Livorno is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn. During the Renaissance, Livorno was designed as an "Ideal town". Developing considerably from the second half of the 16th century by the will of the Medici family, Livorno was an important free port, giving rise to an intense commercial activity, in the hands, for the most part, of foreigners, and seat of consulates and shipping companies. 

History

Origins

The origins of Livorno are controversial, although the place was inhabited since the Neolithic Age as shown by worked bones, pieces of copper and ceramic found on the Livorno Hills in a cave between Ardenza and Montenero. The Etruscan settlement was called Labro. The construction of the Via Aurelia coincided with the occupation of the region by the Romans, who left traces of their presence in the toponyms and ruins of towers. The natural cove called Liburna is a reference to the type of ship, the liburna, used by Roman navy. Other ancient toponyms include Salviano (Salvius) and Antignano (Ante ignem) which was the place situated before Ardenza (Ardentia) where beacons directed the ships to Porto Pisano. Cicero mentioned Liburna in a letter to his brother and called it Labrone.

Medieval

Livorna is mentioned for the first time in 1017 as a small coastal village, the port and the remains of a Roman tower under the rule of Lucca. In 1077, a tower was built by Matilda of Tuscany. The Republic of Pisa owned Livorna from 1103 and built a quadrangular fort called Quadratura dei Pisani ("Quarter of the Pisans") to defend the port. Porto Pisano was destroyed after the crushing defeat of the Pisan fleet in the Battle of Meloria in 1284. In 1399, Pisa sold Livorna to the Visconti of Milan; in 1405 it was sold to the Republic of Genoa; and on 28 August 1421 it was bought by the Republic of Florence. The name 'Leghorn' derives from Genoese name Ligorna. Livorno was used certainly in the eighteenth century by Florentines.

Between 1427 and 1429, a census counted 118 families in Livorno, including 423 persons. Monks, Jews, military personnel, and the homeless were not included in the census. The only remainder of medieval Livorno is a fragment of two towers and a wall, located inside the Fortezza Vecchia.

Medicean period (1500-1650)

After the arrival of the Medici, the ruling dynasty of Florence, some modifications were made; between 1518 and 1534 the Fortezza Vecchia was constructed, and the voluntary resettlement of the population to Livorno was stimulated, but Livorno still remained a rather insignificant coastal fortress. By 1551, the population had grown to 1562 residents.

During the Italian Renaissance, when it was ruled by the Grand Duchy of Tuscany of the House of Medici Livorno was designed as an "Ideal town". In 1577 the architect Bernardo Buontalenti drew up the first plan. The new fortified town had a pentagonal design, for which it is called Pentagono del Buontalenti, incorporating the original settlement. The Porto Mediceo was overlooked and defended by towers and fortresses leading to the town centre.

In the late 1580s, Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, declared Livorno a free port (porto franco), which meant that the goods traded here were duty-free within the area of the town's control. In 1593, the Duke's administration established the Leggi Livornine to regulate the trade. These laws protected merchant activities from crime and racketeering, and instituted laws regarding international trade. The laws established a well-regulated market and were in force until 1603. Expanding Christian tolerance, the laws offered the right of public freedom of religion and amnesty to people having to gain penance given by clergy in order to conduct civil business. The Grand Duke attracted numerous Turks, Persians, Moors, Greeks, and Armenians, along with Jewish immigrants. Arrival of the latter begun in the late sixteenth century with the Alhambra Decree, which resulted in the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal - while Livorno extended to them rights and privileges; they contributed to the mercantile wealth and scholarship in the city.

Livorno became an enlightened European city and one of the most important ports of the entire Mediterranean Basin. Many European foreigners moved to Livorno. These included Christian Protestant reformers who supported such leaders as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others. French, Dutch, and English arrived, along with Orthodox Greeks. Meanwhile, Jews continued to trade under their previous treaties with the Grand Duke. On 19 March 1606, Ferdinando I de' Medici elevated Livorno to the rank of city; the ceremony was held in the Fortezza Vecchia Chapel of Francis of Assisi.

The Counter-Reformation increased tensions among Christians; dissidents to the Papacy were targeted by various Catholic absolute rulers. Livorno's tolerance fell victim to the European wars of religion. But, in the preceding period, the merchants of Livorno had developed a series of trading networks with Protestant Europe, and the Dutch, British, and Germans worked to retain these. In 1653 a naval battle, the Battle of Leghorn was fought near Livorno during the First Anglo-Dutch War.

17th century and later

At the end of the 17th century, Livorno underwent a period of great urban planning and expansion. Near the defensive pile of the Old Fortress, a new fortress was built, together with the town walls and the system of navigable canals through neighborhoods. After the port of Pisa had silted up in the 13th century, its distance from the sea increased and it lost its dominance in trade, so Livorno took over as the main port in Tuscany. By 1745 Livorno's population had risen to 32,534 persons.

The more successful of the European powers re-established trading houses in the region, especially the British with the Levant Company. In turn, the trading networks grew, and with it, Britain's cultural contact with Tuscany. An increasing number of British writers, artists, philosophers, and travelers visited the area and developed the unique historical ties between the two communities. The British referred to the city as "Leghorn". Through the centuries, the city's trade fortunes fell and rose according to the success or failure of the Great Powers. The British and their Protestant allies were important to its trade.

During the Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars of the late Eighteenth century, Napoleon's troops occupied Livorno with the rest of Tuscany. Under the Continental System, the French prohibited trade with Britain, and the economy of Livorno suffered greatly. The French had altogether taken over Tuscany in 1808, incorporating it into the Napoleonic empire. After the Congress of Vienna, Austrian rule replaced the French.

In 1861, Italy succeeded in its wars of unification. At that time it counted 96,471 inhabitants. Livorno and Tuscany became part of the new Kingdom of Italy and as part of the Kingdom the town lost its status as a free port and the city's commercial importance declined.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Livorno had numerous public parks housing important museums such as the Museo Civico Giovanni Fattori, Museo di storia naturale del Mediterraneo, and cultural institutions as the Biblioteca Labronica F.D. Guerrazzi and others in Neoclassical style as Cisternone, Teatro Goldoni and Liberty style as Palazzo Corallo, Mercato delle Vettovaglie, Stabilimento termale Acque della Salute, the Scuole elementari Benci all the last on project by Angiolo Badaloni.

During the 1930s, numerous villas were built on the avenue along the sea in Liberty style on design by Cioni.

In the early 19th century, the first American-born saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, converted from Protestantism to Catholicism while visiting Italian friends in Livorno.

The city suffered extensive damage during World War II. Many historic sites and buildings were destroyed by bombs of the Allies preceding their invasion, including the cathedral and Synagogue of Livorno.

Livorno's citizens in recent decades have become well known for their left-wing politics. The Italian Communist Party was founded in Livorno in 1921.