La California

La California
Frazione
The church of Nostra Signora di Fatima
La California Location of La California in Italy
Coordinates: 43°16′10″N 10°32′34″E
Country	Italy
Region	Tuscany
Province	Livorno (LI)
Comune	Bibbona
Elevation	9 m (30 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	1,090
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	57020
Dialing code	(+39) 0586

La California is a town in Tuscany, central Italy, administratively a frazione of the comune of Bibbona, province of Livorno. At the time of the 2011 census its population was 1,090.

The town is about 40 km (25 miles) from Livorno and 6 km (3.5 miles) from Bibbona.

History

The town developed starting from 19th century, but it has been inhabited since before: around the locality of Crocino, an Etruscan tomb from 6th century BC has been discovered.^[1]

The name of the town comes from the story of Leonetto Cipriani [fr], who traveled from the Mediterranean sea to California, back and forth, and gave this name to the town.^[2]

Since 2004, and every 4 years, inhabitants of La California hold fake elections coinciding with the Presidential Elections of United States of America.^[3] The vote is obviously not taken into account for the official results, but it is sent to the nearest USA consulate in Florence.

Sport

La California is the birthplace of cyclist Paolo Bettini, who won two world championships and a gold medal at the Olympics.

References

1. Mordhorst 1996, p. 74.
2. "California, provincia di Livorno: la conoscono anche negli Usa". La Nazione (in Italian). 27 August 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
3. Mariella Baroli (3 November 2020). "La California italiana. Il piccolo paese dove si vota il presidente degli Stati Uniti". Panorama (in Italian). Archived from the original on 21 October 2021.

Bibliography

• Mordhorst, Susanne (1996). Guida alla Val di Cecina (in Italian). Siena: Nuova Immagine. ISBN 88-7145-120-1.