CASTELLAMMARE DI STABIA

city and episcopal see, Napoli provincia, Campania regione, southern Italy. It lies in the southeast angle of the Bay of Naples southeast of Naples. Its name is derived from the Roman resort of Stabiae (just northeast), destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, and from a castle built by the Holy Roman emperor Frederick II, ruins of which remain. Noted for its hot mineral springs and baths, fine beaches, and scenic location, it is a popular summer resort and spa. The royal Villa Quisisana (1310) is now a hotel. Castellammare is also a commercial and industrial centre, with an arsenal and a large shipyard where the bathyscaphe used by the Swiss physicist Auguste Piccard for marine exploration was built. Pop. (1993 est.) mun., 67,974.