ITALY
218
ITALY
these two districts are the chief centres of production.
The cities of EmiUa, with the exception of Ferrara and
Ravenna, are all built on the Emilian Way, which
skirts the base of the Apennines. Piacenza (pop.
36,000), on the Po, was an ancient Roman colony
that became a republic in the Middle Ages and later
with Guastalla a duchy of the House of Farnese.
It is now a stronghold, defending the Pass of Stra-
della. Its communal palace of the thirteenth century
and its cathedral of the twelfth century are notable
structures. Piacenza was the birth-place of Melchiorre
Gioja (1797-1S29) and of the famous man of letters,
Pietro Giordani. To the south-west of this city is the
Field of Roncaglia, where the Emperor Frederick Bar-
barossa convoked his feudal lords to support the
claims of the empire (1154-1159). Thecityof Bobbio
(pop. 5000), on the River Trebbia, is famous for the
convent founded there by St. Columbanus; and on the
lower course of that river was fought a battle in 218
B. c. between Hamiibal and the Romans, and one be-
tween MacDonald and Suvaroff in 1799. On the
Arda is Fiorenzuola d'Arda (pop. 12,000), the birth-
place of Cardinal Giulio Alberoni. In its neighbour-
liood were discovered the ruins of the ancient Veleia,
and among them the famous Table of Trajan. Near
Borgotaro, on the Taro River, where it receives the
Ceno, is Fornovo, where Cliarles VIII of France de-
feated the Italian Confederation in 1495. In the
valley of Stirone is Salsomaggiore, famous for its
therapeutic springs; and in the plain is BorgoSanDon-
nino (pop. 12,000), with its Gothic cathedral, and Bus-
seto, the birth-place of the great musician Giuseppe
Verdi. Parma (pop. 48,000), a very ancient Etruscan
city on the Parma River, contains noble monuments,
such as its cathedral and its baptistery. It became fa-
mous by its defence against Frederick II, who besieged
it unsuccessfully (1247—48). It was the capital of a
duchy under the princes of the House of Farnese and
undertheBourbonsof Spain. At thefootof thePietra
Bismantova (3440 feet) is theCastleofCanossa, where
Queen Adelaide took refuge and where Gregory VII
humiliated the Emperor JHenry IV. Reggio (pop.
59,000), on the Crostolo River, once the capital of
Cisalpine Gaul, was the birth-place of the poet Ariosto
and of the famous astronomer of our times, Angelo
Secchi, S.J. Where the River Secchia opens into the
plain, stands Sassuolo, famous on account of its vol-
canic phenomena, called salse; and to the north-east is
Modena (pop. 63,000), the ancient Roman city of
Mutina, which became the capital of a duchy and was
the birth-place of the naturalist Spallanzani, of Sado-
leto, of Sigonio, and of Tassoni. It contains a military
school. Vignola is the birth-place of Ludovico Antonio
Muratori, and contains the famous .-^bbey of San Sil-
vestro. Faenza (pop. 40,000) on the Lamone River was
once famous for its majolica, called Faience by the
French. Itisthcliirlh-plaocuf the physicist Torricelli.
Cesena (pop. 42,0(10) isthebirth-placeof PiusVI andof
Pius VII. Rimini diu]). 44,000), at the termination of
the Emilian, and the beginning of the Flaminian Way,
is rich in historical memories. It contains the bridge
and the arch of Augustus, the church of St. Francis,
called the .Malatestan Temple, after the Malatestas,
lords of the city, who caused the church to be built by
Leon Battista .\lbcrti. Two hours from Rimini, be-
tween the Marecchia and the Conca Rivers, rises San
Leo, the stronghold where Berengarius II was made
prisoner by Otto I and where the famous Cagliostro
died. Ravenna (pop. 36,000), a most important port
under the Romans, became the capital of the West-
ern Empire, later the capital of the Goths, and finally
of the Greek Exarchate. It has exceptionally fine
examples of Byzantine architecture, among which
should be mentioned the basilica of San Vitale. It is
in this city that the immortal Catholic poet Dante
Alighicri died, and where al.so is preserved his sepul-
chre. The ancient military port that was constructed
by Augustus is now covered over, and the town is at a
distance from the coast, with which it is connected by
a small canal, 5 miles in length. Along the coast
stretches the famous Pineta, 25 miles long, and from
1 to 2 J miles broad; but the negligence with which it
is treated is allowing it to waste away. Liguria com-
prises the provinces of Genoa and Porto Maurizio and
is bounded by the Apennines and the Ligurian Alps,
and by the Roia and the Magra rivers. It is a moim-
tainous country, with no other plains than the small
one near Albenga. The mountain spurs that project
into the sea produce an arc-shaped bay at the highest
point of which is the port of Genoa. Rains, especially
in the Apennines, are abundant (50 inches). This
region is separated from the rest of Continental Italy
by .steep moimtain ranges, but this barrier has been
overcome by railroads that have made Liguria the
natural outlet to the Mediterranean Sea for the valley
of the Po and for western Germany. It has a maritime
climate, but the natural fertility of its soil does not
correspond with that climatic advantage, and there-
fore its inhabitants devote themselves to a seafaring
life, as the fisheries along this coast are not remimera-
tive. Sixty-one per cent of the population live on
the coast. Where its soil is arable, Liguria produces
oil, fruits, and flowers; but commerce is its chief in-
dustry. Between the Polcevera and the Bisagno
Rivers, in the form of an amphitheatre, stands Genoa.
(q. V.)
Central Italy containsfive regions: Tuscany, (q. v.), L^mbria, Lazio, the Marches, .\bruzzo and Molise. While northern Italy may be called the head, central Italy is the heart of Italy, for it was this section of the country w-hich in ancient times, as well as in the Mid- dle .^ges, predominated by its prowess, by its laws, and by its religion, as in modern times by its arts and by its letters. The fertile genius of its inhabitants, to- gether with the happy conditions of its soil and free- dom from prolonged foreign domination, all conspire to intensify an artistic and literary sentiment and to maintain in the race the ethnical type of its ancestors, the Etruscans, the Marsians, the Umbrians, and the Latins — who together conquered the world. The chief occupation of its inhabitants is farming, there being few manufacturing industries. Although this section has a coast-line of 600 miles, it has only three ports: Ancona, which is the only one on the Adriatic Sea, anil Leghorn and Civitavecchia on the Tyrrhen- ian Sea. The coasts of the latter sea being almost without inhal>itants, owing to the malaria, Tuscany and Lazio have little or no seafaring populations; the corresponding shores on the Adriatic Sea, however, are abundantly peopled, but, as they are straight and low, they have no natural liarbours, and conse(iuently at the mouths of rivers small canal-ports have lieen dug out for fishing craft. This explains why the Marches and the .\bruzzi have a considerable seafaring popula- tion that is devoted to the fishery, and not to naviga- tion, as is the case in Liguria and Venice. The princi- pal inland cities are Florence, on the banks of the Arno, and Rome on the Tiber. All the others, as Siena, Perugia, Urbino, and Pesaro, are famous cities tliat flourished in past centuries; but they have not a brilliant future under present economical con- ditions.
Umbria consists of a single province called Periigia. It has an area of 3StH) si|. miles, ati estimated jiopula- tion, on 1 January, 1!)0S, cf (il):;,2.");; inhabitants. It is an essentially mouiilaimius region, of which the ele- vation is dotiTiuined by the dorsal aspect of the .\pen- nines and by the parallel chains of the Uinl)rian Sub- Apennines that form the upper liasin of the Tiber, the valley of Foligno. and the basin of the Nera and its affluents, or the highland plain of Norcia, the basin of Rieti.aiid the Sabine mountains. In the Middle Ages, the prcfiTcnce gi\'en to the Tuscan roads over the Flaminian Way, left Umbria in an isolated position, on
