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NAPLES. 



NAPLES. 



910 



the southern boundary of the Bay of Naples. Along the crest of this 

 ridge, called Monte Sant" Angelo, the boundary runs to a few miles 

 east of Castt?llamare, whence the line runs up the plain east of Vesu- 

 vius to the sluggish stream of the Clanius (Regi Lagni), which it 

 strikes a little south of Acerra. The banks of this river are unhealthy 

 from malaria, and from the maceration of flax in its sluggish stream. 

 A mile or two N.W. from Acerra, near 41° N. lai, the boundary runs 

 first south and then west (leaving Aversa on the north), to the northern 

 extremity of the I^o di Patria, the ancient Litema Palus, which is 

 fed by the Clanius, and is now a mere marsh abounding with wild- 

 fowl. This lake was the harbour of the ancient Litemum, the retreat 

 and death-place of the great Scipio. It was joined to the sea by a 

 canaL A tower marks the spot where Scipio was interred. Patria, 

 the representative of Litemum, is a mere fishing village. 



The only rivers are the Clanius, the Sebeto, and the Samo, which last 

 crosses the narrowest part of the province from the neighbourhood of 

 Pompeii, and enters the sea midway between Annunziata and Castella- 

 mare. Among the lakes which have not been already mentioned are 

 the Lago-di-Licola, north of Cuma;, supposed to be part of the canal 

 begun by Nero to connect the Avemus with the Tiber ; and the Lake 

 of AuNAXO ; and the Lake of Fusaro, the Achenuiua of the Latin 

 poets, which communicates with the sea by a Roman canal now 

 called Foce-di-Fusaro ; this lake is famous fordta oysters. The Hare- 

 Morto also, once the harbour of Miaenom, east of Uonnt Procida, 

 deserves mention though not qnit« a lake. Of the ancient craters the 

 most remarkable are those that lie between Monte Rosso, near Cuma), 

 and the Lill of Posilippo, namely, Monte Borbaro, Monte Cigliano, 

 Monte Campana, Astroni, Honte Nuovo, and some others already 

 mentioned. The Astroni is the most perfect of all ; its rim, 4 miles 

 in circuit, is crowned by a wall, and unbroken, except by an 

 artificial entrance to the crater, which is clothed with magnificent 

 trees, and has been long used as a royal preserve for wild boars 

 and deer. 



The great feature of the province to the south-east of the city of 

 Naples is Mount Vesuvius, which forms the subject of a separate 

 article. [VsstJTlUS.] The beautiful range of Monte Sant' Angelo, 

 with its tibree lofty peaks, running through the peninsula of Sorrento, 

 forma a grand feature in the scenery beyond Castellamare. Mount 

 Cepparica, an offset of the range, runs west by north from the three 

 peaks to the sea, between Vico Equense and Castellamare, and sends 

 out northward a beautiful spur called Quisiaana, which is covered 

 with magnifieent villas. The province is traversed by railways to 

 Nooera and Capua, which start from a oommoA terminna in the east 

 of the city of Naples ; the former running ioutb-«ast along the coast 

 to Annunziata, near which the main Una takes an eastern direction, 

 whilst a branch continues along the ooast to Castellamare; the 

 Utter nms first north-east and then north-west up the plain of 

 Campania. 



The province is divided into fonr districts : — 1, Naples; 2, Pozzuoli, 

 which includes the whole western division and the islands Iscbia and 

 Procida ; 3, Castellamare, which comprises the territory at the base of 

 Mount Vesuvius and the coast opposite Naples as far as Sorrento ; 

 4, Casoria, which comprehends a tract of the Campanian plain stretch- 

 ing north of the tangs of hills behind the city of Naples. 



The principal towns of the province of Naples, exclusive of the 

 capital, are : — PoauoU, the ancient Puleoli, situated on the east side 

 of the gulf of the same name, and opposite to Baiffi, originally a colony 

 of Cumie, called Dictearchia, found«l in the 6th century before Christ, 

 and now a bishop's see with 10,000 inhabitants. The whole surround- 

 ing country is of a volcanic character. The bill called Solfatara, which 

 is the crater of a volcano not yet extinct, rises to the east above the 

 town. AfragoUx, a town of 16,000 inhabitants, N.E. of Naples in the 

 Campanian plain, has some hat mauufactiiries. Fratta, near the 

 ancient Atella, is famous for its strawberry-beds, which supply the 

 markets of Naples : population, 10,000. Somma, at the north base of 

 Mount Vesuvius, has 7000 inhabitants. Sant' Aiuulatia, near Somma, 

 baa SOOO inhabitants. The whole neighbourhood produces the luscious 

 wine known by the name of ' Lachryma Christi.' Portici and Retina, 

 two adjoining towns built on the south-west slope of Vesuvius, on 

 the site of Uercolaneum, contain respectively 6000 and 11,000 inha- 

 bitaota. Visitors who ascend Mount Vesuvius pass through Resina. 

 Portiti has a royal palace : ita museum of antiquities, obtained from 

 Herculaneum and Pompeii, has been lately removed to the Museo 

 Borbonico at Naples. East of Resina ia another pretty royal villa 

 called La Favorita, in a lovely situation near the sea-shore. Torre del 

 Ortco, about 2 miles 8.E. from I'ortici, at the foot of Vesuvius, a town 

 of 17,000 inhabitants, has been repeatedly destroyed by the lava and 

 earthquakes, but rebuilt over and over again. The inhabitants are 

 mostly addicted to a sea-faring life. Amwmiata, or Torre delV Annun- 

 ziata, about 4 miles S.E. from Torre del Greco, and near the site of 

 Poroncii, has 12,000 inhabitants, a manufactory of muskeU for the 

 royal service, and a large gunpowder magazine. It is also known for 

 iU great manufactory of maccaroni, which is the best in Naples, and 

 known by the name of ' Maocaroni della Costa.' North of Torre dell' 

 Annunziata is the large Tillage of Botco tr( Cat, and farther north, 

 on th* aast slope of Varaviai, is the town of OUajano, with 15,000 

 inhabitaots. Cawellamabk. Vico JEquenie (Vicus vEquanus), a 

 ■null town psnshed upon the oliffii above the coast, about 4 miles S.W. 



from Castellamare, was the birthplace of the metaphysician and his- 

 torian Oianbattista di Vico : population of the town and neighbour- 

 hood about 10,000. Sorrento is in a delightful valley surrounded by 

 hills, which is a complete grove of orange and mulberry trees, and 

 contains several villages and numerous country houses. 'The town of 

 Sorrento has 6000 inhabitants, is a bishop's see, and the birth-place of 

 Tasso. The plain of Sorrento is much frequented by the wealthy 

 Neapolitans during summer. There ai-e boats which cross daily from 

 Naples to Sorrento, and return loaded Avith oranges and other fruit. 

 Silk is also produced here. Catoria, in the plain north of Naples, on 

 the road to Afragola, is the head town of a district, and has 8000 

 inhabitants. East of Casoria, on the r.iilway to Capua, is tlie long 

 straggling village of Caialnuoro. West of it are the villages of Arzana 

 and Melito. Farther west is Oiugliano, which with two dependent 

 hamlets has about 10,000 inhabitants. South of Oiugliano is Mugnano: 

 population, 4000. A little south-west of Mugnano is Marano, the 

 chief town of a circle, with a population of about 8000. At Marano 

 terminates the semicircular ridge of hills which bounds the Phlegrsean 

 Fields on the north, stretching across to the Lake of Licola, near the 

 sea-shore. This ridge is probably a portion of the lip of a gigantic 

 crater that may have once inclosed the wholo volcanic region of the 

 Phlegraian plain. 



NAPLES (Napolt), the capital of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, 

 ia situated in 40° 52' N. lat, 14° 15' E. long., on the northern coast 

 of the fine Bay of Naples, partly at the foot and partly on the slope of 

 a range of hills which runs obliquely to the shore. The population in 

 1851 was 450,000. The city is 4 miles long from the Maddalena bridge 

 over the Sebeto on the east to the suburb of Mergilliua on the west; 

 its breadth from the Capodimonto to the Castel dell' Ovo is 24 miles; 

 and its circumference is about 10 miles. 



Seen from the sea Naples appears in the form of two crescents, of 

 very unequal depth, one on the east, and the other on the west, 

 divided by the point of Castel dell' Ovo and the hill of Pizzofalcone, 

 which is behind it. The eastern crescent, which includes the 

 great bulk of the city, faces the south-east, and is bounded by the 

 hill of Capodimonte to the north, and Sunt' Elmo to the west, 

 crowned by the castle of that name, which commands the town. 

 Between these two hills is a considerable ' depression, on which the 

 suburbs of Lia Sanitii and L'Infrascata arc built The slope of the hill 

 of Capodimonte is likewise covered with houses, forming the suburbs 

 celle<l Dei Hiracoli and Le VerginL To the eastward the town is open 

 to the plain of Campania. From the barrier of Capo di Chino, at the 

 entrance from Rome, a succession of fine streets run through the body 

 of the town to the sea, the principal of which, called Strada di Toledo, 

 about a mile in length, runs due south, and divides the old city, which 

 is east of it, from the new districts. The street of Toledo terminates 

 southward in the Piazza before the royal palsce. Of the old city part 

 of the walls, towers, and ditches still remain, and several of the gates 

 are standing, namely, Porta Nolans, on the road to Nola, Porta 

 Capuana, on the road to Apulia, and Porta S. Qennaro, and Poi-ta 

 8. Maria di Constantinopoli, towanls the north. Between the gates 

 of Nola and Carmine on the eastern side of the city is the common 

 terminus of the railroads to Nocera and Capua. The old part of the 

 town, which is in a plain, has narrow streets and lofty massive houses, 

 many of them six or seven stories high ; it is very thickly inhabited, 

 and contains more than one half of the wholo population of the capital. 

 West of the Strada di Toledo numerous streets run up the hill of Sant' 

 Elmo, which is covered with houses for two-thirds of its height. South 

 of the hill of Sanf Elmo, and between it and the point of Pizzofalcone, 

 is another depression, which affords a carriage communication between 

 the Strada di Toledo and the western crescent, or new part of the 

 town, which is called by tho general name of Chiaja, ' the quay.' This 

 part, which is much contracted between the hills and the sea, extends 

 in length about a mile and a half between the hill of Pizzofalcone to 

 the east and that of Posilippo to tho west. A fine rood runs all this 

 length, parallel to the sea-shore, and between the public gardens of 

 Villa R«Ue on one side and a row of fins houses on the other ; it then 

 turns along the base of Mount Posilippo, and gradually ascending it, 

 leads to tho other side of it towards Pozzuoli. There is another and 

 straighter road to Pozzuoli by the tunnel called Grotta di Posilippo 

 mentioned in the preceding article. 



Naples is an open city like London, but it has barriers or custom- 

 house posts at the principal avenues leading into the town, for 

 the purpose of collecting the 'gabella,' or duty on provisions. The 

 most remarkable buildings are : — 



1. The royal palace, ' La Reggia,' a large mass of buildings, con- 

 structed at two different times, first by the Spanish viceroy Pedro de 

 Toledo, which part goes by the name of Palazzo Vecchio ; and the 

 second, after the design of the architect Fontana, under the Spanish 

 viceroy Count de Lemos, in the 17th century. This new palace has 

 a front of nearly 400 feet in length, with three orders of I)illar8, one 

 above the other, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The great court has 

 two rows of arcades, one above the other, supported by granite 

 columns ; the grand staircase is ample and commodious. The apart- 

 ments are adorned with valuable paintings uf the old Italian masters. 

 The great gallery contains the portraits of all the Spanish viceroys 

 who presided over Naples for more than two centuries. At the back 

 of the palace, along the first floor, facing the sea, is a handsome terrace 



