Under the Castle

This the vault of the arch under the small castle at the entrance of “Villa Maria” facing “Via Calzabigi”.“GL” are the initials of Giovanni Lazzara, who built this villa.

To honor his memory, the heirs of Giovanni Lazzara,
Knight of the Work,
donated this villa and its park to the local council
so that the building would be used as museum
and the garden open to the public.
31 October 1962

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A New Crane

The port of Livorno has a new mobile crane, with a lifting capacity of 140 tonnes and a 51 meter maximum operating radius.This 2 million Euro Liebherr LHM 500 can handle general cargoes, containers, bulk materials and the occasional heavy lift.With its forty-wheel undercarriage the crane can travel in every direction, even sideways or diagonally.

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Inside S.E.A.S.

I had my First Communion and Confirmation in the grand “Santa Maria del Soccorso”. When a new church was built and our home was included in the new parish, my disappointment was great. The new church looked like a recycled hangar and was dedicated to an obscure American lady, not even properly Saint at the time. I still have pictures of my younger brother dressed up for his First Communion in front of that... shed.I missed many masses since, I knew that a real church has been built years ago, but never bothered to visit it, even after starting this blog. Last Sunday I ventured there to take a picture of the statue of the Saint, which I knew was in the garden, and found the church open, almost a miracle here in the early afternoon. I went inside and saw the light. No, not in that sense, I am quite hopeless now, but a lot of sunlight filtered by colored windows.
After a recent week of full immersion in Roman baroque, I was impressed by the simple interior of this church.The unusual “Via Crucis”, with its stations gathered in a cross made of bas-reliefs.

See also: An American Saint - S.E.A.S.
External links: Elizabeth Ann Seton (Wikipedia)

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Footwear

I am a mostly black shoes guy, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw these highlighter shoes on a stall of a seasonal market.Fancy Disney flip-flops, but the story is always the same...A bunch of colorful Crocs... with a reflection.

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S.E.A.S.

This strange structure beyond the trees is the bell tower of the church of “Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton”.The church was hosted for years in a prefabricated structure, then came the new compound. The entrance of the church itself, which is only a part of the building, is on the terrace at the first floor.The upper level is easily reached by stairs and a ramp with a view on the small garden below.

See also: An American Saint - Inside S.E.A.S.
External links: Elizabeth Ann Seton (Wikipedia)

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Straight Walk

My walk starts with the window of a model shop in “Via Mentana”.Same street, a tagger likes the bakery next door (in English).The plaque says to the mailman: “Mailboxes are at number 99”.A lady vanished leaving only a pair of shoes and a cigarette butt.“Via Gramsci”, a leafed monster is trying to catch the street lamp.Same street: after the most stupid-faced lion, here's the ugliest!

More Walks

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An American Saint

This church in Manhattan, New York City, stands on the birthplace of Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Elizabeth, born in 1774, at the age of nineteen married William Magee Seton, a wealthy merchant in New York City. After William became ill, the doctors advised him to move to a warmer climate, so Elizabeth and their eldest daughter accompanied him to Italy, where he had some trade connections in Livorno.Because of the yellow-fever their ship was quarantined in Livorno and her husband died shortly after. He was then buried in the Old English Cemetery. Elizabeth then spent time with the Filicchi, a wealthy local family of faithful Catholics. Two years later, after returning to the United States, she converted to Roman Catholicism.

From New York her birth city
come to the sea and the sun of Italy
looking for relief to the poor health of her husband
the Blessed Elizabeth Ann Seton
between the walls of the nearby old Lazaret of St. Leopoldo
lost in God with serene strength of mind
endured the harsh quarantine
from November to December 1803

A plaque on the church of “San Jacopo in Acquaviva” remember her trials. The statue of the Saint stands in the small garden of the church dedicated to her in Livorno.


See also: S.E.A.S. - Inside S.E.A.S.
External links: Elizabeth Ann Seton (Wikipedia)

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Audrey Hepburn

She's been recently voted the most beautiful woman of all time and many voters weren't probably even born when she started making movies. You won't see many Audreys walking around in Livorno, but we have our “Colazione da Tiffany” (Breakfast at Tiffany's) in “Via Marradi”.A “Vacanze Romane” (Roman Holiday) t-shirt in a window of the “Gaia Scienza”, a bookshop inside the “Palazzo della Galleria”.
I liked this because we recently had our Roman holiday, but I am quite sure that Audrey Hepburn wasn't a t-shirt type.

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Pilotina Due

Last Thursday, during the final touches of some maintenance work on land, the “Pilotina Due” (Pilot Boat Two) took fire by accident and burned almost completely.The three yard workers on board at the moment of the fire were able to escape unharmed from the scaffolding.I took many pictures of the elegant mahogany finished boat during her rides across the waters of our port.Goodbye “Pilotina Due”, you braved the waves to meet a sad end on land. We'll miss you...

See also: Pilots - Backgrounds - Turning Ships - Leale

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Palazzo della Galleria

Opposite the Central Post Office, still in “Via Cairoli”, we find the “Palazzo della Galleria” (Palace of the Galleria) built in 1927 by the “Istituto Nazionale Immobiliare”.
The galleria was originally intended as a link between “Via Cairoli” and the area of the “Mercato Centrale”, but it never really worked and now the space is a glorified hall with a café.
By the way, our friend Stefano took care of the recent restoration process of this galleria.

See also: BNL - Via Cairoli - Banco di Napoli - Central Post Office

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Secret Doors

You can still see these concealed doors in some older building, sometimes perfectly painted, like this one in “Via Cambini”,or a bit more decrepit, like this other in “Corso Amedeo”.This front door is gone, and elegantly replaced by a temporary one made of particle board.

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Central Post Office

The “Palazzo delle Poste” or “Poste Centrali” (Central Post Office) was the first building to be built during the urban renewal of “Via Cairoli”. The building was completely designed by the Technical Department of Municipality of Livorno. On the side windows a couple of “postal faces” are clearly visible.After a ceremonial first stone laid in 1919, works actually began few years later and the building was completed only in 1929. Alongside the “Poste Centrali”, the “Banco di Napoli” in a vintage postcard.

See also: Postal Faces - BNL - Via Cairoli - Banco di Napoli

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Sea, Air, Land

The first brave tourists on a boat cruise along the “Fosso Reale”.The beautiful window of a villa in “Viale Marconi”.A detail of the above rose...“Via Redi”, the most stupid-faced lion I have ever seen.This balcony in “Via Cambini” is all for wind wheels and spinners.

More Walks

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Moses Montefiore

This is the Montefiore Windmill, which is not in Livorno but in Yemin Moshe, an old neighborhood in Jerusalem. The windmill was funded by the British Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore, who devoted his life to promoting industry, education and health in the Holy Land.
Moses Montefiore may be rightly considered British but he was surely born in Livorno in 1784, where he began his career as an apprentice to a firm of grocers and tea merchants.
A pair of plaques commemorate him on the wall of the community building, next to the Synagogue.

To the perpetual remembrance
that on 24 October 1784 here was born
Sir Moses Montefiore
in Syria, Russia, Morocco, Romania
tireless apostle of tolerance
to any kind of misfortunes
without distinction of country or persuasion
widely merciful
Died in Ramsgate on 28 July 1885
Honored by the powerful blessed by the poors

Plaque recovered from the nearby house
where Sir Moses Montefiore was born
Placed here on 21-2-1965

One hundred years after the end
of the long and full life
be blessed the memory
of Sir Moses Montefiore
27 October 1985
12 Cheswan 5746
World Sephardi Federation

See also: Synagogue of Livorno - Inside the Synagogue - Rejoicing of the Law

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Strange Ships

The ferry “Bastia” showing her tongue.The little boat is looking for the larger one with the same colors.Someone forgot a backhoe on this ship.A quite funny livery for a cruise ship.

Search labels: Moby - ferry

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