Latest news with #Pompeii
8 hours ago
- General
American tourists speak out after escaping Mount Etna eruption
Two American tourists are speaking out after escaping the eruption of Mount Etna in Italy. The stratovolcano, which is situated on the east coast of Sicily, first began erupting on Monday, sending thick clouds of gas and molten rock spewing into the air. Nicholas DiLeonardi and Michelle Nigro-DiLeonardi of New York City are honeymooning in Italy and were hiking on the mountain when they said they noticed smoke nearby turn a dark shade of red. The couple said they also heard a loud boom. "People were continuing to hike and go further up," Nigro-DiLeonardi recalled. "We saw a bunch of Jeeps going up, but it was getting pretty intense. I felt a bit nervous." "When we were up there, I was like, 'OK, if this is another Pompeii, at least we're together,'" DiLeonardi added, referencing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., which wiped out the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis. Video footage of Etna's latest eruption shows fast-moving clouds of hot volcanic ash -- called a pyroclastic flow -- and lava bursting into the sky before flowing onto the mountain's surface. Marcello Moro, a helicopter tour pilot who was at Mount Etna on Monday, described what he saw from the air. "The activity became stronger and stronger, so I decided to get far away and to go for landing," Moro said. Mount Etna is the tallest and most active volcano in Europe, and Monday's eruption is the fourth one since November 2022. There have been no reported injuries or damage from Monday's eruption but officials are urging people to stay away from the crater.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
Unthinkable new find inside Pompeii could change everything
A scattering of pock marks on Pompeii's city walls may prove a mythological 'super weapon' may have been real after all. At a glance, they look like acts of vandalism found across the ancient world – from the face of the Great Sphynx to the great standing stones of Britain. Few historic sights have escaped the temptation of trigger-happy troops, hunters and tourists. And the marks of these bullet impacts still mar their surfaces centuries later. But researchers examining the scars of battle in Pompeii 's stone walls near the city's main gates for the Vesuvius and Herculaneum roads have found similar depressions. Only the can't have been caused by bullets. Pompei was buried under volcanic debris as Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. Gunpowder was first used in handheld weapons 900 years later, in China. So what were these tightly grouped clusters of diamond-shaped impressions? They were too small to be ancient artillery. And too deep to be caused by hand-drawn bows. University of Campania researcher Adriana Rossi has found the impact marks in Pompeii's excavated walls are unlike anything ever seen before. And only one mythological device could have caused them. Forensic evidence The University of Campania academics scanned the impact points in 3D and digitally reconstructed the properties of the stone wall. Their models of the trajectories and penetration depths suggest the heavy iron points that caused them must have been travelling at about 109 meters per second. The deep gouges were in groups of four or five. And their even spacing suggests they were fired together, or in very close succession. Only one weapon known from ancient writings could produce such results. This is the polybolos, a 'machinegun' style crossbow-like weapon invented by the Greeks during the 3rd Century BC. But the polybolos was an antipersonnel weapon. Not a wall breaching device. The study argues the marks in the wall were made when the iron bolts fell slightly short of their intended targets. The 'gunners' would have simply upped their aim, and fired again. The evidence fits the known history of Pompeii. A century before being buried, it had been besieged. The free city had rebelled against the growing power of Rome. Its citizens wanted to restore their independence. But the famous Roman general, Sulla, was sent to quell the insurrection in 89BC. Surviving accounts tell how he attacked Pompeii 's port with 'artillery', generally thought to be catapults and large ballistae (heavy bolt throwers). General Sulla entered Pompeii once the walls were breached. The surviving defenders quickly capitulated, and the city was formally annexed as part of the Roman Republic. Most of its citizens were granted citizenship. And many of the Roman legionaries involved in the siege were gifted properties in and around the city. A century later, the coastal city had become a holiday resort for Rome's rich and famous. From myth to reality It's not entirely certain how the ancient 'machine gun' worked. No surviving example has ever been discovered. But a description of its mechanics is contained in the writings of Philo of Byzantium (Philo Mechanicus). This inventor lived in the Greek city of Alexandria, the location of history's greatest library, in about 250BC. Its university was a boiling pot of philosophy, science and engineering. Philo embraced the emerging concept of physics. He is credited with some of the earliest examples of automation and robotics. And his writings included treatises on leverage (The Mochlica) and the design of siege engines (The Belopoeica). The polybolos (which, in Greek, means 'many-shot-thrower') relied on torsion (the springlike power of tightly twisted cords bending timber) as its power source. Up to 15 bolts (large arrows) were stored in a magazine above the device. These were successively fed into the crossbow-like firing mechanism by a gear-driven chain-drive – the first known example of its kind. All the user had to do was pull a trigger, and the stored torsion power could unleash several volleys of bolts. Once expended, torsion energy could be restored by winding a windlass winch and the magazine reloaded. It was the most complex weapon system of its time.
Wall Street Journal
4 days ago
- Wall Street Journal
A Savvy Travelers Guide to Italy's Other Great Art City
Art-loving visitors to Italy tend to follow a well-trodden path through Rome and Florence. But during high season, lines at the Vatican and the Uffizi Galleries can be punishingly long. By the time you finally catch a glimpse of Caravaggio's 'Bacchus,' you might be in need of a drink yourself. There is an alternative. The grand port city of Naples—though best known now for pizza, the mafia and as a launching place for passengers to Capri and the Amalfi coast—has also been a Mediterranean cultural mecca for millennia, back to the days of the ancients. A mere day trip away, you can find historic treasures in the ruins of Pompeii, whose lavishly decorated villas were preserved when neighboring Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D.—a brilliant snapshot of ancient Roman artistic refinement and taste. Nearly 2,000 years later, Naples' own surviving masterpieces still thrill. Founded in 470 B.C., it is among Europe's oldest cities, and by the 17th century, was a hotbed of artistic activity, home to painters like Caravaggio, José de Ribera and Artemisia Gentileschi. That Baroque legacy is still palpable. On a recent trip, I went in search of 'Baroque Naples,' having studied that iteration of the city in college art history classes. But once I was on the ground, it soon became clear that Naples' wonders exceed any one artistic moment. Looking down across the city and sea from my first stop, the hilltop Museo di San Martino, I immediately saw the appeal of Naples, both glorious and gritty. White sailboats dotted the bay and clusters of drab apartment towers, draped in drying laundry, climbed the inland hillsides. In between, the city spread like a carpet toward the slopes of Vesuvius in the distance. A former Carthusian monastery, San Martino is replete with treasures. What struck me most were the luxurious personal quarters of the prior, with their colored marble floors and frescoed walls and ceilings. The pope's private Vatican chambers aren't open to the public, but they certainly don't have a sea view. The city's golden age dawned in 1734 when Naples and Sicily became an independent kingdom under King Charles of Bourbon, a great-grandson of Louis XIV of France. Charles launched an immense building program, whose legacy includes royal palaces adorned with the vast art collection his mother bequeathed him. Charles also greenlighted the excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum and built one of Europe's first opera houses, the Teatro San Carlo, in just eight months. 'Naples doesn't really do small,' explained Sylvain Bellenger, former director of the Museo di Capodimonte, a museum housed in a massive pink and gray palace that is just one of three built by Charles in and around Naples. (Another, Reggia di Caserta, is a Unesco World Heritage site just 30 minutes outside the city.) Even larger than the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, the Museo di Capodimonte is currently undergoing renovations—but still has 50 galleries containing enough masterpieces by the likes of Masaccio, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian and Correggio to merit repeat visits. When the other galleries reopen this fall, visitors might be surprised to discover pieces by Louise Bourgeois, Andy Warhol and Candida Höfer, many referencing either Naples in general or the Capodimonte in particular. Should you choose, like me, not to venture to Pompeii, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli ably scratches an itch for antiquity. Three floors of classical sculptures are chockablock with artifacts, including the famous Farnese Hercules, acres of elaborate Roman mosaic floors and delicately painted walls brought from Herculaneum and Pompeii. One irreverent surprise: A small gallery of erotic sculptures and ancient sexual aids. (Prudes and parents, fear not: There's a warning at the entrance.) Among other niche museums worth a stop is the Museo Nazionale della Ceramica Duca di Martina, in the lush gardens of the Villa Floridiana. And the Gallerie d'Italia, whose collection ranges from the 17th century to the first decades of the 20th, has been newly installed in the circa-1940 Banco di Napoli, a boldly muscular (read: Fascist) celebration of classical architecture. Eager to check a duomo off your list? Naples has one, too. In its San Gennaro chapel's splendid treasury, a new curator is fond of mixing modern art amid the saintly relics. A show of contemporary ex-votos (on view through Sept. 30) features diminutive devotional works by artists such as Mimmo Paladino, Igor Mitoraj and Yves Klein. It occurred to me inside that I'd never seen more people conversing out loud and in public with religious paintings and sculptures than I did in Naples. Even in the offseason, visitors will want to pre-book tickets for smaller private chapels such as Sansevero, with its haunting suite of Baroque sculpture including 'The Veiled Christ' in which artist Giuseppe Sanmartino somehow summons a transparent veil out of marble. Also worth a stop: the tiny Pio Monte della Misericordia, where Caravaggio's iconic 'Seven Acts of Mercy' looms large over the high altar. In the 1990s, the city launched Le Stazioni dell'Arte, an ambitious, ongoing public art project to transform its metro stations in partnership with architects and designers like Karim Rashid and Òscar Tusquets. Since 2012, the arts foundation Made in Cloister, has provided work and exhibition spaces to promote contemporary Neapolitan artists in a 16th-century monastery that was most recently a carwash. More recently, London art dealer Thomas Dane opened his first international branch gallery in a chicly renovated 19th-century palazzo in Chiaia. 'I never expected to open [satellite] galleries,' he said. 'But…it struck me that if there was one city where artists would want to spend more time and explore, it was Naples.'
Local Italy
26-05-2025
- Local Italy
Everything that changes about life in Italy in June 2025
Free museum openings People around Italy will be able to visit dozens of state-run museums and archaeological sites free of charge on Sunday, June 1st under the popular Domenica al Museo or 'free museum Sundays' national scheme. The initiative applies to hundreds of sites, including world-famous attractions like the Colosseum, Pompeii, Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia, the Reggia di Caserta and Trieste's Miramare Castle. Find out more about how the scheme works in our article. Giro d'Italia ends in Rome The 108th edition of the Giro d'Italia, Italy's most prestigious cycling competition, will end in Rome on Sunday, June 1st. Giro riders will ride by some of the Eternal City's most iconic monuments – from San Peter's Basilica to Castel Sant'Angelo – crossing the finish line right in front of the Circo Massimo. Prior to the start of the final stage, riders will pay a tribute to the late Pope Francis by slowly cycling through the Vatican's Porta del Perugino. Republic Day celebrations Monday, June 2nd is Italy's Republic Day (or Festa della Repubblica) – a national public holiday commemorating the abolition of the monarchy and the birth of the Italian Republic as we know it today. Public offices (banks, post offices, town halls, etc.) and schools will be closed on this date, while supermarkets and shops in major cities may have reduced opening hours. Shops in smaller towns and villages are likely to remain closed all day. Plenty of celebrations will take place on June 2nd, especially in Rome, where an official ceremony attended by President Sergio Mattarella will be followed by a military parade and a flyover from Italy's Frecce Tricolori jets. Rome will also mark the occasion by opening its state museums and archeological sites for free. Rome traditionally marks Republic Day with a wreath-laying ceremony. Photo by Quirinale Press Office / AFP. New flight routes A number of airlines are launching new seasonal flight routes to and from Italy throughout the month of June. These include new daily flights connecting Miami with Rome Fiumicino and Dallas-Fort Worth with Venice Marco Polo starting on June 5th. British budget airline EasyJet has also announced new routes connecting the Sicilian capital of Palermo with Bristol, Lisbon and Palma de Mallorca. Find a full list of new summer flights here. Start of school summer holidays Italian schools will all start their summer break in the first half of June, with the exact dates varying from region to region. This year, children in Emilia Romagna will be the first to go on holiday, with their last day of school falling on Friday, June 6th. Pupils in the Bolzano province will be the last to do so, with their last day falling a week later, on June 13th. Citizenship referendum Italians will be called to vote in a landmark citizenship referendum on Sunday, June 8th and Monday, June 9th. The referendum will ask voters to decide whether or not to create a quicker path to citizenship by residency (or naturalisation) by cutting the current 10-year residency requirement down to five years. According to estimates from immigration research centre Idos, more than 1.4 million non-EU nationals would become eligible for Italian citizenship if the referendum were to pass. Polling stations will be open between 7am and 11pm on Sunday, June 8th and between 7am and 3pm on Monday, June 9th. Italians voting from abroad must ensure that that the completed ballots are received by their Italian consulate by 4pm local time on Thursday, June 5th at the latest. Italy is set to hold a key citizenship referendum on June 8th and 9th. Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP. Transport strikes Transport strikes are frequent in Italy, with at least two or three nationwide walkouts and several regional protests called each month. Next month will be no exception as Italian trade unions have already announced multiple national and regional strikes affecting air and rail services. People flying to, from or across Italy may face delays or cancellations on Friday, June 13th due to three separate air transport strikes, including a 24-hour walkout involving baggage handlers at airports around the country. Rail services around Italy are set to be hit by a 24-hour general strike a week later, with the walkout expected to affect private and public rail operators between 9pm on Thursday, June 19th and 9pm on Friday, June 20th. You can find further details about these and other transport strikes in June here. First instalment of Italy's property tax The deadline for paying the first instalment of Italy's property tax, known as Imposta Municipale Unica (Single Municipal Tax, or IMU), falls on Monday, June 16th this year. prime case). IMU is owed by all owners of second homes in Italy and the June deadline marks the first instalment, with the other payment due by December 16th, 2025. Summer solstice Italy will have its longest day of the year on June 21st, with parts of the country seeing over 15 hours of daylight. Daytime on Italy's summer solstice lasts approximately six hours longer than on the shortest day of the year, December 21st (winter solstice). Income tax payment deadline The deadline for paying the first instalment of Italy's personal income tax, or Irpef, falls on Monday, June 30th this year, along with the deadline for making the first corporate ('Ires' and 'Irap') tax payments. The deadline for making the second payment falls on December 1st, 2025.
Travel Daily News
20-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Daily News
Air Canada inaugurates flights to Naples, Italy
First Air Canada service into Naples, Italy. Non-stop Montréal-Naples flights operate four days a week; Complements airline's non-stop flights to Rome, Milan, Venice. MONTRÉAL – Air Canada's newest international flight from Montréal touched down this morning in Naples, Italy, the gateway to the Amalfi coast. This flight marks the first Air Canada service to Naples and is the airline's fourth non-stop connection between Canada and Italy. 'We are thrilled to inaugurate new, non-stop service between Canada and Naples, a scenic new destination in Air Canada's global network and our fourth in the Italian market. With the beauty of the Amalfi Coast or the ruins of Pompeii not far away, this new service from our growing Transatlantic hub in Montréal will make it even easier for our customers to explore all that Naples and Southern Italy has to offer. This new route not only unites two great cities, but also further connects two great countries,' said Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer and President, Cargo. 'Having served the Italian market since 2005, Air Canada remains steadfast in our commitment to fostering tourism and connecting families and businesses across Canada and Italy. This summer, we are proud to offer even more options for our customers, with up to 39 weekly flights and over 13,000 weekly seats from Canada into Naples, Rome, Milan and Venice,' Mr. Galardo concluded. 'I am delighted to celebrate the launch of this new direct flight between Montréal and Naples – two vibrant and historic cities. This connection is more than a flight route between two destinations, it represents a gateway to deepen an already strong partnership between Canada and Italy including to further reinforce our collaborations in business, innovation, education, culture, and much more. I look forward to seeing how this bridge across the Atlantic will spark ideas, strengthen communities, and bring our peoples even closer together,' said Elissa Golberg, Canadian Ambassador to Italy. 'Air Canada's new route will further increase the already impressive number of Canadians choosing to visit Italy, providing a valuable boost to our tourism sector. It is also a timely and welcome initiative, as Naples is set to host the prestigious America's Cup sailing competition in 2027. I am confident that this exceptional event will attract many Canadian visitors, who will take full advantage of the new Air Canada connection,' said H.E. Alessandro Cattaneo, Italian Ambassador to Canada. Schedule Flight Departs Arrives Days of Week 2025 Operating dates AC882 Montréal 19:35 Naples 09:40 +1 day Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat May 16 to Oct. 24 AC883 Naples 11:35 Montréal 14:45 Wed, Thurs, Sat, Sun May 17 to Oct. 25 The flights will be operated on Air Canada's flagship aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Customers can choose from three classes of service: Economy, Premium Economy, and Air Canada Signature Class, offering customers superior comfort and convenience in an exclusive cabin, with spacious lie-flat seating, personalized service, fine cuisine, extra baggage allowance and access to priority airport services.
