Mergellina is a coastal district of the city of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

, Italy. It is located in the quartiere of

Chiaia Chiaia (, ) is an affluent neighbourhood on the seafront in Naples, Italy, bounded by Piazza Vittoria on the east and Mergellina on the west. Chiaia is one of the wealthiest districts in Naples, and many luxury brands have shops on its main street ...

. It stands at the foot of the Posillipo Hill and faces the

Castel dell'Ovo Castel dell'Ovo ("Egg Castle") is a seafront castle in Naples, located on the former island of Megaride, now a peninsula, on the Gulf of Naples in Italy. The castle's name comes from a legend about the Roman poet Virgil, who had a reputation in ...

. Some people say the name derives from "mergoglino", a local name for the

smew The smew (''Mergellus albellus'') is a species of duck, and is the only living member of the genus ''Mergellus''. ''Mergellus'' is a diminutive of '' Mergus'' and ''albellus'' is from Latin ''albus'' "white". This genus is closely related to ' ...

, others believe it is a corruption of "Mare Giallo", which refers to when the sea turned yellow due to floating tufa rock dust following a volcanic eruption many centuries ago. However, very likely the real origin of the name is from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

"mare ialinum", that stands for clear, transparent sea.

Overview

Historically, it was a small fishing village and port and was quite distinct from Naples, itself. The expansion of Naples to the west under the Spaniards in the 17th century and subsequent development under the Bourbons and then by the national Italian government between 1880 and 1915 gradually led to the incorporation of Mergellina into greater metropolitan Naples. Today it is still a fishing port but also an important secondary tourist harbor for hydrofoil traffic to the islands in the bay of Naples and to various tourist destinations along the Campanian coast. The port also serves as a mooring for private pleasure craft. Mergellina was home to the poet

Jacopo Sannazaro Jacopo Sannazaro (; 28 July 1458 – 6 August 1530) was an Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist from Naples. He wrote easily in Latin, in Italian and in Neapolitan, but is best remembered for his humanist classic '' Arcadia'', a masterwor ...

, whose verses in Italian are part of the body of literature that helped form the

Italian language Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 8 ...

in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. His Latin works, primarily ''De partu Virginis'', though little read today, earned him the nickname of "the Christian

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

". The main square, one block from the harbor, faces the church of Santa Maria del Parto with his elaborate tomb. During the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

it was used as Olympic Harbor for the Finn (at Sea Garden) and

Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Du ...

sailboats (at Posillipo). This charming location is famous for being a favourite seashore restaurants' area. At pier, fishermen for years have sold their daily catch.

References

* * * {{coord, 40, 49, 36.5, N, 14, 13, 21.5, E, display=title Zones of Naples