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Circus (disambiguation)

Circus (disambiguation)

The word circus originates from Latin and can mean several things:
- A travelling show that usually includes acrobats, animal trainers, clowns and other novelty acts. See circus.
- A public equipped space for shows and other spectacles of the Classical period (e.g., in ancient Rome, the Circus Maximus); the term derives from the circular shape of the first arenas in which, mostly, horse and biga (two-horse chariot) races were run.
- In town planning, an open space, usually circular, where a number of roads meet, such as Oxford Circus, Cambridge Circus and Piccadilly Circus in London, or "The Circus" in Bath.
- Circus is a genus of harriers, a type of bird of prey. It is also the name of several movies:
- Circus - a 2000 crime thriller starring John Hannah
- Circus - a 1936 Soviet classic melodramatic comedy
- The Circus - a 1928 silent film starring Charlie Chaplin
- The Invisible Circus - a 2001 drama film starring Cameron Diaz

Latin

Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages, those being most notably Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian, are descended from Latin, and many words based on Latin are found in other modern languages such as English. The Latin alphabet, derived from the Greek, remains the most widely-used alphabet in the world. It is said that 80 percent of scholarly English words are derived from Latin (in a large number of cases by way of French). Moreover, in the Western world, Latin was a lingua franca, the learned language for scientific and political affairs, for more than a thousand years, being eventually replaced by French in the 18th century and English in the late 19th. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the formal language of the Roman Catholic Church to this day, and thus the official national language of the Vatican. The Church used Latin as its primary liturgical language until the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Latin is also still used (drawing heavily on Greek roots) to furnish the names used in the scientific classification of living things. The modern study of Latin, along with Greek, is known as Classics.

Main features

Latin is a synthetic inflectional language: affixes (which usually encode more than one grammatical category) are attached to fixed stems to express gender, number, and case in adjectives, nouns, and pronouns, which is called declension; and person, number, tense, voice, mood, and aspect in verbs, which is called conjugation. There are five declensions (declinationes) of nouns and four conjugations of verbs. There are six noun cases: #nominative (used as the subject of the verb or the predicate nominative), #genitive (used to indicate relation or possession, often represented by the English of or the addition of s to a noun), #dative (used of the indirect object of the verb, often represented by the English to or for), #accusative (used of the direct object of the verb, or object of the preposition in some cases), #ablative (separation, source, cause, or instrument, often represented by the English by, with, from), #vocative (used of the person or thing being addressed). In addition, some nouns have a locative case used to express location (otherwise expressed by the ablative with a preposition such as in), but this survival from Proto-Indo-European is found only in the names of lakes, cities, towns, small islands, and a few other words related to locations, such as "house", "ground", and "countryside". Latin itself, being a very old language, is far closer to Proto-Indo-European than are most modern Western European languages; it has, in fact, about the same relationship with PIE as modern Italian or French has to Latin. There are six general tenses in Latin (technically they are tense/aspect/mood complexes). The indicative mood can be used with all of them. The subjunctive mood, however, has only present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect tenses. These tenses in the subjunctive mood do not completely correlate in meaning to the tenses in the indicative. The following examples are of the first conjugation verb "laudare" ("to praise") in the indicative mood and the active voice:
Primary sequence tenses
# present (laudo, "I praise") # imperfect (laudabam, "I was praising") # future (laudabo, "I shall praise," "I will praise")
Secondary sequence tenses
# perfect (laudavi, "I praised", "I have praised") # pluperfect (laudaveram, "I had praised") # future perfect (laudavero, "I shall have praised," "I will have praised") The future perfect tense can also imply a normal future idea (like in "When I will have run...") and so may also sometimes be included in the primary sequence.
Latin and Romance
After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Latin evolved into the various Romance languages. These were for many centuries only spoken languages, Latin still being used for writing. For example, Latin was the official language of Portugal until 1296 when it was replaced by Portuguese. The Romance languages evolved from Vulgar Latin, the spoken language of common usage, which in turn evolved from an older speech which also produced the formal classical standard. Latin and Romance differ (for example) in that Romance had distinctive stress, whereas Latin had distinctive length of vowels. In Italian and Sardo logudorese, there is distinctive length of consonants and stress, in Spanish only distinctive stress, and in French even stress is no longer distinctive. Another major distinction between Romance and Latin is that all Romance languages, excluding Romanian, have lost their case endings in most words except for some pronouns. Romanian retains a direct case (nominative/accusative), an indirect case (dative/genitive), and vocative. In Italy, Latin is still compulsory in secondary schools as Liceo Classico and Liceo Scientifico which are usually attended by people who aim to the highest level of education. In Liceo Classico Ancient Greek is a compulsory subject.
Latin and English
See Latin influence in English for a more complete exposition. English grammar is independent of Latin grammar, though prescriptive grammarians in English have been heavily influenced by Latin. Attempts to make English grammar follow Latin rules — such as the prohibition against the split infinitive — have not worked successfully in regular usage. However, as many as half the words in English were derived from Latin, including many words of Greek origin first adopted by the Romans, not to mention the thousands of French, hundreds of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian words of Latin origin that have also enriched English. During the 16th and on through the 18th century English writers created huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek roots. These words were dubbed "inkhorn" or "inkpot" words (as if they had spilled from a pot of ink). Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, but some remain. Imbibe, extrapolate, dormant and inebriation are all inkhorn terms carved from Latin words. In fact, the word etymology is derived from the Greek word etymologia, meaning "true sense of the word." Latin was once taught in many of the schools in Britain with academic leanings - perhaps 25% of the total [http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/teachem2/thennow/]. However, the requirement for it was gradually abandoned in the professions such as the law and medicine, and then, from around the late 1960s, for admission to university. After the introduction of the Modern Language GCSE in the 1980s, it was gradually replaced by other languages, although it is now being taught by more schools along with other classical languages.
Latin education
The linguistic element of Latin courses offered in high schools or secondary schools, and in universities, is primarily geared toward an ability to translate Latin texts into modern languages, rather than using it in oral communication. As such, the skill of reading is heavily emphasized, whereas speaking and listening skills are barely touched upon. However, there is a growing movement, sometimes known as the Living Latin movement, whose supporters believe that Latin can, or should, be taught in the same way that modern "living" languages are taught, that is, as a means of both spoken and written communication. One of the most interesting aspects of such an approach is that it assists speculative insight into how many of the ancient authors spoke and incorporated sounds of the language stylistically; without understanding how the language is meant to be heard it is very difficult to identify patterns in Latin poetry. Institutions offering Living Latin instruction include the Vatican and the University of Kentucky. In Britain the Classical Association encourages this approach, and there has been something of a vogue for books describing the adventures of a mouse called Minimus. In the United States there is a thriving competitive organization for high school Latin students, the National Junior Classical League (the second-largest youth organization in the world after the Boy Scouts), backed up by the Senior Classical League for college students. Many would-be international auxiliary languages have been heavily influenced by Latin, and the moderately successful Interlingua considers itself to be the modernized and simplified version of the language (le latino moderne international e simplificate). Latin translations of modern literature such as Paddington Bear, Winnie the Pooh, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Le Petit Prince, Max und Moritz, and The Cat in the Hat have also helped boost interest in the language.
See also

About the Latin language

- Latin grammar
- Latin spelling and pronunciation
- Latin declension
- Latin conjugation
- Latin alphabet
- List of Latin words with English derivatives
- Latin verbs with English derivatives
- Latin nouns with English derivatives
- ablative absolute
- Word order in Latin
About the Latin literary heritage

- Latin literature
- Romance languages
- Loeb Classical Library
- List of Latin phrases
- List of Latin proverbs
- Brocard
- List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names
- List of Latin place names in Europe
- Carmen Possum
Other related topics

- Roman Empire
- Internationalism
References

- Bennett, Charles E. Latin Grammar (Allyn and Bacon, Chicago, 1908)
- N. Vincent: "Latin", in The Romance Languages, M. Harris and N. Vincent, eds., (Oxford Univ. Press. 1990), ISBN 0195208293
- Waquet, Françoise, Latin, or the Empire of a Sign: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Centuries (Verso, 2003) ISBN 1859844022; translated from the French by John Howe.
- Wheelock, Frederic. Latin: An Introduction (Collins, 6th ed., 2005) ISBN 0060784237
External links

- [http://www.jambell.com/latin.html Latin Phrases for after dinner conversation (Thanks to Elaine Poole)]
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=lat Ethnologue report for Latin]
- [http://forumromanum.org/literature/index.html Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum] is a comprehensive webography of Latin texts and their translations.
- [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ The Perseus Project] has many useful pages for the study of classical languages and literatures, including [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/resolveform?lang=Latin an interactive Latin dictionary].
- [http://lysy2.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/words.exe words by William whitaker] is a dictionary program online capable of looking up various word forms.
- [http://retiarius.org/ Retiarius.Org] includes a Latin text search engine.
- [http://www.nd.edu/~archives/latgramm.htm Latin-English dictionary and Latin grammar from U of Notre Dame]
- [http://latin-language.co.uk/ Latin language] History of Latin language, Latin texts with English translation and a collection of dictionaries.
- [http://augustinus.eresmas.net/scl/ Societas Circulorum Latinorum] gathers together Latin Circles all over the world.
- [http://www.learnlatin.tk LearnLatin.tk] - Free online course in Latin
- [http://www.latintests.net/ LatinTests.net] - Lets Latin learners test their grammar and vocabulary with self-checking quizzes.
- [http://thelatinlibrary.com/ The Latin Library] contains many Latin etexts
- [http://www.textkit.com/ Textkit] has Latin textbooks and etexts.
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Latin-english/ Latin–English Dictionary]: from Webster's Rosetta Edition.
- [http://www.language-reference.com/ Language reference] Cross-foreign-language lexicon powered by its own search engine. All cross combinations between Latin and French, German, Italian, Spanish.
- [http://comp.uark.edu/~mreynold/rhetor.html Rhetor by Gabriel Harvey] was originally published in 1577 and never again reprinted.
- [http://freewebs.com/omniamundamundis omniamundamundis] Latin hypertexts from fourteen ancient Roman authors.
- [http://www.saltspring.com/capewest/pron.htm Pronunciation of Biological Latin, Including Taxonomic Names of Plants and Animals]
- [http://www.yleradio1.fi/nuntii Nuntii Latini (News in Latin)], written and spoken (RealAudio) news in latin. Weekly review of world news in Classical Latin, the only international broadcast of its kind in the world, produced by YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company.
- [http://www.tranexp.com:2000/InterTran?url=http%3A%2F%2F&type=text&text=Replace%20Me&from=eng&to=ltt InterTran Latin], Translate from Latin to ENGLISH or vice versa.
- [http://www.latinvulgate.com Latin Vulgate] The Latin and English of the Old & New Testaments in parallel, along with the Complete Sayings of Jesus in parallel Latin and English. Category:Classical languages Category:Ancient languages Category:Fusional languages Category:Languages of Italy Category:Languages of Vatican City als:Latein zh-min-nan:Latin-gí ko:라틴어 ja:ラテン語 simple:Latin language th:ภาษาละติน

Circus

2004.]] A circus is most commonly a traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts and the word also describes the performance that they give. A circus is held in a oval or circular arena with tiered seating around its circumference; in the case of traveling circuses this location is most often a large tent. The circus is thought to have had its origin in Ancient Rome, where the circus was an open-air stadium where chariot and horse races and other public exhibitions where held. Britton Philip Astley is thought of as the father of the modern circus, establishing permanent and travelling circuses in Britain and Europe in the late 18th century.

History of the circus

Circus in the ancient world

In Ancient Rome the circus was a building for the exhibition of horse and chariot races, equestrian shows, staged battles, displays featuring trained exotic animals, jugglers and acrobats and other amusements. The circus of Rome is thought to have been influenced by the Egyptians and Greeks where chariot racing and the exhibition of exotic animals were popular events. The Roman circus consisted of tiers of seats running parallel with the sides of the course, and forming a crescent round one of the ends. The lower seats were reserved for persons of rank; there were also various state boxes, eg. for the giver of the games and his friends. In Ancient Rome the circus was the only public spectacle at which men and women were not separated. The first circus in Rome was the Circus Maximus, in the valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills. Next in importance to the Circus Maximus in Rome was the Circus Flaminius, the Circus Neronis, from the notoriety which it obtained through the Circensian pleasures of Nero. A fourth, Circus Maxentius, was constructed by Maxentius; the ruins of this circus have enabled archaeologists to reconstruct the Roman circus. Following the fall of Rome, Europe lacked a large and organized circus. Itinerant showmen traveled the fair grounds of Europe. Animal trainers and performers are thought ot have exploited the nostalgia for the Roman circus, traveling between towns and performing at local fairs. Another possible link between the Roman and modern circus could have been bands of gypsies who appeared in Europe in the 14th century and in Britain from the 15th century bringing with them circus skills and trained animals.

The development of the modern circus

gypsies The modern concept of a circus as a circular arena surrounded by tiers of seats, for the exhibition of equestrian, acrobatic, and other performances seems to have existed since the late 18th century. The popularity of the circus in England may be traced to that held by Philip Astley in London, the first performance of his circus is said to have been held on January 9, 1768. Astley was followed by Andrew Ducrow, whose feats of horsemanship had much to do with establishing the traditions of the circus, which were perpetuated by Henglers and Sangers celebrated shows in a later generation. In England circuses were often held in purpose built buildings in large cities, such as the London Hippodrome, which was built as a combination of the circus, the menagerie and the variety theatre, where wild animals such as lions and elephants from time to time appeared in the ring, and where convulsions of nature such as floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions have been produced with an extraordinary wealth of realistic display. London Hippodrome In the first two decades of the 19th century The Circus of Pepin and Breschard toured from Montreal to Havana, building circus theatres in many of the cities they visited. The establishments of Purdy, Welch & Co., and of van Amburgh gave a wide popularity to the circus in the United States. In 1825 Joshuah Purdy Brown was the first circus owner to use a large canvas tent for the circus performance. The original American circuses were primarily travelling menageries. The American circus was revolutionized by P. T. Barnum and William Cameron Coup, who launched P. T. Barnum's Museum, Menagerie & Circus, a travelling combination animal and human oddities, the exhibition of humans as a freakshow or sideshow was thus an American invention. Coup was also the first circus entrepreneur to use circus trains to transport the circus from town to town; a practice that continues today and introduced the first multiple ringed circuses. In 1840 the equestrian Thomas Cooke returned to England from the United States, bringing with him a circus tent. Three important circus innovators were Italian Giuseppe Chiarini, and Frenchmen Louis Soullier and Jacques Tourniaire, whose early travelling circuses introduced the circus to Latin America, Australia, South East Asia, China, India, South Africa and Russia. Soullier was the first circus owner to introduce Chinese acrobatics to the European circus when he returned from his travels in 1866 and Tourniaire was the first to introduce the performing art to Russia where it became extremely popular. Following Barnum's death his circus merged with that of James Anthony Bailey, and travelled to Europe as Barnum & Bailey "Greatest Show On Earth" where it toured from 1897 to 1902, impressing other circus owners with its large scale, its touring techniques including the tent and circus train and the combination of circus acts, zoological exhibition and the freak-show. This format was adopted by European circuses at the turn of the 20th century. The influence of the American circus brought about a considerable change in the character of the modern circus. In arenas too large for speech to be easily audible, the traditional comic dialog of the clown assumed a less prominent place than formerly, while the vastly increased wealth of stage properties relegated to the background the old-fashioned equestrian feats, which were replaced by more ambitious acrobatic performances, and by exhibitions of skill, strength and daring, requiring the employment of immense numbers of performers and often of complicated and expensive machinery. The Russian circus underwent an interesting development in 1919 when Vladimir Lenin nationalised the circus and in 1927 the State University of Circus and Variety Arts, better known as the Moscow Circus School was established where performers were trained using methods developed from the Soviet gymnastics program. When the Russian companies began touring in the 1950s, their performances were impressive and had a significant impact on the way contemporary circus developed as a performing art.

Contemporary circus

Vladimir Lenin, 2004]] In the 1960s and 1970s, the circus began to lose popularity as people became more interested in animal rights and alternative forms of entertainment. Some circuses have stayed afloat by merging with other circus companies.There are numerous circuses that maintain a mix of animal and human performers, these include Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, the Moscow State Circus, Circus Krone from Munich and the Big Apple Circus. Circus Circus is a Las Vegas circus themed casino and the largest permanent big top in the world also presents human and animal performances. The Cirque Nouveau is a performing arts movement that developed in France in the 1970's and uses the physical theatre aspects of circus to tell a story; there are typically no animals used in this type of circus. Examples include the Cirque du Soleil founded in 1984, Circus Oz founded in 1977 and the West African Circus Baobab. Circuses from China, drawing on Chinese traditions of acrobatics, like the Chinese State Circus are popular touring acts. The Jim Rose Circus is an interesting take on the sideshow. The International Circus Festival has been held in Monte Carlo since 1974 and was the first of many international awards for circus performers.

The circus performance

Monte Carloing in the pursuit of their art.]] A circus performance is led by a ringmaster who has a role similar to a Master of Ceremonies, the ringmaster presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the show moving. The activity of the circus takes place within a ring; large circuses may have multiple rings, like the six ringed Moscow State Circus. A circus traditionally has its own band.

Circus acts

The scope and variety of human performance in circus is immense. Common acts include a variety of acrobatics and gymnastics including tightrope walking, trapeze and a variety of floor routines. Juggling is also a common act in circuses; the combination of juggling and gymnastics is called equilibristics and include acts like plate spinning or the rolling globe. Clowns are common to most circuses and are typically skilled in many circus acts,;"clowns getting into the act" is a very familiar theme in any circus. Famous circus clowns have included Austin Miles, the Fratellini Family, Emmett Kelly, Grock and Bill Irwin. Daredevil stunt acts and sideshow acts are also parts of some circus acts, these activities may include human cannonball, chapeaugraphy, fire eating, breathing and dancing, knife throwing, magic shows, sword swallowing or strongman. Famous sideshow performers include Zip the Pinhead and The Doll Family. A popular sideshow attraction from the early 19th century was the flea circus, where fleas were attached to props and viewed through a Fresnel lens.

Animal acts

Fresnel lens acts such as these are often referred to by the misnomer "Lion tamers". Animal rights activists allege that these acts involve cruel training methods.]] A variety of animals have historically been used in circus acts. While the types of animals used varies from circus to circus, big cats, elephants, horses, birds and domestic animals are the most common. Mabel Stark was a famous female tiger-tamer. The use of animals in the circus has been a matter for controversy, as animal welfare groups have discovered many instances of cruelty used in the training of perfrming anmials. Some countries and cities have banned circuses with animal acts.

The circus in music, plays, films, and television

The atmosphere of the circus has served as a dramatic setting for many musicians and writers. The famous circus theme song is actually called "Entrance of the Gladiators", and was composed in 1904 by Julius Fučík. Other circus music includes "El Caballero", "Quality Plus", "Sunnyland Waltzes", "The Storming of El Caney", "Pahjamah", "Bull Trombone", "Big Time Boogie", "Royal Bridesmaid March", and "Pageant of Progress". Plays set in a circus include the 1896 musical The Circus Girl by Lionel Monckton, Polly of the Circus written in 1907 by Margaret Mayo, He Who Gets Slapped written by Russian Leonid Andreyev 1916 and later adapted into one of the first circus films, Caravan written in 1932 by Carl Zuckmayer, the revue Big Top written by Herbert Farjeon in 1942, Top of the Ladder written by Tyrone Gutheris in 1950 and Stop the World, I Want to Get Off written by Anthony Newley in 1961. Following the First World War circus films became popular, in 1924 He Who Gets Slapped was the first film released by MGM, in 1925 Sally Sawdust (remade 1930), Variety, and Vaudeville were produced, followed by The Devil's Circus in 1926 and The Circus starring Charlie Chaplin, Circus Rookies, Four Devils, Laugh Clown Laugh in 1928. German film Salto Mortale about trapeze artists was released in 1930 and remade in the United States and released as Trapeze starring Burt Lancaster in 1956; in 1932 Freaks circus horror film was released, Charlie Chan at the Circus, Circus (USSR) and The Three Maxiums were released in 1936 and At the Circus starring the Marx Brothers and You Can't Cheat and Honest Man in 1939. Circus films continued to be popular during the Second World War, The Great Profile starring John Barrymore was released in 1940, the animated Disney film Dumbo, Road Show and The Wagons Roll and Night in 1941 and Captive Wild Woman in 1943. The film Tromba, about a tiger trainer was released in 1948 and in 1952 Cecil B. de Mille Oscar winning film The Greatest Show on Earth was first shown. Released in 1953 were Man on a Tightrope and Ingmar Bergman's Gycklarnas afton released as Sawdust and Tinsel in the United States, Life is a Circus, Ring of Fear, Three-Ring Circus and La Strada an Oscar winning film by Federico Fellini about a girl who was sold to a circus wrestler; Fellini made a second film set in the circus called The Clowns in 1970. Films about the circus made since 1959 include B-movie Circus of Horrors, musical Billy Rose's Jumbo, A Tiger Walks a Disney film about a tiger that escapes from the circus and Circus World starring John Wayne. In the 1950s, Micky Dolenz (later of Monkees fame) starred in a children's television show called Circus Boy under the name Micky Braddock. He played an orphaned water boy for the elephants in his uncle's one-ring circus at the turn of the 20th Century.

Notes

- The Oxford English Dictionary lists the 1791 book The History of the Royal Circus about Philip Astley's troupe as the first written use of the word to describe the modern circus.

References

- Big Apple Circus. [http://www.bigapplecircus.org/About/ClassicalCircus/ Classical Circus Throughout the Ages]
- Croft-Cooke, Rupert and Cotes, Peter. 1976. Circus: A World History. Elek. London ISBN 0236400517
- Johnson, William M. 1990. [http://www.iridescent-publishing.com/rtmcont.htm The Rose-Tinted Menagerie]. Iridescent Publishing
- National Museum of Performing Arts, Theatre Museum. [http://www.peopleplayuk.org.uk/guided_tours/circus_tour/default.php Circus Guided Tour]

External links

- News and Information
- [http://www.circusnews.com CircusNews.com News and Information for the Circus Community]
- [http://www.circus-online.info Circus News and Information Blog]
- [http://www.circusfans.org Circus Fans of America]
- [http://circusnews.spotlight.st Spotlight Circus News]
- [http://tutorials.simplycircus.com Circus Tutorials and how-to's] (From Simply Circus)
- Historical sites
- [http://www.barnum-museum.org/ Barnum Museum]
- [http://www.circusworldmuseum.com/library/index.html Circus World Museum]
- Animal Care and Issues
- [http://www.ringlings.com/cec/ Center for Elephant Conservation]
- [http://www.circuses.com/ Circus Animal Abuse] PETA anti-circus site
- Youth Circus
- [http://www.americanyouthcircus.org The American Youth Circus Orginization]
- [http://www.simplycircus.com Simply Circus]
- [http://everydaycircus.net Circus Day Foundation]
- [http://www.circuscenter.com S.F. Circus Center] Category:Circuses Circus Category:Variety entertainment ja:サーカス

Rome

Rome (Italian and Latin: Roma) is the capital of Italy and of its Latium region. It is located on the Tiber and Aniene rivers, near the Mediterranean Sea, at . The Vatican City, a sovereign enclave within Rome, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church and the home of the Pope. Rome is the largest city and comune in Italy; the comune or municipality is one of the largest in Europe with an area of 1290 square kilometers. Within the city limits, the population is 2,823,807 (2004); almost 4 million live in the general area of Rome as represented by the province of Rome. The current mayor of Rome is Walter Veltroni. With a GDP of €75 billion (higher than New Zealand's and equivalent to Singapore's — all three have roughly the same population of around 4 million), in the year 2001 the comune of Rome produced 6.5% of Italy's total GDP, the highest rate among all of Italy's cities. The city's history extends nearly 2,800 years, during which time it has been the seat of ancient Rome (the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic, Roman Empire), and later the Papal States, Kingdom of Italy and Italian Republic.

History

Demographics

Throughout its long history Rome has been a centre of learning, trade and commerce. The native Italian population have shared their city throughout the ages with migrants from across Europe and the wider world. In ancient times a large proportion of the population were foreign merchants, slaves, officials and their descendants who came from across the wide empire which bore the city's name. Today the population is very diverse with immigrants thought to make up as much as 20% of the population of the city.

Economy

Today Rome has a dynamic and diverse economy concentrating on innovation, technologies, communications and the service sector. They produce 6.5% of the national GDP (more than any other city in the Italy) and continues to grow at a higher rate than those in the rest of the country. Tourism is inevitably one of Rome's chief industries. The city is also a centre for banking, publishing, insurance, fashion, high-tech industries, housing, cinema (particularly at the famous Cinecittà studios, dubbed the "Hollywood on the Tiber"), and the aerospace industries. Many international headquarters, government ministries, conference centres, sports venues and museums are located in Rome's principal business districts: the E.U.R. (Esposizione Universale Roma); the Torrino (further south from the E.U.R.); the Magliana; the Parco de' Medici-Laurentina and the so-called Tiburtina-valley along the ancient Via Tiburtina.

Transportation

Esposizione Universale Roma district.]] Esposizione Universale Roma) from the park around the artificial lake. Rome, EUR district.]] Rome has an intercontinental airport named Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport - FCO, but more commonly known as Fiumicino, which also is Italy's chief airport, and the Giovan-Battista Pastine international airport (commonly referred to as Ciampino Airport), a joint civilian and military airport southeast of the city-center, along the Via Appia, which handles mainly charter flights and regional European flights including some low-cost airlines. A third airport, called Aeroporto dell'Urbe, is located in the north of the city along the ancient Via Salaria and handles mainly helicopters and private flights. A fourth airport, called Aeroporto di Centocelle, in the eastern part of Rome between the Via Prenestina and the Via Casilina, has been abandoned for some years now, but is currently being redeveloped as one of the largest public parks in Rome. A subway system operates in Rome called the "Metropolitana" or Rome Metro which was opened in 1955. There are 2 lines (A & B), a third (C) and a new branch of the B-line (B1) are under construction, while a fourth line (D) has been planned. The frequent archaeological findings delay underground work. Today's (2005) total length is 38 km. The two existing lines, A & B, only intersect at one point, Termini Station, the main train station in Rome (which also is the largest train station in Europe, underneath and around which exists now a lively shopping center known as the "Forum Termini" with more than 100 shops of various types). Other stations includes: Tiburtina (second-largest, which is currently being redeveloped and enlarged to become the main high-speed train hub in the city), Ostiense, Trastevere, Tuscolana, S. Pietro, Casilina, Torricola. The Rome Metro is part of an extensive transport network made of a tramway network, several suburban and urban lines in and around the city of Rome, plus an "express line" to Fiumicino Airport. Whereas most FS-Regionale lines (Regional State Railways) do provide mostly a suburban service with more than 20 stations scattered throughout the city, the Roma-Lido (starting at Ostiense station), the Roma-Pantano (starting nearby Termini) and the Roma-Nord (starting at Flaminio station) lines offer a metro-like service. Rome also has a comprehensive bus system. The web site (translated in english) of the [http://www.atac.roma.it/index.asp?lng=2 public transportation company (ATAC)] allows a route to be calculated using the buses and subways. [http://www.atac.roma.it/biglietti/index.asp?COD=320&LNG=2 Metrebus integrated fare system] allows holders of tickets and integrated passes to travel on all companies vehicles, within the validity time of the ticket purchased. Chronic congestion caused by cars during the 1970s and 1980s led to the banning of unauthorized traffic from the central part of city during workdays from 6.00 a.m to 6 p.m. (this area is officially called Zona a Traffico Limitato, Z.T.L. in short). Heavy traffic due to night-life crowds during week-ends led in recent years to the creation of other Z.T.L.s in the Trastevere and S. Lorenzo districts during the night, and to the experimentation of a new night Z.T.L. also in the city center (plans to create a night Z.T.L. in the Testaccio district as well are underway). In recent years, parking-spaces along the streets in wide areas of the city have been converted to pay-parkings, as new underground parkings spread throughout the city. In spite of all these measures, traffic remains an unsolved problem, as in the rest of the world's cities.

Education

Z.T.L. Rome continues to be the major education and research center of Italy, with many major universities that offer degrees in all fields. Among the prestigious educational establishments in Rome is the University of Rome La Sapienza (founded 1303), which is Europe’s biggest university with almost 150,000 students. The city is also home to three other public universities: Università degli studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”, more commonly called Roma 2, University of Roma Tre and the Istituto Universitario di Scienze Motorie. Undisputed as the greatest repository of western art of the last 3,000 years of human history, Rome is home to many foreign academic institutions, as well, such as The American Academy, The British School, The French Institute, The German Archaeological Institute, The Swedish Institute, and The Finnish Institute, The Japan Foundation. Several private universities are as well located in Rome, as:
- LUISS University (Libera università internazionale degli studi sociali), probably the most prestigious private university in Rome;
- Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, a renowned university in Italy;
- John Cabot University, a private American University;
- LUMSA University (Libera Universita Maria SS. Assunta);
- University of Malta, an International University;
- Libera Università di Roma "Leonardo da Vinci";
- Libera Università Degli Studi "S. Pio V";
- UPTER University;
- I.S.S.A.S. University. Still located in Rome are the Accademia di Santa Cecilia - the world's oldest academy of music (founded 1584), St. John's University's Rome campus which is located at the Pontificio Oratorio San Pietro, several academies of fine arts, colleges of the church, medical and Health research instituts.

Monuments and sights

- See Wikipedia's category "Monuments and sights of Rome"

Houses of worship

Churches

Rome is home to over 900 churches.

Basilicas

Patriarchal basilicas

- San Giovanni in Laterano (St. John in Lateran)
- San Pietro in Vaticano (St. Peter's)
- San Paolo fuori le Mura (St. Paul outside the Walls)
- Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major)
- San Lorenzo fuori le Mura (St. Lawrence outside the Walls)

Other basilicas

- Sant'Agnese fuori le mura (St. Agnes outside the Walls)
- Sant'Andrea delle Fratte
- Santi Apostoli (Holy Apostles)
- San Bernardo alle Terme
- San Clemente (St. Clement)
- Santi Cosma e Damiano (SS. Cosmas and Damian)
- Santa Croce in Gerusalemme
- San Lorenzo in Lucina
- San Marco (St. Mark)
- Santa Maria degli Angeli
- Santa Maria in Aracoeli
- Santa Maria sopra Minerva
- San Martino ai Monti
- San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains)
- Santa Prassede (St. Praxedis)
- San Saba
- Santa Sabina
- San Sebastiano fuori le mura
- Santi Quattro Coronati
- Santa Maria in Trastevere

Other important churches

The following do not yet have Wikipedia articles, but are important nonetheless:
- San Giorgio al Velabro;
- San Giovanni dei Fiorentini;
- San Lorenzo in Miranda (temple of Antoninus and Faustina)
- Santi Marcellino e Pietro;
- Santa Maria della Pace;
- Santa Maria dei Monti;
- Santo Stefano Rotondo;

Non-Christian places of worship

- Great Synagogue of Rome
- Great Mosque of Rome and Islamic Cultural Center Image:Sicht vom petersdom roma.jpg|View over Rome from St. Peter's Basilica. Image:RomeSinagogue.jpg|Rome's main Synagogue in the old Jewish Ghetto district, on the banks of the Tiber river.

Administrative subdivision of Rome

The Administrative subdivision of Rome consists in the division of the large territory of Rome into 19 Districts.

Province of Rome

Rome is the capital of a province, with an area of 5,352 sq. km, and a total population of 3,700,424 (2001) in 120 comuni. The province can be viewed as the extended metropolitan area of the town of Rome, although in its more peripheral portions, especially to the north, it comprises towns surrounded by firmly rural landscape, just as towns elsewhere thruout Italy.

Markets and shopping areas

Porta Portese

Street market on Sunday mornings, from very early to around 1pm, on the left bank of the Tiber, between Porto Portese and Stazione Trastevere, centred on Via Portuense. The wares are mainly clothes, both old and new. The second-hand clothing stalls are by far the more popular, with the clothes sorted by type (leathers and furs, jeans, coats, children’s clothes, etc) and piled on large tables with everything at the same (low) price. Tables start at 50c, and range up to 20 euro for high-quality leather and fur.

Campo de' Fiori

Campo de' Fiori is one of the oldest markets in Rome, where food and flowers are most frequently found. Though the name literally means "field of flowers," there are no fields in sight; it's in the middle of downtown Rome, off of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. The market is open every morning of the week except Sunday. Campo de' Fiori, surrounded by many bars and restaurants, is also a popular destination at night for locals and foreigners alike.

Symbols and trivia

Rome is commonly identified by several proper symbols, including the Colosseum, the she-wolf (Lupa capitolina), the imperial eagle, and the symbols of Christianity. The famous acronym SPQR recalls the ancient age and the unity between Roman Senate and Roman people. Rome is called "L'Urbe" (The City), "Caput mundi" (head of the world), "Città Eterna" (eternal city), and "Limen Apostolorum" (the threshold of the apostles). The town's colors are golden yellow and red (garnet): they stand, respectively, for christian and imperial dignities. Rome has two holidays of its own: April 21 (the founding of Rome), and June 29 (the feast of its patron saints, Peter and Paul). Other locally important dates are December 8 (the Immaculate Conception) and January 6 (Epiphany). The Grande Raccordo Anulare (commonly shortened "Il GRA" or "Il Raccordo"), which is more than 80 km long, once encircled the city. Rome has since grown past this round motorway, with new districts well beyond it. Some proverbs about the Eternal City:
- When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
- All roads lead to Rome.
- Rome wasn't built in a day. During its long history, Rome has always had a scarcity of native inhabitants, so by tradition a "true" Roman is one whose family has lived in Rome for no less than 7 generations: this is the original "Romano de Roma" (in Romanesco, the local dialect of Italian). For the autonomistic party Lega Nord, Rome is the symbol of the allegedly parasytical Italian central government, crystalized in their slogan Roma ladrona ("Thief Rome"). Image:Roma01.jpg|Senatus PopulusQue Romanus. Great Seal of Rome's municipality Image:polizia-roma.gif|Seal of Rome's City Police, with the seal and the she-wolf.

Events

Roma Europa Festival, September Annual appointment for modern art and theatre, music and dance, with artists from of all Europe. Festival Romics, October Comics and Cartoon Festival: exhibitions, cartoon film showings of designers and publishing companies. Roma Jazz Festival, October Festival of jazz music since of 1876. Italian and international artists. Roman Summers, from June to September Various events from music to theater, literary meetings and cinema. Events that take place in the most characteristic places in Rome that attract the participation of thousands of artists from all over the world.

Cultural Events

White Night

Series of events at venues throughout Rome on September: concerts, special outdoor performances, churches and monuments open to the public during, museums open all night with free entrance, shops open all nights. ([http://www.lanottebianca.it/index.asp?lang=en&destinazione=cosa_])

External links

- [http://www.comune.roma.it/cultura/ Official Site of the City of Rome]
- [http://www.romasotterranea.it/ Roma Sotterranea/Subterranean Rome]
- [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/home.html Bill Thayer's Gazetteer of Rome]
- [http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Arc/5319/eng.htm Andrea Pollett's Virtual Roma]
- [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/9259/roma_ant.htm Roma Antica e Roma Moderna], in Italian
- [http://www.forbeginners.info/rome/ Rome for Beginners]
- [http://www.alberghi-a.roma.it/info.htm Informations and useful numbers about Rome]

Ancient Rome

- [http://www.romeartlover.it/Rome.htm Rome in the footsteps of an XVIIIth Century traveller]
- [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/ Encyclopædia Romana, by James Grout]
- [http://www.maquettes-historiques.net/page4.html La maquette de Rome]
- [http://intranet.grundel.nl/thinkquest/introduction.html "Forum Romanum", a ThinkQuest site]
- [http://www.vroma.org/~forum/ "Forum Romanum" Project at VRoma]

Christian Rome

- See Wikipedia's category "Churches of Rome"

Galleries

- [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov:81/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=15316 Satellite image of Rome] at NASA's Earth Observatory
- [http://myweb.lmu.edu/fjust/Rome.htm Ancient Rome, Images and Pictures]
- [http://map.cs.telespazio.it/fontane/index.html Fontanelle di Roma], including the aqueducts
- [http://www.compart-multimedia.com/virtuale/us/roma/movie.htm A virtual travel of Rome] pictures and virtual reality movies
- [http://www.rome.info/pictures/ Free Rome Pictures]
- [http://sabin.ro/gallery/album412 Rome Photo Gallery]
- [http://digilander.libero.it/fotogian/roma.html Photos of Rome]
- [http://www.photoroma.com/ PhotoRoma]
- [http://www2.siba.fi/~kkoskim/rooma/pages/MAIN.HTM Vedute di Roma]
- [http://www.secretrome.com Pictures of Rome]
- [http://rome.arounder.com/fullscreen.html Arounder.Com] (QTVR panoramas)

Maps

- [http://www.italy-weather-and-maps.com/maps/italy/lazio.gif Rome and environs (Lazio)]
- [http://www.statravel.co.uk/images/off/short_breaks/map/map_rom.gif downtown Rome]
- [http://www.walkingrome.com/links/Pianta-di-Roma-Web.jpg downtown Rome (WalkingRome)]
- [http://www.activitaly.it/infobase/index.php?lang=en Interactive map (Activitaly)]
- [http://www.duke.edu/~rkl7/Images/Rome%20City%20map.jpg Map of Ancient Rome]
- [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=rome&spn=0.039455,0.126549&t=k&hl=en Google Maps satellite images of Rome]

Travel guides

- Category:Capitals in Europe Category:Holy cities Category:Roman sites of the Lazio
- Category:Host cities of the Summer Olympic Games Category:World Heritage Sites in Italy Category:Christianity als:Rom ko:로마 ja:ローマ simple:Rome

Biga

Biga is a term that has several meanings:
- The Latin word for chariot is biga.
- In Italian baking, biga is a type of sourdough starter.

Town planning

under the reign of Napoleon III in the 19th century.]] Urban, city, or town planning, deals with the physical, social and economic development of metropolitan regions, municipalities and neighborhoods. Other professions deal in more detail with a smaller scale of development, namely architecture, landscape architecture and urban design. Regional planning deals with a still larger environment, at a less detailed level. The Greek Hippodamus is often considered the father of city planning, for his design of Miletus, though examples of planned cities permeate antiquity. Muslims are thought to have originated the idea of formal zoning (see haram and hima and the more general notion of khalifa, or "stewardship" from which they arise), although modern usage in the West largely dates from the ideas of the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne. Historically, city planning originated from within architecture and civil engineering, and employed a highly rational approach to solving city problems through physical design. However, a number of broad critiques of modernist city planning that gained momentum in the 1960s (for example, those of Jane Jacobs) helped expand the domain of urban planning to include economic development planning, community social planning and environmental planning.

History

The Indus Valley civilization in the Indian subcontinent is recognized as having been the first to develop urban planning. By 2600 BC some pre-Harappan settlements grew into cities containing thousands of people who were not primarily engaged in agriculture, creating a unified culture whose sudden appearance appears to have been the result of planned, deliberate effort. Some settlements appear to have been deliberately rearranged to conform to a conscious, well-developed plan. For this reason, the Indus Valley civilization is recognized as having first developed urban planning. In ancient times, Romans used a consolidated scheme for city planning, developed for military defense and civil convenience. Effectively, many European towns still preserve the essence of these schemes, as in Turin. The basic plan is a central plaza with city services, surrounded by a compact grid of streets and wrapped in a wall for defense. To reduce travel times, two diagonal streets cross the square grid corner-to-corner, passing through the central square. A river usually flows through the city, to provide water and transport, and carry away sewage, even in sieges. During the last two centuries in the Western world (Western Europe, North America, Japan and Australasia) planning and architecture can be said to have gone through various stages of general consensus. Firstly there was the industrialised city of the 19th Century, where control of building was largely held by businesses and the wealthy elite. Around the turn of the 20th Century there began to be a movement to providing people, and factory workers in particular, with healthier environments. The concept of garden cities arose and some model towns were built, such as Welwyn Garden City in England. However, these were principally small scale in size, typically dealing with only a few thousand residents, and it wasn't until the 1920s when modernism began to surface. A modernist city was to be a sort of efficient, workable utopia. There were plans for large scale rebuilding of cities, such as Paris in France, though nothing major happened until the devastation caused by the Second World War. After this, some modernist buildings and communities were built. However they were cheaply constructed and became notorious for their social problems. Modernism can be said to have ended in the 1970s when the construction of the cheap, uniform tower blocks ended in many counties, such as Britain and France. Since then many have been demolished and in their way more conventional housing has been built. Rather than making everything uniform and perfect, planning now concentrates on individualism and diversity in society and the economy. This is the post-modernist era.

Planning and aesthetics

In developed countries there has been a backlash against excessive man-made clutter in the environment, such as bollards (signposts), signs, and hoardings (temporary fences around construction sites). Other issues that generate strong debate amongst urban designers are tensions between peripheral growth, increased housing density and planned new settlements. There are also unending debates about the benefits of mixing tenures and land uses, versus the benefits of distinguishing geographic zones where different uses predominate. Successful urban planning considers character, of "home" and "sense of place", local identity, respect for natural, artistic and historic heritage, an understanding of the "urban grain" or "townscape," pedestrians and other modes of traffic, utilities and natural hazards, such as flood zones. Some say that the medieval piazza and arcade are the most widely appreciated elements of successful urban design, as demonstrated by the Italian cities of Siena and Bologna. While it is rare that cities are planned from scratch planners are important in managing the growth of cities, applying tools like zoning to manage the uses of land, and growth management to manage the pace of development. When examined historically, many of the cities now thought to be most beautiful are the result of dense, long lasting systems of prohibitions and guidance about building sizes, uses and features. These allowed substantial freedoms, yet enforce styles, safety, and often materials in practical ways. Many conventional planning techniques are being repackaged as smart growth. There are some cities that have been planned from conception, and while the results often don't turn out quite as planned, evidence of the initial plan often remains. See List of planned cities. Some of the most successful planned cities consist of cells that include park-space, commerce and housing, and then repeat the cell. Usually cells are separated by streets. Often each cell has unique monuments and gardening in the park, and unique gates or boundary-markers for the edges of the cell. The commercial areas naturally become diverse. These differences help instill a sense of place, while the similarities of the cells make each place in the city familiar.

Planning and safety

List of planned cities Many cities are constructed in places subject to flood, storm surges, extreme weather or war. City planners can cope with these. If the dangers can be localized (for flood or storm surge), the affected regions can be made into parkland or greenbelt, often with lovely results. Another practical method is simply to build the city on ridges, and the parks and farms in valleys. Extreme weather, flood, war or other emergencies can often be greatly mitigated with secure evacuation routes and emergency operations centers. These are relatively inexpensive and unintrusive, and many consider them a reasonable precaution for any urban space. Many cities also have planned, built safety features, such as levees, retaining walls, and shelters. Some planning methods might help an elite group to control ordinary citizens. This was certainly the case of Rome (Italy), where Fascism in the 1930s created ex novo many new suburbs in order to concentrate criminals and poorer classes away from the elegant town. In recent years, practitioners have also been expected to maximize the accessibility of an area to people with different abilities, practising the notion of "inclusive design," to anticipate criminal behavior and consequently to "design-out crime" and to consider "traffic calming" or "pedestrianization" as ways of making urban life more bearable. City planning tries to control criminality with structures designed from theories like socio-architecture or environmental determinism. These theories say that an urban environment can influence individuals' obedience to social rules. The theories often say that psychological pressure develops in more densely developed, unadorned areas. This stress causes some crimes and some use of illegal drugs. The antidote is usually more individual space and better, more beautiful design in place of functionalism. Other social theories point out that in England and most countries since the 18th century, the transformation of societies from rural agriculture to industry caused a difficult adaptation to urban living. These theories emphasize that many planning policies ignore personal tensions, forcing individuals to live in a condition of perpetual extraneity to their cities. Many people therefore lack the comfort of feeling "at home" when at home. Often these theorists seek a reconsideration of commonly used "standards" that rationalize the outcomes of a free (relatively unregulated) market.

Planning and transport

There is a direct, well-researched connection between the density of an urban environment, and the amount of transport into that environment. Good quality transport is often followed by development. Development beyond a certain density can quickly overcrowd transport. Good planning attempts to place higher densities of jobs or residents near high-volume transport. For example, some cities permit commerce and multi-storey apartment buildings only within one block of train stations and four-lane boulevards, and accept single-family dwellings and parks further away. Densities are usually measured as the floor area of buildings divided by the land area, or in a residential context, by the number of dwellings divided by the land area. Floor area ratios below 1.5 are low density. Plot ratios above five are very high density. Most exurbs are below two, while most city centers are well above five. Walk-up apartments with basement garages can easily achieve a density of three. Skyscrapers easily achieve densities of thirty or more. Higher densities tempt developers with higher profits. City authorities may try to encourage lower densities to reduce infrastructure costs, though some observers note that low densities may not accommodate enough population to provide adequate demand or funding for that infrastructure. In the UK, recent years have seen a concerted effort to increase the density of residential development in order to better achieve sustainable development. Increasing development density has the advantage of making mass transport systems, district heating and other community facilities (schools, health centres, etc) more viable. However critics of this approach dub the densification of development as 'town cramming' and claim that it lowers quality of life and precludes residents from realising their (sub)urban desire (right?) for a house with a garden and off-road parking space. Automobiles are well suited to serve densities as high as 1.5 with basic limited-access highways. Innovations such as car-pool lanes and rush hour-use taxes may get automobiles to neighbourhoods with plot ratios as high as 2.5. Densities above 5 are well-served by trains. Most such areas were actually developed in response to trains in the middle 1800s, and have historically high ridership that have never used automobiles for their work trip. A widespread problem is that there is a range of residential densities between about two and five that causes severe traffic jams of automobiles, yet are too low to be commercially served by trains or light rail. The conventional solution is to use buses, but these and light rail systems may fail where automobiles and excess road network capacity are both available, achieving less than 1% ridership. Some theoretricians speculate that personal rapid transit might coax people from their automobiles, and yet effectively serve intermediate densities, but this has not been demonstrated. The Lewis-Mogridge Position claims that increasing road space is not an effective way of relieving traffic jams as latent or induced demand invariably emerges to restore a socially-tolerable level of congestion.

Planning and suburbanization

In some countries declining satisfaction with the urban environment is held to blame for continuing migration to smaller towns and rural areas (so-called urban exodus), so successful urban planning can bring benefits to a much larger hinterland or city region and help to reduce both congestion along transport routes and the wastage of energy implied by excessive commuting. A strong belief that the behaviour of individuals living in or frequenting an area can be heavily influenced by its physical design and layout is called environmental determinism.

Planning and the environment

Arcology seeks to unify the fields of ecology and architecture, especially landscape architecture, to achieve a harmonious environment for all living things. On a small scale, the eco-village theory has become popular, as it emphasizes a traditional 100-140 person scale for communities. In most advanced urban or village planning models, local context is critical. In many, gardening assumes a central role not only in agriculture but in the daily life of citizens. A series of related movements including green anarchism, eco-anarchism, eco-feminism and Slow Food have put this in a political context as part of a focus on smaller systems of resource extraction, and waste disposal, ideally as part of living machines which do such recycling automatically, just as nature does. The modern theory of natural capital emphasizes this as the primary difference between natural and infrastructural capital, and seeks an economic basis for rationalizing a move back towards smaller village units. A common form of planning that leads to suburban sprawl is single use zoning.

References

- Tunnard, Christopher and Boris Pushkarev, Man-Made America: Chaos or Control?: An Inquiry into Selected Problems of Design in the Urbanized Landscape, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1963. (This book won the National Book Award, strictly America; a time capsule of photography and design approach.)
- (A standard text for many college and graduate courses in city planning in America)

External links

- [http://www.planning.org/ American Planning Association] — organization for professional planners
- [http://www.narc.org/ National Association of Regional Councils]
- [http://www.ampo.org/ Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations]
- [http://www.carfree.com/ Carfree.com]
- [http://www.citycomforts.com/blog.html City Comforts]
- [http://www.citymayors.com/ City Mayors] - Reporting on local government worldwide
- [http://www.cyburbia.org/ Cyburbia] — urban planning-related message boards, wiki, image galleries, and hierarchical link directory
- [http://www.planetizen.com/ PLANetizen] — planning news
- [http://www.planum.net/ Planum] — The European Journal of Planning
- [http://www.rtpi.org.uk/ Royal Town Planning Institute] — professional organisation of planners in UK and worldwide
- [http://www.uli.org/ Urban Land Institute]
- [http://www.urbanplanet.org Urban Planet] — An online forum for urbanists
- [http://www.worldmayor.com/ World Mayor] - The world's most outstanding mayors ja:都市計画

Cambridge Circus, London

Cambridge Circus is a busy London traffic intersection (not actually a roundabout) at the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road. The Palace Theatre is located on the west side of the junction. In several of the spy novels written by John le Carré and featuring the character George Smiley (for example, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy), the Secret Intelligence Service is referred to as "The Circus" because of its supposed location at Cambridge Circus. This name and location are probably cases of artistic licence on the part of John le Carré.

External link

- Beer in the evening - [http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/results.shtml/el/Cambridge%20Circus%3BLondon/ Pubs in Cambridge Circus] Category:Streets of London Category:Camden Category:Westminster

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is a famous traffic intersection and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster. City of Westminster City of Westminster store on the right.]]

Overview

Built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly (the "circus" refers to "circular open space at a street junction"), it now links directly to the theatres on Shaftesbury Avenue as well as the Haymarket, Coventry Street (onwards to Leicester Square) and Glasshouse Street. Its proximity to major shopping and entertainment areas, its central location at the heart of the West End, and its status as a major traffic intersection have made Piccadilly Circus a busy meeting point and a tourist attraction in its own right. It is renowned for its video display and neon signs mounted on the corner building on the northern side, as well as the Shaftesbury memorial fountain and statue known as Eros (strictly, The Angel of Christian Charity which would be better translated as 'Agape'). It is surrounded by several noted buildings, including the London Pavilion and Criterion Theatre. Directly underneath the plaza is the London Underground station Piccadilly Circus.

History of Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus may be seen on the right, and the Shaftesbury memorial fountain on the left]] Piccadilly Circus connects to Piccadilly, a thoroughfare whose name first appeared in 1626 as Pickadilly Hall, named after a house belonging to one Robert Baker, a tailor famous for selling piccadills or piccadillies, a term used for various kinds of collars. The street was known as Portugal Street in 1692 in honour of Catherine of Braganza, the queen consort of King Charles II of England, but was known as Piccadilly by 1743. Piccadilly Circus was created in 1819, at the junction with Regent Street, which was then being built under the planning of John Nash on the site of a house and garden belonging to a Lady Hutton. The circus lost its circular form in 1886 with the construction of Shaftesbury Avenue. The junction has been a very busy traffic interchange since construction, as it lies at the centre of Theatreland and handles exit traffic from Piccadilly, which Charles C. B. Dickens, son of Charles Dickens, described as "the great thoroughfare leading from the Haymarket and Regent-street westward to Hyde Park-corner" and "the nearest approach to the Parisian boulevard of which London can boast." The Piccadilly Circus tube station was opened 10 March 1906 on the Bakerloo Line, and on the Piccadilly Line in December of that year. In 1928, the station was extensively rebuilt to handle an increase in traffic. Because of its proximity to Soho, the Circus was a significant meeting point in the underground history of homosexuals in Britain, especially as a focus for prostitution and informal encounters. When Alfred Kinsey visited London to study English sexual attitudes, he immediately asked to be taken on a sexual tour of Soho. The world around Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square astounded him. Comparing London to the Hispanic sexual cultures of central America, Kinsey claimed that he had never seen so much street prostitution, except in Havana. The intersection's first electric advertisements appeared in 1910, and from 1923 electric billboards were set up on the facade of the London Pavilion. Traffic lights were first installed in August 3, 1926 at the junction. The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain in Piccadilly Circus was erected in 1893, to commemorate the philanthropic works of Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. During the Second World War, the statue atop the Shaftesbury memorial fountain, The Angel of Christian Charity, was removed, and was replaced by advertising hoardings. It was returned in 1948. When the circus underwent reconstruction work in the late 1980s, the entire fountain was moved from the centre of the junction at the beginning of Shaftesbury Avenue to its present position at the southwestern corner.

Location and sights

Piccadilly Circus is surrounded by several major tourist attractions, including the Shaftesbury Memorial, Criterion Theatre, London Pavilion and several major retail stores.

Neon signs and the Coca-Cola display

London Pavilion Piccadilly Circus used to be surrounded by illuminated advertising hoardings on buildings since the early 1900s, but only one building now carries them, namely the one in the northwestern corner, between Shaftesbury Avenue and Glasshouse Street. The site is unnamed (usually referred to as Monico after the Café Monico which used to be on the site); its addresses are 44/48 Regent Street, 1/6 Sherwood Street, 17/22 Denman Street and 1/17 Shaftesbury Avenue, and has been owned by property investor Land Securities Group since the 1970s. The earliest signs used incandescent light bulbs, these were replaced with neon lamps, as well as moving signs (there was a large Guinness clock at one time). Briefly digital projectors were used for the Coke sign, while the early 2000s have seen a gradual move to LED displays. The number of signs has reduced over the years as the rental costs have increased. As of 2005, the site has five illuminated advertising screens above three large retail units, facing Piccadilly Circus on the north side, occupied by Boots, Burger King and GAP and a mix of smaller retail, restaurant and office premises fronting the other streets. In September 2003, Coca Cola replaced its old illuminated board and the site formally occupied by Nescafé with a state-of-the-art LED video display that curves round with the building. Below the Coca Cola sign, are Sanyo and TDK, together with the squarish McDonald's LED. On the left is the Samsung board, being upgraded from neon to LED in 2005. Vodafone also has a sign installed on the roof of Coventry House facing Piccadilly Circus. In addition to the logo of the company, the sign displays personal messages that can be entered on a [http://www.vodafone-piccadilly.co.uk/ Vodafone website] and displayed at a certain time and date.

Shaftesbury Memorial and Eros

: Main articles: Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury and Shaftesbury Memorial At the south-western side of the Circus, moved from its original position in the centre, stands the Shaftesbury Monument memorial fountain, erected in 1892-1893 to commemorate the philanthropic works of Lord Shaftesbury. It is topped by Alfred Gilbert's winged nude statue, officially known as The Angel of Christian Charity. It is popularly known as Eros after the mythical Greek God of Love. The statue has become a London icon, and a graphical illustration of the statue is used as the symbol of the Evening Standard newspaper and appears on its masthead. The use of a nude figure on a public monument was controversial at the time of its construction, but it was generally well-received by the public. The Magazine of Art described it as, "...a striking contrast to the dull ugliness of the generality of our street sculpture, ... a work which, while beautifying one of our hitherto desolate open spaces, should do much towards the elevation of public taste in the direction of decorative sculpture, and serve freedom for the metropolis from any further additions of the old order of monumental monstrosities."' Technologically ground-breaking at the time, this statue was the first in the world to be cast in aluminium. The statue originally pointed its bow to the north, up Shaftesbury Avenue. However, during the Second World War the statue was removed for safe keeping, and when it was returned its bow was fixed pointing in to the south, towards Lower Regent Street.

Criterion Theatre

: Main articles: Criterion Theatre and Reduced Shakespeare Company The Criterion Theatre, a grade II
- listed building, stands on the south side of Piccadilly Circus. Apart from the box office area, the entire theatre, with nearly 600 seats, is underground and is reached by descending a tiled stairway. Columns are used to support both the dress circle and the upper circle, restricting the views of many of the seats inside. The theatre was designed by Thomas Verity and opened as a theatre on March 21, 1874, although original plans were for it to become a concert hall. In 1883 it was forced to close to improve ventilation and to replace gaslights with electric lights, and was reopened the following year. The theatre closed in 1989 and was extensively refurbished, reopening in October 1992. Criterion Theatre has been the home of the Reduced Shakespeare Company since 1995. The Reduced Shakespeare Company is a company of actors that performs unsubtle, fast-paced, seemingly highly-improvisational comedies presenting ludicrously condensed versions of huge topics. Its most renowned work is The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). Works is now London's longest-running comedy, where a pastiche of 37 of Shakespeare's plays is performed in 97 minutes. During much of the year Works is performed at the Criterion. The Criterion Theatre regularly plays host to East 15 Acting School's annual student showcases.

London Pavilion

On the north-eastern side of the Piccadilly Circus, on the corner between Shaftesbury Avenue and Coventry Street, is the London Pavilion. The first building bearing the name was built in 1859, and was a music hall. In 1885, Shaftesbury Avenue was built through the site of the Pavilion. A new London Pavilion was constructed, which also served as a music hall. In 1923, electric billboards were erected on the side of the building. 1923] In 1934, the building underwent significant structural alteration, and was converted into a cinema. In 1986, the building was rebuilt, preserving the 1885 facade, and converted into a shopping arcade. In 2000, the building was connected to the neighbouring Trocadero Centre, and signage on the building was altered in 2003 to read "London Trocadero." The basement of the building connects with Piccadilly Circus tube station.

Major shops

The former Tower Records flagship store, now acquired by Virgin Megastore, can be found at Number 1 Piccadilly, on the west side between Regent Street and Piccadilly, directly facing Piccadilly Circus. There is a direct exit to the Underground station on the basement level. Rival store HMV also has a branch inside the London Trocadero. Lillywhites is a major retailer of sporting goods located on the south side, next to the Shaftesbury fountain. It moved to its present site in 1925.

Underground station and the Piccadilly Line

: Main articles: Piccadilly Circus tube station and Piccadilly Line Piccadilly Line Piccadilly Line The Piccadilly Circus station on the London Underground is located directly beneath Piccadilly Circus itself, with entrances at every corner. It is one of the few stations which have no associated buildings above ground and is fully underground. It is itself a Grade 2 listed building. The station is on the Piccadilly Line between Green Park and Leicester Square, and the Bakerloo Line between Charing Cross and Oxford Circus. Metronet, one of the three private operators of the London Underground under a public-private partnership arrangement, is investing some £14 million to refurbish Piccadilly Circus station. Works are scheduled to begin in March 2005 and will be completed in spring 2007. Major improvements planned include new floor and wall finishes, a new CCTV system, new help points, a new public address system, new electronic information displays and clocks, improved platform seating, waterproofing measures, measures to assist visually impaired passengers and improved lighting. Escalators will also be replaced.

Piccadilly Circus in popular culture

The phrase, "it's like Piccadilly Circus," is commonly used in the UK to refer to a place or situation where many people meet. It has been said that a person who stays long enough at Piccadilly Circus will eventually bump into everyone they know. In the United States, this would be the equivalent to "it's like Grand Central Station". In gay slang, Piccadilly Circus is also called 'pick-a-willy' because it is a popular location for finding gay prostitutes. Piccadilly Circus is the name of Swedish singer Pernilla Wahlgren's hit song from 1985. Northern Irish punk band Stiff Little Fingers had a different song of the same name from their 1981 album Go For It, a true story about a friend of theirs migrating to London to escape The Troubles of Belfast only to get stabbed by strangers in Piccadilly Circus. A compilation album from the British pop/rock band Squeeze released in 1996 was titled Piccadilly Collection and showed a picture of Piccadilly Circus on its cover. Piccadilly Circus (1912) is the name and subject of a painting by British artist Charles Ginner, part of the Tate Britain collection. [http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=16932&searchid=13429 Tate Gallery page on Piccadilly Circus] Tate Britain Photographer Paul McCarthy also has a 320-page two-volume edition of photographs by the name of Piccadilly Circus. The volume which contains an extensive documentation of McCarthy's unrestrained performances and over-the-top installations. The 1980s interactive fiction, or text adventure, computer game Philosopher's Quest included a location described as, "a junction of several passages. The whole area resembles Piccadilly Circus." Piccadilly Circus is also the name of a pub club based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Piccadilly Circus is also the name of a Japanese band. The Dire Straits song "Wild West End" is about the area around Piccadilly. The Morrissey song Piccadilly Palare from the album "Bona Drag" recounts the life of male prostitutes by employing the use of "palare" (alternatively spelled, 'polari'), argot used by this subculture and by gay men generally. A lost verse: "Around the centre of town/is where I belong/am I really doing wrong?"

References

Subterranean London
- Mills, A. D. Dictionary of London Place Names. Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0198609574.
- Harris, C. M. What's in a name? The origins of the names of all stations in current use on the London Underground and Docklands Light rail with their opening dates. Midas Books and London Transport, fourth edition, 2001. ISBN 1854142410.
- Lange, D. The Queen's London: A Pictorial and Descriptive Record of the Streets, Buildings, Parks and Scenery of the Great Metropolis. Cassell and Company, London, 1896.
- Dickens, C. C. B. Dickens's Dictionary of London 1888: An Unconventional Handbook. 1888, re-printed in 1995 by Old House Books. ISBN 1873590040.
- Greater London Council, Piccadilly Circus: From Controversy to Reconstruction. 1980. ISBN 0716811456.

Articles

- Hadley, P. [http://www.lurs.org.uk/un/picc.htm Piccadilly Circus, How a typical 1906 London tube station was built], Underground News 412, April 1996.
- Jacob, S. [http://www.icon-magazine.co.uk/issues/november/piccadilly.htm Review: Piccadilly Circus], Icon Magazine, November 2003.
Web sites

- [http://tube.tfl.gov.uk/content/faq/lines/Piccadilly.asp Piccadilly Line]. Homepage of the London Underground on the Piccadilly Line. Retrieved February 25, 2005.
External links

- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/travel/jamcams/jamcam_popups/040233.html Real time web cam of Piccadilly Circus], provided by the BBC and Transport for London.
- [http://www.vodafone-piccadilly.co.uk/ Vodafone's neon sign at Piccadilly Circus].
- [http://www.urban75.org/vista/piccadilly.html Panoramic view] from urban75.org.
- [http://www.explore-london.co.uk/picd.html Panoramic view] from www.explore-london.co.uk.
- [http://www.thisistheatre.com/londontheatre/criteriontheatre.html This is London] theatre guide to Criterion Theatre.
- [http://www.ihbc.org.uk/context_archive/42/clarke.htm Metalurgical study] of the statue of Eros following restoration in 1990.
- [http://london.openguides.org/index.cgi?Piccadilly_Circus_Station Open Guide to London] entry on Piccadilly Circus tube station.
- [http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?P2M?P=W1V9LB&Z=1 Map from www.streetmap.co.uk]. Category:Streets of London Category:Westminster Category:Piccadilly Circus Category:Visitor attractions in London

London

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