Ligorni

A detail of a portolan chart of the Mediterranean Sea dated around 1500-1600. You can find Livorno (here spelled Ligorni) and slightly on the south you can see a small village called Vada, which happens to be my birthplace. The link to the original chart is on the website of the Biblioteca Nacional de España (National Library of Spain).

External links: Portolan chart - Biblioteca Nacional de España - Marcus Antonius Coccius Sabellicus (Wikipedia)
- Cartas portulanas en la Biblioteca Nacional de España (Biblioteca Nacional de España)

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Porta del Duca

The main gate of the fortress, with a massive arch in stone of Vada, is adjacent to the “Ampolletta” bastion, which offers better cover and protection.Once called “Porta del Duca” (Duke's Gate), a marble coat of arms still stands above the arch.Barely legible now on the plaque below: “Sotto una Fede et Legge un Signor solo” (Under one Faith and Law, one Lord) the motto of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.Beyond the gate we can already see the courtyard of the guards.

See also: Fortezza Vecchia - Piazza dei Grani - Scalo Regio - Cortile d'Arme - Capitana - Ampolletta - Molo del Soccorso - Canaviglia - Palazzo di Francesco - Mastio di Matilde - From the Top
Search labels: Fortezza Vecchia

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Happy Birthday

One of my Stefano friends just reminded me that our main railway station, “Livorno Centrale”, will be one hundred years old today.The station was built when, in the first decade of the 2oth century, Livorno was linked through Vada, a seaside village where my family comes from, to the coastal trunk line for Rome.How this old postcard shows, there was a great celebration then, with lights along the main streets and squares. The ceremony took place with the partecipation of the King, Vittorio Emanuele III.The tracks today, with a bench ready for another blog of mine.

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