Map of Toscana (Tuscany) This map shows relationship of Barga to Lucca Pisa & Firenze (Florence) This is a close up of (Comune di) Barga & Fornaci di Barga please note how close (Comune di )Barga & Fornaci di Barga are to each other. Please note, Loppia is about half way in between, that is where the Church is located that the residents of Fornaci Di Barga used. TUSCANY TUSCANY (It. Toscana), a region in north-central Italy, bounded on the north by Emilia-Romagna, on the east by the Marches and Umbria, on the south by Latium and the Tyrrhenian Sea, and on the west by the Ligurian Sea and Liguria. The Apennine Mountains form most of the northern boundary of the region, except northeast of Florence, where the region includes a strip on the northern side of the divide. Tuscany has an area of 8,877 square miles (22,992 sq km) and embraces the provinces of Arezzo, Firenze (Florence), Grosseto, Livorno (Leghorn), Lucca, Massa e Carrara, Pisa, Pistoia, and Siena. History. In pre-Roman times Tuscany was inhabited by Etruscans and, in the northwest, Ligurians. The Etruscans were subjected to Rome in the mid-fourth century b.c., and the name Tuscia came to be applied to the region. After the decay of the Roman Empire, Tuscany was invaded by Goths, Byzantines, Lombards, and Franks. The counts of Lucca dominated Tuscany after a.d. 774, the counts of Canossa from about 1027. When Matilda of Tuscany died in 1115, she left her lands to the Holy See. A long struggle between the popes and the emperors ensued, enabling the prosperous cities to increase their power and independence. Among the cities, Lucca and Pisa, often at swords' points, led during the 11th and 12th centuries. Pisa was victorious in the Arno Valley, but was defeated by Genoa in the sea battle of Meloria in 1284. In the early 13th century Lucca tried to dominate Tuscany under Uguccione della Faggiuola and Castruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli. But soon Florence, which dominated Pistoia and Arezzo, resumed its forward march. Pisa lost its independence in 1406 and Siena in 1555. This Florentine expansion was led by the Medici family, who in effect ruled the city from the early 15th century to the mid-18th century, except in 1494-1512 and 1527-1530. The Medici were patrons of art and literature and contributed greatly to the development of Florence as a political and cultural center. In 1569 Cosimo I received the title of grand duke of Tuscany. The Medici rulers became extinct with the death of Gian Gastone in 1737. Tuscany passed to Francis I, husband of Maria Theresa, who also became Holy Roman Emperor in 1745. His son Leopold I (r. 1765-1790), the ablest grand duke of the Hapsburg line, promoted enlightened legislation and economic development. When he became Holy Roman Emperor in 1790, Leopold was succeeded in Tuscany by his son Ferdinand III. The armies of the French Revolution occupied Tuscany in 1799 and again in 1800. In 1801 the grand duchy was transformed into a Kingdom of Etruria under French control. In 1808 Tuscany was annexed by France. Ferdinand III was restored in 1814, after Napoleon's downfall. In 1824 he was succeeded by his son Leopold II, who granted a constitution in 1848 in hopes of forestalling revolution. But a republic was proclaimed in February 1849 and Leopold fled. He was restored by Austrian troops in July and withdrew the constitution in 1852. He was expelled again in 1859 during the Risorgimento. In 1860 Tuscany was annexed by the Kingdom of Sardinia, which became the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 Geography. More than half of Tuscany is hilly, and about one third is mountainous. The northern Apennines in the northeast are steeper there than on the Emilian flank. The Apuanian Alps, with elevations of over 6,000 feet, rise abruptly in the northwest, close to the coast. In the southwest is the volcanic cone of Monte Amiata (5,702 feet; 1,738 meters), rising above the mineral-rich plateau. The remainder of Tuscany is rolling hilly country with soils of clay and sand. Prehistoric lakes, drained chiefly by the Arno, now form a series of enclosed plains. The most notable of these are the Garfagnana, Florence, Mugello, Casentino, the upper Val d'Arno, and the Chiana, which link up with an Umbrian series of the upper Tiber. Some of Tuscany's richest farmland is in this area. The coastal areas of the lower Arno and the Maremma are the region's largest lowlands. Malaria, large estate holdings, and poor drainage made the 850-square-mile (2,200-sq-km) Maremma one of Tuscany's poorest districts until drainage programs were begun in the 19th century and land reforms were instituted in the 1950's. The chief rivers of Tuscany are the Arno and its tributaries, the Era, Elsa, Bisenzio, and Sieve, and the Serchio. Population. The population of Tuscany was 3,510,114 in 1991. The density of population, more than 395 persons per square mile (153 per sq km), varies greatly within the region. The heaviest population is in the lower Arno Valley from Florence to the sea, plus the Tyrrhenian coast from Carrara to Cecina. Regions of heavy density are also found around Siena and in the Chianti district. Southern Tuscany has a low population density¾about one third of the people live in scattered dwellings; the rest in urban centers. The chief city and regional capital is Florence (pop. 1991), 402,316, followed by Leghorn (171,265), Pisa (101,500), and Siena (57,745). Prato, Pistoia, Lucca, Piombino, and Grosseto are also important centers. There are several spas, and popular resorts have grown up along the coast. Economic Resources. Although much of the land is under cereal crops, principally wheat, tree crops are equally important. The Chianti vineyards produce, in a very limited area, over a quarter of the total Tuscan wine production. Olives are important particularly around Lucca and Pisa, and chestnuts and fruits are grown on a lesser scale. Sheep and goats are numerous. The woolen industry of Prato is a remnant of the cloth trade of the Middle Ages. There are modern cotton mills at Florence, Leghorn, and Pisa. Mining and quarrying are traditional and still important. Iron pyrite for the preparation of sulfuric acid and superphosphates is processed in west Tuscany. Mercury is mined at Monte Amiata, salt at Volterra, and borax in the Cecina Basin. Building materials, principally Carrara marble, are produced in the Apuanian Alps. Major industries of Tuscany are the iron and steel works at Piombino, the shipyards of Leghorn, and the motorcycle factories at Pontedera. Tourism is also important. Transportation. The region is well served by numerous railroads that include main lines between northern and southern Italy. Express highways link Florence with Bologna and Milan, with Rome and Naples, and with the seacoast. Leghorn, once a free port, is one of Italy's leading seaports as well as a naval base and an important commercial center. LUCCA LUCCA, a province and the capital city of that province, and a former republic and duchy, in western Tuscany, in north-central Italy. The City. Lucca is about 40 miles (64 km) west of Florence. It lies in the flat plain of the Serchio River, which flows north of the city toward the Ligurian Sea, 20 miles (32 km) west. To the southwest of the city is the Monte Pisano, 3,000 feet (900 meters) high; to the northwest are the Apuanian Alps; to the northeast, the foothills of the Apennines. To the east and southeast the Serchio plain merges with that of the lower Arno. The climate is mild, with an average annual rainfall of 67 inches (1,700 mm). Lucca is a highway and railroad junction. It is the market and industrial center of the surrounding fertile agricultural area. Lucca is noted for its olive oil; other products are tobacco, paper, wine, and furniture; and there are jute, silk, and woolen mills. The city has several educational institutions. Of interest are the rich archives and the public library. The city's principal streets are straight, with an atmosphere of antiquity. The walls around the older section (1504-1645), supported by 11 bulwarks and pierced by seven gates, are topped by a long shaded boulevard. At the center of town is the Piazza Napoleone, with the Palazzo del Governo containing the communal picture gallery, which includes paintings by Tintoretto, Filippino Lippi, and Giorgio Vasari. The civic museum is located in the Villa Guinigi (or Quarquonia). The cathedral was founded in the sixth century, reconstructed in 1060 and again in the 13th century. There are also a number of interesting medieval churches. From early medieval times Lucca was a center for artists and artistic ideas and techniques in architecture, sculpture, music, painting, and goldsmithing. Its influence on the artistic development of Pisa and other Tuscan cities was considerable. Renowned composers and virtuosi who lived in Lucca include Luigi Boccherini and Giacomo Puccini. Lucca, after an early period in the frontier zone between Ligurians and Etruscans, became a Roman colony in 180 b.c. Following the fall of the empire came the Goths, Byzantines and Lombards, who fastened their dominion on Lucca around 570 and made it their regional capital. The brief Frankish rule in the eighth and ninth centuries did not alter the region's basically Lombard character. The 11th century saw the development of a commune and of closer relations with Genoa through their common rivalry with Pisa. But Lucca, like Pisa, generally favored the imperial cause in Italy. During the 12th century conflicts between the leading families led to the creation of a podestà, an office once held by Charles of Anjou (1266-1272). The factions of the Whites and Blacks arose in Lucca, with the latter achieving control of the city by 1300. Together with the Florentines they occupied Pistoia in 1306. For a brief time in 1314-1315 Lucca was joined to Pisa by the victories of Uguccione della Faggiuola. The latter was succeeded by Castruccio Castracani, who made himself undisputed signore of Luccan domains and sought to extend them, principally at the expense of Pistoia and Florence, until his death in 1328. This was the high point of Luccan "imperialism." Thereafter it passed, by sale, through several hands until Florence sold it to Pisa in 1342. In 1369 the Emperor Charles IV reestablished Lucca's freedom, institutionalized with a new constitution in 1370-1372. From 1392 to 1430 the Guinigi family maintained an uncomfortable primacy, always opposed by Florentine maneuvers. Meanwhile, Lucca had become important as a center of the silk trade, carried by émigré merchants throughout Italy and into France and the Low Countries. In the 16th century many Protestant families also left. In 1556 the republic became an oligarchy, which for two and a half centuries sought peace, even at the expense of losing territory. In 1799 a series of rapidly changing governments began with a democratic republic and ended with the creation of a principality in 1805 assigned by Napoleon to his sister, Elisa Bacciocchi, and her husband, along with the territory of Piombino. They reformed many political, administrative, and economic policies. In 1813 Lord Bentinck occupied Lucca, and another series of foreign occupations and provisional governments concluded with the creation of an absolutist Duchy of Lucca, entrusted in 1817 to Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma under Austrian tutelage. Her successor, Carlo Ludovico, began by instituting reforms, but had to cede his duchy to Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1847. Pop. 1991, 86,437. The Province. The province of Lucca, comprising 35 communes, has an area of 684 square miles (1,771 sq km). It is bounded on the north by the Apennines and contains the upper valley of the Serchio, the southern part of the Apuanian Alps, and the northern section of the lower Serchio plain, including part of the Tyrrhenian seacoast. Grapes, olives, fruit, and corn are grown; livestock is raised; and lumbering is carried on. Among the leading industrial towns, in addition to the city of Lucca, are Viareggio, with shipyards and a variety of manufactures; Barga and Bagni di Lucca, with paper mills; and Pietrasanta, with its marble quarries and marble-working industry. The province has many resorts. Pop. 1991, 374,144. City of Lucca Next page Photos of Fornaci di Barga Rigali families genealogies Back to map of Italy Return to page 1 Ritorni a pagina 1 italiana 2-13-98
This map shows relationship of Barga to Lucca
Pisa & Firenze (Florence)
This is a close up of (Comune di) Barga & Fornaci di Barga
please note how close (Comune di )Barga & Fornaci di Barga are to each other.
Please note, Loppia is about half way in between, that is where the Church is located that the residents of Fornaci Di Barga used.
TUSCANY
TUSCANY (It. Toscana), a region in north-central Italy, bounded on the north by Emilia-Romagna, on the east by the Marches and Umbria, on the south by Latium and the Tyrrhenian Sea, and on the west by the Ligurian Sea and Liguria. The Apennine Mountains form most of the northern boundary of the region, except northeast of Florence, where the region includes a strip on the northern side of the divide. Tuscany has an area of 8,877 square miles (22,992 sq km) and embraces the provinces of Arezzo, Firenze (Florence), Grosseto, Livorno (Leghorn), Lucca, Massa e Carrara, Pisa, Pistoia, and Siena.
History. In pre-Roman times Tuscany was inhabited by Etruscans and, in the northwest, Ligurians. The Etruscans were subjected to Rome in the mid-fourth century b.c., and the name Tuscia came to be applied to the region. After the decay of the Roman Empire, Tuscany was invaded by Goths, Byzantines, Lombards, and Franks. The counts of Lucca dominated Tuscany after a.d. 774, the counts of Canossa from about 1027. When Matilda of Tuscany died in 1115, she left her lands to the Holy See. A long struggle between the popes and the emperors ensued, enabling the prosperous cities to increase their power and independence.
Among the cities, Lucca and Pisa, often at swords' points, led during the 11th and 12th centuries. Pisa was victorious in the Arno Valley, but was defeated by Genoa in the sea battle of Meloria in 1284. In the early 13th century Lucca tried to dominate Tuscany under Uguccione della Faggiuola and Castruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli. But soon Florence, which dominated Pistoia and Arezzo, resumed its forward march. Pisa lost its independence in 1406 and Siena in 1555. This Florentine expansion was led by the Medici family, who in effect ruled the city from the early 15th century to the mid-18th century, except in 1494-1512 and 1527-1530. The Medici were patrons of art and literature and contributed greatly to the development of Florence as a political and cultural center. In 1569 Cosimo I received the title of grand duke of Tuscany. The Medici rulers became extinct with the death of Gian Gastone in 1737.
Tuscany passed to Francis I, husband of Maria Theresa, who also became Holy Roman Emperor in 1745. His son Leopold I (r. 1765-1790), the ablest grand duke of the Hapsburg line, promoted enlightened legislation and economic development. When he became Holy Roman Emperor in 1790, Leopold was succeeded in Tuscany by his son Ferdinand III. The armies of the French Revolution occupied Tuscany in 1799 and again in 1800. In 1801 the grand duchy was transformed into a Kingdom of Etruria under French control. In 1808 Tuscany was annexed by France. Ferdinand III was restored in 1814, after Napoleon's downfall. In 1824 he was succeeded by his son Leopold II, who granted a constitution in 1848 in hopes of forestalling revolution. But a republic was proclaimed in February 1849 and Leopold fled. He was restored by Austrian troops in July and withdrew the constitution in 1852. He was expelled again in 1859 during the Risorgimento. In 1860 Tuscany was annexed by the Kingdom of Sardinia, which became the Kingdom of Italy in 1861
Geography. More than half of Tuscany is hilly, and about one third is mountainous. The northern Apennines in the northeast are steeper there than on the Emilian flank. The Apuanian Alps, with elevations of over 6,000 feet, rise abruptly in the northwest, close to the coast. In the southwest is the volcanic cone of Monte Amiata (5,702 feet; 1,738 meters), rising above the mineral-rich plateau. The remainder of Tuscany is rolling hilly country with soils of clay and sand. Prehistoric lakes, drained chiefly by the Arno, now form a series of enclosed plains. The most notable of these are the Garfagnana, Florence, Mugello, Casentino, the upper Val d'Arno, and the Chiana, which link up with an Umbrian series of the upper Tiber. Some of Tuscany's richest farmland is in this area. The coastal areas of the lower Arno and the Maremma are the region's largest lowlands. Malaria, large estate holdings, and poor drainage made the 850-square-mile (2,200-sq-km) Maremma one of Tuscany's poorest districts until drainage programs were begun in the 19th century and land reforms were instituted in the 1950's. The chief rivers of Tuscany are the Arno and its tributaries, the Era, Elsa, Bisenzio, and Sieve, and the Serchio.
Population. The population of Tuscany was 3,510,114 in 1991. The density of population, more than 395 persons per square mile (153 per sq km), varies greatly within the region. The heaviest population is in the lower Arno Valley from Florence to the sea, plus the Tyrrhenian coast from Carrara to Cecina. Regions of heavy density are also found around Siena and in the Chianti district. Southern Tuscany has a low population density¾about one third of the people live in scattered dwellings; the rest in urban centers.
The chief city and regional capital is Florence (pop. 1991), 402,316, followed by Leghorn (171,265), Pisa (101,500), and Siena (57,745). Prato, Pistoia, Lucca, Piombino, and Grosseto are also important centers. There are several spas, and popular resorts have grown up along the coast.
Economic Resources. Although much of the land is under cereal crops, principally wheat, tree crops are equally important. The Chianti vineyards produce, in a very limited area, over a quarter of the total Tuscan wine production. Olives are important particularly around Lucca and Pisa, and chestnuts and fruits are grown on a lesser scale. Sheep and goats are numerous.
The woolen industry of Prato is a remnant of the cloth trade of the Middle Ages. There are modern cotton mills at Florence, Leghorn, and Pisa. Mining and quarrying are traditional and still important. Iron pyrite for the preparation of sulfuric acid and superphosphates is processed in west Tuscany. Mercury is mined at Monte Amiata, salt at Volterra, and borax in the Cecina Basin. Building materials, principally Carrara marble, are produced in the Apuanian Alps.
Major industries of Tuscany are the iron and steel works at Piombino, the shipyards of Leghorn, and the motorcycle factories at Pontedera. Tourism is also important.
Transportation. The region is well served by numerous railroads that include main lines between northern and southern Italy. Express highways link Florence with Bologna and Milan, with Rome and Naples, and with the seacoast. Leghorn, once a free port, is one of Italy's leading seaports as well as a naval base and an important commercial center.
LUCCA
LUCCA, a province and the capital city of that province, and a former republic and duchy, in western Tuscany, in north-central Italy.
The City. Lucca is about 40 miles (64 km) west of Florence. It lies in the flat plain of the Serchio River, which flows north of the city toward the Ligurian Sea, 20 miles (32 km) west. To the southwest of the city is the Monte Pisano, 3,000 feet (900 meters) high; to the northwest are the Apuanian Alps; to the northeast, the foothills of the Apennines. To the east and southeast the Serchio plain merges with that of the lower Arno. The climate is mild, with an average annual rainfall of 67 inches (1,700 mm). Lucca is a highway and railroad junction. It is the market and industrial center of the surrounding fertile agricultural area. Lucca is noted for its olive oil; other products are tobacco, paper, wine, and furniture; and there are jute, silk, and woolen mills. The city has several educational institutions. Of interest are the rich archives and the public library.
The city's principal streets are straight, with an atmosphere of antiquity. The walls around the older section (1504-1645), supported by 11 bulwarks and pierced by seven gates, are topped by a long shaded boulevard.
At the center of town is the Piazza Napoleone, with the Palazzo del Governo containing the communal picture gallery, which includes paintings by Tintoretto, Filippino Lippi, and Giorgio Vasari. The civic museum is located in the Villa Guinigi (or Quarquonia). The cathedral was founded in the sixth century, reconstructed in 1060 and again in the 13th century. There are also a number of interesting medieval churches.
From early medieval times Lucca was a center for artists and artistic ideas and techniques in architecture, sculpture, music, painting, and goldsmithing. Its influence on the artistic development of Pisa and other Tuscan cities was considerable. Renowned composers and virtuosi who lived in Lucca include Luigi Boccherini and Giacomo Puccini.
Lucca, after an early period in the frontier zone between Ligurians and Etruscans, became a Roman colony in 180 b.c. Following the fall of the empire came the Goths, Byzantines and Lombards, who fastened their dominion on Lucca around 570 and made it their regional capital. The brief Frankish rule in the eighth and ninth centuries did not alter the region's basically Lombard character.
The 11th century saw the development of a commune and of closer relations with Genoa through their common rivalry with Pisa. But Lucca, like Pisa, generally favored the imperial cause in Italy. During the 12th century conflicts between the leading families led to the creation of a podestà, an office once held by Charles of Anjou (1266-1272). The factions of the Whites and Blacks arose in Lucca, with the latter achieving control of the city by 1300. Together with the Florentines they occupied Pistoia in 1306. For a brief time in 1314-1315 Lucca was joined to Pisa by the victories of Uguccione della Faggiuola. The latter was succeeded by Castruccio Castracani, who made himself undisputed signore of Luccan domains and sought to extend them, principally at the expense of Pistoia and Florence, until his death in 1328. This was the high point of Luccan "imperialism." Thereafter it passed, by sale, through several hands until Florence sold it to Pisa in 1342. In 1369 the Emperor Charles IV reestablished Lucca's freedom, institutionalized with a new constitution in 1370-1372. From 1392 to 1430 the Guinigi family maintained an uncomfortable primacy, always opposed by Florentine maneuvers.
Meanwhile, Lucca had become important as a center of the silk trade, carried by émigré merchants throughout Italy and into France and the Low Countries. In the 16th century many Protestant families also left. In 1556 the republic became an oligarchy, which for two and a half centuries sought peace, even at the expense of losing territory. In 1799 a series of rapidly changing governments began with a democratic republic and ended with the creation of a principality in 1805 assigned by Napoleon to his sister, Elisa Bacciocchi, and her husband, along with the territory of Piombino. They reformed many political, administrative, and economic policies. In 1813 Lord Bentinck occupied Lucca, and another series of foreign occupations and provisional governments concluded with the creation of an absolutist Duchy of Lucca, entrusted in 1817 to Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma under Austrian tutelage. Her successor, Carlo Ludovico, began by instituting reforms, but had to cede his duchy to Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1847. Pop. 1991, 86,437.
The Province. The province of Lucca, comprising 35 communes, has an area of 684 square miles (1,771 sq km). It is bounded on the north by the Apennines and contains the upper valley of the Serchio, the southern part of the Apuanian Alps, and the northern section of the lower Serchio plain, including part of the Tyrrhenian seacoast. Grapes, olives, fruit, and corn are grown; livestock is raised; and lumbering is carried on. Among the leading industrial towns, in addition to the city of Lucca, are Viareggio, with shipyards and a variety of manufactures; Barga and Bagni di Lucca, with paper mills; and Pietrasanta, with its marble quarries and marble-working industry. The province has many resorts. Pop. 1991, 374,144.
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