 |
| The "Camunian Rose," symbolized on the Lombardian flag |
Lumbardia in the Lombard language; Lombardia in Italian & Spanish; Lombardy in English; Lombardei in the bordering German language.
The Val Camonica is located in the province of Brescia, which is located in the region of Lombardy, which is part of the Italian Republic. In a sane world, the Val Camonica would be a province of its own, a part of the region of Lombardia (including the Lombard-speaking sections of Switzerland), and would be part of an entirely sovereign northern nation.
I wanted to put this in two or three parts, but with the table of contents, and wanting to get all the links into this, I wasn't able to. This is basically what we're all about at the end of the day. Our chief goal is to get the ball rolling on forming a "Lombardian-American construct." Even if Lombardy more-or-less disappears, if things don't go as we hope it will in the next couple of decades, we will still be here. We will still have a heritage and a common bond. It must be under the guise of "Lombardian-American," not some name that nobody has any idea of what it means, which will further polarize us from finally getting together (Michigan, California, Washington, Missouri, etc.).
Lombardy (from Wikipedia)
Lombardy is one of the 20
regions of Italy. The capital is
Milan.
One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth
of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous
and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of
Europe.
Major tourist destinations in the region include the historic, cultural
and artistic cities of Milan (which is Italy's second top tourist
destination),
Brescia,
Mantua,
Pavia,
Como,
Cremona,
Bergamo,
Sondrio,
Lecco,
Lodi,
Varese,
Monza, and the lakes of
Garda,
Como,
Maggiore, and
Iseo.
The official language, as in the rest of
Italy, is Italian. The traditional local languages are the various dialects of
Lombard (
Western Lombard and
Eastern Lombard), as well as some dialects of
Emilian, spoken in some parts of the provinces of
Mantua,
Pavia, and
Cremona. According to
Istat,
almost 27% of Lombards are bilingual with Lombard and Italian
languages; 9.1% are monolingual in Lombard and 57.6% are monolingual in
Italian.
Government
Area
• Total 23,844 km2
(9,206 sq mi)
Population (25 March 2011)
• Total 9,939,193
• Density
416.843/km2
(1,079.617/sq mi)
Geography
Satellite image of Lombardy
Lombardy is bordered by
Switzerland (north:
Canton Ticino and
Canton Graubünden) and by the Italian regions of
Emilia-Romagna (south),
Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and the
Veneto (east), and
Piedmont
(west). Three distinct natural zones can be fairly easily distinguished
in the Lombardy region: mountains, hills and plains – the latter being
divided in
Alta (high plains) and
Bassa (low plains).
The most important mountainous area is an Alpine zone including the
Lepontine and
Rhaetian Alps, (Piz Bernina – La Spedla, 4,020 m), the
Bergamo Alps, the
Ortler Alps and the
Adamello massif; it is followed by an Alpine foothills zone
Prealpi, which include the main peaks are the Grigna Group (2,410 m),
Resegone (1,875 m) and
Presolana (2,521 m). The great Lombard lakes, all of glacial origin lie in this zone. From west to east these are
Lake Maggiore,
Lake Lugano (only a small part is Italian),
Lake Como,
Lake Iseo,
Lake Idro, then
Lake Garda,
the largest in Italy. South of the Alps lie the hills characterized by a
succession of low heights of morainic origin, formed during the last
Ice Age
and small barely fertile plateaux, with typical heaths and conifer
woods. A minor mountainous area lies south of the Po, in the
Appennines range.
The plains of Lombardy, formed from alluvial deposits, can be divided into the
Alta – an upper, permeable ground zone in the north and a lower zone characterized – the
Bassa – by the so-called line of
fontanili
(the spring waters rising on impermeable ground). Anomalous compared
with the three distinctions already made is the small region of the
Oltrepò Pavese,
formed by the Apennine foothills beyond the Po River. A large number of
rivers, all direct or indirect tributaries of the Po, cross the plains
of Lombardy. Major rivers, flowing west to east, are the
Ticino, the outlet of
Lake Maggiore, the
Olona, the
Lambro, the
Adda, outlet of
Lake Como, the
Mincio, outlet of
Lake Garda, and the
Oglio, the
Lake Iseo
outflow. There is a wide network of canals for irrigation purposes. In
the plains, intensively cultivated for centuries, little of the original
environment remains. The rare
elm,
alder,
sycamore,
poplar,
willow and
hornbeam
woods and heaths are covered now by several protected areas. In the
area of the great Alpine foothills lakes, however, grow olive trees,
cypresses and larches, as well as varieties of subtropical flora such as
magnolias, azaleas, acacias, etc. The mountains area is characterized
by the typical vegetation of the whole range of the
Italian Alps.
At a lower levels (up to approximately 1,100 m) oak woods or
broadleafed trees grow; on the mountain slopes (up to 2,000–2,200 m)
beech trees grow at the lowest limits, with conifer woods higher up.
Shrubs such as rhododendron, dwarf pine and juniper are native to the
summital zone (beyond 2,200 m).
The climate of this region is continental, though with variations
depending on altitude or the presence of inland waters. The continental
nature of the climate is more accentuated on the plains, with high
annual temperature changes (at Milan an average January temperature is
1.5 °C (35 °F) and
24 °C (75 °F)
in July), and thick fog between October and February. The Alpine
foothills lakes exercise a mitigating influence, permitting the
cultivation of typically Mediterranean produce (olives, citrus fruit).
In the Alpine zone, the valley floor is relatively mild in contrast with
the colder higher areas (Bormio, 1,225 m,
−1.4 °C (29 °F) average in January,
17.3 °C (63 °F) in July). Precipitations are more frequent in the
Prealpine
zone (up to 1,500–2,000 mm annually) than on the plains and Alpine
zones (600 mm to 850 mm annually). The numerous species of endemic flora
(the Lombard native species), typical mainly of the Lake Como area,
include some kinds of
saxifrage,
the Lombard garlic, groundsels bellflowers and the cottony bellflowers.
Lombardy counts many protected areas: the most important are the
Stelvio National Park (the largest Italian natural park), with typically alpine wildlife:
red deer, roe-deer,
ibex,
chamois, foxes,
ermine and also
golden eagles; and the Ticino Valley Natural Park, instituted in 1974 on the Lombard side of the
Ticino River to protect and conserve one of the last major examples of fluvial forest in
Northern Italy.
History
Early history
Roman ruins of the Imperial palace of Mediolanum
Ancient Celtic artifacts
retrieved in Lombardy
[7]
The area of current Lombardy was settled at least since the 2nd
millennium BC, as shown by the archaeological findings of ceramics,
arrows, axes and carved stones. In the following centuries it was
inhabited by different peoples amongst whom the
Etruscans, who founded the city of
Mantua and spread the use of writing; later, starting from the 5th century BC, the area was invaded by
Celtic –
Gallic tribes. These people settled in several cities (including
Milan) and extended their rule to the
Adriatic Sea. Their development was halted by the
Roman expansion in the
Po Valley
from the 3rd century BC onwards: after centuries of struggle, in 194 BC
the entire area of what is now Lombardy became a Roman province with
the name of
Gallia Cisalpina ("
Gaul on the nearer side of the
Alps").
The Roman culture and language overwhelmed the former civilization in
the following years, and Lombardy became one of the most developed and
rich areas of Italy with the construction of a wide array of roads and
the development of agriculture and trade. Important figures like
Pliny the Elder (in
Como) and
Virgil
(in Mantua) were born here. In late antiquity the strategic role of
Lombardy was emphasized by the temporary moving of the capital of the
Western Empire to
Mediolanum (Milan). Here, in 313 AD, emperor
Constantine issued the famous edict that gave freedom of confession to all religions within the Empire.
Middle Ages
During and after the fall of the Western Empire, Lombardy suffered
heavily from destruction brought about by a series of invasions by
tribal peoples. The last and most effective was that of the
Lombards, or Longobardi, who came around 570s and whose long-lasting reign (whose capital was set in
Pavia) gave the current name to the region. There was a close relationship between the
Frankish,
Bavarian and Lombard nobility for many centuries. After the initial
struggles, relationships between the Lombard people and the
Latin-speaking people improved. In the end, the Lombard language and
culture assimilated with the Latin culture, leaving evidence in many
names, the legal code and laws among other things. The end of Lombard
rule came in 774, when the
Frankish king
Charlemagne conquered Pavia and annexed the
Kingdom of Italy
(mostly northern and central Italy) to his empire. The former Lombard
dukes and nobles were replaced by other German vassals, prince-bishops
or marquises. The 11th century marked a significant boom in the region's
economy, due to improved trading and, mostly, agricultural conditions.
In a similar way to other areas of Italy, this led to a growing
self-acknowledgement of the cities, whose increasing richness made them
able to defy the traditional feudal supreme power, represented by the
German emperors and their local legates. This process reached its apex
in the 12th and 13th centuries, when different
Lombard Leagues formed by allied cities of Lombardy, usually led by Milan, managed to defeat the
Hohenstaufen Emperor
Frederick I, at
Legnano, and his grandson
Frederick II, at
Parma.
This did not prevent other important Lombard centres, like
Cremona
(then rivalling Milan for size and wealth) and others, from supporting
the imperial power if this could grant them an immediate advantage.
Taking advantage of the flourishing agriculture, the area around the
Po River, together with
Venice and
Tuscany,
continued to expand its industry and commerce until it became the
economic centre of the whole of Europe. The enterprising class of the
communes extended its trade and banking activities well into northern
Europe: "Lombard" designated the merchant or banker coming from northern
Italy (see, for instance,
Lombard Street
in London). The name "Lombardy" came to designate the whole of Northern
Italy until the 15th century and sometimes later. From the 14th century
onwards, the instability created by the unceasing internal and external
struggles ended in the creation of noble seignories, the most
significant of which were those of the
Viscontis (later
Sforzas) in Milan and of the
Gonzagas in Mantua. In the 15th century the
Duchy of Milan was a major political, economical and military force at the European level. Milan and Mantua became two centres of the
Renaissance whose culture, with men like
Leonardo da Vinci and
Mantegna, and pieces of art were highly regarded (for example, Leonardo da Vinci's
The Last Supper).
This richness, however, attracted the now more organized armies of
national powers like France and Austria, which waged a lengthy battle
for Lombardy in the late 15th-early 16th century.
Modern era
After the decisive
Battle of Pavia, the Duchy of Milan became a possession of the
Habsburgs
of Spain: the new rulers did little to improve the economy of Lombardy,
instead imposing a growing series of taxes needed to support their
unending series of European wars.
The eastern part of modern Lombardy, with cities like
Bergamo and
Brescia, was under the
Republic of Venice, which had begun to extend its influence in the area from the 14th century onwards (
see also Italian Wars). Pestilences (like that of 1628/1630,
[8] described by
Alessandro Manzoni in his
I Promessi Sposi)
and the generally declining conditions of Italy's economy in the 17th
and 18th centuries halted the further development of Lombardy. In 1706
the
Austrians
came to power and introduced some economical and social measures which
granted a certain recovery. Their rule was smashed in the late 18th
century by the French armies, however, and with the
formation of the Napoleonic Empire,
Lombardy became one of the semi-independent province of Napoleonic
France. The restoration of Austrian rule in 1815, in the form of the
puppet state called
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia,
had however to contend with new social ideals introduced by the
Napoleonic era. Lombardy became one of the intellectual centres leading
to
Italian unification.
The popular republic of 1848 was short-lived, its suppression leading
to renewed Austrian rule. This came to a decisive end when Lombardy was
annexed to the
Kingdom of Italy 1859 as a result of the
Second Italian Independence War. When annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1859 Lombardy achieved its actual territorial shape by adding the
Oltrepò Pavese (formerly southern part of
Novara's Province) to the province of
Pavia.
Starting from the late 19th century, and with a boom after World War
II, Lombardy sharpened its status of richest and most industrialized
region of Italy.
Demographics
| Historical populations |
| Year |
Pop. |
±% |
| 1861 |
3,160,000 |
— |
| 1871 |
3,529,000 |
+11.7% |
| 1881 |
3,730,000 |
+5.7% |
| 1901 |
4,314,000 |
+15.7% |
| 1911 |
4,889,000 |
+13.3% |
| 1921 |
5,186,000 |
+6.1% |
| 1931 |
5,596,000 |
+7.9% |
| 1936 |
5,836,000 |
+4.3% |
| 1951 |
6,566,000 |
+12.5% |
| 1961 |
7,406,000 |
+12.8% |
| 1971 |
8,543,000 |
+15.4% |
| 1981 |
8,892,000 |
+4.1% |
| 1991 |
8,856,000 |
−0.4% |
| 2001 |
9,033,000 |
+2.0% |
| 2011 |
9,939,000 |
+10.0% |
| Source: ISTAT 2001 |
One sixth of the Italian population or about 10 million people live in Lombardy (16.2% of the national population; 2% of the
European Union population), making it the second most densely populated region in Italy after
Campania with a strong concentration in the
Milan metropolitan area and the Alpine foothills areas of the provinces of
Varese,
Como,
Lecco,
Monza and Brianza and
Bergamo, (1,200 inh./km
2), a lower average density (250 inh./km
2) in the
Po valley and the lower
Brescia valleys, and much lower densities (less than 60 inh./km
2) in the northern mountain areas and the southern
Oltrepò Pavese subregion.
The growth of the regional population was particularly sustained
during the 1950s–60s, thanks to a prolonged economic boom, high birth
rates, and strong immigration flows (especially from
Southern Italy).
During the last two decades, Lombardy became the destination of a large
number of international immigrants, insomuch that today more than a
quarter of all foreign immigrants in Italy lives in this region. As of
2008, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that
815,335 foreign-born immigrants live in Lombardy, equal to 8.4% of the
total regional population.
The primary religion is Catholicism; significative religious minorities include Christian
Waldenses, Protestants and
Orthodox, as well as Jews,
Sikh and Muslims.
Economy
View over the business district of Milan: with a metropolitan area of 7.4m people,
[9] it is Italy's most important industrial, commercial and financial center.
The gross domestic product in Lombardia (equal to over €328 billion
in 2008) accounts for 20% of the total gross domestic product of Italy.
When this measure is considered by inhabitant, it results in a value of
€31,600 per inhabitant, which is almost 25% higher than the national
average of €24,300.
[10]
Lombardy's development has been marked by the growth of the services
sector since the 1980s, and in particular by the growth of innovative
activities in the sector of services to enterprises and in credit and
financial services. At the same time, the strong industrial vocation of
the region has not suffered from it. Lombardy remains, in fact, the main
industrial area of the country. The presence, and development, of a
very high number of enterprises belonging to the services sector
represents a favourable situation for the improvement of the efficiency
of the productive process, as well as for the growth of the regional
economy. Lombardy is one of the
Four Motors for Europe.
The region can broadly be divided into three areas as regards the
productive activity. Milan, where the services sector makes up for 65.3%
of the employment; a group of provinces, Varese, Como, Lecco, Bergamo
and Brescia, highly industrialised, although in the two latter ones, in
the plains, there is also a rich agricultural sector. Finally, in the
provinces of Sondrio, Pavia, Cremona, Mantova and Lodi, there is a
consistent agricultural activity, and at the same time an above average
development of the services sector.
The productivity of agriculture is enhanced by a well-developed use
of fertilizers and the traditional abundance of water, boosted since the
Middle Ages by the construction (partly designed by Leonardo da Vinci)
of a wide net of irrigation systems. Lower plains are characterized by
fodder crops, which are mowed up to eight times a years, cereals (rice,
wheat and maize) and sugarbeet. Productions of the higher plains include
cereals, vegetables, fruit trees and mulberries. The higher areas, up
to the
Prealps and
Alps sectors of the north, produce fruit and vines. Cattle (with the highest density in Italy), pigs and sheep are raised.
Following a steep decline in GDP during the global recession in 2009
which saw industry heavily hit, Lombardy's economy is predicted to
outperform the Italian economy this year with growth of between 1–1.3%
expected. Only Emilia Romagna, Lazio and Tuscany are expected to
outperform the region in 2010. The revival of the industrial sector is
an important factor, but it is the service sector – and especially the
financial sector which will drive the Lombard economy to a sustainable
recovery.
Government and politics
The politics of Lombardy take place in a framework of a
presidential representative democracy, whereby the President of the Region (
Presidente della Regione) is the
head of government, and of a pluriform
multi-party system.
Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government (
Giunta Regionale).
Legislative power is vested in the
Regional Council (
Consiglio Regionale).
The
Christian Democrats
maintained a large majority of the popular support and the control of
the most important cities and provinces since the birth of the Italian
Republic until the late 1980s. The
Italian Communist Party
was a considerable presence only in the eastern and southern parts of
Lombardy from the late 1960s to the mid 1980's. Their base however was
increasingly eroded by the
Italian Socialist Party until, in the early 1990s, the
Mani Pulite
corruption scandal which spread from Milan to the whole of Italy wiped
away the old political class almost entirely. This, together with the
general disaffection towards Rome's government (considered as favouring
excessively the less developed regions of southern Italy in economical
matters), led to the sudden growth of the secessionist (later
Northern League),
that is particularly strong in mountain and rural areas. In recent
years, Lombardy stayed as a conservative stronghold, that gave about 60
per cent of its votes to
Silvio Berlusconi at the last
general election. Notwithstanding, the capital city of Milan landslide elected a new
progressive mayor at the 2011 municipal elections.
Culture
Although Lombardy as a region is often identified as merely an economic and industrial powerhouse, it has interesting examples
[2] even from the standpoint of cultural and artistic. The many examples range from
prehistory
to the present day, through the Roman period and the Renaissance and
can be found both in museums and churches that enrich cities and towns
around the region.
Prehistory
The rock carvings (some 300,000) left by the ancient Camuni in the
Valcamonica depicting animals, people and symbols date back to the period from
Neolithic to
Middle Ages.
The many artifacts (pottery, personal items and weapons) found in the necropolis near the
Lake Maggiore, and
Ticino demonstrate the presence of civilization Golasecca who lived in Western Lombardy between the ninth and the fourth century BC.
Museums
Lombardy contains numerous museums (over 330) of different types:
ethnographic, historical, technical-scientific, artistic and
naturalistic which testify to the historical-cultural and artistic
development of the region. Among the most famous are the National Museum
of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci" (Milan), the
The Last Supper of
Leonardo da Vinci (Milan), the
Accademia Carrara (Bergamo), the
Museum of Santa Giulia (Brescia), the Volta Temple (Como), the Stradivari Museum (Cremona), the
Palazzo Te (Mantua), the Museum Sacred Art of the Nativity and the basilica of Santa Maria Assunta at
Gandino, the
Royal Villa of Monza and many others.
Main sights
Cuisine
Rice is popular in the region, often found in soups as well as
risotti, such as
"risotto alla Milanese", with
saffron. In the city of
Monza a popular recipe also adds pieces of sausages to the risotto. Regional cheeses include
robiola,
crescenza,
taleggio,
gorgonzola and
grana padano (the plains of central and southern Lombardy allow intensive cattle-raising). Butter and
cream are used. Single pot dishes, which take less work to prepare, are popular. In
Bergamo,
Brescia, and
Valtellina,
polenta is common. In Valtellina,
Pizzoccheri too. In
Mantua festivals feature
tortelli di zucca (
ravioli with pumpkin filling) accompanied by melted butter and followed by
turkey stuffed with chicken or other stewed meats.
[11]
Typical dishes
A traditional "
Cotoletta alla Milanese (Milanese-style cutlet)" served with potatoes.
- Polenta (Asino e Polenta, Polenta e Osei, Vunscia Polenta, Polenta e Gorgonzola)
- Pizzoccheri
(short tagliatelle made out of buckwheat flour and wheat, laced with
butter, green vegetables, garlic, sage, potatoes and onions, all topped
with Casera cheese)
- Quartirolo lombardo
- Risotto (alla Milanese)
- Osso buco
- Cotoletta (Cutlet) ("alla Milanese")
- Cassoeula
- Gorgonzola cheese
- Bitto cheese
- Grana Padano cheese
- Panettone
- Lo Spiedo Bresciano – a traditional spit roast consisting of different cuts of meat, butter and sage
- Tortelli di Zucca (Pumpkins filled pasta)
- Sbrisolona cake
Wines
Main article:
Lombard wine
- Nebbiolo red
- Bellavista
- Santi
- Nino Negri
- Bonarda Lombardy
- Inferno (Valtellina)
- Grumello (Valtellina)
- Sassella (Valtellina)
Music
The magnificent auditorium of the Teatro Grande in Brescia.
Besides Milan, the region of Lombardy has 11 other provinces, most of
them with equally great musical traditions. Bergamo is famous for being
the birthplace of
Gaetano Donizetti
and home of the Teatro Donizetti; Brescia is hosts the impressive 1709
Teatro Grande; Cremona is regarded as the birthplace of the commonly
used violin, and is home to several of the most prestigious
luthiers
in the world, and Mantua was one of the founding and most important
cities in 16th and 17th opera and classical music. Other cities such as
Lecco, Lodi, Varese and Pavia also have rich musical traditions, but
Milan is the hub and centre of the Lombard musical scene. It was the
birthplace of
Giuseppe Verdi,
one of the most famous and influential opera composers of the 19th
century, and boasts a variety of acclaimed theatres, such as the Piccolo
Teatro and the Teatro Arcimboldi; however, the most famous is the 1778
Teatro alla Scala, one of the most important and prestigious operahouses in the world.
Language
Apart from standardized Italian,
Lombard is the local language of Lombardy. Lombard is a member of the
Gallo-Italic group within the
Romance languages. It is spoken natively in Northern
Italy (most of Lombardy and some areas of neighbouring regions, notably the eastern side of
Piedmont) and Southern
Switzerland (
Ticino and
Graubünden).
The two main varieties (
Western Lombard language and
Eastern Lombard language) show differences and are often, but not always, mutually comprehensible. The union of
Western Lombard or Insubric,
Eastern Lombard
and intermediate varieties under the denomination of "Lombard" is a
matter of debate, and it has been argued that the two might potentially
form separate languages.
[12]
Fashion
Lombardy has always been an important centre for silk and textile production, notably the cities of
Pavia,
Vigevano and
Cremona, but
Milan is the region's most important centre for clothing and high fashion. In 2009, Milan was regarded as the world
fashion capital, even surpassing New York, Paris, Rome and London.
[13] Most of the major
Italian fashion brands, such as
Valentino,
Versace,
Prada,
Armani and
Dolce & Gabbana (to name a few), are currently headquartered in the city.
Administrative divisions
Lombardy is divided into 12 provinces:
| Province of Bergamo |
2,723 |
1,070,060 |
392.9 |
| Province of Brescia |
4,784 the biggest |
1,223,900 |
255.8 |
| Province of Como |
1,288 |
582,736 |
452.4 |
| Province of Cremona |
1,772 |
358,628 |
202.4 |
| Province of Lecco |
816 |
334,059 |
409.4 |
| Province of Lodi |
782 |
222,223 |
284.2 |
| Province of Mantova |
2,339 |
407,983 |
174.4 |
| Province of Milan |
1,575 |
3,121,832 the biggest |
1,982 |
| Province of Monza and Brianza |
405 the smallest |
840,711 |
2,075 |
| Province of Pavia |
2,965 |
535,948 |
180.7 |
| Province of Sondrio |
3,212 |
181,841 the smallest |
56.6 |
| Province of Varese |
1,199 |
868,777 |
724.6 |
UNESCO World Heritage Sites
References
External links
Media related to
Lombardy at
Wikimedia Commons
.
Our religion is less of an organization and more of a tradition we share with each other. Though many have contributed in the past to the dissemination of Senobessus, no one person is responsible for founding it, as it has always been there in some form or another. More importantly, all members within Senobessus are, despite their different roles, essentially equal.
