Giovedì 24 Agosto 2017

In the province of Naples, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius extends Pompeii on an area of ??12 Kmq with about 26,000 inhabitants. It is a modern reality with its tourist facilities, hotels, campsites, restaurants, pizzerias, bars, pubs and various shops. It is a cosmopolitan city, a destination of great tourist flow from Italy and from abroad. Many of these tourists staying in the city not only visit it, but also use it as a base for their excursions, in the many nearby tourist sites, easily accessible both by their own vehicle and by public transport. In the recent past, Pompeii has twinned with the cities of Latiano in Puglia, Kjongiu (South Korea), Tarragona (Spain) and Xi'an (China). Pompeii rises to the rank of city on January 9, 2004. The primary feature that makes it unique in the world is to enclose two cities under one name. That ancient, pagan, buried about six feet of ash and lapilli as a result of an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in August 79 AD where many were dead. In the sixteenth century it was discovered almost by chance during the works of building an aqueduct and a testimony to this is a plaque near the gate Nocera. Thanks to a particular technique created by the architect Fiorelli, today we can observe the positions in which the Pompeians perished during the eruption. He invented a method for getting casts, pouring liquid chalk into the vacuum left by the bodies now dissolved; these casts, represent a tragic witness to the catastrophe. In addition, the countless finds of frescos, pottery, furnishings and various furniture help us to understand the uses and customs of the ancient Pompeians, but only a visit to the archaeological site will be able to convey extraordinary emotions. The new Christian Pompeii was born thanks to the work of Blessed Bartolo Longo. A lawyer from Puglia who in 1872 had the task of Countess Marianna De Fusco to administer her possessions in the Valley of Pompeii. Madonna's appearance prompted Bartolo Longo to build, with many difficulties and with few funds, the Shrine, developing a city around it. One of the obstacles that he found was that of some neighboring countries, I was reluctant to give up a portion of her territory so that the new reality "the new Pompeii" was born. Unfortunately, on the occasion of his death on October 5, 1926, Bartolo Longo could not attend the birth of the new municipality on 29 March 1928 thanks to the interest of Brother Adriano who had the merit of continuing with the tenacity of the project undertaken from the Blessed One.