The Antignano coloursThe Antignano Rione lies to the south of Livorno and has very ancient origins, its name appearing in documents dating from 1171. The village is probably even older, and for many centuries was isolated from Livorno, finally getting a road connection in the 19th century.

To defend the village from pirate attacks, Cosimo I had the Castello built, inside which stands one of Livorno’s oldest churches, Santa Lucia (1370). In the second half of the 1800s Antignano became a popular seaside resort and many villas were built along the seafront, most of which still stand today.

The Ardenza coloursThe village of Ardenza grew up gradually in the countryside to the south of Livorno at the beginning of the 19th century. Although the village was sparsely populated, it had its own church, San Simone, which was built in 1844.

During the same period the elegant ‘Casini’ were also erected along the seafront, to provide accommodation for visitors coming to enjoy the sea from outside Livorno. The Caprilli race course was built in 1868, and the Naval Academy in 1881 on the site of the former lazzaretti named after San Jacopo and San Leopoldo.The area’s three bagni grew up in the mid 1800s.

The Benci Centro coloursBenci Centro was the new name given to this district by town planners to substitute the old Rione del Mercato title, which is still sometimes used today. This central area of Livorno also has a nickname – Ovo Sodo (boiled egg) – because of the yellow and white jerseys worn by the rowing team. The name was adopted as the title of a film set in Livorno directed by the Livornese Paolo Virzì in 1997.

The Borgo Cappuccino coloursThis district of Livorno grew up during the French occupation at the beginning of the 1800s in order to meet a demand for housing. It was called Borgo dei Cappuccini because the first houses to be built there were along the road that led to the Capuchin monks’ convent which dated from 1582.

The area stretches from the old shipyards, taking in Piazza Mazzini and the surrounding streets. The Borgo used to be a mixture of houses, gardens and vineyards, producing a good quantity of produce for the time.

The Colline coloursPorta alle Colline, the Livorno customs gate which stood where Via Gramsci finishes now, near the hospital, was known until the early 1900s in Livorno as the Porta ai Sughi because it was here, against the walls built by the Lorraines, that the local farms used to deposit their manure to be used later during the sowing season.

The Fabbricotti coloursJust to the south of the centre of Livorno, the Fabbricotti district was once an area of gardens and quiet villas hidden behind high walls and woodland. It was transformed after 1946 into a modern residential district which grew up on land ceded by the Fabbricotti family to the local council.

The Magenta coloursThe central Magenta district extends from the former Piazza Magenta (now Piazza della Vittoria) to Piazza Cavour and to the Cisternone. From the 1700s much of this area was taken up by villas and houses with gardens and farmland, gradually ceded to the local council for the building of schools, streets and buildings for common public use. The most lively part of the district has always been that of the Origine, a district which grew up in the second half of the 19th century.

The Montenero coloursSituated on a hill to the south of Livorno, Montenero has been a destination for pilgrims since 1345, because of its Sanctuary dedicated to Santa Maria delle Grazie, also known as the Madonna di Montenero. Opposite the church is the ‘temple of fame’, closed in by a wrought iron gate, where several local figures are buried or remembered. These include the composer Pietro Mascagni, and artists Giovanni Fattori and Amedeo Modigliani. The Madonna delle Grazie is the Patron of Tuscany, but well-known throughout Italy.

The Pontino San Marco coloursThe Pontino San Marco district extends to the north-west of the city, occupying a vast area with a network of streets that echoes Buontalenti’s original street layout when he designed the city for the Medici in the 16th century.

Originally there were two separate districts – Il Pontino, which comprised the old district which developed around Via Borra, Via San Marco, Via Solferino and towards the Porta San Marco in Piazza XI Maggio. Although given the name Pontino, this was actually the district of San Marco. The other district, wrongly called San Marco (the area around Via Garibaldi and Via Palestro which grew up in the Lorraine period) was given the title Borgo Reale. So the district should really be called San Marco Borgo Reale, or just San Marco.

The Quercianella coloursAlthough not strictly part of Livorno itself, the small seaside village of Quercianella has been participating in Livorno’s rowing races with its own team since 1973.

Quercianella was originally an Etruscan settlement. However, the village grew up as a seaside resort at the beginning of the 1900s. It was well-known for attracting famous show-business names, and continued to grow in popularity with the construction of the railway connecting Rome and Genoa, which still runs through the village. Today there are about 2000 inhabitants.