THE MIRROR
OF
LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
| VOL. XII, NO. 347.] | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1828. | [PRICE 2d. |
EUROPEAN CITIES.—NAPLES.
In our last volume we commenced the design of illustrating theprincipal Cities of Europe, by a series of picturesque views—one ofwhich is represented in the above engraving. Our miscellaneous dutiesin identifying the pages of the MIRROR with subjects of contemporaryinterest, and anxiety to bring them on our little tapis—(qy.Twopence?)—will best account for the interval which has elapsed sincethe commencement of our design—with a View of London; but were alltravellers as tardy, the Grand Tour of Europe would occupy many years,and leave fashion-mongers but little more than rouge, wrinkles, andbon-bons to delight their friends at home.
The proximity of Naples to Rome may, perhaps, impair the interest ofthe former city, especially as it presents nothing in architecture,sculpture, or painting that can vie with the Imperial Mistress.Nevertheless, Naples is one of the most beautiful and most delightfulcities on the habitable globe. Nothing can possibly be imagined moreunique than its coup-d'oeil, on whatever side the city is viewed.
Naples is situated towards the south and east on the declivity of along range of hills, and encircling a gulf of 16 miles in breadth,and as many in length, which forms a basin, called Crater by theNeapolitans. The city appears to crown this superb basin. One partrises towards the west in the form of an amphitheatre, on the hillsof Pausilippo, St. Ermo, and Antiguano; the other extends towards theeast, over a more level territory, in which villas follow each otherin rapid succession, from the Magdalen Bridge to Portici, where theking's palace is situated, and beyond that to Mount Vesuvius. TheNeapolitans have a saying, Vedi Napoli e po mari, intimating thatwhen Naples has been seen, every thing has been seen; and itscongregated charms of situation, climate, and fertility almost warrantthis patriotic ebullition.
"On the northern side, Naples is surrounded by hills, which (saysVasi, in his 'Picture,') form a kind of crown round the Terra diLavoro, the Land of Labour." This consists of a district, in thelanguage of ancient Rome,
———Lecos laeros, et amoena vireta
Fortunatorum nemorum, sedesque beatas—
and fertilized by a river, called Sebeto, which descends from the hillson the side[pg 418]of Nola, and falls into the sea after having passed underMagdalen Bridge, towards the eastern part of Naples.
The ancient history of Naples is involved in much obscurity. Accordingto some, says Vasi, Falerna, one of the Argonauts, founded it about1,300 years before the Christian era; according to others, Parthenope,one of the Syrens, celebrated by Homer in his "Odyssey," beingshipwrecked on this coast, landed here, and built a town, to which shegave her name; others attribute its foundation to Hercules, some toEneas, and other