During the 1930s, numerous villas were built on the avenue along the sea in Liberty style on design by Cioni. In the early 19th century, the first American-born saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, converted from Protestantism to Catholicism while visiting Italian friends in Livorno. The city suffered extensive damage during World War II. Many historic sites and buildings were destroyed by bombs of the Allies preceding their invasion, including the cathedral and Synagogue of Livorno. Livorno's citizens in recent decades have become well known for their left-wing politics. The Italian Communist Party was founded in Livorno in 1921. Livorno has a hot-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification "Csa"). Summers have warm days with the heat lingering on throughout the night, hence going above the subtropical threshold in spite of its relatively high latitude. Winters are mild for the latitude due to the influence from the Mediterranean Sea. Precipitation is in a wet winter/dry summer-pattern as with all climates fitting the mediterranean definition. Ferdinando II de' Medici considered, in 1629, the opportunity to enlarge the town, on project by Giovanni Battista Santi, toward north in an area included among "Fortezza Vecchia" and "Fortezza Nuova", in order to give an adequate space to the maritime and commercial activities. There was the need to build a mercantile district, close to "Porto Mediceo", provided with houses and depots to store the merchandise and a system of canals to facilitate their transport. The new "rione" (district), called "", was built in an area gained to the sea, intersected by canals and linked to the town with bridges, for this reason Venetians skilled workers were recruited. The "Chiesa di Sant'Anna", dedicated to Saint Anne, was built in 1631 on the ground of the Arch confraternity of the Company of the Nativity; in the same year Giovanni Battista Santi died and the control of the project passed to Giovanni Francesco Cantagallina though the works slowed down due to the lack of funds. A new impulse to the works was given in 1656 concerning the distribution of the spaces where to build other houses and stores; consequently arose the problem of the diverse oriented road scheme respect to the axis of "Piazza d’Arme", it was resolved adopting a road plan perpendicular to the Navicelli channel.