Mergellina

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Mergellina is a section of the city of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. It is at the west end of the seaside road, via Caracciolo, one mile away from the main port of Naples. Historically, it was a small fishing village and port and was quite distinct from Naples, itself. Expansion of Naples to the west under the Spanish in the 1600s and subsequent development under the Bourbons and then by the national Italian government between 1880-1915 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 mooring for private pleasure craft.

Mergellina was home to the poet Jacopo Sannazaro, whose verses in Italian are part of the body of literature that helped form the Italian language in the Middle Ages. His Latin works, primarily De partu Virginis, though little read today, earned him the nick-name of "the Christian Virgil". A main square, one block from the harbor, is named for him.