Albingaunum
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Albenga Albingaunum |
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| Comune | ||
| Comune di Albenga | ||
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 Albenga
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| Coordinates: 44°03′N 8°13′E / 44.050°N 8.217°E | ||
| Country | Italy | |
| Region | Liguria | |
| Province / Metropolitan city | Savona (SV) | |
| Frazioni | Bastia, Campochiesa, Leca, Lusignano, Salea, San Fedele | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Giorgio Cangiano | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 36.51 km2 (14.10 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 5 m (16 ft) | |
| Population (31 December 2010) | ||
| • Total | 24,378 | |
| • Density | 670/km2 (1,700/sq mi) | |
| Demonym(s) | Ingauni or Albenganesi | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| Postal code | 17031 | |
| Dialing code | 0182 | |
| Patron saint | Saint Michael the Archangel | |
| Saint day | 29 September | |
| Website | Official website | |
Albenga is a city and comune situated on the Gulf of Genoa on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Savona in Liguria, northern Italy. Albenga has the nickname of city of a hundred spires. The economy is mostly based on tourism, local commerce and agriculture. Albenga has six hamlets: San Fedele, Lusignano, Campochiesa, Leca, Bastia, Salea.
A settlement of pre-Roman origins on the west side of the Ligurian coast, it was founded around the 4th century BC on the slopes of the coastal hills, becoming the capital of the Ingauni Ligures tribe, who dedicated to marine activities and controlled a large territory between Finale and Sanremo.
During the Second Punic War the city allied itself with the Carthaginians, but were defeated by the Romans under proconsul Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus in 181 BC. The following year the Romans and the Ingauni signed a foedus (alliance agreement) which began the total Romanization of the whole region. Put under Latin rights in 89 BC, Albingaunum was granted the Roman citizenship in 45 BC under Julius Caesar, starting to enjoy, with the beginning of the Empire, a period of prosperity. A further boost for the city came from the building of the Via Julia Augusta (13 BC), connecting it to southern France and Spain. In the meantime the intense exploitation of the flat land around the city continued; an inscription records the restoration of the walls, forum, and harbor, by Constantius in A.D. 354.
During the 5th century, the city suffered the raids of the Visigoths, who partly destroyed and sacked it. The old Municipium, turned in disastrous conditions, was rebuilt for the intervention of emperor Constantius III who gave the city stability and a difensive structure that allowed it to survive and to go through the events of the following centuries. Albenga established itself as a commune in 1098; in that same year it took part to the First Crusade with vessels, men and money, receiving rights of free trade by the King of Jerusalem. From that moment on, the Golden Red Cross coat of arms waved on its ship and on its towers.
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Wikipedia