Naples: The History (2008)

The history of Naples unfolds as a mystery; What is a "caldera? Who knows today that Naples is built above one of the super-volcanoes which have devastated our land over the past 50,000 years? And is it known that sirens had wings until the year 1000? Are people aware of the fact that Greek was the spoken language of Naples? How were the ancient Greek towns organized? What were the "fratrie" (brotherhood), associations so amazingly similar in structure and organization to the modern day associations of "camorra"? What do the ancient Gods and the patron saint of Naples have in common? How does it come that today, in 2008, the inhabitants of the "bassi" (a type of home, ground or low level, very popular in Naples) use the same trick used during Medieval times to keep rats and water out of their houses? These and many other questions will be addressed and answered during the documentary. This history of Naples will reveal how it was 2600 years ago, you will discover what the Romans built, what changed during the Byzantine Empire, as well as during the Norman, Angevin, Aragonese, ViceReale rule and so on. All these will supported by European and Italian historical graphics table during the different ages. Time after time, Naples, mirror of the fickleness and illusion, where nothing is solid and unchangeable, where the architectures are laid one on the top of the other, will once again be re shaped take up new meanings.