Cecina, Tuscany

Cecina ( stressed on the "e" ) is a municipality of the Province of Livorno in the Tuscany region of Italy with 28 027 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012). The small town was founded in the 19th century is a trading center and was built relatively modern again after destruction of the Second World War. The hamlet of Cecina Mare is a resort.

Geography

Cecina is situated 40 km south of Livorno on the Tyrrhenian Sea, north of the Maremma plain. The same Cecina river flows in the northern part of the municipality into the sea. Cecina basically consists of two districts: the actual town of Cecina few kilometers inland and in Cecina Mare is set directly on the coast (also known as Marina di Cecina ). Smaller districts are San Pietro in Palazzi and San Vincenzino.

Borders the following municipalities: Bibbona, Casale Marittimo ( PI), Castellina Marittima ( PI), Guardistallo ( PI), Montescudaio ( PI), Riparbella ( PI) and Rosignano.

Cecina Mare

The seaside resort of Cecina Mare has a seafront promenade and sandy beach, pubs and nightlife. The beach is chargeable in this section; free beaches and campsites are located in the south section along the adjacent coastal pine forest. The thick, running parallel to the coast forest of pine, Aleppo pine and scrub was originally created to protect the agricultural inland sea before the wind. It runs about 15 km from the north ( mouth of the river Cecina ) to the neighboring community Bibbona back and is especially popular in the summer for pleasant cooling. The many species of animals harboring area is a nature reserve since 1977 ( Riserva tomboli Statale di Cecina ).

History

The territory of the municipality at the mouth of the river Cecina was inhabited in Etruscan times and transportation hub between Volterra and Populonia. In Roman times, the senator Albinus Caecina had a villa here, which seems to be the agricultural center of this area was ( remains of the villa are in the district of San Vincenzino receive ). With the end of the Roman Empire and the destruction of the Roman estates the coastline of the Maremma began gradually to get bogged down and were in the Middle Ages (12th century) uninhabitable by the spread of malaria. Only a few military outposts on the coast were obtained, the Castrum of Cecina, in the. First under control of the Counts of Gherardescas then stood since 1121 by the bishops of Pisa The place names mentioned Cecina Dante in the Divine Comedy ( Inferno XIII, 7).

From the 16th century the first attempts were made to the area to dry up in parts and make them usable, first on the initiative of the Grand Dukes Cosimo I and Ferdinando I, then by the Marquis Carlo Ginori, the 1738 agricultural estate einrichtete. But not until the mid 19th century. had initiated by Grand Duke Leopold II reclamation measures success. The land was quickly colonized new and upgraded by road and railway.

Officially, the present city of Cecina was founded in 1852. Of the buildings from the time almost nothing is available, as the town center was heavily damaged in World War II.

Economy

Cecina is a major transportation hub and owes this position, its economic development, especially in trade ( agricultural products from the surrounding communities, farm equipment ) and services ( tourism). At the beginning of the 20th century. also began to develop small-scale industries (food, sugar, building materials such as glass, tile, marble, granite, boat building ) and in the 1960s the summer tourism.

Traffic

Cecina is connected to the Variante Aurelia (SS1 ), which leads to Livorno and Grosseto. The runs loud Cecina-Nord/San Pietro in Palazzi, Cecina Centro and Cecina-Sud/La California. Currently, this road will be expanded to the highway, thus the connection Cecinas improved many times over.

In the neighboring village of Rosignano there is access to the A12 motorway, which forms an important transport corridor between southern Tuscany and Genoa or Florence. The SS1 opens later in Livorno also on this road. The SP39 ( Rosignano - Vada - Cecina Donoratico San Vincenzo Venturina - Follonica ) and SP68 ( Cecina Ponteginori - Saline di Volterra Volterra -Castel San Gimignano, Colle di Val d' Elsa) run through the city.

Cecina has its own railway station on the main railway route Pisa -Livorno - Rome. The station is serviced regularly by local trains and accelerated regional trains of the State Railways Trenitalia. Some intercity trains stop at Cecina. The station is also the starting point of a non-electrified branch line towards Volterra.

In Cecina is a small airfield for general aviation.

Culture and sights

Museums

• Museo della Vita e del Lavoro della Maremma Settentrionale - Folklore Museum on the subject of northern Maremma
• Museo Archeologico Etrusco - Romano - Archaeological Museum in the Villa La Cinquantina 18th century finds of prehistoric and Etruscan- Roman period.

Churches

• Acipretale Chiesa San Giuseppe e Leopoldo - The Church in the classical style was built in 1852 on the initiative of Leopold II.

Others

• District of San Vincenzino: Remains of a Roman Villa ( inhabited from the 1st century BC to 5th century AD). To visit mosaics and an underground cistern.

Regular events

• Festa della Madonna del Mare (August 15 ) - procession, in Cecina Mare.
• Targa Cecina ( August, September ) festival, parades with floats, race.

Twinning

Cecina maintains with the following cities twinning:

• Gilching, Germany, since 1989
• Sagunto, Spain
• Sin Le Noble, France

Sons and daughters of the town

• Paolo Bettini ( born 1974 ), former racing cyclist
• Massimo Bulleri ( b. 1977 ), basketball player
• Diego Ulissi (* 1989), cyclist
• Elijah Favilli (* 1989), cyclist
• Floriano Pagliara (born 1978 ), boxer