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and ITALIAN Language, History, Culture, Tradition, Genealogy,
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Italian Regions

ABRUZZO
Official Website: www.regione.abruzzo.it

Position
Abruzzo, in the middle of the Italian peinsula, has a surface
of 4,168 square miles and a population 1,249,388 (according
to a 1991 census), sviluppo costiero di 129 Km. It is
bordered by Marche in the North, Latium in the West, Molise
in the South and the Adriatic Sea in the East. Abruzzo
comprises the four provinces of L'Aquila (the regional
capital), Chieti, Pescara and Teramo.  

In the 1960's the construction of highways from Rome,
Bologna and Bari, and more recently the 10km-long tunnel
under the Gran Sasso opened the region to the rest of Italy
and Europe. Here you will find the highest peaks of the
Apennines, the Gran Sasso (Monte Corno 9,560 feet),
Maiella and Velino-Sirente, deep canyons and valleys,
national and regional parks, wide sandy beaches, an
astonishing wealth of artistic and natural beauty. Citadels
and castles appear in the middle of woods and pastures, in
the parks with some luck you can see brown bears, wolves
and chamois, and eagles, hawks and buzzards on the
highest peaks.

History
Though geographically a region of central Italy, Abruzzi has
always been linked to the history of Southern Italy. The
impervious territory always hindered communications and
was the cause of the fragmentation and isolation of the
peoples of the region throughout its history. In ancient times
Abruzzi was inhabited by several peoples, including the
Equi, Marsi, Vestini and Praetutii, who were conquered by
the Romans before the third century b.c. After the decline of
the Roman Empire the region broke up into small feudal
states and during the early Middle Ages Abruzzi was for a
long time under the control of the Lombard duchy of Spoleto.
In the 12th century the Normans conquered the territory,
which became part of the Kingdom of Sicily and under
Frederick II of Hohenstaufen had Sulmona as the regional
capital. In 1272 Charles I of Anjou divided the territory of
Abruzzi into two provinces, ultra flumen Piscariae or
Abruzzo ulteriore and citra flumen Piscariae or Abruzzo
citeriore, with a common governor residing in Chieti; in
1641 a second Governor was established in L'Aquila and in
1684 a third in Teramo. In 1807 under Giuseppe Bonaparte
the province ultra flumen Piscariae was divided into the two
provinces of Abruzzo ulteriore I, with capital Teramo, and
Abruzzo ulteriore II, with capital L'Aquila, while Chieti
remained the capital of Abruzzo citeriore. The existence of
three provinces under the name of Abruzzo also explains
why the region has always be known in the plural, Abruzzi,
and many place names maintain the plural (Anversa degli
Abruzzi, Tione degli Abruzzi, Villa S. Lucia degli Abruzzi, not
to speak of the regional capital, L'Aquila degli Abruzzi),
though it is no longer commonly used by Italians. Pescara,
the fourth and last province, was added in 1927. After the
fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in the 13th century, Abruzzi
and Molise in turn came under the control of the Anjou, the
Aragonese, the Spanish Hapsburgs, and finally, in the 18th
century, became part of the Bourbon kingdom of Naples,
under whose rule the region was divided into Abruzzo
Ulteriore I, Abruzzo Ulteriore II, Abruzzo Citra, and Molise. By
the early 19th century small liberal groups were taking part
in revolutionary activities, and in 1860 the region became
part of united Italy. In 1948 Abruzzi was joined with Molise,
to the south, to form the region of Abruzzi and Molise; but in
1963 the two regions were separated again.

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Italian Genealogy

What is Genealogy Research?
Genealogy, the research of our roots, both genetical and
cultural. From the dusty, crumbling papers of documents
people who belong to what we now are come out of the
mist of time and look at us silently, affectionately, waiting
for someone to decipher their stories, rescue them from
oblivion and pass their as yet forgotten names and stories
on to the next generations.

HOW TO START
Genealogy Research in Italy

You want to go backwards and find ancestors
To start any serious attempt of this kind, you need the
earliest possible name with place and date (death, birth or
marriage). From there you'll proceed through births,
marriages etc, according to the availability of resources -
municipalities certificates, civil records, onciari, parish
books, notary records and still other possible sources. As
you proceed backward in time, resources will become
scantier, and research longer and more expensive.

You want to go forward and find relatives
You can try writing a letter to all those families bearing the
surname of your ancestor in his/her municipality of origin.

You want to know more
You want to know more about the places, traditions,
customs of your ancestral land, the recipes and economy,
you want to reconstruct the real life of your ancestors, to
preserve the heritage that you had from your forefathers
through thousands of years of Italian history .

We can Help you
If you would like to do Italian Genealogcal Research by
yourselves, here are our step-by-step, detailed and useful
suggestions on:
How to Find Places of Birth and Residence of your
Ancestors and Living Relatives in ITALY

How to Obtain Information and Documents of your
Ancestors in ITALY

How to Contact your Living Relatives in ITALY

We can Assist you
If you would like us to Italian Genealogy Research for you,
we can Assist you. Here are our easy instructions to use
our Assistance:
ITALIAN Genealogical Research
ITALIAN Translation
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Italian Provinces

Province of CHIETI
Region ABRUZZO
Official Website: www.provincia.chieti.it













The Province of Chieti is mostly a hilly and mountainous
area between the Adriatic sea to the east and the Maiella
chain to the north-west. It is extensively cultivated with
olive trees and vineyards, and produces celebrated wines
and extravirgine olive oil. The province of Chieti was
called "Citeriore" since it was situated to the right of the
Pescara river and was in Latin "citra" (=this side) with
reference to Naples, the capital of the Kingdom. The
Pescara river separated it from the province of Teramo,
the Apennine Mountains from the province of L'Aquila, the
right shore of the Sangro and the Valicella of the Varrino
from Molise. The territory includes mountainous features,
the group of the Maiella, and 72 km of steep and rocky
coast, along the Adriatic sea.  

With the institution of the Province of Pescara, in 1927, a
number of communes previously belonging to the province
of Chieti changed province, notably: Caramanico,
Musellaro, Roccacaramanico, Salle, Sant'Eufemia a
Maiella, Pescara, Manoppello, Lettomanoppello,
Serramonacesca, Turrivalignani, San Valentino in Abruzzo
Citeriore, Abbateggio, Bolognano, Roccamorice, Tocco di
Casauria.

I Comuni in the Province of Chieti
Comune of Altino | Comune of Archi | Comune of Ari |
Comune of Arielli | Comune of Atessa | Comune of Bomba |
Comune of Borrello | Comune of Bucchianico | Comune of
Canosa Sannita | Comune of Carpineto Sinello | Comune of
Carunchio | Comune of Casacanditella | Comune of
Casalanguida | Comune of Casalbordino | Comune of
Casalincontrada | Comune of Casoli | Comune of Castel
Frentano | Comune of Castelguidone | Comune of
Castiglione Messer Marino | Comune of Celenza Sul Trigno
| Comune of Chieti | Comune of Civitaluparella | Comune of
Civitella Messer Raimondo | Comune of Colledimacine |
Comune of Colledimezzo | Comune of Crecchio | Comune of
Cupello | Comune of Dogliola | Comune of Fallo | Comune of
Fara Filiorum Petri | Comune of Fara San Martino | Comune
of Filetto | Comune of Fossacesia | Comune of Fraine |
Comune of Francavilla al Mare | Comune of
Fresagrandinaria | Comune of Frisa | Comune of Furci |
Comune of Gamberale | Comune of Gessopalena | Comune
of Gissi | Comune of Giuliano Teatino | Comune of
Guardiagrele | Comune of Guilmi | Comune of Lama dei
Peligni | Comune of Lanciano | Comune of Lentella |
Comune of Lettopalena | Comune of Liscia | Comune of
Miglianico | Comune of Montazzoli | Comune of Montebello
sul Sangro | Comune of Monteferrante | Comune of
Montelapiano | Comune of Montenerodomo | Comune of
Monteodorisio | Comune of Mozzagrogna | Comune of
Orsogna | Comune of Ortona | Comune of Paglieta |
Comune of Palena | Comune of Palmoli | Comune of
Palombaro | Comune of Pennadomo | Comune of
Pennapiedimonte | Comune of Perano | Comune of
Pietraferrazzana | Comune of Pizzoferrato | Comune of
Poggiofiorito | Comune of Pollutri | Comune of Pretoro |
Comune of Quadri | Comune of Rapino | Comune of Ripa
Teatina | Comune of Roccamontepiano | Comune of Rocca
San Giovanni | Comune of Roccascalegna | Comune of
Roccaspinalveti | Comune of Roio del Sangro | Comune of
Rosello | Comune of San Buono | Comune of San Giovanni
Lipioni | Comune of San Giovanni Teatino | Comune of San
Martino sulla Marrucina | Comune of San Salvo | Comune
of Santa Maria Imbaro | Comune of Sant'Eusanio del
Sangro | Comune of San Vito Chietino | Comune of Scerni |
Comune of Schiavi d'Abruzzo | Comune of Taranta Peligna |
Comune of Tollo | Comune of Torino di Sangro | Comune of
Tornareccio | Comune of Torrebruna | Comune of
Torrevecchia Teatina | Comune of Torricella Peligna |
Comune of Treglio | Comune of Tufillo | Comune of Vacri |
Comune of Vasto | Comune of Villalfonsina | Comune of
Villamagna | Comune of Villa Santa Maria

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Province of PESCARA
Region ABRUZZO
Official Website: www.provincia.pescara.it













The smallest province of the Abruzzi region includes
territories north and south the basin of the river Pescara
from the gorges of Popoli to the sea, with the profiles of the
Maiella and Gran Sasso mountains to the west. The most
highly-populated province in the region, with its capital, the
city of Pescara, the largest urban area, a fishing center of
great importance and one of the major tourist and business
centers on the Adriatic Sea.     

The Province was established in 1927 with communes
from the other three provinces of Abruzzo, and exactly:
Bussi sul Tirino and Popoli were previously included in the
province of Aquila. Brittoli, Cappelle sul Tavo, Carpineto
della Nora, (Castellamare Adriatico), Catignano, Cepagatti,
Città Sant'Angelo, Civitaquana, Civitella Casanova,
Collecorvino, Corvara, Cugnoli, Elice, Farindola, Loreto
Aprutino, Montebello di Bertona, Montesilvano, Moscufo,
Nocciano, Penne, Pianella, Picciano, Pietranico, Rosciano,
Scafa, Spoltore, Vicoli, Villa Celiera were previously
included in the province of Teramo. Caramanico,
Musellaro, Roccacaramanico, Salle, Sant'Eufemia a
Maiella, Pescara, Manoppello, Lettomanoppello,
Serramonacesca, Turrivalignani, San Valentino in Abruzzo
Citeriore, Abbateggio, Bolognano, Roccamorice and Tocco
da Casauria were previously included in the province of
Chieti.

I Comuni in the Province of Pescara
Comune of Abbateggio | Comune of Alanno | Comune of
Bolognano | Comune of Brittoli | Comune of Bussi sul Tirino
| Comune of Cappelle sul Tavo | Comune of Caramanico
Terme | Comune of Carpineto della Nora | Comune of
Castiglione a Casauria | Comune of Catignano | Comune of
Cepagatti | Comune of Città Sant'Angelo | Comune of
Civitaquana | Comune of Civitella Casanova | Comune of
Collecorvino | Comune of Corvara | Comune of Cugnoli |
Comune of Elice | Comune of Farindola | Comune of
Lettomanoppello | Comune of Loreto Aprutino | Comune of
Manoppello | Comune of Montebello di Bertona | Comune of
Montesilvano | Comune of Moscufo | Comune of Nocciano |
Comune of Penne | Comune of Pescara | Comune of
Pescosansonesco | Comune of Pianella | Comune of
Picciano | Comune of Pietranico | Comune of Popoli |
Comune of Roccamorice | Comune of Rosciano | Comune
of Salle | Comune of Sant'Eufemia a Maiella | Comune of
San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore | Comune of Scafa |
Comune of Serramonacesca | Comune of Spoltore |
Comune of Tocco da Casauria | Comune of Torre de'
Passeri | Comune of Turrivalignani | Comune of Vicoli |
Comune of Villa Celiera

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Province of TERAMO
Region ABRUZZO
Official Website: www.provincia.teramo.it














The Province of Teramo is the northernmost province of
Abruzzo, at the border with the Ascoli-Piceno province,
along the Adriatic sea. It is less than two hours away by
car from Rome with which it is connected by a comfortable
motorway passing below the Gran Sasso through a 10km
long tunnel. The territory has a great variety since in a
space of hardly 40 km air-line, it goes from the Adriatic
beaches to the almost 3000 meters of the highest Appenine
peaks. It is crossed west to east by the seven valleys of
the rivers Tronto, Vibrata, Salinello, Tordino, Vomano,
Piomba and Fino. Along the coast there are the beautiful
seaside resorts of Martinsicuro, Alba Adriatica, Tortoreto,
Giulianova, Roseto degli Abruzzi, Pineto and Silvi Marina,
immediately in the hinterland the ancient historical centres
of Civitella del Tronto, Campli, Nereto, Notaresco,
Castellalto and Castelbasso, Montepagano, Atri, and up
into the mountains the picturesque villages of Castelli,
celebrated majolica capital of Abruzzi, Isola del Gran
Sasso with the sanctuary of St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful
Virgin, Pietracamela, Montorio, and the ski fields of Prati di
Tivo.   Real estate offers in the Province of Teramo:

With the institution of the Province of Pescara, in 1927, a
number of communes previously belonging to the province
of Teramo changed province, notably: Brittoli, Cappelle sul
Tavo, Carpineto della Nora, Catignano, Cepagatti, Città
Sant'Angelo, Civitaquana, Civitella Casanova,
Collecorvino, Corvara, Cugnoli, Elice, Farindola, Loreto
Aprutino, Montebello di Bertona, Montesilvano, Moscufo,
Nocciano, Penne, Pianella, Picciano, Pietranico, Rosciano,
Scafa, Spoltore, Vicoli, Villa Celiera

I Comuni in the Province of Teramo
Comune of Alba Adriatica | Comune of Ancarano | Comune
of Arsita | Comune of Atri | Comune of Basciano | Comune
of Bellante | Comune of Bisenti | Comune of Campli |
Comune of Canzano | Comune of Castel Castagna | Comune
of Castellalto | Comune of Castelli | Comune of Castiglione
Messer Raimondo | Comune of Castilenti | Comune of
Cellino Attanasio | Comune of Cermignano | Comune of
Civitella del Tronto | Comune of Colledara | Comune of
Colonnella | Comune of Controguerra | Comune of Corropoli
| Comune of Cortino | Comune of Crognaleto | Comune of
Fano Adriano | Comune of Giulianova | Comune of Isola del
Gran Sasso d'ltalia | Comune of Martinsicuro | Comune of
Montefino | Comune of Montorio al Vomano | Comune of
Morro d'Oro | Comune of Mosciano Sant'Angelo | Comune
of Nereto | Comune of Notaresco | Comune of Penna
Sant'Andrea | Comune of Pietracamela | Comune of Pineto |
Comune of Rocca Santa Maria | Comune of Roseto Degli
Abruzzi | Comune of Sant'Egidio alla Vibrata | Comune of
Sant'Omero | Comune of Silvi Marina | Comune of Teramo |
Comune of Torano Nuovo | Comune of Torricella Sicura |
Comune of Tortoreto | Comune of Tossicia | Comune of
Valle Castellana | Comune of Villa Rosa di Martinsicuro

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Italian Language

Interrogatives
In questions beginning with an interrogative word, the
subject is usually placed at the end of the sentence.

Quando guarda la TV Michele? (When does Michael watch
TV?)

Prepositions such as a, di, con, and per always precede the
interrogative chi. In Italian, a question never ends with a
preposition.

A chi scrivono? (To whom are they writing?)
Di chi è questa chiave? (Whose key is this?)
Con chi uscite stasera? (Who(m) are you going out with
tonight?)

Che and cosa are abbreviated forms of che cosa. The forms
are interchangeable.

Che cosa bevi? (What are you drinking?)
Che dici? (What are you saying?)
Cosa fanno i bambini? (What are the children doing?)

As with all adjectives, the interrogative adjectives agree in
gender and number with the nouns they modify, except for
che, which is invariable.

Quali parole ricordi? (Which words do you remember?)
Che libri leggi? (What books do you read?)
Quante ragazze vengono? (How many girls are coming?)

Che cos’è...? (Che cosa è, cos’è) expresses English What
is...? in a request for a definition or an explanation.

Che cos’è la semiotica? (What is semiotics?)

Qual è expresses What is...? when the answer involves a
choice, or when one requests information such as a name,
telephone number, or address.

Qual è la tua materia preferita? (What’s your favorite
subject?)
Qual è il numero di Roberto? (What is Roberto’s number?)

Interrogative Pronouns
CHI? Who? Whom? Chi sei?
CHE COSA? What? Cosa dici?
QUALE? Which (one/s)? Quale giornali vuoi?

Interrogative Adjectives
CHE? (inv.) What? What kind of? Che macchina ha?
QUALE? (pl. QUALI) Which? Quali libri leggete?
QUANTO/A/I/E? How much? How many? Quanta pazienza
avete?

Interrogative Adverbs
COME + È?*(inv.) How? Come sta Giancarlo?
DOVE + È?* Where? Dov’è la biblioteca?
PERCHÈ? Why? Perchè non dormono?
QUANDO? When? Quando parte Pietro?

*Come + è = Com’è
*Dove + è = Dov’è

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Italian History

Italo-Messicani (Italian-Mexicans)









Leona Vicario                Juan Donaldo Colosio     

Total Population:
Official population numbers are unknown. Estimate 350,000.

Regions with Significant Populations:
Mexico City, Jalisco, Veracruz, Michoacán, Nuevo León, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa.

Languages:
Mexican Spanish, Italian

Religion:
Christianity (mostly Roman Catholic)

Related Ethnic Groups:
Italians, Italian American, Italian Argentine

An Italian-Mexican or Italo-Mexican (Italian: italo-messicano, Spanish: ítalo-mexicano) is a Mexican citizen of Italian
descent or origin. Most people of Italian ancestry living in Mexico arrived in the late nineteenth century, and have become
generally assimilated into mainstream society.

History
Italo-Mexican identity rests on the common experience of migration from Italy in the late 1800s, a period characterized by
a more general Italian diaspora to the Americas (under the pressures of economic transformation and the process of
unification into a nation-state in 1871), and the establishment of communities, primarily in central and eastern
Mexico[citation needed]. Only about 3,000 Italians emigrated to Mexico during this period, and at least half of them
subsequently returned to Italy or went on to the United States. Most Italians coming to Mexico were farmers or farm
workers from the northern districts. Most of these immigrants were from northern Italy, especially from the north-east
regions of Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. Others arriving in the early 19th c. included many from Southern Italy.
Significant numbers of Italian settlers arriving in the late 1800s and early 1900s received land grants from the Mexican
government.

Today, many Italo-Mexicans continue to reside in towns founded by their ancestors[citation needed]. Among these is
Chipilo, in the state of Puebla, where a derivative of the Venetian dialect is still spoken by its residents. Other towns
founded by Italian immigrants lie in the states of Veracruz (Huatusco), San Luis Potosí, and the Mexican Federal District.
Smaller, but also notable, numbers of Italo-Mexicans can be found in Guanajuato, Estado de Mexico, and in the towns of
Nueva Italia and Lombardia in the state of Michoacán, which were founded by wealthy Italians who immigrated to Mexico
after the 1880 diaspora and established large agricultural estates known as haciendas[citation needed]. Playa del Carmen
in the state of Quintana Roo has also received a notable amount of immigrants from Italy.

Society
Although many Italo-Mexicans now live in urban centers such as Mexico City and Monterrey, many others live in, and
strongly identify with, one of the original or spin-off communities that are almost entirely of Italian origin. These individuals
still stridently claim an Italian ethnic identity (at least to a non-Mexican outsider), but generally note that they are Mexican
as well. In the late 20th century, there were an estimated 30,000 Italian Mexicans in the original eight Italian communities.
The total population, however, is uncertain due to the national census not gathering information on any specific ethnicity,
as it is done in other countries. Despite this, Italian surnames are not uncommon in parts of Mexico.

The majority of Italian Mexicans speak Spanish, but in Italian communities derived Italian languages (usually mixed with
Spanish) are used to communicate among themselves.

Derived Italian Languages
Since most Italian immigration occurred by way of the establishment of colonies, derivatives of Italian languages exist in
Mexico. Besides the best known Chipilo, derivatives of the Venetian language may also exist in Huatusco and Colonia
Gonzalez, Veracruz. To this we can also add other Italian immigrant languages like Trentino (like in Colonia Manuel
Gonzalez, Veracruz and Tijuana, Baja California), Piedmontese (in Gutierrez Zamora, Veracruz which remains the oldest
Italian colony in Mexico as such which was called the Model Colony, and in La Estanzuela, Jalisco another Italian colony),
Lombard (in Sinaloa and Colonia Manuel Gonzalez too, but mainly in Nueva Italia and Colonia Lombardia in the state of
Michoacan), Sicilian (mainly in Mexico City), and Lower Bellunese (in Colonia Diez Gutierrez in San Luis Potosi).

Notable Italo-Mexicans
Juan Bottesini, maestro
Jared Borgetti, all-time leading goal scorer for the Mexican national football team
Caesar Cardini, inventor of Caesar salad
Manuel Neri, artist (Italo-Mexican-American)
Maite Perroni, actress
Sergio Pitol Demeneghi, writer
Bernard Stasi, French politician (Italo-Mexican-French)
Betty Zanolli Fabila, pianist
Uberto Zanolli, composer and writer
Martinez del Rio family, Piedmont and Milan

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CIAO! Hello Dear Friends of ITALY!

Enjoy This Issue of  ITALIAN NEWS, Periodical On-Line that Promotes, Supports, Spreads ITALY,
and  ITALIAN Language, History, Culture, Tradition, Genealogy, Articles, Products, Services, with Very Useful
Information to Make you MORE and MORE Familiar with Every Aspect of ITALIAN Life Style!

Learn MORE and MORE about ITALY, and ITALIAN Language, History, Culture, Tradition, Genealogy, Articles,
Products, Services, Every Aspect of ITALIAN Life Style, by Collecting All The Issues of ITALIAN NEWS!

All your Comments, Opinions, Suggestions, and Ideas to Improve ITALIAN NEWS are Most Welcome!

Many Thanks! Best Regards!

Your ITALIAN Friends,

Carlo Tognoni, founder, and Davide Tognoni, administrator
THE ITALIAN PROJECT www.theitalianproject.com
ITALIAN LANGUAGE: Lessons of Italian Grammar, Spelling, and Usage: Interrogatives
ITALIAN GENEALOGY: What is, and How to Start Genealogy Research in Italy
ITALIAN REGIONS: Abruzzo
ITALIAN PROVINCES: L'Aquila - Chieti - Pescara - Teramo
ITALIAN RECIPES: Pizza Napoletana (Neapolitan Pizza)
ITALIAN HISTORY: Italo-Messicani (Italian-Mexicans)
FAMOUS ITALIANS: Cristoforo Colombo
ITALIAN COMPANIES: Alfa Romeo
ITALIAN PRODUCTS: Parmigiano Reggiano
ITALIAN LATEST NEWS: Life in Italy
 
In This Issue:
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Italian Recipes

Pizza Napoletana (Neapolitan Pizza)










Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
Salt
1 pound room-temperature pizza dough
10 ounces buffalo mozzarella, thinly sliced
16 basil leaves, torn

Cooking Directions
Put a pizza stone on the oven floor and preheat the oven to
500 degrees F, allowing at least 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat the 1 tablespoon of
olive oil. Add the tomatoes and cook over high heat, stirring
a few times, until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes.
Season with salt.
Cut the pizza dough into 4 pieces and pat each one into a
disk. Transfer the disks to a floured baking sheet, cover
with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll 1 disk of dough into a
9-inch round. Transfer it to a floured pizza peel or flat cookie
sheet. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the tomatoes over the dough.
Top with one-fourth of the mozzarella and drizzle with olive
oil. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone and bake for about 4
minutes, or until browned around the edges and bubbling.
Transfer the pizza to a work surface and sprinkle with 4
basil leaves. Cut it into 4 wedges and serve immediately.
Repeat with the remaining pizza dough, tomatoes, cheese,
olive oil and basil.

Yield
4 servings

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Issue # 13, January 2009
 
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Famous Italians

Cristoforo Colombo













Cristoforo Colombo or Christopher Columbus or Cristobal Colon. Photo by Columbus Historian Manuel Rosa.

Born: August-October 1451
Genoa, Italy
Died: May 20, 1506
outside Valladolid, Spain
Nationality: Italian
Other names: Christopher Columbus, Cristóbal Colón
Title: Admiral of the Ocean Sea
Religious beliefs: Roman Catholic
Spouse: Filipa Moniz
Children: Diego, Fernando
Relatives: Bartolomeo (brother), Diego (brother)

Cristoforo Colombo (bt. August and October 1451 – May 20, 1506) was a navigator, colonizer, and explorer who was
instrumental in Spanish colonization of the Americas. Though not the first to reach the Americas from Europe, Columbus'
voyages led to general European awareness of the hemisphere and the successful establishment of European cultures in
the New World. Historical consensus claims that he was born in Genoa, although other minor theories exist. The name
Christopher Columbus is the Anglicization of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. Also well known are his name's rendering
in modern Italian as Cristoforo Colombo, in Portuguese as Cristóvão Colombo (formerly Christovam Colom), and in
Spanish as Cristóbal Colón.

Colombo' voyages across the Atlantic Ocean began a European effort at exploration and colonization of the Western
Hemisphere. While history places great significance on his first voyage of 1492, he did not actually reach the American
mainland until his third voyage in 1498. Instead, he made landfall on an island in the Bahamas Archipelago that he named
San Salvador while trying to find a sea route to India, hence the indigenous inhabitants being called "Indians". Likewise,
he was not the earliest European explorer to reach the Americas, and there are accounts of European transatlantic contact
prior to 1492. Nevertheless, Colombo's voyage came at a critical time of growing national imperialism and economic
competition between developing nation states seeking wealth from the establishment of trade routes and colonies. The
term Pre-Columbian is sometimes used to refer to the people and cultures of the Americas before the arrival of Colombo
and further European influence.

The anniversary of the 1492 voyage (vd. Columbus Day) is observed on October 21 throughout the Americas and in Spain.

Early life
Though alternative origin theories have been posited, scholars agree that Colombo was born between August and October
1451 in Genoa. His father was Domenico Colombo, a middle-class wool weaver - who later also had a cheese stand
where his son was a helper - working between Genoa and Savona. His mother was Susanna Fontanarossa. Bartolomeo,
Giovanni Pellegrino and Giacomo were his brothers. Bartolomeo worked in a cartography workshop in Lisbon for at least
part of his adulthood.

While information about Colombo' early years is scarce, he probably received an incomplete education. He spoke a
Genoese dialect. In one of his writings, Colombo claims to have gone to the sea at the age of 10. In 1470 the Columbus
Family moved to Savona, where Domenico took over a tavern. In the same year, Columbus was on a Genoese ship hired
in the service of René I of Anjou to support his attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Naples.

In 1473 Colombo began his apprenticeship as business agent for the important Centurione, Di Negro and Spinola families
of Genoa. Later he allegedly made a trip to Chios, in the Aegean Sea. In May 1476, he took part in an armed convoy sent by
Genoa to carry a valuable cargo to northern Europe. He docked in Bristol, Galway, in Ireland and was possibly in Iceland
in 1477. In 1479 Colombo reached his brother Bartolomeo in Lisbon, keeping on trading for the Centurione family. He
married Filipa Moniz Perestrello, daughter of the Porto Santo governor, Bartolomeo Perestrello. In 1481, his son, Diego
was born. He calls himself Diego Colon Moniz i.e. he never used Perestrelo in his name.

Voyages

Navigation plans








The "Colombo map" was drawn circa 1490 in the workshop of Bartolomeo and Cristoforo Colombo in Lisbon.

Europe had long enjoyed a safe land passage to China and India— sources of valued goods such as silk, spices, and
opiates— under the hegemony of the Mongol Empire (the Pax Mongolica, or Mongol peace). With the Fall of Constantinople
to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the land route to Asia became more difficult. The Colombo brothers had a different idea. By
the 1480s, they had developed a plan to travel to the Indies, then construed roughly as all of south and east Asia, by
sailing directly west across the "Ocean Sea," i.e., the Atlantic.

Following Washington Irving's 1828 biography of Colombo, Americans commonly believed Colombo had difficulty obtaining
support for his plan because Europeans thought the Earth was flat. In fact, the primitive maritime navigation of the time
relied on the stars and the curvature of the spherical Earth. The European knowledge of the diameter of the Earth had
improved since the Renaissance which started a few decades previously, and this knowledge had spread between
sailors and navigators. This had been the general opinion of ancient Greek science, and continued as the second opinion
(for example of Bede in The Reckoning of Time). In fact the Earth had generally been believed to be spherical since the 4th
century BCE by most scholars and almost all navigators[citation needed], and Eratosthenes had measured the diameter of
the Earth with good precision in the second century BC. Colombo put forth (incorrect) arguments based on a significantly
smaller diameter for the Earth, claiming that Asia could be easily reached by sailing west across the Atlantic. Most
scholars accepted Ptolemy's correct assessment that the terrestrial landmass (for Europeans of the time, comprising
Eurasia and Africa) occupied 180 degrees of the terrestrial sphere, and correctly dismissed Columbus's claim that the
Earth was much smaller, and that Asia was only a few thousand nautical miles to the west of Europe. Columbus' error
was put down to his lack of experience in navigation at sea.

Colombo, believed the (incorrect) calculations of Marinus of Tyre, putting the landmass at 225 degrees, leaving only 135
degrees of water. Moreover, Colombo believed that one degree represented a shorter distance on the earth's surface than
was actually the case. Finally, he read maps as if the distances were calculated in Italian miles (1,238 meters). Accepting
the length of a degree to be 56⅔ miles, from the writings of Alfraganus, he therefore calculated the circumference of the
Earth as 25,255 kilometers at most, and the distance from the Canary Islands to Japan as 3,000 Italian miles (3,700 km, or
2,300 statute miles) Colombo did not realize Al-Farghani used the much longer Arabic mile (about 1,830 m).











Handwritten notes by Cristoforo Colombo on the latin edition of Marco Polo's Le livre des merveilles.

The main problem was that experts did not accept his estimate. The true circumference of the Earth is about 40,000 km
(25,000 sm), a figure established by Eratosthenes in the second century BC, and the distance from the Canary Islands to
Japan 19,600 km (12,200 sm). No ship that was readily available in the 15th century could carry enough food and fresh
water for such a journey. Most European sailors and navigators concluded, likely correctly, that sailors undertaking a
westward voyage from Europe to Asia non-stop would die of thirst or starvation long before reaching their destination.
Spain, however, having completed an expensive war, was desperate for a competitive edge over other European
countries in trade with the East Indies. Colombo promised such an advantage.

While Colombo' calculations underestimated the circumference of the Earth and the distance from the Canary Islands to
Japan by the standards of his peers as well as in fact, almost all Europeans held the mistaken opinion that the aquatic
expanse between Europe and Asia was uninterrupted. As the 16th century developed it was the route to America, rather
than to Japan, that gave Spain a competitive edge in developing an overseas empire.

There was a further element of key importance in the plans of Colombo, a closely-held fact discovered by or otherwise
learned by Colombo: the trade winds. A brisk easterly, wind from the east, propelled Santa Maria, La Nina, & La Pinta for 5
weeks from the Canaries. To return to Spain eastward against this prevailing wind would have required several months of
an arduous sailing technique, called beating, during which food & drinkable water would have been utterly exhausted.
Colombo returned home by following prevailing winds northeastward from the southern zone of the North Atlantic to the
middle latitudes of the North Atlantic, where prevailing winds are eastward (westerly) to the coastlines of Western Europe,
where the winds curve southward towards the Iberian Peninsula. In fact, Colombo was wrong about degrees of longitude
to be traversed and wrong about distance per degree, but he was right about a more vital fact: how to use the North
Atlantic's great circular wind pattern, clockwise in direction, to get home.


Funding campaign
In 1485, Colombo presented his plans to John II, King of Portugal. He proposed the king equip three sturdy ships and grant
Columbus one year's time to sail out into the Atlantic, search for a western route to Orient, and then return home. Colombo
also requested he be made "Great Admiral of the Ocean", created governor of any and all lands he discovered, and given
one-tenth of all revenue from those lands discovered. The king submitted the proposal to his experts, who rejected it. It
was their considered opinion that Colombo's proposed route of 2,400 miles (3,860 km) was, in fact, far too short.

In 1488 Colombo appealed to the court of Portugal once again, and once again John invited him to an audience. It too was
to come to nothing, for not long afterwards came the arrival of Portugal's native son Bartholomeu Dias from a successful
rounding of the southern tip of Africa. Portugal was no longer interested in trailblazing a western route to the East.

Colombo traveled from Portugal once more to both Genoa and Venice, but he received encouragement from neither.
Previously he had his brother sound out Henry VII of England, to see if the English monarch might not be more amenable to
Columbus' proposal. After much carefully considered hesitation Henry's invitation came, too late. Columbus had already
committed himself to Spain.















Colombo and Queen Isabella. Detail of the Colombo monument in Madrid (1885)

He had sought an audience from the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, who had united the largest
kingdoms of Spain by marrying, and were ruling together. On May 1, 1486, permission having been granted, Columbus laid
his plans before Queen Isabella, who, in turn, referred it to a committee. After the passing of much time, these savants of
Spain, like their counterparts in Portugal, reported back that Colombo had judged the distance to Asia much too short. They
pronounced the idea impractical, and advised their Royal Highnesses to pass on the proposed venture.

However, to keep Colombo from taking his ideas elsewhere, and perhaps to keep their options open, the King and Queen
of Spain gave him an annual annuity of 12,000 maravedis ($840) and in 1489 furnished him with a letter ordering all
Spanish cities and towns to provide him food and lodging at no cost.

After continually lobbying at the Spanish court and two years of negociations, he finally had success in 1492. Ferdinand
and Isabella had just conquered Granada, the last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian peninsula, and they received Colombo
in Córdoba, in the Alcázar castle. Isabella turned Columbus down on the advice of her confessor, and he was leaving
town in despair, when Ferdinand intervened. Isabella then sent a royal guard to fetch him and Ferdinand later rightfully
claimed credit for being "the principal cause why those islands were discovered". King Ferdinand is referred to as "losing
his patience" in this issue, but this cannot be proven.

About half of the financing was to come from private Italian investors, whom Colombo had already lined up. Financially
broke after the Granada campaign, the monarchs left it to the royal treasurer to shift funds among various royal accounts
on behalf of the enterprise. Colombo was to be made "Admiral of the Seas" and would receive a portion of all profits. The
terms were unusually generous, but as his own son later wrote, the monarchs did not really expect him to return.

According to the contract that Colombo made with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, if Colombo discovered any new
islands or mainland, he would receive many high rewards. In terms of power, he would be given the rank of Admiral of the
Ocean Sea (Atlantic Ocean) and appointed Viceroy and Governor of all the new lands. He had the right to nominate three
persons, from whom the sovereigns would choose one, for any office in the new lands. He would be entitled to 10 percent
of all the revenues from the new lands in perpetuity; this part was denied to him in the contract, although it was one of his
demands. Finally, he would also have the option of buying one-eighth interest in any commercial venture with the new
lands and receive one-eighth of the profits.

Colombo was later arrested in 1500 and supplanted from these posts. After his death, Colombo's sons, Diego and
Fernando, took legal action to enforce their father's contract. Many of the smears against Colombo were initiated by the
Spanish crown during these lengthy court cases, known as the pleitos colombinos. The family had some success in their
first litigation, as a judgment of 1511 confirmed Diego's position as Viceroy, but reduced his powers. Diego resumed
litigation in 1512, which lasted until 1536, and further disputes continued until 1790.

First voyage










First voyage

















                                                          A depiction of Colombo claiming possession
                                                            of the New World in a chromolithograph made
Replica of the Santa Maria                               by the Prang Education Company in 1893.

On the evening of August 3, 1492, Colombo departed from Palos de la Frontera with three ships; one larger carrack, Santa
María, nicknamed Gallega (the Gallician), and two smaller caravels, Pinta (the Painted) and Santa Clara, nicknamed Niña
(the Girl). (The ships were never officially named).[citation needed] They were property of Juan de la Cosa and the Pinzón
brothers (Martin Alonzo and Vicente Yáñez), but the monarchs forced the Palos inhabitants to contribute to the expedition.
Colombo first sailed to the Canary Islands, which were owned by Castile, where he restocked the provisions and made
repairs, and on September 6, he started what turned out to be a five-week voyage across the ocean.

Land was sighted at 2 a.m. on October 12, 1492, by a sailor named Rodrigo de Triana (also known as Juan Rodríguez
Bermejo) aboard Pinta. (Colombo would claim the prize.) Colombo called the island (in what is now The Bahamas) San
Salvador, although the natives called it Guanahani. Exactly which island in the Bahamas this corresponds to is an
unresolved topic; prime candidates are Samana Cay, Plana Cays, or San Salvador Island (named San Salvador in 1925 in
the belief that it was Colombo's San Salvador). The indigenous people he encountered, the Lucayan, Taíno or Arawak,
were peaceful and friendly. From the October 12, 1492 entry in his journal he wrote of them, "Many of the men I have seen
have scars on their bodies, and when I made signs to them to find out how this happened, they indicated that people from
other nearby islands come to San Salvador to capture them; they defend themselves the best they can. I believe that
people from the mainland come here to take them as slaves. They ought to make good and skilled servants, for they repeat
very quickly whatever we say to them. I think they can very easily be made Christians, for they seem to have no religion. If
it pleases our Lord, I will take six of them to Your Highnesses when I depart, in order that they may learn our language."

He also wrote of them, two days after landing, "I could conquer the whole of them with 50 men, and govern them as I
pleased."












Captain's Ensign of Colombo' Ships

Colombo also explored the northeast coast of Cuba (landed on October 28) and the northern coast of Hispaniola, by
December 5. Here, the Santa Maria ran aground on Christmas morning 1492 and had to be abandoned. He was received by
the native cacique Guacanagari, who gave him permission to leave some of his men behind. Colombo left 39 men and
founded the settlement of La Navidad in what is now present-day Haiti. Before returning to Spain, Colombo also kidnapped
some ten to twenty-five Indians and took them back with him. Only seven or eight of the Indians arrived in Spain alive, but
they made quite an impression on Seville.

Colombo headed for Spain, but another storm forced him into Lisbon. He anchored next to the King's harbor patrol ship on
March 4, 1493 in Portugal. After spending more than one week in Portugal, he set sail for Spain. He reached Spain on
March 15, 1493. Word of his finding new lands rapidly spread throughout Europe.

There is increasing modern scientific evidence that this voyage also brought syphilis back from the New World. Many of
the crew members who served on this voyage later joined the army of King Charles VIII in his invasion of Italy in 1495
resulting in the spreading of the disease across Europe and as many at 5 million deaths.

Second voyage










Second voyage

Colombo left Cádiz, Spain, on September 24, 1493 to find new territories, with 17 ships carrying supplies, and about 1,200
men to colonize the region. On October 13, the ships left the Canary Islands as they had on the first voyage, following a
more southerly course.

On November 3, 1493, Colombo sighted a rugged island that he named Dominica (Latin for Sunday); later that day, he
landed at Marie-Galante, which he named Santa Maria la Galante. After sailing past Les Saintes (Los Santos, The Saints),
he arrived at Guadeloupe (Santa María de Guadalupe de Extremadura, after the image of the Virgin Mary venerated at the
Spanish monastery of Villuercas, in Guadalupe, Spain), which he explored between November 4 and November 10, 1493.

The exact course of his voyage through the Lesser Antilles is debated, but it seems likely that he turned north, sighting and
naming several islands, including Montserrat (for Santa Maria de Montserrate, after the Blessed Virgin of the Monastery of
Montserrat, which is located on the Mountain of Montserrat, in Catalonia, Spain), Antigua (after a church in Seville, Spain,
called Santa Maria la Antigua, meaning "Old St. Mary's"), Redonda (for Santa Maria la Redonda, Spanish for "round",
owing to the island's shape), Nevis (derived from the Spanish, Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, meaning "Our Lady of the
Snows", because Colombo thought the clouds over Nevis Peak made the island resemble a snow-capped mountain),
Saint Kitts (for St. Christopher, patron of sailors and travelers), Sint Eustatius (for the early Roman martyr, St. Eustachius),
Saba (also for St. Christopher?), Saint Martin (San Martin), and Saint Croix (Santa Cruz, meaning "Holy Cross"). He also
sighted the island chain of the Virgin Islands (and named them Islas de Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Virgenes, Saint Ursula
and the 11,000 Virgins, a cumbersome name that was usually shortened, both on maps of the time and in common
parlance, to Islas Virgenes), and he also named the islands of Virgin Gorda (the fat virgin), Tortola, and Peter Island (San
Pedro).

He continued to the Greater Antilles, and landed at Puerto Rico (originally San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the
Baptist, a name that was later supplanted by Puerto Rico (English: Rich Port) while the capital retained the name, San
Juan) on November 19, 1493. One of the first skirmishes between native Americans and Europeans since the time of the
Vikings[16] took place when Colombo's men rescued two boys who had just been castrated by their captors.

On November 22, Colombo returned to Hispaniola, where he intended to visit Fuerte de la Navidad (Christmas Fort), built
during his first voyage, and located on the northern coast of Haiti; Fuerte de la Navidad was found in ruins, destroyed by
the native Taino people, whereupon, Colombo moved more than 100 kilometers eastwards, establishing a new settlement,
which he called La Isabela, likewise on the northern coast of Hispaniola, in the present-day Dominican Republic.
However, La Isabela proved to be a poorly-chosen location, and the settlement was short-lived.

He left Hispaniola on April 24, 1494, arrived at Cuba (naming it Juana) on April 30. He explored the southern coast of Cuba,
which he believed to be a peninsula rather than an island, and several nearby islands, including the Isle of Pines (Isla de
las Pinas, later known as La Evangelista, The Evangelist). He reached Jamaica on May 5. He retraced his route to
Hispaniola, arriving on August 20, before he finally returned to Spain.

During this second trip, the rape of an indigenous woman was reported by one of Colombo's crew (Michel de Cuneo) and
with Colombo's tolerance:

When I was in the ship, I turned into captivity a beautiful caribe woman, given to me as a gift by the Almirant, and after I
took her to my stateroom, and while she was naked as their custom is, I felt desires of laying with her. I want to satisfy my
desire but she didn’t want and gave me such a treatment with her nails that I think it would be better to never begun. But
when I saw this (and to tell you everything up to the end), I take a rope and whipped her, after what she screamed a lot, in
such a way you cannot believe your ears. Finally we reached such an agreement that I can tell you she appeared to be
trained in a whore school. Original text:
Mientras estaba en la barca, hice cautiva a una hermosísima mujer caribe, que el susodicho Almirante me regaló, y
después que la hube llevado a mi camarote, y estando ella desnuda según es su costumbre, sentí deseos de holgar con
ella. Quise cumplir mi deseo pero ella no lo consintió y me dió tal trato con sus uñas que hubiera preferido no haber
empezado nunca. Pero al ver esto (y para contártelo todo hasta el final), tomé una cuerda y le di de azotes, después de los
cuales echó grandes gritos, tales que no hubieras podido creer tus oídos. Finalmente llegamos a estar tan de acuerdo que
puedo decirte que parecía haber sido criada en una escuela de putas.

Third voyage










Third voyage

On May 30, 1498, Colombo left with six ships from Sanlúcar, Spain, for his third trip to the New World. He was
accompanied by the young Bartolomé de Las Casas, who would later provide partial transcripts of Colombo' logs.

Colombo led the fleet to the Portuguese island of Porto Santo, his wife's native land. He then sailed to Madeira and spent
some time there with the Portuguese captain João Gonçalves da Camara before sailing to the Canary Islands and Cape
Verde. Colombo landed on the south coast of the island of Trinidad on July 31. From August 4 through August 12, he
explored the Gulf of Paria which separates Trinidad from Venezuela. He explored the mainland of South America, including
the Orinoco River. He also sailed to the islands of Chacachacare and Margarita Island and sighted and named Tobago
(Bella Forma) and Grenada (Concepcion).

Colombo returned to Hispaniola on August 19 to find that many of the Spanish settlers of the new colony were
discontented, having been misled by Colombo about the supposedly bountiful riches of the new world. An entry in his
journal from September 1498 reads, "From here one might send, in the name of the Holy Trinity, as many slaves as could
be sold..." Indeed, as a fierce supporter of slavery, Colombo ultimately refused to baptize the native people of Hispanolia,
since Catholic law forbade the enslavement of Christians.

Colombo repeatedly had to deal with rebellious settlers and natives.[citation needed] He had some of his crew hanged for
disobeying him. A number of returning settlers and sailors lobbied against Colombo at the Spanish court, accusing him
and his brothers of gross mismanagement. On his return he was arrested for a period (see Governorship and arrest
section below).

Fourth voyage










Fourth voyage

Colombo made a fourth voyage nominally in search of the Strait of Malacca to the Indian Ocean. Accompanied by his
brother Bartolomeo and his 13-year-old son Fernando, he left Cádiz, Spain, on May 11, 1502, with the ships Capitana,
Gallega, Vizcaína and Santiago de Palos. He sailed to Arzila on the Moroccan coast to rescue Portuguese soldiers whom
he had heard were under siege by the Moors. On June 15, they landed at Carbet on the island of Martinique (Martinica). A
hurricane was brewing, so he continued on, hoping to find shelter on Hispaniola. He arrived at Santo Domingo on June 29,
but was denied port, and the new governor refused to listen to his storm prediction. Instead, while Colombo' ships
sheltered at the mouth of the Rio Jaina, the first Spanish treasure fleet sailed into the hurricane. Columbus' ships survived
with only minor damage, while twenty-nine of the thirty ships in the governor's fleet were lost to the July 1st storm. In
addition to the ships, 500 lives (including that of the governor, Francisco de Bobadilla) and an immense cargo of gold
were surrendered to the sea.

After a brief stop at Jamaica, Colombo sailed to Central America, arriving at Guanaja (Isla de Pinos) in the Bay Islands off
the coast of Honduras on July 30. Here Bartolomeo found native merchants and a large canoe, which was described as
"long as a galley" and was filled with cargo. On August 14, he landed on the American mainland at Puerto Castilla, near
Trujillo, Honduras. He spent two months exploring the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, before arriving in
Almirante Bay, Panama on October 16.

On December 5, 1502, Colombo and his crew found themselves in a storm unlike any they had ever experienced. In his
journal Colombo writes,

For nine days I was as one lost, without hope of life. Eyes never beheld the sea so angry, so high, so covered with foam.
The wind not only prevented our progress, but offered no opportunity to run behind any headland for shelter; hence we
were forced to keep out in this bloody ocean, seething like a pot on a hot fire. Never did the sky look more terrible; for one
whole day and night it blazed like a furnace, and the lightning broke with such violence that each time I wondered if it had
carried off my spars and sails; the flashes came with such fury and frightfulness that we all thought that the ship would be
blasted. All this time the water never ceased to fall from the sky; I do not say it rained, for it was like another deluge. The
men were so worn out that they longed for death to end their dreadful suffering.

In Panama, Colombo learned from the natives of gold and a strait to another ocean. After much exploration, in January
1503 he established a garrison at the mouth of the Rio Belen. On April 6 one of the ships became stranded in the river. At
the same time, the garrison was attacked, and the other ships were damaged. Colombo left for Hispaniola on April 16,
heading north. On May 10 he sighted the Cayman Islands, naming them "Las Tortugas" after the numerous sea turtles
there. His ships next sustained more damage in a storm off the coast of Cuba. Unable to travel farther, on June 25, 1503,
they were beached in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica.

For a year Colombo and his men remained stranded on Jamaica. A Spaniard, Diego Mendez, and some natives paddled a
canoe to get help from Hispaniola. That island's governor, Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres, detested Columbus and
obstructed all efforts to rescue him and his men. In the meantime Colombo, in a desperate effort to induce the natives to
continue provisioning him and his hungry men, successfully intimidated the natives by correctly predicting a lunar eclipse
for February 29, 1504, using the Ephemeris of the German astronomer Regiomontanus. Help finally arrived, no thanks to
the governor, on June 29, 1504, and  Colombo and his men arrived in Sanlúcar, Spain, on November 7.

Governorship and arrest
During Colombo' stint as governor and viceroy, disgruntled Spaniards, who chafed at being governed by an Italian, had
claimed that he had ruled his domain tyrannically[citation needed]. Colombo was physically and mentally exhausted; his
body was wracked by arthritis and his eyes by ophthalmia. In October 1499, he sent two ships to Spain, asking the Court
of Spain to appoint a royal commissioner to help him govern.

The Court appointed Francisco de Bobadilla, a member of the Order of Calatrava; however, his authority stretched far
beyond what Colombo had requested. Bobadilla was given total control as governor from 1500 until his death in 1502.
Arriving in Santo Domingo while Colombo was away, Bobadilla was immediately peppered with complaints about all three
Colombo brothers: Cristoforo, Bartolomeo, and Diego. Consuelo Varela, a Spanish historian, states: "Even those who
loved him [Colombo] had to admit the atrocities that had taken place."

As a result of these testimonies and without being allowed a word in his own defense, Colombo upon his return, had
manacles placed on his arms and chains on his feet and was cast into prison to await return to Spain. He was 53 years
old.

On October 1, 1500, Colombo and his two brothers, likewise in chains, were sent back to Spain. Once in Cádiz, a grieving
Colombo wrote to a friend at court:

It is now seventeen years since I came to serve these princes with the Enterprise of the Indies. They made me pass eight
of them in discussion, and at the end rejected it as a thing of jest. Nevertheless I persisted therein... Over there I have
placed under their sovereignty more land than there is in Africa and Europe, and more than 1,700 islands... In seven years
I, by the divine will, made that conquest. At a time when I was entitled to expect rewards and retirement, I was
incontinently arrested and sent home loaded with chains... The accusation was brought out of malice on the basis of
charges made by civilians who had revolted and wished to take possession on the land.... I beg your graces, with the zeal
of faithful Christians in whom their Highnesses have confidence, to read all my papers, and to consider how I, who came
from so far to serve these princes... now at the end of my days have been despoiled of my honor and my property without
cause, wherein is neither justice nor mercy.

According to testimony of 23 witnesses during his trial, Colombo regularly used barbaric acts of torture to govern
Hispaniola.

Colombo and his brothers lingered in jail for six weeks before the busy King Ferdinand ordered their release. Not long
thereafter, the king and queen summoned the Colombo brothers to their presence at the Alhambra palace in Granada.
There the royal couple heard the brothers' pleas; restored their freedom and their wealth; and, after much persuasion,
agreed to fund Colombo' fourth voyage. But the door was firmly shut on CristoforoColombo's role as governor. From that
point forward, Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres was to be the new governor of the West Indies.

Later life












 A statue of the Santa Maria,                                                         Colombo's tomb in Seville Cathedral.                  
Colombo' flagship in his first voyage.                                          It is borne by four statues of kings                        
The statue is at the House of Columbus in                                   representing the Kingdoms of                               
Valladolid, Spain, the city where Columbus died.                       Castile, Leon, Aragon, and Navarre                      

While Colombo had always given the conversion of non-believers as one reason for his explorations, he grew
increasingly religious in his later years. He claimed to hear divine voices, lobbied for a new crusade to capture
Jerusalem, often wore Franciscan habit, and described his explorations to the "paradise" as part of God's plan which
would soon result in the Last Judgment and the end of the world.

In his later years, Colombo demanded that the Spanish Crown give him 10% of all profits made in the new lands, pursuant
to earlier agreements. Because he had been relieved of his duties as governor, the crown did not feel bound by these
contracts, and his demands were rejected. After his death his family later sued for part of the profits from trade with
America in the pliegos colombinos.


On May 20, 1506, at about the age of 55, Colombo died in Valladolid, fairly wealthy from the gold his men had accumulated
in Hispaniola. When he died he was still convinced that his journeys had been along the east coast of Asia. According to a
study, published in February 2007, by Antonio Rodriguez Cuartero, Department of Internal Medicine of the University of
Granada, he died of a heart attack caused by Reiter's Syndrome (also called reactive arthritis). According to his personal
diaries and notes by contemporaries, the symptoms of this illness (burning pain during urination, pain and swelling of the
knees, and conjunctivitis of the eyes) were clearly visible in his last three years.

His remains were first buried in Valladolid and then at the monastery of La Cartuja in Seville (southern Spain), by the will
of his son Diego, who had been governor of Hispaniola. Then in 1542, his remains were transferred to Santo Domingo, in
eastern Hispaniola. In 1795, the French took over Hispaniola, and his remains were moved to Havana, Cuba. After Cuba
became independent following the Spanish-American War in 1898, his remains were moved back to the Cathedral of
Seville in Spain, where they were placed on an elaborate catafalque. However, a lead box bearing an inscription
identifying "Don Christopher Columbus" and containing fragments of bone and a bullet was discovered at Santo Domingo
in 1877.

To lay to rest claims that the wrong relics were moved to Havana and that the remains of Colombo were left buried in the
cathedral of Santo Domingo, DNA samples were taken in June 2003 (History Today August 2003). The results are not
definitively conclusive. Initial observations suggested that the bones did not appear to belong to somebody with the
physique or age at death associated with Columbus. DNA extraction proved difficult; only a few limited fragments of
mitochondrial DNA could be isolated. However, such as they are, these do appear to match corresponding DNA from
Columbus's brother, giving support to the idea that the two had the same mother and that the body therefore may be that of
Columbus. The authorities in Santo Domingo have not allowed the remains there to be exhumed, so it is unknown if any of
those remains could be from Colombo's body. The location of the Dominican remains is in the "Columbus Lighthouse" or
Faro A Colon which is in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

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Italian Companies

Alfa Romeo







Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A.  
Type: Since 1986 a subsidiary of
Fiat S.p.A.
Founded: 24 June 1910 in Milan
Headquarters:  Turin, Italy
Luca di Montezemolo - President
Luca De Meo - CEO
Industry: Automotive
Products: 147, 159, Brera, Spider, GT, 8C Competizione, 8C Spider, Mi.To
Slogan: La Bellezza Non Basta (Beauty is not enough)
Official Website: www.alfaromeo.com

Alfa Romeo is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1910. Alfa Romeo has been a part of the Fiat Group since
1986. The company was originally known as A.L.F.A., which is an acronym for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili
(translated: Lombard Automobile Factory, Public Company).

History

Foundation and early years
The company that became Alfa Romeo was founded as Società Anonima Italiana Darracq (SAID) in 1906 by Cavaliere Ugo
Stella, an aristocrat from Milan, in partnership with the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq. The firm initially
produced Darracq cars in Naples, but after the partnership collapsed Stella and the other Italian co-investors moved
production to an idle Darracq factory in the Milan suburb of Portello, and the company was renamed A.L.F.A. (Anonima
Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili). The first non-Darracq car produced by company was the 1910 24 HP, designed by
Giuseppe Merosi. Merosi would go on to design a series of new ALFA cars with more powerful engines (40-60 HP). ALFA
also ventured into motor racing, drivers Franchini and Ronzoni competing in the 1911 Targa Florio with two 24 HP models.
However, the onset of World War I halted automobile production at ALFA for three years.

1916 saw the company come under the direction of Neapolitan entrepreneur Nicola Romeo, who converted the factory to
produce military hardware for the Italian and Allied war efforts. Munitions, aircraft engines and other components,
compressors and generators based on the company's existing car engines, and heavy locomotives were produced in the
factory during the war. When the war was over, Romeo took complete control of A.L.F.A. and car production resumed in
1919. In 1920, the name of the company was changed to Alfa Romeo with the Torpedo 20-30 HP becoming the first car to be
badged as such.[1]Their first success came in 1920 when Giuseppe Campari won at Mugello and continued with second
place in the Targa Florio driven by Enzo Ferrari. Giuseppe Merosi continued as head designer, and the company continued
to produce solid road cars as well as successful race cars (including the 40-60 HP and the RL Targa Florio).











24 HP (1910)                                           6C 2300 B Touring (1934)                             1900 SS Ghia (1954)

In 1923 Vittorio Jano was lured away from Fiat, partly thanks to the persuasion of a young Alfa racing driver named Enzo
Ferrari, to replace Merosi as chief designer at Alfa Romeo. The first Alfa Romeo under Jano was the P2 Grand Prix car,
which won Alfa Romeo the inaugural world championship for Grand Prix cars in 1925. For Alfa road cars Jano developed
a series of small-to-medium-displacement 4, 6, and 8 cylinder inline power plants based on the P2 unit that established the
classic architecture of Alfa engines, with light alloy construction, hemispherical combustion chambers, centrally-located
plugs, two rows of overhead valves per cylinder bank and dual overhead cams. Jano's designs proved to be both reliable
and powerful.

Enzo Ferrari proved to be a better team manager than driver, and when the factory team was privatised, it then became
Scuderia Ferrari. When Ferrari left Alfa Romeo, he went on to build his own cars. Tazio Nuvolari often drove for Alfa,
winning many races prior to WWII.

In 1928 Nicola Romeo left, with Alfa going broke after defense contracts ended, and in the end of 1932 Alfa Romeo was
rescued by the government,[1] which then had effective control. Alfa became an instrument of Mussolini's Italy, a national
emblem. During this period Alfa Romeo built bespoke vehicles for the wealthy, with the bodies normally built by Touring of
Milan or Pininfarina. This was the era that peaked with the legendary Alfa Romeo 2900B Type 35 racers.

The Alfa factory (converted during wartime to the production of Macchi C.202 Folgore engines) was bombed during World
War II, and struggled to return to profitability after the war. The luxury vehicles were out. Smaller mass-produced vehicles
began to be produced in Alfa's factories beginning with the 1954 model year, with the introduction of the Giulietta series of
berline (saloons/sedans), coupes and open two-seaters. All three varieties shared what would become the classic Alfa
Romeo Twin Cam engine, initially in 1300 cc form. This engine would eventually be enlarged to just under 2 liters (1962 cc)
and would remain in production through 1995.

Post war
Once motorsports resumed after World War II, Alfa Romeo proved to be the car to beat in Grand Prix events. The
introduction of the new formula (Formula One) for single-seat racing cars provided an ideal setting for Alfa Romeo's tipo
158 Alfetta, adapted from a pre-war voiturette, and Giuseppe Farina won the first Formula One World Championship in
1950 in the 158. Juan Manuel Fangio secured Alfa's second consecutive championship in 1951. During the 1960s, Alfa
concentrated on competition using production-based cars, including the GTA (standing for Gran Turismo Allegerita), an
aluminium-bodied version of the Bertone-designed coupe with a powerful twin-plug engine. Among other victories, the GTA
won the inaugural Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am championship in 1966. In the 1970s, Alfa concentrated on
prototype sports car racing with the Tipo 33, with early victories in 1971. Eventually the Tipo 33TT12 gained the World
Championship for Makes for Alfa Romeo in 1975 and the Tipo 33SC12 won the World Championship for Sports Cars in 1977.

By the 1970s Alfa was again in financial trouble. The Italian government company Finmeccanica bowed out in 1986 as Fiat
Group bought in, creating a new group, Alfa Lancia Industriale S.p.A., to manufacture Alfas and Lancias. Models produced
subsequent to the 1990s combined Alfa's traditional virtues of avant-garde styling and sporting panache with the economic
benefits of product rationalisation, and include a "GTA" version of the 147 hatchback, the Giugiaro-designed Brera, and a
high-performance exotic called the 8C Competizione (named after one of Alfa's most successful prewar sports and racing
cars, the 8C of the 1930s).

In 2005 Maserati was bought back from Ferrari and brought under Fiat's full control. The Fiat Group plans to create a sports
and luxury division from Maserati and Alfa Romeo. There is a planned strategic relationship between these two; engines,
platforms and possibly dealers will be shared in some market areas.

In the beginning of 2007, Fiat Auto S.p.A. was reorganizated and four new automobile companies were created; Fiat
Automobiles S.p.A., Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A., Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. and Fiat Light Commercial Vehicles S.p.A.
These companies are fully owned by Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A.

The history of the Alfa Romeo badge










The Alfa Romeo badge

In 1910 a draughtsman named Romano Cattaneo was given the job of coming up with a badge for a new Milan-based
company, ALFA. The story goes that as he was waiting for a tram at the Piazza Castello terminus in Milan, he gained
inspiration from the great Visconti family's red cross and biscione (human child-bearing serpent) coat of arms emblazoned
over the great door of Castello Sforzesco.

In 1918 after the company was purchased by Nicola Romeo, the badge was redesigned with the help of Giuseppe Merosi,
including now the City of Milan's emblem and that of the Visconti family in a circular motif, bordered by a dark blue metallic
ring containing the inscription "ALFA - ROMEO" and "MILANO" separated by two Savoy dynasty knots to honour the
Kingdom of Italy.

After the victory of the P2 in the inaugural Automobile World Championship in 1925, Alfa added a laurel wreath around the
logo.

In 1946 after the victory of the Italian Republic Savoy knots were replaced with two curvy lines.

The name "MILANO", the hyphen and the Savoy knots (lines) were eliminated when Alfa Romeo opened the factory at
Pomigliano d'Arco, Naples in early 1970s.

Racing history

Alfa Romeo has been always involved with motor racing. In the 1920s and 30s Alfa Romeo scored wins at many of the
most famous and prestigious races and motoring events such as Targa Florio, Mille Miglia and Le Mans. Great success
continued with Formula 1, Prototypes, Touring and Fast Touring. Private drivers also entered some rally competitions, with
fine results. Alfa Romeo has competed both as a constructor and an engine supplier, via works entries Alfa Corse,
Autodelta and private entries. Today Alfa Romeo is active in different Touring car series and the new Alfa Romeo 8C
Competizione is planned to take part to Le Mans GT2 class in the near future.

Alfa Romeo in popular culture








Police "Panther" Alfa Giulia Super

In the 1960s Alfa Romeo became famous for its small cars and models specifically designed for the Italian police —
"Panthers" and Carabinieri; among them the glorious "Giulia Super" or the 2600 Sprint GT, which acquired the expressive
nickname of "Inseguimento" (this car is wrongly supposed to be the one that the famous Roman police marshal and
unrivalled driver Armandino Spadafora brought down on the Spanish Steps in 1960 while following some robbers - it was
actually a black Ferrari 250 GT/E - this picture of Giulia, one of the dozens about this legend, is taken from a movie and not
at the Spanish Steps).

Before being bought by Fiat, Alfa Romeo always had a daring commercial policy, constantly experimenting with new
solutions and using them in its series production, even at the risk of losing market share. Alfa often used controversial
and unorthodox styling too, which often challenged assumptions about styling.

In a British sales brochure:
The Alfa Romeo Giulia 1600 SS - For the man who has everything, here is the car to keep him company. ... The price is
GBP 2394.1.3 including tax. Expensive? Naturally! What else would you expect a hand-built Alfa to be?

It represented those makes of cars that permitted sporty driving on common roads, provided the driver was enthusiastic
enough to appreciate their particular "sound".

In Italian the owner of an Alfa Romeo is an "Alfista", and a group of them are "Alfisti". Alfa Romeo is sometimes
worshipped by its owners, and many models have become cultural symbols. There are many thriving Alfa Romeo owners
clubs and Alfa Romeo Model Registers.











Dustin Hoffman's Spider runs out of gas in The Graduate

In 1967 the famous Dustin Hoffman film The Graduate gave worldwide unforgettable celebrity to the "Spider" (best known
by the Italian nickname of "Duetto", or as "Osso di Seppia," meaning "cuttlefish bone," or Round-tail), and its unique shape
[3]. The Spider was designed by Pininfarina; derived from several design studies dating back to the late 1950s, the Spider
is believed to be the last design on which Battista Farina personally worked.

Also James Bond (Roger Moore) used an Alfa Romeo GTV6 in 1983's Octopussy, where he is pursued by two Bavarian
BMW police cars.

In the television crime film series Ein Fall für Zwei ("a case for two", over 250 episodes made so far), the leading actor
Claus Theo Gärtner, who plays the role of the private detective Josef Matula, always drives an Alfa Romeo.

Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in The Godfather, drove a magnificent, black Alfa Romeo 6C while in exile in Sicily. This was
actually the car that was booby-trapped and explodes with Apollonia, his Sicilian wife, in it toward the end of the movie.

John Malkovich, as Tom Ripley, in Ripley's Game, drives a red Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon.

Alfa Romeo Giulias appear as Polizia cars in the 1969 movie The Italian Job. During the chase in Turin they all suffer some
sort of fate, from breaking down on top of a building to being washed away by a weir.

Alfa Romeo motorcars are recognised by all Motor enthusiasts as being the first "supercar", with the term being coined in
the 1920s by a British journalist to describe an Alfa Romeo. Some notable owners include Beppe Carletti (Musician),
Jeremy Christian (Track Driver), Jeremy Clarkson (Motoring Journalist), Alex Hucksley (Actor), Roger Moore (Actor) and
Michael Schumacher (F1 Driver).

In Dan Brown's novel Angels & Demons, the members of the Swiss Guard all drive Alfa Romeo sedans.

Production

Until the 1980s, Alfa Romeos, except for the Alfasud, were rear-wheel-drive.

According to the current Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne in order to reap economies of scale, all new Alfa Romeo models will
be made from the same basic platform (i.e., frame). Even Maserati will share components with some Alfas.











Quadrifoglio badge on the Alfetta 159

Cloverleaf, or Quadrifoglio, badges denote high-end in comfort and engine size variants of Alfa Romeo cars, but previously
denoted Alfa Romeo racing cars in the pre-Second-World-War era. The image first appeared in 1923 when Ugo Sivocci
presented one prior to the start of the 14th Targa Florio as a good luck token to the team. This became the symbol of
competition Alfas, denoting higher performance. Some modern Alfas wear a cloverleaf badge which is typically a green
four leaf clover on a white background (Quadrifoglio Verde), but variants of blue on white have been recently observed as
well.

The Alfettas of the early 1980s had models available sold as the "Silver Leaf" and "Gold Leaf" (Quadrifoglio Oro). These
models were the top of the range. Badging was the Alfa Cloverleaf in either gold or silver to denote the specification level.
The Gold Leaf model was also sold as the "159i" in some markets, the name in homage to the original 159.

The trim levels (option packages) offered today on the various nameplates (model lines) include the lusso ("luxury"),
turismo ("touring"), and the GTA (gran tourismo alleggerita ("light-weight grand tourer"). The GTA package is offered in the
147 and 156 and includes a V-6 engine. In the past, Alfa Romeo offered a Sprint (from Italian sprintare, "to accelerate fast")
trim level.

In 1989, Alfa Romeo moved car production to other districts in Italy. The Pomigliano d’Arco plant produced the 155,
followed by the 145 and the 146, while Arese manufactured the new Spider and GTV. The 156 was launched in 1997, and
became quite successful for Alfa Romeo; in 1998 it was voted “Car of the Year”. The same year a new flagship, the 166,
was launched. At the beginning of the third millennium, the 147 was released, which won the prestigious title of “Car of the
Year 2001”.

The 155, 156, and GTV/Spider are no longer produced. The GTV/Spider was made in limited numbers, and is still a sought
after model.

The Arese factory today hosts almost nothing and is nearly abandoned. What remains are some offices and the great Alfa
Romeo Historical Museum, a must-see for Alfa Romeo fans.

Right-hand drive production post-1960
In the 60s, the main Alfa Romeo seat was moved from inside Milan to a very large and nearby area extending over the
municipalities of Arese, Lainate and Garbagnate Milanese. However, since then the Alfa seat is known to be in Arese,
since the offices and the main entrance of the area are there.

In 1968, Alfa Romeo, a virtually unknown brand within the UK was brought to life at Mangoletsi in Knutsford, Cheshire.

In the late 1960s, a number of European automobile manufacturers established facilities in South Africa to assemble right
hand drive vehicles. Fiat and other Italian manufacturers established factories along with these other manufacturers, Alfa-
Romeos were assembled in Brits, outside of Pretoria in the Transvaal Province of South Africa. With the imposition of
sanctions by western powers in the 1970s and 1980s, South Africa became self sufficient, and in car production came to
rely more and more on the products from local factories. This led to a remarkable set of circumstances where between
1972 and 1989, South Africa had the greatest number of Alfa Romeos on the road outside of Italy.

Return to the United States
In 1995 Alfa Romeo ceased exporting cars to the United States, the last model to be sold being the 164. Rumors began of
their return, however as the FAQ on Alfa's English website had said "The long-awaited return of Alfa Romeo to the United
States market should take place by 2007, with a range of new models."

Alfa Romeo's return to United States was confirmed on May 5 2006 by Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne. It will begin in 2008, by
selling the 8C Competizione. In late 2009, Alfa Romeo will release the 159, Brera, and Spider after they receive a mid-life
styling and technical refreshening. It is anticipated that a year or two later will see the introduction of the Kamal SUV, 169,
and possibly the B-segment Mi.To (as a competitor for the MINI Cooper). Alfa Romeos will be sold at Maserati dealers
throughout United States.

Current models

Alfa Romeo 147







147

A small family car produced by Italian automaker Alfa Romeo since 2000. It is based on the running gear of the larger 156
saloon, which was in production from 1997 to 2005. Most powerful GTA version uses traditional name used on the Alfa
Romeo GTA.

It will be replaced with 149 in 2009.

Alfa Romeo 159









159 Sportwagon

Current mid-size saloon, introduced in production form at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. The 159 is available with four
different gasoline engines and three diesels. 159 Sportwagon is an estate version of this car. Was launched in 2005 to
replace the 156.

Alfa Romeo GT






GT

Front wheel drive small Bertone-designed coupe. The GT was introduced in 2004 and is based on the 156 saloon, which
ceased production the following year. Engine options include two petrol (1.8L, 2.0L, 3.2L V6 is discontinued) and one
diesel (1.9L) version. Interior is based heavily on the 147.

Alfa Romeo Brera





Brera

The car is a 2+2 coupe designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and manufactured by Pininfarina. It was originally introduced as a
concept car at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show, and was launched in 2005 as successor to the decade-old GTV. The
production version maintained the exterior appearance almost exactly but on a smaller scale.

Alfa Romeo Spider









Spider

A roadster variant of Brera coupe was introduced at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show. The car replaced the Spider 916 model,
introduced in 1995. Pininfarina assembles this car alongside the Brera in San Giorgio Canavese, Italy.

Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione










8C Competizione
Limited edition supercar (500) presented as a concept car at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show and later released for sale for
the 2007 model year. The car uses a Ferrari/Maserati-derived V8 engine, producing 450 horsepower.

Future models
Alfa Romeo Mi.To (Expected-2008 Q3)
Alfa Romeo 149 (Expected-2009)
Alfa Romeo 169 (Expected-2010)
C Crossover (Expected-2010)

Historic models

1910 1910-1920 24 HP, 1910-1911 12 HP, 1911-1920 15 HP, 1913-1922 40-60 HP

1920 1921-1922 20-30 HP, 1920-1921 G1, 1921-1921 G2, 1922-1927 RL, 1923-1925 RM, 1927-1929 6C 1500, 1929-1933 6C
1750









6C Gran Sport (1931)                                                         8C 2300 (1931)

1930 1931-1934 8C 2300, 1933-1933 6C 1900, 1934-1937 6C 2300, 1935-1939 8C 2900

1940 1938-1950 158, 1939-1950 6C 2500

1950 1950-1958 1900, 1951-1953 158/159, 1951-1953 Matta, 1954-1962 Giulietta, 1958-1962 2000, 1959-1964 Dauphine











2600 Touring Spider (1961)                                                        GT Junior (1965)

1960 1962-1968 2600, 1962-1976 Giulia Saloon, 1963-1967 Giulia TZ, 1963-1977 Giulia Sprint, 1965-1967 Gran Sport
Quattroruote, 1965-1971 GTA, 1966-1993 Giulia Spider, 1967-1969 33 Stradale, 1967-1977 1750/2000 Berlina









GTV6 (1980)

1970 1970-1977 Montreal, 1972-1983 Alfasud, 1972-1984 Alfetta saloon, 1974-1987 Alfetta GT/GTV, 1976-1989 Alfasud
Sprint, 1977-1985 Nuova Giulietta, 1979-1986 Alfa 6

1980 1983-1994 33, 1984-1987 Arna, 1984-1987 90, 1985-1992 75, 1987-1998 164, 1989-1993 SZ/RZ









Spider (1992)                                                                       156 (1997)

1990 1992-1998 155, 1994-2000 145, 1994-2000 146, 1995-2006 GTV/Spider, 1997-2005 156, 1998-2007 166

Concept Models
Design has always played a large role in the history of Alfa Romeo. There have been many Alfa Romeo concept cars, often
made by famous design houses and designers. The BAT series of concepts from the 1950s was a joint collaboration
project with the Italian design house Bertone. Other famous Italian coachbuilders and design houses like Pininfarina,
Bertone, Zagato and ItalDesign-Giugiaro have also played a great role in Alfa Romeo's history, and even today some of
models are designed and constructed by these great names.

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Italian Products

Parmigiano Reggiano








Country of origin:  Italy
Region, Town: Provinces of Parma,
Reggio Emilia, Modena,
Bologna (west of the Reno),
Mantova (south of the Po)
Source of milk: Cows
Pasteurised: No
Texture: Hard
Aging time Minimum: 12 months
Vecchio: 18–24 months
Stravecchio: 24–36 months
Certification Italy: DOC 1955
EU: PDO 1992

Parmigiano Reggiano is a hard, fat granular cheese, cooked but not pressed, named after the producing areas of Parma,
Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, in Emilia-Romagna, and Mantova, in Lombardy, Italy.

Parmigiano is simply the Italian adjective for Parma; the French version, Parmesan, is used in English. The term
Parmesan is also loosely used as a common term for cheeses imitating true Parmesan cheese, especially outside
Europe; within Europe, the Parmesan name is classified as a protected designation of origin.

Production

The sign on the border of Parma and Piacenza, indicating the start of the area of origin.Parmigiano Reggiano is made from
raw cow's milk. The whole milk of the morning milking is mixed with the naturally skimmed milk (it is left in large shallow
tanks to allow the cream to separate) of the previous evening's milking resulting in a part skim mixture. The milk is
pumped into copper-lined vats (copper heats quickly and cools quickly). Starter whey is added and the temperature is
raised to 33-35C. Calf rennet is added and the mixture is left to curdle for 10-12 minutes. The curd is then broken up
mechanically (spinitura in Italian) into small pieces (around the size of rice grains). The temperature is then raised to 55C
with careful control by the cheese-maker. The curd is left to settle for 45-60 minutes. The compacted curd is collected in a
piece of muslin before being divided in two and placed in moulds. There are 1100 L of milk per vat, producing two
cheeses each. The curd making up each wheel at this point weighs around 45 kg (100 lb). The remaining whey in the vat
was traditionally used to feed the pigs from which Parma hams are produced. The barns for these animals were usually
just a few yards away from the cheese production rooms.

The cheese is put into a stainless steel round form that is pulled tight with a spring powered buckle so the cheese retains
its wheel shape. After a day or two, the buckle is released and a plastic belt imprinted numerous times with the
Parmigiano Reggiano name, the plant's number, and month and year of production is put around the cheese and the metal
form is buckled tight again. The imprints take hold on the rind of the cheese in about a day and the wheel is then put into a
brine bath to absorb salt for 20-25 days. After brining, the wheels are then transferred to the aging rooms in the plant for 12
months. Each cheese is placed on wooden shelves that can be 24 cheeses high by 90 cheeses long or about 4,000 total
wheels per aisle. Each cheese and the shelf underneath it is then cleaned manually or robotically every 7 days. The
cheese is also turned at this time.

A factory of Parmigiano Reggiano. There are two storerooms, both with 20 of these shelves.At 12 months the Consorzio
Parmigiano Reggiano inspects each and every cheese. The cheese is tested by a Master grader whose only instruments
are a hammer and his ear. By tapping the wheel at various points, he can identify undesirable cracks and voids within the
wheel. Those cheeses that pass the test are then heat branded on the rind with the Consorzio's logo. Cheeses that are not
so selected used to have their rinds remarked with lines or the letter x all the way around so consumers know they are
not getting top quality Parmigiano Reggiano, but are now simply stripped of all markings.

Traditionally, cows have to be fed only on grass or hay, producing grass fed milk. Only natural whey culture is allowed as
a starter, together with calf rennet.

The only additive allowed is salt which the cheese absorbs while being submerged for 20 days in brine tanks saturated to
near total salinity with Mediterranean sea salt. The product is aged an average of two years. The cheese is produced daily,
and it can show a natural variability. True Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese has a complex fruity/nutty taste and a slightly gritty
texture. Inferior versions can impart a bitter taste.

The average Parmigiano Reggiano wheel is about 18-24 cm (7 to 9 inches) high, 40-45 cm (16 to 18 inches) in diameter,
and weighs an average of 38 kg (80 pounds).

Uses of the cheese include being grated with a grater over pasta, stirred into soup and risotto, and eaten in chunks with
balsamic vinegar. It is also a key ingredient in alfredo sauce and pesto.

Parmigiano cheese is considerably harder the farther it gets from its center, and very hard near the crust, however it's
exactly from this harder portions that the best grated cheese is obtained: a fine whiter dust which is more aromatic and
tasty than the grating resulting from softer sections. Even Parmigiano crusts have their culinary uses, added to a pot of
soup they can lend a pleasant, fine aroma to it, and they can also be chewn and eaten. Regularly consuming Parmigiano
crusts can strenghten teeth and bones due to the calcium contained.

History

Parmesan cheese being tested at a festival in Modena with balsamic vinegar drizzled on top.According to legend, the
Parmigiano was created in the course of the Middle Ages in Bibbiano, in the province of Reggio Emilia. Its production
soon spread to the Parma and Modena areas. Historical documents show that in the 13th-14th century Parmigiano was
already very similar to that produced today: this suggests that its origins can be traced far before.

In the memoirs of Giacomo Casanova, he remarked that the name "Parmesan" was a misnomer in his time (mid-18th
century) as the cheese was produced in the town of Lodi, not Parma. This comment originates probably from the fact that a
grana cheese very similar to the "Parmigiano", the Grana Padano, is produced in the Lodi area.

It was praised as early as 1348 in the writings of Boccaccio; in the Decameron, he speaks of a mountain made completely
of Parmigiano to accompany macaroni and ravioli.

Samuel Pepys is reputed to have buried his Parmigiano during the Great Fire of London of 1666 to preserve it.

Use of the name Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano Reggiano festival in Modena; each wheel (block of cheese) costs 490 Euro.In the European Union,
"Parmesan" is a protected designation of origin; legally, it refers exclusively to the Parmigiano Reggiano DOP cheese
manufactured in a limited area in Northern Italy. Outside Europe, most notably in the United States, similar cheeses may be
sold under the name Parmesan, considered generic. When they are sold in Europe, they must use another name, such as
Kraft's "pamesello italiano".

The name is trademarked, and in Italy there is a legal exclusive control exercised over its production and sales by the
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese Consorzio, which was created by a governmental decree. There are strict criteria - each
wheel must meet early in the aging process, when the cheese is still soft and creamy, to merit the official seal and be
placed in storage for aging. Parmigiano Reggiano has become an increasingly regulated product; in 1955 it became what
is known as a certified name (not a brand name).

Outside Europe, the name "Parmesan" is treated as generic. The European Union campaigns against the use of protected
European food labels by producers outside the designated region of origin, which might eventually lead to dropping the
word "Parmesan" from cheese products originating outside the designated production region of Parmigiano Reggiano.

Parmigiano aroma and chemical components

Parmigiano has many aroma-active compounds, including various aldehydes and butyrates. Butyric acid and isovaleric
acid together are sometimes used to imitate the dominant aromas.

Parmigiano is also particularly high in glutamates, containing as much as 1200 mg of glutamate per 100 g of cheese,
making it the naturally produced food with the second highest level of glutamate, after Roquefort cheese. The strong
presence of glutatmates explains the strong umami taste of Parmigiano, and the fact of being present in so many dishes of
the Italian cuisine helps explaining why Italian food is so much liked by umami-loving easterners and why so many
Italians like chinese and japanese dishes heavy in umami flavours.

Other cheeses sold as Parmesan

The Grana Padano is an Italian cheese very similar to the Parmigiano Reggiano. Differences are:

It is produced mainly in Lombardy - the name Padano derives from the Pianura Padana
Cows can also be fed silage, not grass and hay only
The milk contains slightly less fat
Milk of several days can be used
It is aged for up to 20 months

An American imitation of pre-grated Parmesan

Commercial Parmesan cheeses common in North America typically differ from Parmigiano Reggiano in several ways:

The cheese is aged for a shorter time
The curds for Parmigiano Reggiano are cut into fragments the size of wheat grains, which is much finer than the fragments
created in the manufacture of the American version of Parmesan. The smaller curds drain more effectively;
American Parmesan is mechanically pressed in order to expel excess moisture.
Parmesan wheels in the United States average 11 kg (24 pounds). The size difference can affect their salt saturation
during the brining process; Parmigiano Reggiano on average contains two-thirds less salt than the average Parmesan.
It is often sold grated.
There is no outside body regulating or supervising the quality of the raw ingredients or of the production process.

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Italian Provinces

Province of L'AQUILA
Region ABRUZZO
Official Website: www.provincia.laquila.it













The province is the largest in Abruzzo and occupies the
western part of the region; it is the only province that has no
access to the sea, and includes the highest mountains of
the Apennines (Gran Sasso, Maiella and Velino-Sirente).
There are many rivers, such as the Aterno-Pescara, Sangro,
Liri, Salto, Turano and an abundance of springs and water
coming form the abundant snowfall. Besides the natural
lakes of Scanno and Barrea there is the large artificial lake
of Campotosto. In the Gran Sasso mountain there is also the
southernmost glacier in Europe, called the Calderone. The
province has a very low population density, and a territory
full of castles and fortified medieval boroughs on top of
mountains. It included once the largest lake in the Italian
peninsule, Lake Fucino, where in antiquity the Romans
came on holiday, which was drained with the third biggest
engineering project in the late 19th century (the other 2
being the Eiffel Tower and the Suez Canal). The Fucino land
is today a flourishing agricultural area, and an important
technological district in the region.

The province in the past included also Popoli and Bussi sul
Tirino, that in 1927 were moved to the newly established
province of Pescara, and other communes that were moved
to the Province of Rieti: Cittaducale, Cantalice, Lugnano di
Villa Troiana, Amatrice, Accumuli, Antrodoc, Borgo Velino,
Castel Sant'Angelo, Micigliano, Borbona, Cittareale, Posta,
Borgocollefegato, Pescorocchiano, Fiamignano, Petrella
Salto, Leonessa.

I Comuni in the Province of L'Aquila
Comune of Acciano | Comune of Aielli | Comune of Alfedena
| Comune of Anversa degli Abruzzi | Comune of Aragno |
Comune of Assergi | Comune of Ateleta | Comune of
Avezzano | Comune of Balsorano | Comune of Barete |
Comune of Barisciano | Comune of Barrea | Comune of
Bisegna | Comune of Bominaco | Comune of Bugnara |
Comune of Cagnano Amiterno | Comune of Calascio |
Comune of Campo di Giove | Comune of Campotosto |
Comune of Canistro | Comune of Cansano | Comune of
Capestrano | Comune of Capistrello | Comune of Capitignano
| Comune of Caporciano | Comune of Cappadocia | Comune
of Carapelle Calvisio | Comune of Carsoli | Comune of
Castel del Monte | Comune of Castel di leri | Comune of
Castel di Sangro | Comune of Castellafiume | Comune of
Castelvecchio Calvisio | Comune of Castelvecchio Subequo
| Comune of Celano | Comune of Cerchio | Comune of Civita
d'Antino | Comune of Civitella Alfedena | Comune of Civitella
Roveto | Comune of Cocullo | Comune of Collarmele |
Comune of Collelongo | Comune of Collepietro | Comune of
Corfinio | Comune of Fagnano Alto | Comune of Fontecchio |
Comune of Fossa | Comune of Gagliano Aterno | Comune of
Gioia dei Marsi | Comune of Goriano Sicoli | Comune of
Introdacqua | Comune of L'Aquila | Comune of Lecce nei
Marsi | Comune of Luco dei Marsi | Comune of Lucoli |
Comune of Magliano de' Marsi | Comune of Massa d'Albe |
Comune of Molina Aterno | Comune of Montereale | Comune
of Morino | Comune of Navelli | Comune of Ocre | Comune of
Ofena | Comune of Opi | Comune of Oricola | Comune of
Ortona dei Marsi | Comune of Ortucchio | Comune of
Ovindoli | Comune of Pacentro | Comune of Paganica |
Comune of Pereto | Comune of Pescasseroli | Comune of
Pescina | Comune of Pescocostanzo | Comune of Pettorano
sul Gizio | Comune of Pizzoli | Comune of Poggio Picenze |
Comune of Prata d'Ansidonia | Comune of Pratola Peligna |
Comune of Prezza | Comune of Raiano | Comune of
Rivisondoli | Comune of Roccacasale | Comune of Rocca di
Botte | Comune of Rocca di Cambio | Comune of Rocca Di
Mezzo | Comune of Rocca Pia | Comune of Roccaraso |
Comune of San Benedetto dei Marsi | Comune of San
Benedetto in Perillis | Comune of San Demetrio ne' Vestini |
Comune of San Pio delle Camere | Comune of Sante Marie |
Comune of Sant'Eusanio Forconese | Comune of Santo
Stefano di Sessanio | Comune of San Vincenzo Valle Roveto
| Comune of Scanno | Comune of Scontrone | Comune of
Scoppito | Comune of Scurcola Marsicana | Comune of
Secinaro | Comune of Sulmona | Comune of Tagliacozzo |
Comune of Tione Degli Abruzzi | Comune of Tornimparte |
Comune of Trasacco | Comune of Villalago | Comune of Villa
Santa Lucia | Comune of Villa Sant'Angelo | Comune of
Villavallelonga | Comune of Villetta Barrea | Comune of
Vittorito

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