Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/200

Rh 188 NAPLES Avhich projects due south, divides this part of the bay into two smaller bays the eastern, with the city of Naples, and the western, or Bay of Baite, which is sheltered from all winds. A tunnel through the promontory, 2244 feet long, 21 feet broad, and in some places as much as 70 feet high, possibly constructed by Marcus Agrippa in 27 B.C., forms the so-called grotto of Posillipo ; at the Naples end stands the reputed tomb of Virgil. Beyond Posil lipo is the small island of Nisida (Nesis) ; and at a short distance inland are the extinct craters of Solfatara and Astroni, and the Lake of Agnano. Farther west, on a tongue of land, stands Pozzuoli (Puteoli) ; and beyond it, round the Bay of Baiae, are Monte Nuovo, a H hill thrown up in a single night in September 1538 ; the classic site of Baiae ; the Lucrine Lake ; Lake Avernus ; the Lake of Fusaro (Acherusia Palus) ; the Elysian Fields ; and the port and promontory of Misenum. Still farther to the south-west lie the islands of Procida (P*ro- cliyta) and Ischia l (Pithecusa, jEnaria, or Inarime), which divide the Bay of Naples from the extensive Bay of Gaeta. The city of Naples is built at the base and on the slopes of a range of volcanic hills, and, rising from the shore like an amphitheatre, is seen to best advantage from the water. From the summit occupied by the castle of St Elmo a transverse ridge runs south to form the promontory of Pizzofalcone, and divides the city into two natural Plan of Naples. Churches. 1. S. Maria del Carmine. 2. S. Annunziata. 3. Cathedral and S. Rcsti- tuta. 4. S. Filippo Ken. 5. S.Domenicoilaggiore. 8. S. Chiara. 10. S. Martino. crescents. The western crescent, known as the Chiaja ward, though merely a long and narrow strip between the sea and Vomero hill, is the fashionable quarter most affected by foreign residents and visitors. A fine broad street, the Riviera di Chiaja, commenced in the close of the 16th century by Count d Olivares, and completed by the Duke de Medina Celi (1695-1700), runs for a mile and a half from east to west, ending in the quarter of Mergellina and Piedigrotta at the foot of the hill of Posillipo. In front lie the Villa Nazionale (Reale) public gardens, the chief promenade of the city, which were first laid out in 1780, and have been successively extended in 1807, in 1834, and under the new regime ; and the whole edge of the bay 13. S. Francesco di Paola. | 7. Teatro Mercadante. Theatres. G. Teatro Bellini. 9. 11. Xuovo. S. Cailino. 12. Teatro S. Carlo. 14. Sannazaro. from the Castel dell Ovo to Posillipo is lined by a massive embankment and carriage-way, the Via Caracciolo, con structed in 1875-81. The eastern crescent includes by far the largest as well as the oldest portion of Naples the ports, the arsenal, the principal churches, &c. The main thoroughfare is the Toledo (as it is still popularly called, though the official name is Via di Roma), which runs almost due north from the Piazza (Largo) del Plebiscito in front of the Palazzo Reale, till, as Strada Nuova di Capodimonte, 1 Since the article ISCHIA (q.v.) was written the island has been visited by another severe shock of earthquake (July 28, 1883), which completely ruined Casamicciola, Forio, Lacco Ameno, and Serrara Fontana, and destroyed about 2800 people.