Monfalcone
Monfalcone | |
|---|---|
| Comune di Monfalcone | |
.jpg) Piazza della Repubblica in Monfalcone | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Monfalcone  | |
St. Ambrose | |
| Saint day | November 21 |
| Website | Official website |
Monfalcone (Italian pronunciation: [moɱfalˈkoːne]; Bisiacco: Mofalcòn; Friulian: Monfalcon; Slovene: Tržič; archaic German: Falkenberg) is a town and comune (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Gorizia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, located on the Gulf of Trieste. Its name means "falcon mountain" (see Montfaucon in French and Falkenberg in Germanic languages).
It is a major industrial centre for manufacturing ships, airplanes, textiles, chemicals, and refined oil, and the home of the Fincantieri cruise ship building company. Monfalcone is the northernmost city on the Mediterranean Sea.
Geography
Monfalcone is the fifth most populous town in Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the main centre of Bisiacaria territory. Joined to its neighbourhoods, it has about 50,000 inhabitants. The town lies between the Karst hills and the Adriatic coast, and it is the northernmost port of the Mediterranean Sea.
History
In prehistoric times the area of Monfalcone housed several fortified villages called castellieri. After the foundation of the Roman city of Aquileia (181 BC), some thermal buildings were created on the hills, known as Insulae Clarae.
After Ostrogoth, Byzantine, Lombard, and Frankish domination, Monfalcone was controlled by the Patriarchs of Aquileia starting from 967.[3] The Venetians conquered it in 1420 after three days of siege, keeping it until 1511, when it fell to the French. Conquered back by Venice, it was ravaged by the troops of Habsburg Emperor Maximilian I in 1513, who destroyed the Rocca fortress. In 1521 it was returned to the Republic of Venice, under which it remained until its dissolution by the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio.
From 1805 it was controlled by the
Main sights
- Rocca fortress. Of medieval origin (according to a legend, it was founded by Theoderic the Great, King of the Ostrogoths), its current appearance dates to Venetian restorations in the early 16th century. The interior houses a speleology exhibition.
- World War I Park
- Karst area
- Saint Ambrose's Cathedral
- Roman villas and thermae: Several remains of Roman villas have been found on the territory of the municipality of Monfalcone. The sites are object of archaeological research but are not open to public. A thermae dating back to the Roman era is also present and what remains of the ancient edifice is now included in the current thermal establishment that was reactivated in 2014.[4]
Transport
Monfalcone railway station, opened in 1860, is a junction between the Venice–Trieste railway and the Udine–Trieste railway.
The construction and design records of the ships produced in Monfalcone Shipyard Number 1 from 1909 - 1967 have been preserved in the Fondo Egone Missio Archives (Egone Missio Archives).
People
- Sixth Battle of the Isonzoin Monfalcone
- Antonio Sant'Elia (1888–1916), architect, was killed in the Eighth Battle of the Isonzo in Monfalcone
- Filippo Zappata (1894–1994), engineer, worked in Monfalcone
- Mirko Gruden (1911–1967), footballer
- Gino Paoli (born 1934), singer-songwriter
- Paolo Rossi (born 1953), actor
- Stefano Zoff (born 1966), boxer
- Mo-Do (Fabio Frittelli; 1966–2013), musician
- Elisa Toffoli (born 1977), singer-songwriter, grew up in Monfalcone
- Massimiliano Versace (born 1972), scientist
International relations
Monfalcone is
- Neumarkt in Steiermark, Austria
Gallipoli, Italy
Karadeniz Ereğli, Turkey- Zonguldak, Turkey
References
- ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ Touring Club Italia: Gorizia e provincia: Grado, la laguna, il Collio, Redipuglia, l'Isonzo page 103: "...attraverso un «priviliegium imperiale» Ottone I assegnò nel 967 il «vicus Panzani», primo nucleo abitato della futura Monfalcone, al patriarca di Aquileia."; in English: "...through a priviliegium imperiale of the year 967, Otto I granted the territory called vicus Panzani, the original nucleus of the future village of Monfalcone, to the patriarch of Aquileia."
- ^ "Il Friuli - Monfalcone riscopre le terme romane". www.ilfriuli.it. 2016-08-12.
External links
- Official website (in Italian)
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