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I Love Touring Italy - Campania East Of Naples   by Levi Reiss Featured Campania Self-Catering Accommodation If you are looking for a European tourist destination, why not consider the unique area east of Naples in the Campania region of southwestern Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea? The ancient cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii are in essence giant, sometimes open-air museums that display in utmost detail what life was like in the Roman Empire.

Make sure to see Mount Vesuvius. In a bizarre sense this mountain gave birth to these unique tourist attractions when it erupted in the year 79 and thus preserved its surroundings for eternity. Make sure to see our companion articles on the other areas of Campania including Naples, the territory west of Naples known as Campi Flegrei (Fields of Fire), the Isle of Capri, and Sorrento and the Amalfi coast.

We'll start our tour in Caserta approximately sixteen miles (twenty five kilometers) northeast of Naples, our only stop that has nothing to do with volcanoes.

Then we head southwest to Herculaneum some six miles (ten kilometers) southeast of Naples. Afterwards we proceed northeast to the famous Mount Vesuvius, which permanently transformed this region almost two thousand years ago. We'll double back to the Bay of Naples and go southeast past the archeological site of Oplontis and proceed to our final destination, Pompeii. Many of these sites are accessible from Naples via public transportation. Given the crowds and local drivers, you are better off taking public transportation especially in the summer. While Caserta boasts an Eighteenth Century Cathedral and a Fourteenth Century Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace), the main reason that you'll want to visit this city of eighty thousand is to admire its much newer Reggia di Caserta (Palace of Caserta).

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This UNESCO World Heritage Site is the Bourbon Kings of Naples and Sicily's answer to Versailles. With its twelve hundred rooms, one can say it's at least in the same league. It may well be the largest Eighteenth Century building in all Europe. Because the Kingdom was fairly weak when this colossal structure was built, the British historian Edward Crankshaw referred to it as "a colossal monument to minuscule glory."

The Palace of Caserta served as headquarters for the Allied High Command during World War II. Make sure to see its staircase, said to outdo the one at Versailles, the royal apartments, and the extensive grounds peppered with fountains. The grounds are about three miles (five kilometers) long, and you can take a minibus from the palace to the end of the property. You may recognize the palace from the initial three episodes of Star Wars movies.

On August 24, 79 A. D. Mount Vesuvius destroyed the downwind city of Pompeii and about twelve hours later destroyed the upwind city of Herculaneum as well. When we say destroyed we mean destroyed. Its murderous debris flew at an estimated 60 miles an hour (95 kilometers an hour). In a matter of hours Herculaneum was buried in 65 feet (20 meters) of ash and slag. While the intense heat killed people almost instantaneously most buildings were relatively undamaged.

The Herculaneum ruins were not uncovered until the Eighteenth Century by workers who were digging a foundation for a well. Much of the ancient city remains to be unearthed, largely because the modern city of Ercolano lies on top of it.

Julius Caesar's father-in-law had a Herculaneum villa that may have served as a library; it contained upwards of 1800 papyrus scrolls. Maybe he just liked to read. The center of this upscale city was closed to cart and wagon traffic and most sidewalks were covered with awnings. The public bathhouse played a central role in people's lives.

Visiting Mount Vesuvius is not for the faint of heart. You may choose to stay away in solidarity with its thousands of victims. It's quite a climb to reach the top. But from the summit the view is beautiful. You will probably find this mountaintop to be even more thought provoking than the usual run of the mill mountaintop.

Mount Vesuvius has erupted on many, many occasions over the centuries. Its last, or more precisely latest, eruption occurred in 1944 destroying several neighboring villages and 88 American B-25 bombers. By far the most destructive eruption was in 79 A. D. when it eradicated the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii killing from 10 thousand to 25 thousand in Pompeii alone. This eruption released an estimated cubic mile (4 cubic kilometers) of ash and rock. Subsequent eruptions have spread ash as far as Istanbul more than 700 miles (1200 kilometers) away. When you consider that Naples, a city of more than a million in an urban area of more than three million is only 10 miles (16 kilometers) away there is reason to be worried. Their emergency evacuation plan covers about 600,000 people and assumes a warning period between 2 weeks and 20 days before the actual eruption. The Osservatorio Vesuvio (Vesuvius Observatory) in Naples constantly monitors this mountain.
 

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Pompeii is a major tourist attraction and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here, as in Herculaneum, a city was destroyed in a manner of hours, and yet its very destruction led to its preservation. Pompeii shows you in extraordinary detail the way people lived at the height of the Roman Empire. There is reason to believe that Pompeii was subject to volcanic activity, landslides, and earthquakes centuries before its ultimate destruction. A severe earthquake, thought to measure about 7.5 on the Richter scale, struck the area on a feast day in February, 62. Virtually all buildings were damaged, and many were still not repaired when Mount Vesuvius erupted in full in August, 79. Make sure that you get to Pompeii early to take full advantage of the day ticket.

The three-day ticket allows you to visit five archeological sites: Herculaneum, Pompeii, Oplontis, Stabiae, and Boscoreale.

I'll let you in on what is hardly a secret: Pompeii was home to a lot of erotic art, some of which is displayed in the Gabinetto Segreto (Secret Cabinet) in the Naples National Archaeological Museum. In Pompeii as well many of the exhibitions are simply unsuitable for children.

What about food? There is something about volcanic soil that makes food tasty and plentiful and gives wine a special zest. The major focus here is on vegetables and fruits. Can you believe purple asparagus? Tomatoes are served every which way, including pizza and spaghetti of course. Try to taste the mozzarella cheese, made from the milk of water buffalo.

Let's suggest a sample menu, one of many. Start with Scarola Imbuttunata (Stuffed Curly Endive). Then try Polpi Affogati (Stewed Octopus). For dessert indulge yourself with Zeppoli (St. Joseph's Day Filled Doughnuts). By the way, La Festa di San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph's Day) is March 19th. Be sure to increase your dining pleasure by including local wines with your meal.

We conclude with a quick look at Campania wine. Campania ranks 9th among the 20 Italian regions for both acreage devoted to wine grapes and for total annual wine production. The region produces about 64% red and and close to 36% white wine, as there is little rose. Campania produces 17 DOC wines. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine. The G in DOCG stands for Garantita, but there is in fact no guarantee that such wines are truly superior. Only 2.8% of Campania wine carries the DOC or DOCG designation. There are three DOCG wines: the red Taurasi, the white Greco di Tufo, and the white Fiano di Avellino. I have tasted the Fiano and really think that it is top of the line.

The Vesuvio DOC, also called Lacryma Christi (Tears of Christ) is made in multiple styles from several local grapes that grow on Mount Vesuvius. One of Pompeii's major attractions is the Villa dei Misteri (Villa of the Mysteries) home to more than 60 rooms displaying frescoes, many of which illustrate a young bride's initiation into the cult of Dionysus (Bacchus), the god of wine and debauchery. In 1996 the well-known Campania wine producer Mastroberdino obtained permission to reintroduce some ancient grape varieties on a small plot within Pompeii's walls. These vineyards produce the Villa dei Misteri made from the historic red Piedirosso and Sciascinoso grape varieties. Relatively none of this wine is exported to North America. So this wine gives you one more reason to visit Pompeii.

If you are hankering for a European vacation, you should consider the area west of Naples in the Campania region of southwestern Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea. While the area is not undiscovered it tends to be less "touristy" than many other parts of Italy including Campagnia on the other side of Naples, namely Sorrento and the Isle of Capri described in companion articles in this series. If you're in the neighborhood, make sure to visit Naples, described in another companion article in this series.

We'll start our tour in Solfatara just west of Naples. Then we will head west to Pozzuoli and southwest to Baia. We'll pop up north to Cumae. We finish our tour with some island hopping, first south to Procida, and then southwest to Ischia. The entire area is called Campi Flegrei (Fields of Fire) because it sits on molten lava. There is no reason to believe that volcanic eruptions are a thing of the past. And remember, the area is not far from Mount Vesuvius on the other side of Naples.

Solfatara is a semiextinct volcano whose most recent eruption was in 1198. Its name comes from the Latin sulpha terra for land of sulphur so you know what to expect. Solfatara is not very pretty, unless you like to look at boiling mud. But as long as you stick to the path you should be safe. On the positive side the escaping vapors have been used for medicinal purposes since Roman times.
 

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Pozzuoli is a fishing town that has become a suburb of Naples, hardly suprising given its proximity. The Greeks founded it in the Sixth Century B. C. Formerly the home of affluent Romans, its famous residents include St. Paul and Sofia Villani Scicolone better known by her professional name, Sophia Loren. Pozzuoli was damaged by volcanic eruptions during the Middle Ages and again in the 1970s. You'll want to see the Anfiteatro Flavio (Flavius Amphitheater), Italy's third largest, that held 40,000 spectators. It hosts evening concerts in the summer. Baia was perhaps the greatest Ancient Roman resort of them all. All the big shots including Caesar, Nero, and Tiberius had a home away from home in Baia. Cleopatra was visiting when Julius Caesar met his untimely end. For many people part of Baia's attraction was its thermal, mineral waters famous for their healing powers.

Local excavations include the Temple of Mercury, the Baths of Mercury, the Baths of Sosandra, with the semicircular Theater of the Nymphs and a statue of Sosandra, the Temple of Venus, and the Baths of Venus.

Cumae was perhaps the first Greek colony on the Italian mainland, founded in the Eighth Century B. C. You'll want to see Antro della Sibilla (Sibyl's Cave) considered by many people to be the most romantic classical site in all Italy. This cave, almost five hundred feet (one hundred thirty one meters) long, was carved out of solid rock. According to legend Sibyl was a prophet granted almost eternal life (as many years as the grains of sand in her handful) but she sadly forgot to request eternal youth. As she aged she shriveled and shriveled; her body fit into a bottle that hung from a tree. She interspersed her prophecies with pleas for death.

Most present Cumae is underground. Make sure to see Lago d'Averno (Lake Avernus), a volcanic crater lake that the Romans considered the entrance to Hades (Hell). According to legend, birds flying over the lake would die from the poisonous fumes. It was on these shores that Virgil wrote The Aeneid. Let's assume he didn't inhale.

Right near the coast you'll find Procida, a densely populated island with about eleven thousand people jam packed into two square miles. This is about one third the population density of Hong Kong but Procida is the most densely populated island in all Europe. Yet Procida is beautiful and relatively undiscovered when compared to the other islands off the coast of Campania. Try not to miss the Good Friday procession, an annual event since 1627. The island and its small fishing village Corricella were featured in the films Il Postino and The Talented Mr. Ripley, filmed in many Campania locations including the island of Ischia, described next.

We will finish our tour of this sometimes lovely area west of Naples at the island of Ischia, probably inhabited for thousands of years. Its almost sixty thousand inhabitants including thousands of German citizens most of whom make a living from tourism thanks to an estimated six million visitors a year. No, this is not one of the undiscovered gems that pop up from time to time. Over the millennia Ischia endured many conquests. Among the worst was in the mid-Sixteenth Century when the pirate Barbarossa devastated the island, taking four thousand prisoners in the process.

The Castello Aragonese (Aragonese Castle) is Ischia's most heavily visited monument. It was built on a rock near the so-called mainland somewhat less than 2500 years ago. In 1441 the castle was linked to the island by a stone bridge. The nearby beach is fine and its waters may heal your ailments.

The La Mortella gardens belonged to the British composer William Walton and his Argentinean wife Susana, 23 years his junior. It is home to several thousand rare Mediterranean plants. After visiting the garden you can climb the long dormant volcano, Monte Epomeo, bathe in the Giardini Poseidon Terme (Poseidon Gardens Spa), or take a short boat trip to the village of Sant’Angelo on the southern coast.

What about food? Volcanic soil makes food tasty and plentiful and gives wine a special zest. The regional focus is on vegetables and fruits. Tomatoes are served every which way, including pizza and spaghetti of course. You should really taste the mozzarella cheese, made from the milk of water buffalo.

Let's suggest a sample menu, one of many. Start with Nero di Seppia (Spaghetti with Black Squid Ink). Then try Coniglio all'Ischitana (Rabbit simmered with Tomatoes). For dessert indulge yourself with Strufoli (Honey Balls). Be sure to increase your dining pleasure by including local wines with your meal.

We conclude with a quick look at Campania wine. Campania ranks 9th among the 20 Italian regions for both acreage devoted to wine grapes and for total annual wine production. The region produces about 64% red and and close to 36% white wine, as there is little rosé. There are17 DOC wines. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine. The G in DOCG stands for Garantita, but there is no guarantee that such wines are truly superior. Only 2.8% of Campania wine carries the DOC or DOCG designation. The G stands for Guarantita, and you'll find three, the red Taurasi, the white Greco di Tufo, and the white Fiano di Avellino. I have tasted the Fiano and found it to be top of the line. A single DOC wine is produced west of Naples; the Ischia DOC whose region covers the entire island of Ischia and is made from a variety of local grapes. This wine may be red or white. The red may be dry or sweet, while the white may be still or sparkling. Frankly, I'd go with the Fiano di Avellino.

About the Author - Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but he prefers drinking fine Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods and people. He knows about dieting but now eats and drinks what he wants, in moderation. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. His new wine, diet, health, and nutrition website http://www.wineinyourdiet.com links to his other sites.

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