INTRODUCING THE MORGANS (IX), LÍDIA MORGAN

Hi, I'm Lídia Morgan and I was born in Napoli, Campania. From a very young age I was fascinated by searching gold. I am a prospector.

A few months ago, I discovered that the famous Welsh pirate Henry Morgan was an ancestor of mine and that I had brothers and sisters to meet. Thanks to The Grandma, an Andorran grandmother, who made every effort to locate us, today I know them all and to celebrate this meeting we decided to spend two months together travelling and reviewing our level of English because we have all decided to retire to Kingston, Jamaica, to enjoy the Morgan fortune, and English is its official language.

-What's your full name?

-My name is Lídia Morgan Caracciolo.

-How do you spell your second surname?

-C-A-R-A-C-C-I-O-L-O

-Are you a student? What are you studying?

-No, I'm not a student. I completed my studies in geology and environmental sciences.

-Are you working? What is your job?

-Yes, I am. I'm a prospector. I search for valuable natural resources such as minerals and metals, and I help identify potential sites for exploration.

-Do you like your job? Why?

-Yes, I do. I enjoy working outdoors and exploring new places. I also find it exciting because every project can lead to new discoveries.

-Where are you from?

-I'm from Napoli, in the Campania region of southern Italy.

-How long have you lived there?

-I lived there for most of my life before travelling to different regions for work. However, Napoli will always be my home.

-Why are you studying English?

-I'm studying English because it is very important in the scientific and geological fields. It helps me communicate with international colleagues and read technical reports.

-How long have you been studying English?

-I've been studying English for two months. I would like to use it regularly at work.

-Tell me about your city.

-Napoli is a vibrant city with a rich history, amazing architecture, and delicious food. It is famous for its culture, its coastline, and its connection to Mount Vesuvius.

-What music do you like?

-I enjoy Italian pop music, jazz, and classical music. I often listen to music while travelling between work sites.

-Can you play any instrument?

-Yes, I can play the flute. I learned it when I was a child and I still enjoy playing occasionally.

-Tell me about your favourite place.

-My favourite place is Mount Vesuvius. I find it fascinating because of its geological importance and the incredible views from the top.

-What do you like doing in your free time?

-In my free time, I enjoy hiking, reading, photography, and travelling. I also like learning about local history and nature.

-Do you practise any sport? Which?

-Yes, I do. I enjoy hiking and rock climbing. These activities help me stay fit and are useful for my work in the field.

-How did you become interested in prospecting?

-I've always been interested in geology and nature. During my studies, I became fascinated by how natural resources are discovered and managed.

-What is the most exciting part of your job?

-The most exciting part is exploring remote areas and finding evidence that could lead to an important discovery.

-What is the most difficult part of your job?

-The most difficult part is working in challenging weather conditions and spending long periods away from home.

-Do you work alone or in a team?

-I usually work as part of a team. Prospecting requires cooperation between geologists, engineers, and environmental specialists.

-Why is your work important?

-My work helps identify resources that are needed for industry and technology. At the same time, it is important to ensure that exploration is carried out responsibly.

-Would you like to work in another country in the future?

-Yes, I would. I think working in different countries would allow me to gain experience and learn about different geological environments.

-How is a normal day with The Morgans?

-We haven't got similar days. Every day is different and this is something very important because it offers to you the possibility of living fantastic experiences every day and you can enjoy them with all your heart because you know that next day you're going to put the score to zero and we're going to start again. It's a non-stopping life.

-Which is your best memory with The Morgans?

-It's difficult to choose only one. I remembered when we travelled to Neverland to meet Peter Pan, Tinker Bell and the Lost Boys.

-Which is your favourite song?

-I'm Neapolitan, of course, I like tarantellas, I love Enrico Caruso but I choose 'Napule è' by Pino Daniele, a love song dedicated to this amazing city, its people and its language, Napule.

 Napule è mille culure
Napule è mille paure
Napule è a voce de' criature
Che saglie chianu chianu
E tu sai ca' non si sulo.

Naples is a thousand cultures
Naples is a thousand fears
Napule is a voce de' creature
Che saglie chianu chianu
E tu sai ca' non si sulo.

Pino Daniele

THE 'CIAMPATE DEL DIAVOLO', HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS

Today, The Grandma has received interesting news from Joseph de Ca'th Lon, one of her closest friends.

 

Joseph is in Naples visiting the Ciampate del Diavolo, where an article in Nature identifies fossilized hominid footprints preserved in pyroclastic flow deposits that dated to around 350,000 years ago on a day like today in 2003.

The Ciampate del Diavolo, in Neapolitan Devil's Footprints or Devil's Trails, is a locality near the extinct Roccamonfina volcano in northern Campania, Italy.

It is named after fossilized hominid footprints preserved in pyroclastic flow deposits that have been dated to around 350,000 years ago.

They have been attributed to bipedal hominids, possibly Homo heidelbergensis, which is known to have inhabited the region at the time.

The footprints comprise three sets of tracks indicating that three hominids made their way down a steep slope on the flank of the volcano, away from the crater. The tracks were preserved under a layer of volcanic ash and were revealed by erosion, probably in the late 18th to early 19th century. Local people attributed the prints to the Devil as they regarded him as the only being capable of walking on lava without harm.

They were identified as hominid footprints after archaeologists examined them in 2002 and are the second oldest set of hominid footprints known outside Africa, after the Happisburgh footprints.

The area in which the tracks appear is an eroded layer of rock covering about 2,000 m², tilted at an angle of about 45°, in a forest on the side of the volcano. The footprints consist of three sets of tracks which descend a steep slope created by a pyroclastic flow.

More information: Discover Campania

The first, identified as Trackway A, measures 13.4 metres and consists of 27 prints from left and right feet descending 4.26 metres vertically along a Z-shaped course. It testifies to a careful descent down a steep and probably unstable slope. 

Trackway B is 8.6 metres long and descends 2.91 metres vertically along a single curved route. Less care was taken with this part of the descent, as slips and irregularities indicating stumbles are visible. Finally, the less well-preserved 

Trackway C measures 9.98 metres along a single straight line which descends 2.56 metres vertically.

Occasional handprints are visible where the track-maker sought support on the steep slope, and a couple of animal paw marks made by a big dog or wolf are also visible.

Until the discovery of the Happisburgh footprints in England in 2013, they were the oldest known hominid footprints outside Africa. The tracks were originally dated to between 385,000 and 325,000 years ago, but subsequent studies using argon-argon dating placed the date more precisely as around 349-350,000 years ago.

The pyroclastic deposits in which the footprints were imprinted were laid down around 349,000 years ago (±3,000 years), while the layer of volcanic ash which subsequently covered and preserved them was deposited around 350,000 years ago (±3,000 years). The footprints are thought to have been exposed by erosion caused by heavy precipitation and landslides in the early 19th century, when the name Ciampate del Diavolo was first recorded.

The track-makers are estimated to have been about 1.56 metres tall and to have been travelling at a speed of 1.09 metres per second. Based on the age of the tracks, they have been tentatively ascribed to the hominid Homo heidelbergensis, a probable ancestor of the Neanderthals. As the tracks point away from the volcano's crater, it is possible that they were made while the track-makers were trying to escape an eruption. There was certainly an eruption following the track-makers' passage, as the tracks were buried under a subsequently erupted layer of volcanic ash which preserved them to the present day.

More information: Science Alert

Based on the small stature of the individuals, it has been suggested that the prints were made by children.

The tracks were known locally for many years, as they are situated near a trail that was established in the 18th century between the villages of Tuoro/Foresta and Piccilli. Local people attributed them to the Devil, the only being considered capable of walking on lava without burning his feet, but despite this the site was not considered cursed or threatening.

In 1986 a writer suggested that the footprints might have been created in historic times by a human. It was not until 2002 that they were first brought to scientific attention by two amateur archaeologists who noticed them and informed archaeologists at the University of Padua.

A cattle path through the forest formerly crossed the fossil tracks and caused accelerated erosion at that point, but since 2001 the vegetation around the tracks has been cleared away and the exposed rock protected by fencing. The tracks were initially thought to have been made by prehistoric elephants but when Paolo Mietto and two other researchers from the University of Padua investigated them, they were surprised to find that the tracks were of hominid origin.

It is very rare to find preserved hominid footprints in open-air environments, where they are vulnerable to erosion; most examples are found in enclosed and thus better protected environments such as caves.

More information: Forbes

One of the few things that can be said
for certain about Europe's prehistoric peoples
is that they all came from somewhere else.

Norman Davies

SOFIA VILLANI SCICOLONE, NEAPOLITAN CHARACTER

Sophia Loren

Today, The Grandma has been seeing her Neapolitan photos. The Grandma loves Napoli (Naples) and the Campania. She was living some years in this amazing city and she was in love with its people. Neapolitan are loyal, passionate and strong people who have survived terrific events during the 20th century -World Wars, emigration, earthquakes and the last eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Near Napoli, there is Pozzuoli. This city is well-known by suffering the effects of a terrible earthquake in but also by being the residence of one of the most popular Italian actresses, Sophia Loren, the diva who was born on a day like today in 1934.

Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of Dicaearchia, in Greek: Δικαιαρχία. The Roman colony was established in 194 BC, and took the name Puteoli which it has his roots from puteus, meaning well, also used by sibyls to predict the future, and osco fistulus (cave). An alternative etymology of Puteoli from the Latin puteo (to stink), referring to the sulfuric smell in the area, most notably from Solfatara. This is because Pozzuoli lies in the centre of the Campi Flegrei, a volcanic caldera.

Before talking about Sofia Loren, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her Ms. Excel course.

19. Sharing Documents (VIII) (Spanish Version)

Sofia Villani Scicolone (born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren, is an Italian film actress and singer. She is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Encouraged to enroll in acting lessons after entering a beauty pageant, Loren began her film career at age 16 in 1950. She appeared in several bit parts and minor roles in the early part of the decade, until her five-picture contract with Paramount in 1956 launched her international career. Notable film appearances around this time include The Pride and the Passion, Houseboat, and It Started in Naples.

Her talents as an actress were not recognized until her performance as Cesira in Vittorio De Sica's Two Women in 1960; Loren's performance earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1962 and made her the first actress to win an Oscar for a foreign-language performance.

Sophia Loren

She holds the record for having earned six David di Donatello Awards for Best Actress: Two Women; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963); Marriage Italian Style (1964) for which she was nominated for a second Oscar; Sunflower (1970); The Voyage (1974); and A Special Day (1977).

After starting a family in the early 1970s, Loren chose to make only occasional film appearances. Most recently, she has appeared in American films such as Grumpier Old Men (1995) and Nine (2009). Aside from the Academy Award, she has won a Grammy Award, five special Golden Globes (including the Cecil B. DeMille Award), a BAFTA Award, a Laurel Award, the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival and the Honorary Academy Award in 1991.

In 1995, she received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievements, one of many such awards.

In 1999, Loren was named by the American Film Institute the 21st greatest female star of Classic Hollywood Cinema, and she is currently the only living actress on the list.

More information: AOL

Sofia Villani Scicolone was born on 20 September 1934 in the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome, Italy, the daughter of Romilda Villani (1910–1991) and Riccardo Scicolone, a construction engineer of noble descent.

Loren's parents had another child together, her sister Maria, in 1938. Loren has two younger paternal half-brothers, Giuliano and Giuseppe. Romilda, Sofia, and Maria lived with Loren's grandmother in Pozzuoli, near Naples.

During the Second World War, the harbour and munitions plant in Pozzuoli was a frequent bombing target of the Allies. During one raid, as Loren ran to the shelter, she was struck by shrapnel and wounded in the chin. After that, the family moved to Naples, where they were taken in by distant relatives. After the war, Loren and her family returned to Pozzuoli. Loren's grandmother Luisa opened a pub in their living room, selling homemade cherry liquor. Romilda Villani played the piano, Maria sang, and Loren waited on tables and washed dishes. The place was popular with the American GIs stationed nearby.

Sophia Loren

At age 15, Loren as Sofia Lazzaro entered the Miss Italia 1950 beauty pageant and was assigned as Candidate #2, being one to the four sharing contestants representing the Lazio region.

At age 17, as Sofia Lazzaro, she enrolled in acting class and was selected as an uncredited extra in Mervyn LeRoy's 1951 film Quo Vadis (1951), filmed when she was 17 years old. That same year, she appeared in Italian film Era lui... sì! sì!, where she played an odalisque, and was credited as Sofia Lazzaro. She appeared in several bit parts and minor roles in the early part of the decade, including the La Favorita (1952).

Carlo Ponti changed her name and public image to appeal to a wider audience as Sophia Loren, being a twist on the name of the Swedish actress Märta Torén and suggested by Goffredo Lombardo. Her first starring role was in Aida (1953), for which she received critical acclaim. After playing the lead role in Two Nights with Cleopatra (1953), her breakthrough role was in The Gold of Naples (1954), directed by Vittorio De Sica. Too Bad She's Bad, also released in 1954, and (La Bella Mugnaia) (1955) became the first of many films in which Loren co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni.

Over the next three years, she acted in many films, including Scandal in Sorrento, Lucky to Be a Woman, Boy on a Dolphin, Legend of the Lost and The Pride and the Passion.

More information: The Guardian

Loren became an international film star following her five-picture contract with Paramount Pictures in 1958. Among her films at this time were Desire Under the Elms with Anthony Perkins, based upon the Eugene O'Neill play; Houseboat, a romantic comedy co-starring Cary Grant; and George Cukor's Heller in Pink Tights, in which she appeared as a blonde for the first time.

In 1960, she starred in Vittorio De Sica's Two Women, a stark, gritty story of a mother who is trying to protect her 12-year-old daughter in war-torn Italy. Loren's performance earned her many awards, including the Cannes Film Festival's best performance prize, and an Academy Award for Best Actress, the first major Academy Award for a non-English-language performance or to an Italian actress.

During the 1960s, Loren was one of the most popular actresses in the world, and continued to make films in the United States and Europe, starring with prominent leading men. 

Sophia Loren

In 1964, her career reached its pinnacle when she received $1 million to appear in The Fall of the Roman Empire. In 1965, she received a second Academy Award nomination for her performance in Marriage Italian-Style.

Among Loren's best-known films of this period are Samuel Bronston's epic production of El Cid (1961) with Charlton Heston, The Millionairess (1960) with Peter Sellers, It Started in Naples (1960) with Clark Gable, Vittorio De Sica's triptych Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) with Marcello Mastroianni, Peter Ustinov's Lady L (1965) with Paul Newman, the 1966 classic Arabesque with Gregory Peck, and Charlie Chaplin's final film, A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) with Marlon Brando.

Loren received four Golden Globe Awards between 1964 and 1977 as World Film Favorite-Female.

Loren worked less after becoming a mother. During the next decade, most of her roles were in Italian features. During the 1970s, she was paired with Richard Burton in the last De Sica-directed film, The Voyage (1974), and a remake of the film Brief Encounter (1974).

Other movies of this decade were Academy award nominee Sunflower (1970), which was a critical success, and Arthur Hiller's Man of La Mancha (1972), which was a critical and commercial failure despite being nominated for several awards, including two Golden Globes. O'Toole and James Coco were nominated for two NBR awards, in addition the NBR listed Man of La Mancha in its best ten pictures of 1972 list.

More information: The Telegraph

In 1982, while in Italy, she made headlines after serving an 18-day prison sentence on tax evasion charges -a fact that failed to hamper her popularity or career.

In 1991, Loren received the Academy Honorary Award for her contributions to world cinema and was declared one of the world cinema's treasures. In 1995, she received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award.

In Grumpier Old Men (1995), Loren played a femme fatale opposite Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, and Ann-Margret. The film was a box-office success and became Loren's biggest US hit in years.

Loren is a Roman Catholic. Her primary residence has been in Geneva, Switzerland, since late 2006. She also owns homes in Naples and Rome.

Loren is an ardent fan of the football club S.S.C. Napoli. In May 2007, when the team was third in Serie B, she (then age 72) told the Gazzetta dello Sport that she would do a striptease if the team won.

More information: Toccoland Club

There's no pleasure in working

if you don't do the things you want to do.

Sophia Loren

JOSEPH DE CA'TH LON DIVES INTO THE RUINS OF BAIA

Joseph de Ca'th Lon loves diving

Today, The Grandma has been reading an archaeologic guide about Baia, in Naples, that Joseph de Ca'th Lon brought her some days ago.

Joseph has been in Baia practising one of his favourite sports, diving. He was able to enjoy the great chance of diving between ancient ruins under the sea and discover the past of these lands thanks to its monuments.

Baiae, in Neapolitan Baia, was an ancient Roman town situated on the northwest shore of the Gulf of Naples, and now in the comune of Bacoli. It was a fashionable resort for centuries in antiquity, particularly towards the end of the Roman Republic, when it was reckoned as superior to Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Capri by the super-rich who built luxurious villas here from 100 BC to 500 AD. It was notorious for its hedonistic offerings and the attendant rumours of corruption and scandal.

The lower part of the town later became submerged in the sea due to local volcanic, bradyseismic activity which raised or lowered the land, and recent underwater archaeology has revealed many of the fine buildings now protected in the submerged archaeological park.

 More information: Underwater Archeological Park of Baiae

Many impressive buildings from the upper town can be seen in the Parco Archeologico delle Terme di Baia.

Baiae was said to have been named after Baius in Greek Βαῖος, Baîos, the helmsman of Odysseus's ship in Homer's Odyssey, who was supposedly buried nearby.

Parco Sommerso di Baiae, Naples

The adjacent Baian Gulf, in Latin Sinus Baianus was named after the town. It now forms the western part of the Gulf of Pozzuoli.

The settlement was also mentioned in 178 BC under the name Aquae Cumanae, Cumaean Waters.

Baiae was built on the Cumaean Peninsula in the Phlegraean Fields, an active volcanic area. It was perhaps originally developed as the port for Cumae.

Baiae was particularly fashionable towards the end of the Roman Republic. Marius, Lucullus, and Pompey all frequented it. Julius Caesar had a villa there, and much of the town became imperial property under Augustus. Nero had a notable villa constructed in the middle of the 1st century and Hadrian died at his villa in AD 138. It was also a favourite spot of the emperor Septimius Severus.

More information: BBC

The resorts sometimes capitalised on their imperial associations: Suetonius mentions in his history that the cloak, brooch, and gold bulla given to the young Tiberius by Pompey's daughter Pompeia Magna were still on display around AD 120.

According to Suetonius, in AD 39, Baiae was the location for a stunt by the eccentric emperor Caligula to answer the astrologer Thrasyllus's prediction that he had no more chance of becoming emperor than of riding a horse across the Gulf of Baiae. Caligula ordered a 3-mile-long pontoon bridge to be built from impounded ships of the area, fastened together and weighted with sand, stretching from Baiae to the neighbouring port of Puteoli. Clad in a gold cloak, he then crossed it upon a horse.

Parco Sommerso di Baiae, Naples

Cassius Dio's Roman History also includes the event, with the detail that the emperor ordered resting places and lodging rooms with potable water erected at intervals along the bridge. 

As late as the 18th century, scattered fragments were still being shown to tourists as the Bridge of Caligula. Malloch has argued that Suetonius's account was likely coloured by his bias against Caligula; instead, he claims that the act of bridging the Bay of Naples was an excellent, and safe, means by which to lay the foundation for [Caligula’s] military glory.”

Baiae was notorious for the hedonistic lifestyle of its residents and guests. In 56 BC, the prominent socialite Clodia was condemned by the defence at the trial of Marcus Caelius Rufus as living as a harlot in Rome and at the crowded resort of Baiae, indulging in beach parties and long drinking sessions.

More information: Atlas Obscura

An elegy by Sextus Propertius written in the Augustan Age describes it as a den of licentiousness and vice. In the 1st century, Baiae and Vice formed one of the moral epistles written by Seneca the Younger; he described it as a vortex of luxury and a harbour of vice where girls went to play at being girls, old women as girls and some men as girls according to a first century BC wag.

It never attained municipal status, being administered throughout by nearby Cumae.

From 36BC, Baiae included Portus Julius, the base of the western fleet of the Roman Navy before it was abandoned because of the silting up of Lake Lucrinus, from which a short channel led to Lake Avernus, for the two harbours at Cape Misenum 4 miles south.

Parco Sommerso di Baiae, Naples

Baiae was sacked during the barbarian invasions and again by Muslim raiders in the 8th century. 

It was deserted owing to recurrent malaria by 1500, but Pedro de Toledo erected a castle, Castello di Baja, in the 16th century.

The site had occasionally revealed Roman sculptures. The Aphrodite of Baiae, a variant of the Venus de Medici, was supposedly excavated there sometime before 1803, when the English antiquary Thomas Hope began displaying it in his gallery on Duchess Street in London.

The important archaeological remains were intensively excavated from 1941, revealing layers of buildings, villas and thermal complexes belonging to periods from the late Republican age, the Augustan, Hadrianic to the late empire.

The lowering of the ground below sea level, due to bradyseism, seems to have occurred in two phases: between the third and fifth centuries, still in the late Imperial era, followed by a more substantial submersion a century later. The lower part of Baiae was largely submerged by the sea by the 8th century.

A cache of plaster casts of Hellenistic sculptures was discovered in the cellar of the Baths of Sosandra at Baiae; they are now displayed at the town's archaeological museum. The collection includes parts of several famous sculptures, including Athens's Harmodius and Aristogeiton and the Athena of Velletri. It suggests that the area had a workshop mass-producing marble or bronze copies of Greek art for the Italian market.

More information: Daily Mail

 There's probably more history now preserved underwater 

than in all the museums of the world combined. 

And there's no law governing that history. It's finders keepers.

Robert Ballard

SANTA CHIARA: RELIGIOUS ART IN THE HEART OF NAPLES

Claire Fontaine in Santa Chiara

Today is Saint Clare of Assisi, the festivity which remembers the Umbrian saint who founded the Order of Poor Ladies, a monastic religious order for women in the Franciscan tradition, and wrote their Rule of Life.

Today is a special day for Claire Fontaine because she celebrates the festivity of her name. This is the reason because of Claire has decided to travel to Naples in the Campania to visit one of the most beautiful places: Santa Chiara.

Santa Chiara is a religious complex that includes the Church of Santa Chiara, a monastery, tombs and an archeological museum. The Basilica church of Santa Chiara faces Via Benedetto Croce, which is the easternmost leg of Via Spaccanapoli. The church facade of Santa Chiara is diagonally across from the church of Gesù Nuovo.

More information: Monastero di Santa Chiara

The double monastic complex was built in 1313–1340 by Queen Sancha of Majorca and her husband King Robert of Naples, who is also buried in the complex. The original church was in traditional Provençal-Gothic style, but was decorated in the 17th century in Baroque style by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro. 

After the raid of 4 August 1943

After the edifice was partially destroyed by a fire after the Allied bombings during World War II, it was brought back to the alleged original state by a disputed restoration, which was completed in 1953.

The large rectangular building is 110.5 m long inside the walls, and 33 m wide. The walls of the nave are 47.5 m tall, and the nave itself is 82 m long. 

There are nine lateral chapels on each side of the nave, the roofs of the chapels are vaulted, and they support the gallery that runs the length of the nave. Above the gallery are the lancet windows of the clerestory. 

An unusual feature of the building is that the lateral chapels are absorbed into the body of the church, giving Santa Chiara its distinctive rectangular appearance. Another unusual feature of the building is the fact that the church does not have an apse, after the lateral chapels there is a section of the church with the high altar in the centre, flanked by the rectangular friar's choirs on either side. Behind the altar is the tomb of King Robert, behind that is a wall separating the main body of the church from the nuns' choir.

More information: Naples Life, Death & Miracle

The wall between the nave of the church and the retrochoir is penetrated by three screened grilles through which the nuns could observe the mass, while being invisible to anybody in the nave. There are also four windows in the wall which mirror the four windows on the exterior of the church. There is a large stained glass lancet window above the altar. Above this is a triangular pattern are three rose windows. At the apex of the point of the roof, above the level of the wooden beams of the ceiling is a fourth, smaller, rose window. The nuns choir is different in plan from the main body of the church, with two large piers supported by rib vaults dividing the space into three sections. 

Main façade of Santa Chiara, Naples

Santa Chiara was the largest Clarissan church ever built and it was the first Clarissan church built where the nuns in their choir would have been able to view the performance of Mass. The bell tower, separated from the main edifice, was begun in 1328 but was completed only in Renaissance times.

Behind the main altar is the tomb of King Robert of Anjou, which was sculpted by Pacio and Giovanni Bertini in 1343. In the side chapels are the tombs of the Bourbon king of Naples, Francis II and his consort Maria Sophie of Bavaria, as well as those of Queen Maria Christina of Savoy and of the national hero Salvo d'Acquisto, a carabiniere who sacrificed his life to save the lives of 22 civilian hostages during the Nazi occupation. 

More information: Sacred Destinations

The church was used, even before it was formally completed, to hold the relics of Saint Louis of Toulouse, elder brother of King Robert. One of these relics was the brain of St. Louis, in an ornate reliquary decorated with a crown Queen Sancha had donated in memory of her brother-in-law.

The tower of Santa Chiara, Naples

Initially, the interior had a Gothic style, but reconstruction from 1742 to 1762 by Domenico Vaccaro, Gaetano Buonocore, and Giovanni del Gaizo, refurbished the interior in a Baroque style. 

The stuccoed ceiling was frescoed by a team of artists, including Francesco De Mura, Giuseppe Bonito, Sebastiano Conca, and Paolo de Maio. The floor was paved with a design by Ferdinando Fuga. 

Unfortunately much of the interior decoration was destroyed in the aerial bombardment of 1943.

In the sixth chapel to the left, are 14th-century bas reliefs depicting the Martyrdom of the wife of Massenzio, while the seventh has a tomb of Ludovico di Durazzo, another 14th century work by the Florentine Pacio Bertini.

More information: Lonely Planet

To the right of the presbytery is access to the Baroque sacristy with frescoes from 1692. Through the sacristy, one can reach the Choir of the Nuns. The choir houses fragments of frescoes depicting Biblical Stories by Giotto.

Claire inside the cloister of the Clarisses

Famous is the cloister of the Clarisses, transformed in 1742 by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro with the unique addition of majolica tiles in Rococò style. The brash color floral decoration makes this cloister, with octagonal columns in pergola-like structure, likely unique and would seem to clash with the introspective world of cloistered nuns. 

The cloister arcades are also decorated by frescoes, now much degraded.

The museum houses information on the history of the church, archaeological findings and materials remaining after the fire that destroyed part of the church in 1943. It also has a collection of baroque presepi, nativity scenes.

More information: Comune di Napoli

 Put a compass to paper and trace a circle. Then tell me which other country has such a concentration of places like Amalfi, Naples, Ischia, Procida, Sorrento, Positano, Pompeii, and Capri. 

Diego Della Valle

MONTE VESUBIO: NEAPOLITAN IDIOSYNCRASY

Mount Vesuvius and Naples from the sky

Mount Vesuvius also Vesevus or Vesaevus in some Roman sources is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania. It is one of several volcanoes which form the Campanian volcanic arc. 

Vesuvius consists of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera caused by the collapse of an earlier and originally much higher structure.

Mount Vesuvius is best known for its eruption in AD 79 that led to the burying and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as several other settlements. More than 1,000 people died in the eruption, but exact numbers are unknown. The only surviving eyewitness account of the event consists of two letters by Pliny the Younger to the historian Tacitus.

More information: Pompeii

Today, it is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of the population of 3,000,000 people living nearby and its tendency towards violent, explosive eruptions of the Plinian type. It is the most densely populated volcanic region in the world.

Vesuvius has a long historic and literary tradition. It was considered a divinity of the Genius type at the time of the eruption of 79 AD: it appears under the inscribed name Vesuvius as a serpent in the decorative frescos of many lararia, or household shrines, surviving from Pompeii. An inscription from Capua to IOVI VESVVIO indicates that he was worshipped as a power of Jupiter; that is, Jupiter Vesuvius.

Marte e Veneris in Pompeii

Since the eruption of AD 79, Vesuvius has erupted around three dozen times. It erupted again in 203, during the lifetime of the historian Cassius Dio. In 472, it ejected such a volume of ash that ashfalls were reported as far away as Constantinople. The eruptions of 512 were so severe that those inhabiting the slopes of Vesuvius were granted exemption from taxes by Theodoric the Great, the Gothic king of Italy. Further eruptions were recorded in 787, 968, 991, 999, 1007 and 1036 with the first recorded lava flows. The volcano became quiescent at the end of the 13th century and in the following years it again became covered with gardens and vineyards as of old. Even the inside of the crater was moderately filled with shrubbery.

More information: Ruins of Herculaneum, Ercolano

Vesuvius entered a new phase in December 1631, when a major eruption buried many villages under lava flows, killing around 3,000 people. Torrents of lahar were also created, adding to the devastation. Activity thereafter became almost continuous, with relatively severe eruptions occurring in 1660, 1682, 1694, 1698, 1707, 1737, 1760, 1767, 1779, 1794, 1822, 1834, 1839, 1850, 1855, 1861, 1868, 1872, 1906, 1926, 1929 and 1944.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1944

The government emergency plan for an eruption therefore assumes that the worst case will be an eruption of similar size and type to the 1631. In this scenario the slopes of the volcano, extending out to about 7 kilometres from the vent, may be exposed to pyroclastic surges sweeping down them, whilst much of the surrounding area could suffer from tephra falls. Because of prevailing winds, towns and cities to the south and east of the volcano are most at risk from this, and it is assumed that tephra accumulation exceeding 100 kilograms per square metre at which point people are at risk from collapsing roofs, may extend out as far as Avellino to the east or Salerno to the south-east. 

Towards Naples, to the north west, this tephra fall hazard is assumed to extend barely past the slopes of the volcano. The specific areas actually affected by the ash cloud will depend upon the particular circumstances surrounding the eruption.

More information: March 17, 1944 - The most recent eruption

The plan assumes between two weeks and 20 days' notice of an eruption and foresees the emergency evacuation of 600,000 people, almost entirely comprising all those living in the zona rossa, red zone, at greatest risk from pyroclastic flows. The evacuation, by trains, ferries, cars, and buses is planned to take about seven days, and the evacuees will mostly be sent to other parts of the country rather than to safe areas in the local Campania region, and may have to stay away for several months. However, the dilemma that would face those implementing the plan is when to start this massive evacuation, since if it is left too late then thousands could be killed, while if it is started too early then the precursors of the eruption may turn out to have been a false alarm. In 1984, 40,000 people were evacuated from the Campi Flegrei area, another volcanic complex near Naples, but no eruption occurred.

Joseph de Ca'th Lon in the summit of Vesuvius

Ongoing efforts are being made by the government at various levels, especially of Campania, to reduce the population living in the red zone, by demolishing illegally constructed buildings, establishing a national park around the whole volcano to prevent the future construction of buildings and by offering sufficient financial incentives to people for moving away. One of the underlying goals is to reduce the time needed to evacuate the area, over the next 20 or 30 years, to two or three days.

The volcano is closely monitored by the Osservatorio Vesuvio in Naples with extensive networks of seismic and gravimetric stations, a combination of a GPS-based geodetic array and satellite-based synthetic aperture radar to measure ground movement and by local surveys and chemical analyses of gases emitted from fumaroles. All of this is intended to track magma rising underneath the volcano. No magma has been detected within 10 km of the surface, and so the volcano is classified by the Observatory as at a Basic or Green Level. The area around Vesuvius was officially declared a national park on June 5, 1995.

More information: Osservatorio Vesuviano

The summit of Vesuvius is open to visitors and there is a small network of paths around the volcano that are maintained by the park authorities on weekends. There is access by road to within 200 metres of the summit  but thereafter access is on foot only. There is a spiral walkway around the volcano from the road to the crater.

You cannot say, because I am from Naples so 

I like the mixture of drama and comedy all together. 

 Sophia Loren

ISABEL: ITALIAN SPONTANEITY

Isabel Addams

Isabel was born in Naples, in the Campania (Italia). She’s a strong and persistent person who represents a great metaphor of her city: happiness, survival and a bit of superstition.

Italia is a country with a whole influence in science and art. Musicians (Luciano Pavarotti and Enrico Caruso); filmmakers and actresses (Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroiani, Totò, Rudolph Valentino and Sofia Loren); composers (Ennio Morricone); painters, sculptors and inventers (Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo Galilei); writers (Francesco Petrarch and Umberto Eco); anarchists (Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti) or fashion designers (Giorgio Armani and Guccio Gucci) have or have had a great influence in the world history.

Although, the Italian culture adores football and has important figures as Buffon, Baggio, Roberto Mancini or Del Piero, they also have an important presence in other sports. It’s the case of athletics where Isabel is an Olympic Champion. Her presence in the last Olympic Games in Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London was memorable winning 13 gold medals.

Nowadays, Isabel is retired and she enjoys her free time travelling around the world with her family: The Addams.

Watch Voce' e notte by Mina

 

Si 'sta voce te canta dint''o core
chello ca nun te cerco e nun te dico;
tutt''o turmiento 'e nu luntano ammore,
tutto ll'ammore 'e nu turmiento antico...

Ernesto De Curtis & Edoardo Nicolardi