Altare (, , L’Atæ in local dialect) is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of Savona The province of Savona (; Ligurian language, Ligurian: ''provinsa de Sann-a'') is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Savona, which has a population of 61,219 inhabitants. The province has a ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

region

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

, located about west of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and about northwest of

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

. 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 Cairo Montenotte () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in Liguria, an Italian region located west of Genoa and northwest of Savona. Located in Val Bormida, it is a member of the Comunità Montana Alta Val Bormida. It is co ...

Carcare Carcare (; ; , locally ) is a (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about west of Genoa and about northwest of Savona. Carcare borders the following municipalities: Altare, Cairo Montenotte, Cosseria, ...

Mallare Mallare (, locally ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about west of Savona. Mallare borders the following municipalities: Altare, Bormida, Calice Lig ...

Quiliano Quiliano () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about west of Savona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,225 and an area of .All demographics ...

, and

Geography

Altare is just west of the Cadibona pass, which at divides the

Ligurian Alps The Ligurian Alps are a mountain range in northwestern Italy. A small part is located in France. They form the south-western extremity of the Alps, separated from the Apennine Mountains, Apennines by the Colle di Cadibona. The Col de Tende and the ...

from the Ligurian

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

. Also called pass of Altare, it is accessed from the coast by the ''Via Nazionale Piemonte'', winding up from

and crossing into Piedmont towards the north Italian plain.

History

Altare was home to an ancient

glassmaking Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container ...

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 Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

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 A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

, 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 A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

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 Flint glass is optical glass that has relatively high refractive index and low Abbe number (high dispersion). Flint glasses are arbitrarily defined as having an Abbe number of 50 to 55 or less. The currently known flint glasses have refractiv ...

took place in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 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 Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

building that is a culturally protected edifice.

Geography

History

Altaresi in Europe

References

Further reading