Nisida
Nisida (in antiquity Νησίς , Nēsis, Ionian ancient Greek : "islet") is the fifth largest island in the Gulf of Naples with a surface area of 29 hectares after Ischia , Capri , Procida and Vivara . Despite its small size, the island is significant for historical reasons and because of its charming location.
Location and physical shape
Nisida is about 1 km southwest of Capo Coroglio, a foothill of the Posillipo , and together with it separates the Gulf of Pozzuoli from the actual Gulf of Naples. The island is part of the submarine continuation of the Phlegraean Fields : it is itself a former volcanic crater , which its sickle-shaped shape is evidence of to this day . The crater's former caldera forms a roughly circular natural harbor that opens to the southwest towards the gulf. The outer slope of the crater drops steeply to the west and south and gently to the north and east; this flat slope has always been the main part of the island that is inhabited and used for agriculture.
The current diameter of the island is about 0.5 km, its highest point is 109 m above sea level. However, it could have been larger in ancient times, as it probably rose or (in this case) sank like other areas of the Phlegraean Fields through volcanic activity. Ancient sources testify that active fumaroles still existed on Nisida until the Roman Empire ; Lucan compares the poisonous air emitted by decaying corpses with the "breath with which Nesis sends poisonous plumes from its mist-shrouded rocks when Typhon's caves exhale madness and death" ( De bello civili 6, 90-93; cf. Statius , Silvae 2, 2, 78). Of course, this is in part poetic exaggeration.
history
In ancient times, Nisida u. a. Asparagus grown ( Pliny the Elder , Naturalis historia XIX 146). Lucullus is said to have given great banquets at his country estate there. Brutus the Younger later owned a villa on Nisida, in which Cicero also repeatedly visited him (Cicero, Ad Atticum 16, 1, 1; 3, 6; 4, 1). After Brutus' defeat in the Battle of Philippi , his wife Porcia , the daughter of Catos the Younger , is said to have killed herself in this villa . Further mentions can be found e.g. B. at Seneca ( Ad Lucilium 53, 1).
Almost nothing is known about the fate of Nisida in late antiquity and the Middle Ages. In 1533 the island was purchased by Giovanni Piccolomini, Duke of Amalfi , for 3000 ducats . His successors built a fort there . When the plague raged later in the so-called Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and thus also in Naples, the Duke of Alba had a hospital built on Nisida , which established a tradition: the island served as a hospital and quarantine site until the 20th century . The fort was still an important part of the coastal defense in the 18th century; in the 19th century it was abandoned and turned into a prison and later a penitentiary . In February 1851, the politician Carlo Baron was imprisoned in chain custody there and only transferred to lighter custody in Ischia thanks to an intervention by England initiated by Gladstone . Another famous prisoner of Nisida was Luigi Settembrini .
At the same time Alexandre Dumas settled his story Nisida partly on the island (1839–1841, part of the Crimes célébres collection ). His eponymous heroine is “the prettiest girl on the island, after whom she is called. She is completely innocent; her father is only a poor fisherman, but I can assure your Excellency that he is respected like a king on his island. ”(quote from the beginning of the story) - In the late 19th century a real quarantine facility was established on the island . In addition, a marine hospital was built on a rock facing northeast towards the mainland , which connected a dam with the main part of Nisida. This dam was later extended to the mainland, i.e. Capo Coroglio, so that Nisida can now be reached with dry feet, even by car.
At the beginning of the 20th century there were about 780 inhabitants on Nisida. a. from growing olives , wine , fruits and vegetables. Then as now the island belongs administratively to the municipality of Pozzuoli of the metropolitan city of Naples . From November 1945 to December 1961 the Italian Air Force Academy was located on the island , which was then given a new headquarters on the mainland opposite Nisida. From 1972 to 2013 the island served as the headquarters of a NATO naval command ( Allied Maritime Command Naples of JFC Naples ), today the logistics command of the Italian Navy is located there . In addition, there has been a detention center for juvenile offenders ( Istituto penale di Nisida ) there since 1934 . Nevertheless, you can partially visit the island, especially the Parco archeologico with excavations of ancient building remains. However, if you take photos of military objects or leave the path, you run the risk of being arrested.
Web links
- Short article with beautiful photos of Nisida
- History of the Istituto penale di Nisida (Italian)
- Nisida: l'isola dei minorenni , article from La Repubblica (October 18, 2003, Italian)
- eText version of Alexandre Dumas' novel Nisida (English translation)
Coordinates: 40 ° 48 ' N , 14 ° 10' E