Rapallo
Encyclopedia
Rapallo is a municipality in the province of Genoa
, in Liguria
, northern Italy
. As of 2007 it counts approximately 34,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Tigullio Gulf and is located in between Portofino
and Chiavari
.
The climate is moderate and the main part of town is on fairly level land. Many of the villas are built in the hills that rise immediately behind the city to protect them from strong northern winds.
Rapallo area is included in the Parco Naturale Regionale di Portofino, encompassing the territory of six communes.
or Greek.
Conquered by the Lombards
in 643, the village of Rapallo was included in the county of Genoa
under Charlemagne
. The name of the city appears for the first time in a document from 964. In 1203 the Podestà of Rapallo was created, which in 1229 it became a Genoese dominion, remaining under that aegis until the Napoleonic Wars
. Galleys from Rapallo took part to the famous Battle of Meloria of 1284. On September 5, 1494 it was captured by the Aragonese, but three days later 2,500 Swiss troops ousted them.
During the 16th century it was attacked and sacked by the Ottomans and Barbary pirates; to help defending the village against such attacks a castle was built on the seafront. In 1608 Rapallo was made into a Capitaneato (captainship) of its own, as part of the Republic of Genoa
. In the late 18th century it was captured by the French who, after several clashes against Austro-Russian troops, in 1805 annexed it to the Apennins
département. In 1814 the English freed it, and the following year the city was given to the Kingdom of Sardinia
-Piedmont as part of the Duchy of Genoa.
In late 1917, an Anglo-Franco-Italian conference met at Rapallo following the disastrous Italian defeat at Caporetto
. It was decided to create a supreme war council at Versailles and to shift some French and British troops to the Italian front. On November 12, 1920, Italy and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later renamed Yugoslavia) signed the Treaty of Rapallo, 1920
, which resolved the frontier issues between them without reference to the other Allies. Italy acquired the strategically important crest of the Julian Alps as her boundary in the northeast. Also concluded at Rapallo was the Russian-German Treaty
of Rapallo of April 1922, in which both countries renounced claims to war reparations and renewed diplomatic relations. This agreement marked the emergence of Russia and Germany from the diplomatic isolation caused by World War I (1914-1918).
During World War II
numerous partisans from Rapallo were shot by German occupation troops.
Rapallo has been known for its climate that made it over the years the winter residence of preference for most of the affluent Italians living in the North West of Italy. Its proximity to the coast makes for mild winters where people can enjoy easy strolls on the sunny promenade and the golfers can enjoy one of the oldest courses in Italy, opened in 1930.
Friedrich Nietzsche
wrote that the ideas for Zarathustra first came to him while walking on two roads surrounding Rapallo, according to Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche
in the introduction of Thomas Common
's translation of Thus Spake Zarathustra
. The writer Ezra Pound
spent much of the late 1920s and 1930s living in the town. The author, caricaturist
and parodist
Max Beerbohm
lived in Rapallo from 1910 until his death in 1956, returning to Britain during World War I
and World War II
. The influential theatre designer and artist Gordon Craig
lived in the Villa Raggio, next door to Beerbohm, from 1917 to 1928.
, opened in 1868, forms part of the Pisa–La Spezia–Genoa railway.
Province of Genoa
The Province of Genoa is a province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Genoa.It has an area of 1,838 km², and a total population of about 900,000...
, in Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
, northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. As of 2007 it counts approximately 34,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Tigullio Gulf and is located in between Portofino
Portofino
Portofino is a small Italian fishing village, comune and tourist resort located in the province of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town is crowded round its small harbour, is closely associated with Paraggi Beach, which is a few minutes up the coast...
and Chiavari
Chiavari
Chiavari is a town and comune on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Genoa, region of Liguria. It is situated near the mouth of the Entella River, in the center of a fertile plain surrounded by mountains except on the southwest, where it comes down to the Mediterranean Sea...
.
The climate is moderate and the main part of town is on fairly level land. Many of the villas are built in the hills that rise immediately behind the city to protect them from strong northern winds.
Rapallo area is included in the Parco Naturale Regionale di Portofino, encompassing the territory of six communes.
History
The first settlement dates probably from the 8th century BC, although the findings have not clarified if it was EtruscanEtruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
or Greek.
Conquered by the Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
in 643, the village of Rapallo was included in the county of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
under Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
. The name of the city appears for the first time in a document from 964. In 1203 the Podestà of Rapallo was created, which in 1229 it became a Genoese dominion, remaining under that aegis until the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. Galleys from Rapallo took part to the famous Battle of Meloria of 1284. On September 5, 1494 it was captured by the Aragonese, but three days later 2,500 Swiss troops ousted them.
During the 16th century it was attacked and sacked by the Ottomans and Barbary pirates; to help defending the village against such attacks a castle was built on the seafront. In 1608 Rapallo was made into a Capitaneato (captainship) of its own, as part of the Republic of Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
. In the late 18th century it was captured by the French who, after several clashes against Austro-Russian troops, in 1805 annexed it to the Apennins
Apennins
Apennins was a département of the First French Empire in present Italy. Named after the Apennine Mountains, it was formed in 1805, when the Ligurian Republic was annexed to France. Its capital was Chiavari....
département. In 1814 the English freed it, and the following year the city was given to the Kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
-Piedmont as part of the Duchy of Genoa.
In late 1917, an Anglo-Franco-Italian conference met at Rapallo following the disastrous Italian defeat at Caporetto
Battle of Caporetto
The Battle of Caporetto , took place from 24 October to 19 November 1917, near the town of Kobarid , on the Austro-Italian front of World War I...
. It was decided to create a supreme war council at Versailles and to shift some French and British troops to the Italian front. On November 12, 1920, Italy and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later renamed Yugoslavia) signed the Treaty of Rapallo, 1920
Treaty of Rapallo, 1920
The Treaty of Rapallo was a treaty between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes , signed to solve the dispute over some territories in the upper Adriatic, in Dalmatia and in the region which became known as the Julian March.The treaty was signed on 12 November 1920 in...
, which resolved the frontier issues between them without reference to the other Allies. Italy acquired the strategically important crest of the Julian Alps as her boundary in the northeast. Also concluded at Rapallo was the Russian-German Treaty
Treaty of Rapallo, 1922
The Treaty of Rapallo was an agreement signed at the Hotel Imperiale in the Italian town of Rapallo on 16 April, 1922 between Germany and Soviet Russia under which each renounced all territorial and financial claims against the other following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and World War I.The two...
of Rapallo of April 1922, in which both countries renounced claims to war reparations and renewed diplomatic relations. This agreement marked the emergence of Russia and Germany from the diplomatic isolation caused by World War I (1914-1918).
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
numerous partisans from Rapallo were shot by German occupation troops.
Rapallo has been known for its climate that made it over the years the winter residence of preference for most of the affluent Italians living in the North West of Italy. Its proximity to the coast makes for mild winters where people can enjoy easy strolls on the sunny promenade and the golfers can enjoy one of the oldest courses in Italy, opened in 1930.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
wrote that the ideas for Zarathustra first came to him while walking on two roads surrounding Rapallo, according to Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche
Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche
Therese Elisabeth Alexandra Förster-Nietzsche , who went by her second name, was the sister of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and the creator of the Nietzsche Archive in 1894....
in the introduction of Thomas Common
Thomas Common
Thomas Common was a translator and critic, who translated several books by Nietzsche into English. There is little information about him biographically, though indications are that he was a very well-educated and literate scholar, who lived in the area of Corstorphine, Scotland.In the mid-1890s,...
's translation of Thus Spake Zarathustra
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None is a philosophical novel by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, composed in four parts between 1883 and 1885...
. The writer Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
spent much of the late 1920s and 1930s living in the town. The author, caricaturist
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
and parodist
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
Max Beerbohm
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
lived in Rapallo from 1910 until his death in 1956, returning to Britain during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The influential theatre designer and artist Gordon Craig
Edward Gordon Craig
Edward Henry Gordon Craig , sometimes known as Gordon Craig, was an English modernist theatre practitioner; he worked as an actor, director and scenic designer, as well as developing an influential body of theoretical writings...
lived in the Villa Raggio, next door to Beerbohm, from 1917 to 1928.
Main sights
- The Castello sul Mare (Castle-on-the-Sea), erected in 1551 to counter the frequent pirate attacks. It includes a small chapel dedicated to St. Cajetan, built in 1688.
- The Castello di Punta Pagana is a seat of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. It was finished on July 28, 1631.
- The historical Tower of the Fieschi and the Torre Civica (1473).
- The Porta delle Saline, the only gate remained of the ancient walls.
- Basilica of Sts. Gervasius and Protasius, consecrated in 1118 and restored in the early 17th century. In 1679 a new apse was added, deleting the former RomanesqueRomanesque architectureRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
character of the edifice. It has a leaning bell tower. - The church of St. Francis of Assisi (begun in 1519).
- The Sanctuary of Nostra Signora di Montallegro ("Our Lady of Montallegro", 1558-1640).
- The ruined Monastery of Valle Christi (13th century), abandoned in 1568 after pirate ravages.
Transport
Rapallo railway stationRapallo railway station
Rapallo railway station serves the town and comune of Rapallo, in the Liguria region, northwestern Italy. Opened in 1868, it forms part of the Pisa–La Spezia–Genoa railway, and is situated between La Spezia and Genoa....
, opened in 1868, forms part of the Pisa–La Spezia–Genoa railway.