ENGLISH * NAPLES
- POSILLIPO 2
HOWEVER,
HIS SON, AN ARDENT FASCIST, GAVE IT TO MUSSOLINI, WHO IN TURN GAVE IT TO THE
CITY OF NAPLES. YET IT WAS HERE (WHO SAYS HISTORY IS BLIND?) THAT VITTORIO
EMANUELE III OF SAVOY SPENT HIS LAST TROUBLED DAYS IN ITALY BEFORE BEING EXILED:
HE USED TO FISH ALONE FROM THE ROCKS FACING THE VILLA.
NOW
THE SEQUENCE OF PURCHASES AND BEQUESTS IS OVER: VILLA ROSEBERY IS THE OFFICIAL
RESIDENCE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBBLIC ON HIS VISITS TO NAPLES. IT IS
ALSO USED FOR OTHER DISTINGUISHED GUESTS.
GOING
ON TOWARDS CAPO POSILLIPO, THE COAST BECOMES SO INDENTED THAT IT RESEMBLES
LACE. THE PART NEXT TO THE SEA, WHERE VEGETATION BATTLES AGAINST THE SALT
SEA-WATER, IS SO WILD THAT IT COULD BE THE WORLD AT THE BEGINNING OF CREATION.
THIS LANDSCAPE ONCE INHABITED BY NYMPHS AND TRITONS HAS A DISQUIETING BEAUTY,
A MAGIC WHICH HELPS US TO SEE WHY THE ROMANS HAD A PREDILECTION FOR THIS SPOT.
WE ARE AT MARECHIARO, WHERE, ON A MOONLIT NIGHT, "PURE LI PISCE 'N CE
FANNO L'AMMORE" ("EVEN THE FISH GO COURTING"). A PROTECTING
REEF CURVES ROUND THE PART OF THE SEA DOTTED WITH ROCKS, ALMOST AS IF TO POINT
TO THE FAMOUS LITTLE VILLAGE. THE HOUSES LINE THE NAROW ROAD WHICH WINDS UP
THE HILL: THERE IS ONE WHICH IS CELEBRATED ALL OVER THE WORLD, THE ONE WITH
THE "FENESTELLA" ("LITTLE WINDOW") IN SALVATORE DI GIACOMO'S
POEM, SET TO MUSIC BY FRANCESCO PAOLO TOSTI, WHERE, ON THE SILL,
"NU GAROFANO ADDORA D'INT'A 'NA TESTA / PASSA L'ACQUA
PE' SOTTO E MURMULEA"
("A CARNATION IN
A VASE SCENTS THE AIR AND THE WATER MURMURS UNDERNEATH").
IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE
REEF, ON TOP OF THE STRATIFIED ROCKFACE WASHED BY THE SEA, A ROMAN RUIN, GENERALLY
KNOWN AS THE "PALAZZO DEGLI SPIRITI", MARKS THE SITE OF A LARGE
COMPLEX OF BUILDINGS, OF WHICH, FROM ABOVE, ONLY A FEW REMAINS ARE VISIBLE.
THIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST SPLENDID VILLAS OF ANTIQUITY, COMPARED BY OVID TO
A CITY FOR ITS SIZE. IT BELONGED TO VEDIUS POLLIO, WHO SUBSEQUENTLY GAVE IT
TO THE EMPEROR AUGUSTUS.
IF FROM ABOVE WE COULD
SEE THE "OPUS RETICULATUM" OF THE CELLARS ON WHICH, AS ON ALL THE
REMAINS OF THIS PERIOD, MODERN BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED, WE SHOULD
SOON REALIZE WHAT KIND OF RESIDENCE IT MUST HAVE BEEN. THERE ARE MANY REFERENCES
TO IT IN THE WORKS OF PLINY, SENECA AND SUETONIUS.ACCORDING TO OTHER LATIN
WRITERS, JULIUS CAESAR HAD A VILLA HERE, WITH GARDENS AND SWIMMING POOLS;
IT IS PROBABLE, THEN, THAT MANY OF THE ARISTOCRACY FOLLOWED HIS EXAMPLE, AMONG
THEM, VEDIUS POLLIO. HIS VILLA IS CERTAINLY THE MOST IMPRESSIVE. THE EXCAVATIONS
CARRIED OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY REVEALED MANY WORKS OF
GREAT HISTORICAL INTEREST. AS WELL AS TWO RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTIONS, THERE
EMERGED AN ODEON (A COVERED THEATRE) AND A THEATRE, FIFTY METRES IN DIAMETER,
WITH CAVEA AND ORCHESTRA.
THERE ARE ALSO SWIMMING
POOLS, AQUEDUCTS, THE REMAINS OF CORINTHIAN COLUMNS... IF THE EXCAVATIONS
CONTINUED, WHO KNOWS WHAT OTHER SURPRISES THIS STRETCH OF COAST INDUBITABLY
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL IN THE WORLD WOULD REVEAL?
PART OF THIS MAGNIFICENCE
SURVIVES IN THE ISLET OPPOSITE, KNOWN AS "LA GAIOLA", AND PERHAPS
ONCE CONNECTED IT IS OF VOLCANIC ORIGIN TO THE MAINLAND. MOREOVER, IN CONFIRMATION
OF THE CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WHICH EXISTED BETWEEN VEDIUS POLLIO AND VIRGIL,
THE RUINS WE CAN SEE ON THIS ROCK ARE CALLED "THE SCHOOL OF VIRGIL"
OR "THE HOUSE OF THE WIZARD". THE POET DEDICATED HIS FAMOUS FOURTH
ECLOGUE TO THE SON OF VEDIUS POLLIO, ASINIUS, ON THE OCCASION OF THE BIRTH
OF HIS SON; IN THE POEM HE PROPHESIES THAT THE BIRTH OF THE CHILD WILL INAUGURATE
A NEW GOLDEN AGE, WHICH CHRISTIANS LATER TOOK TO REFER TO THE BIRTH OF JESUS
CHRIST. BECAUSE OF THIS, DURING THE MIDDLE AGES, VIRGIL WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE
BEEN A WIZARD. THE ISLET WAS KNOWN IN ANCIENT TIMES AS EUPLEA, ONE OF THE
NAMES GIVEN TO VENUS, BUT NOTHING REMAINS OF THE TEMPLE DEDICATED TO THE GODDESS.
"LA GAIOLA" HAS GIVEN RISE TO MANY LEGENDS: SOME PEOPLE SAY THAT
WHEN THERE IS A FULL MOON ONE CAN HEAR THE ARRIVAL OF ANOTHER WIZARD, THE
AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT PRINCE OF SANSEVERO, COME TO PAY A VISIT ON HIS ANCIENT
AND ILLUSTRIOUS COLLEAGUE. IT IS ALSO SAID THAT THE ISLET IS INHABITED BY
SPIRITS NO BAD THING, FOR IT HAS SERVED TO KEEP SPECULATORS AWAY. THE MODERN
VILLA, INTACT BUT UNOCCUPIED, BELONGED IN THE FIFTIES TO THE AGNELLI FAMILY.
THE BAY OF TRENTAREMI
IS A LANDSCAPE OUT OF DANTE. ABOVE IT, THERE IS THE "PARCO VIRGILIANO"
OR "PARCO DELLA RIMEMBRANZA", A FAVOURITE SPOT FOR COURTING COUPLES
OR THOSE WHO WANT TO WATCH THE BEAUTIFUL SUNSETS. IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY,
IT WAS AN IMPORTANT STRATEGIC SITE; TODAY IT PROVIDES A BELVEDERE FROM WHICH
TO ADMIRE THE BAY OF NAPLES ON ONE SIDE, AND, ON THE OTHER, THE BAY OF POZZUOLI
WITH CAPO MISENO IN THE BACKGROUND. UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS ONLY BY FORCE OF
IMAGINATION THAT WE CAN CANCEL OUT FROM THE SCENE THE SMOKING INDUSTRIAL COPLEX
WHICH DESECRATES ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BAYS IN THE WORLD. ALL THE SAME,
THERE IT IS. WE CAN CHEER OURSELVES UP WITH THE SIGHT OF NISIDA FROM ABOVE,
IT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE A CROISSANT JUST OUT OF THE OVEN. THE LONG ROAD WHICH
CONNECTS IT TO THE MAINLAND IS OBVIOUSLY A BRIDGE: NISIDA IS, IN FACT, A VOLCANIC
ISLAND, AND THE HOLE IN THE MIDDLE, NOW A BAY, WAS A CRATER. DURING THE LAST
WAR, THE ISLAND WAS A MILITARY ZONE, INACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBBLIC, AND IT REMAINS
SO TO THIS DAY. TO ADD TO ITS RATHER GRIM IMAGE, THERE IS ALSO A JUVENILE
PRISON.
WE VEER TOWARDS THE PHLEGREAN
FIELDS. THE SIGHT OF SUCH NATURAL BEAUTY LEADS US TO HOPE THAT IN THE FUTURE
THIS WILL BE AGAIN WHAT IT ONCE WAS, BELOVED OF THE GODS... WHO KNOWS IF OUR
HOPE WILL BE REALIZED.
