Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-04-10
is TOURISTS PARADISE.
Naples and Its Vicinity Full of Attrac-
tive Places of Interest.

| NAPLES. Italy, March THE ex
cursions around Naples by carriage
and by water are more attractive
than those of any other city in Eu
| rope. Within days journey visi
tor has at least dozen most interest
| ing places to visit where historic as
| sociations, scenery and climate all
combine to crafty the artistic taste
and the literary and religious interest
as well as the ordinary curiosity OF
the tourist, And you can take your
baggage in carriage for trips of two
or three days to places that it is diff
cult to tear yourself away from A
comfortable little steamer leaves
| every morning for Sorrento, whose
scenic beauties and climate everybody
has read about and which has been
described SO often in novels of Ital-
ian life. Harriet Beecher Stoves
story of Agnes of Sorrento" is the
best. 1t has never been excelled
Marion Crawford resides at Sorren-
to. He has made his home there for
several years and writes his stories
OF Italian life in an old villa with
picturesque tower. Across little
strait is the Island of Capri, whose
wine is celebrated. 1t is considered
by many artists the most beautiful
spot on earth. Capri is exceedingly
attractive, and people who have lived
there once become so fascinated with
the climate and the surroundings that
they are never satisfied until they go
hack npnin ic. n litt1a of
disc. Both Sorrento and Capri have
large colonies of artists and literary
people from all countries and there are
many picturesque villas belonging to
foreigners at both places.
Down the coast a little farther is
Amalf. famous for it's scenery and
Salermo, the ancestral Salernum that
YOU read about when you were study
ing Latin. which, according to local
traditions, was the birthplace OF st.
Matthew, the evangelist. 1t is said
chat he was a wealthy and influential
man, and a politician of considerable
influence, who was sent to Judea by
She Roman government as a collector
of customs. After his death the peo-
pie say, at his dying request his body
was brought back to his old home and
now lies in beautiful old cathedral,
built by Robert Guiscard in 1884
st. Matthews remains were brought
from Alexandria. Egypt. in 9O3, nearly
200 years before the church was fin
ished. and, during the meantime, they
reposed in a chapel upon the same
ground. Upon the altar that covered
them is bas relief in marble repre-
senting the landing of the ship that
brought them to Salermo.
Several other places in Europe, and
at least two more in Italy claim to
possess the remains of the apostle
but Salermo seems to present the
strongest evidence.
Near by the altar of st. Matthews
monk who afterward became Pope
Gregory VII. He died in exile at Sa-
lermo, May 20, 1885, having been ban
ished from Rome by Henry ". of
Germany.
Salermo was the scene of some OF
Fra Diavalos escapades. and he is
buried in little church outside the
city.
One OF the most extraordinary pre-
tensions is that of the little town of
Masa, whose people for generations
have claimed Judas Iscariot as a fel-
low townsman. According to the le-
gend Judas was the son of Simon Is.
CARROT. a goldsmith and man OF.
means living at the karioth, Judea.
When the son was born, his mother.
Cyborea. dreamt that a curse rested
upon the child, and, seeking an inter
probation from an astrologer, provoked
a prophecy that he would degrade her
forever. murder his father and sell his
God. To avert this horrible prediction
they placed the child in cradle and
threw 1t into the sea. The cradle was
picked up by some sailors on their
way to Masa, where Judas was
brought up and educated. When
very young man he committed muir
der and fed to Judea, where he enter
ed the service of Pontius plate as a
messenger, and was employed by Cal
phias, the high priest, to act as a spy
upon Jesus, and joined the little band
of disciples for that purpose. He
committed all the crimes predicted
for him, outraged his own mother and
murdered his father, although he was
not aware of the fact until afterwards
For several centuries the people of
Masa have been in the habit of cele
brating Good Friday by peculiar cere
mony. An efiigy of Judas is first car
ried about among the streets in pro-
cession, and then hung to a tree for
the faithful to throw stones at To
ward nightfall the effigy is taken down
and burned and the ashes sprinkled
with holy water.
The Neapoltans are very supersti-
tious, particularly the lower classes.
In every chamber is a picture of some
saint, and light is always burning
before ii. No matter how poor the
occupant may be, no matter how
squalid the dwelling, somehow or an
other there is always money enough
to buy the picture and keep the light
burning in order to scare away the
monacelli or evil spirits, which can
not enter a room where there is pic
ture of saint, and a light is neces-
sary so that they can see him.