m 



PIEDMONT. 



PISA. 



173 



B, ..r PIK' HI Mo'NTE, which means 

 country at the foot of mountain*. i the old name of a i; 

 North Italy which form* |rt of tin- Sardinian State*. It ha* tli 

 a principality, and the eldest ton of the king of Sardinia i< 

 trUd Prince of Piedmont 



Th name of Piedmont however wai also and is (till occasionHy 

 used a* a r*oerml denomination for that part of tlie continental terri- 

 torial of the king of Sardinia which i situated on the Italian tide of 

 UM Al|*. and between the Alp* and the l.iRiirian Apennines, a* 

 di*Ungui*hed from the other great divisions of the monarchy, namely, 

 the duchy of Savoy, the comity of Nice, and the duchy of Genoa. 

 In thia larger seme Piedmont includes a fine and extensive tract of 

 country 180 mile* long from north to south, from the Pennine Alps 

 to the Ligurian Apennines, and between 90 and 100 miles in breadth. 

 It forma a diitinct geographical region, having natural boundaries and 

 a peculiar physical character. It compriM* the western or highest 

 part of the basin of the Po, from the sources of that river to where 

 it merge* from the hills of Montferrato and enters the great plain of 

 Lombard;, including its numerous and large affluents, the Timaro, 

 the Stun, the Ronnida, the two Dora, &c. It is a country of hills 

 and valley*, being occupied by numerous offsets of the Alps and of 

 the Ligurian Apennines, except towards the eastern borders, where it 

 merge* into the plain of Lombardy, ou tho side of Vercelli and 

 Mortars. 



During the middle ages this fine country was parcelled out into 

 several feudal principalities and lordships, under a nominal all. 

 to the German emperors as kings of Italy, namely : 1, the prim 

 of Piedmont proper ; 2, tin- duchy of Aosta ; 3, the duchy of Mon- 

 ferrato; 4, the marquUate of Snhuzo; 5, the county of Aati ; 6, the 

 marquisate of Ceva; 7, the lonl-hip of Vercelli. In course of time 

 the dukes of Savoy became possessed of nil t lie-so districts, either by 

 conquest or inheritance, the houses of tho former lords having become 

 gradually extinct. 



The country of Piedmont, generally speaking, is ono of tho most 

 . healthy, and pleasant in Italy. It produces corn, rice, Indian 

 corn, wine, fruits in abundance, timber-trees, excellent pasture for 

 cattle, hump, and silk. The system of irrigation has been long 

 practised in Piedmont, and it is carried to considerable perfection 

 wheiever the slope of the ground and the vicinity of running water 

 afford the opportunity. 



The population of all Piedmont amounts to upwards of 3,000,000, 

 being about two-thirds of that of the whole monarchy, tho island of 

 Sardinia included. [SARIIINIAX STATES.] 



riKHIA. [.MAL-UK.XIA.] 



PEBRRBLATTE. [Dudjre.] 



I'lKKHK-l.K-MOUTIKU, ST. [NlfcVRK.] 



PIETERMAHITZBURG. [NATAL] 



PI EVE. [NicK.1 



PIONEROL, or PINEROLO. [TORINO.] 



PILi'OMAYO. [PLATA, I, A, River.] 



PILKINQTON. [LASCASIIIUE.] 



PI l.LAU, a seaport in Eastern Prussia, with 3600 inhabitants, is 

 situated at the extremity of a tongue of land between the Baltic and 

 the eastern extremity of the Frisches-Haff. It is a place of considerable 

 importance, for as the Haff is too shallow to allow large or heavily- 

 laden ships to go up to Kiiiiigkbcrg and Elbing, they arc either light- 

 ened of part of their cargo, or remain at Pillau, and the goods are 

 conveyed to those ports by lighters, which also bring back the return 

 cargoes. Near to the town there is a lighthouse, and a fortress which 

 defend* the entrance of the Huff. Pillait derives great advantage's from 

 its fisheries, especially of sturgeons, from the roe of which caviare is 

 prepared. 



PILLIHKKT. IRAI1I-.II.LY.] 



I'll. I. NIT/,. [PlRXA.] 



HU.TOWN. [KII.KEXST.] 



I'll. SEN, a fortified town in Bohemia, ia situated in the midst of 



fertile field*, in a beautiful and extensive valley, at the confluence of 



the Bradawk* and the Beraunka, also called the Mies, in 49 45' 



liles \V. by S. fr,, m I'm,', ,md has about 



10,000 inhabitants. It is a well-built town, and the houses are mostly 

 of .tone. It has three suburbs. The most remarkable public buildings 

 are the gothic church of St. Bartholomew (built in 12112), the gymna- 

 sium, the town-hall, and the house of the Teutonic knights. Besides 

 the gymnasium, there are a military academy, a philosophical iustitu- 

 ith six professors, and a lyceum. I'ilien h:m considerable manu- 

 factures of woollen cloth, morocco leather, ironmongery, articles made 

 of horn, Ac. There are four annual fairs, which are much frequented. 

 Th* inhabitants carry on an extensive trade in !!<>heini:iu products, 

 and in cattle, iron, potash, s, feathers, wool, leather, cloth, itc. 



rixnusKcK. [i.,-, 



H.VIM-.S. [THBWAI.T.J 

 [Arm] 



[IsTHtA.] 

 PI X III-; I.. liKIBA.] 



PINNA. ABRI 

 riXSK. IMiKsK.j 



PIUMIIINU. [SUUTA.1 



PIPEKXO. [KBOMMOICJS.] 



I'M'LEY. [CCTTACK.1 

 IMPKI.V. [Il.lK KT-VILAIXE.] 



PIQl'A. [Oiiio.] 



I'lll.KUS. [ATHENS.] 



PIltAXO. [Is-iHu.] 



P1KNA, a town in the circle of Meissen, in the kingdom of Saxony, 

 situated on the l.-ft biuik of the Kibe, 11 miles by railway S.K. from 

 Dresden, and bos about 6000 inhabitants. Most of the houses are built 

 of ston a celebrated quarries near the town. Ti 



public buildings are the town-hall, the cathedral, which is one of tho 

 finest specimens of Gothic architecture iu the kingdom, the c 

 church, the church of St. Kuuigunda, the orphan asylum, nnd a hmid- 

 some Bchoolhotise. On a high rock near the town, called ' 

 stein, there was formerly a strong fortress, win 

 the Prussians iu the Seven Years' War, and which is no-.. 

 lunatic asylum. There are flourishing manufactures of cotton, 

 woollen cloths, stockings, hats, leather, ironmonger}', starch, 4c. ' 

 printing is carried on. The inhnbitants have a considerable trade also 

 in the natural productions of tho country, among which tho Pirna 

 sandstone holds an important place. Hops are extensively grown in 

 the neighbourhood of Pirna. About four miles below Pirna, on the 

 right bank of the Elbe, is the village of Pillnil:, adjacent to which i ; 

 the extensive palace of Pillnitz, the summer residence of the kings of 

 Saxony. In this palace a congress was held in 1791, at which a con- 

 vention was agreed upon to oppose the French revolution, and to 

 maintain the right of the Bourbons to the throne of France. 



PISA, a province of Tuscany, is bounded N. by tho province of 

 Lucca, K. by that of Firenze, W. by the Mediterranean, and S. by the 

 provinces of Siena. It comprises 1, the lower part of the basin of 

 the Arno, with a small part of that of the Serchio ; 2, a part of a hilly 

 range, called Montenero, which bounds the basin of the Arno oil the 

 south, and runs close to the sea south-east of Livorno ; 3, the l> 

 the Cecina, south of the hills just mentioned; and 4, a strip of land 

 south of the mouths of the Cecina, and extending along the sea-coast, 

 and between that and the hills for about 12 miles, as far as the Torre 

 San Vincenzo. The area of the province is 1177 square miles, and the 

 population in April 1854 amounted to 231,473. The city of Livorno 

 (Leghorn) and territory about it amounting altogether to 38 

 miles, and formerly included in the province of Pisa, has been recently 

 formed into a separate government, to which the islands of Elba and 

 Gorgona also are annexed. [LivouNO ; ELBA.] In the changes that 

 occurred after the death of the ex-em preps Maria Louisa iu 1S47, the 

 outlying districts of Pontremoli and l-'ivizz;mo, formerly belonging to 

 Tuscany and included in the province of Pisa, were ceded to Parma 

 and Modena respectively ; but the detached districts of Pietrasanta, 

 Barga, and Seravezzo, are still held by Tuscany iu virtue of the Con- 

 vention of Florence (Nov. 28, 1844). Barga lies in the valley of the 

 Upper Serchio. [GARFAGXANA.] The district of Pietrasanta lies along 

 the sea-coast between the territories of Lucca and of Massa and 

 Carrara. It stretches from the sea to the foot of the Carrara Moun- 

 tains, or Alpe Apuana, and is chiefly noted for its marble quarries at 

 Seravezza, which are of the same description as those of-Carou 



The central and southern parts of the province are crossed by rami- 

 fications of the Apennines, and the northern part is the wide plain in 

 which the city of Pisa stands. The principal rivers are the Arno and 

 the Serchio, which traverse the plain of Pisa and here enter the sea. 

 The other rivers are the Era, a feeder of the Lower Arno, and the 

 Cecina, which rises in the range of high lands, between 1000 and 1500 

 feet high (which divides the Maremma, or maritime low lands, from 

 the valley of the Ombrone in the province of Siena), and after a tortuous 

 course of about 40 miles in a western direction, enters the sea by two 

 mouths in the Gulf of Vad, 22 miles S.E. of Livorno. In the north- 

 west of the province there are several marshy lakes : a narrow strip 

 along the coast is unhealthy in summer and autumn, owing to malaria. 

 The soil is very fertilo in corn, wine, and fruits. The pro\ i 

 crossed by railways and electro-telegraphic wires connecting the city 

 of Pisa with Lucca, Florence, and Leghorn. The chief town 

 and VOLTEIIRA, are. noticed in separate articles. 



PISA, capital of the province of Pisa in Tuscany, is situated in a 

 plain watered by the Arno, 45 miles by railway W. from Fl 

 10 miles N. from Leghorn, and about 4 miles from the 

 43' 43' 11' N. lat, 10 24' 7" E. long., and has about 22,000 inhabit- 

 ants. The town is divided by the river into two nearly equal parts, 

 connected by threo bridges, one of which is of marble. The circum- 

 ference of the walls is about six miles ; the quays along the Arno and 

 several other streets are wide, well paved, and lined with handsome 

 buildings, but the town has an appearance of loneliness ; it is too large 

 for its population. The four most remarkable buildings of Pisa, the 

 cathedral, baptistery, belfry, auel Campo Santo, are grouped near one 

 another in a vast open place at the western extremity of the town. 



The duomo, or cathedral, begun in 1068 by the architect Buschetto 

 and completed in 1118, is a splendid gothic structure, cased externally 

 with marble of various colours, and ornamented with numerous 

 rilievos, inscriptions, and columns of various sizes. The plan is a 

 Latin cross. The interior of tho church is lighted through small 

 windows of paiuted glass; the nave is divided from the aisles by fine 

 columns of granite; and the three bronze gates of the facade are 

 ornamented with figures by Giovanni da Bologna, representing scenes 



