View source for Giovanni da Verrazzano

{{short description|Florentine explorer of North America for France (1485–1528)}} 
{{redirect|Verrazzano}}
{{Renaissance Italian name|Verrazzano}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{pp-pc1}}
{{Infobox person
| image              = Giovanni da Verrazano.jpg
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = 1491
| birth_place        = [[Greve in Chianti|Val di Greve]], [[Republic of Florence]]<br>{{small|(present-day Tuscany, Italy)}}
| death_date         = {{death year and age|1528|1485}}
| death_place        = Unclear; possibly [[Guadeloupe]]<br>{{small|(uncolonized)}}
| nationality        = [[Italians|Italian]]
| other_names        = {{hlist|Janus Verrazanus|Jehan de Verrazane}}
| education          = 
| occupation         = Explorer
| title              = 
| party              = 
| spouse             = 
| partner            = 
| children           = 
| father             = Frosino da Verrazzano
| mother             = Lisabetta Daffi
| relatives          = 
| signature          = Signature of Giovanni da Verrazzano (1485–1528).png
| footnotes          = 
}}

'''Giovanni da Verrazzano''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|v|ɛr|ə|ˈ|z|ɑː|n|oʊ|,_|-|ə|t|ˈ|s|ɑː|-}} {{respell|VERR|ə|ZAH|noh|,_-|ət|SAH|-}},<ref>{{Cite American Heritage Dictionary|Verrazano|access-date=28 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/verrazano|title=Verrazano|work=[[Collins English Dictionary]]|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|access-date=28 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/en/definition/Verrazano,+Giovanni+da |title=Verrazano, Giovanni da |dictionary=[[Lexico]] US English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Verrazano|access-date=28 August 2019}}</ref> {{IPA|it|dʒoˈvanni da (v)verratˈtsaːno|lang}}; often misspelled '''Verrazano''' in English;<ref>{{citation|last=Fitzsimmons|first=Emma G.|title=Some See the Verrazano Bridge. Others See a Big Typo.|date=June 14, 2016|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/nyregion/some-see-the-verrazano-bridge-others-see-a-big-typo.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> 1491–1528) was an Italian [[Exploration|explorer]] from the [[Republic of Florence]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/biography/Giovanni-da-Verrazzano|title=Giovanni da Verrazzano &#124; Italian navigator|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|date=2016-01-29|access-date=2017-02-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Sergio|last=Parmentola|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giovanni-da-verrazzano_(Enciclopedia_dei_ragazzi)/|title=Verrazzano, Giovanni da|work=Enciclopedia dei ragazzi|publisher=[[Treccani]]|access-date=2017-02-22}}</ref> best known for his expedition to [[North America]]. He led most of his later missions, including the one to America, in the service of King [[Francis I of France]].

He is renowned as the first European to ever explore the [[Atlantic]] coast of North America between [[Florida]] and [[New Brunswick]] in 1524, including [[New York Bay]] and [[Narragansett Bay]].<ref name="Greene1837">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/lifevoyagesofver00gree |title=The Life and Voyages of Verrazzano |last=Greene |first=George Washington |publisher=Folsom, Wells, and Thurston |year=1837 |location=Cambridge University |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifevoyagesofver00gree/page/13 13] |quote=He made several excursions up Narragansett Bay, and examined it with considerable attention. |author-link=George Washington Greene |access-date=18 August 2017 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

==Early life==
Verrazzano was born in Val di Greve (now [[Greve in Chianti]]), south of [[Florence]], the capital and main city of the [[Republic of Florence]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Morison | first = Samuel Eliot | author-link= Samuel Eliot Morison | title =  The European Discovery of America: The Northern Voyages | url = https://archive.org/details/europeandiscover00moririch | url-access = registration | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1971 | location = New York | page = [https://archive.org/details/europeandiscover00moririch/page/283 283] | isbn = 0-19-215941-0}}</ref><ref>Giovanni Da Verrazzano, "Life" – [http://www.verrazzano.org/en/index2.php?c=vita Centro Studi Da Verrazzano.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115081116/http://www.verrazzano.org/en/index2.php?c=vita |date=2012-01-15 }}</ref><ref>Henry C. Murphy, ''The Voyage of The Verrazzano'', Kessinger Publishing, 2004, p. 90. – [https://books.google.com/books?id=MbsCpjZMmZYC&pg=PA90 Google Books]</ref><ref>Dale Anderson et al., ''Explorers and Exploration'', Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2005, p. 765: "Giovanni da Verrazzano was born into a wealthy family in the Castle of Verrazzano, on a hilltop overlooking the Greve valley, a wine-producing area thirty miles south of Florence, in central Italy." – [https://books.google.com/books?id=-ZL1_sVp3AEC&pg=PA765 Google Books]</ref><ref>"Verrazano, Giovanni da" entry in David Buisseret, ''The Oxford Companion to World Exploration'', vol. 2, Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 332: "Thirty miles south of Florence, in the Tuscan town of Greve, explorer Giovanni da Verrazano (sometimes spelt Verrazzano) was born." – [https://books.google.com/books?id=vsgRAQAAIAAJ&q=giovanni+da+verrazzano+born+greve Google Books]</ref> Recent archival research indicates he was born on July 20, 1491 to Frosino di Lodovico di Cece da Verrazzano and Lisabetta di Leonardo Daffi.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Bruscoli |first=Francesco Guidi |title=Giovanni da Verrazzano. Studi per il cinquecentenario |publisher=Polistampa |year=2025 |isbn=978-88-596-2481-3 |location=Firenze |pages=19-43 |language=it |chapter=Giovanni da Verrazzano e i suoi tre viaggi oceanici}}</ref> An older hypothesis identified him with a son born in 1485 to Piero Andrea di Bernardo da Verrazzano and Fiammetta Cappelli. 

Other theories, now obsolete,<ref name=":2" /> postulated that Verrazzano was born in [[Lyon]], France, the son of Alessandro di Bartolommeo da Verrazano and Giovanna Guadagni.<ref>{{cite book | last = Habert | first = Jacques | title = La vie et les voyages de Jean de Verrazane | publisher = Cercle du livre de France | year = 1964 | location = Montréal & Ottawa | page = 182}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Boucher | first = Alain | title = Jean de Verrazane : un lyonnais découvre le site de New-York | publisher = University Claude Bernard Lyon-1 | year = 2006 | location = Lyon}}</ref> As Ronald S. Love stated, "Verrazzano always considered himself to be Florentine,"<ref>Ronald S. Love,  [''Maritime exploration in the age of discovery, 1415–1800'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006, p. 133: "Giovanni da Verrazano was probably born to an aristocratic family from Greve in Tuscany, Italy, though he might also have been born to Italian parents living in Lyon, France. Whatever the case, Verrazano always considered himself to be Florentine". – [https://books.google.com/books?id=YFFmpK0t98UC&pg=PA133 Google Books]</ref> and he was considered a Florentine by his contemporaries as well.<ref>Richard Di Giacomo, ''The New Man and the New World: The Influence of Renaissance Humanism on the Explorers of the Italian Era of Discovery'' [Perfect Paperback], Magnifico Publications, 2002: "he was considered a Florentine by his contemporaries, and his association with the Florentine colony of merchants and bankers living in Lyons proved to be of great benefit to his career as an explorer." – [https://books.google.com/books?id=ictEu1T9PHoC&pg=PT99 Google Books]</ref> 

He signed documents employing a [[Latin]] version of his name, "''Janus Verrazanus''",{{NoteTag|The [[Christian name]] is considered nonstandard, being of [[Janus (given name)|another name]]. The typical [[Latinisation of names|Latinization]] of "John" is "''[[Johannes|'Jo(h)annes]]''".}} and he called himself "Jehan de Verrazane" in his will dated 11 May 1526 in [[Rouen]], France (preserved at the Archives départementales de la Seine-Maritime).<ref>{{cite book | last = Ballesteros-Gaibrois | first = Manuel | title = La Découverte de l'Amérique | publisher = Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin | year = 1968 | location = Paris | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ATSUwk31nzMC | page = 51 | isbn = 978-2-7116-0172-1}}</ref>

In contrast to his detailed account of his voyages to North America, little is definitively known about his personal life. After 1506, he settled in the port of [[Dieppe, Seine-Maritime|Dieppe]], [[Kingdom of France]], where he began his career as a navigator.<ref name="Morison" />

He embarked for the American coast probably in 1508 in the company of captain [[:fr:Thomas Aubert|Thomas Aubert]], on the ship ''La Pensée'', equipped by the owner, [[Jean Ango]].<ref name="Morison">{{cite book | last = Morison | first = Samuel Eliot | author-link=Samuel Eliot Morison | title = The European Discovery of America: The Northern Voyages | url = https://archive.org/details/europeandiscover00moririch | url-access = registration | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1971 | location = New York | pages = [https://archive.org/details/europeandiscover00moririch/page/260 260–261]}}</ref> He explored the region of [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], possibly during a fishing trip, and possibly the [[St. Lawrence River]] in Canada; on other occasions, he made numerous voyages to the eastern [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Carolana Explorers – Giovanni Da Verrazzano|url=https://www.carolana.com/Carolina/Explorers/giovanniverrazano.html|access-date=2020-08-15|website=www.carolana.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=French Explorers {{!}} History of Western Civilization II|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/french-explorers/|access-date=2020-08-15|website=courses.lumenlearning.com}}</ref>

== 1522–24 voyage to North America ==
{{seealso|Cèllere Codex}}
[[File:Viaggioverrazzano.jpg|260px|thumb|Verrazzano's voyage in 1524]]
[[File:Carrack model La Dauphine sailed by Verrazzano 1524 Museum of NYC.jpg|thumb|La Dauphine (model) sailed by Verrazzano in 1524]]
In September 1522, the surviving members of the [[Magellan expedition]] returned to Spain, having circumnavigated the globe. Competition in trade was becoming urgent, especially with Portugal. 

French merchants and financiers urged King [[Francis I of France]] to establish new trade routes. In 1523, the king asked Verrazzano to explore on France's behalf an area between Florida and [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], intending to find a [[Northwest Passage|sea route to the Pacific Ocean]]. The expedition was funded by a consortium of Florentine merchants based in [[Lyon]] and [[Rouen]], including the Gondi, Rucellai, Nasi, and Albizzi families. Over 20,000 [[Écu|écus]] were raised, with Verrazzano himself contributing as both captain and investor.<ref name=":2" />

Within months, four ships set sail due west for the [[Grand Banks of Newfoundland]], but a violent storm and rough seas caused the loss of two ships. The remaining two damaged ships, ''[[La Dauphine]]'' and ''La Normande'', were forced to return to Brittany.<ref>[[Marcel Trudel]], ''The Beginnings of New France 1524–1663'' (Toronto:  McClelland & Stewart, 1973), p. 4.</ref>

Repairs were completed in the final weeks of 1523, and the ships set sail again. This time, the ships headed south toward calmer waters under hostile Spanish and Portuguese control. 

After a stop in [[Madeira]], complications forced ''La Normande'' back to home port, but Verrazzano's ship ''La Dauphine'' departed on January 17, 1524, piloted by Antoine de Conflans, and headed once more for the North American continent.<ref>{{cite book | title=Discoverers and Explorers | first=Edward Richard | last=Shaw | publisher=American Book Company | year=1900 | page=[https://archive.org/details/discoverersande01shawgoog/page/n109 103] | url=https://archive.org/details/discoverersande01shawgoog | quote=Verrazzano january 17. | isbn=1-4353-8990-5}}</ref> 

It neared the area of [[Cape Fear (headland)|Cape Fear]] on March 21, 1524<ref>''Verrazano's Voyage Along the Atlantic Coast of North America, 1524'', translation of letters by Giovanni da Verrazzano  (University of the State of New York, 1916) p.6 ("The XXIIII day of February we suffered a tempest as severe as ever a man who has navigated suffered... In XXV more days we asailed more than 400 leagues where there appeared to us a new land.")</ref>
and, after a short stay, reached the [[Pamlico Sound]] lagoon of modern [[North Carolina]]. In a letter to Francis I, described by historians as the ''[[Cèllere Codex]]'', Verrazzano wrote that he was convinced that the Sound was the beginning of the Pacific Ocean from which access could be gained to China.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Verrazano Expedition |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/verrazano-expedition|access-date=2020-08-15|website=www.ncpedia.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Knecht|first=R. J.|title=Francis I|year=1984|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-52127-887-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/francisi00knec |page=331}}</ref>

Continuing to explore the coast further northwards, Verrazzano and his crew came into contact with [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] living on the coast. However, he did not notice the entrances to the [[Chesapeake Bay]] or the mouth of the [[Delaware River]].<ref name=":0" />

In [[New York Bay]], he encountered the [[Lenape]] in about 30 [[Lenape canoes]] and observed what he deemed to be a large lake, really the entrance to the [[Hudson River]]. He then sailed along [[Long Island]] and entered [[Narragansett Bay]], where he received a delegation of [[Wampanoag people|Wampanoag]] and [[Narragansett people]]. 

The words "Norman villa" are found on the 1527 map by [[Visconte Maggiolo]] identifying the site. The historian [[Samuel Eliot Morison]] writes that "this occurs at [[New Angoulême|Angouleme (New York)]] rather than Refugio (Newport). It was probably intended to compliment one of Verrazzano's noble friends. There are several places called 'Normanville' in Normandy, France. The main one is located near [[Fécamp]] and another important one near [[Évreux]], which would naturally be it. West of it, conjecturally on the Delaware or New Jersey coast, is a ''Longa Villa'', which Verrazzano certainly named after [[Duke of Longueville|François d'Orléans, duc de Longueville]]."<ref name=":0">{{cite book | last = Morison | first = Samuel Eliot | author-link=Samuel Eliot Morison | title = The European Discovery of America: The Northern Voyages | url = https://archive.org/details/europeandiscover00moririch | url-access = registration | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1971 | location = New York | page = [https://archive.org/details/europeandiscover00moririch/page/490 490] | isbn = 0-19-215941-0}}</ref>  He stayed there for two weeks and then moved northwards.<ref name=":1" />

He discovered [[Cape Cod Bay]], his claim being proved by a map of 1529 that clearly outlined Cape Cod.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |title=History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts |year=1890 |page=950 |url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofbarnsta00deyo#page/950/mode/2up/search/verrazano |access-date=2017-02-27}}</ref> He named the cape after a general, calling it Pallavicino.<ref>{{cite book |last1=D'Epiro |first1=Peter |last2=Pinkowish |first2=Mary Desmond |author-link= |date=2001 |title=Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World |url= |location=New York |publisher=Anchor Books |page=180 |chapter=Twenty-four: A new world beckons: Columbus, Cabot, Vespucci, Verrazano <!-- (One-z spelling in original) -->|language= |isbn=0-385-72019-X}}</ref> He then followed the coast up to modern [[Maine]], southeastern [[Nova Scotia]], and [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], and he then returned to France by 8 July 1524. Verrazzano named the region that he explored ''Francesca'' in honour of the French king, but his brother's map labelled it ''Nova Gallia'' ([[New France]]).<ref>{{cite book | last = Morison | first = Samuel Eliot | author-link =Samuel Eliot Morison | title = The European Discovery of America: The Northern Voyages | url = https://archive.org/details/europeandiscover00moririch | url-access = registration | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1971 | location = New York | page = [https://archive.org/details/europeandiscover00moririch/page/323 323] | isbn = 0-19-215941-0}}</ref>

==Later life and death==
[[File:Stemma di Giovanni da Verrazzano Coat of arms.svg|left|thumb|135x135px|Coat of arms of Giovanni da Verrazzano]]
Verrazzano arranged a second voyage, with financial support from [[Jean Ango]] and [[Philippe de Chabot]], which departed from Dieppe with four ships early in 1527. One ship was separated from the others in a gale near the [[Cape Verde Islands]]. Still, Verrazzano reached the coast of Brazil with two ships and harvested a cargo of [[brazilwood]] before returning to Dieppe in September. The third ship returned later, also with a cargo of brazilwood.<ref>{{cite book | last = Morison | first = Samuel Eliot | author-link=Samuel Eliot Morison | title = The European Discovery of America: The Northern Voyages | url = https://archive.org/details/europeandiscover00moririch | url-access = registration | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1971 | location = New York | page = [https://archive.org/details/europeandiscover00moririch/page/314 314] | isbn = 0-19-215941-0}}</ref>

The partial success did not find the desired passage to the Pacific Ocean, but it inspired Verrazzano's final voyage, which left Dieppe in early 1528.<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giovanni-da-Verrazzano | title =Giovanni da Verrazzano, Italian navigator | date =January 1, 2019 | website =Encyclopaedia Britannica | access-date =January 18, 2019 | quote = His final voyage began in the spring of 1528, when he sailed with his brother, Girolamo, from Dieppe with two or three ships.}}</ref>

There are conflicting accounts of Verrazzano's demise. In one version, during his third voyage to North America in 1528, after he had explored Florida, [[the Bahamas]], and the [[Lesser Antilles]], Verrazzano anchored out to sea and rowed ashore, probably on the island of [[Guadeloupe]]. He was allegedly [[Human cannibalism|killed and eaten]] by the native [[Island Caribs|Caribs]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Wroth | first = Lawrence C. | title = The Voyages of Giovanni da Verrazzano, 1524–1528 | publisher = Yale University Press | year = 1970 | location = New Haven | page = [https://archive.org/details/voyagesofgiovann0000wrot/page/237 237] | isbn = 0-300-01207-1 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/voyagesofgiovann0000wrot/page/237 }}</ref> The fleet of two or three ships was anchored out of gunshot range, and no one could respond in time.<ref>{{cite book | last = Morison | first = Samuel Eliot | author-link=Samuel Eliot Morison | title = The European Discovery of America: The Northern Voyages | url = https://archive.org/details/europeandiscover00moririch | url-access = registration | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1971 | location = New York | page = [https://archive.org/details/europeandiscover00moririch/page/315 315] | isbn = 0-19-215941-0}}</ref>  

Certain past historians hypothesized that Verrazzano was the same person as the corsair [[Jean Fleury]], who was executed for piracy by the Spanish.<ref>{{cite book | last = Murphy | first = Henry Cruse | author-link=Henry Cruse Murphy | title = The Voyage of Verrazzano: A Chapter in the Early History of Maritime Discovery in America | url = https://archive.org/details/cu31924028728065 | publisher = Press of J. Munsell| year = 1875 | location = New York | page = [https://archive.org/details/cu31924028728065/page/n168 149]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Chester | first = Alden | title = Courts and lawyers of New York: a history, 1609–1925, Volume 3 | url = https://archive.org/details/courtslawyersofn02ches | publisher = The American Historical Society Inc.| year = 1925 | location = New York | page = 23}}</ref> This theory has been definitively rejected by historians, notably [[Prospero Peragallo]], who demonstrated that the two were distinct individuals.<ref name=":2" />

==Legacy==
[[File:1527-TeraFlorida.jpg|thumb|left|1527 map by [[Visconte Maggiolo]] showing the east coast of North America with "Tera Florida" at top right and "Lavoradore" (Labrador) at bottom left. The information supposedly<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mapsofpa.com/antiquemaps0.htm|title=16th Century Pennsylvania Maps|website=www.mapsofpa.com}}</ref> came from Giovanni da Verrazzano's voyage in 1524. ([[Biblioteca Ambrosiana]] Milan.)]]

The geographic information derived from this voyage significantly influenced sixteenth-century cartographers.<ref>Castelnovi Michele, Rotta verso la Cina: "les Indes en Kathaye" obiettivo della prima spedizione di Verrazzano, tra illusione e catacresi, in “Miscellanea di Storia delle Esplorazioni” XLII, Genova, Bozzi, 2017, pp. 45–78</ref> Despite his discoveries, Verrazzano's reputation did not proliferate as much as other explorers of that era. For example, Verrazzano gave the European name Francesca to the new land that he had seen, in accordance with contemporary practices, after the French king in whose name he sailed. That and other names he bestowed on features he discovered have not survived. He had the misfortune of making significant discoveries shortly after the years (1519 to 1521) that the dramatic [[Conquest of the Aztec Empire]] and the first circumnavigation of the world occurred.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, there was a great debate in the United States about the authenticity of the letters that Verrazzano ostensibly wrote to Francis I to describe the geography, flora, fauna, and native population of the east coast of North America.<ref>Thrower, Norman (2003) "Verrazzano, Giovanni Da", in: [[Jennifer Speake|Speake, Jennifer]] (ed.) ''Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia'', Vol. 3, New York; London: Fitzroy Dearborn, {{ISBN|1-57958-247-8}}</ref> Others thought that they were authentic, in particular since the discovery of the [[Cèllere Codex]] in 1909. This is the most  widely held opinion nowadays,<ref>Wroth, Lawrence (1970) ''The Voyages of Giovanni da Verrazzano, 1524–2003', New Haven: Pierpont Morgan Library by Yale University Press, {{ISBN|0-300-01207-1}}''</ref> particularly after the discovery of a letter signed by Francis I, which referred to Verrazzano's letter.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Thrower|first= Norman |year=1979|title=New Light on the 1524 Voyage of Verrazzano|journal=Terrae Incognitae|volume= 11 |issue=11|pages=59–65|doi= 10.1179/tin.1979.11.1.59 }}</ref>

Verrazzano's reputation was particularly obscure in [[New York City]], where the 1609 voyage of [[Henry Hudson]] on behalf of the [[Dutch Republic]] came to be regarded as the ''de facto'' start of European exploration of New York ([[Estêvão Gomes]]'s trip of 1524 was likewise forgotten). It was only by a great effort by the [[Italian Americans|Italian-American]] community in 1909 <ref name=":2" /> and then in the 1940s and 1950s that Verrazzano's name and reputation were established as the European discoverer of the harbour, culminating in [[Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge#Naming|an initiative to name]] the newly built [[Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge|Narrows Bridge]] after him.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Adler|first=Jerry|title=The History of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, 50 Years After Its Construction|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-verrazano-narrows-bridge-50-years-after-its-construction-180953032/|access-date=2020-08-15|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}</ref>{{clear left}}

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===Commemorations===
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2017}}
[[File:Giovanni da Verrazzano by Ximenes, Battery Park, NYC.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Statue in [[The Battery (Manhattan)|Battery Park]], [[Manhattan]] by [[Ettore Ximenes]] (1909)]]
[[File:Verrazzano.jpg|thumb|180px|left|Verrazzano's statue in the town of [[Greve in Chianti]], Italy]]

*In 1909, during the [[Hudson-Fulton Celebration]], a bronze statue of Verrazzano by [[Ettore Ximenes]] was installed in [[The Battery (Manhattan)|Battery Park]] in [[Manhattan]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Battery – Giovanni da Verrazzano|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/battery-park/monuments/1628|website=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation}}</ref>
*There are numerous commemorations of the explorer on [[Staten Island]].
**The [[Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge]], spanning [[The Narrows]] that separate Staten Island from [[Brooklyn]], is perhaps the best known. Until October 2018, it was known as the "Verrazano–Narrows Bridge" with one "z".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Campanile |first1=Carl |title=Cuomo Finally Fixes a 50-Year-Old Typo |url=https://nypost.com/2018/10/01/cuomo-finally-fixes-a-50-year-old-typo/ |access-date=October 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Rivoli | first=Dan | title=Verrazzano Bridge finally gets name corrected, decades later | website=New York Daily News | date=October 1, 2018 | url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-metro-verrazano-bridge-name-change-20181001-story.html | access-date=October 2, 2018}}</ref>
**A [[Staten Island Ferry]] boat that served New York from the 1950s to the 1990s was also named for Verrazzano. The ferry was named the "Verrazzano", while the bridge was named "Verrazano".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wang|first=Vivian|date=2018-06-07|title=How Do You Solve a Problem Like the Verrazano? With an Extra Z|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/07/nyregion/bill-would-spell-verrazano-bridge-with-an-extra-z.html|access-date=2020-08-15|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
**A [[Little League]] team on Staten Island is also named for him.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Verrazano Babe Ruth League|url=https://newyorksportsconnection.com/ny_organization/verrazano-babe-ruth-league/|access-date=2020-08-15|website=New York Sports Connection|language=en|archive-date=6 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206214519/https://newyorksportsconnection.com/ny_organization/verrazano-babe-ruth-league/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*The [[Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge]] in [[Narragansett Bay]], Rhode Island, is named for him, as is Maryland's [[Verrazano Bridge (Maryland)|Verrazano Bridge]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jamestown Bridge aces spelling bee |url=https://www.jamestownpress.com/articles/jamestown-bridge-aces-spelling-bee/|access-date=2020-08-15|website=www.jamestownpress.com|date=7 July 2016}}</ref>
*[[Italian destroyer Giovanni da Verrazzano|A vessel]] of the [[Regia Marina]], a destroyer of the {{sclass|Navigatori|destroyer|4}}, was named after Verrazzano. She was launched in 1930 and sunk by a British [[submarine]] in 1942.
*There is a statue of him in the town of [[Greve in Chianti]], Italy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Greve in Chianti|url=https://www.caftours.com/location/Greve%20in%20Chianti|access-date=2020-08-15|website=www.caftours.com}}</ref>
*There is a monument commemorating him in [[Rehoboth Beach, Delaware]]; it states on its south face:

{{poemquote|In Commemoration of
Verrazzano's
Voyage to
America
erected by the
Delaware Commission on
Italian Heritage and Culture
2008<ref name="Giovanni Da Verrazzano Historical Marker">{{cite web|url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=49095 |title=Giovanni Da Verrazzano Historical Marker |publisher=Hmdb.org |access-date=2017-02-22}}</ref>}}

:The monument further states on its east face:

<blockquote>A native of Val Di Greve in the Tuscany region of Italy, he studied navigation as a young man and became a master mariner. He was engaged by the King of France to lead a voyage to North America in 1524. The purpose of Verrazzano's journey was to learn more about the continent. Traveling in a small ship known as the Dauphine, he explored coastal areas from the present-day State of North Carolina to Canada, observing the natural abundance of the land and the vibrant culture of its native peoples. His voyage is the earliest documented European exploration of this part of the Atlantic Coast.{{parabr}}This monument rests upon stone from Castello di Verrazzano, the explorer's ancestral home.<ref name="Giovanni Da Verrazzano Historical Marker" /></blockquote>

==Notes==
{{NoteFoot}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite journal |last=Codignola |first=Luca |date=1999 |title=Another Look at Verrazzano's Voyage, 1524 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30303228 |journal=Acadiensis |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=29–42 |jstor=30303228 |issn=0044-5851}}
*[[:it:Giancarlo_Masini|Masini, Giancarlo]]; Gori, Iacopo (1999). ''How Florence Invented America'', New York, Marsilio Publishers.
*Castelnovi Michele (2005), Luoghi e tempi di un errore cartografico: l’istmo di Verrazzano (1524–1593), in Luoghi e tempo nella cartografia, Atti del Convegno nazionale dell’Associazione Italiana di Cartografia Trieste aprile 2005, a cura di C. Donato, in “Bollettino dell’Associazione Italiana di Cartografia”, nn. 123–124, Trieste, 2005, pp. 295–306.


==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080905143439/http://www.verrazzano.org/en/index2.php Verrazzano Centre for Historical Studies]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verrazzano, Giovanni Da}}
[[Category:1485 births]]
[[Category:1528 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Greve in Chianti]]
[[Category:Italian explorers of North America]]
[[Category:16th-century people from the Republic of Florence]]
[[Category:16th-century Italian explorers]]
[[Category:Explorers of Canada]]
[[Category:Cannibalised people]]
[[Category:Explorers of Florida]]