PiacenzaPiacenza (pjaˈtʃɛntsa; Piaṡëinsa pi.aˈzəi̯sɐ; Placentia) is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over 102,000 inhabitants. Westernmost major city of the region of Emilia-Romagna, it has strong relations with Lombardy, with which it borders, and in particular with Milan. It was once defined by Leonardo da Vinci as "Land of passage", in his Codex Atlanticus, by virtue of its crucial geographical location.
CorfuCorfu (kɔrˈf(j)uː , USalsoˈkɔrf(j)uː ) or Kerkyra (Kérkyra, ˈcercira) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered by three municipalities with the islands of Othonoi, Ereikoussa, and Mathraki. The principal city of the island (pop. 32,095) is also named Corfu. Corfu is home to the Ionian University.
Elective monarchyAn elective monarchy is a monarchy ruled by an elected monarch, in contrast to a hereditary monarchy in which the office is automatically passed down as a family inheritance. The manner of election, the nature of candidate qualifications, and the electors vary from case to case. Historically, it was common for elective monarchies to transform into hereditary ones over time or for hereditary ones to acquire at least occasional elective aspects.
IstriaIstria (ˈɪstriə ; Croatian and Slovene: Istra; Eîstria; Istro-Romanian, Italian and Venetian: Istria; formerly Histria in Latin and Ἱστρία in Ancient Greek) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Kvarner Gulf. It is shared by three countries: Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy, with 90% of surface area being part of Croatia. Croatia encapsulates most of the Istrian peninsula within Istria County.
CanalettoGiovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (kanaˈletto), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or vedute, of Venice, Rome, and London, he also painted imaginary views (referred to as capricci), although the demarcation in his works between the real and the imaginary is never quite clearcut. He was further an important printmaker using the etching technique.
County of TripoliThe County of Tripoli (1102–1289) was the last of the Crusader states. It was founded in the Levant in the modern-day region of Tripoli, northern Lebanon and parts of western Syria. When the Frankish Crusaders – mostly southern French forces – captured the region in 1109, Bertrand of Toulouse became the first count of Tripoli as a vassal of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem. From that time, the rule of the county was decided not strictly by inheritance but by factors such as military force (external and civil war), favour and negotiation.
ZadarZadar (USˈzɑːdɑːr , zâdar; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ˈdzaːra; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serves as the seat of Zadar County and of the wider northern Dalmatian region. The city proper covers with a population of 75,082 , making it the second-largest city of the region of Dalmatia and the fifth-largest city in the country.
Empire of NicaeaThe Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek rump states founded by the aristocracy of the Byzantine/Roman Empire that fled when Constantinople was occupied by Western European and Venetian armed forces during the Fourth Crusade, a military event known as the Sack of Constantinople. Like the other Byzantine rump states that formed due to the 1204 fracturing of the empire, such as the Empire of Trebizond and the Despotate of Epirus, it was a continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire that survived well into the medieval period.
IzolaIzola (ˈíːzɔla; Isola ˈiːzola) is a town in southwestern Slovenia on the Adriatic coast of the Istrian peninsula. It is the seat of the Municipality of Izola. Its name originates from Italian Isola, which means 'island'. An ancient Roman port and settlement known as Haliaetum stood to the southwest of the present town, next to the village of Jagodje, as early as the 2nd century BC. The town of Izola was established on a small island by refugees from Aquileia in the 7th century.
NicosiaNicosia (ˌnɪkəˈsiːə ; Lefkosía lefkoˈsi.a; Lefkoşa lefˈkoʃa; Nikosia; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaoria plain, on the banks of the River Pedieos. Nicosia is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capitals. It has been continuously inhabited for over 4,500 years and has been the capital of Cyprus since the 10th century.
