Le dimore storiche sul mare. Storia e natura: un'area di studio

A two thousand year interaction between man and environment made Posillipo hill unique with regard to archeology, nature and architecture. The aim of this paper is to describe this site evolution through three villas (Rosebery, Lauro and Palazzo Donn'Anna) considering their architectures and relationships with space. Posillipo hill, divides the gulf of Naples from the gulf of Pozzuoli, it is the southern remnant of one of the craters of Campi Flegrei, a volcanic system spanning from 39,000 to 15,000 years b.p.. Surface rock is yellow Neapolitan tuff, highly subject to marine erosion, which makes the coast jagged and evocative. This material, along with the caves left by mining it, has always been exploited in buildings. Greeks and Romans presence has been ascertained. During Spanish viceroyalty there was new interest in the site; at this time Palazzo Donn'Anna was built, followed by other luxury villas such as Villa Rocca Matilde (also called Villa Lauro) and Villa Rosebery, official residence of the President of the Italian Republic after the war. Posillipo was bombed during the war and afterwards more intensively constructed. It is still now one of the most fashionable areas in Naples.