Greek's tower - Torre del Greco

Greek's tower is a city of Campania.

To know

Geographical notes

Torre del Greco is located in the immediate vicinity of the Vesuvius national park, between Vesuvius and the gulf of Naples.

The ancient toponym of Torre del Greco was Turris Octava, in reference to a tower erected by Frederick II of Swabia for the sighting of enemies, especially the Saracens: it could refer to the fact that it was the eighth tower starting from Naples or at a distance of eight miles from the city. According to another hypothesis, the toponym recalls a villa owned by Ottaviano Augusto. The first attestation of the current toponym dates back to 1324 in a diploma from Carlo, Duke of Calabria.

Currently the population is spread over two centers: Torre del Greco and the hamlet of Santa Maria la Bruna, which also includes the Leopardi district, so named in honor of the poet who lived there in the last period of his life, and the Palazzone district.

Background

In Roman times Torre del Greco was probably a residential suburb of Herculaneum: in the area numerous villas had arisen which were then buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 BC.

Later the villages of Alone is Calistum (Calastro), which together will give life to Turris Octava. Torre del Greco was first under the Angevin and then Aragonese dominion. King Alfonso V ceded possession to the Carafa family, from which the Torresi emancipated in 1699.The city became a municipality under the domination of Giuseppe Bonaparte.

Even during the modern age the history of this area was marked by the activity of Vesuvius: in 1631 an eruption led to the formation of the cliffs of the Scala and in 1707 an abundant fall of pyroclasts caused extensive damage and numerous injuries. The eruption of 1794 buried the historic center under more than 10 meters of lava. The clock of the bell tower of Santa Croce still marks 3 o'clock in the morning, when it was overwhelmed by the lava.

How to orient yourself

How to get

On the train

Torre del Greco has two railway stations: the downtown area and the port are served by the RFI station, located along the Naples-Salerno line carried out by Trenitalia; the innermost areas benefit from the EAV station, along the railway line Naples-Pumps-Poggiomarino. The municipality has 7 Circumvesuviana railway stations; from Naples Garibaldi to Torre Annunziata Oplonti meet Torre del Greco; Via Sant'Antonio; Via del Monte; Via dei Monaci; Villa of the Brooms; Leopards; Via Viuli-Palace of Justice.

How to get around

What see

• House of San Vincenzo Romano, Via Piscopia, 19 (On the first floor of an ancient building located in the heart of the historic center of Torre del Greco). Historic building of Torre del Greco linked to the Romano family and in particular to Vincenzo Romano, parish priest for 33 years of the Torrese parish of Santa Croce, from 1799 to 1831, who was born, lived and died there in the concept of holiness. The house, preserved in its original furniture, is located on the first floor of an eighteenth-century building among the few that survived the destruction of the city during the eruption of 1794. Since the death of the Torrese parish priest, the house, especially the room where he died, it became an object of devotion, pilgrimage and prayer by the faithful.

In the house, on the first floor of the building, by Nicola Romano and Grazia Rivieccio, Vincenzo Romano was born on June 3, 1751, who always lived in the historic building until his death in 1831. Adjacent to the building is the Succorpo Piscopia, a suggestive alley that crosses the belly of the city, used by Vincenzo Romano to reach the parish church of Santa Croce more quickly, seat of his ministry for 33 years. In his home Vincenzo Romano carried out part of his ministry by dedicating himself, in addition to prayer, to study and teaching. The last months of his life, unable to reach the parish of Santa Croce, the house in via Piscopia represented the center of his pastoral; from his home he gave directions to his nephew Felice for the care of souls, received visitors, penitents, devotees and parishioners. After several changes of ownership, since 2014, by testamentary bequest, the entire building has come to the Basilica of Santa Croce, becoming, even more, a center of spirituality in the heart of the city in the footsteps of Vincenzo Romano canonized on 14 October 2018.

The building is spread over two floors with an atrium and a small internal garden. The façade, with its eighteenth-century lines, is characterized by simple moldings that decorate windows and balconies. At the height of the first floor you can see the plaque, placed by the municipality, which commemorates the illustrious tenant of the house. The atrium is decorated with some recently made terracotta bas-reliefs representing scenes from the life of Vincenzo Romano. In the small garden, which still preserves the original water cistern, the bronze bust of Vincenzo Romano made by the Torrese sculptor Giggiano Borriello in 1982 is visible.

On the first floor there is the room inhabited by Vincenzo and Felice Romano perfectly preserved in its original furniture dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Various objects of everyday life are visible: bed, dresser, kneeler and a small desk, various furnishings, some sacred vestments and clothes of Don Vincenzo, paintings and sacred images. The house also preserves the entire private library of Vincenzo Romano.

On their return from long fishing campaigns, Torresi fishermen, especially between the 18th and 19th centuries, used to thank the virgin and the local patrons by making a gift, at the city churches, of small votive pictures on which the dangers overcome were painted during navigation. , thanks to the presumed intervention of the invoked saints. Here there is a small collection of ex-votos offered to the holy parish priest. The collection consists of twenty-three tablets where the parish priest of Torre del Greco is invoked, together with other saints, in the most varied situations, almost all related to the difficulties faced and overcome by sailors and coral fishermen of Torre del Greco. 

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• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Greek's tower
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