TuscanyTuscany (ˈtʌskəni ; Toscana tosˈkaːna) is a region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (Firenze). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its influence on high culture. It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and of the foundations of the Italian language. The prestige established by the Tuscan dialect's use in literature by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini led to its subsequent elaboration as the language of culture throughout Italy.
Unification of ItalyThe unification of Italy (Unità d'Italia uniˈta ddiˈtaːlja), also known as the Risorgimento (rɪˌsɔːrdʒɪˈmɛntoʊ, risordʒiˈmento; Resurgence), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula and its outlying isles into a single state in 1861, the Kingdom of Italy. Inspired by the rebellions in the 1820s and 1830s against the outcome of the Congress of Vienna, the unification process was precipitated by the Revolutions of 1848, and reached completion in 1871 after the capture of Rome and its designation as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy.
Northern ItalyNorthern Italy (Italia settentrionale, Nord Italia, Alta Italia or just Nord) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions: Aosta Valley, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige. As of 2014, its population was 27,801,460. Rhaeto-Romance and Gallo-Italic languages are spoken in the region, as opposed to the Italo-Dalmatian languages spoken in the rest of Italy.
VeronaVerona (vəˈroʊnə , veˈroːna; Verona or Veròna) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city municipality in the region and in northeastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of and has a population of 714,310 inhabitants. It is one of the main tourist destinations in Northern Italy because of its artistic heritage and several annual fairs and shows as well as the opera season in the Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheater.
ComuneA comune (koˈmuːne; plural: comuni koˈmuːni) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions (regioni) and provinces (province). The comune can also have the title of città ('city'). Formed praeter legem according to the principles consolidated in medieval municipalities, the comune is provided for by art. 114 of the Constitution of Italy. It can be divided into frazioni, which in turn may have limited power due to special elective assemblies.
DonatelloDonato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (1386 – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello (,dQn@'tElou donaˈtɛllo), was an Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used his knowledge to develop an Early Renaissance style of sculpture. He spent time in other cities, where he worked on commissions and taught others; his periods in Rome, Padua, and Siena introduced to other parts of Italy the techniques he had developed in the course of a long and productive career.
Medieval communeMedieval communes in the European Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms) among the citizens of a town or city. These took many forms and varied widely in organization and makeup. Communes are first recorded in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, thereafter becoming a widespread phenomenon. They had greater development in central-northern Italy, where they became city-states based on partial democracy.
Italian RenaissanceThe Italian Renaissance (Rinascimento rinaʃʃiˈmento) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity. Proponents of a "long Renaissance" argue that it started around the year 1300 and lasted until about 1600. In some fields, a Proto-Renaissance, beginning around 1250, is typically accepted.
Serie AThe Serie A (ˈsɛːrje ˈa), officially known as Serie A TIM for sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the scudetto and the Coppa Campioni d'Italia. It has been operating as a round-robin tournament for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been organized by the Direttorio Divisioni Superiori until 1943, the Lega Calcio until 2010, and the Lega Serie A since its creation for the 2010–11 season.
Italian city-statesThe Italian city-states were numerous political and independent territorial entities that existed in the Italian Peninsula from antiquity to the formation of the Kingdom of Italy in the late 19th century. The ancient Italian city-states were Greek (Magna Graecia), Etruscan (Dodecapolis), and Latin, most famously Rome, but also of Umbrian, Celtic and other origins. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, urban settlements in Italy generally enjoyed a greater continuity than settlements in western Europe.
