I Love Touring Italy – Campania East Of Naples
If you are looking for a European tourist vacation destination,
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. You should
also see Mount Vesuvius. In a bizarre sense this mountain
gave birth to these unique tourist attractions when it
erupted in the year AD 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 about sixteen miles (twenty
five kilometers) northeast of Naples, the only section of
this tour that has nothing to do with volcanoes. Then it’s
southwest to Herculaneum about six miles (ten kilometers)
southeast of Naples. Afterwards we go northeast to 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. In fact given the crowds and the drivers in
this part of the world, you are better off taking public
transportation especially in the summer.

While Caserta is home to 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). This UNESCO World Heritage Site is the
Bourbon Kings of Naples and Sicily’s answer to Versailles.
Weighing in at 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. The murderous debris
traveled 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. The intense heat killed
people almost instantaneously but did little damage to the
buildings.

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. By the way,
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. Accessing the top requires quite a climb. 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 when it destroyed several neighboring
villages and 88 American B-25 bombers. Of course the most
destructive eruption was in 79 A. D. when it eradicated the
cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii with an estimated loss of
life of 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 is
constantly monitoring this mountain.

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. You may also want to buy the
three-day ticket that 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 on display in the Gabinetto Segreto (Secret
Cabinet) in the Naples National Archaeological Museum. In
Pompeii as well many of the exhibitions are not suitable
for children.

What about food? There is something about volcanic soil
that makes food tasty and plentiful and gives wine a
special zest. The focus here tends to be 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 found it to be top of
the line.

The Vesuvio DOC, perhaps better known as Lacryma Christi
(Tears of Christ) is made in multiple styles from a variety
of 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 was authorized to reintroduce some
ancient grape varieties on a small plot within Pompeii’s
walls. From these vineyards come 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.

—————————————————-
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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