Posillipo

Posillipo is a residential quarter of Naples, southern Italy, located along the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples; it is called Pusilleco in the Neapolitan language.

From the 1st century BC the Bay of Naples witnessed the rise of villas constructed by elite Romans along the most panoramic points of the coast, who had chosen the area as a favourite vacation spot. The remains of some of these can be seen today in the archaeological park and elsewwhere.

The houses at water's edge all have at least small piers or landings, and there are even a few small coves with breakwaters along the way. These small harbors are the nuclei for separate, named communities such as Gaiola and Marechiaro, with the characteristic "Large rock".

The French Homeric scholar Victor Bérard identified Posillipo as the land of Homer's Cyclopes. It is mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman sources and the Greeks first named this rocky, wooded height at the western end of the Bay of Naples Pausílypon, meaning "respite from worry".

In the 17th century the property of the site of the imperial villa passed to the family Maza who, for several generations, showed an interest in archaeology and Francesco Maria Maza [circ. 1680) was the author of inscriptions which he affixed to the so-called 'Piscine of V.Pollio' and to the 'Temple of Fortune' which were in situ in 1913. However the Maza collection was dispersed and the loss to archaeological science was irreparable as a catalogue had never been prepared. Several objects of art from Posillipan sites found their way into the hands of Spanish collectors, and are still no doubt among the Roman antiquities in Spain. Many fine pieces were taken to Mergellina and lost among the other ornaments of the villa of the Duke of Medina.

In 1820 the southern portion of the property was purchased by a well-known Neapolitan archaeologist, Cavaliere Guglielmo Bechi, and his name was associated with the Villa for more than half a century. He did much excavation, but again without publication of results.

In 1841 more methodical excavations were begun on the adjoining property to the west of the ancient lane that led down the valley from the Seiano cave to the sea. The principal buildings of that part of the Villa were soon brought to light; the Theatre, an Odeon, and the remains of a Portico overlooking the sea. An oblong building called the Temple was also found and the remains of an aqueduct.

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