Studia Polensia, Vol. 8 No. 1, 2019.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.32728/studpol/2019.08.01.08
THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE PHLEGRAEAN FIELDS BETWEEN BIBLIOGRAPHIC AND ICONOGRAPHIC SOURCES
Matteo Borriello
; University of Naples
Abstract
Since ancient times, the Phlegraean Fields were one of the most
popular travel destinations.
For the particular geological characteristics of the territory, the
nobility of ancient Rome built numerous pleasure villas, especially in
the area between Pozzuoli, Baia and Bacoli, and later, in the modern and
contemporary age, the travellers of the Grand Tour made the Phlegraean
fields a real centre of tourism known all over the world. Over the centuries,
through their travels, local and foreign scholars described the environment
of the Phlegraean fields in their travel notebooks, often accompanied by
sketches and drawings. In addition to these precious proofs, of particular
interest are the articles published in the architecture and engineering
periodicals within which projects of buildings are reported to be placed
along the coastal strip, changing its original appearance.
Through the analysis of bibliographic, documentary and
iconographic sources, such as the guides of monsignor Pompeo Sarnelli,
“La Guida de’ forestieri, curiosi di vedere, e di riconoscere le cose più
memorabili di Pozzuoli, Baja, Cuma, Miseno, Gaeta. Ed altri luoghi
circonvicini”, and canon Andrea de Jorio, “Guida di Pozzuoli e contorno”,
the drawings of the French architect Prosper Barbot and the periodical
“Bollettino del Collegio degli Ingegneri e Architetti in Napoli”, this paper
intends to illustrate the environment of the Phlegraean fields during the
XVIII and XIX centuries, making a comparison with the environment of
the contemporary urban context. From the comparison of the sources it
emerged how the image of the Phlegrean landscape has rapidly changed
over the centuries. Today, most of the archaeological monuments and the
same coastline are covered by a poor quality contemporary building, the
result of the lack of control of the institutions, and which today gives the
image of an environment of great but disordered beauty.
Keywords
Architecture; Environment; Image; Landscape; Phlegraean fields; Travel
Hrčak ID:
229191
URI
Publication date:
4.12.2019.
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