Understand
Livorno is on the Tyrrhenian sea and is the second biggest port in Italy.
Get in
By plane
Pisa airport (code: PSA) Galileo Galilei.
By train
Main train station is Livorno Centrale. Take bus number 1 to go to town center and then to the port in about 20 minutes.
By car
Autostrada A12, uscita Livorno; for maps and tolls see http://www.autostrade.it/ (no pages in English as per 14 November 2004).
By bus
From Pisa, Piombino, Florence and other cities.
By boat
You can depart from Genoa, Civitavecchia, Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica.
Get around
Bus number 1 is a shuttle from train station to the port and vice-versa. Ticket for one hour of travel is 0,85 Euros, daily ticket is 3,20 Euros. See http://www.atl.livorno.it/tiposerv.html for a map.
See
Eat
Cacciucco - fish stew
Budget
Mid-range
Splurge
Drink
"Ponce alla livornese" is optimal to finish a meal (warm drink with coffee and rum).
Sleep
Budget
Mid-range
Splurge
Get out
Livorno is a good starting point and base for a tour of Tuscany. You can reach Pisa in half an hour, Lucca and Florence in about an hour. In a day you can easily tour Chianti-side going to Monteriggioni, San Giminiano, Siena and Volterra and be back for dinner.
:''"Leghorn" redirects here. For the breed of chicken, see Leghorn chicken.
Livorno (archaic Leghorn) is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno and the third-largest port on the western coast of Italy, having a population of 170,000 as of 2004.
History
Livorno was defined as an "ideal town" during the Renaissance. Nowadays it reveals its history through its neighbourhoods, crossed by canals and surrounded by fortified town-walls, through the tangle of its streets, which embroider the town's Venice district, and through the Medici Port characteristically overlooked by towers and fortresses leading to the town centre.
Designed by the architect Bernardo Buontalenti at the end of the 16th century, Livorno underwent a period of great town planning expansion at the end of the 17th century. Near the defensive pile of the Old Fortress, a new fortress, together with the town-walls and the system of navigable canals, was then built.
Nowadays the Venice district preserves most of its original town planning and architectural features such as the bridges, the narrow lanes, the noblemen's houses and a dense network of canals which once linked the port to its storehouses. In the 18th and 19th centuries Livorno, by then grown up and open to the world, had a lively appearance marked by neo-classical buildings, town parks housing important museums and cultural institutions, Liberty villas with sea views, the market.
Some Moriscos (Muslim Spaniards forcibly converted to Catholicism) moved from Spain to Livorno in the 18th century.
Main sights
The Museo Mascagnano houses memorabilia, documents and operas by the great composer Pietro Mascagni. Every year some of his operas are traditionally played during the lyric music season, which is organised by the Traditional Theatre of Livorno.
Up in the hills the Sanctuary of Montenero, which is dedicated to Our Lady of the Graces, the patron saint of Tuscany, is a fixed destination for pilgrims. It is famous for the adjacent gallery, decorated with ex-voti mainly connected to stories of miraculous sea rescue.
The "Monumento dei quattro mori" ("Monument of the Four Turks"), dedicated to Grand Duke Ferdinando II de' Medici of Tuscany, is one of the most important monuments of Livorno.
In Livorno there is an important square called "Piazza della Repubblica" that contains two important monuments of italian politicians. Thus, this square is also a bridge: in fact, under the bridge there is an old, big canal. Piazza della Repubblica is the largest bridge of Europe.
Another important monument is the old fortress; an old building made with red bricks that at the time of Medici defended the city from pirates attacks.
Culture
Politically, Livorno is one of the most left-leaning cities of Italy. The Communist Party of Italy was founded in Livorno on 21 January 1921.
There is a breed of chicken called leghorn, named after the city. This in turn gave its name to the cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn.
Economy
Tuaca liqueur is produced in Livorno. The city also has a substantial petrochemical industry.
Sport
Livorno has a football team in Serie A, A.S. Livorno Calcio. The football club reflects the left-leaning tendencies of the city with Livorno Calcio's left-wing ultras.
Dialect
Livorno inhabitants speak a colourful variant of the Tuscan dialect of Italy named vernacolo, which is especially characterized by the popular interjection dé, which has a very wide range of meanings, usually recognizable only by the tone of the pronunciation, and a tourist is soon discovered if they try to use dè, because it is not the correct pronunciation.
There is a satirical comic/magazine written mainly in the Livornese dialect called Il Vernacoliere.
Twin cities
Notable people
Images
Image:Livornoveneziavecchia0001.jpg|Venice district
Image:Livorno FossoReale.JPG|Grand Canal
Image:Livorno-Fortezzavecchia2.JPG|Old Fortress
Image:Livorno-Fortezzanuova3.JPG|New Fortress
Image:Livorno Duomo.JPG|Duomo of Livorno
Image:Livornp-Sinagoga.JPG|Synagogue of Livorno
Image:Livorno, Monumento dei quattro mori a Ferdinando II (1626) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 13-4-2006 01.jpg|Monumento dei quattro mori
Image:Livorno02.jpg|Piazza della Repubblica
External links
