Naples

Naples disputes with Constantinople the honor of having the most beautiful site of any city in the world. Goethe says: " Just as it is asserted that a man who has seen a ghost is never afterwards seen to smile, so, in the opposite sense, it may be affirmed that a man can never be utterly miserable who has once seen Naples." The word Naples means "new city." Greek emigrants from Cumae settled here and called their town Parthenope. But the Athenian colonists came and built a town close by, calling it Neapolis (new city); the older town then became known as Paleopolis (old city), until taken by the Romans in B. C. 328, when the latter name disappeared, while Neapolis under Roman rule continued to flourish, retaining its Greek culture. It was the famous summer resort of the Roman aristocracy, and a perpetual theme for Latin poets.

Virgil wrote his Georgics there, and after his death at Brundusium was taken there for burial, but the Greek language continued to be spoken in Naples until the 2d century of our era.

Naples is the largest city in Italy, and its bay, the most beautiful in the world, is famous for the burning volcano of Mt. Vesuvius near its shores. From the curving line of the bay the city ascends the hillside of Capodimonte for more than three miles, and when seen from the sea presents an unrivalled picture.

Naples was annexed to Italy in 1860. It has a population of about 500,000.

The National Museum of Naples is the most interesting in the world. The building was begun as a barrack, remodeled in 1681 for a University, and, with various changes, appropriated by Ferdinand I., 1816, for the spoils of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The statues, bas reliefs in marble, mosaics, and mural frescoes are of the highest interest; there are more than 3000 specimens of ancient glass, and an immense collection of small antique bronzes, cameos, engraved gems, gold and silver ornaments, in all about 2000. The Egyptian collection is extensive. The Library contains 160,000 volumes, besides many manuscripts, 1800 from Herculaneum, on papyrus. The Pinecoteca has nearly 1000 pictures; but the chief objects of interest are its antique sculptures.