Every design for Portici

Portici is known for its royal palace, built by Charles III, King of Naples, and for its place between a volcano and the sea. The town lies on the western slopes of Vesuvius, sloping gently down to the Bay of Naples, with San Giorgio a Cremano and Naples to the north and Ercolano, the site of ancient Herculaneum, to the south-east.

There is something moving about how often it has started again. The eruption of 1631 destroyed it completely; in 1944 it was covered in ash. Each time it was rebuilt, and families went back to fishing, to silk, later to industry and trade. After the Bourbons fell, the palace became a botanic garden and a school of agriculture, and the antiquities of Herculaneum were once kept there. On the coast, the Museo Nazionale Ferroviario di Pietrarsa, at the edge of town, and the little harbour of the Granatello frame the shoreline, and the Villa Campolieto stands nearby.

Coming home means the road along the bay, Vesuvius filling the sky, and the dense, lively streets of one of the most crowded towns in Italy.