|
| |
Comune di Vicenza
|
| |
Veneto
|
| |
Vicenza (VI)
|
| |
39
|
| |
80
|
| |
December 31 , 2004
|
| |
113,483
|
| |
13792
|
| |
CET , UTC +1
|
| |
|
| |
Anconetta, Bertesina, Bertesinella, Bugano, Campedello, Casale, Debba, Longara, Maddalene, Ospedaletto, Polegge, San Pietro Intrigogna, Santa Croce Bigolina, Tormeno
|
| |
0444
|
| |
36100
|
| |
Vicentini
|
| |
Madonna of Monte Berico
|
| |
September 8
|
| |
Enrico Hüllweck
|
| |
wwwcomunevicenzait
|
is a city in northern
Italy , is the capital of the eponymous
Province in the
Veneto region, at the northern base of the ''
Monti Berici '', straddling the
Bacchiglione . Vicenza is approximately 60
Km west of
Venice and 200 km east of
Milan .
Vicentia was settled by the Italic
Euganei and then by the Palaeo-
Veneti in the 2nd-3rd century BC, from whom it was taken by the
Gauls . The
Romans conquered it to the latter in
157 BC , giving the city the name of '' or '''''Vincentia''''' ("victorious")
The Vicentini received the Roman citizenship in
49 BC . The city had some importance as a hub on the important road from ''
Mediolanum '' to
Aquileia ], but was overshadowed by its neighbor
Patavium (
Padua ). Little survives of the Roman city, but three of the bridges across the Bacchiglione and Retrone rivers are of Roman origin, and isolated arches of a Roman
Aqueduct exist outside Porta Sta. Croce.
During the decline of the
Western Roman Empire ,
Heruls ,
Vandals ,
Alaric and
Huns laid the area to waste, but the city recovered after the
Ostrogoth conquest in
489 . It was also an important
Lombard and then
Frank centre. Numerous
Benedictine monasteries were built in Vicenza area, which, in particular, dried the lake that once was located north to Vicenza.
In
899 Vicenza was destroyed by
Magyar ravagers.
In ,
Ezzelino II Il Balbo , was captain of the league. When peace was restored, however, the old rivalry with Padua,
Bassano , and other cities was renewed, besides which there were the internal factions of the Vivaresi (
Ghibellines ) and the Maltraversi (
Guelphs ).
The tyrannical
Ezzelino III drove the Guelphs out of Vicenza, and caused his brother,
Alberico , to be elected podestà (1230). The independent
Commune joined the Second Lombard League against
Frederick II , and was sacked by that monarch (
1237 ), after which it was annexed to Ezzelino's dominions. On his death the old oligarchic
Republic political structure was restored -a ''consiglio maggiore'' ("grand council") of four hundred members and a ''consiglio minore'' ("small council") of forty members - and it formed a league with Padua,
Treviso and
Verona . Three years later the Vicentines entrusted the protection of the city to
Padua , so as to safeguard republican liberty; but this protectorate (''custodia'') quickly became dominion, and for that reason Vicenza in
1311 submitted to the
Scaligeri lords of
Verona , who fortified it against the
Visconti of
Milan .
Vicenza came under rule of
Venice in
1404 , and its subsequent history is that of
Venice . It was beseiged by the
Emperor Sigismund , and
Maximilian I held possession of it in 1509 and 1516.
Vicenza was a candidate to host the
Council Of Trento . The 16th century, however, was the century of
Andrea Palladio , who left many outstanding examples of his art with palaces and villas in the city's territory.
After
1797 , under
Napoleonic rule, it was made a
Duché Grand-fief (not a grand duchy, but a hereditary (extinguished in 1896), nominal duchy, a rare honor reserved for French officials) within Bonaparte's personal
Kingdom Of Italy for general
Caulaincourt , also imperial Grand-Écuyer.
After
1814 Vicenza passed to the
Austrian Empire . In
1848 , however, it rose against Austria, but was recovered after a stubborn resistance. As a part of the
Kingdom Of Lombardy-Venetia , it was annexed to
Italy after the
3rd War Of Italian Independence .
Vicenza's area was a location of fights in both World War I and World War II. After the end of the latter, a strong economical development made it one of the richest cities in Italy.
In January 2006 the
European Gendarmerie Force was inaugurated in Vicenza.
Among its patron saints the city venerates
St. Lontius , bishop and martyr, and
St. Theodore and
St. Apollonius , bishops and confessors in the fourth century. The Christian cemetery discovered near the Church of Sts. Felix and Fortunatus, dates from the earlier half of the fourth century, and these two saints were probably martyred under Diocletian.
The first bishop of whom there is any certain record is Horontius (590), a partisan of the Schism of the Three Chapters. Other bishops were: Vitalis (901), high chancellor of King
Berengar Of Ivrea ; Girolamo (1000), deposed by
Henry II for political sedition; Torengo, in whose episcopate a number of bishops rebelled against the episcopal authority. Uberto was deposed by pope
Innocent III as a despoiler of church property, but the canons put off until 1219 the election of his successor, Gilberto, who was forced by the tyranny of Ezzelino to live in exile.
Under Bishop Emiliani (1409) took place the apparition of the Blessed Virgin on Monte Berico which led to the foundation of the famous sanctuary. Pietro Barbo (1451) was afterwards
Pope Paul II .
The surrounding country is agricultural, but there are also quarries of marble, sulphur, copper, and silver mines, and beds of lignite and kaolin; mineral springs also abound, the most famous being those of Recoaro. The city has an active and lively industrial sector, which is especially famous for
Jewelry and
Clothing factories. The Gold Exposition is world-famous and it takes place in Vicenza three times per year (January, June, September). Other industries worthy of mention are the woollen and silk, pottery, and musical instruments.
Vicenza is on
UNESCO 's list of
World Heritage Site s.
Vicenza is home to several famous buildings designed by Palladio (all from the period
1580 -
1590 ). These include:
- (also known as "La Rotonda"), located just outside the downtown area
- the public , centrally located in Vicenza's Piazza dei Signori, of which Palladio himself said that it might stand comparison with any similar work of antiquity
- the , built by Palladio in 1580-1585 for the Accademia degli Olimpici. The scenes are by Vincenzo Scamozzi .
- , home of Vicenza's museum.
- The , dating from early in the 11th century, and restored in the 13th, 16th, and 19th, possesses numerous pictures and sculptures, nearly all of them by Vicentine artists (Cittadello, Celestia, Liberi, Ruschi).
- The (1244), formerly belonging to the Clarisses, contains statutes by Marinali and Cassetti, and paintings by Tiepolo .
- The Churches of the (1372) and '''St. Catherine''' ( 1292 ), formerly belonging to the Humiliati, possess notable pictures.
- S. Corona (1260) was built by the Dominicans after the death of Ezzelino, and is pictures by Montagna (''The Magdelene'') and Relline (''Baptism of Christ'').
- (1179)
- (8th century)
- (12th century)
- (1280), in the Gothic style, contains the tombs of many illustrious Vicentines.
- In the cloister of (1319) took place the miracles of St. Philip Benizi de Damiani.
- The (1224-1446).
- The , founded by Count Giovanni M. Bertolo.
- The (Pinacoteca Civica), containing a picture-gallery exclusively devoted to Vicentine painters.
The inhabitants of Vicenza are pejoratively known to other Italians as ''mangiagatti'' 'cat eaters'. Purportedly, Vicentinos turned to cats for sustenance during times of famine.
- Flavio Albanese , architect
- Roberto Baggio , soccer player
- Giuseppina M. Bakhita , saint
- Fernando Bandini , writer
- Valerio Belli , sculptor and engraver
- Maria Bertilla Boscardin , saint
- Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi , architect
- Gelindo Bordin , athlete
- Roberto Busa , religious and informatic engineer
- Tullio Campagnolo , bicycle maker
- Luigi Da Porto , writer
- Almerico Da Schio , astronome and inventor
- Otello De Maria , painter
- Ilvo Diamanti , political philosopher
- Federico Faggin , inventor
- Adolfo Farsari , photographer
- Ferreto Dei Ferreti , historian (fourteenth century)
- Antonio Fogazzaro , writer
- Antonio Giuriolo , partisan
- Fedele Lampertico , economist, writer and politician
- Niccolò Leoniceno , medic
- Paolo Lioy , naturalist
- Luigi Meneghello , writer (professor at Reading University )
- Andrea Palladio , architect
- Goffredo Parise , writer
- Antonio Pigafetta , explorer, companion of Magalhaes
- Guido Piovene , journalist and writer
- Orlando Pizzolato , athlete
- Manuel Righele , novelist and short story writer
- Sergio Romano , diplomatic
- Paolo Rossi , soccer player
- Mariano Rumor , politician
- Flo Sandon's , singer
- Vincenzo Scamozzi , architect
- Gian Antonio Stella , journalist and writer
- Tiziano Treu , politician
- Vitaliano Trevisan , writer and actor
- Gian Giorgio Trissino , humanist and poet (1478-1553)
- Giacomo Zanella , writer and sacerdot
