Ломбардия: регион Италии – история, экономика и культура

Region of Italy

Lombardy (; ) is an administrative region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is located between the Alps mountain range and tributaries of the river Po, and includes Milan, its capital, the largest metropolitan area in the country, and among the largest in the EU. Its territory is divided into 1,502 comuni (region with the largest number of comuni in the entire national territory), distributed in twelve administrative subdivisions (eleven provinces plus the Metropolitan City of Milan). The region ranks first in Italy in terms of population, population density and number of local authorities, while it is fourth in terms of surface area, after Sicily, Piedmont and Sardinia. and the second region of the European Union by nominal GDP. region of Italy in terms of economic importance, contributing to approximately a fifth of the national gross domestic product (GDP). Lombardy is a member of the Four Motors for Europe, an international economical organization whose other members are Baden Württemberg in Germany, Catalonia in Spain, and Auvergne Rhône Alpes in France. Milan is the economic capital of Italy and is a global financial centre. Of the fifty eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Italy, eleven are in Lombardy, tying in with Castile and León in northwest central Spain. Virgil, Pliny the Elder, Ambrose, Gerolamo Cardano, Caravaggio, Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Stradivari, Cesare Beccaria, Alessandro Volta, and Alessandro Manzoni; and popes John XXIII and Paul VI originated in the area of modern day Lombardy region.

The name Lombardy comes from Lombard, which is derived from Late Latin Longobardus, Langobardus ("a Lombard"), which derived from the Proto Germanic elements langaz + bardaz; equivalent to long beard. According to some scholars, the second element derives from Proto Germanic *bardǭ, *barduz ("axe"), related to German Barte, or the whole word comes from the Proto Albanian *Lum bardhi "white river" (Compare modern Albanian lum i bardhë). The name of the region derives from the name of the people of the Lombards who arrived in Italy in 568 and made Pavia their capital. During the Early Middle Ages, "Lombardy" referred to the Kingdom of the Lombards (Regnum Langobardorum), which was ruled by the Germanic Lombard raiders who had controlled most of early Christian Italy since their invasion of Byzantine Italy in CE 568 until the fall of Pavia on the river Ticino, in CE 774 by the Frankish Charlemagne on the Pope's behalf. As such, "Lombardy" and "Italy" were almost interchangeable; by the mid 8th century, the Lombards ruled everywhere except the Papal possessions around Rome—roughly modern Lazio and northern Umbria—Venice and some Byzantine possessions in the south—southern Apulia and Calabria; some coastal settlements including Amalfi, Gaeta, Naples and Sorrento; Sicily and Sardinia; their culture is foundational to Italy in the Middle Ages. The term was also used until around 965 in the form Λογγοβαρδία (Longobardia) as the name for the territory roughly covering modern Apulia, which the Byzantines had recovered from the Lombard rump state Duchy of Benevento.

Lombardy has a surface area of , and is the fourth largest region of Italy after Sicily, Piedmont and Sardinia. It is bordered by Canton Ticino and Canton Grisons of Switzerland to the north, and by the Italian regions of Trentino Alto Adige/Südtirol and Veneto to the east, Emilia Romagna to the south and Piedmont to the west. Lombardy's northern border is between the Valtellina and the valleys of the Rhine and the Inn. To the east, Lake Garda and the Mincio separate Lombardy from the other Italian regions, as does the Po river in the south with the exception of the province of Mantua and Oltrepò Pavese. The western boundary is formed by the Lake Maggiore and the Ticino river, except Lomellina. Lombardy has three natural zones; mountains, hills and plains—the last being divided into Alta (high plains) and Bassa (low plains).

The Po marks the southern border of the region for about ; its major tributaries are the Ticino, which rises in the Val Bedretto in Switzerland and joins the Po near Pavia, the Olona, the Lambro, the Adda, the Oglio and the Mincio. The numerous lakes of Lombardy are all of glacial origin and are located in the northern highlands. From west to east, these are: Lake Maggiore, Lake Lugano (both shared with Switzerland), Lake Como, Lake Iseo, Lake Idro, and Lake Garda (the largest lake in Italy). South of the Alps are a succession of low hills of morainic origin that were formed during the Last Glacial Period and small, barely fertile plateaux with typical heaths and conifer woods. A minor mountainous area the Oltrepò Pavese lies in the Apennines range south of the Po. The system consists of five canals: Naviglio Grande, Naviglio Pavese, Naviglio Martesana, Naviglio di Paderno, Naviglio di Bereguardo. The first three were connected through Milan via the Fossa Interna, also known as the Inner Ring. The urban section of the Naviglio Martesana was covered over at the beginning of the 1930s, together with the entire Inner Ring, thus sounding the death knell for the north eastern canals.

The Lombard Alpine valleys are wider than those found, again in the Alps, in Piedmont and Aosta Valley. Most of them are crossed by streams that descend towards the Po Valley, forming rivers which then flow into the Po on the hydrographic left. Thanks to the width of their valleys, the Lombard Alpine passes, although they are at a high altitude, are easily accessible. The most important international passes found in the Lombard Alps and which connect the region with Switzerland are the Splügen Pass , the Maloja Pass and the Bernina Pass , with the latter two which are located in Swiss territory. The most important national passes are the Stelvio Pass and the Tonale Pass , which connect Lombardy with Trentino Alto Adige. These Alpine passes are also of great importance from a historical point of view, given that they have always allowed easy communication between Lombardy and its bordering territories. It then resulted in constant commercial traffic, which contributed to the development of the region.

The plains have been intensively cultivated for centuries, and little of the original environment remains. The most common trees are elm, alder, sycamore, poplar, willow and hornbeam. In the area of the foothills lakes, however, olive, cypresses and larches grow, as do varieties of subtropical flora such as magnolia, azalea and acacias. Numerous species of endemic flora in the Prealpine area include some species of saxifrage, Lombardy garlic, groundsel and bellflowers. The highlands are characterised by the typical vegetation of the Italian Alps. At and below about , oaks or broadleaf trees grow; on the mountain slopes between , beech trees grow at the lowest limits with conifer woods higher up. Shrubs such as rhododendron, dwarf pine and juniper are native to the summit zone beyond
Lombardy includes many protected areas. The most important is Stelvio National Park, established in 1935—the fourth largest Italian natural park, with typically alpine wildlife such as red deer, roe deer, ibex, chamois, foxes, ermine and golden eagles; and the Ticino Valley Natural Park, which was instituted in 1974 on the Lombard side of the river Ticino to protect one of the last major examples of fluvial forest in northern Italy. There have also been efforts to protect the endangered Italian agile frog. Ticino Valley Natural Park is the first Italian regional park to be established as well as the first European river park. Other parks in the region are the Campo dei Fiori and the Cinque Vette Park, both of which are located in the Province of Varese. The system of protected areas in Lombardy consists of one national park, 24 regional parks, 65 natural reserves and 30 natural monuments. In total, protected areas cover more than 27% of the regional territory.

Lombardy has a wide array of climates due to variance in elevation, proximity to inland water basins, and large metropolitan areas. The climate is mainly humid subtropical (Köppen Cfa), especially in the plains, though with significant variations to the Köppen model, especially in the normally long, damp, and cold winters. There is high seasonal temperature variation; in Milan, the average temperature is in January and in July. The plains are often subject to fog during the coldest months. In the Alpine foothills with oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb), numerous lakes have a mitigating influence, allowing typically Mediterranean crops (olive, citrus fruit) to grow. In the hills and mountains, the climate is humid continental (Köppen Dfb). In the valleys, it is relatively mild while it can be severely cold with copious snowfalls above
Precipitation is more intense in the Prealpine zone, up to annually, but is also abundant n the plains and alpine zones, with an average of annually. Average annual rainfall is Lake Garda, thanks to its size and position, mitigates the climate of its coasts, creating a "Mediterranean" microclimate which makes the cultivation of olive trees and the production of olive oil possible; the so called "Lombard oil" is also produced in other Lombard lake areas.

The geological structure of Lombardy derives from the orogeny of the Alps due to the collision between the African and Eurasian plates which generated the Alpine chain from the Upper Cretaceous to the Miocene. The Po Valley, on the other hand, is of more recent origin; formed by the deposit of detrital material on the continental shelf, coming from the erosion caused by surface waters, which accompanied the lifting of the Alpine chain, which rose to the west and north of the plain, and of the Apennine chain to the south, which filled the marine gulf existing in the Pliocene created by the uplift of the two mountain chains.

Lombardy is one of the most air polluted areas of Europe. Because of high levels of industrialisation and the lack of wind due to the region being enclosed between mountain ranges, air pollution remains a severe problem in Lombardy and northern Italy. In March 2019, the European Space Agency (ESA) published images taken from its satellites that show a large stain composed of nitrogen dioxide and fine particles above the Po Valley area. Lombardy is the geographic and economic centre of this area, with more than 10 million residents and the highest GRP per inhabitant of the country. Most of its major cities are located in the Po river basin, which crosses the region. The stain analysed by ESA is the main reason Po Valley air pollution levels are so high. Milan also has high levels of ozone and nitrogen oxides, which are mainly produced by cars diesel and petrol engines. According to Chicago Energy Policy Institute, which has recently developed the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), Po Valley air pollution reduces life expectancy by about six months. Air pollution in the Po Valley is connected to livestock and factories. The use of NPK fertilizers, made of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, along with manure emissions from intensive breeding and high levels of nitrogen dioxide released by diesel and petrol engines are all causes of pollution in the north of Italy. Lombardy also produces vast amounts of animal waste, a big contributor to pollution. Lombardy produces more than 40% of Italy's milk and over half of the Italian pig production is located in the Po Valley. According to research published in The Lancet Planetary Health, in January 2021, Brescia and Bergamo had the highest death rate from fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Europe. The data show many cities in Lombardy and the Po Valley suffer the most serious impact of poor air quality in Europe, primarily the metropolitan area of Milan, which is 13th in terms of fine particulate impact, with an annual premature death rate of 3,967 – approximately 9% of the total.

[[File:Scena di duello R6 Foppe Nadro (Foto Luca Giarelli). jpg|thumb|A couple in duel with a "symbol" in the middle depicted in the Rock Drawings in Valcamonica. The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica are the largest collections of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world. based on about 300,000 records. The many artefacts found in a necropolis near Lake Maggiore and the Ticino demonstrate the presence of the Golasecca Bronze Age culture that prospered in western Lombardy between the ninth and the 4th centuries BC. In the following centuries, Lombardy was inhabited by different peoples; the Etruscans founded the city of Mantua and spread the use of writing. It was seat of the Celtic Canegrate culture starting from the 13th century BC, and later of the Celtic Golasecca culture. From the 5th century BC, the area was invaded by more Celtic Gallic tribes coming from north of the Alps. These people settled in several cities including Milan and extended their rule to the Adriatic Sea. Celtic development was halted by the Roman expansion in the Po Valley from the 3d century BC. After centuries of struggle, at the end of the 2nd century B. C., the entirety of modern day Lombardy became a Roman province called Gallia Cisalpina—"Gaul on the inner side (with respect to Rome) of the Alps". The Roman culture and language overwhelmed the former civilisation in the following years, and Lombardy became one of the most developed and richest areas of Italy with the construction of roads and the development of agriculture and trade. Important figures were born here, such as Pliny the Elder (in Como) and Virgil (in Mantua). In late antiquity the strategic role of Lombardy was emphasised by the move of the capital of the Western Empire to Mediolanum (Milan). Here, in 313 AD, Roman Emperor Constantine issued the famous Edict of Milan that gave freedom of confession to all religions within the Roman Empire.

thumbnail|For centuries, the Iron Crown of Lombardy was used in the Coronation of the King of Italy. During and after the fall of the Western Empire, Lombardy heavily suffered from destruction brought about by a series of invasions by tribal peoples. After 540, Pavia became the permanent capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, the fixed site of the court and the royal treasury. The last and most effective invasion was that of the Germanic Lombards or Longobards, whose nation migrated to the region from the Carpathian basin in fear of the conquering Pannonian Avars in 568. The Lombards' long lasting reign, with its capital in Pavia, gave the current name to the region. There was a close relationship between the Frankish, Bavarian and Lombard nobility for many centuries. After the initial struggles, relationships between the Lombard people and the Gallo Roman peoples improved. The Lombard language and culture was integrated with the Latin culture, leaving evidence in many names, the legal code and laws. The Lombards became intermixed with the Roman population owing to their relatively smaller number. The end of Lombard rule came in 774, when the Frankish king Charlemagne conquered Pavia, deposed Desiderius the last Lombard king, and annexed the Kingdom of Italy—mostly northern and central present day Italy—to his newly established Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne was crowned by the Pope on 25 December 800. The former Lombard dukes and nobles were replaced by other German vassals, prince bishops and marquises. The entire northern part of the Italian peninsula continued to be called "Lombardy" and its population "Lombards" throughout the following centuries.

After the Battle of Pavia, the Duchy of Milan became a possession of the Habsburgs of Spain; the new rulers did little to improve the economy of Lombardy, instead imposing a growing series of taxes to support their lengthy series of European wars. The eastern part of modern day Lombardy, including the cities Bergamo and Brescia, was controlled by the Republic of Venice, which had begun to extend its influence in the area from the 14th century onwards. Between the mid 15th century and the battle of Marignano in 1515, the northern part of east Lombardy from Airolo to Chiasso (modern Ticino), and the Valtellina valley came under possession of the Old Swiss Confederacy. Pestilences like that of 1628–1630, which Alessandro Manzoni described in his I Promessi Sposi, and the general decline of Italy's economy in the 17th and 18th centuries halted further development of Lombardy. In 1706 the Austrian Empire came to power, and introduced some economic and social measures that allowed a degree of recovery to occur. Austrian rule was interrupted in the late 18th century by the French; under Napoleon, Lombardy became the centre of the Cisalpine Republic and of the Kingdom of Italy, both of which were puppet states of France's First Empire, with Milan as capital and Napoleon as head of state. During this period, Lombardy regained Valtellina from Switzerland.

thumb|Founded in 1778, La Scala in Milan is the world's most famous opera house. Each of Lombardy's 12 provinces has its own musical traditions. Bergamo is famous for being the birthplace of Gaetano Donizetti and home of the Teatro Donizetti; Brescia hosts the 1709 Teatro Grande; Cremona is regarded as the origin of the violin and is home to several of the most prestigious luthiers; and Mantua was one of the founding and most important cities in 16th and 17th century opera and classical music. Other cities such as Lecco, Lodi, Varese and Pavia (Teatro Fraschini) also have rich musical traditions, but Milan is the centre of the Lombard musical scene. It was the workplace of Giuseppe Verdi, one of the most famous and influential 19th century opera composers. The province has acclaimed theatres, such as the Piccolo Teatro and the Teatro Arcimboldi; however, the most famous is the 1778 Teatro alla Scala (popularly La Scala), the world's most famous opera house. Some of these comprise several individual objects in different locations. One of the entries has been listed as natural heritage and the others are cultural heritage sites. At Monte San Giorgio on the border with Swiss canton Ticino just south of Lake Lugano, a wide range of marine Triassic fossils have been found. During the Triassic period, 245 230 million years ago, the area was a shallow tropical lagoon. Fossils include reptiles, fish, crustaceans and insects. The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date to between 8000BC and 1000BC, covering prehistoric periods from the Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic to the Iron Age, and constitute the largest collections of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world. The collection was recognized by UNESCO in 1979 and was Italy's first recognized World Heritage Site. UNESCO has formally recognized more than 140,000 figures and symbols, The petroglyphs are spread on all surfaces of the valley, but concentrated in the areas of Darfo Boario Terme, Capo di Ponte, Nadro, Cimbergo and Paspardo. Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps are a series of prehistoric pile dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from about 5000 to 500 BC on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. In 2011, 111 sites located variously in Switzerland (56), Italy (19), Germany (18), France (11), Austria (5) and Slovenia (2) were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. In Slovenia, these were the first World Heritage Sites to be listed for their cultural value. Excavations conducted at some of the sites have yielded evidence regarding prehistoric life and the way communities interacted with their environment during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages in Alpine Europe. These settlements are a unique group of exceptionally well preserved and culturally rich archaeological sites, which constitute one of the most important sources for the study of early agrarian societies in the region. The Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan with "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci represent architectural and painting styles of the 15th century Renaissance period. The towns Mantua and Sabbioneta are also listed as a combined World Heritage site relating to this period, here focussing more on town planning aspects of the time than on architectural detail. While Mantua was rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries, according to Renaissance principles, Sabbioneta was planned as a new town in the 16th century. The Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy are a group of nine sites in northwest Italy, two of which are in Lombardy. The concept of holy mountains can be found elsewhere in Europe. These sites were created as centres of pilgrimage by placing chapels in the natural landscape and were loosely modelled on the topography of Jerusalem. In Lombardy, Sacro Monte del Rosario di Varese and Sacro Monte della Beata Vergine del Soccorso, which were built in the early to mid 17th century, mark the architectural transition from the late Renaissance to the Baroque style. Crespi d'Adda is a historic settlement and an outstanding example of the 19th and early 20th century "company towns" built in Europe and North America by enlightened industrialists to meet the workers' needs. The site is still intact and is partly used for industrial purposes, although changing economic and social conditions now threaten its survival. Since 1995 it has been on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. Mantua and Sabbioneta represent two approaches of Renaissance period town planning. Mantua (pictured), originating in Roman times and preserving structures from the 11th century, was renovated in the 15th and 16th centuries. On the other hand, Sabbioneta was founded in the second half of the 16th century by Vespasiano I Gonzaga and built with a grid plan, according to the period's vision of an ideal city. The Rhaetian Railway in the Albula/Bernina Landscapes is mostly located in the Swiss canton Grisons, but extends over the border into Tirano. The site is listed because of the complex railway engineering (tunnels, viaducts and avalanche galleries) necessary to take the narrow gauge railway across the main chain of the Alps. The two railway lines were opened in several stages between 1904 and 1910. The Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th centuries: Stato da Terra – western Stato da Mar is a transnational system of fortifications that were built by the Republic of Venice on its mainland domains (Stato da Terra) and its territories stretching along the Adriatic coast (Stato da Mar). This site includes the fortified city Bergamo.

thumb|Milano Centrale railway station is the second railway station in Italy for passenger flow and the largest railway station in Europe by volume. The Lombardy railway network has 428 stations and extends for approximately The network is mainly managed by RFI; of railway lines are under concession to Ferrovienord, while the Parma Suzzara and Suzzara Ferrara lines, although partially falling within Lombardy ( and 11 stations), are under concession to Ferrovie Emilia Romagna. The national and international railway service is mainly ensured by Trenitalia and to a lesser extent by Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, TGV and Deutsche Bahn. The regional territory has three high speed lines: Turin–Milan high speed railway, Milan–Bologna high speed railway and Milan–Verona high speed railway. Milan is the core of Lombardy's regional train network. The regional service is the responsibility of Trenord, a company founded on 3 May 2011 and jointly owned by the Ferrovie Nord Milano and Trenitalia, which operates on both the RFI and Ferrovie Nord Milano networks, which have the Milan Passerby railway as their main interconnection hub. The Trenitalia Tper company operates on the FER network. Milano Centrale railway station, with 110 million passengers per year, is the largest and eighth busiest railway station in Europe and the second busiest in Italy after Roma Termini. Milano Cadorna and Milano Porta Garibaldi stations are respectively the seventh and the eleventh busiest stations in Italy.

thumb|The Autostrada dei Laghi ("Lakes Motorway"; now parts of the Autostrada A8 and the Autostrada A9) near Besnate, the first motorway built in the world

The motorway network in Lombardy extends for to which approximately of state highways are added. The A4 motorway crosses the entire regional territory for from east to west, connecting the cities of Brescia, Bergamo, Monza and Milan. It is characterized by particularly intense traffic throughout the year and is flanked by the BreBeMi, which connects Brescia to the Milan external east ring road of Milan passing through Treviglio, rather than Bergamo. The Milan ring road system is the largest in Italy, long in total and is made up of three ring roads: West, East and North. The A1, A7, A35, A8 and A9 connect Lombardy with Switzerland. The Autostrada dei Laghi ("Lakes Motorway"), connecting Milan to Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, and now parts of the A8 and A9 motorways, was devised by Piero Puricelli and was inaugurated in 1924.

thumb|Car ferry across Lake Maggiore from Verbania (Piedmont) to Laveno (Lombardy). In the background Monte Rosa mountain chain and Verbania

Even though it is not surrounded by the sea, the region has a naval system that develops on the lakes, along the rivers and Navigli. The most important waterway system in Lombardy is part of the Po Valley Veneto one which allows navigation from Casale Monferrato to Venice along the Po river. In this waterway system, the most important ports in Lombardy are those of Cremona and Mantua. Navigation on the lakes has a predominantly tourist function and takes place regularly on scheduled routes. The scheduled shipping routes cover and are frequented by over 10 million travellers annually. The connections are managed by the Gestione Governativa Navigazione Laghi.

Daverio, Philippe. Lombardy: 127 Destinations For Discovering Art, History, and Beauty (2016) guide book. Macadam, Alta, and Annabel Barber. Blue Guide Lombardy, Milan & the Italian Lakes (2020). Williams, Egerton R. Jr. (1914). Lombard Towns in Italy; Or, The Cities of Ancient Lombardy.