![Livorno Accademia Navale](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Livorno_Accademia_Navale.JPG)
The Italian Naval Academy (
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
: ''Accademia Navale'') is a
coeducational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
military university in Livorno, which is responsible for the technical training of military officers of the
Italian Navy.
History
The Hospitals
The Hospital of St. James
The Naval Academy stands on the former site of the Hospital of St. James, built in the 1640s for the
quarantine
A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...
of ships' crews from the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
, which were previously diverted to the islands of
Giglio and
Elba
Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano Nationa ...
.
The Hospital of St. Leopold
The Hospital of St. Leopold was designed by
Ignatius Fazzi and built a little further south in 1773, by order of
Leopold II. It was equipped with several towers, one of which served to guard the coast, two chapels and two cemeteries. It remained an active hospital until 1846. Before it was incorporated in the Academy in 1913, it was first transformed into a prison and then a military barracks.
The new hospital was considered one of the best in Europe.
[G. Piombanti, ''Guida storica ed artistica della città e dei dintorni di Livorno,'' Livorno 1903, p. 385.] In the entrance, above a Baroque arch, a marble plaque still commemorates the usefulness of a public health and navigation, ''"Petrus Leopuldus Arch Austr.'' ''Hung. '' ''Boem. '' ''RP Magnus Etruria. '' ''Dux navigationis et hominibus salutis publicae Vindex mercibusque graviora pestilentiae suspicion notatis tutius expurgandis remotiorem hanc er Insulam porticus designavit construxit ann. '' ''MDCCLXXIII.''
The hospital was laid out in a trapezoidal plan and surrounded by a dry moat and high wall. The corner towers served as defense.
Inside, the health complex was divided into two distinct zones. One consisted of the palace housing the officers, which still exists today, with a semicircular facade facing the entrance to the dock. At the center of the dock entrance, isolated in the water, sat the tower of San Rocco (destroyed during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
), which was connected by a wooden walkway. There were also large sheds for the storage of goods in quarantine, a circular chapel, and a menagerie for animals. In this area, near the sheds, was a marble statue of Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo, dressed as Roman centurion and placed in a rich marble niche, which was transferred, to where it stands today in the square of the churchyard of
St. James. Further south, the other section, "La Gabbia", was isolated by a ditch from the rest of the complex. Here, the patients infected with plague and goods were separated out.
The Hospital also included two cemeteries.
L'Accademia Navale
The ''Accademia Navale'' was inaugurated on November 6, 1881 and initially used the area of the hospital of St. James. The ''Accademia'' was started by the then Secretary of the Navy,
Admiral Benedetto Brin
Benedetto Brin (17 May 1833 in Turin, Piedmont24 May 1898 in Rome, Lazio) was an Italian naval administrator and politician. He played a major role in modernizing and expanding the Italian (Royal Navy) from the 1870s to the 1890s, designing se ...
, as the union of the "Regia scuola di marina" in the
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
(located in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
) and the "Borbonica" (in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
) following the
Unification of Italy
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
and the establishment of the
Regia Marina
The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("M ...
.
One of the first cadets to attend the academy was
Manlio Garibaldi, the last son of
Giuseppe Garibaldi.
The design of the complex of buildings was entrusted to the captain of the military engineers, Luigi Pestalozza. The work was started in 1878, with the livornian engineer
Angiolo Badaloni actively guiding the project. In 1913, the adjacent area occupied by the existing hospital at St. Leopold was attached to the Accademia Navale complex.
From 1923 to 1926, the ''Accademia Navale'' buildings housed
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
, following the establishment of a new
armed force
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
, the
Regia Aeronautica. This lasted until the Regia Aeronautica started its own academy in
Pozzuoli
Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula.
History
Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, because of the bombings that struck Livorno in July 1943, the ''Accademia Navale'' was forced to move to
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
and then, after only two months, to
Brindisi, where it remained until 1946. Since the bombing had heavily damaged many of the buildings of the city and the structures that housed the academy, it was necessary at the end of the conflict to start substantial reconstruction efforts and infrastructure improvements, which took over twenty years and included, in 1966, the addition of "Palazzo Studi", which now houses the science labs and other specialized classrooms.
The main body of the academy, which is accessed along a tree-lined street from the entrance gate of the hospital of St. James, consists of a large three-story building of three wings at right angles which enclose a large "Piazza d'Armi". The side of the courtyard facing the
Ligurian Sea
The Ligurian Sea ( it, Mar Ligure; french: Mer Ligurienne; lij, Mâ Ligure) is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies between the Italian Riviera (Liguria) and the island of Corsica. The sea is thought to have been named after the ancient ...
is not occupied by buildings, and has a basement
brig whose superstructure is used by students to practice maneuvering sails in anticipation of using the
tall ship ''Amerigo Vespucci''.
The ''Accademia Navale'' complex covers approximately and includes, classrooms, laboratories, dormitories, a swimming pool, a gym, libraries, cinemas, and auditoriums. The Academy annually hosts about 1,250 people, cadets and officers who attend courses.
The courses of the Accademia Navale
![Livorno Monumento a Benedetto Brin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Livorno_Monumento_a_Benedetto_Brin.JPG)
The Accademia Navale has different types of military courses:
*Normal courses: for the preparation of the official "servizio permanente effettivo" (SPE) of the Italian Navy, which lasts five or six years;
*Courses directed to vocational education and preparation of those who chose to do their
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...
as reserve officers;
*Specialization courses: which include a deeper view of vocational education and naval officers of the Navy and other armed forces and armed corps of the state, lasting several weeks;
*Courses for "ufficiali a nomina diretta" for supplementary education and professional military officers directly recruited throughopen competitions;
*Special Courses: for staff recruited through internal competitions.
The graduates from the L'Accademia Navale, as well as having the same recognition and opportunities as university graduates at normal universities, may have specific career opportunities, including:
*use on board naval units with responsibility for field combat systems
*jobs at technical institutions and establishments
*jobs at training institutions
*jobs at institutions of military operations
See also
*
Livorno
*
Italian Navy
*
Military Academy of Modena
The Military Academy of Modena ( it, Accademia militare di Modena) is a military university in Modena, northern Italy. Located in the Palazzo Ducale in the historic center of the city, it was the first such military institution to be created in ...
References
*M. Zerboni, ''Accademia Navale di Livorno. Storia, immagini, uomini'', Luglio Editore, Trieste 2012,
External links
Accademia Navale di Livorno - L'ammiraglio comandanteOfficial website
{{authority control
Italian Navy
Naval academies
Buildings and structures in Livorno
Universities in Tuscany
Military academies of Italy