DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67375#0256
206 NAPLES AND ITS ENVIRONS.
impressions of the grandeur and loveliness of nature, of
blue sea and sky, of snowy peak and purple haze, can
scarcely inspire one with sufficient equanimity to take him
patiently through the yelling rabble which welcomes the
stranger to this city, the entrance to which suggests the
thought that to “ see Naples ” is to “ die ” of indignation
and disgust.
But if you can possess your soul in patience, you will
soon reflect that, together with its natural beauty, the
people of Naples — the street-life of Naples, in fact — make
its chief interest. Modern Naples is not distinguished by
many splendid edifices, and few remaining monuments
recall the part the older Naples played in mediaeval history ;
but, as a great hive of a peculiar race, it has an engrossing
interest for one who feels that “ the proper study of man-
kind is man.” There is no reserve about Naples ; its char-
acteristics are apparent from the hour one enters it, and
“ the tide, the bustle, the activity, thronging the streets
as’t were a festive day,” ever stands boldly in relief and
makes its impression, however often one may visit it.
Naples is semi-Oriental, as would naturally result from
the mingling of races which has gone to make up the
present Neapolitan. The Marsii, Samnites, Lucanians,
Arabians, Greeks, and other peoples of antiquity, who long
ago dwelt here, were not extinguished by Roman conquest
nor by the dynasties of the Middle Ages. The descendants
of these ancient races mingled their blood with that of
Normans, Suabians, Provencals, and Spaniards, and many
Neapolitan customs may easily be traced to an Eastern
origin. But the dignified seriousness of the true Oriental
and the proud reserve of the Spaniard have here taken on
an elasticity and brightness that is not seen in more East-
ern cities, and certainly not in those of the North and
West. Perhaps it may be said that Naples has no distinct
nationality; it undoubtedly is a rendezvous for all nations,
impressions of the grandeur and loveliness of nature, of
blue sea and sky, of snowy peak and purple haze, can
scarcely inspire one with sufficient equanimity to take him
patiently through the yelling rabble which welcomes the
stranger to this city, the entrance to which suggests the
thought that to “ see Naples ” is to “ die ” of indignation
and disgust.
But if you can possess your soul in patience, you will
soon reflect that, together with its natural beauty, the
people of Naples — the street-life of Naples, in fact — make
its chief interest. Modern Naples is not distinguished by
many splendid edifices, and few remaining monuments
recall the part the older Naples played in mediaeval history ;
but, as a great hive of a peculiar race, it has an engrossing
interest for one who feels that “ the proper study of man-
kind is man.” There is no reserve about Naples ; its char-
acteristics are apparent from the hour one enters it, and
“ the tide, the bustle, the activity, thronging the streets
as’t were a festive day,” ever stands boldly in relief and
makes its impression, however often one may visit it.
Naples is semi-Oriental, as would naturally result from
the mingling of races which has gone to make up the
present Neapolitan. The Marsii, Samnites, Lucanians,
Arabians, Greeks, and other peoples of antiquity, who long
ago dwelt here, were not extinguished by Roman conquest
nor by the dynasties of the Middle Ages. The descendants
of these ancient races mingled their blood with that of
Normans, Suabians, Provencals, and Spaniards, and many
Neapolitan customs may easily be traced to an Eastern
origin. But the dignified seriousness of the true Oriental
and the proud reserve of the Spaniard have here taken on
an elasticity and brightness that is not seen in more East-
ern cities, and certainly not in those of the North and
West. Perhaps it may be said that Naples has no distinct
nationality; it undoubtedly is a rendezvous for all nations,