Useful Information
The region of Campania is touched to the west by the Mar Tirreno and is mostly made of hills (51%). The remaining part of the territory is made of mountains for the 34% and plains for the 15%.
Campania is a rich land thanks to its always mild climate, which made its scenarios full of beautiful colors. The sea is a characterising element and the coast is always varied, composed by gulfs, ripid cliffs, indentations and calm bays, on which you can see the Islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida.
The region is characterised by the presence of the Vesuvio, inactive volcano which dominates the Golfo di Napoli, which allowed the land below it to be so fertile.
The region of Campania, in fact, is the most productive in terms of agricultural products. It holds the national record for the production of tomatoes, potatoes, pepperoni, apricots, cherries, and various other types of vegetables and fruit. There's also an important production of citrus fruits, wine and oil, which are at the base of the local gastronomy.
Originally inhabited by the Ausoni, towards the VIII century B.C. the region was invaded from the sea by the Greeks, who founded on the coast the city of Cuma.
In the VI century, the Etruscans arrived from the north, who gave birth to the "Lega di Dodici Cittą", League of Twelve Cities, with Capua at its head. The towns of Cuma and Capua soon were at battle, and in 474 B.C Capua was forced to surrender.
In the second half of the V century B.C, the Sannitic invasion began. With the descent of Hannibal and the second Punic war, the Sannites organized themselves against Rome, but were defeated and "Romanized". During the Empire, Campania was part, with Lazio, of the first Italian region, and with Diocletian it became and independent region.
In 570, with the invasion from the Longobardi, the region was divided with the Ducato di Benevento, while the middle part of Campania was under the control of the Roman Empire. Amalfi, thanks to its rich business, managed to become in the IX-XI centuries a sea republic.
Napoli was conquered by the Normans in 1139m and the region passed first to the Angioini then the Aragonesi between 1100 and 1200. After the reign of the Spanish and the short Austrian dominion, the region passed to the hands of Carlo VII di Borbone, who reigned until the Unity of Italy.
A holiday in Campania means to live fully the splendid Costiera Amalfitana, with the pictoresque centres of Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Praiano and Ravello, where it is possible to taste the excellent food accompanied by the white wine Lachrima Christi, produced at the feet of the Vesuvio.
It also means to visit the archeological ruins of Ercolano, Paestum and Pompei, the city which had been completely destroyed by the volcanic eruption in 79 B.C.
Napoli alone is worth a trip, since it is rich with monuments to visit like the Palazzo Reale, Porta Capuana, the Duomo di S. Gennaro, the Churches of S. Lorenzo Maggiore and S. Gregorio Armeno, and the museums of Capodimonte and the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, one of the most important in the world.
From the port you can reach the mundan Capri, which still holds the ruins of villa Jovis, imperial residence of Tiberius, the thermal Ischia, and the smaller but characteristic Procida. Going back to the mainland, a place worth of visit is Caserta, with its splendid Reggia ordered by Carlo III di Borbone and realized in 1752 by Luigi Vanvitelli, and Benevento, which holds one of the most renown monuments of the Roman times in southern Italy: the Arco di Traiano. |
