NAPLES
LOCATED BETWEEN THE SLOPES OF VESUVIUS AND THE
VOLCANIC HEIGHTS OF THE CAMPI FLEGREI, ON THE
SPLENDID DECLIVITY THAT FRAMES THE GULF OF THE
SAME NAME, NAPLES, CAPITAL CITY OF CAMPANIA, IS
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND ACTIVE METROPOLITAN
AREAS IN SOUTHERN ITALY.
NOWADAYS AN ACTIVE COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL
CENTER, WITH A PRONOUNCED TOURIST VOCATION,
BOASTING ONE OF THE FOREMOST MEDITERRANEAN PORTS.
NAPLES HAS A RICH ARCHITECTURAL AND MONUMENTAL
HERITAGE, WITH SUPERB EXAMPLES OF THE GOTHIC AND
BAROQUE, AND AN EXTRAORDINARY COLLECTION OF
ANCIENT REMAINS COMING FROM NEARBY ROMAN CENTERS
SUCH AS POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM, CURRENTLY HOUSED
IN THE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM.
AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT REMAINS, THE EARLY
CHRISTIAN CATACOMBS OF ST. GENNARO AND ST.
GAUDIOSO, THE BAPTISTERY OF ST. GIOVANNI IN
FONTE, FROM THE CONSTANTINE PERIOD, THE MEDIEVAL
CASTEL NUOVO, WITH ITS SPLENDID TRIUMPHAL ARCH,
CONSIDERED ONE OF THE GREATEST EXPRESSIONS OF
SOUTHERN ITALIAN RENAISSANCE ART, THE CATHEDRAL,
THE CHURCHES OF ST. CHIARA AND ST. LORENZO
MAGGIORE SHOULD NOT BE MISSED, AND FINALLY, THE
COOKERY, WITH OUTSTANDING SEAFOOD DISHES, PRESSED
PORK MEATS, DAIRY PRODUCE AND SWEETS AND HIGHLY
PRIZED WINES IS WELL WORTH HONORING.
THE HOTEL IS LOCATED 16 KM FROM POZZUOLI.
POZZUOLI, LOVELY TOWN IN THE PROVINCE OF NAPLES
AND LIVELY CENTER OF THE CAMPI FLEGREI, PARTLY
CLINGS TO A TUFACEOUS OUTCROP STRETCHING TOWARDS
THE SEA AND PARTLY LIES ALONG AN ENCHANTING BAY,
ON AN ARC OF THE EPONYMOUS GULF ENCLOSED BETWEEN
CAPE MISENO AND THE ISLAND OF NISIDA.
IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY IT
BEGAN TO RECOVER SOME IMPORTANCE AS A SPA AND
NOWADAYS IS RENOWNED FOR ITS THERMAL BATHS, THE
HEART OF A FASCINATING DISTRICT, WHERE THE
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREAS OF CUMA AND BAIA STILL
PRESERVE INTERESTING TRACES OF THEIR PAST, SUCH
AS THE MACELLUM AND THE FLAVIO AMPHITHEATRE.
THE HOTEL IS LOCATED AT 28 KM FROM POMPEII.
A SMALL TOWN IN THE PROVINCE OF NAPLES, LOCATED
ON ONE OF THE SLOPES OF VESUVIUS, MODERN POMPEII,
DEVELOPED AROUND THE SANCTUARY FOUNDED IN 1876 BY
BARTOLO LONGO, STANDS RIGHT NEXT TO THE ANCIENT
SETTLEMENT, BURIED BY THE ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS IN
79 AD.
THE OLD CITY, GROWING OUT OF THE FUSION OF
VARIOUS OSCAN CENTERS, PERHAPS AT THE END OF THE
SEVENTH CENTURY BC, RECEIVED AN INFLUX FROM
NEIGHBORING GREEK SETTLEMENTS, WAS LATER OCCUPIED
FIRST BY THE ETRUSCANS AND THEN THE SAMNITES.
THE CITY, AFTER CENTURIES OF OBLIVION, WAS
REDISCOVERED AT THE END OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
THE EXCAVATIONS, BEGAN IN 1748 ON THE ORDERS OF
CHARLES OF BOURBON, AND WERE CONDUCTED EVER MORE
RIGOROUSLY DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, SINCE
THEN THEY HAVE NOT BEEN INTERRUPTED AGAIN.
ABOUT THREE-FIFTHS OF ITS ENTIRE AREA HAS BEEN
UNEARTHED, WITH MORE THAN 900 BUILDINGS
UNCOVERED, NOWADAYS TOGETHER WITH HERCULANEUM AND
STABIAE IT MAKES UP THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY
AVAILABLE EVIDENCE OF DAILY LIFE, AS WELL AS OF
THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BUILDINGS OF THE ANCIENT
WORLD.
THE MAJORITY OF THE UNEARTHED FINDS ARE DISPLAYED
IN THE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF NAPLES.
THE HOTEL IS LOCATED AT 34 KM FROM CASERTA.
THE TOWN OF CASERTA STANDS ON THE FERTILE PLAIN
CROSSED BY THE RIVER VOLTURNO, NOT FAR FROM THE
OLD MEDIEVAL VILLAGE OF CASERTAVECCHIA FROM WHICH
IT TAKES ITS NAME.
ALREADY A BISHOPRIC IN THE TENTH CENTURY,
BECOMING AN IMPORTANT PLACE UNDER THE NORMANS AND
THEN THE SWABIANS, ITS CENTRAL POSITION WAS
DIMINISHED FROM 1752 ONWARDS, WHEN CHARLES III
BOURBON ORDERED WORK TO BEGIN ON THE CONSTRUCTION
OF THE ROYAL RESIDENCE, A SUMPTUOUS PALACE,
AROUND WHICH THE NEW CENTER BEGAN TO DEVELOP,
ABOVE ALL, FROM THE SECOND HALF OF THE NINETEENTH
CENTURY.
AMONG THE TOWN*S MAIN EVENTS ARE SHOWS AND
CONCERTS AT THE PALACE, THE NATIONAL HORSE
COMPETITION, AND SEPTEMBER IN THE VILLAGE A
THEATRICAL, BALLET AND MUSICAL FESTIVAL.
THE HOTEL IS LOCATED 48 KM FROM SORRENTO.
ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF THE GULF OF NAPLES, IN A
SPLENDID PANORAMIC POSITION, STANDS SORRENTO,
WHOSE NAME DERIVES, ACCORDING TO TRADITION, FROM
THE SIRENS, THE MYTHICAL CREATURES WHO ENTHRALLED
SAILORS WITH THEIR SONG.
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