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Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II (Rome)
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, also known as Piazza Vittorio, is a piazza in Rome, in the Esquilino rione. It is served by the Vittorio Emanuele Metro station. Description Surrounded by palazzi with large porticoes in the 19th-century style, the piazza was built by Gaetano Koch shortly after the unification of Italy. Umbertine in style, it is the largest piazza in Rome (316 x 174 metres). In the centre of the piazza is a garden with the remains of a fountain built by Alexander Severus (so called ''Trophy of Marius''), and the '' Porta Alchemica'' (''Alchemist's Portal'' or also called Magic Gate or ''Porta Magica''), the entrance to Villa Palombara, former residence of the alchemist Marquis Palombara. Cultural References In Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette), it was in Piazza Vittorio that the protagonist Antonio Ricci and his young son Bruno seek desperately to recover his stolen bicycle, but realise the futility of their task as the vast square is fill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rome
, established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption = The territory of the ''comune'' (''Roma Capitale'', in red) inside the Metropolitan City of Rome (''Città Metropolitana di Roma'', in yellow). The white spot in the centre is Vatican City. , pushpin_map = Italy#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Italy##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = yes , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Italy , subdivision_type2 = Region , subdivision_name2 = Lazio , subdivision_type3 = Metropolitan city , subdivision_name3 = Rome Capital , government_footnotes= , government_type = Strong Mayor–Council , leader_title2 = Legislature , leader_name2 = Capitoline Assembl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first attested in a number of pseudepigraphical texts written in Greco-Roman Egypt during the first few centuries AD.Principe, Lawrence M. The secrets of alchemy'. University of Chicago Press, 2012, pp. 9–14. Alchemists attempted to purify, mature, and perfect certain materials. Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g., lead) into "noble metals" (particularly gold); the creation of an elixir of immortality; and the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease. The perfection of the human body and soul was thought to result from the alchemical ''magnum opus'' ("Great Work"). The concept of creating the philosophers' stone was variously connected with all of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Emmanuel II Monument
The Victor Emmanuel II National Monument ( it, Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II), also known as Vittoriano or Altare della Patria ("Altar of the Fatherland"), is a large national monument built between 1885 and 1935 to honour Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy, in Rome, Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. The monument was realized by Giuseppe Sacconi. From an architectural perspective, it was conceived as a modern '' forum'', an agora on three levels connected by stairways and dominated by a portico characterized by a colonnade. The complex process of national unity and liberation from foreign domination carried out by King Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy, to whom the monument is dedicated, has a great symbolic and representative value, being architecturally and artistically centred on the Italian unification—for this reason the Vittoriano is considered one of the national symbols of Italy. It also preserv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piazza Venezia
Piazza Venezia () is a central hub of Rome, Italy, in which several thoroughfares intersect, including the Via dei Fori Imperiali and the Via del Corso. It takes its name from the Palazzo Venezia, built by the Venetian Cardinal, Pietro Barbo (later Pope Paul II) alongside the church of Saint Mark, the patron saint of Venice. The Palazzo Venezia served as the embassy of the Republic of Venice in Rome. Square One side of the Piazza is the site of Italy's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Altare della Patria, part of the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, first king of Italy. The piazza or square is at the foot of the Capitoline Hill and next to Trajan's Forum. The main artery, the Via di Fori Imperiali begins there and leads past the Roman Forum to the Colosseum. Most tourists in Rome visit the Piazza Venezia, which is a short walk from several of Rome's best known sights, including the Roman Forum, Capitoline Hill, Palazzo Venezia, and the famous Pantheon. History Capital ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of City Squares By Size
This article lists the 250 largest city squares in the world in descending order of area. The areas given are as noted in the articles and references provided, but may not be directly comparable. See also *List of city squares *Market square *Piazza *Plaza *Town square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ... References {{DEFAULTSORT:City Squares By Size *List by size Squares By Size Lists by area ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius (; – 13 January 86 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbric and Jugurthine wars, he held the office of consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his important reforms of Roman armies. He set the precedent for the shift from the militia levies of the middle Republic to the professional soldiery of the late Republic; he also improved the '' pilum'', a javelin, and made large-scale changes to the logistical structure of the Roman army. Rising from a well-off provincial Italian family in Arpinum, Marius acquired his initial military experience serving with Scipio Aemilianus at the Siege of Numantia in 134 BC. He won election as tribune of the plebs in 119 BC and passed a law limiting aristocratic interference in elections. Barely elected praetor in 115 BC, he next became the governor of Further Spain where he campaigned against bandits. On his return from Spain he married Julia, the aunt of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bicycle Thieves
''Bicycle Thieves'' ( it, Ladri di biciclette; sometimes known in the United States as ''The Bicycle Thief'') is a 1948 Italian neorealist drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It follows the story of a poor father searching in post- World War II Rome for his stolen bicycle, without which he will lose the job which was to be the salvation of his young family. Adapted for the screen by Cesare Zavattini from the 1946 novel by Luigi Bartolini, and starring Lamberto Maggiorani as the desperate father and Enzo Staiola as his plucky young son, ''Bicycle Thieves'' received an Academy Honorary Award (most outstanding foreign language film) in 1950, and in 1952 was deemed the greatest film of all time by '' Sight & Sound'' magazine's poll of filmmakers and critics; fifty years later another poll organized by the same magazine ranked it sixth among the greatest-ever films. In the 2012 version of the list the film ranked 33rd among critics and 10th among directors. The film was als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary), while ''Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow'' and '' Il giardino dei Finzi Contini'' won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Indeed, the great critical success of ''Sciuscià'' (the first foreign film to be so recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) and ''Bicycle Thieves'' helped establish the permanent Best Foreign Film Award. These two films are considered part of the canon of classic cinema. ''Bicycle Thieves'' was deemed the greatest film of all time by ''Sight & Sound'' magazine's poll of filmmakers and critics in 1958, and was cited by Turner Classic Movies as one of the 15 most influential films in cinema history. De Sica was also nominated for the 1957 Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massimiliano Palombara
Massimiliano Palombara (1614 – 1680) was marquis of Pietraforte and Conservator of Rome between 1651 and 1677. He is the author of the '' La Bugia'' (''the Candle''), a book of verses, written in 1656 in Rome. He built the Villa Palombara which included five gates with occult inscriptions including the still-standing Porta Alchemica. According to historians, his interest in the occult, Kabbalah and mysticism brought him into contact with Giuseppe Francesco Borri, Cardinal Decio Azzolino Decio Azzolino (11 April 1623 – 8 June 1689) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal, code-breaker, investigator and leader of the Squadrone Volante. Early life Azzolino was born at Fermo, the son of Pompeo Azzolino and Giulia Ruffo. He was the gre ... and his confidant, Queen Christina of Sweden (then living in Rome having converted to Catholicism). [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porta Alchemica
The Alchemical Door, also known as the Alchemy Gate or Magic Portal ( it, Porta Alchemica or ''Porta Magica''), is a monument built between 1678 and 1680 by Massimiliano Palombara, marquis of Pietraforte, in his residence, the , which was located on the Esquiline hill, near Piazza Vittorio, in Rome. This is the only one of five former gates of the villa that remains; there was a lost door on the opposite side dating them to 1680 and four other lost inscriptions on the walls of the mansion inside the villa. Legends According to a story collected by the erudite Francesco Cancellieri in 1802, a pilgrim named "Stibeum" (from Latin: ''stibium'', which means "antimony") was hosted in the villa for a night. That night, the pilgrim, identified later by some as the alchemist Giuseppe Francesco Borri—known as ''Giustiniano Bono''—, searched the gardens of the villa overnight in search of a mysterious herb capable of concocting gold. Legend held that the next morning he was seen to d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region. Italy is also considered part of Western Europe, and shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. It has a territorial exclave in Switzerland, Campione. Italy covers an area of , with a population of over 60 million. It is the third-most populous member state of the European Union, the sixth-most populous country in Europe, and the tenth-largest country in the continent by land area. Italy's capital and largest city is Rome. Italy was the native place of many civilizations such as the Italic peoples and the Etruscans, while due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, the country has also historicall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Severus
Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was eventually assassinated, and his death marked the beginning of the events of the Crisis of the Third Century, which included nearly fifty years of civil war, foreign invasion, and the collapse of the monetary economy. Alexander was the heir to his cousin, the 18-year-old Emperor Elagabalus. The latter had been murdered along with his mother Julia Soaemias by his own guards, who, as a mark of contempt, had their remains cast into the Tiber river. Alexander and his cousin were both grandsons of Julia Maesa, the sister of empress Julia Domna, who had arranged for Elagabalus's acclamation as emperor by the Third Gallic Legion. Alexander's 13-year reign was the longest reign of a sole emperor since Antoninus Pius. He was also the second-young ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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