Italy Regions and Towns
| Lombardy | |
 |
|
| Geography | |
| Status | Region |
|---|---|
| Capital | Milan |
| President | Roberto Formigoni (Forza Italia-House of Freedoms) |
| Provinces | 12 |
| Area | 23,861 km² |
| - Ranked | 4th (7.9 %) |
| Population (2006 est.) | |
| - Total | 9,475,202 |
| - Ranked | 1st (16.1 %) |
| - Density | 397/km² |
Lombardy (Latin: Langobardia, Italian: Lombardia, Western Lombard: Lumbardìa, Eastern Lombard: Lombardia) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy’s population lives in Lombardy and about one fourth of Italy’s GDP is produced in this Region. The languages are Italian, Western Lombard and Eastern Lombard. The primary religion is Catholic, of Ambrosian rite or Roman rite.
(in The area of current Lombardy was settled at least since the 2nd millennium BC, as shown by the archaeological findings of ceramics, arrows, axes and carved stones. In the following centuries it was inhabited first by some Etruscan tribes, who founded the city of Mantua and spread the use of writing; later, starting from the 5th century BC, the area was invaded by the Celt (Gaul) tribes. This people founded several cities (including Milan) and extended their rule to the Adriatic Sea. Their development was halted by the Roman expansion in the Padan Plain from the 3rd century BC onwards: after centuries of struggle, in 194 BC the entire area of what is now Lombardy became a Roman province with the name of Gallia Cisalpina (“Gaul on the nearer side of the Alps”). The Roman culture and language overwhelmed the former civilization in the following years, and Lombardy became one of the most developed and rich areas of Italy with the construction of a wide array of roads and the development of agriculture and trade. Important figures like Pliny the ElderComo) and Virgil (in Mantua) were born here. In late antiquity the strategic role of Lombardy was emphasized by the temporary moving of the capital of the Western Empire to Milan. Here, in 313 AD, emperor Constantine issued the famous edict that gave freedom of confession to all religions within the Empire.During and after the fall of the Western Empire, Lombardy suffered heavily from destruction brought about by a series of barbaric invasions. The last and most effective was that of the Lombards, or Longobardi, who came around 570s.[1] and whose long-lasting reign (whose capital was set in Pavia) gave the current name to the region. There was a close relationship between the Frankish, Bavarian and Lombard nobility for many centuries.
After the initial struggles, relationships between the Lombard people and the Latin-speaking people improved. In the end, the Lombard language and culture assimilated with the Latin culture, leaving evidence in many names, the legal code and laws among other things. The end of Lombard rule came in 774, when the Frankish king Charlemagne conquered Pavia and annexed the “Kingdom of Italy” (mostly northern and central Italy) to his empire. The former Lombard dukes and nobles were replaced by other German vassals, prince-bishops or marquises. However, to this day the population is still the descendants of the Lombards.[citation needed]
The 11th century marked a significant boom in the region’s economy, due to improved trading and, mostly, agricultural conditions. In a similar way to other areas of Italy, this led to a growing self-acknowledgement of the cities, whose increasing richness made them able to defy the traditional feudal supreme power, represented by the German emperors and their local legates. This process reached its apex in the 12th and 13th century, when different Lombard Leagues formed by allied cities of Lombardy, usually led by Milan, managed to defeat the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick I, at Legnano, and his grandson Frederick II, at Parma. This did not prevent other important Lombard centres, like Cremona (then rivalling Milan for size and wealth) and others, from supporting the imperial power if this could grant them an immediate advantage. Taking advantage of the flourishing agriculture, the area around the Po River, together with Venice and Tuscany, continued to expand its industry and commerce until it became the economic centre of the whole of Europe. The enterprising class of the communes extended its trade and banking activities well into northern Europe, and the name “Lombardy” came to designate the whole of Northern Italy until the 15th century.
From the 14th century onwards, the instability created by the unceasing internal and external struggles ended in the creation of noble seignories, the most significant of which were those of the Viscontis (later Sforzas) in Milan and of the Gonzagas in Mantua. In the 15th century the Duchy of Milan was a major political, economical and military force at the European level. Milan and Mantua became two centres of the Renaissance whose culture, with men like Leonardo da Vinci and Mantegna, and pieces of art were highly regarded (as The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci). This richness, however, attracted the now more organized armies of national powers like France and Austria, which waged a lengthy battle for Lombardy in the late 15th-early 16th century. After the decisive battle of Pavia (1525), the Duchy of Milan became an Austrian possession, which was passed on to the royal Austrian Habsburgs of Spain: the new rulers did little to improve the economy of Lombardy, instead imposing a growing series of taxes needed to support their unending series of European wars. The eastern part of modern Lombardy, with cities like Bergamo and Brescia, was under the Republic of Venice, which had begun to extend its influence in the area from the 14th century onwards (see also Italian Wars).
Pestilences (like that of 1648, described by Alessandro Manzoni in his I Promessi Sposi) and the generally declining conditions of Italy’s economy in the 17th and 18th centuries halted the further development of Lombardy. In 1706 the Austrians came to power and introduced some economical and social measures which granted a certain recovery. Their rule was smashed in the late 18th century by the French armies, however, and Lombardy became one of the semi-independent provinces of the Napoleonic Empire.
The restoration of Austrian rule in 1815, in the form of the puppet state called Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, had however to contend with new social ideals introduced by the Napoleonic era. Lombardy became one of the intellectual centres of the process which led to the Unification of Italy. The popular republic of 1848 was short-lived, and Lombardy was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy 1859 as a result of the Second Italian Independence War. Starting from the late 19th century, and with a boom after World War II, Lombardy confirmed its status as the most economically developed area of Italy.
When annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1859 Lombardy achieved his actual territorial shape by adding the Oltrepo pavese (formerly southern part of Novara’s Province) to the province of Pavia. In January 1 1927 due to a general setup ordered by the Mussolinian Government, Varese became independent by subtracting to Como some 40 towns up to the Lake Maggiore and to Milan the Gallarate’s and Busto Arsizio’s counties. Two other provinces had been constituted in march 6 1992. Lodi’s province was formed cutting out of Milan’s southern territories up to Po river. Just one town (San Colombano al Lambro) didn’t agree to the new settlement and, even if 40 km far away from the Provincial capital, is still depending from Milan. Lecco split away from of Como’s Province by cutting out Lake of Como’s eastern territories. A new province constitution had been programmed since june 11 2004, the Brianza’s, having Monza as administrative center, but actuation has still to come.
Economy
Lombardy is one of the engines of the global economy, with a GDP calculated by ISTAT at $400 billion and a per capita GDP of $49,216. The Lombard per capita GDP is higher than those of United States, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland or Sweden. The region is one of the three richest in Europe,[citation needed] with a per capita gross domestic product that is 30 percent higher than the rest of Italy. In fact, the latest Eurostat figures shows that Lombardy in 2003 had the highest GDP for a region in the whole of the EU.[citation needed] Many foreign and national companies have their headquarters in Milan. Manufactures include iron and steel, cars, electronics, mechanics components, chemical products, textiles, furnitures, leather, shoes and many others. The province of Brescia is well-known for the production of weapons, and the province of Como for silk and lace. The productivity of agriculture is enhanced by a well-developed use of fertilizers and the traditional abundance of water, boosted since the Middle Ages by the construction (partly designed by Leonardo Da Vinci) of a wide net of irrigation systems. Lower plains are characterized by fodder crops, which are mowed up to eight times a years, cereals (rice, wheat and maize) and sugarbeet. Productions of the higher plains include cereals, vegetables, fruit trees and mulberries. The higher areas, up to the Prealps and Alps sectors of the north, produce fruit, vines, olives. Cattle (with the highest density in Italy), pigs and sheep are raised.
Politics
The Christian-centre party of Democrazia Cristiana (DC) maintained a majority of the votes and rule of the most important cities and provinces until the late 1980s; support for the other traditional major force of Italian politics, the Italian Communist Party (PCI), was increasingly eroded by the Partito Socialista Italiano (PSI) until, in the early 1990s, the Mani Pulite corruption scandal which spread from Milan to the whole of Italy wiped away the old political class almost entirely. This, together with problems caused by immigration and the general disaffection towards Rome’s government (considered too oriented to the less developed regions of southern Italy in economical matters), led to the sudden growth of the separatist party of Lega Lombarda (later Lega Nord), with somewhat plebiscitary consensus especially in agricultural areas and minor cities of the region. Today Lombardy is a stronghold of the House of Freedom coalition, and gave about 57% of its votes to Silvio Berlusconi at the April 2006 elections.
Located to the south of Lombardy is the town of Valle San Giovanni.
Valle San Giovanni is a small village of approximately 350 people located about six miles away from the town (comune) of Teramo, the capital of the province of Teramo, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. The Adriatic Sea and the Gran Sasso are about 25 km away. It sits in the Tordino Valley, near the spot where two small streams, the Lete and the Fiumicello, flow into the Tordino river.
According to some sources the town takes its name from a powerful Teramo family with the last name “Di Valle”. Others claim that the name derives from its proximity to an ancient monastery, San Giovanni in Pergullis (Saint John amongst the Pergolae), a location surrounded by many vineyards.
Over the years, the history of Valle San Giovanni has been closely linked with two neighboring communities, Frunti a feudal holding of the “De Frunto” family, and Teramo with whom there existed an enduring reciprocal alliance. At one point Teramo briefly annexed Frunti leading to renewed efforts by it inhabitants to break these feudal ties and traditions. In 1338 the townspeople declared their independence from Teramo, thereby reaffirming their autonomous civil liberties. This arrangement lasted until 1457 when Frunti became part of the county Montorio al Vomano. In 1668 Frunti passed into the hands of the Count Crescenzio De Crescentiis. In the beginning of the 1700s Frunti became aligned with neighboring Valle San Giovanni, which at that time was becoming increasingly developed due to having annexed the surrounding church and vineyards of San Giovanni in Pergulis and to serving as a sheep herding way station. This great migration of sheep from Abruzzo to Puglia and Lazio was known as the transumanza. Valle San Giovanni sits on one such trail known as the San Quirico.
In the 1500 and 1600s, Valle San Giovanni witnessed a number of brigand skirmishes, these arising from struggles over control of the surrounding forest areas. At least a few of these brigands were themselves local townsfolk.
In the first half of the 1800s, coal deposits were discovered and mined very near the town. From the early 1900s onward, many of the citizens of Valle San Giovanni emigrated to New Jersey, Montreal, and elsewhere. This served to further impoverish the small village and greatly reduced its population.
In 1868 the town (comune) of Cortino was administratively established and Valle San Giovanni came under the jurisdiction of Montorio al Vomano. In 1929 Valle San Giovanni separated from Montorio al Vomano and became a suburb (frazione) of Teramo.
According to local sources and histories, during the Second World War the grottoes located immediately above Valle San Giovanni served as places of refuge for the Italian partisans then battling the German forces.
Located off of the main piazza, Largo della Chiesa, is Via del Casale. The residents of Valle San Giovanni call themselves “Vallaroli”.
Adjacent to Valle San Giovanni are the nearby towns of Frondarola, Travazzano and Valle Soprana.
