Cittàgazze

Cittàgazze (sometimes abbreviated to Ci'gazze), meaning "City of the Magpies", is a fictional city within an unknown world (and parallel universe) in the bestselling fantasy fiction trilogy, His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman.

The first reference to the city appears in the first volume of the trilogy, "Northern Lights, as 'the city in the sky': the city visible in the Aurora borealis, an occurrence which, according to the novel, thins the barrier between the dimension in which the story takes place and the dimension of Cittàgazze. The most expansive description of the city is given as Lyra and Will venture into it and other surrounding universes in The Subtle Knife. It is also mentioned in the final volume, The Amber Spyglass. The city is located within a parallel universe different from most others mentioned in the trilogy, and is reached through a "window-between-worlds" created by Lord Asriel at the climax of Northern Lights.

Cittàgazze is a seaside town, reminiscent of those near the Mediterranean, which seems to have Italian-like roots. Its main features are quaint restaurants, parasols hung over circular tables beneath trailing plants, wide cobbled roads, and ancient architecture. However, it should not necessarily be considered "old-world". There is mention electric devices (electric lights and refrigerators) and the world appears to be roughly as technologically as our own (except of course for the subtle knife, which is far in advance of our world).

Perhaps its most significant feature is the tower called the Torre degli Angeli (Tower of the Angels), in which the subtle knife resides in the second book. However, the city is also plagued by deadly, ghostly beings called spectres. They are invisible to pre-adolescents, but once individuals are old enough to see them the spectres take an interest in them, eating away people's dæmons (sometimes believed to represent the soul), thus leaving them zombie-like and lifeless. Hence, the city is entirely devoid of adults, but is populated by small rag-tag gangs of children. Spectres cluster around children approaching adolescence and consume them the moment they com of age.

The multitude of spectres in the world of Cittàgazze is due to the constant use of the subtle knife in its vicinity. While the knife can creaate apertures to other worlds, each occurance of this creates a new spectre. Asriel;s opening of the passage from his world to Citàgazze caused a massive surge in spectre population swarming the world with the soul-devouring wraiths.

Cittàgazze is introduced to us in The Subtle Knife when Will enters through a "window" into its universe; it appears to be deserted, but the influence of life remains. We learn from children who later return to the city that the adults are elsewhere in order to escape the spectres.

Cittàgazze is also the name of the oldest His Dark Materials forum, where many His Dark Materials fans discuss not only the novels but also more personal topics.