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History of Naples
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There was a
settlement here, Parthenope , as early as the ninth century BC,
but it was superseded by a colony formed by the Greek settlers
at nearby Cumae, who established an outpost here in 750 BC,
giving it the name Neapolis. It prospered during Greek and later
Roman times, escaping the disasters that befell the cities
around and eventually declaring itself independent in 763 -
which it remained for close on 400 years, until the Normans took
the city in 1139. The Normans weren't here for long: like the
rest of this region, the city soon came under the rule of the
Hohenstaufen dynasty, who stayed rather half-heartedly until
1269, when their last king, Conradin, was beheaded in what's now
Piazza del Mercato, and the Angevins took over the city. With
one exception - Robert the Wise, who was a gentle and
enlightened ruler and made the city a great centre for the arts
- the Angevin kings ruled badly, in the end losing Naples to
Alfonso I of Aragon in 1422, thus establishing a Spanish
connection for the city for the next 300 years. Following the
War of the Spanish Succession, Naples was briefly ceded to the
Austrians, before being taken, to general rejoicing, by Charles
of Bourbon in 1734. Charles was a cultivated and judicious
monarch, but his dissolute son Ferdinand presided over a
shambolic period in the city's history, abandoning it to the
republican French. Their "Parthenopean Republic" here was
short-lived, and the British reinstalled the Bourbon monarch,
carrying out vicious reprisals against the rebels. (The
instigator of these reprisals was Admiral Nelson - fresh from
his victory at the Battle of the Nile - who was famously having
an affair with Lady Hamilton, the wife of the British ambassador
to Naples. Under continuing Bourbon rule, or more accurately
misrule, the city became one of the most populated in Europe,
and one of the most iniquitous, setting a trend which still
holds good today. For the rest of Europe, Naples was the
requisite final stop on the Grand Tour , a position it enjoyed
not so much for its proximity to the major classical sites as
for the ready availability of sex. The city was for a long time
the prostitution capital of the Continent, and its reputation
drew people from far and wide, giving new meaning (in the days
when syphilis was rife) to the phrase .
More recently, Naples and its surrounding area have been the
recipient of much of the money that has poured into the south
under the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno scheme, and its industry is
spreading, if not exactly booming. But the real power in the
area is still in the hands of organized crime or the Camorra :
much of the coastline west of the city - to Bagnoli - was built
by Camorra money, and, although it's not at all publicized,
little happens that matters here without the nod of the larger
families. Not surprisingly, much government money has found its
way into their hands too, with the result that there's been
little real improvement in the living standards of the average
Neapolitan: a very high percentage remain unemployed, and a
disgraceful number still inhabit the typically Neapolitan
one-room bassi - slums really, letting in no light and housing
many in appallingly overcrowded conditions. In the late 1970s
there was a cholera outbreak in part of the city, and until
recently it was thought that the same thing could happen again.
However, Antonio Bassolino , mayor of the city from 1993 until
2000, did much to promote Naples and its attractions, and the G7
summit, held here in June 1994, provided the impetus for a
much-needed clean-up of the city centre. Bassolino was confident
that supporting Naples' cultural strengths would boost local
pride. Scores of neglected churches, museums and palaces were
restored and now have extended opening times, particularly in
the month of May, in a festival called Maggio Aperto. There's
been a burst of creative activity from local filmmakers,
songwriters, artists and playwrights, and saying that you are
from Naples gives you instant credibility in Rome, Milan and
other northern cities.
Sadly, this surge of civic pride has received a check with the
renewal of violent activity by the Camorra, in the person of "La
Madrina" - godmother Maria Licciardi. Licciardi concocted an
alliance between the Camorra families, maintaining that it would
be more profitable for them to work together and pool resources
from drug smuggling, prostitution and protection rackets. An
argument over a drugs shipment fractured the truce, and the
clans turned on each other. Four of Licciardi's people were
murdered on her home ground, the suburb of Secondigliano, and
she responded with brutal force: by June 2000, sixty people had
lost their lives in a series of tit-for-tat killings. Although
the "civilian" population has not been directly affected by
these events, they have sorely dented the city's self-image
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