J - 105 : Mount Vesuvius - Mandatory Stop on the "Grand Tour"

From left to right: Monte Nuovo, Pozzuoli, Miseno (the Roman Naval Base), the Island of Procida and Monte Vesuvio by Peter Fabris, 1776 - 1779

In the 18th and 19th century, at the end of their formal education, many young English men embarked on a "Grand Tour" to Greece, to see first hand the country which gave birth to the classical humanities. It was a rite of passage before these youngsters embarked on their professional careers in business, the forces or the Church of England. First on the list was always Paris (I have a suspicion that they did not go there to speak classic Greek), followed by Rome, Naples and finally Athens. The really adventurous continued to Constantinople or even the Holy Land. but these were few.

Climbing Party on the Monte Vesuvio - Look at the Person in the Sedan! Same Painter, 1776

What brought them to Naples? The same thing that attracted them to Paris! Naples was a well known hot spot for carnal sins always attracting young men. But they also came for the smelly, sulphurous fumes of the Campi Flegrei, the glowing lava on Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii, the town buried by the volcano in 79 AD. Who could return home without telling stories of having looked"at the entrance of the underworld" or the "doors to hell"?

Visiting Party with Ladies and Soldiers watching Vesuvius' Lava Field, Peter Fabris 1777

The local Neapolitans loved this flock of wealthy young people and made a business from guiding them to the top. The vulcano towers 1'281 meters above sea level. It took about 4 - 5 hours for climbing the 12 kilometres from the bottom. Today, it is easier. There are two car parks - one to the north and one to the south. You can get up there by coach from Naples or Pompeii. The walk from the bus park to the cone takes about 30 to 40 minutes depending of how many photos you take. It is only 1.7 km walking distance.

The Walking Trail up Mount Vesuvius is easy and accessible to everybody

There were no coaches in the 18th and 19th century though. Never mind. There were donkeys and improvised sedans. Contemporary books about Monte Vesuvius are full of funny drawings of these adventurous early tourists. Climbing up the mountain was actually more dangerous than the volcano itself. Known for violent eruptions, they are actually rare.

Riding on a Donkey up Mount Vesuvius brought its own Challenges

The best known is of course the eruption of 79 AD which destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii. The next one was in 1631. Considerably smaller, it still killed several thousand people in the villages nearby. Then there was an eruption in 1906 which ejected a huge pile of ash and altered the shape of the cone. Luckily there were few casualties. The last eruption took place in 1944 during the Second World War. Ten thousand people were displaced. The heavy ash damaged dozen of allied fighter planes and bombers on the airfields nearby. But there was no further harm. Since then the volcano is dormant.

There is a Walkway around the Cone - the View on Naples and the Bay is spectacular

We won't be able to fit a visit to the volcano into our sailing schedule but we shall stay two or three days longer in Naples to climb it. Whilst the earth rumbles a bit more frequently today than in the past, there are no signs of eruptions. We are good to go.

Already 200 Years ago, getting down was more difficult

than getting up