San Giorgio a Cremano is a city and (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the region of Campania in southern Italy. It is located on the foothills of Mount Vesuvius to the west of the volcano and the Tyrrhenian Sea, and is five kilometres to the south east of the centre of Naples. The municipality has views of Mount Vesuvius, Mount Somma and the Bay of Naples. It has 41,585 inhabitants.
San Giorgio a Cremano was first settled in the 10th and 11th centuries, and has since been fairly regularly affected by the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius. Along with Portici, Ercolano, Torre del Greco, and Torre Annunziata, San Giorgio a Cremano is one of the five traditional towns that were to be found heading south from Naples on the coastal road along the Bay of Naples. In the 18th century the comune had become a popular tourist resort, and attracted wealthier residents and the aristocracy from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, before going into decline following Italian unification, although primary industries and agriculture have persisted within the comune from its foundation to the modern day.
By the 19th century San Giorgio a Cremano had been absorbed by the expanding urban conglomeration of Naples, and it is now one of the most densely populated areas in the whole European Union. San Giorgio a Cremano is served by the Naples–Salerno railway network of Trenitalia and the Circumvesuviana metropolitan railway which connects it with central Naples, and is easily accessible by a number of major roads.
A comune of the Somma–Vesuvio National Park, San Giorgio a Cremano is known for hosting a huge number of so-called (Vesuvian Villas), built between 18th and 19th centuries century for the nobility of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. These are a part of the (the Golden Mile), an urbanistic and artistic complex which in 1997 have been included in the World Biosphere Network list of UNESCO (Somma–Vesuvius and Golden Mile).
It is also known for having a strong theatre tradition, whose highest representative was the actor and producer Massimo Troisi, who was one of only seven actors to be posthumously nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie .
Etymology The name "San Giorgio a Cremano" (literally "Saint George of the Cremated"), is a reference to the reverence with which the residents of the area in the 10th century held for the Vesuvius. The superstitious and devoutly religious locals saw an analogy between the eruptions of Vesuvius, and a dragon breathing fire, and quickly adopted Saint George as their patron saint, due to the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slays the Dragon. The residents believed by adopting Saint George as their patron saint he would protect them from the 'dragon' or the eruptions of Vesuvius.Palomba (1881).
The term "Cremano" is an ancient name for a strip of land between Portici and San Giorgio (the site is referred to as the Cupa di Cremano and Pozzo di Cremano). It derives directly from the Latin word crematum which refers to the earth having been cremated by the lava flows of Vesuvius. Others believe though, that the name actually refers to Cambrano, a shortening of Cambarus who was a Roman landowner of the area in ancient times. Another theory also believes it simply refers to the Latin word "crambe", which means "Cabbage", speculating that cabbage crops may once have been grown in the area.
Residents of San Giorgio a Cremano are referred to as Sangiorgesi. History Early history
The landscape of the region in which San Giorgio a Cremano is located has been drastically altered over time by the continuing eruptions of Vesuvius. As a result, it is difficult to find evidence of pre-historic occupation in the area. It is known that from Roman times, nearby Herculaneum and Pompeii were well populated settlements, and it is likely that some parts of the region were utilised for agriculture. There are suggestions that wine growing may have been common on the hills of the area.
However the eruption of 79CE in which Pompeii and Herculaneum was destroyed, made much of the region in which San Giorgio is now located, and neighbouring regions, completely uninhabitable and no longer of any use for agriculture. This remained the situation until the 10th century CE. Until its reoccupation, the region was usually referred to as Foris Flubeum, indicating that it was separated from Naples by the legendary ancient Sebeto River, which has now disappeared.
Middle Ages
The earliest post-Roman references to the region indicate that by the mid-8th century weavers had begun production in and around the area, and industry that persists to the modern era. The shirts and cloths produced in the Province of Naples soon gained an excellent reputation, and were often sought after by nobles throughout Europe.
In 993 CE a small votive chapel named the Capitiniano was erected on a hill in the area, and dedicated to Saint George. It is believed that it is from around this time that the legend of the locals adopting Saint George as their patron saint to protect them from the 'dragon' of Vesuvius' eruptions was born. By the end of the 11th century, a church had been erected over the previous site of the chapel, and the first Casale, or houses, were built nearby to the church.Tipografia Alfa (2002). It is believed there was also a monastery, however no trace remains if this was the case. Very soon a cemetery was also consecrated next to the church, and it is from around this time that records indicate the name San Giorgio a Capitiniano was first used to refer to the area.
It has been suggested that around 1200 is one of the likeliest dates for the beginning of the origin of the local religious procession. Held on 23 April (or the first Sunday after), the patron saint's day of Saint George, the procession involves the carrying of a statue of the saint, hoisted onto the shoulders of a group of the devotees, accompanied by loud music, songs, folk dancing, competitions of all kinds, and stalls with sweets and toys. The statue itself is a carved wooden depiction of the saint, originally mounted but the current one is without horse, and it is placed upon a pedestal which is surrounded by garlands of local flowers, and illuminated by candles. The statue was once also plated in silver, but repeated attempts at theft (the most recent in 1981) resulted in the metal being removed.Alagi (1990).
The statue of a saint was carried in procession for many reasons, such as to fertilise the ground for crops and harvests, to protect from natural disasters such as the risks of drought, floods and further eruptions, and to defend the commune from fatal dangers such as enemies, wars, and plagues. The original route of the procession is not known, but is believed to have begun near the Capitiniano, with the trip not clearly defined, and amended according to the demands and needs of devotees participating.
Some local scholars believe the procession may even have dated from as early as the 8th century, but the wooden statue of Saint George that is carried, depicts him mounted on a horse, in the armour of a crusader. The crusader image cannot date before 1200, and such imagery of Saint George as a crusading knight is thought to only date from the 15th century. It is believed that the wooden statue used in the procession cannot be earlier than 1600, although it is indeed possible the current statue may have replaced an earlier one that had been used in processions before this time.Alagi (1984).
Over the course of the next few hundred years, houses were increasingly being built down the gentle slope of the hill towards the seaside Cambrano, and the growing town was often being referred to as San Giorgio a Cambrano by the 14th century, which is confirmed in references from 1334, during the reign of Charles of Anjou. In this time, a better road, connecting San Giorgio with Naples in the northwest was completed.Casucci (2001).
By the late 14th century San Giorgio had grown into a town, and had two main residential zones, above and below the church. These were referred to as di sopra (above), and di bascio (below). At the same time, San Giorgio grew large enough to absorb the nearby town of San Aniello a Cambrano, and the centre of the new larger town remained the hilltop church venerated to Saint George. By the 15th century, this church had once again been renovated, this time in high Gothic architecture, and incorporated three new naves.Alagi (1996). Despite the improvements to the hilltop church, in 1570 the religious centre of San Giorgio was moved further downhill with the opening of the newly built church of Santa Maria del Principio, around which a prosperous new town centre soon grew. Following the opening of the new church, the procession route was altered to begin at Santa Maria del Principio and run a more regular course through the streets to the hills and back down to the lower end of the commune, giving greater access to the residents to the processional route.
Renaissance
Between 1140 and 1631 Mount Vesuvius had remained dormant for nearly 500 years, but a violent and sudden eruption in December 1631 was particularly devastating for San Giorgio a Cremano, destroying the new town centre and the sixty-year-old church of Santa Maria del Principio. The 1631 eruption was particularly violent, with several lava flows pouring down different faces of the volcano accompanied by torrents of boiling water, as well as throwing pumice and hot ash into the sky.
Many historical documents, manuscripts and archives from the old church had been moved to the new church of Santa Maria del Principio, and were also lost in the destruction caused by the eruption. Ironically the hilltop church was not as badly damaged. However very few buildings in the town were spared, including another church, San Giorgio Vecchio and the Torre Ummarino – a newly constructed tower. It is not known how many people from San Giorgio, if any, were killed in the 1631 eruption, but records indicate the population was decimated. Whether this was from loss of live, or evacuation is unclear. It has been estimated though, that more than 3,000 people were killed throughout the region in the December 1631 eruption, and from the physical destruction within San Giorgio a Cremano, it can be surmised that many of the dead may have lived there.
The 1631 eruption seems to have led to a re-invigoration of the locals' devotion to their patron saint, Saint George, and the tradition of the local procession is thought to have begun at this time. Saint George had originally been chosen for his reputation as the heroic fighter, an attribute that the devastated locals needed in their protector. The procession was definitely resumed soon after the eruption, and has continued uninterrupted into modern times. Following the destruction of the new church of Santa Maria del Principio, the route of the procession was again altered. The original statue was destroyed in the eruption, but they received as a gift from Emmanuela Caracciolo Pignatelli, Duchess of Montecalvo, a new statue of St. George, in half bust, and that is the statue still venerated today.
By 1670, the church of Santa Maria del Principio had been rebuilt upon the ruins of its second incarnation, in time for the centennial of its original consecration. Once again the Church Casale and town houses had been repopulated, and the new town centre restored. The town experienced an economically prosperous period under the Spanish Kingdom of Naples. The economic prosperity continued under the Bourbon rulers, who had replaced the Habsburgs as the dynastic rulers of the Kingdom of Naples by the 18th century as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession. The rule of Charles III of Spain (1735–59) was a particularly successful period for the whole Province of Naples, including San Giorgio, as he invested heavily in the economy of the region.