The most legendary volcano on Earth, looms Italy Vesuvius on the Gulf of Naples as an unpredictable God. The history of the mountain 79 A.D. eruption that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum, burying those two ancient cities in rock and ash Burns - has been represented many times in art and literature that has taken on the feel of the myth. But for the thousands killed in the most famous of all volcanic cataclysms, sudden, insondablemente horrible end of the world was too real.
Vesuvius has appeared dozens of times in the centuries since Pompeii and Herculaneum were almost erased from history, sometimes killing thousands (as in 1631), on other occasions, destroying houses and entire villages including but no one leaving dead. The last major eruption took place 70 years ago, in the middle of Mundial Guerra II and was photographed by the great British photographer and a founding member of Magnum, George Rodger.
As life pointed its readers in April 17, 1944, issue of the magazine, the eruption "has aggravated the complexities of war and merely existing in the South of Italy." Starting on 18 March continues, the eruption the Allied military Government has given thousands of refugees rather than care and are illuminated the horizon of the night as far north as Anzio beachhead. "
But life also cited the Director of Observatory Mount Vesuvius, Professor Giuseppe Imbo, who offered a refreshingly optimistic take on relationship of the Neapolitan people with the brilliant, unpredictable volcano in the midst of them:
"A wonderful thing, my Vesuvius," the enthusiastic teacher. "That covers the Earth with beautiful ash that makes the land fertile and cultivating grapes and wine. That is why, after each eruption, people rebuild their homes on the slopes of the volcano. This is why you call the slopes of Mount Vesuvius the felix company - the happy land. "
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