Altare

Altare (, , L’Atæ in local dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about west of Genoa and about northwest of Savona. As of 1 January 2009, it had a population of 2,160 August 2009. and an area of .

Altare borders the following municipalities: Cairo Montenotte, Carcare, Mallare, Quiliano, and Savona.

Geography

Altare is just west of the Cadibona pass, which at divides the Ligurian Alps from the Ligurian Apennines. Also called pass of Altare, it is accessed from the coast by the ''Via Nazionale Piemonte'', winding up from Savona and crossing into Piedmont towards the north Italian plain.

History

Altare was home to an ancient glassmaking tradition, dating back to the Middle Ages. The origin of Altare glassworks is still unknown. Oral tradition has it that the art was spread from Northern France by Benedictine monks. Samuel Kurinsky posits that the original glassmakers were Sephardic Jews, based on the secretive character of their techniques and the distinct identity of the glassmakers as opposed to the rest of the population. If that is the case, they were completely assimilated, except for their traditional self-distinction.

Altarist glassmakers were organized in guilds, not unlike other medieval craftsmen. The glassmakers guild in Altare was founded in 1856 as Società artistico-vetraria d'Altare. The guild, known as the University, maintained a strict control over the glassmakers' techniques.

Altaresi in Europe

Unlike the Venetians though, Altare was a net exporter of know-how throughout its history, as the local guild was never able to prevent the migration of its people to other places. Sometimes it even encouraged it. The importance of Altare revolves around this difference. For example, it appears that Giobatta Da Costa's invention of flint glass took place in London, while he worked for the Ravenscroft manufactory in 1674. It is reported that the first glassmaker of Pisa, around 1592, was from Altare. Altarist glassmakers operated in France, at Orléans and Nevers and one of them, Bernard Perrot went on to become master of the Royal Glassworks in Orléans building that is a culturally protected edifice.

References

Further reading

The Glass Museum of Altare


* Chirico, Mariateresa. Il Museo Dell'arte Vetraria Altarese. Albenga, Litografia Bacchetta. 2009

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Cities and towns in Liguria
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Glassmaking companies of Italy