Piacenza

Piacenza , city (1991 pop. 102,268), capital of Piacenza prov., in Emilia-Romagna, on the Po River. It is an agricultural, commercial, and industrial center. Manufactures include agricultural machinery, chemicals, furniture, buttons, and food products. The city was a Roman stronghold (called Colonia Placentia) against the Gauls and was later occupied by the Goths, the Lombards, and the Franks. A free commune by the 12th cent., Piacenza joined the Lombard League. In 1545 it formed, with Parma and its territory, the duchy of Parma and Piacenza, ruled, until 1731, by the Farnese family. Noteworthy buildings include the Lombard-Gothic Palazzo del Comune (1281); the cathedral (1122-1233), with frescoes by Guercino; and the churches of San Savino (12th cent.) and Madonna di Campagna (16th cent.).

Piacenza, Emilia‐Romagna/Italy Placentia As the Carthaginian general Hannibal (247–c.183 bc) advanced southwards, the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio (d. 211 bc) prepared to defend a newly founded colony a little way beyond the confluence of the Rivers Po and Trebbia. The armies met on the Trebbia in December 218 bc, Hannibal emerging as the victor. The survivors of Scipio's army wintered in the colony where they found the conditions ‘pleasing’. The colony was thus named Placentia from which the present name is derived.