Columbia Aquila

Columbia Aquila Comune della Columbia Aquila
From top-left clockwise: The Piazza della Resurrezione; Valle del Martire; Casa dei Coraggiosi; Stadio dell'Eroico
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  L'ultimo Santuario (Vespasian) The Last Sanctuary Patria Basilica (Solarian) Basilica of the Nation
Motto(s):  "Ubi mors ibi spes" Where there is death, there is hope
Country	Etruria
State	Dinara
Comune	Settentrionali
Founded	14 May 1939
Founded by	Ettore Caviglia
Government
• Type	Mayor and council system
• Body	Communal Assembly
• Mayor	Flavio Adriano Zanotto (Tribune Movement)
Area
• Total	206.63 km2 (79.78 sq mi)
Population  (2020)
• Total	159,608
• Density	772.52/km2 (2,000.8/sq mi)
Demonym	Aquiliani
Time zone	-1
Patron saint	Saint Diocletian of the Settentrionali
Saint day	13 February

Columbia Aquila is a city located in the northwestern region of Settentrionali, of which it is the regional capital, in Dinara, Etruria with a population of 159,608. It is the largest urban centre in the Settentrionali and the third largest in the state of Dinara. The wider metropolitan area of Columbia Aquila covers 1,244 km² (480.31 sq mi) and has a population of 488,600, most of which are predominately centered around small rural towns and villages. It is a major tourist destintation, both for its status as a "Novam Urbem", one of several towns and cities constructed between the Great War and Solarian War, by the National Solarian regime, and as the setting for the Battle of Columbia Aquila during the latter conflict. It hosts a variety of musuems, exhibitions and events relating to the conflict and is the primary destination for tourists or well-wishers travelling to the Valle del Martire.

The city was officially founded on the 14 May 1939, three years after the Settentrionali was annexed from Gaullica in wake of the Great War. The city was to be constructed as part of the wider Novam Urbem program of new cities being built to provide housing for war veterans and their families. Between 1939 and 1941, the city dramatically expanded from the core district with the aid of up to 18,000 workers and labourers, many of whom were de-mobilised soldiers, by early 1942 the city had expanded to incorporate the villages of Quintino and Tarquinia Inferiore. The city along with its sisters under the Novam Urbem, were built in a rationalist form. By 1945, the city had a population of 18,500 but would be all but destroyed during the Battle of Columbia Aquila, where the town was selected as a defensive stronghold by the National Solarian regime during the final stages of the Solarian War. The battle saw 40,000 Etrurian defenders attempt to hold back the advancing Soravian army, resulting in their defeat and annihilation, the defence and subsequent claims of Marian apparitions during and after the battle resulted in the city becoming a cultural and national centre for the memorialising of Etruria's war dead.

Following the war, the town was demolished and ignored, until the 1960s when the military dictatorship decided to rebuild the city to facilitate the re-populating of the Settentrionali. Controversially, the city was rebuilt to the exact designs of the GSR-construction, including the Stadio del'Eroico, a sporting complex built for the 1945 Invictus Games, leading many critics to claim the military was openly building an "open-air shrine" to the GSR. Between 1962 and 1968, the city was rebuilt and expanded with the addition of manufacturing sites and numerous industries to support the booming agricultural recovery in the region. In 1968, the Valle del Martire was completed as the nation's principal war memorial, with direct connections to Columbia Aquila. By 1980, the city had a population of 100,000 and would grow steadily for the next three decades.

Today, the city is renowned for its various myths and supposed religious events related to its wartime history and has since become one of Etruria's most important socio-religious centres. It's location near the Aventine Mountains has also resulted in a wider tourist boom, providing services for various skiing resorts and mountain retreats.

Name

The name Columbia Aquila was devised during the latter stages of the Novam Urbem program, according to GSR records, the name was derived from the Settentrionali's Solarian Imperial mythological figure of Quintus Columbus, a man born with superhuman strength who became a Centurion and defeated a Minotaur-like creature singlehandedly in the foothills of the Aventine Mountains. The addition of "Aquila" meaning eagle, was rooted in the original street plans providing the city with an eagle-like shape with its wings spread south to north. However, rapid growth of the city's population would see this unique urban design vanish.

History

Solarian War

Main article: Battle of Columbia Aquila

Geography

Columbia Aquila is located in the central area of the Settontrionale region of Dinara, in northwestern Etruria. To the city's east are the Passi di Santa Caterina, a region of foothills that precede the Aventine Mountains. To the south, west and north, the city is bound by relatively flat open plains. The area surrounding the Valley of the Martyr is a National Park and protected from development, securing it as one of the largest forested areas in Etruria, the boundaries of the park reach the eastern outskirts of the city, forcing urban sprawl toward the west and southwest.

Columbia Aquila borders the Passi di Santa Caterina to the east.

The city is divided in thirteen quartieri (quarters), each Quartieri serves as a sub-municipal administrative division like other Etrurian cities, which elect three council members:

• Piazza della Resurrezione
• Nostra Signora della Clemenza
• San Matello
• San Romolo
• Arcangelo
• Sessiano
• San Genaro Nord
• San Genaro Sud
• Columbia Ercolano
• Columbia Sagittario
• Columbia Tauro
• Columbia Libera
• Columbia Aquario

Climate

The climate of Columbia Aquila is predominately classified as hot-summer Solarian (Csa), with influences of warm temperate climate (Cfa). Winters in Columbia Aquila are mostly cool and windy owing to its relative altitude and location within the Settentrionali. Fog is a near typical feature of winter mornings, especially from the east where it forms in and around the Passi di Santa Caterina. Snow and below-freezing temperatures have been recorded, mostly reliant on cold fronts from the west.

Owing to its location, Columbia Aquila is relatively more drier than Etruria's northern regions, although there is reliable year-round precipitation. Average annual precipitation is 423 mm (16.7 in) and the average annual relative humidity is 60%. In winter, temperatures only tend to drop below freezing in November/December time, often reaching temperatures as low as −8 °C (18 °F) during these months, and snowfall is common, while the summer months see average high temperatures of 32 °C (90 °F). The lowest recorded temperature in Columbia Aquila was −15.8 °C (3.6 °F) in November 2017 and the hottest 43.2 °C (109.8 °F) in July 2019.

Climate data for Columbia Aquila, normals 1998-2018, extremes 1970-2020, 335 m (1,099 ft) altitude
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	17.2 (63.0)	22.9 (73.2)	25.9 (78.6)	29.6 (85.3)	34.4 (93.9)	39.8 (103.6)	43.2 (109.8)	39.5 (103.1)	38.2 (100.8)	31.3 (88.3)	24.0 (75.2)	21.4 (70.5)	43.2 (109.8)
Average high °C (°F)	8.2 (46.8)	11.2 (52.2)	15.2 (59.4)	16.9 (62.4)	21.0 (69.8)	27.0 (80.6)	30.7 (87.3)	30.1 (86.2)	25.6 (78.1)	18.9 (66.0)	12.4 (54.3)	8.6 (47.5)	18.8 (65.8)
Daily mean °C (°F)	4.2 (39.6)	5.9 (42.6)	9.0 (48.2)	10.7 (51.3)	14.5 (58.1)	19.3 (66.7)	22.3 (72.1)	22.1 (71.8)	18.5 (65.3)	13.2 (55.8)	7.9 (46.2)	5.0 (41.0)	12.7 (54.9)
Average low °C (°F)	0.2 (32.4)	0.7 (33.3)	2.8 (37.0)	4.6 (40.3)	7.9 (46.2)	11.6 (52.9)	14.0 (57.2)	14.1 (57.4)	11.3 (52.3)	7.6 (45.7)	3.5 (38.3)	1.3 (34.3)	6.6 (43.9)
Record low °C (°F)	−11 (12)	−11.5 (11.3)	−10.2 (13.6)	−6 (21)	−1.7 (28.9)	2.6 (36.7)	3.2 (37.8)	3.6 (38.5)	0.0 (32.0)	−3.4 (25.9)	−15.8 (3.6)	−10.8 (12.6)	−15.8 (3.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	40 (1.6)	27 (1.1)	22 (0.9)	46 (1.8)	49 (1.9)	29 (1.1)	13 (0.5)	16 (0.6)	31 (1.2)	55 (2.2)	52 (2.0)	53 (2.1)	433 (17.0)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)	6	5	5	8	8	5	2	2	4	8	7	8	68
Average relative humidity (%)	83	72	62	62	60	52	45	48	56	70	79	84	64
Mean monthly sunshine hours	101	147	215	232	272	322	363	334	254	182	117	89	2,624

Demographics

As of 2020, the municipality of Columbia Aquila (the city and its surrounding environs) had a population of 159,608, while the city itself had 100,779 inhabitants. Other prominent settlements within the municpiality include San Expedito, Monte Lupo, Repubblica and Centurione, the latter two being new developments.

The population of Columbia Aquila saw exponential growth during the 1990s and early 2000s with the construction of several chemical facilities and a car manufactuary (see Serefabri), which drew workers from the predominately poorer rural communities of the Settentrionali. During these two decades, the population grew from 66,000 in 1990 to 130,000 in 2008, before growth remained positive but at a substantially lower rate. The city's population reached 150,000 in 2016.

Education

The main faculty building of the Alessandro Quintano University for Engineering, located in eastern Columbia Aquila.

Campus of the Cicerone Aurelio Augusto Military Academy

Columbia Aquila is home two major higher-educational institutions, the Alessandro Quintano University for Engineering; a private university with 2,500 students as of 2020. The AQUE includes faculties specialising in civil engineering, urban design, structural engineering and a polytechnic school.

The other prominent institution is the Cicerone Aurelio Augusto Military Academy built between 2005 and 2009 and opened to students in 2011. The CAAMA is classified as a auxiliary academy, specialising in educating cadets and officers in intelligence and electronic warfare. The Academy is also home to several research and development groups relating to cyber warfare. The academy hosts roughly 1,500 students per year. A second property owned by the academy is located near the suburb of Repubblica and holds several barracks, where soldiers of the Etrurian Defence Force reside during training exercises in the Settentrionali.

As of 2020, Columbia Aquila operated 9 primary schools, 6 secondary and 3 colleges.

Government

Since the 2006 Local Government Reform and Reorganisation mandated by the Etrurian federal government, Columbia Aquila, like all other municipalities in Etruria operate a mayor-council system. The Communal Council of Columbia Aquila is the primary authority in governing the city and its surroundings, and is based at the Casa della Rinascita on the Piazza della Resurrezione. The Council is comprised of 39 councillors (three from each of the Quartieri) who are elected directly by residents every four years. The Council is headed by the Mayor, who is directly elected by voters also every four years, separately from the councillors. The incumbent mayor is Flavio Adriano Zanotto (MT), who was elected in April 2016 and re-elected in April 2020.

The local government is based at the Casa della Rinascita.

Columbia Aquila, much like the rest of the Settentrionali region was once a major stronghold of the centre-right Libertas party (1948-1960) and the Etrurian Federalist Party (1984-2016), before being swept up by the Tribune Movement in 2016, locally, state and at the national level.

Infrastructure and transport

Public transport

All public transport within Columbia Aquila is operated by the regional public transport company, Collegamento Ipertestuale Settentrionali (CIS), though owned and managed by the Dinara Department for State Transportation. When Columbia Aquila was founded in 1939 and through to 1946, prior to its destruction, the city operated a limited tram service, connecting the centre (based around the Piazza di Stato; now named the Piazza della Resurrezione) to the various small industries to the south. From its reconstruction in the 1960s through to 1995, the trams were replaced with trolleybuses which connected a wider area, before being replaced by a city-wide bus service.

A typical bus operating in Columbia Aquila.

A select bus service is operated to provide transportation from Columbia Aquila to the Valley of the Martyr monument.

Since 2012, the city has operated a bike sharing scheme called “Pedala Llungo la Strada” which is operated by the municipal government. A total of 3,500 bikes are provided for small rental fees.

Rail

Columbia Aquila’s position in the heart of the Settentrionali places it along a major route, linking Amathia and Gaullica, while also serving as the primary hub for links across the region. The city serves as a link between rail lines crossing east-west between Amathia and Gaullica to San Alessandro to the south-east, giving the city rail access to central Euclea. The city operates international rail lines south-north to Slirnia, while its links to San Alessandro, enable access to south-eastern and eastern Euclea.

The main station for Columbia Aquila is the Columbia Aquila Nostra Signora della Luce located south of the Piazza della Resurrezione. It handles 80,000 passengers per day and 29.2 million per year, this peaks on the 17 October each year, due to an increase in passenger traffic for Memorial Day at the Valley of the Martyr monument, where the station may handle as many as 250,000 passengers. This places Columbia Aquila as the tenth busiest station in Etruria.

Two smaller stations are also used in the city, the Memoriale Nazionale which receives trains servicing the northern and western areas of the Settentrionali, this station is located north-west of the city centre. The second station, the Porta Aquila only provides night time sleeper services to San Alessandro.