L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30 2023 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D e a r R e a d - ers, The Gio- v a n n i d a V e r r a z - z a n o ' s namesake's double-decker suspension bridge, which lost a " Z " i n t h e t r a n s l a t i o n , turned 59 this month. Then- New York Mayor Robert F. Wagner cut the ribbon at the o p e n i n g c e r e m o n y . T h e upper level of the Verraz- zano-Narrows Bridge, which o p e n e d t o t h e p u b l i c o n N o v e m b e r 2 1 , 1 9 6 4 , w a s n a m e d a f t e r G i o v a n n i d a Verrazzano (1485-1528), the Florentine explorer of North A m e r i c a a t t h e s e r v i c e o f King Francis I of France. Giovanni da Verrazzano was born in Val di Greve, s o u t h o f F l o r e n c e , i n t h e Republic of Florence, and was the son of Piero Andrea di Bernardo da Verrazzano a n d F i a m m e t t a C a p p e l l i . Verrazzano always consid- ered himself a Florentine, no matter where he traveled. He i s r e n o w n e d a s t h e f i r s t European since the Norse e x p e d i t i o n s t o N o r t h America around AD 1000, to explore the Atlantic coast of N o r t h A m e r i c a , b e t w e e n Florida and New Brunswick, including New York Bay and Narragansett Bay, in 1524. Verrazzano left Florence and settled in the port city of D i e p p e , F r a n c e , i n 1 5 0 6 , when he began his career as a navigator and left detailed accounts of his voyages to North America. On behalf of merchants and financiers seeking new trade routes, King Francis I of France, in 1523, asked Verrazzano to make plans to explore an area between Florida and Terranova, the Newfound- land, to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean. Within months, four ships set sail d u e W e s t f o r t h e G r a n d Banks of Newfoundland, but a violent storm and rough seas caused the loss of two ships. The remaining two d a m a g e d s h i p s , L a D a u p h i n e a n d L a N o r - mande, were forced to return to Brittany. Repairs completed, in the final weeks of 1523 they set s a i l a g a i n . T h i s t i m e t h e ships headed South towards calmer waters, which were however under dangerous Spanish and Portuguese con- trol. After a stop in Madeira, c o m p l i c a t i o n s f o r c e d L a Normande back to port, but V e r r a z z a n o ' s s h i p , L a D a u p h i n e , p i l o t e d b y Antoine de Conflans, depart- ed and headed once more for the North American conti- nent. It neared the area of Cape Fear on March 1st and, after a short stay, reached the Pamlico Sound Lagoon of m o d e r n N o r t h C a r o l i n a . Exploring the coast further northwards, Verrazzano and his crew came into contact with Native Americans living on the coast. In New York Bay, he observed what he deemed to be a large lake, w h i c h w a s i n f a c t t h e e n t r a n c e t o t h e H u d s o n River. He then sailed along Long Island and entered Nar- r a g a n s e t t B a y , w h e r e h e r e c e i v e d a d e l e g a t i o n o f Wampanoag. He stayed there f o r t w o w e e k s , a n d t h e n moved northwards, following t h e c o a s t , u p t o m o d e r n Maine, southeastern Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. After that, he returned to France in July 1524. V e r r a z z a n o n a m e d t h e r e g i o n h e e x p l o r e d Francesca, in honor of the French king, but his brother's map labels it Nova Gallia, New France. *** W i t h f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r t f r o m J e a n A n g o t a n d Philippe de Chabot, Verraz- zano arranged a second voy- age, which departed from Dieppe with four ships early in 1527. One ship was sepa- rated from the others in a g a l e n e a r t h e C a p e V e r d e I s l a n d s , b u t V e r r a z z a n o reached the coast of Brazil with three ships and harvest- ed a cargo of Brazil wood before returning to France. In 1528, during his third voy- age to North America, after Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. e x p l o r i n g F l o r i d a , t h e Bahamas, and the Lesser A n t i l l e s , V e r r a z z a n o a n c h o r e d o u t t o s e a a n d rowed ashore to the island of Guadaloupe, where he was killed by the native inhabi- tants. The fleet of two or three ships was anchored out of gunshot range, and no one could respond in time. Verrazzano's reputation, despite his discoveries, did not proliferate as much as the other explorers of that era. He had the bad luck of making major discoveries within the same five-year period, 1519-1524, of both the dramatic conquest of M e x i c o a n d F e r d i n a n d Magellan's circumnaviga- t i o n o f t h e w o r l d , w h i c h , t h o u g h M a g e l l a n d i d n o t complete it, brought him undying fame. *** The Verrazzano-Nar- rows Bridge is named for both the Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano - who, while in the service of Francis I of France, became in 1524 the first European to enter New York Harbor and the Hudson River - and for the body of water it spans, the Narrows. It has a central span of 4,260 feet, 1,298 meters, and was the longest s u s p e n s i o n b r i d g e i n t h e world at the time of its com- plexion in 1964, surpassing the Golden Gate Bridge by 60 feet, until it was in turn surpassed by 366 feet by the Hamber Bridge in the United Kingdom in 1981.

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