NAPLES

Italian Napoli, ancient (Latin) Neapolis (New Town) city, capital of Naples provincia, Campania regione, southern Italy. It lies on the west coast of the Italian Peninsula, 120 miles (190 kilometres) southeast of Rome. On its celebrated bayflanked to the west by the smaller Gulf of Pozzuoli and to the southeast by the more extended indentation of the Gulf of Salernothe city is situated between two areas of volcanic activity: Mount Vesuvius to the east and the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields) to the northwest. The most recent eruption of Vesuvius occurred in 1944. In 1980 an earthquake damaged Naples and its outlying towns, and since then Pozzuoli to the west has been seriously afflicted by bradyseism (a phenomenon involving a fall or rise of land). Naples is located near the midpoint of the arc of hills that, commencing in the north at the promontory of Posillipo and terminating in the south with the Sorrentine peninsula, form the central focus of the Bay of Naples. To the south of the bay's entrance to the Tyrrhenian Sea, the island of Capri forms a partial breakwater, visible from the city in clear weather and at times of impending storm but increasingly screened by polluted air from the industrial zone developed, since World War II, between central Naples and the Vesuvian slopes. Pollution also afflicts the waters of the port, obliging the more scrupulous practitioners of the immemorial Neapolitan fishing industry to withdraw ever farther from their native shore. While Naples' importance as the principal port of southern Italy is at last in decline, the city remains the centre of the nation's meridional commerce and culture, beset by inveterate difficulties, and distinguished by an adroit and original spirit that retains many suggestions of the classical past and of assimilated historical experience. Of all the cities of southern Italy with Greek origins, Naples presents the most striking example of a lively continuity. It is also perhaps the last great metropolis of western Europe whose monuments, albeit often in decay, may still be seen in their popular context, without distractions of tourism or self-conscious commercialism. Since World War II, during which Naples suffered severe bombardment, modernization has increasingly altered the city's setting and character; and a measure of long-deferred but often speculative prosperity is reflected in new suburbs now proliferating in once-rural surroundings. However, Naples remains arcane and compelling, a city whose richness requires from the visitor time, accessibility, and some knowledge of the Neapolitan past. Italian Napoli, ancient (Latin) Neapolis (New Town) city, capital of Naples provincia, Campania regione, southern Italy. Naples is located on the western (Tyrrhenian Sea) shore of the Italian Peninsula 120 miles (190 km) southeast of Rome. It is the great port city, intellectual centre, and financial capital of the traditionally poor Mezzogiorno. It was once the capital of the kingdoms of Naples and of the Two Sicilies. Naples curves around one of the most beautiful (and celebrated) bays of the world, the entrance to which is flanked by the islands of Ischia on the north and Capri on the south. The city nestles on hills between Mount Vesuvius and the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields). Naples' traditional industries include the manufacture of porcelain ware, textiles, and steel; among its newer industries are electronics, petroleum refining, and automobile assembly. Tourism also is important to the regional economy. The central and most ancient part of Naples is built on flat ground beside the bay and east of the ridge that runs down from the heights of Vomero. On now-fashionable Vomero, the 14th-century Sant'Elmo Castle (rebuilt 153746) dominates both the old city to the east and the modern sections to the west. In the old town the narrow streets of the medieval city follow the pattern of ancient Neapolis, traversed by the three decumani (streets of orientation), running from east to west and now called Via San Biagio dei Librai, Via Tribunali, and Via Anticaglia; narrow streets descend at right angles toward the harbour. At the foot of Vomero is the neighbourhood known as the Chiaia, once a favourite residence of foreigners. The site of Neapolis is dotted with palaces, castles, and churches, and man-made subterranean grottoes underlie many areas of the city. The Duomo (cathedral; 12941323), located on the street that bears its name, was extensively restored after earthquake damage. Other landmarks include the palace of Capodimonte; the Castel Nuovo (New Castle), also known as the Angevin Fortress, built in 127982 and located to the west of the Piazza del Municipio, where the municipal offices are housed; the cruciform Galleria Umberto II, housing shops and offices; and the Dominican monastery, where St. Thomas Aquinas studied and later taught. The University of Naples (1224), the Italian Institute for Historical Studies, and the Music Conservatory (dating from 1537, the oldest conservatory in the West) are the principal centres of higher education in the city. The San Carlo Theatre (1737), the largest opera house in Italy, is world-renowned. The Renaissance Palazzo Cuomo now houses the Gaetano Filangieri Civic Museum; the National Archaeological Museum (1586) contains the Farnese collection of marbles, as well as murals, mosaics, and bronzes recovered from the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The National Library contains early papyri and manuscripts. Naples is the main railway junction between Rome and areas to the south. The existing harbour works were reconstructed after World War II, but Naples' importance as a passenger port has been reduced. The international airport of Capodichino is located 5 miles (8 km) north of the city centre. Area city, 45 square miles (117 square km). Pop. (1990 est.) 1,204,149. city, seat (1962) of Collier county, southern Florida, U.S. It lies at the edge of the Everglades, on the Gulf of Mexico. Named for the Italian city, it developed as a resort after attracting the attention of Henry Watterson, a Kentucky journalist, in the late 19th century. Tourism and truck gardening are the economic mainstays. Nearby are the Caribbean Gardens (an African safari exhibit) and Collier Seminole State Park. The city's recreation facilities are enhanced by a 7-mile (11-kilometre) mainland beach and the abundance of game fish in the Ten Thousand Islands, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast. Inc. town, 1923; city, 1949. Pop. (1990) city, 19,505; Naples MSA, 152,099. Additional reading General Sir William Hamilton, Campi Phlegraei (1776), offers illustrated observations on the area of volcanic activity that influences the environment of Naples. Other relevant historic writings include Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, Italian Journey, 17861788, trans. from German by W.H. Auden and Elizabeth Mayer (1962, reprinted 1982), a travel diary, completed in 181617, with celebrated chapters on Naples; and Norman Douglas, Siren Land (1911, reprinted 1982), an illuminating discussion of the ancient Neapolitan setting, Capri, and Sorrento. Desmond Seward (ed.), Naples, a Travellers' Companion (1984), is an anthology of writings on Naples by authors from the 13th to the mid-19th century. Peter Gunn, The Companion Guide to Southern Italy (1969); and H.V. Morton, A Traveller in Southern Italy (1969, reprinted 1987), are descriptive guidebooks. Essential information is collected in the detailed guidebook Napoli e dintorni, 5th ed. (1976). Social conditions, the poor, and especially children are the topic of Maria Carmela Barbiero (ed.), Gli eredi della povert: stabilit e mutamento nel sottoproletariato nepoletano (1981); Judith Chubb, Patronage, Power, and Poverty in Southern Italy: A Tale of Two Cities (1982); and Thomas Belmonte, The Broken Fountain (1979). For an analysis of political developments, see P.A. Allum, Politics and Society in Post-War Naples (1973). History A fundamental encyclopaedic work, dealing authoritatively with every aspect of Neapolitan history, is Storia di Napoli, 11 vol. in 14 (196778), published by the Societ Editrice Storia di Napoli; it is complemented by Napoli Nobilissima, a series of brief scholarly monographs on every aspect of Neapolitan history, which periodically is bound into volumes. John H. D'Arms, Romans on the Bay of Naples: A Social and Cultural Study of the Villas and Their Owners from 150 BC to AD 400 (1970), traces the life and culture through the analysis of the remains of important constructions; Martin Frederiksen, Campania (1984), is a history of the region beginning with antiquity. Giovanni Pugliese Carratelli et al., Megale Hellas: storia e civilt della Magna Grecia (1983), provides a comprehensive scholarly history of Greek civilization in southern Italy. Urban Naples and its administration in the Greek and Roman periods are examined in Bartolommeo Capasso, Napoli graeco-romana (1905, reprinted 1978).Works on later historical periods include Gino Doria, Storia di una capitale: Napoli dalle origini al 1860, 6th rev. ed. (1975), covering the period up to the absorption of Naples into the Kingdom of Italy; Jerry H. Bentley, Politics and Culture in Renaissance Naples (1987); Vincenzo Cuoco, Saggio storico sulla rivoluzione napoletana del 1799, new ed. (1929, reissued 1980), on the Parthenopean Republic and the revolution; Benedetto Croce, La rivoluzione napoletana del 1799, 8th ed. (1968), on the personalities of the revolution; Harold Acton, The Bourbons of Naples, 17341825 (1956, reprinted 1974), and The Last Bourbons of Naples, 18251861 (1961); Pietro Colletta, History of the Kingdom of Naples, 17341825, 2 vol. (1858; originally published in Italian, 1834); and John A. Davis, Merchants, Monopolists, and Contractors: A Study of Economic Activity and Society in Bourbon Naples, 18151860 (1981), on Bourbon rule in Naples. An essential comprehensive survey is provided in Benedetto Croce, Storia del regno di Napoli, 5th ed. (1984).For the modern period, see Peter Gunn, Naples: A Palimpsest (1961), a popular history including modern developments; and Giancarlo Alisio, Napoli e il risanamento: recupero di una struttura urbana (1980), a study of urban renewal after the cholera epidemic of 1884. Arts and architecture Roberto Pane, Il Rinascimento nell'Italia meridionale, 2 vol. (1975), is a pioneering work on Renaissance art and architecture in Naples. Pierluigi Leone De Castris, Arte di corte nella Napoli angiona (1986), treats the arts and art patronage under Angevin rule. Other works include Rudolf Wittkower, Art and Architecture in Italy, 1600 to 1750, 3rd ed. (1973, reprinted with corrections and augmented bibliography, 1980); Sacheverell Sitwell, Southern Baroque Art: A Study of Painting, Architecture, and Music in Italy and Spain of the 17th & 18th Centuries (1924, reprinted 1971); Anthony Blunt, Neapolitan Baroque & Rococo Architecture (1975); Roberto Pane, Architettura dell'et barocca Napoli (1939); Roberto Pane et al., Ville vesuviane del settecento (1959); Benedetto Croce, I teatri di Napoli: dal Rinascimento alla fine del secolo decimotavo, 5th ed. (1966), on the theatre from the Renaissance to the end of the 18th century; and Michael F. Robinson, Naples and Neapolitan Opera (1972, reprinted 1984), a careful historical study. Shirley Hazzard