Altare ( lij, Artâ, pms, Latè, L’Atæ in local dialect) is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local 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 can also ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of Savona The province of Savona ( it, provincia di Savona; Ligurian: ''provinsa de Sann-a'') is a province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Savona, which has a population of 61,219 inhabitants. The province has a total populatio ...

in the Italian region

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

, located about west of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

and about northwest of

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

. As of 1 January 2009, it had a population of 2,160 August 2009. and an area of . Altare borders the following municipalities: Cairo Montenotte,

Carcare Carcare ( lij, Cancre, pms, Cärcre, locally ''Corcre'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italy, Italian region Liguria, located about west of Genoa and about northwest of Savona. Carcare borders the following mun ...

Mallare Mallare ( lij, Molre, locally ; pms, Mälre) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about west of Savona. Mallare borders the following municipalities: Alta ...

Quiliano Quiliano ( lij, Cuggen) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about west of Savona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,225 and an area of .Al ...

, and

Geography

Altare is just west of the Cadibona pass, which at divides the Ligurian Alps from the Ligurian

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

. Also called pass of Altare, it is accessed from the coast by the ''Via Nazionale Piemonte'', winding up from

and crossing into Piedmont towards the north Italian plain.

History

Altare was home to an ancient

glassmaking Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container ...

tradition, dating back to the Middle Ages. The origin of Altare glassworks is still unknown. Oral tradition has it that the art was spread from Northern France by Benedictine monks. Samuel Kurinsky posits that the original glassmakers were

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

Jews, based on the secretive character of their techniques and the distinct identity of the glassmakers as opposed to the rest of the population. If that is the case, they were completely assimilated, except for their traditional self-distinction. Altarist glassmakers were organized in

guilds A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

, not unlike other medieval craftsmen. The guild, known as the University maintained a very strict control over the glassmakers' techniques. Unlike the Venetians though, Altare was a net exporter of know-how throughout its history, as the local

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

was never able to prevent the migration of its people to other places. Sometimes it even encouraged it. The importance of Altare revolves around this difference. For example, it appears that Giobatta Da Costa's invention of

flint glass Flint glass is optical glass that has relatively high refractive index and low Abbe number (high Dispersion (optics), dispersion). Flint glasses are arbitrarily defined as having an Abbe number of 50 to 55 or less. The currently known flint gl ...

took place in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, while he worked for the Ravenscroft manufactory in 1674. Altarist glassmakers operated in France, at Orléans and Nevers and one of them, Bernard Perrot went on to become master of the Royal Glassworks in

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and The Glass Museum of Altare

* Chirico, Mariateresa. Il Museo Dell'arte Vetraria Altarese. Albenga, Litografia Bacchetta. 2009 Cities and towns in Liguria Articles which contain graphical timelines {{Liguria-geo-stub