Luni | |
|---|---|
| Comune di Luni | |
 View of Luni Mare with Ortonovo and Nicola in the background. | |
 Coat of arms | |
  Luni Location of Luni in Italy Show map of Italy Luni Luni (Liguria) Show map of Liguria | |
| Coordinates:44°05′05.43″N10°02′31.3″E / 44.0848417°N 10.042028°E /44.0848417; 10.042028 | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Liguria |
| Province | La Spezia (SP) |
| Frazioni | Annunziata, Caffaggiola, Casano (communal seat), Dogana, Isola, Luni Scavi, Luni Mare, Luni Stazione, Nicola, Ortonovo, Serravalle |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Alessandro Silvestri |
| Area | |
• Total | 13.86 km2 (5.35 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 76 m (249 ft) |
| Population (31 December 2015)[2] | |
• Total | 8,277 |
| • Density | 597.2/km2 (1,547/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Ortonovesi orLunensi |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 19034 |
| Dialing code | 0187 |
| Patron saint | Madonna del Mirteto |
| Saint day | 8 September |
| Website | Official website |
Luni is acomune (municipality) in theprovince of La Spezia, in the easternmost end of theLiguria region of northernItaly. It was founded by the Romans asLuna. It gives its name toLunigiana, a region spanning eastern Liguria and northernTuscany (province of Massa-Carrara).
The commune was known asOrtonovo (from the name of one of its currentfrazioni) until April 2017. It is now named after thefrazione of Luni.
Located in a plain near theTyrrhenian Sea and close to the borders withTuscany, Luni is crossed by the riverMagra and lies betweenSarzana (7 km in north) andCarrara (5 km in south). It is 4 km far fromOrtonovo, 15 km fromMassa and 30 km fromLa Spezia. The village is served by National Highway 1 "Aurelia", crossed at Luni Mare by theA12 motorway and counts a railway station on thePisa-Genoa line.
Luna was the frontier town ofEtruria, on the left bank of the river Macra (nowMagra), the boundary in imperial times between Etruria andLiguria.[a]When theRomans first appeared in these parts, Etruscans and the Ligurians were already in possession of the territory.[4](41.13.4)
The Roman city was established in 177 BC by Publius Aelius, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Gnaeus Sicinius[4](41.13.4)[b]It was a military stronghold for the campaigns against theLigures. An inscription of 155 BC, found in theforum of Luna in 1851, was dedicated toM. Claudius Marcellus in honor of his triumph over the Ligurians andApuani. In 109 BC it was connected toRome by theVia Aemilia Scauri, rebuilt in the 2nd century AD as theVia Aurelia. It flourished when exploitation of white marble quarries in the nearbyAlpi Apuane and neighboring mountains ofCarrara, whose stone bore the name of "Luna marble" in ancient times.[5]Pliny speaks of the quarries as only recently discovered in his day; they were soon owned by the imperial family.Pliny the Elder considered the big wheels of cheese from Luna the best inEtruria. Goodwine was also produced.
Luni derived its importance mainly from its harbour,[6][3] which was on a gulf of theTyrrhenian Sea now known as theGulf of La Spezia, and not merely the estuary of the Magra as some authors supposed.[3][full citation needed][7][full citation needed] While the town was apparently not established until 177 BC,[4](41.13.4) when a colony of 2,000 Roman citizens was founded there, the harbour is mentioned byEnnius, who sailed from there toSardinia in 215 BC underManlius Torquatus. It was also being contested by the Romans as early as 195 BC, when they were fighting the Ligurians and Apuans in the area.[8] The site was used as a base for the quarrying of marble from the quarries of modern-dayCarrara,[3] as the marble in that quarry is fine, and the harbour allowed the marble to be shipped to Rome easily.[3][9]
In the 5th century, it was still notable, as it was chosen as the seat of abishopric. Captured by the Goths in the following century, it was reconquered by theByzantines in 552, who however lost it to theLombards in 642. The latter damaged the city's economy, favouring the trades routes that passed through the nearby port ofLucca to the south. Luni had been reduced to a small village by the time of the Lombard kingLiutprand. Later, it was a countship and see underCharlemagne, exactly on the border between theKingdom of Italy and thePapal States.
It was repeatedly sacked by sea pirates,Saracens in 849, andVikings who settled there in 860.[10] Luna is supposed to have been mistakenly sacked by the Viking leaderBjörn Järnsida, who thought it wasRome. He tricked his way in by pretending to be a dying Christian convert. The 9th century BishopSaint Ceccardo, believed to have been martyred by the Vikings, is celebrated on 16 June.[11][12]
In the mid-10th century it experienced the last period of splendour under countOberto I, who was lord of the wholeLigurian Mark, and momentarily repulsed the pirate threat. However, in the 990s the situation worsened again, and the episcopal see was moved, first toCarrara then, definitively, toSarzana in 1207 (or 1204). In 1015 Luna was conquered by the Andalusianemir of Denia,Mujāhid, with his Sardinian ships: WhenPisa and Genoa beat back his forces, Luni was left destroyed. The spreading of malaria in the area and the silting up of the port contributed to the steep decline of Luni. In 1058 the whole population moved to Sarzana, while other refugees foundedOrtonovo and Nicola. The title of bishop and count of Luni remained in use for various centuries, butPetrarch noted Luni as "once famous and powerful, and now only a naked and useless name".
It was only in 1442 that the highly visible remains were identified with Luni and theGulf of La Spezia recognized as its harbour.[14] The depredation of the Roman ruins of Luni aroused the concern of the local Cardinal Filippo Calandrini, who urged the Humanist popePius II to issue a brief (7 April 1461) forbidding any further dilapidations. It was of little practical use: When the Palazzo del Commune of Sarzana was constructed in 1471 dressed stone from Luni supplied a considerable part of the building material.[13](p 112) In 1510 the city council of Sarzana made a gift to the French governor at Genoa of a marble triton found at Luni.[13](p 114)
Luni was excavated in the 1970s and many of the material brought to light is now housed in the adjacent museum (44°03′50″N10°01′01″E / 44.064°N 10.017°E /44.064; 10.017). Archeological evidence suggests that the Roman forum had been abandoned as a public space by the end of the sixth century CE, its buildings fell to ruin or were demolished and decorative marbles removed. Remains of small wooden houses were found in the space previously occupied by the forum.[15]
Atheatre and anamphitheatre may still be distinguished on the site. NoEtruscan remains have come to light. Cuntz's investigations[16][full citation needed] seem to lead to the conclusion that an ancient road crossed theApennines from it, following the line of the modern road (more or less that of the modernrailway fromSarzana toParma), and dividing nearPontremoli, one branch going toBorgotaro,Veleia andPlacentia, and the other over theCisa pass to Forum Novum (Fornovo) andParma.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Luna".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 123. That, in turn, citesDennis, G. (1883).Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria. London, UK. ii. 63. (T. As.).
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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