About Italya

     Italy (Italian: Italia), officially the Italian Republic, (Italian: Repubblica Italiana), is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within the Italian Peninsula, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland.

     Italy has been the home of many European cultures, such as the Etruscans and the Romans, and later was the birthplace of the movement of the Italian Renaissance. Italy's capital Rome has been the center of Western Civilization, and is the center of the Catholic Church.

     Today, Italy is a democratic republic, and a developed country with the 7th-highest GDP (nominal) and the 17th-highest Human Development Index rating in the world. It is a founding member of what is now the European Union (having signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957), and also a member of the G8, the Council of Europe, the Western European Union, and the Central European Initiative. Beginning January 1, 2007, Italy became a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Italy is also a modern great power, and a regional power.

     The origin of the term "Italy" (It: Italia), from Latin Ītalia, is uncertain. According to one of the more common explanations, the term was borrowed through Greek, from Oscan Víteliú, meaning "land of young cattle" (cf. Lat vitulus "calf", Umb vitlo "calf") and named for the god of cattle, Mars. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italian tribes and is often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Samnite Wars.

      The name Italia applied to a part of what is now southern Italy. According to Antiochus of Syracuse, it originally only referred to the southern portion of the Bruttium peninsula (modern Calabria), but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to use the name "Italia" for a greater region, but it was not until the time of the Roman conquests that the term was expanded to cover the entire peninsula

 

About Meran

     Merano (Italian, now most common in English; German: Meran, also used in English; Ladin: Meran; Archaic (857 AD): Mairania; Latin: Merona; many of the region's Italian languages/dialects use Meran), is a town in the province of Bolzano-Bozen, Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located inside a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to 3,335 m (11,000 ft), at the entrance to the Passeier Valley, the Vinschgau (Val Venosta) and the Ultental (Val d'Ultimo) valleys.

     In the past the town has been a popular place of residence for several scientists and artists, who appreciated its mild climate.

     Among the town's landmarks are the Museum of Tourism, which was opened in the spring of 2003 and shows the historical development of tourism in the province, and the botanic garden. Both sites are located in the Trauttmansdorff Castle.

     The area was inhabited since the 3rd millennium BC, as showed by the presence of menhirs and other findings. The story of the city proper began in 15 BC when the Romans occupied the Adige valley founding a military camp, Castrum Majense. Merano was elevated to the status of a city during the 13th century. It was capital of the County of Tyrol from 1418 to 1848.

     After the county had been handed over to the Habsburg family in 1363 after the abdication of Countess Margarete Maultasch of Tyrol, in 1420 Friedrich IV moved the court to Innsbruck. Merano subsequently lost its predominant position and almost all its importance as an economic hub across the roads connecting Italy to Germany. The important mint was also moved to Hall in 1577.

     The Tyrolean struggle for freedom of 1809 drew attention again to Merano. In that year, on the Küchelberg above the city, the Tyroleans eked out a victory against the French and Bavarians troops.

     The county was later restored on the person of Anna Maria Josephine Plochl, morganatic wife of Archduke Johann of Austria. After World War I, Merano became part of Italy with the rest of the province of Bolzano-Bozen.