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): | |
| 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
The area constituing Columbia Aquila today is believed to have been populated since 7,000 BC, due to evidence of varying stone tools and other objects at a site near the village of Fiabolo, some 20km north of the city.
The first officially recorded settlement however, was the Solarian town of Isurium, which was established in 106 BC, roughly where the quarter of Columbia Saggitarrio is located today. Very little is known about Isurium's history, however, various archeological studies in the Passi di Santa Caterina indicate that the settlement was used as a seasonal base for hunters and logging (Isurium sat near the Via Appollonia, a major Solarian road running west-to-east south of the Aventines; and is believed to have supplied shipyards on the Povelian gulf). At some point in the mid-3rd century AD, Isurium was abandoned or destroyed and no major town or settlement emerged in the region for at least 200 years, with the Settentrionali dominated by mostly small farming villages and hamlets.
Construction
The history of the city itself began in early 1939, when the National Solarian regime initiated its Novam Urbem project which constituted the construction of six new towns to facilitate the rehousing of war veterans and their families, while also serving to populate annexed areas with ethnic Vespasians. The site that would become Columbia Aquila was selected due to its strategic location in the heart of the Settentrionali, annexed from Gaullica after the Great War. Due to its position and sufficient links to San Alessandro, it would become the main transportation, logistical and social hub for the region.
As part of the Novem Urbem programme, over 8,500 de-mobilised troops were employed to construct the city and its infrastructure. The first phase of the city to be completed was "Il Foro" (The Forum), today, the Piazza della Resurrezione. The "Forum" was followed by residential and commercial blocks being constructed outwards, originally in the layout of an eagle with its wings spread, however, the practicality of this design was abandoned, though Aquila remained within the planned name for the city. By mid-1939, the main three phases of construction were completed and the city was officially inaugurated on the 14 May, with an estimated 3,000 inhabitants taking up residence over the course of two months. The population would steadily increase, reaching a pre-war peak of 25,000 in 1942.
Notably, the city was designed by prominent rationalist architects such as Massimo Vitruvio Pollio, Giorgio Marco Scorzi and Leopoldo Bardoglio. Its street place (previously in the image of eagle) was redrawn to promote social cohesion and the centre as a focus point for the community, both socially and politically.
Solarian War
By 1943 and the outbreak of the Solarian War, Columbia Aquila had become home to the 33rd "La Gladiatori" Infantry Division, based in a sprawling facility where the modern day military academy is located. The task of the 33rd was to garrison the Settentrionali from possible Gaullican-intervention through the Aventines. Due to its location, the city also saw the establishment of several arms factories to supply troops on the Amathian front fighting Soravia. Between 1943 and 1945, the city saw little to no direct effects from the conflict, albeit with one attempt by Soravia to conduct an air raid against the weapons factories, which was repelled by the Etrurian Air Force.
By the autumn of 1944 however, Etruria was routed in Amathia by the advancing Soravians forcing the 2nd Army back east toward Etruria. Recognising that western Etruria, primarily Carinthia and the Settentrionali were now under direct threat of Soravian invasion, the Etrurian government began work on a fixed defensive position running north from the Aventines southward to the Adexè River, this would ostensibly protect San Alessandro and the rest of Dinara. One fixed point along the Rubicon Line was Columbia Aquila, which was proclaimed a "Citadel of Survival" (Cittadella della Sopravvivenza) by the Co-Leaders of Etruria. In December, Ettore Caviglia, one of the Co-Leaders visited the city and the Rubicon Line, inspecting the defensive works. Plans for the deployment of 150,000 troops to the line were devastated by the routing of Etrurian troops from Paretia in December 1944, forcing the re-deployment of many units to the east to protect Veratia.
On the 10 July 1945, Soravian forces break through Etrurian lines in eastern Amathia and began pushing eastward into Etruria itself. On the 23 July, 40,000 troops were deployed to hold the Rubicon Line in and around Columbia Aquila, supported by 100 aircraft and 200 tanks, though a shortage of supplies, fuel and spare parts rendered most of these machines useless. Though Etrurian forces along the Rubicon Line held their positions and inflicted losses on the Soravians, the latter eventually broke through at Figgiavuto and began advancing toward the city itself. The defence was reinforced by a further 6,500 soldiers, the defence was also placed under the command of Major General Leonardo Alberto Viviano, a veteran of the Coian fronts. On the 2 August, the Soravians began their assault on Columbia Aquila and for eight days, the Etrurians defended the city house by house and street by street, considerably outnumbered and surrounded, the defenders reportedly fought to the last man. The damage suffered by the city was catestrophic, while an estimated 85,340 soldiers were killed from both sides, while an estimated 6,000 civilians were killed. From the end of the battle through to the October armistice, the city was under Soravian military occupation.
Post-war abandonment and reconstruction
Following the end of the Solarian War in 1946, what remained of the city was abandoned by its inhabitants, many of whom were displaced to San Alessandro and Carinthia. The remains of the city itself would eventually be demolished and transported to Veratia and Carinthia for used in reconstruction, leaving behind the foundations and barely serviceable streets. However, the wide circulation of stories pertaining to the Marian apparitions during the Battle of Columbia Aquila during the early 1950s, renewed interest in the area. In 1953, a Papal investigation was conducted into the apparations but the Catholic Church could not provide a definitive answer on the question. This had the effect of legitimising many of the claims among locals in the Settentrionali and officials in the Etrurian church. In 1955, locals, aided by the centre-right Dinara state government built a small church atop the foundations of the former Revolutionary Legion office, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, this spurred the repopulation of the immediate vicinity, but often without permission - leading to repeated evictions and demolitions of illegal homes.
In 1960 and in wake of the military coup of that year, interest in the city reached the national government. In 1961, the military government ordered a commission to review the reconstruction of Columbia Aquila and the establishment of "memorials to the heroic dead of the Solarian War." During the review, the controversy that would surround Columbia Aquila today emerged as the military government mandated that the city be rebuilt in its exact original form. This provoked outrage among many Etrurians who saw the reconstruction of a National Solarian city in its original form as a shrine to the defeated and disgraced regime, however, criticism was dismissed and the regime appointed the National Development Corporation to rebuild the city.
As the city was rebuilt, it received new infrastructure links to San Alessandro, while new industrial areas were established to provide greater employment opportunities for the wider Settentrionali region. In respect to the city's now widely embraced mythology, the military government also commissioned the construction of a national war memorial to be dedicated to Etruria's war dead. Construction of the monument, which would go on to include an abbey, a consecrated basillica and a 150-ft tall stone cross would take 18 years, with the monument inaugurated in 1980. The remains an estimated 300 prominent Solarian War-era officers would be interred within the monument, including several accused but non-prosecuted war criminals. Alongside the Valley of the Martyrs monument, the military regime commissioned exact reconstructions of cultural sites in the city, including the Stadio dell'Eroico (Stadium of the Heroic), a sporting complex the GSR-regime hoped would host the Invictus Games in the future. Another key landmark rebuilt to exact specifications of the original design was the Casa dei Coraggiosi (House of the Couragous), one of many similar institutions built during the 1940s, to provide medical and mental healthcare for Great War veterans. The new Casa dei Coraggiosi was completed in 1967 in the rationalist design and was handed over to the Ministry of National Defence for veteran care, of which it is still used today.
By 1969, the city had exceeded its pre-war size and its population reached 30,000 in 1970. During this period further civic and cultural buildings were constructed, including numerous museums and exhibitions dedicated to the Battle of Columbia Aquila and its corresponding mythos. While the military regime lauded its reconstruction as a "means for national healing from war and defeat", many pro-democracy movements saw the city's reconstruction as a grotesque homage to the Greater Solarian Republic and an attempt by the regime to whitewash its history. The city saw numerous protests and occassional vandalism during the 1970s as tensions between the regime and pro-democracy groups escalated.
In 1973, a new monument dubbed the Monumento alla Pace was built near the Piazza della Resurrezione in memory of both Etrurian and Soravian soldiers who died during the battle. The monument included motifs notably used by the National Solarian regime, as well as an inscription in both Vespasian and Soravian. It was inaugurated by Chief of State Francesco Augusto Sciarri and President Vilem Gardos.
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.
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
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.
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.
Culture
Architecture
When Columbia Aquila was originally constructed during the late 1930s and early 1940s, it was dominated by rationalist themes, particularly around the Il Foro area. Many of its public buildings were designed in the rationalist vein, while residential and commerical buildings beyond it were constructed in more traditional Vespasian forms. The controversial decision by the military regime in the early 1960s to fully reconstruct the city in its original form continues today, with builders and designers going to great lengths to rebuild the city in accordance to the original plans and designs, which were held in the National Archive and Repository during the Solarian War.
As the city underwent major expansions and growth during the 1990s and 2000s with the establishment of new industries, designers moved on and constructed buildings and institutions using modern architectural styles. Many of Columbia Aquila's newest developments have been designed in-line with post-modernism and contemporary and new classical.
Main Sights
St Metellus Cathedral
Monument of the Peace
The Calvary in Columbia Aquila
Stadium of the Heroic
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Museum of the Second War
Grotto of our Lady of Clemency
Etrurian Military History Museum
Mausoleum of Giovanni Battista Capri
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.
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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.