2941 years ago came Napoli: the true story of its foundation
The origins of Naples, one of the oldest cities of the West, is surrounded by picturesque veil of myth and legend. In fact, the Neapolitans are often also called “Neapolitan” evoking the legend of the mermaid Partenope, rejected by Ulysses, he abandoned the rock of the sirens and reached the islet of Megaride, which houses the current fishing village of Castel dell’Ovo, where in fact, he developed the first Neapolitan civilization up to the Monte Echia, now known as the hill of Pizzofalcone.
Abandoned the glamor of myth, few know that December 21 is officially considered the birthday of the city of Naples.
Partenope was the name of a settlement of some Cumanians settlers, so that scholars do not even consider it a real city. At the time, the city of Cuma had control of the entire Gulf of Naples and much of the coast of Lazio and this explains the presence of a cluster of houses and business in a very strategic point for the business of the Cumans.
The power of Cuma, however, was unstable and threatened by other peoples that pointed to the control of Campania and in particular, against the Etruscans broke a violent war. The Cumans, to increase their supervision, they decided to transform the colony Partenope in a real city, which was named “Neapolis”, from the greek “New City”, so called to distinguish it from the old nucleus called Palepolis, ” ancient City “, which was originally settled what is now the historic center of Naples.
All this, according to historians would have happened back in 475 BC, December 21. Obviously it is a symbolic date, there are no reliable sources that confirm the actual date. Why then, it was chosen on December 21? The ancients tended to lay the foundation stone of a city or a structure that is particularly symbolic to coincide with important astral phenomena, and in this day falls on the winter solstice, the time when the sun reaches the lowest point in his ecliptic: in words poor, it is the shortest day of the year.
The Cumans, of Greek origin, knew very well the movements of the stars, so with high probability would have to match the founding of the city with the solstice. Thus, on December 21 of 2491 years ago came Napoli.
C.G.
