settling with the capacity in the place of the Médicis.

The first representative of Lorraine to assume the title of Large-duke of Tuscany, is François II, husband of Marie Therese, girl of Charles VI, which becomes in 1745, Empereur of Austria and Germanic Roman Emperor. François II will constitute the Council of Regency which sits at Florence.

During this period, the city knows a strong expansion, beyond the harbor perimeter and of the coastal area. The city widens, moving away gradually from the fortifications, to go to the periphery. During this same time, one attends an important revival of the trade, arts but also of the edition, which finds in Leghorn a fertile ground to be expressed thanks to the climate of tolerance of the city. It is here that are published " Of surbed and the sorrows " ( Dei delitti E delle penedes ) of Cesare Beccaria in 1764 and, in 1770, the first Italian volume of the Encyclopedia of Diderot and Alembert.

In 1765, Léopold 1 {{er}} of Tuscany succeeds François II, after the death of this one. It continued the urban project of its predecessor while giving a new impulse to the city, by supporting the integration of the local economy to that of the area. But one of the most significant measurements is at the legislative level. It founds a measurement of avant-garde for the time, namely abolition of capital punishment, in 1786.

XIXe century: End of the Grand Duchy

In 1790, Léopold 1 {{er}} becomes Empereur. Consequently his/her son Ferdinand III becomes Large-duke of Tuscany. It is during its reign that the city will be conquered by the French (Napoleon Bonaparte, in 1796), the Spanish and the English. In 1849, during the rebellions which drive out the Large-duke Léopold II of Tuscany, Leghorn proclaimed autonomous République, and it is the last Tuscan city to capitulate to the Autrichiens which restore the Grand Duchy.

It is this same Léopold II which will be obliged to give up the throne in 1859, marking the final end of the Grand-duché of Tuscany and the Maison of Lorraine at its head. As of 1860, the history of Leghorn will be based on that of Italy, with the proclamation of the Italian unit. In 1865, the city will lose its statute of port-franc, which will involve a drastic fall of the marketing activity and sea traffic, but the birth and the development of the " Shipyard Orlando " , will change the face of the city and will bring new resources.

A fundamental event for the city occurs the November 6th 1881, with the birth of the Naval Académie. The Academy, is an institute which trains the officers of the Navy Italian.

Beginning of the XXe century and the Second world war

The beginning of the 20th century sees flowering of many projects of architectural and urban value: elegant hydropathic establishments and balneal, a funicular for the " Santuario " ( Sanctuary ) of Montenero, as well as the new railway station. New theaters are created and the historical center of the city is entirely renovated. In 1936, company ANIC is made up ( Azienda Nazionale Idrogenazione Combustibili ), an energy group, which will give, with its petrochemical complex, a more industrial aspect at the city.

The release of the Second world war will deeply upset the history and the aspect of Leghorn. The May 28th 1943, the city undergoes the first of very long series of bombardments (more than 100). The B-17 of the allied forces poured tons of shell on the city with for strategic targets, the refinery ANIC, the steel-works Motofides and the port, which all were destroyed. But in addition to these places, of the important collateral damage took place, of the zones of residence, but also of the artistic and historical sites priceless like the Dome, the Jewish Synagog (the second of Europe by its size and its artistic value), the Theater San Marco and the historical center of the city terrifying devastations underwent, which caused hundreds of deaths.

Post-war period and Leghorn of today

After the war, Leghorn was rebuilt under the aspects of a modern city, by forgetting its historical and urban last rich person completely. Nevertheless, during the last decades, the public authorities again turned to the past of the city, to become again a tourist pole and more only one head of bridge for the Corsica and the Sardinia. With the crisis of the the Eighties in industry, the city gradually moves its economic activity of the secondary industry (shipyard, heavy industry) to the small and medium-size companies of the tertiary sector. It is the starting point and of arrival of the principal companies of ferries Corsica and Sardaigna Ferries (), Moby line ().

Culture

The city and its monuments

the masterpiece of Pietro Tacca sculptor major Baroque of the school florentine: the I Quattro mori incatenati (literally four connected Moors called also four connected slaves ) on the basis of monument with Ferdinand de Médicis on the piazzetta beyond darsena . The statues represent pirates sarrazins made captive by the Order of the Knights of Saint-Stephan. The sculptor would have chosen as model some slaves captive of the prisons which moored in the port close to Leghorn.

Famous personalities

History

Economy

Culture

Commemorative event

Festivals, fairs -->

Administration

Hamlets

Ardenza, Antignano, Montenero, Castellaccio, Gorgona, Quercianella.

Communes bordering

Collesalvetti, Pisa (Pisa), Rosignano Marittimo.

Sport

The local team of Football, ACE Leghorn Calcio, takes part in the national championship of Serie has.

Twinnings

Photograph gallery -->

See too

Province of Leghorn
List of the Italian cities of more than 25.000 inhabitants
Granas (Jewish originating in Leghorn)

Sources

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