Licola | |
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Coordinates: 40°52′12.1″N14°3′37.7″E / 40.870028°N 14.060472°E | |
Country | Italy |
Region | Campania |
Province | Naples (NA) |
Comune | Pozzuoli Giugliano in Campania |
Elevation | 9 m (30 ft) |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 5,000 |
Demonym | Licolensi |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Postal code | 80078, 80014 |
Dialing code | (+39) 081 |
Patron saint | St. Procolo, St. Iulianus, Madonna della Pace |
Saint day | 16 November, 27 January |
Licola is a land in the province of Naples which takes its name from Lago dei Follicoli, a lake which formerly occupied most of the area. The current population of Licola ranges between 4000 and 5000.[ citation needed ] Licola is a strip of land facing the sea, and is roughly three kilometers by ten kilometers in size. It begins at the foot of Mount Cuma and ends in Marina di Varcaturo.
The Licola area is divided between two municipalities. In particular, the southern part is divided between the villages Licola Center (also known as Licola Village) and Licola Lido (also known as Lido di Licola) of the municipality (or comune ) of Pozzuoli, bordering the Arco Felice section of the municipality. The northern part, Licola Mare, is part of the hamlet of Varcaturo, which is a section of the municipality of Giugliano, part of the constituency of Licola-Lago Patria. The town revolves around Piazza San Massimo, which is the oldest square in the town.
The town of Licola, together with the neighboring towns of Lago Patria and Varcaturo, comprise the territory formerly inhabited by the Osci in the 5th to 4th century BC. The Osci founded many cities in Campania, including Liternum, the remains of which are located just north of Licola. This town experienced a remarkable development, especially during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire.
The first reference to Liternum dates from Roman times: the historian Livy wrote that in 194 BC thirty Roman families set up a colony there. Later many additional colonies were added and in the 2nd century Liternum was already among the most prosperous prefectures of the "fertile countryside" of Campania (Latin: Campania felix). The archaeological remains of the forum, temple, church and theater of Liternum are preserved from this period.
Liternum was also one of the four oldest cities in Campania in which Christianity was introduced and widely practiced, in the 1st and 2nd century AD.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the ONC (Opera Nazionale Combattenti, ‘National Soldiers Works’, a welfare agency formed aftermath of the disastrous Italian defeat at the Battle of Caporetto) directed a large agricultural business in Licola. With the start of World War II, this business ceased activity and was subsequently dismantled.
In the 1960s and 1970s Licola emerged as a significant tourist attraction. After the Irpinia earthquake in 1980 and the bradyseism of 1982, however, many displaced people sought shelter in Licola and its tourist industry went into a period of decline. A strong revival in tourism occurred subsequently in the 1990s.
Numerous quarries for the extraction of sand were opened in the 1970s and 1980s. These have now all been closed owing to environmental and archeological regulations imposed by the Cultural and Environment Heritage Ministry and the Archeological Heritage Ministry.
Licola is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered to the north by Varcaturo and Lago Patria, hamlets within Giugliano, to the east by Monterusciello and Monte Grillo, and to the south by the town of Bacoli, while to the west lies the Tyrrhenian Sea. The morphological and geological aspects of Licola are substantially the same as those of Cuma which it borders. The coast has an unusually straight contour in its north-south extension due to the erosion of the walls of tuff spread all throughout zone.
The dunes of Licola can be separated into two distinct zones: a first, outer layer subject to marine erosion, and a second strip that is stabilized by vegetation. Local vegetation consists of halophilic plants on the coast, while the interior is characterized by Mediterranean scrub. There is increasing interest in these natural habitats, as it is believed that some of the local flora are native only to this area.[ citation needed ]
Further inland, the environment supports a system of dense vegetation, made up of oak forest on a dry, sandy soil, which was repeatedly cited by Roman authors for the pleasant atmosphere it produces.[ citation needed ] There was once a lake (Lake Licola) in this interior region, before the land was reclaimed. The reclaimed land is now used for agriculture, typically vineyards and orchards, due to the high fertility of the soil.
Licola is subject to the typical Mediterranean climate with hot summers, dry winters, and temperate rainy periods in autumn and spring. Over 75% of the days in an average year are sunny, and its climatic classification refers to the town of Pozzuoli as class "C". The Professional Institute of State for Agriculture and the Environment (IPAA) has established an advanced station for weather data collection that monitors the climate of Licola with extreme precision. The accompanying table shows the figures for 2006:
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual |
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Average maximum (°C) | 12.1 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 17 | 23 | 25.6 | 29.7 | 28 | 25.6 | 23.6 | 18.3 | 15.5 | 20.7 |
Average minimum (°C) | 4.3 | 5.2 | 7.6 | 10 | 13.4 | 15.5 | 19.8 | 19.3 | 16.6 | 13.8 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 11.8 |
Rain (mm) | 72.6 | 56.4 | 88.6 | 37.8 | 17.8 | 65.8 | 35.8 | 54.6 | 163.6 | 21.1 | 47.5 | 58.4 | 720.3 |
Source: Istituto Professionale di Stato per l’Agricoltura e l’Ambiente “Filippo Silvestri |
The territory of Licola preserves not only an invaluable archaeological heritage but also popular and religious traditions and a significant commercial, cultural and tourist function.
According to the latest archaeological findings, which emerged during excavations carried out by the Archeological Heritage Authority, it is thought that the territory of Licola covers an old Roman road, the Domitian Way, and the remains of an amphitheater of the same period whose precise location has yet to be discovered.
The important archeological site of the town of Liternum (containing the tomb of Scipio Africanus) is located about one kilometer north of Licola, in Lago Patria (where a lake of the same name is located which has the unusual characteristic of being heart-shaped). It was there that Scipio chose to remain in voluntary exile from Rome and where he founded a Roman colony along with his most trusted legionaries and their families.
To the south, Cumae preserves an invaluable acropolis as well as the Cave of the Sibyl, famous for the prophesies uttered there by the Cumaean Sibyl, while slightly further south lies the magnificent Arco Felice Vecchio.
Licola now contains the Regional Park of the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei), which preserves the dunes and habitat specific to the area and has been declared a Site of Importance to the Community and a Special Protection Zone owing to the rarity of the species living there, such as the sea daffodil. North Licola is in the Natural Reserve of "Foce Volturno - Costa di Licola".
Along with the remains of the Cumaean Acropolis, the Regional Park of the Phlegraen Fields also contains an area of rare Mediterranean evergreen forest, known to the ancients as the Silva Gallinaria.
Numerous species of both migrating and non-migrating birds—many endangered—take refuge in the marshes and green areas of Licola. Most notably, the heron has returned to the area, while on the beaches there have been sightings of loggerhead sea turtles.
The seabed along the Licola-Cumae beach, between the island of Ischia and Ventotene, contains a submarine canyon, the Canyon of Cumae, which provides a home for cetaceans such as dolphins and rorquals.
The economy of Licola is based substantially on agriculture and tourism. In the region, there are highly developed orchards and vineyards, which thanks to the fertility of the soil provide good quality crops. Of special note, this area is home to the falanghina vineyards Campi Flegrei and pedirosso Campi Flegrei. The services sector is based primarily on tourism, showing a remarkable development of seaside resorts and hotel facilities. Campsites and hotels provide about 2,500 beds. In addition, the area is home to many tourist attractions, restaurants, swimming pools, water parks, discos and resorts. These attract a considerable flow of people from the entire provinces of Naples and Caserta, with peak seasons being spring and summer.
The main routes into Licola are rail and road transport. The first is the Circumflegrea railway, a suburban railway linking the coast of Licola – Cuma with the center of Naples; it is considered the first underground railway to be built in Italy. Construction of the line, which started in 1948, proceeded very slowly, and the railway dd not reach Marina di Licola until 1968. [1] The railway is run by EAV. Another company that manages the urban transport by bus is the CTP.
Avernus was an ancient name for a volcanic crater near Cumae (Cuma), Italy, in the region of Campania west of Naples. Part of the Phlegraean Fields of volcanoes, Avernus is approximately 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) in circumference. Within the crater is Lake Avernus.
Cumae was the first ancient Greek colony of Magna Graecia on the mainland of Italy and was founded by settlers from Euboea in the 8th century BCE. It became a rich Roman city, the remains of which lie near the modern village of Cuma, a frazione of the comune Bacoli and Pozzuoli in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, Italy.
Bradyseism is the gradual uplift or descent of part of the Earth's surface caused by the filling or emptying of an underground magma chamber or hydrothermal activity, particularly in volcanic calderas. It can persist for millennia in between eruptions and each uplift event is normally accompanied by thousands of small to moderate earthquakes. The word derives from the ancient Greek words βραδύςbradús, meaning "slow", and σεισμόςseismós meaning "movement", and was coined by Arturo Issel in 1883.
Solfatara is a shallow volcanic crater at Pozzuoli, near Naples, part of the Phlegraean Fields volcanic area. It is a dormant volcano, which still emits jets of steam with sulfurous fumes. The name comes from the Latin, Sulpha terra, "land of sulfur", or "sulfur earth". It was formed around 4000 years ago and last erupted in 1198 with what was probably a phreatic eruption – an explosive steam-driven eruption caused when groundwater interacts with magma. The crater floor was a popular tourist attraction until 2017, as it has many fumaroles and mud pools. The area is well known for its bradyseism. The vapours had been used for medical purposes since Roman times.
Pozzuoli is a city and comune (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula.
The Phlegraean Fields is a large caldera volcano west of Naples, Italy. It is part of the Campanian volcanic arc, which includes Mount Vesuvius, about 9 km east of Naples. The Phlegraean Fields is monitored by the Vesuvius Observatory. It was declared a regional park in 2003.
Liternum was an ancient town of Campania, southern central Italy, near "Patria lake", on the low sandy coast between Cumae and the mouth of the Volturnus. It was probably once dependent on Cumae. In 194 BC it became a Roman colony. Although Livy records that the town was unsuccessful, excavation reveals a Roman town existed there until the 4th century AD.
Lake Avernus is a volcanic crater lake located in the Avernus crater in the Campania region of southern Italy, around 4 kilometres west of Pozzuoli. It is near the volcanic field known as the Phlegraean Fields and comprises part of the wider Campanian volcanic arc. The lake is roughly circular, measuring two kilometres in circumference and 60 metres (200 ft) deep.
The history of Naples is long and varied, dating to Greek settlements established in the Naples area in the 2nd millennium BC. During the end of the Greek Dark Ages a larger mainland colony – initially known as Parthenope – developed on the Pizzofalcone hill in the 8th century BC, and was refounded as Neapolis in the 6th century BC: it held an important role in Magna Graecia. The Greek culture of Naples was important to later Roman society. When the city became part of the Roman Republic in the central province of the Empire, it was a major cultural centre.
Giugliano in Campania, also known simply as Giugliano, is a city and comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, Italy. A suburb of Naples, as of 2017, it had some 124,000 inhabitants, making it the most populated Italian city that is not a provincial capital.
Parete is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about 15 kilometres (9 mi) northwest of Naples and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Caserta. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 10,597 and an area of 5.7 square kilometres (2.2 sq mi).
Line 4, mostly known as the Cumana railway is a commuter rail service in Campania, southern Italy, connecting Naples by two separate routes with Torregaveta, near Cuma in the town of Bacoli. It passes through Pozzuoli and the volcanic Campi Flegrei area.
Running beneath the Italian city of Naples and the surrounding area is an underground geothermal zone and several tunnels dug during the ages. This geothermal area is present generally from Mount Vesuvius beneath a wide area including Pompei, Herculaneum, and from the volcanic area of Campi Flegrei beneath Naples and over to Pozzuoli and the coastal Baia area. Mining and various infrastructure projects during several millennia have formed extensive caves and underground structures in the zone.
The Piscina Mirabilis is an Ancient Roman cistern on the Bacoli hill at the western end of the Gulf of Naples, southern Italy. It ranks as one of the largest ancient cisterns built by the ancient Romans, compared to the largest Roman reservoir, the Yerebatan Sarayi in Istanbul.
The Flavian Amphitheater, located in Pozzuoli, is the third-largest Roman amphitheater in Italy. Only the Roman Colosseum and the Amphitheatre of Capua are larger. It was likely built by the same architects who previously constructed the Roman Colosseum. The name "Flavian Amphitheater" is primarily associated with the Roman Colosseum.
The Villa Literno–Napoli Gianturco railway is a 16 km-long double track line which connects the line to Rome via Formia with the line to Salerno near Napoli Gianturco station through Naples and its north-western suburbs. This line is used by the metropolitan trains named as line 2.
The Macellum of Pozzuoli was the macellum or market building of the Roman colony of Puteoli, now the city of Pozzuoli in southern Italy. When first excavated in the 18th century, the discovery of a statue of Serapis led to the building being misidentified as the city's serapeum or Temple of Serapis.
Naples Metropolitan Railway service are two independent companies that operate a commuter rail system in Naples. The first one, Trenitalia, operates line 2 from Pozzuoli Solfatara to Gianturco station in East of Naples. The other one, EAV, operates the Circumvesuviana, Cumana and Circumflegrea. In Italy, Naples is the only city possessing two independent metropolitan railway service companies.
Lake Patria or Lago Patria is the largest coastal lake in Campania, with an area of 2 km2. It is located in the municipality of Giugliano in Campania, in the frazione called precisely Lago Patria, and partly in the municipality of Castel Volturno, in the province of Caserta. It has a characteristic heart shape. It is the southernmost of the Pontine lakes.
The Phlegraean Fields red zone is the area at greatest volcanic risk in the Phlegraean Fields, in Italy.
Media related to Licola at Wikimedia Commons