Livorno

Livorno (liˈvorno) is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronounced lɛˈɡɔːrn , 'lɛɡhɔːrn or 'lɛɡərn ). During the Renaissance, Livorno was designed as an "ideal town". Developing considerably from the second half of the 16th century by the will of the House of Medici, Livorno was an important free port, giving rise to intense commercial activity, in the hands, for the most part, of foreign traders, and seat of consulates and shipping companies, becoming the main port-city of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The status of a multiethnic and multicultural Livorno lasted until the second half of the nineteenth century; however, the vestiges of that time can still be seen in the churches, villas and palaces of the city. Livorno is considered the most modern among all the Tuscan cities, and is the third most populous of Tuscany, after Florence and Prato. The origins of Livorno are controversial, although the place was inhabited since the Neolithic Age as shown by worked bones, pieces of copper and ceramic found on the Livorno Hills in a cave between Ardenza and Montenero. The Etruscan settlement was called Labro. The construction of the Via Aurelia coincided with the occupation of the region by the Romans, who left traces of their presence in the toponyms and ruins of towers. The natural cove called Liburna is a reference to the type of ship, the liburna, adopted by Roman navy from the Liburnians. Other ancient toponyms include Salviano (Salvius) and Antignano (Ante ignem) which was the place situated before Ardenza (Ardentia) where beacons directed the ships to Porto Pisano. Cicero mentioned Liburna in a letter to his brother and called it Labrone. Livorna is mentioned for the first time in 1017 as a small coastal village, the port and the remains of a Roman tower under the rule of Lucca. In 1077, a tower was built by Matilda of Tuscany.