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LIVORNO
The third city of the region by population (after Florence and Prato), fifth in central Italy and twenty-fourth of Italy, hosts almost only half of the inhabitants of its province; with the neighboring municipalities of Pisa and Collesalvetti it also constitutes a summit of the so-called "industrial triangle", the total population of which amounts to more than 260,000 inhabitants. It is located along the coast of the Ligurian Sea and is one of the most important Italian ports, both as a commercial and touristic attraction, an industrial center of national importance. Among all the Tuscan cities it is usually considered the most modern, although in its territory there are several historical, artistic and architectural evidences that have survived the massive bombings of World War II. The city, greatly developed from the second half of the 16th century by the Medici before and the Lorraine afterwards, it was an important free port frequented by numerous foreign merchants, the seat of consulates and shipping company offices. This contributed to enhancing, since the end of the sixteenth century, the characteristics of a multiethnic and multicultural city of excellence, of which, an almost unique case in Italy, important vestiges survive, such as churches and cemeteries, palaces, villas, and public works inseparably tied to the names of the important foreign communities that frequented the free port until the second half of the nineteenth century. This international vocation led to the identification of the city as Leghorn in the United Kingdom and the United States of America, Livourne in France, Liorna in Spain, etc., likewise the most important state capitals of the time. Between the 19th and early 20th centuries, alongside the industrialization process, Livorno was also a tourist destination of international importance for the presence of renowned bathing establishments and thermal baths that gave the city the title of Montecatini al mare (Montecatini on the seaside). The city is renowned for hosting the Sanctuary of Montenero, titled to Madonna delle Grazie, the Patron Saint of Tuscany, as well as for giving birth to prestigious personalities such as Amedeo Modigliani, Pietro Mascagni, Giovanni Fattori, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and many others. Livorno is the home of the Naval Academy, the headquarters of the Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore" and the Special Intervention Team; it is also one of the 15 maritime directions into which the Italian coast is subdivided. |
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WHAT TO SEE
The seafront of Livorno is a seafront promenade that stretches from the Medicean city center along the coast of the Ligurian Sea down to the cliffs of Romito.
The promenade, today Viale Italia, was the most famous face of Livorno in the 1800s and early 1900s.
THE AQUARIUM
The Livorno Aquarium: amazing more than imagination!
1,700 animals of over 300 different species, a tunnel and a tactile tub.
The green turtle "Cuba", star of the Livorno Aquarium, the Napoleon fish, black fin sharks, corals and many other exciting specimens await you!
THE VENEZIA DISTRICT
"The very tall houses, with the façades of a blond plaster, where the rose and the green blend, shine in the sun with golden and verdigris reflections, like the water of the oil splashed canals.
The shutters have the color of dry leaves, they are pale and dusty. A sense of a bit tired nobility, of popular freedom, is in the open and smooth architecture of these houses, the most beautiful houses in the Mediterranean.
THE GIOVANNI FATTORI MUSEUM
The Giovanni Fattori Museum was founded in 1877 when the City of Livorno established a Civic Art Gallery destined to preserve the artworks collected by the Administration and stored in various places in the city.
In the primitive nucleus there were some paintings, sculptures and fragmentary archaeological finds, the result of generous donations by wealthy fellow citizens. The acquisition of the famous canvas by Giovanni Fattori "Assault to Madonna dell Scoperta" and the great canvas by Enrico Pollastrini "Esuli di Siena", destroyed during the war, dates back to this period; while we owe to Enrico Chiellini the donation of important paintings including "Volunteers of Livorno" by Cesare Bartolena and also an important archaeological and numismatic collection that still bears his name today.
At present, the Museum, which was transferred to Villa Mimbelli in 1994, consists of a main core of primarily Tuscan art of the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which is what is essentially exposed, but it is also retained a rich collection of icons of Ionian, Cretan and Russian schools, coming from churches of Greek Orthodox communities in Livorno (which was a cosmopolitan city to the Unity of Italy at least), a table of Beato Angelico "Christ crowned with thorns " dating to 1450, some paintings dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries and the aforementioned collections of Archeology and Numismatics, currently being reorganized and catalogued. There is also a large collection of works of contemporary art coming from the former progressive museum of Contemporary Art of Livorno.
The seafront of Livorno is a seafront promenade that stretches from the Medicean city center along the coast of the Ligurian Sea down to the cliffs of Romito.
The promenade, today Viale Italia, was the most famous face of Livorno in the 1800s and early 1900s.
THE AQUARIUM
The Livorno Aquarium: amazing more than imagination!
1,700 animals of over 300 different species, a tunnel and a tactile tub.
The green turtle "Cuba", star of the Livorno Aquarium, the Napoleon fish, black fin sharks, corals and many other exciting specimens await you!
THE VENEZIA DISTRICT
"The very tall houses, with the façades of a blond plaster, where the rose and the green blend, shine in the sun with golden and verdigris reflections, like the water of the oil splashed canals.
The shutters have the color of dry leaves, they are pale and dusty. A sense of a bit tired nobility, of popular freedom, is in the open and smooth architecture of these houses, the most beautiful houses in the Mediterranean.
THE GIOVANNI FATTORI MUSEUM
The Giovanni Fattori Museum was founded in 1877 when the City of Livorno established a Civic Art Gallery destined to preserve the artworks collected by the Administration and stored in various places in the city.
In the primitive nucleus there were some paintings, sculptures and fragmentary archaeological finds, the result of generous donations by wealthy fellow citizens. The acquisition of the famous canvas by Giovanni Fattori "Assault to Madonna dell Scoperta" and the great canvas by Enrico Pollastrini "Esuli di Siena", destroyed during the war, dates back to this period; while we owe to Enrico Chiellini the donation of important paintings including "Volunteers of Livorno" by Cesare Bartolena and also an important archaeological and numismatic collection that still bears his name today.
At present, the Museum, which was transferred to Villa Mimbelli in 1994, consists of a main core of primarily Tuscan art of the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which is what is essentially exposed, but it is also retained a rich collection of icons of Ionian, Cretan and Russian schools, coming from churches of Greek Orthodox communities in Livorno (which was a cosmopolitan city to the Unity of Italy at least), a table of Beato Angelico "Christ crowned with thorns " dating to 1450, some paintings dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries and the aforementioned collections of Archeology and Numismatics, currently being reorganized and catalogued. There is also a large collection of works of contemporary art coming from the former progressive museum of Contemporary Art of Livorno.