L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano T o m o s t o f u s , M o u n t Vesuvius is at once a beautiful postcard and a deadly killer. We can't forget the magic of a Neapolitan landscape, with the city gen- tly laying on the waters of its gulf and Mount Vesuvius, sometimes pictured with a thin pinnacle of smoke flow- ing out of its main crater, embracing everything like a burly, but loving father. And then, there is Pompeii. The eruption of 79 AD obliterat- ed four cities, Pompeii, Her- c u l a n e u m , O p l o n t i s , a n d Stabiae from the face of the E a r t h , u n d e r a c l o u d o f ashes, stones, and scorching h o t g a s e s t h a t r e a c h e d a h e i g h t o f 2 1 m i l e s . S o m e 2.000 people, at the very l e a s t , d i e d . A l l w e k n o w a b o u t t h o s e d a y s c o m e s from the letters that Pliny the Younger wrote to Taci- t u s . H i s u n c l e , P l i n y t h e E l d e r , f a m o u s a u t h o r o f the Naturalis Historia, had traveled to Stabiae during the eruption and perished while trying to save people. This is Mount Vesuvius - the only active volcano on the European mainland - for the people of Italy, and espe- c i a l l y f o r t h e p e o p l e o f Campania. A familiar pres- ence, but a dangerous one, too, still today. To many, it is one of the most dangerous active volcanos on Earth, because it is so close to so many large towns and cities: a n e r u p t i o n l i k e t h a t o f Pompeii could affect 3 mil- l i o n p e o p l e , a n d a n o t h e r 6 0 0 . 0 0 0 a r e c o n s i d e r e d w i t h i n a " d a n g e r z o n e , " according to Aaron Spray, who wrote an interesting article about Vesuvius on the online magazine The Travel. Another factor that gives Mount Vesuvius its bad rep is the type of eruptions it is associated with: Plinian eruptions are character- i z e d b y t h e e m i s s i o n o f extremely viscous lava which "clogs" craters to the point gases cannot escape, causing a partial or total explosion of t h e v o l c a n o i t s e l f . Geologically, it is a somma- s t r a t o v o l c a n o , w h i c h means its original caldera has been in part filled with a new central cone. In fact, M o u n t V e s u v i u s i s t h e somma-stratovolcano, if you think that the name comes from Mount Somma which, once upon a time, was a vol- cano, too, out of which the c o n e o f M o u n t V e s u v i u s e m e r g e d . T o d a y , M o u n t S o m m a d e v e l o p s a r o u n d Mount Vesuvius in a semi- circular shape. Contrarily to its Sicilian cousin, Mount Etna, which reaches over 3.300 meters in height (11.000 ft), Vesuvius, w i t h i t s 1 . 2 8 1 m e t e r s (around 4.200 ft), isn't a giant covered in snow half of the year, but it is part of a famous vulcanic area known as the Campanian volcanic a r c , w h i c h i n c l u d e s t h e Campi Flegrei and Mount S t r o m b o l i : V e s u v i u s , i n other words, is in good com- pany. Vesuvius didn't always have the look we are familiar with today: in fact, geolo- gists believe that its modern shape came to be after the tragedy of Pompeii; before the eruption of 79 AD, no one knew Vesuvius was a volcano, as Alberto Angela explains in his I Tre Giorni d i P o m p e i , w h e r e h e recounts in detail the event of the last 72 hours of the Roman city. Back then, the volcano looked like a hill with a side lower than the other and it was fully cov- ered in vegetation and vine- yards: no one suspected the many earthquakes and the cracks appearing more and m o r e o f t e n i n t h e s t r e e t s were caused by the silent fire giant they considered noth- ing more than a fertile hill. The last major eruption of Mount Vesuvius dates back to 1944, and just like 8 out of the previous 10, it was an e f f u s i v e - e x p l o s i v e o n e , which combined lava flows and the violent expulsion from the crater of stones and ashes. The other two were only effusive, just like the o n e o f 1 8 5 5 , w h e n l a v a reached the village of San Sebastiano. On the 8th of A u g u s t 1 7 7 9 , M o u n t Vesuvius had its last explo- sive eruption, which sent lava a kilometer up in the sky. Between 1944 and the day, almost 2000 years earli- e r , w h e n P o m p e i i w a s d e s t r o y e d , t h e r e w e r e 2 7 eruptions in total. A s y o u c a n s e e , M o u n t V e s u v i u s i s p a r t o f t h e region's history, it's a friend in many ways because its soil is fertile and its outline reas- s u r i n g s o m e h o w , b u t i t s h o u l d n ' t s u r p r i s e i t i s k n o w n a s t h e S l e e p i n g Giant: whenever it decides to wake up, it'll do so in his own terms. But the famous volcano has already gained its place in history for more than a reason because it is n o t o n l y o n e o f t h e m o s t famous killers of the ancient world but also the inspira- tion – or better, the cause – for the creation of the oldest volcanological observatory i n t h e w o r l d , t h e R o y a l Vesuvius Observatory, which was founded in 1841 by King Ferdinand II of Bourbon, who ruled on a large section of the South of Italy back t h e n . T h e o b s e r v a t o r y , which is a museum today, survived eight eruptions: 1 8 5 0 , 1 8 5 5 , 1 8 6 1 , 1 8 6 8 , 1872, 1906, 1929, and 1944. But Mount Vesuvius is not only dangerous, it is also beautiful and we shouldn't forget that. In fact, it is a pretty famous and sought- after tourist destination. The volcano is part of the Mount Vesuvius National Park and its caldera can be reached by c a r o r b u s f r o m b o t h Pompeii and Herculaneum, all year unless of course, the s l e e p i n g g i a n t d e c i d e s t o wake up! GIULIA FRANCESCHINI The very recognizable silhouette of Mount Vesuvius embraces the Gulf of Naples (Photo: G2studio/Dreamstime) Let's discover … Mount Vesuvius LIFE PEOPLE PLACES TRAVEL TRADITIONS

• Cover