Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WAR & PEACE
A poorer shadow of its former self, postunification Naples suffered two major blows: mass
emigration and a cholera outbreak in 1884. In response to the cholera epidemic, a citywide
clean-up was launched. The worst slums near the port were razed, Corso Umberto I was
bulldozed through the city centre, and a sparkling new residential quarter appeared on the
Vomero.
The fascists continued the building spree: an airport was built in 1936, railway and metro
lines were laid, and the Vomero funicular opened for business. No sooner had many of
these projects been completed than the strategic port city was hit by the full force of WWII.
Savage aerial bombing by the Allies left over 20,000 people dead and much of the city in
tatters.
Although the Nazis took Naples in 1943, they were quickly forced out by a series of
popular uprisings between 26 and 30 September, famously known as the Quattro Giornate
di Napoli (Four Days of Naples). Led by locals, especially by young
scugnizzi
(Neapolitan
for 'street urchins') and ex-soldiers, the street battles paved the way for the Allied 'liberat-
ors' to enter the city on 1 October.
Despite setting up a provisional government in Naples, the Allies were confronted with
an anarchic mass of troops, German prisoners of war and bands of Italian fascists all com-
peting with the city's starving population for food. Then in 1944, to make matters worse,
Mt Vesuvius erupted.
Overwhelmed, the Allied authorities turned to the underworld for assistance. As long as
the Allies agreed to turn a blind eye towards their black-market activities, the Mafia was
willing to help. And so the dreaded Camorra (
Click here
)
began to flourish.
Rocked by Quake & Scandals
The opportunistic Camorra made the most of the devastating earthquake that hit the region
in 1980, siphoning off billions of lire poured into the devastated region. Striking on 23
November 1980, the 6.83 Richter scale quake left over 2700 dead and thousands more
homeless.
In the decade that followed,
abusivismo
(illegal construction) flourished, profiteering
mobsters partied publicly with the city's football icon of Argentine Diego Armando
Maradona, and public services virtually ceased to exist. The situation was not unique to
Naples - corruption and cronyism were rife across Italy.
