NAPLES anc. _Ae«polis), a city of southern Italy, capital of the province of Naples; is built partly at the base, partly on the slopes of two crescent-shaped acclivi ties on the famous bay of the same name. Pop. '72 448,335. Lat. 40° 41' 8" n., long. 15' 5" e. The wonderful beauty of the site and of the surrounding prospect, the delicious softness of the climate, and the clear atmosphere make Naples famed among the cities of the world. It is one of the chief centers of commerce and industry of Italy, possesses a very extensive mercautile shipping, and is one of the principal stations of Mediterranean steam navigation.
The public buildings of Naples are numerous and grand, but are devoid of architec tural svuonetry in consequence of the antiquity of their origin, and the irregularity of their site. Many of the old streets are paved with lava, and inconveniently narrow, with houses of great height. The modern streets, however, are spacious and splendid. The city is divided into the old and the new town, or the east and west crescents, by a lesser range of heights—viz., the Capodemeute, the St. Elmo, and the Pizzofalcone, terminating in the rocky promontory called the Castel dell' Ovo. In 18138 a land-slip destroyed a number of houses at the foot of Pizzofalcone. The eastern division of Naples is the most ancient and the most peopled; it contains the principal public structures, and is intersected by the splendid Via, or street, di Toledo. che western, or modern section, contains the famous Riviera di Chiaja, or the quay, a fine road running along the bay in a curved course of three miles. flanked on the right by row of palaces, and bordered on the left by the beautiful pleasure-grounds of the Villa Reale, which lie between it 11 cl the sea, and of which the natural beauty is heightened by the intersper sion of temples, fountains, and statuary groups amidst the acacia, myrtle, and orange groves. The public squares, or tasyki, of Naples are adorned with fountains and obe lisks; and within the precincts of the city there are several highly-prized springs both of fresh and mineral waters. The fortified castles are numerous. Amongst the princi pal arc the Castel Nuovo, called the Bast ile of Naples, somewhat similar to the Tower of London, and adorned with a fine triumphal arch, erected in honor of Alfonso of Aragon; the Castel dell' Ovo, so called front its oval or egg shape, standing on a and connected by a bridge with the main-laud; the Castel Sant' Elmo, commanding a mag nificent view from its ramparts. and formerly of immense strength; and the dismantled Castel del Carmine. The churchesare upwards of 300, and many are rich in architectural and erchmological intesest. The cathedral dedicated to St. Gennaro (Januarius; q.v.) contains the celebrated phials in which the liquefaction of St. Gennaro'a blood is alleged to take place on two animal festivals; it also contains the tombs of Charles of Anjou and of pope Innocent IV., besides numerous fine paintings and statues. The educa tional institutionsof Naples embrace famous schools of surgery, law, and general science. A. magniticent aquarium has been opened since 1871, with a zoological laboratory in which many distinguished foreign naturalists are at work, The philanthropical estab lishments are on an immense scale, and are richly endowed. There are also several theaters in the city, of which that of San, Cu•lo (devoted to the opera) is one of the larg est and most celebrated in Italy; but the characteristic theater of Naples is the Teatm di Spat. Carliao, the headquarters of Altana(' ("the Italian Punch"). There are four grand
public libraries; and in the Miser) Borbonico, Naples contains an unrivaled collection of art, comprising frescoes, paintinga, mosaics. sculptures. bronzes, antiquities, coins, medals, inscriptions, and the renowned collection of precious objects excavated from Herculaneum and Pompeii.
The environs of Naples. apart from their extreme beauty of scenery, are highly interesting. The locality which contains the tomb of Virgil, the disinterred towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii, Vesuvius (from an eruption of which Naples suffered in 1872). and the Roman remains. must possess an inexhaustible source of interest for scien tific, antiquarian, and classical iuvestigators. The modern villas of Naples are splendid And luxurious. One of the most striking features of NapleS is its unique population and the universal publicity in which life is passed. The inhabitants forever swarm in the thoroughfares, where an incessant throng of venders, rairchesers, and idlers intermingle with asses, mule 4, ha ad-carts, anti Conveyances, dazzling the eye with their brilliant variety of costume, and the pantomimic expressiveness of their frantic gestures and atti titdea; while the ear is stunned by the shrill conflicting cries of the ambulatory venders of every conceivable commodity, 'by the piercing notes of the improvisatore's and the uproarious hilarity and high-pitched patois of the countless masses, whose sole abode appears to strangers to he the thronged public squares and streets. The popular lan guage of Naples, which is a corrupt dialect of Italian and Spanish, is in prevalent use among all classes of society; it lethls itself especially to the satirical find facetious squibs and compositions in widen the Neapolitans excel. The popular Neapolitan songs in the native patois are exquisitely nerve and expressive in sentiment, and are set to popular melodies which exert a maddening charm over this southern populace. The physical condition of the lower classes of Naplea. and especially of the lazzaroni (q.v.), has of late years ppikibly kupiAted both as regards raiment and lodging..
The name Naples (Gr. new city) had reference to an older town in the neighborhood, called originally Parthenope, and, after the foundation of the new town, Pal•epolis (old town), which was situated most probably on the ridge called Posilipo, that separates the bay of Pozzuoli or Babe from that of ?Naples. Both towns were Greek settlements, apparently colonies from the neighboring Cionte. joined by immigrants direct from Greece. In 327 B.C. Pal epolis was besieged and taken by the Romans, and thenceforth disappears from history; Neapolis submitted without resistance, and became a favored and faithful ally, or rather provincial city of Rome. It long, however, retained its purely Greek character and institutions; and there is evidence that the Greek language continued to be used, even in public documents, as late as the 2.l c. of the Christian era. Naples _was a flourishing and populous city during the Roman empire and, notwithstanding the vicissitudes of the Gothic conquest of Italy, and the recoil quests by the Byzantine emperors, it continued to be one of the most important and opulent places in Italy. About the 8th c. it threw off allegiance to the Byzantine emper• ors, remained independent till it fell into the hands of the Normans in 1140 A.D., and became the capital of the kingdom of Naples.