Pontida is a comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

(municipality) in the Province of Bergamo

Province of Bergamo

The Province of Bergamo is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. It has a population of 1,098,740 , an area of 2,722.86 square km, and contains 244 comuni...

 in the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region of Lombardy

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

, located about 40 km northeast of Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 and about 13 km northwest of Bergamo

Bergamo

Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...

. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,112 and an area of 10.1 km².

Pontida received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on July 11, 2006.

Geography

The municipality of Pontida contains the frazioni

Frazione

A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...

(subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Boffuro, Buttarello, Cà Barile, Cà Frosco, Cà Pietaglio, Canto, Cerchiera, Costa, Gaggio Sopra, Gaggio Sotto, Ghiringhello, Grombosco, Gromfaleggio, Massera, Metà Ripa di Sotto, Odiago, Roncallo, Sotto i Ronchi, Torchio, Valmora

Pontida borders the following municipalities: Ambivere

Ambivere

Ambivere is a comune in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 40 km northeast of Milan and about 9 km west of Bergamo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,265 and an area of 3.2 km².Ambivere borders the following municipalities:...

, Brivio

Brivio

Brivio is a town and comune in the province of Lecco, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.thumb|250px|left|The Castle of Brivio in a 19th century etching....

, Calco

Calco

Calco is a comune in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 35 km northeast of Milan and about 15 km south of Lecco...

, Caprino Bergamasco

Caprino Bergamasco

Caprino Bergamasco is a comune in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 40 km northeast of Milan and about 15 km northwest of Bergamo...

, Carvico

Carvico

Carvico is a comune in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 35 km northeast of Milan and about 14 km west of Bergamo...

, Cisano Bergamasco

Cisano Bergamasco

Cisano Bergamasco is a town and comune in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy, northern Italy....

, Palazzago

Palazzago

Palazzago is a comune in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 45 km northeast of Milan and about 12 km northwest of Bergamo...

, Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII

Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII

Sotto il Monte is a comune in northern Italy. Located in the Province of Bergamo in the Region of Lombardy, the town's official name, much like that of Riese Pio X, commemorates the town's most famous son: Angelo Roncalli, who later became Pope John XXIII ....

, Villa d'Adda

Villa d'Adda

Villa d'Adda is a comune in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 35 km northeast of Milan and about 15 km west of Bergamo...

.

History

Pontida's main claim to historical renown is due to the Oath of Pontida, signed there in 1167 and marking the foundation of the Lombard League

Lombard League

The Lombard League was an alliance formed around 1167, which at its apex included most of the cities of northern Italy , including, among others, Crema, Cremona, Mantua, Piacenza, Bergamo, Brescia, Milan, Genoa, Bologna, Padua, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Treviso, Venice, Vercelli, Vicenza, Verona,...

, which nine years later would go on to defeat Emperor

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 Frederick I Barbarossa at the Battle of Legnano

Battle of Legnano

The Battle of Legnano was fought on May 29, 1176, between the forces of the Holy Roman Empire, led by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, and the Lombard League.-The Lombard League:...

.

The name "Pontida" often appeared in the rhetoric of the 19th century Risorgimento, Italian nationalists seeing this historical event as a precedent and inspiration for their own struggle.