130 



NAPLES. 



paintings, and the royal library. The university 

 [iMiiiilt-il by Frederic II., in 1224, is of some con- 

 sequence as a building, but of little note as a place 

 of education. It contains several good collections; 

 for instance, a mineralogical cabinet. The botanical 

 garden is gradually improving-. There is also an 

 observatory, a royal medical college, a military school, 

 a naval college, an academy of agriculture, manufac- 

 tures, and arts, a college for the instruction of Chinese 

 and Japanese youth, two Jesuit colleges, &c., and a 

 royal society of sciences. The number of benevolent 

 institutions is above sixty. Among them are two 

 large hospitals Degli Incurabili (where, however, 

 sick of all kinds are received) and Delia Santissima 

 Annunziata, which is very rich, and receives and 

 provides for foundlings, penitent females, &c. There 

 are five other hospitals, many religious fraternities, 

 and several conservatories, which last were long 

 famous as the seminaries of music for all Europe. 

 The Albergo dei Poveri, with a school of mutual 

 instruction for 400 children, is one of the greatest 

 buildings of the kind. But pleasure, not serious 

 business, has its abode in Naples, and amusement is 

 the general aim. For the idle populace, there is no 

 want of entertainment pulcinellos, music, oranges, 

 macaroni, and room to sleep. For the better classes, 

 there are four theatres, of which the largest, S. Carlo, 

 was burned in 1816, but has been splendidly rebuilt. 

 Besides this theatre, there are the Teatro Nuovo, de' 

 Fiorentini, and S. Carlino. In respect to music and 

 representation, they hardly reach mediocrity ; but 

 the ballet is magnificent. The nobles are opulent 

 and fond of parade ; the citizens are thriving ; and 

 the lowest class (the lazzaroni) are, in general, so 

 temperate that, from the cheapness of provisions, 

 they can live with the least pittance, got by work or 

 begging, and reserve something for the divertimenti 

 on the mole, and, if they have no other shelter, trust 

 to the mildness of the climate, and spend the night 

 under the portico of a palace or a church. Com- 

 pared with the number of inhabitants, the manufac- 

 tures are unimportant ; the artisans have little skill. 

 The furniture made in Naples is clumsy. The best 

 jewellers, taik>rs, and shoemakers are foreigners ; 

 the best traiteurs, Milanese ; and the only circulating 

 library was set up, a few years ago, by a Frenchman. 

 From the situation of the city, its commerce might be 

 extensive. The bank of the Two Sicilies has a 

 capital of 1,000,000 ducats. Female beauty is rare 

 in Naples, but the men are vigorous and well formed, 

 especially at the age of maturity. In literary culti- 

 vation, the Neapolitans are altogether behind the 

 other Italians, although they have many famous 

 names. Among the scholars of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury, some Neapolitans are distinguished, as Piazzi, 

 Cuoco (author of a History of the Revolution of 1799, 

 and of the Viaggi di Platone in Italia), the prince of 

 S. Giorgio (an antiquarian and poet), the duke of 

 Veiitignano (a tragic poet). The lawyers, 4000 in 

 number (called paglietti, or straw-hats), hold a great 

 portion of the real estate in their hands, in conse- 

 quence of the number and length of the lawsuits. 

 The character of the people is not so suspicious as 

 many travellers have represented it. There is much 

 good humour and cordiality, and a temperance 

 worthy of imitation among them ; with all their 

 violence, murders are seldom heard of. The im- 

 morality is not more than that of other great cities ; 

 and the love of idleness and pleasure has its founda- 

 tion and excuse in the nature of the climate. 



La, terra molle, e. lieta, e diMtota, 

 Simili a te gli abitator uroduce. 



TASSO'S Ger. Lib. \. 62. 



Thp environs of Naples are rich in wonders of nature, 

 art, and innumerable remains of antiquity. On the 



west side of the city is the ridge of the Pausilippo. 

 It is said to owe its name to the effect of its beauty 

 in lulling the sense of grief (i*/> ms xaLvaiut rm >.vrn;}. 

 Its grotto is an arched way, which the ancients often 

 mention, but which Alphonso I. enlarged, ami Uie 

 viceroy Peter of Toledo paved. (See ' Pausilippo ) 

 In a garden above it is situated the pretended tomb 

 of Virgil, a columbarium or Roman tomb, with several 

 niches, in which once stood urns. The laurel, which 

 once flourished there, but which had to surrender its 

 foliage to every traveller, is gone. Following the 

 road through the grotto of Pausilippo, we come to 

 the lake of Agnano, which is enclosed in a picturesque 

 manner by mountains, of which the one on which is 

 situated the monastery of the Camaldoli is the highest. 

 The prospect from this eminence extends over the 

 whole of Campania Felix, far out over the islands 

 and sea, and is incontestably one of the richest and 

 most delightful in the world. The lake of Agnano 

 has the property of boiling up in some places, but is 

 not, however, hot. In the summer, when all the 

 hemp of the neighbourhood is rotted in the lake, the 

 air is extremely unhealthy. On its banks are the 

 stidatories, or vapour-baths of S. Germane, consisting 

 of vaults, from the floor of which a sulphureous vapour 

 issues, and the celebrated Grotta del Cane, the bottom 

 of which is covered with a stratum of carbonic acid 

 gas, in which the guides generally immerse a dog, 

 and draw him out, when on the point of suffocating, 

 to recover in the open air. A grotto leads into 

 another romantic valley, surrounded by the Letico- 

 gean rocks. At the foot of these hills is the Acqua 

 delle Piscianelle, a very warm sulphureous water, 

 issuing from the ground with a noise. On the other 

 side of the rocks lies the Solfatara (Forum Vulcani, 

 Campi Phlegraei), a very remarkable volcanic valley, 

 900 feet long, and 750 broad. A volcanic mountain 

 was, in all probability, once carried down here, with- 

 out being entirely extinguished. The ground, which is 

 covered with a whitish clay, and trembles under the 

 feet, is hollow ; from every hole and crack, sulphu- 

 reous vapours issue. The deposits of the native 

 sulphur, in various colours, on the wild rocks, in- 

 crease the terrific appearance of this region. On 

 leaving it, and turning towards Pozzuoli, all the 

 charms of southern flowers, and the prospect of the 

 sea, greet the eye. We approach Pozzuoli over the 

 remains of an ancient road, admiring, on the way, 

 the relics of former splendour, particularly the ruins 

 of a Piscina (commonly called a labyrinth), of a 

 great amphitheatre, and of the thermce, or warm 

 baths. The old Via Campana is studded, on boih 

 sides, with the picturesque ruins of ancient tombs, 

 consisting mainly of columbaria, and still exhibiting 

 traces of painting. The town of Pozzuoli is situated 

 on a small peninsula, and contains 14.600 inhabitants. 

 The cathedral was formerly a temple, dedicated to 

 Augustus, and still contains several antique columns. 

 Of a statue of Tiberius, only a very beautiful pedes- 

 tal, in the market place, has been preserved. By 

 far the most beautiful monument of Roman antiquity 

 is the ruins of a temple of Jupiter Serapis, which was 

 built in the reign of Domitian. Three columns only 

 of Cipollino marble are at present standing, over- 

 looking in sadness a chaos of beautiful fragments. 

 What is called the bridge of Caligula, in the harbour 

 of Pozzuoli, consists of a row of pillars, projecting 

 above the surface of the water, probably the ruins of 

 a mole. On the other side of the city lies Monte 

 Barbara (the ancient Mount Gaurus, celebrated for 

 its costly wines), at the foot of which stood Cicero's 

 academy and Cumanum. Next in order is the 

 Monte Nuovo, which was raised in 1538, in the 

 night, by an earthquake, that utterly destroyed the 

 contiguous village of Tripergole. On this occasion, 



