Two kilometres away from Vesuvius, on the hill of the Saviour chosen for its particular favourable position, the historic site of the Vesuvius Observatory appears,
The most ancient volcanological observatory in the world for the most studied volcano in the world. In the early 19th century, the scientific world, that constantly monitored for more then a century the Vesuvius in full activity since 1631, started to ask for a facility to stay for the students arriving from all over the world. King Ferdinand II take to heart that request and appointed Macedonio Melloni in 1839 to found a meteorological observatory. Melloni was from Parma and he distinguished himself for his talented scientific activity as well as his liberal ideas.
In the same year, Melloni, recommended to the king by Alexander von Humboldt and named professor of physics at the University of Naples, launched the creation of the Observatory, providing also with the purchase of necessary equipment. The building was completed in nine years and was delivered to Melloni on 16th of March 1848, the year of the European revolutions. Melloni’s liberal reputation cost him the office. A distinguished scholar was called instead, the physician, volcanologist and philosopher Luigi Palmieri, who in 1856 provided the Observatory with a meteorological small tower. He is the one who invented a new electromagnetic seismograph, which allowed studying the correlations between volcanic and seismic phenomena, and creating a network of measuring stations, which changed the volcanological research. Palmieri personally followed the succeeding eruptions of the volcano in its long management of the Observatory. Among his successors, all illustrious scientists, there was also since 1911 the famous seismologist Giuseppe Mercalli, who invented a first reform of the Observatory. Confiscated by the Allies during the last war, in 1983, on the culminating phase of the Phlegraean bradyseism, the operational functions have been removed from the Observatory and transferred to Naples where they have stayed since then. Therefore, the historic site at the feet of the Vesuvius has been permanently dedicated to hosting the volcanological Museum.
Copyright video, foto e testi © 2020
