Boscoreale

Boscoreale
Vuoscoriale (Neapolitan)
Municipal park
Municipal park
Coat of arms of Boscoreale
Location of Boscoreale
Map
Boscoreale is located in Italy
Boscoreale
Boscoreale
Location of Boscoreale in Italy
Boscoreale is located in Campania
Boscoreale
Boscoreale
Boscoreale (Campania)
Coordinates: 40°46′N 14°29′E / 40.767°N 14.483°E / 40.767; 14.483
CountryItaly
RegionCampania
Metropolitan cityNaples (NA)
FrazioniCangiani, Marchesa, Marra, Passanti, Pellegrini
Government
 • MayorDi Lauro Pasquale
Area
 • Total
11.28 km2 (4.36 sq mi)
Elevation
65 m (213 ft)
Population
 (30 September 2015)[2]
 • Total
28,066
 • Density2,500/km2 (6,400/sq mi)
DemonymBoschesi
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
80041
Dialing code081
Saint day16 July
WebsiteOfficial website

Boscoreale (Italian: [ˌbɔskoreˈaːle];[3] Neapolitan: Vuoscoriale; "Royal Grove") is an Italian comune (municipality) and town in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, with a population of 27,457 in 2011.[2] Located in the Vesuvius National Park, under the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, it is known for the fruit and vineyards of Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio. There is also a fine Vesuvian lava stone production.

History

[edit]
Female bust from the 1st Century Boscoreale Treasure on display in the British Museum.[4]

The neighbourhood of Monte Bursaccio which was overcome by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD that obliterated and preserved its better-known neighbours, Pompeii and Herculaneum, is famous for the frescoes of its aristocratic villas, excavated before World War I. A hoard of Roman silver and coins that had been hurriedly stashed in a cistern for protection at the time of the eruption was also recovered in Boscoreale in 1895, and divided among several museums, including the Louvre and the British Museum.

Boscoreale, about a kilometre north of Pompeii of which it was an expansive, more rural outlying suburb, was notable in antiquity for having numerous aristocratic country villas and was preserved as a hunting park – hence its name, meaning "Royal Grove" – by the kings of Naples.

The villa of P. Fannius Synistor (see Villa Boscoreale) was built and decorated shortly after mid-first century BC. The quality of its frescoes seems to have preserved them from changes in fashion, before the villa was entombed in the eruption.

The Antiquarium of Boscoreale was founded in 1991 by the Soprintendenza archeologica di Pompei thanks to the finds from Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, Stabiae, Terzigno, and Boscoreale and to a didactic apparatus.

The neighbouring Boscotrecase yielded some elite works of art to excavators at the same time, in particular at the Villa of Agrippa Postumus, also known as the Imperial Villa or the Villa of Augusta.

Geography

[edit]

The municipality is part of Naples metropolitan area, and borders with Boscotrecase, Poggiomarino, Pompei, Scafati (SA), Terzigno, and Torre Annunziata. It counts the hamlets (frazioni) of Cangiani, Marchesa, Marra, Passanti, and Pellegrini.

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b (in Italian) Source: Istat 2011
  3. ^ Luciano Canepari. "Boscoreale". DiPI Online (in Italian). Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  4. ^ British Museum Collection

Sources

[edit]
  • Baratte, François (1986). Le Trésor d'orfèvrerie romaine de Boscoreale. Paris: Musée de Louvre. ISBN 2-7118-2048-3.
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