is nearly equal in value to that of all the other commodities which are exported. Some of the feudal rights of the nobles have been abolished, and, instead of the personal services of the peasants, the system of a partnership in the products, as described in the continental division, has been introduced.
The mineral productions are insignificant, and consist solely of some iron extracted from mines in the vicinity of Stilo. There are mines of rock-salt, which are but slightly worked. That substance, however, is largely collected on the sea-shore, where, by the operation of the sun alone, it is prepared for culinary purposes. In Sicily much sulphur is obtained, and forms an important article of foreign trade. Some alum is also collected; and in many parts quarries of marble, of various descriptions, are extensively worked; but most of that substance is used for the building in and around the cities of the kingdom.
The manufactures of this kingdom are for the most part of the domestic kind. The females spin the flax, hemp, or wool, and the coarse cloths made from those substances satisfy the majority of the inhabitants. Silk goods are made in some establishments of greater magnitude than those adapted for the manufacture of other articles. There are manufactures of coarse woollen goods in many of the provincial cities, and also of cotton goods. Leather, paper, hardware, glass, earthenware, and porcelain, mostly of indifferent workmanship, and in small portions, are also made in several parts of the kingdom. The condition of the great body of the people compels them to be satisfied with coarse clothing, little or no domestic furniture, or even cooking utensils, and to procure what little they do use of the cheapest and most durable kind.
No country of Europe has so little foreign trade, in proportion to its extent and population, as the kingdom of Naples. It produces almost every thing that is necessary for the inhabitants, and has a very magnificent surplus of productions to give in exchange for the few luxuries which the condition of the population requires. The chief part of the foreign trade centres in the city of Naples, to which the greater portion of the spare products are brought by small coasting vessels, and whence also are dispensed what foreign commodities are required. The nature and extent of the trade, as far as these can be obtained, will be found in the account of that city.
The face of the country displays great inequalities. The Apennines enter the kingdom on the north-west side, from the papal territory, and at Rappolla divide into two branches. The left branch runs through Basilicata to the province of Otranto, where they terminate in the sea at Capo di Leuca; though it is asserted that a continuation of them under the sea extends to the island of Corfu and the Turkish dominions. The right branch runs through the three provinces of Calabria to the southernmost part of the peninsula, near the Straits of Messina. The highest point of this range of mountains within the kingdom is Tassa d'Italia, 8255 feet in height, near to which are some others of about equal height, but which have not been accurately measured. The next loftiest are, Monte Calvo, 4810 feet; Monte Celevo, 4800; Sila, 4634; Vesuvius, 3500; Bolgario de Salerno, 3496; and Eponemo d'Ischia, 2364 feet. From each of these chains of hills there are many spurs, some insulated, and others connected with the main branch. Those on the western side have at some period had volcanoes of greater or less igneous production, the existence of which is manifest by the lava and tufa which their eruptions have left, though none but Vesuvius is now in activity. These minor branches of mountains, projecting from the main range, are so far distant from each other as to leave spaces for plains of various extent, which open on both sides towards the sea. Upon the eastern side some of these are extensive steppes, and the mountains looking in that direction are in a great degree naked and barren; but the smaller hills, and the valleys between them, are for the most part pleasing to the view, and highly fertile. On the western side of the main range, especially near the coast, there seems to exist a subterraneous fire, which finds vent in Vesuvius, and in other parts, as is manifest by the tremendous visitations of earthquakes.
The kingdom of Naples, taken as a whole, is scantily supplied with water, though in some parts there is so much that it renders the air unwholesome. As the mountains run through the middle of the country, and the rivers have their sources in them, their courses are necessarily short. The eastern side of the Apennines is by far the driest, and the rivers are of the shortest course, whilst many of them are nearly or altogether destitute of water in the summer months. The chief rivers are, the Garigliano, which enters it from the papal states, and runs to the sea in the province of Terra di Lavoro; the Volturno, which receives the smaller streams Cavaliere, Lorda, Tarano, and Salone, and enters the sea near the town of Mondragone, on the western coast; the Crati, which rises in Calabria Citeriore, waters the plains of Cosenza, and enters the gulf of Tarento near St Mauro; the Silaro, which rises at the foot of the mountain Padiglione, in Principato Citeriore, receives the waters of the Calore and the Negro, and falls into the sea at Altavilla; the Ofanto, next to the Garigliano the largest river in the kingdom, but in no part navigable, rises in Principato Citeriore, passes through Capitanata, and empties itself into the Adriatic Sea; and the Pescara, which is composed of two mountain streams of Abruzzo, runs to the north, and falls into the Adriatic. The shorter streams are numerous, and mostly destitute of water in the hot months. There are no canals available for the purposes of navigation, but many of short length have been constructed in order to irrigate particular districts. There are several internal lakes, but only one of considerable extent. The lake of Cellano, sometimes called Fucino, in the province of Abruzzo, is fifteen miles in length and ten in breadth, and receives the waters of three small rivers. It has a river issuing from it, but frequently overflows the surrounding country, and generates pestilential malaria. Amongst the smaller lakes, that of Agnano, in the province of Naples, between the mountains Astroni and Pausilippo, has the singularity of being without any streams either entering or issuing from it, but is kept in motion resembling the rise and fall of tides in the sea by subterraneous gases, which are constantly escaping from it, and have a pestilential effect upon those who approach too near to it. Some baths in the vicinity are found beneficial in cases of syphilis, gout, and rheumatism. The smaller lakes are very numerous.
The climate is healthy, excepting in the spots where stagnant water produces malaria, and at the time when the easterly wind, called the sirocco, prevails. The heat of the sun is tempered by the breezes from the sea, which surrounds the kingdom on three of its sides. The quantity of rain which falls annually is about twenty-nine inches, or one third more than falls in Paris. Snow is rarely seen, except upon the high mountains, and the rivers are never frozen.
The government of this kingdom is an unmixed and absolute monarchy; but in the Sicilian division there is a sort of mixed constitution, and a body with the name of a parliament. The power of the parliament is, however, of so little weight as scarcely to deserve notice. The only check on absolute power is the rigid adherence which the great mass of the people evince to their ancient customs, and to their civil, judicial, and religious practices. After the disturbances of 1821, a body of the most respectable inhabitants was formed by the king, one on the continent and another... other in Sicily, under the name of Consultas, who were represented to the people at large as securities for the good government of the two portions of the dominion, and were to exercise supervision rather than control over the several branches of the executive administration. Like all such half or evasive measures, no good effect has been produced by them, nor have they any legislative influence.
The religion of the whole kingdom is strictly that of the Roman Catholic church, which all the inhabitants profess, except about 80,000 Greeks, who follow the ritual of their church, and about 2000 Jews, who are tolerated. The church establishment comprehends fourteen archbishops, seventy-seven bishops, 129 assistant bishops, 26,500 priests, 11,730 other clerical persons in rank below the priesthood, and 9520 female religious persons. Education is at a low ebb. In Naples there is a university with 1350 students, another in Palermo with 400, and a third in Catania with 300. There are also many Latin schools for citizens, and a few primary schools.
The revenues of the kingdom arise chiefly from taxation of various kinds. Nearly one third is derived from a land-tax; the remainder is collected from an excise on consumption, from a stamp-tax, a lottery, from the post-office, and from a deduction of ten per cent. on all the salaries of public officers. By the accounts of 1831, the amount of the whole was 26,650,000 ducats, or, taking the ducat at 4s. 3d. sterling, about L5,360,000. The expenditure of the government in the same year amounted to 27,340,000 ducats. By the growing increase of the taxes, the revenue amounted, in the year 1834, to 30,900,000 ducats, thus leaving a surplus applicable to the sinking fund for diminishing the national debt. The debt consisted of two portions, viz. somewhat more than one million sterling within the kingdom, and a loan made by the Rothschilds in England, amounting to two millions and a half. By the increase of revenue these debts are in course of liquidation, and it is estimated that, if no interruption of the present progress should intervene, in the year 1842 the whole debt will be discharged. The income and the expenditure of Sicily are stated to be nearly one third part of that of the united kingdom. The expenditure of the royal family is about L420,000 a year, and that of the army L1,700,000.
The army consists of the royal guards, which comprehends a corps of horse artillery, two of grenadiers, one of jagers, and two of cavalry; and the troops of the line, which comprehend a corps of engineers, two regiments of artillery, a brigade of veteran artillery, a brigade of artificers and miners, eleven regiments of infantry, of which four are Swiss, and three regiments of cavalry; the whole amounting to about 30,000 men.
The cities in the two divisions of the kingdom, which contain a population of more than 11,000 persons, are the following:
| City | Population | |---------------|------------| | Naples | 358,994 | | Palermo | 173,015 | | Messina | 70,111 | | Catania | 55,400 | | Trapani | 24,830 | | Foggia | 20,687 | | Marsala | 20,559 | | Modica | 19,702 | | Bari | 18,937 | | Barletta | 17,695 | | San Severino | 16,640 | | Ragusa | 16,616 | | Canicatti | 16,455 | | Caltanissetta | 15,627 | | Monopoli | 15,536 | | Castello à Marc | 15,001 |
| City | Population | |---------------|------------| | Aci Reale | 14,994 | | Girgenti | 14,882 | | Gaeta | 14,812 | | Castel Vetrano| 14,782 | | Termini | 14,150 | | Taranto | 14,111 | | Lecca | 14,081 | | Randazzo | 14,000 | | Siracusa | 13,851 | | Aversa | 13,826 | | Trani | 13,787 | | Mascali | 13,705 | | Bitonto | 13,700 | | Avellino | 13,467 | | Alcamo | 13,000 | | Monreale | 12,776 | | Chieti | 12,666 | | Lanciano | 12,576 | | Corleoni | 12,527 | | Lipari | 12,483 | | Salemi | 12,258 | | Nicosia | 12,064 | | Sarno | 11,933 | | Piazza | 11,904 | | Ariano | 11,718 | | Sciaccia | 11,514 | | Monte St Angiolo | 11,500 | | Molfetta | 11,496 | | Catanzaro | 11,464 | | Licata | 11,250 | | Matera | 11,158 | | Castro Reale | 11,146 | | Castro Giovanni| 11,143 | | Francavilla | 11,108 | | Noto | 11,058 | | Partanna | 11,006 |
city of Italy, the capital of the kingdom of the same name, though frequently called the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The exact position, as taken from the light-house, is 14. 15. 45. east longitude from Greenwich, and 40. 50. 10. north latitude. This city stands on the shore of a bay or gulf of the same name, the beauty of which has been so long and so generally celebrated, that it requires only a short notice here. This bay, taken as a whole, may be considered as one of the most interesting, as well as most beautiful, on the globe. The curiosities both of nature and of art; the remains of classical antiquity; the varied and wonderful scenery; the volcanic eruptions and earthquakes which it has experienced; the cities founded and established in all the pride of luxury, but since overwhelmed; mountains converted into lakes, and lakes turned into mountains; all of these form a combination of circumstances and events, which is to be found in no other spot within the same compass on the earth's surface.
After the lapse of many centuries, the vestiges of the terrible subterranean fires that convulsed these coasts are still visible. The lakes Acheron (Mare Morto), Avernus (Averno), and others which border the sea, are incontestibly the craters of ancient volcanoes, as well as the enormous cones reversed, which are everywhere seen on the shores, on the summits of the mountains, on their sides, and at their bases. The remembrance of the most ancient convulsions was conveyed by tradition, and, being embellished by the poetical imaginations of the Greeks, whose colonies were established on these shores, gave birth to the mythology concerning the infernal gods. The yawning fissures, several of which showed the existence of internal fires by the smoke that issued from them, whilst others emitted pestilential vapours, were easily conceived to be the gates of Tartarus, and the entrances to the realms of death. Temples were erected on their edges, at which the worshippers arrived by subterranean passages; and hence are derived the fables of the Sybil, and the poetical descents to the infernal regions. Nature having reposed for ages, the fertility of these districts was renewed, and men, invited by that fertility, as well as by the serenity of the climate, crowded to their shores. The city of Cumae was founded probably by a colony of Greeks; and others succeeded, which formed many petty sovereignties, sometimes at war with each other, sometimes allied, until all were finally absorbed in the Roman empire.
The Romans, masters of the known world, and enriched by the spoils of the East, thought only of enjoyment. Tired of the monotonous splendours of their capital, they sought in the country the charms of tranquillity mingled with luxury. But no part of Italy offered such natural advantages as the shores of the Bay of Naples, which, being blessed with a genial climate and a serene sky, and possessing abundance of warm springs for the formation of baths, were gradually covered with villas and temples by the now effeminate Romans. Thus, the whole country from Cape Miseno to Sorrentum, seemed to the eye but one continued city. Within this extent were built the towns of Misenum, Baia, Direcchia or Puteolis (Pozzuoli), Neapolis (Naples), Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabia, and Sorrentum, each of which had its theatre, amphitheatre, forum, and an incredible number of temples, the ruins of which attest their former magnificence.
Amidst these circumstances of pomp and luxury, frequent earthquakes at length alarmed the voluptuous inhabitants, and were the precursors of a dreadful crisis. Vesuvius at that time presented the aspect of an ancient volcano, but nothing indicated that its fires were not entirely extinct; its sides were highly cultivated in their whole circumference, and its summit alone appeared arid and burned. In the first year of the reign of Titus (A.D. 79), its fires burst forth suddenly; rivers of fluid lava and mud issued from it, as well as clouds of ashes and pumice-stone, which overwhelmed all the eastern shores of the bay; and, from Herculaneum to Stabia a chain of hill composed of those substances occupied the place of fertile fields. These two towns, as well as Pompeii, disappeared, whilst the western shore suffered nothing, the lava stopping at Naples, which itself received but little damage.
The nobles of Rome, however, continued to pass part of the year on the shores of Naples, and the period when they were generally deserted is unknown; but it is supposed to have been during the ages of barbarism which succeeded the fall of the Roman empire. The appearance of the shores, and the ruins which cover them, from Cape Miseno to Pausilippo, attest the ravages of one or more convulsions posterior to that which occurred in the reign of Titus. The mountains have been torn into fragments; the passages to the subterranean temples filled up, and the temples themselves either destroyed or displaced; whilst the sea must have rushed with rapidity over the lands from which it is now again slowly retiring. The only convulsion of which the date has been preserved is that of 1538, in which the Lucrine Lake, so famous for its oysters, was greatly reduced, and a mountain rose in its place.
The bay, the history of which has been here sketched, is distinguished at its entrance by the islands of Ischia and Procida to the north-west, and by the island of Capri and the promontory of Campanella to the south-east. The breadth of the entrance is about five leagues; and there, as well as within the bay, is good anchorage, with a depth of nearly seven fathoms water. The bay is well sheltered from all winds, excepting those which blow from any point between east-south-east and due south; and it is exposed to the sea only by the passage between Capri and the main, which is of little or no consequence. In the bottom of the bay a harbour has been formed by the construction of a mole in the shape of the letter L, in which merchant ships and most of the royal navy lie, and where boats may always land. There is no regular tide, but a rise and fall of waters is occasioned by the winds in south-west gales. Ships can be conveniently supplied with water at the mole. The extent of the bay is about thirty miles, and the city is built at the bottom of it, and extends along the shore in the same circular shape as its form. It rises from the shore like an amphitheatre, and, as a whole, can be most advantageously seen from the water. The entire line of buildings, including the suburbs, is between four and five miles. Towards the sea, the sameness of the range of buildings is relieved by many beautiful quays, and the great number of vessels and boats approaching to or proceeding from them, and by two forts which defend the town, called L'Uovo and San Elmo.
This city may, in regard to extent and population, be considered as the fourth in Europe, following after London, Paris, and Constantinople, unless the late rapid increase of Moscow shall cause it to rank after that reconstructed metropolis. The streets of the city are mostly in a circular direction, and many of them are narrow. They are well paved with lava, and of late years have been lighted by lamps hung in the French manner in the middle of the streets. They are generally kept clean, the filth being carried away by large subterranean sewers. From their narrowness, and the height of the houses, they have for the most part a gloomy aspect. The Strada di Toledo is however an exception, and is one of the finest streets in Europe. It extends half the length of the city, is bordered on both sides by magnificent houses, and is terminated at one extremity by a square, the Piazza di Mercato, and at the other by the royal palace. The houses in it are of singular architecture, and more remarkable for their size than their elegance. They are mostly six or seven stories in height, have flat roofs, and are covered with a kind of stucco made of pozzolano sand, which becomes indurated by exposure to the atmosphere. Most of them have balconies in front; and the roofs are frequently covered with flowers, shrubs, and small trees, planted in boxes filled with earth. The attention of visitors is much attracted by the Largo del Palazzo, by Santa Lucia, and the Platamone, but more than all by the Chiaja, which comprehends a public garden called the Villa Reale, extending more than half a mile in length on the margin of the bay, and reaching to the grotto of Posilipo. This garden is ornamented with luxuriant trees, shrubs, flowers, and modern statues, and has the basin of a fountain standing on the backs of four lions; a group found at Paestum, and placed here in the spot which was previously occupied by the celebrated Toro Farnese, now removed to the Museum.
In noticing the public institutions of Naples, the most prominent object is that now called the Studii Publici. This university was erected by the viceroy Fernando Ruez de Castro, according to the plan furnished by Fontana, and opened in 1616 by his son and successor Don Pedro de Castro. In the year 1790, King Ferdinand I. removed the university to the convent of Gesu Vecchio, and converted the edifice built by De Castro into a Royal Museum, which has been since enriched by the antiquities found in Minturnae, the ancient Capua, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Nucera, Nola, and Paestum, together with the collection of paintings once placed in the palace of Capo di Monte; and thus this Museum may now be considered as the finest in Europe, more especially with respect to Grecian and Roman antiquities.
Although few objects of the kind are more worthy of detailed description, yet the nature of this work necessarily forbids any other than mere cursory notices of the most distinguished of them. In the quadrangle which the building forms there is a colossal statue of Alexander Severus, another of the Genius of Rome, and one of Urania, reported to have been found in Pompeii's theatre at Rome. The staircase is ornamented with a lion in Carrara marble, and two statues in Greek marble, taken from Herculaneum. Surrounding the quadrangle are the schools for drawing, and the apartments appropriated to antique fresco, statues, and other works of art. The division of this institution next to be noticed is the gallery of ancient paintings found in Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabia, which have been recently removed from Portici. These are so elegant in regard to composition, and yet generally so badly executed, that it is supposed the greater part of them may have been copies made by common house-painters from the most renowned pictures of antiquity. Recent excavations at Pompeii have, however, produced large historical pictures, far too well executed to have been the work of common painters, and so admirable with respect to accuracy of outline and beauty of composition, that even the frescos of Raphael in the Vatican do not excel them. The recently disinterred paintings are now added to those brought from Portici, and amount, including the latter, to nearly one thousand six hundred; a number which must increase almost daily, as long as the excavation of Pompeii is continued. This unique gallery has been so well arranged, that there is every reason to suppose it may in future become the favourite study of modern painters. The subjects represented in these pictures are too numerous to be even named; and where so many are exquisite it would be difficult to make a selection for the purpose of describing them.
The gallery of ancient sculptures, or rather three galleries appropriated to them, contain numerous pieces of Grecian as well as of Roman workmanship, exhibiting busts of celebrated personages both male and female, especially of the family of the Balbi; several equestrian statues; groups of figures representing the actions of Bacchus, Cupid, Venus, Apollo, Cybele, Ganymede, and Euterpe. The greater part of these have been obtained by excavation from Herculaneum or Pompeii.
The hall of Flora, the hall of Apollo, the hall of the Muses, the hall of the Venuses, the hall of Jupiter, the hall of Atlas, and that of Antinous, are filled with statues which have some connection with the names they severally bear. Many of these are from the Grecian chisel, some attributed to, or known to be the work of, Phidias and Praxiteles. In the hall of the Muses is the large beautiful vase of Greek marble, an inscription on which shows it to have been the work of an Athenian sculptor of the name of Salpius. It is adorned with bas-reliefs relative to the education of Bacchus. In the cabinet connected with these galleries there are some statues highly valued, especially one attributed to Praxiteles, called Venus Callipyge, the rival of the Venus de' Medici. There are also many smaller figures and groups which never fail to excite admiration.
One apartment is appropriated to the celebrated group of the Toro Farnese, and bears that name. This piece was originally brought from Rhodes to Rome, but removed thence to Naples about the close of the seventeenth century. It is supposed to represent Dirce bound with the hair of her head to the horns of a bull by Amphion and Zethus, the sons of Lycurgus king of Thebes, and their mother, Antiope, commanding them to detain the bull and set Dirce free. Antiquaries are of opinion that this group was formed from one solid block of marble, by two Rhodian artists, Apollonius and Tauriscus, about two hundred years before the Christian era. It was found cruelly mutilated in the baths of Caracalla, and restored by Giovanni Battista Bianchi of Milan. The head of the bull and the upper parts are modern. The trunks alone of the figures of Amphion and Zethus are antique; but the statues of Antiope and the youth seated are nearly in their original state.
These galleries also contain columns of precious marbles, found in Herculaneum, Pompeii, and other parts of Magna Graecia; and the statue of the priestess Eumachia, from Pompeii, has been lately placed near the open court also. There are the measures of capacity found at Pompeii, and a small perpetual almanac of marble, corn-mills of lava, and a machine of lava for bruising olives in order to extract oil, all of which have been brought from Pompeii.
An apartment on the ground floor is wholly filled with antiquities of the Etruscans, or those of the more ancient people the Osci, or some brought from Egypt. Amongst the first are many curious vases; and among the others, well-preserved mummies of the human species, in painted cases of sycamore wood. Another of the rooms is wholly filled with bronze sculpture of animals and human figures of various sizes, in different positions and actions. These have been mostly obtained from the excavations in Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Above these rooms, on the large landing place, in an apartment on the left, are the papyri found about the year 1753, in a villa of Herculaneum, unrolled. This library of papyri was discovered under what is now the garden of the Augustine monks in Portici; but as the scrolls of papyri found in Herculaneum were so precisely like charcoal that they had been constantly taken for it, the scrolls in question might have shared the same fate, if the order in which they were placed, one above another, had not excited curiosity, and produced an examination, which led to the discovery of Greek and Latin words written on these supposed pieces of charcoal. The diligence of the excavators was in consequence redoubled; and seven inkstands, with a stylus case, all of ancient pottery, together with three small busts in bronze, one of them representing Epicurus, were found in the same room with the papyri, which, amounting to 1730 scrolls, were deposited, by order of Charles III., then king of Naples, in the Royal Museum at Portici, whence they were conveyed to the Museum at Naples; and notwithstanding they are so much scorched as to resemble tinder, the Padre Antonio Piaggio invented a machine capable of separating and unrolling them. Those hitherto unrolled are 408 in number, of which eighty-eight only are legible; the others being fragments, are very difficult to decipher. Two volumes of these papyri have been published, one in the year 1798, and the other in 1809; a third is, we understand, in preparation for the press. The first volume contains a work of Philodemus on music; the second contains a fragment of a Latin poem, supposed to have been written by Rabirius, and two books, the second and eleventh, of Epicurus upon Nature. The third volume will contain, amongst other matter, the tenth and eleventh books of Philodemus, the former on economy, and the latter on pride. It is conjectured, that of the manuscripts still remaining to be unrolled, twenty-four are Latin, and the remainder Greek.
The library, the door of which is on the landing-place, is a magnificent apartment, being 212 feet in length, eighty in width, and eighty-one in height. This library is stated to contain 300,000 printed volumes, and 6000 manuscripts. The collection of books printed in the fifteenth century is particularly valuable, because it comprises those published during that period at Naples, many of which are unknown to librarians in general. There is likewise a superb collection of works published by Bodoni; and amongst the manuscripts are the works of St Thomas Aquinas, the Aminta of Tasso, the Acts of the Apostles written in the tenth century, and many illuminated missals of uncommon beauty, which had been executed for the Farnese family.
Other and spacious apartments in this Museum are furnished with those treasures from Herculaneum which show the domestic manners and lives of the Romans. One contains the personal ornaments, such as rings, necklaces, brooches, ear-rings, medals, gems, gold chains, gold nets, bracelets, mirrors, pins for fastening the hair, and many similar objects. One room is the repository for kitchen furniture of bronze, exhibiting kettles, saucepans, and other utensils. Another is the repository for steelyards, scales, weights, measures, lamps, and candelabra; whilst others are miscellaneous repositories for various descriptions of objects, some valuable for their antiquity, others for their beauty, and all interesting, as tending to illustrate the history and the manners of the ancients. A gallery of paintings, the Farnese collection, forms a part of the Museum. It contains many most admirable pictures, but is especially rich in portraits of distinguished personages, and in historical Scripture pieces.
As there is not a museum in any country which, in all respects, can be compared with this, and as it forms the chief object of curiosity in the city, we have thought it proper to give some account of its contents. It deserves to be mentioned, that access may be always had to it, from eight in the morning to two in the afternoon, on all but festival and gala days. One of those public buildings in Naples which deserve notice is the Palazzo Reale, the town residence of the king. It was erected by the Count di Lemnos, on a plan designed by the eminent architect Fontana. It contains magnificent apartments, handsomely furnished, and enriched with fine pictures. The most distinguished pieces are, the Madonna of Monte Casino by Raffaello; the Cardinal Virtues, copied from Raffaello by Annibale Carracci; Orpheus, by Caravaggio, and Christ disputing with the Doctors, by the same master. There is one fine hall hung round with portraits of the several viceroys, by Massimo and Paolo Mattei; and a handsome chapel, with an altar of agate, lapis lazuli, and other precious marbles. The residence of Prince Leopold, which stands nearly opposite to the Palazzo Reale, contains the finest collection of pictures in Naples.
As in other purely Catholic cities, the churches are objects of particular attention. In Naples they are very numerous. The archiepiscopal church or cathedral is dedicated to St Januarius or San Gennaro, the patron saint of the city. It is a Gothic edifice, more magnificent than tasteful, having been built on the site of an ancient temple erected in the time of the Emperor Constantine, which was destroyed by an earthquake. The outside is incrustated with white marble, and ornamented with two columns of porphyry. The inside is not splendid, though supported by upwards of a hundred columns of Egyptian granite, or Grecian and other marbles, taken from the temples of Apollo and Neptune. The font, placed near the principal entrance, is an ancient vase of basalt, adorned with the attributes of the heathen god Bacchus. The high altar is composed of precious marbles, and ornamented with two antique candelabra of jasper. Under it is a subterranean chapel, supposed to be the remaining part of a temple of Apollo, in which are the relics of the patron San Gennaro.
Within the cathedral is the chapel called Il Tesoro, built in consequence of a vow made by the city of Naples during a plague in 1526. The entrance to this chapel is through a magnificent bronze door, adorned with fine columns of rare marble, and statues of St Peter and St Paul. The interior of the edifice is a rotunda, embellished with a cupola, painted by Lanfranco, and supported by forty-two Corinthian columns, between which are placed, on festival days, thirty-six silver busts of saints, and eighteen busts in bronze, all executed by the most eminent artists. Over the altar is a statue of San Gennaro in the act of blessing the people; and a silver tabernacle containing the head of that saint, and two small vessels filled with his blood, supposed to have been collected by a Neapolitan lady during his martyrdom. The ceremony of liquefying the blood of this saint takes place three times a year, namely, in May, September, and December; and is thought an interesting sight by many foreigners. If it liquefy quickly, the joy expressed by the Neapolitans is great; but if there be any unexpected delay, the tears, prayers, and cries, are excessive, as the non-performance of this miracle is supposed to announce some dreadful impending calamity.
Our limits do not admit of noticing all, or even the names, of the numerous other churches within this city. The paintings and statuary in many of them are the finest pieces of art, and executed by the best masters; and the buildings themselves display the best models of architecture. Of these religious edifices, the number of parochial churches is fifty-five, and the churches in the monasteries, nunneries, and hospitals, are 149, besides about 150 chapels, and numerous oratories.
There are numerous hospitals in the city, and various charitable institutions for relieving distress, some of them well endowed. Amongst the most remarkable, is an extensive and magnificent building called Albergo de' Poveri. It is an asylum for orphans, and for children whose parents cannot afford to give them the advantage of a good education. In it the boys are instructed in reading, writing, drawing, and engraving; and the girls in sewing, knitting, spinning, and weaving linen, and in other arts beneficial in their station.
Naples abounds in theatres. The Teatro Reale de San Carlo is the largest and most splendid opera-house in Italy. It was destroyed by fire in 1813, and nothing was left standing but the front and the party walls; but in eleven months afterwards it rose from its ashes, ornamented with even more than its original splendour. It contains six rows of boxes, has a parterre capable of containing 670 persons sitting, with 150 standing, a stage, the dimensions of which are vast, spacious corridors, excellent stairs, and an edifice adjoining, called the Kidotto, which comprises ball-rooms, eating rooms, and apartments for gambling, the list of which have been closed since the last revolutionary disturbances. The Teatro Reale del Fondo is another opera-house, smaller than San Carlo, but very elegant. The Teatro de' Fiorentini and the Teatro Nuovo are appropriated to buffas, operas, and plays. The Teatro San Fernando is larger than any other except that of San Carlo. The Teatro della Fenice and that of San Carlino are very small, but much frequented on account of Puncinello, who is the prominent actor, and great favourite of the populace. These two houses are opened twice in every twenty-four hours.
Amongst other gratifications, Naples is furnished with some beautiful promenades. The most frequented are the Villa Reale, the Chiaja, the Giardino, and the Botanico, all constructed by the French, as was the Strada Napoleon, a magnificent work, which extends from the city to Capo di Monte. The road begun by Murat, extending from Mergellina to Capo Cologno, is a beautiful promenade, two miles in length, leading to Pozzuoli.
The excursions which may be made in the environs of the city are of the most inviting nature, and especially attractive to all persons familiar with the writings of the classical ages. We have space to do little more than mention the names of the most prominent objects. In an excursion to Baiae may be seen the tomb of Virgil; the grotto of Pozzouli, 2316 feet in length and twenty-two feet in height; the Lucrine Lake; the villa of Nero; the ruins of Caesar's villa; the temples of Venus, of Mercury, and of Diana; an amphitheatre, ruined by an earthquake, capable of containing 45,000 persons; and the sepulchre of Agrippina.
An excursion to Cumae may enable the traveller to visit Solfatara, the Forum Vulcani of the ancients, where alum, vitriol, and sal-ammonia are now made from the volcanic substances in the vicinity; the villa of Cicero; the Lake of Avernus, with the temple of Monte-Novo, supposed to have been dedicated to Pluto or Proserpine; the remains of the aqueduct called Arco Felice; and the ancient city of Cumae itself, with the grotto of the Sibyls.
To the Lake d'Agnano is a common excursion. It leads to the crater of a volcano; to the vapour baths of San Germano; the grotto Del Cane, the mephitic air of which throws a dog into convulsions; extinguishes a lighted torch, and prevents a pistol from going off; the Piccarielli, a rivulet of boiling water; and the Astroni, the romantic crater of an extinct volcano, now converted into a royal hunting park.
A visit to Caserta, and especially to the grand aqueduct five miles beyond it, is highly gratifying. This celebrated work of modern date collects the water from nine springs, and conveys them through lofty mountains, and under a bridge of stupendous height and beautiful construction, a distance of nearly twelve miles. The Palace of Caserta, the most splendid royal residence, is a prodigious pile, of a rectangular form, 746 feet in length, 576 feet in breadth, and 113 feet in height. Superb columns ornament the outside of this edifice, the principal court of which is 507 feet in length, and particularly magnificent, as is also the grand staircase. The vestibule of the chapel, and the chapel itself, excite admiration; and the latter contains a fine painting by Mengs. The theatre is decorated with twelve columns of basalt, taken from the temple of Jupiter Serapis. The royal apartments, though vast and beautifully proportioned, are so ill furnished as to be but little worthy of attention.
As the three greatest objects of curiosity, Vesuvius, Herculaneum, and Pompeii, are fully described in this work, the reader is referred to them in their alphabetical order, where the space allotted to them is more appropriately occupied than it would have been in a description of the city of Naples.
The French, whilst masters of the city, erected a fine and commodious market, which is in communication with the Strada Toledo. It is in imitation of an ancient Forum Venalium, and the centre is ornamented with an allegorical figure of Abundance. It is well supplied with all kinds of provisions from the fertile fields in the vicinity. The prices of the chief articles of sustenance are moderate, as stated by the British consular returns, viz., bread and flour 2d. per pound, beef 4d., mutton 2½d., pork 3d., cheese 6d., butter 1s. 4d., coffee 1s. 2d., and sugar 7d. The supply of vegetables is of the greatest importance, and the rates of all of them are very low. The fishing supplies abundance of food, and gives occupation to a large portion of the male population; and, besides what is caught in the neighbouring water, a considerable part of the cod-fish cured in Newfoundland finds a vent in Naples, as well as in the other Catholic countries which border the Mediterranean.
The foreign trade of Naples, in which city that of the greater part of the kingdom is carried on, consists in the exportation of silk, oil, wool, linseed, liquorice, wine, and a few smaller articles. The imports consist, as far as regards Great Britain, principally of cotton wool, cotton twist, and Napoleon cotton manufactures, which, in value, are four fifths of the whole. Cod-fish and pilchards amount to about one half of the remainder, and the rest is composed of colonial articles. There is at some seasons a considerable importation of corn, chiefly of wheat, from Odessa, Taganrook, and the other ports in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof. This wheat, distinguished by its hardness, and reduced to flour by pounding instead of grinding, is found to be the best for making macaroni, vermicelli, and similar kinds of food, which form a much more common kind of sustenance with the Neapolitan people than bread.
The climate of different parts of the city varies much with respect to its salubrity; and in some parts, especially in that called St Lucia, it is found to be dangerous, not merely for invalids, but for persons in health. This arises from the vicinity of the sea, the dampness of which, combined with that of a tufa under which the houses are built, is very prejudicial. On the other hand, in the district called the Largo del Castello, the air is very soft, warm, and congenial to those who are afflicted with weak lungs. Naples is abundantly supplied with water; but all of it is by no means good. Some of the fountains, such as the Largo del Castello, that of Fontana Medina, and that of Fontana di San Pietro, yield excellent and salubrious water; but most of the rest have a tendency to produce dysentery, or other putrid diseases, especially in strangers.
The population of the city amounted in 1833 to 358,990, and was estimated in 1836 at 372,000. Amongst these are more than 40,000 called Lazaroni; a poor class, with no habitations, but sleeping in the streets, and picking up a scanty subsistence by occasional slight and servile occupations. Those who are best acquainted with the Neapolitan character give a favourable report of their manners; their passions are easily excited to acts of violence, but, when treated with mildness and kindness, they can, without much difficulty, be prevented from committing any very grievous excesses.
---