Savona
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the Italian city. For the small town of Savona, Canada, please see Savona, British Columbia, or the village in the USA, see Savona, New York.
| Comune di Savona | |
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 Municipal coat of arms |
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| Country |  Italy |
| Region | Liguria |
| Province | Savona (SV) |
| Mayor | Federico Berruti |
| Elevation | 4 m (13 ft)[1] |
| Area | 65.55 km² (25 sq mi) |
| Population (as of 2007-08-31) | |
| - Total | 62,067[2] |
| - Density | 947/km² (2,453/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET, UTC+1 |
| Coordinates | |
| Gentilic | Savonesi |
| Dialing code | 019 |
| Postal code | 17100 |
| Frazioni | Lavagnola, Légino, Zinola, Santuario |
| Patron | N.S. della Misericordia (Our Lady of Mercy) |
| - Day | 18 March |
| Website: www.comune.savona.it | |
Savona (Sàn-na in the local dialect of Ligurian) is a seaport and comune in the northern Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea.
Savona used to be one of the chief seats of the Italian iron industry, having iron-works and foundries, shipbuilding, railway workshops, engineering shops, brass foundry.
One of the most celebrated former inhabitants of Savona was the navigator Christopher Columbus, who farmed land in the area while chronicling his journeys. 'Columbus's house', a cottage situated in the Savona hills, lay between vegetable crops and fruit trees. It is just one of many residences in Liguria associated with Columbus. this link).
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[edit] History
Savona is the Roman Savo of the Sabatian Ligures, where, according to Livy, Mago stored his booty in the Second Punic War.
The place was outshone in importance in Roman times by the harbor at Vada Sabatia (Vado), from which a road diverged across the Apennines to Placentia. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Savona was destroyed by the Lombard king Rotari in 641, and thenceforth decayed. Later it became the seat of a county in Carolingian times, and has to face subsequently the Saracen menace.
In 1191 the commune of Savona bought out the territorial claims of the feudal lords, the marchesi Del Carretto. Its whole history is that of a long struggle against Genoa. As early as the 12th century the Savonese built themselves a sufficient harbour, but in the 16th century the Genoese, fearing that Francis I of France intended to make it a great seat of Mediterranean trade, rendered it useless by sinking at its mouth vessels filled with large stones. In 1746 Savona was captured by the king of Piedmont and Sardinia, but it was restored to the Republic of Genoa by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
In 1815 Savona was annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia, with which it became part of unified Italy in 1861. during World War II it was heavily bombed. After the reconstruction, Savona developed as an industrial and maritime centre, becoming an important turistic hub in the 1970s
[edit] Main sights
- Near the Rocca di San Giorgio, on the "Promontorio del Priamar", stands the fortress named Priamar, built after fall of Savona in Genoese hands (1528) by the Genoese in 1542, on the area of the old cathedral and old city and later used as a prison and military prison (Italian patriot Giuseppe Mazzini was imprisoned here).
- Cappella Sistina (Savona)- Adjacent to the Cathedral and built 1480-1483, is the Cappella Sistina (Sistine Chapel), containing the Mausoleum erected by the Della Rovere Pope Sixtus IV to honor his parents, Leonardo Della Rovere e Luchina Monleone. Construction commissioned from Giovanni D'Aria and his brother Michele. The chapel is architecturally similar to the chapel dedicated to the Cardinal Pietro Riario in the Basilica of the Santi Apostoli in Rome. After years of deterioration, in 1765-1767 reconstruction was commissioned by the Genovese Doge Francesco Maria Della Rovere. This updated the chapel in a Rococo style, with ceiling painted by Paolo Gerolamo Brusco.
The Cathedral has a noteworthy 16th century carved wooden choir seats.
- Facing the cathedral is the unfinished Palazzo Della Rovere (Della Rovere Palace), built by Cardinal Giulio della Rovere (Pope Julius II) from the plans of Giuliano da Sangallo as a university.
- The old towers, survived after 1528 ruin (war with Genoa): the Campanassa (Commune tower where freedom of Savona was signed in 1191), towers Corsi and Riario, "Ghibelline Tower", and Torre della Quarda (also known as "a Torretta"), in Leon Pancaldo square.
- The Sanctuary of Nostra Signora della Misericordia (Our Lady of Mercy).
- In neighbourhood of Savona remains a house documented as property of Domenico Colombo, father of Christopher Columbus, where they lived for many years (Christopher Columbus lived in Savona for much of his youth).
- The church of Nostra Signora di Castello (Our Lady of the Castle) has a large altarpiece by Vincenzo Foppa and Ludovico Brea painted in 1490.
[edit] Notable Savonesi
- Girolamo Riario (1443-1488), lord of Imola and Forlì and one of the plotters behind the 1478 Pazzi Conspiracy.
- Pietro Riario (1447–1474), cardinal and Papal diplomat.
- Leon Pancaldo (1488 or 1490 – 1538) was an Italian explorer.
- Paolo Boselli (1838–1932), Prime Minister of Italy during World War I.
- Gianni Baget Bozzo (born 1925), priest and politician.
- Renata Scotto (born 1934), opera singer.
- Christian Panucci (born 12 April 1973), Italian footballer.
- Philip Ek (born 12 June 1989), comedian and entertainer.
[edit] Twin towns
[edit] References
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Elevation above sea-level of the casa comunale (town hall), see http://www.comuni-italiani.it/009/056/index.html
- ^ Istat
[edit] External links
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