Science and legend: Vesuvio's wines

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the Campania region (South West Italy), a complex region both for environmental and cultural components: in particular, our attention is focused on the volcano, which, by representing its contradictions, becomes its icon. Through an examination of the relationships between the land settings and the geological history of the places, we move on to consider the link between the territory and one of its most symbolic products: on the slopes of Vesuvio, are cultivated those vineyards composing the so-called Lacryma Christi, a wine of ancient history, whose name is a reflection of legends and myths, deeply linked to tradition. Trying to explain the origins of the various elaborations of reality, characterized by resorting to the supernatural, the following pages want to offer a path that allows the observation of social and natural reality from multiple perspectives.

Keywords

• campania region
• vesuvio
• wine
• landscape
• myth
• science