HOME



picture info

Maratea
Maratea (; ) is an Italian town and ''comune'' of Basilicata, in the province of Potenza. It is the only ''comune'' of the region on the Tyrrhenian coast, and is known as "the Pearl of the Tyrrhenian". Owing to the considerable number of its churches and chapels it has also been described as "the town with 44 churches". It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Geography Maratea is the only town of Basilicata on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It has approximately of rocky coastline, with more than twenty beaches. One of the main characteristics of Maratea is the variety of its landscapes, varying from breath-taking sea views to wooded hillsides and majestic mountains which sweep down to the sea creating steep cliffs. The Grotta di Maratea, or the Cave of Wonders, was discovered in 1929 by men building the Highway 18 from Calabria. The centre of the town (called ''Maratea Borgo'', meaning "Maratea's Old Town") is situated on the northern slopes ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Saint Blaise
Blaise of Sebaste (, ''Hágios Blásios''; martyred 316 AD) was a physician and bishop of Sivas, Sebastea in historical Lesser Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey) who is venerated as a Christian saint and martyr. He is counted as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Blaise is a saint in the Catholic Church, Catholic, Western Rite Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches and is the patron saint of wool combers and of sufferers from Otorhinolaryngology, ENT illnesses. In the Latin Church, his feast falls on 3 February. In the Eastern Churches, it is on 11 February. According to the ''Acta Sanctorum'', he was martyred by being beaten, combing (torture), tortured with iron combs, and beheaded. Early records The first reference to Blaise is the medical writings of Aëtius Amidenus () where his aid is invoked in treating patients with objects stuck in the throat. Marco Polo reported on the place where "Messer Saint Blaise obtained the glorious cr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Basilicata
Basilicata (, ; ), also known by its ancient name Lucania (, , ), is an administrative region in Southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It has two coastlines: a 30-kilometre stretch on the Gulf of Policastro (Tyrrhenian Sea) between Campania and Calabria, and a longer coastline along the Gulf of Taranto (Ionian Sea) between Calabria and Apulia. The region can be thought of as "the arch" of "the boot" of Italy, with Calabria functioning as "the toe" and Apulia "the heel". The region covers about . In 2021, the population was slightly over 540,000. The regional capital is Potenza. The region comprises two provinces: Potenza and Matera. Its inhabitants are generally known as Lucanians (), and to a lesser extent as or by other very rare terms. In ancient times, part of its territory belonged to Magna Graecia, subject to coastal Greek colonies (including Sybaris). Later the region was conquered by the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Province Of Potenza
The province of Potenza (; Potentino: ) is a province in the Basilicata region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Potenza. Geography It has an area of and a total population of 369,538 (as of 2017). There are 100 ''comuni'' (singular: ''comune'') in the province (see communes of the province of Potenza). The province is characterized by various natural landscapes, ranging from the mountain lakes of Monticchio, the Lucan forest, the Monte Sirino massif, the large National Park of Pollino (shared by Calabria) and the Tyrrhenian coast of Maratea. The largest city is Potenza, followed by Melfi. History In 272 BC, the province was conquered by the Romans. The new rulers named the region Lucania. In the 11th century, the area became part of the Duchy of Apulia, which was at the time ruled by the Normans. From the 13th century, it was part of the Kingdom of Naples, though Potenza was ruled by local vassals. In 1861, the province was unified with the rest of Italy in the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

I Borghi Più Belli D'Italia
() is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the aim of preserving and maintaining villages of quality heritage. Its motto is ("The charm of hidden Italy"). Participants in the group are small population centres which risk neglect and abandonment because they lie outside the main tourist circuits. Initially they comprised about a hundred villages, but had increased to 361 in 2023. In 2012, the Italian association was one of the founding members of the international association The Most Beautiful Villages in the World, a private organization that brings together various territorial associations promoting small inhabited centres of particular historical and landscape interest. Description Admission criteria The criteria for admission to the association meet the following requirements: in ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Province Of Potenza
The province of Potenza (; Potentino: ) is a province in the Basilicata region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Potenza. Geography It has an area of and a total population of 369,538 (as of 2017). There are 100 ''comuni'' (singular: ''comune'') in the province (see communes of the province of Potenza). The province is characterized by various natural landscapes, ranging from the mountain lakes of Monticchio, the Lucan forest, the Monte Sirino massif, the large National Park of Pollino (shared by Calabria) and the Tyrrhenian coast of Maratea. The largest city is Potenza, followed by Melfi. History In 272 BC, the province was conquered by the Romans. The new rulers named the region Lucania. In the 11th century, the area became part of the Duchy of Apulia, which was at the time ruled by the Normans. From the 13th century, it was part of the Kingdom of Naples, though Potenza was ruled by local vassals. In 1861, the province was unified with the rest of Italy in the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Capetian House Of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou, or House of Anjou-Sicily, or House of Anjou-Naples was a royal house and cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. It is one of three separate royal houses referred to as ''Angevin'', meaning "from Anjou" in France. Founded by Charles I of Anjou, the youngest son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century. The War of the Sicilian Vespers later forced him out of the island of Sicily, leaving him with the southern half of the Italian Peninsula, known as the Kingdom of Naples. The house and its various branches would go on to influence much of the history of Southern and Central Europe during the Middle Ages until it became extinct in 1435. Historically, the house ruled the Counties of Anjou, Maine, Touraine, Provence and Forcalquier; the Principalities of Achaea and Taranto; and the Kingdoms of Sicily, Naples, Hungary, Croatia, Albania and Poland. Rise of Charles I and his sons A younge ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

War Of The Sicilian Vespers
The War of the Sicilian Vespers, also shortened to the War of the Vespers, was a conflict waged by several medieval European kingdoms over control of Sicily from 1282 to 1302. The war, which started with the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers, was fought over competing dynastic claims to the throne of Sicily and grew to involve the Crown of Aragon, Kingdom of Naples, Angevin Kingdom of Naples, Kingdom of France, and the papacy. Initially fought between Sicilian rebels and Charles I of Sicily, Charles of Anjou in Sicily and Southern Italy, the war expanded when Aragon intervened in Sicily to support the rebels and claim the throne. After Aragonese successes, the war grew into the concurrent Aragonese Crusade as the Kingdom of France intervened against Aragon in Iberia. The crusade ended in defeat, but efforts to end the war failed despite several peace treaties. Aragon gave up the crown of Sicily in exchange for papal concessions in 1297, entering into an alliance with Angevin Naple ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Italian Language
Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is spoken by about 68 million people, including 64 million native speakers as of 2024. Italian is an official language in Languages of Italy, Italy, Languages of San Marino, San Marino, Languages of Switzerland, Switzerland (Ticino and the Grisons), and Languages of Vatican City, Vatican City; it has official Minority language, minority status in Minority languages of Croatia, Croatia, Slovene Istria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the municipalities of Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo, Santa Tereza, Encantado, Rio Grande do Sul, Encantado, and Venda Nova do Imigrante in Languages of Brazil#Language co-officialization, Brazil. Italian is also spoken by large Italian diaspora, immigrant and expatriate communities in the Americas and Austral ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Italo-Normans
The Italo-Normans (), or Siculo-Normans (''Siculo-Normanni'') when referring to Sicily and Southern Italy, are the Italian-born descendants of the first Norman conquerors to travel to Southern Italy in the first half of the eleventh century. While maintaining much of their distinctly Norman piety and customs of war, they were shaped by the diversity of Southern Italy, by the cultures and customs of the Greeks, Lombards, and Arabs in Sicily. History Normans first arrived in Italy as pilgrims, probably on their way to or returning from either Rome or Jerusalem, or from visiting the shrine at Monte Gargano, during the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. In 1017, the Lombard lords in Apulia recruited their assistance against the dwindling power of the Byzantine Catapanate of Italy. They soon established vassal states of their own and began to expand their conquests until they were encroaching on the Lombard principalities of Benevento and Capua, Saracen-controlled ter ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of effective sole rule in 27 BC. The Western Roman Empire, western empire collapsed in 476 AD, but the Byzantine Empire, eastern empire lasted until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. By 100 BC, the city of Rome had expanded its rule from the Italian peninsula to most of the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and beyond. However, it was severely destabilised by List of Roman civil wars and revolts, civil wars and political conflicts, which culminated in the Wars of Augustus, victory of Octavian over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, and the subsequent conquest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt. In 27 BC, the Roman Senate granted Octavian overarching military power () and the new title of ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Minerva
Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Beginning in the second century BC, the Romans equated her with the Greek goddess Athena.''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. Minerva is one of the three Roman deities in the Capitoline Triad, along with Jupiter and Juno. Minerva is a virgin goddess. Her domain includes music, poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, and the crafts. Minerva is often depicted with her sacred creature, an owl usually named the " owl of Minerva" which symbolised her association with wisdom and knowledge, as well as, less frequently, the snake and the olive tree. Minerva is commonly depicted as tall with an athletic and muscular build. She is often wearing armour and carrying a spear. As an important Roman g ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]