﻿ISTRU. 



ITALY. 



soa 



bulk of th* popuUtion howerar ipeak k SlaTonia dUlMt, and u« 

 ■loMMt wboUr of Um SkTonio ■took. 



IWml— C^wV/itrta, u apiMOiwl town of 6000 inlubitaata, U 

 ■Hoatad on a alreolv Uand jotoad to tha nuiDUDd h^ a oaiueway- 

 bridga, about 8 or 10 milaa S. from Trieate. It oociipiaa the aite of 

 the andeot Algida, which after ita raatoration by the emperor 

 Jiutio took the title of Jtulinopolu. The town waa long a depandeooy 

 of the Venetian republic. The raoat rematkabia buildinga are the 

 cathedral, the citadel, and the town-honae, a gothio atruoture ereoted 

 on tha aite of a tempi* of Cybela. Thera are a great number of 

 chnrohaa, three monaatariea, a gymnasium with aiz profeaaora, and 

 thra* hoapitala. A oonaiderable trade is oarried on in wine, oil, and 

 ataaalt made by eTaporatiog the aea-water in the ahallow strait 

 baiween the island and the shore. 



OiUt-f/mora, supposed to occupy the rite of the ancient Neapolu, 

 ■tanda on the north shore of the SMtuary of the Quieto, in 45° 18' 20' 

 N. lat>, 13* 33' IS* E. long., and has a cathedral, three other churuhea, 

 • good harbour, and about 1000 inhabitanta, ^ha are chiefly engaged 

 in the ooaat fisheries. East of Citta-Nuora, in the interior, and near 

 the left bank of the Qnieto, is MotUona, with about 1000 inhabitanta. 

 The oak-foresta in this neighbourhood formerly supplied the araenals 

 of Venice with oak-timber. Still farther east, in the heart of the 

 mountain district, is the small town of Pinguente, which is 8up|KMed 

 to occupy the ute of the ancient Piquentum, and has about 1000 

 inhabitants, who are engaged in the aluu-mines, vitriol-works, and 

 millstone-quarries of the vicinity. Pinguente stands on the high-road 

 from Trieate to Rovigno and Pota. A couple of miles N. from 

 Montona is the ill-built straggling town of Portolt, with about 2500 

 inhabitants. 



Itola, 4 miles W. from Capo-d'Istria, is situated on the aoutbem 

 ahore of the Bay of Trieate, and has about 3700 inhabitants, who are 

 engaged in the eousting trade and in tha cultivation of the vine, which 

 in thia diatrict yields an excellent wine named ' ribolla.' Four miles 

 farther weet is Ptrano, a town uf 6500 inhabitants, built on the 

 aottremity of a peninsula which separatee the Bay of Trieate from 

 the Bay of Largone. It is supposed to represent the ancient Piranon, 

 which roae on account of its port to some eminence in trade under 

 tha Boman empire. It is a well-built town, with a good harbour, a 

 hasdaome gothic cathedral, and an oM ca.^tle. In the neighbourhood are 

 the largeat salti-rna in Iittria. The inhabitants export wiue, oil, and salt 

 Between Pirauo and Citta-Nuova is another coast-town, Oinago, or 

 Vmago, which retains its ancient name. It is now an unhealthy place, 

 with about 1300 inhabitants. Eight miles S. from Oitta-Nuova is 

 Poraisa, on the site of the ancient Parentium. The town, which 

 givaa title to a biahop suffragan of the Patriarch of Venice, stands on 

 a peninsular projection into the Adriatic, forming a good harbour, 

 wbioh ia further sheltered by several small islets. On San-Nicolo, the 

 largeat of the islets, i* a convent and an ancient tower, which was 

 formerly a lighthouse (46° 13' 47' N. lat, 18° 85' 47" E. long.). The 

 cathedral, which ia surmounted by a dome, is the most remarkable 

 building in the town ; it datea from A.D. 542, and presents in the 

 interior a nave and two aialea terminating in three apses, being an 

 nnaltered specimen of the ancient basilica : the style is Byzantine. 

 The population of Parenzo is about 3000. 



Rovigno, 10 miles 3. from Parenzo, in also called Trevigno, and 

 occupies the aite of the ancient Ruvignio. It is built on a rocky 

 promontory, which forma a double harbour, in 45° 4' 66* N. lat, 

 13* 88' 6' E. long. The town has auperior courta of justice, and 

 about 10,000 inhabitants, who are engaged in ship-building, in the 

 tunny and sardine fisheries, in the coasting trade, and in the manufac- 

 ture of ahip-cablea, aail-cloth, &c. It is about a mile in circuit, and 

 eontains ten chnrehes, among which the cathedral, a large and hand- 

 some gothic structure, is remarkable for its lofty tower, built after the 

 model of the tower of St Murk in Venice. The neighbourhood pro- 

 duces abundance of wine and olive-oil, and poaaeasea qnarriea of fine 

 marble. Rovigno has a gymnasium and two hoapitals. 



About 20 milea S.S.E. from Rovigno ia the epiaeopal town of Pola, 

 ■itnated at the bead of a beautiful bay of the aame name. Pola is 

 girt by baationed walla, built by the Venetiana, and entered by four 

 gates. It is further defended by a castle. The principal building is 

 tha cathedral, which is a baailica built in the Roman p.tyle from the 

 mins of ancient buildinga : there are also three convents and a Greek 

 church in the town. On the island of Santa-Catharina, in the Bay of 

 Pola, ia a very ancient Byzantine chureh surmounted by a dome. 

 Pola, the origin of which is ascribed to the Colchinns sent in pursuit 

 of Jaaon, waa deatroyed by Julius Csenar for its adherence to Pompey; 

 rebuilt by Augustus at the request of his daughter Julia, and from 

 her named Pitlat Julia. It was the station of a division of the 

 Boman navy; and hi>d in the time of the em|>eror Septimus Severus 

 a population of 80,000. It still iMMMesaea many splendid remains of anti- 

 quity—an aroi>hiihratre,oataidethe walls of the present town, remark- 

 ably fresh in appearance, S66 feet long, 292 feet brond, and 75 feet high, 

 oooatructad of marble, and capable of containing 27,000 spectators ; 

 and within the town an elegant Corinthian temple of Augustus and 

 Roma, a temple of Diana, and a triumphal arch of the Corinthian 

 order called Porta Aiirea. There are many fragments of Roman 

 architecture built iuto the walla round the market-place of Pola, 

 which is supposed to be the site of the ancient forum. Pola, long 



decaying and neglaoted, is likaly again to become a phwa of aoma 

 importance, the Auatrian goTemment liaving expreaaed an intention 

 of making it a naral station and port of war. Fur this purpose forti- 

 fications have been erected on the heights around and on the island of 

 Sooglio-Orande, which commands tha entrance to the liarbour; roada 

 have been laid out and drains cut The lurbour — safe, commodious^ 

 and aptuiioua— admita the lamat three-deckers dose in shorei 



Six milea due north of Pola, on the high road to Trieate, and 

 pleaaantly situated on an eminence, is Dignano, with 3600 inhabitants, 

 who trade in the excellent wine of the neigfabourhood, which is oele- 

 brated for ita ruae-like perfume. Fourteen miles futher north on the 

 same road, and at the point where it is joined by a branch road to 

 Rovigno, is the small town of Qtmino ; 6 miles N.E. from which ia 

 Pitino (in German JUitterburg), which is beautifully situated round a 

 limeatone bluff crowned with a castle. It is a thriving little town, 

 with 2500 inhabitanta, a gymnasium with 8 profeeeora, and some 

 trade in com, wine, and oil, the produce of the viciuity. The little 

 river Fluva hjaa excavated an immense cavern in the limestone below 

 the town. 



On or near the coast of the Gnlf of Quamero are aereral small 

 places, among which we notice Albona, the andent Alvrni or Alvona 

 iiitnated in a rocky dixtrict east of the Arsa, productive of oil, wine, 

 and chestnuts, population about 1 000 ; Fiaruma, on the site of tha 

 ancient ftanona (a town probably of the Fianatea, who gave name to 

 the Flanatious Sinus, now the Qulf of Quarnero), situated at the 

 head of a small bay of the same name, population 900 ; and, further 

 north, Lovrana, or Laurana, which has a small harbour and about 

 600 inhabitanta. 



The islands Losini, Cfaerso, and Veglia were annexed to Istria whilst 

 it vraa included in the government of Trieate. Lotini (which is also 

 calle<i Otero) and Cherto were in andent timea called Abtgriida, or 

 A ptyrtides, from a tradition that Absy rtus was here slain by Jaaon and 

 Medea. 



ITALY, one of the great natural divisions of Europe, conrista of a 

 peninnula stretching in a south.eastem direction between the Adriatic 

 and Mediterraneau seas, and of the islands of Sardinia, Sicily, and 

 adjacent smaller islands. The Italian mainland, or Italy proper, 

 extends from its most southern point, Capo dell' Arrni, in 37° 55' 

 N. lat, to 46° 32' N. lat, its most northern limit, where the Piave, 

 the Adda, and the Ticino have their sources at the foot of the Pennine, 

 Rhrotian, and Noric Alps. It lies between 6° 80' and 18° 30' E. long., 

 the latter being the lougitude of the most eastern point of Italy, near 

 Otrauto. The northern part of Italy is bounded N., N.E., and N.W. 

 by the Alps, which sweep round it in a semicircle, beginning from the 

 coast near Nizza on the Mediterranean, and extending to the Adriatic 

 in the neighbourhood of Trieste ; it is bounded E. by the Adriutio, 

 and S. and W. by the Mediterranean. The area of Italy, with Sicily, 

 Sardinia, and the adjacent small islands, is about 120,000 square milea, 

 or rather more than twice that of England and Walea The entire 

 population, according to the most recent censuses, is aomewbat under 

 26,000,000. 



The political divisions of Italy are as follows : — Loxbardt axd 

 Venice, the former Lombardo-Veneto kingdom, of which the Emperor 

 of Austria ia king ; Sardisia, or the Sardinian monarchy, consisting 

 of the Stati di Terra Ferma, or continental territories, and the island of 

 Sardinia ; the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, coDKisting of the Duminj 

 di quit dal Faro, or kingdom of Naples, and Dominj di \i dal Faro, or 

 island of Sicily; the Papai. States'; the grand duchy of Tcscaut, 

 including the duchy of Lucca; the duchy of Pabma; the duchy of 

 Modena and Massa ; the principality of Monaco ; and the republic 

 of San Morino ; the area and population of all of which, except 

 Lorabardy and Venice, which are given under Austria, will be found 

 under Ei'itorE. The island of Corsica, which physically belongs to 

 Italy even more strictly than doea Sardinia, is politically imitod to 

 France. 



These states being described tmder their respective titles, and tha 

 great physical features of Italy being aeparately noticed, it would be 

 superfluous to repeat such descriptions here. We shall therefore 

 under the present heading merely give such a general notice of the 

 physical geography of Italy as may facilitate reference to particular 

 articles, adding a brief sketch of it* history, language, and literature. 



Phytical Geography. — The ridge of the Apennines, which runs 

 along the Riviera of Genoa and the northern boundaries of Tuscany 

 to near Rimini on the Adriatic coast, divides Italy into two distinct 

 regions. One of these regions is situated north of the Apennines, 

 au'l is chiefly occupied by the basin of the Po and its numerotu 

 affluents ; while its north.eaat extremity, which is contracted between 

 the Camic Alps and the Adriatic, contains the ba.<iins of the Brento, 

 the Piave, and the Tagliamento. The whole region extends in length 

 from wei>t to east, from Mount Viso in 7* Kl long, to the river Isonzo 

 in 13* 25' E. long., a distance of 320 miles. [Kricll] Ita greatest 

 breadth, from the Tuscan Apenninea to the sources of the Adda, is 

 about 150 miles. [Po] 



The other region, which is the real peninsula, extends in a south- 

 east direction, between the Adriatic and the Mediterranean seas, for 

 above 600 miles, its breadth rarrjng from 130 to 50 miles, and atill 

 less in some part* of Calabria. The Apennines, and the lower ranges 

 which are connected with them, occupy the greater part of the Italian 



