ROME AND POMPEII 2025: MISCELLANEOUS
Meals are served in either a trattoria or a ristorante. Traditionally, a trattoria is a cheaper and more basic purveyor of home-style cooking.
Traditionally lunch (pranzo) and dinner (cena) start with the antipasto (literally "before the meal"), a course consisting of various cold cuts of meat, seafood, and cold vegetable dishes. The next course, the primo, consists of a soup, risotto or pasta dish, and is followed by the second -- the meat or fish course, usually served alone.
Coffee is almost always espresso or just caffe. An espresso with a drop of hot milk is caffe macchiato.
A small beer is a piccola; a larger one is a media. If you want an Italian beer, either state the brand name or ask for birra nazionale.
Most shops and businesses are open Monday to Satuday from 9 am to 1 pm and then from 4 pm until 7 or 8 pm.
Most museums and galleries are closed on Mondays.
Most major churches are open from 7 or 8 am until Noon or 1 pm and then again from 4 pm to 6 or 7 pm.
Stamps (francobolli) are solid in tabacchi.
In case you incur medical costs during your stay, make sure you have an "Elll" form, available from Social Security centers.
The seismic phenomenon known as bradyseism caused land levels to fall and ports and villas to be submerged, with the result that the trading counters were gradually transferred to Ostia, which became the main Roman port.
The founding legend of Naples: The siren Parthenope, having failed to seduce Odysseus, was washed up on the shore, where a city was founded in her name.
From the third century BCE, Campania formed part of the Roman Empire.
The Naples Plague of 1656 -- Out of 350,000 inhabitants of Naples, 70% died.
The greatest age of Neapolitan art and architecture was during the 17th and 18th centuries. The most prolific painter of the era was unquestionably Luca Giordano (1632-1705).
Charles of Bourbon's arrival in 1734 led to a series of urban and region schemes being launched.
Joachim Murat (1808-16)
Maggio dei Monumenti: Buildings and monuments throughout Naples that are usually kept closed open their doors for exhibitions, concerts and readings, or just for visits on weekends in May.
In 62 CE, a violent earthquake shook the region of Vesuvius, causing serious damage to the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii.
Violent eruptions occurred in 203 CE, 472, 512, 685, 787, 968, and 1037. There was a great eruption of 1631. Between 1766 and 1794, nine major eruptions destroyed many villages.
Battle Of The Amphitheater: The famous "battle" that took place in the Amphitheater between the inhabitants of Nuceria and Pompeii during the games of 59 CE is recorded on a fresco. Following the incident, the games were suspended for ten years.
Herculaneum -- "The Relief Of Telephus" -- Discovered in one of the rooms overlooking the sea. It recounts the myth of Telephus, King of Mysia, the son of Heracles and Auge. Telephus was wounded by Achilles, but was healed by the rust on his opponent's spear.
The real heart of Rome is the Centro Storico or "historic centre." In the days of Ancient Rome this was the Campus Martius ("The Field of Mars").
Rome's four patriarchal basilicas are St. Peter's, San Giovanni in Laterno, San Paolo fuori le Mura, and Santa Maria Maggiore. Each has a Holy Door that is only opened by the Pope every 25 years. The three other so-called "pilgrimage" churches include San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, and the Santuario Madonna del Divino Amore.