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the geographical setting and natural features of Campania - Coggle Diagram
the geographical setting and natural features of Campania
located in Campania - a volcanic plain that stretches from the Volturno River in the North to the Sorrentine Penninsula and the Sarno River (Ancient Samus) in the South
the plain was divided by Mt Vesuvius into two regions - the northern region by the Volturno River and the southern region by the Sarno River.
Pompeii
at a crossroads from the North to South and to the east (fertile agricultural inland)
built on a volcanic spur, 25-40 meters above sea level - overlooking the Sarno River
Seaside town
10km South of Vesuvius
Herculaneum
built on a steeply sloping spur (cliff-face that goes down) - bounded by both sides with deep ravines
Views and moderating maritime influence made it an ideal resort town.
holiday town for the patrician class
7km west of Vesuvius
Other cities or geographical features within the area.
Campanian Volcanic Arc - consists of a number of active, dormant or extinct volcanos
Phlegraean Fields
- 15 meters wide and was a volcanic area near Puteoli. Full of craters, pools of boiling mud and vents through which sulfur and steam escaped.
believed by some ancients to be the entrance to the underworld
Palinuro, Marsili, Vavilev - undersea extinct or dormant volcanoes south of Vesuvius.
Mount Vesuvius
- Mount Vesuvius has changed in size and shape over a series of eruptions as it originally emerged inside another ancient Volcano, Mt Somma. These volcanos merged together however, they once would have appeared separate.
Fertility
'fortunate Campania' or 'Felix Campania'
close proximity of the volcanic range to both Herculaneum and Pompeii allowed both towns to have great fertility
"... it is said, that part of the country which has been covered with ash-dust form the hot ashes carried up into the air by the fire of Aetna made the land suited to the vine; for it contains the substance that flattens the soil which is burnt out that which produces the fruits..." - STRABO, Geography Book V, 4
"...the coast of Campania, a fertile region so blessed with the pleasant scenery that it was manifestly the work of nature... embracing a climate so mild. Plains so fertile. Hills so sunny. Woodlands so secure and groves so shady. Its many seas and harbours and the bosom of its lands are open to commerce..." - PLINY THE ELDER, Natural History Book III, 40-41
Soils allowed 2-3 crops per yield
Soils rich in phosphorous (allowed for an abundance in the flowering of crops)
Wine and oil famous in the area
Food: Salt used as a preservative - produced by salt pans in shallow pools
fish, molluscus, garum and salt from the sea
Cities
Misenum - main Roman naval station.