0:00:04 > 0:00:07'I'm embarking on a new railway adventure that will take me
0:00:07 > 0:00:09'across the heart of Europe.'
0:00:11 > 0:00:15I'll be using this, my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide,
0:00:15 > 0:00:20dated 1913, which opened up an exotic world of foreign travel
0:00:20 > 0:00:21for the British tourist.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28'It told travellers where to go, what to see, and how to navigate
0:00:28 > 0:00:31'the thousands of miles of tracks crisscrossing the Continent.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33'Now, a century later,
0:00:33 > 0:00:38'I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,
0:00:38 > 0:00:42'where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.'
0:00:42 > 0:00:47I want to rediscover that lost Europe, that in 1913 couldn't know
0:00:47 > 0:00:52that its way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12'Italy is possessed of such concentrated beauty
0:01:12 > 0:01:14'that it mesmerised the Edwardian traveller.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21'But until 1861, Italy as we NOW know it didn't exist.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25'It was a jumble of states controlled in part by the Pope
0:01:25 > 0:01:30'and largely by great European powers who would relinquish control
0:01:30 > 0:01:32'only through defeat in war.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37'On today's journey, I'll get a taste of Italian style,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41'as I explore Rome on the back of iconic scooter...'
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Ma, che bella citta - Roma!
0:01:45 > 0:01:49'..blend in with the locals underground...'
0:01:49 > 0:01:52No-one would guess that the fellow in the yellow jacket
0:01:52 > 0:01:57clutching a red 1930 handbook was anything other than a Roman.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00'..and venture into the mighty Vesuvius.'
0:02:00 > 0:02:01I don't want to be nervous,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04but I can't help noticing that there's a lot of vapour.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23I begin in Rome.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27British tourists in 1913 were magnetised by its classical history
0:02:27 > 0:02:30and its antiquities.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33But they could reflect with pride that the British Empire covered
0:02:33 > 0:02:39a much vaster area of the globe than the Caesars had ever dreamt of.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41The city had become the capital
0:02:41 > 0:02:44of the recently formed Kingdom of Italy.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47It was also the Eternal City,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50the centre of the Roman Catholic Church,
0:02:50 > 0:02:54which many Protestant British viewed with suspicion.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59From Rome, I'll head southwest through the Apennine Mountains
0:02:59 > 0:03:01to Naples,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04cross to the glamorous island of Capri.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Heading further south towards the toe of Italy,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10I'll visit Messina, gateway to Sicily.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15I'll end my journey in ancient Taormina.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Travel for pleasure to cultural centres like Rome
0:03:24 > 0:03:28was once the preserve of aristocrats on their Grand Tour.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31With the advent of the railways, the middle classes, too,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33could afford to see the sights.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38ANNOUNCEMENT OVER TANNOY
0:03:38 > 0:03:42'We are now arriving at Roma Termini.'
0:03:54 > 0:03:57Railways came late to the Italian peninsula
0:03:57 > 0:03:59because it wasn't a country.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02And Rome wasn't attached to other cities by rail
0:04:02 > 0:04:04until the 1860s and 1870s.
0:04:04 > 0:04:09This magnificent station was opened in 1950.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13It's got this gravity-defying ceiling. It's made of concrete
0:04:13 > 0:04:16and a lovely stone called travertine,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20so it's that combination of futurism and Italian style.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32And what better way to get a taste of Italian style,
0:04:32 > 0:04:36'and 3,000 years of ancient history than this?'
0:04:36 > 0:04:37Grazie!
0:04:40 > 0:04:44This nippy little scooter has given generations of Italian teenagers
0:04:44 > 0:04:46a taste of freedom.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Stefano, I love your Vespa. What age is it?
0:04:52 > 0:04:56- It is from 1959. - And it's a good way to see Rome?
0:04:56 > 0:04:59This is the best way to see Rome.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01Aren't you worried about the Roman drivers?
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Ah, the Roman drivers, there are some secret rules
0:05:04 > 0:05:07for driving in Rome, you have to know, it's not so terrible.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09HORNS TOOT
0:05:15 > 0:05:17This really is the perfect way to see Rome -
0:05:17 > 0:05:21you see the beautiful sights sweeping by.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25And you've no need to worry about the time because we get through
0:05:25 > 0:05:27when all the other cars get stuck.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35This bumpy cobbled avenue is the Via Conciliazione -
0:05:35 > 0:05:37an avenue that gives us such a view
0:05:37 > 0:05:40of the Basilica of St Peter's, the cathedral.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43My Bradshaw's guide rather pedantically tells me
0:05:43 > 0:05:45that it cost £10 million.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Never mind the expense, it's such a beautiful building.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54'I can see why the Pope fought against Italian unification.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57'He ruled directly over this glorious city.'
0:05:58 > 0:06:01You imagine this place filled with pilgrims
0:06:01 > 0:06:03and the Pope appearing at the window there.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08I feel rather sacrilegious going through it on a Vespa.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17So I guess lots of people still come to Rome today
0:06:17 > 0:06:21inspired by that old movie, Roman Holiday.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24And you would be Gregory Peck - ha! -
0:06:24 > 0:06:27and sitting on the back was Audrey Hepburn.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36Now I know just how she must have felt,
0:06:36 > 0:06:40making a break for freedom on the back of this iconic scooter.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44Ma, che bella citta - Roma!
0:06:52 > 0:06:56Turin and then Florence had been provisional Italian capitals,
0:06:56 > 0:07:02but in 1871, Rome was proclaimed capital of a fully united Italy.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06The Edwardian visitor would have observed a Rome
0:07:06 > 0:07:08intent on rebuilding and modernising.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13I'm meeting Ettore Mazzola,
0:07:13 > 0:07:16an expert in urban and architectural history.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19- Ettore.- Buongiorno.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23Thank you for bringing me to this vantage spot.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26We have the most fantastic panorama of Ancient Rome.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28What do you call this particular place?
0:07:28 > 0:07:33The Foro Romano is the heart of the Ancient Roman world.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Now, these antiquities really attracted
0:07:35 > 0:07:39British travellers at the beginning of the 20th century.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42When they came here, would they find this in good condition?
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Well, on those days not everything was totally excavated.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49The ground was arriving up to the top.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53So they engaged in a large excavation of the site,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57and in 1913 a large part of this was visible.
0:07:59 > 0:08:00The Forum was the centre
0:08:00 > 0:08:05of political, commercial and judicial life in Ancient Rome.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07It dates back to the first century AD.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10The largest building was the basilica.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14According to the playwright Plautus, the area teemed with lawyers
0:08:14 > 0:08:19and litigants, bankers and brokers, shopkeepers and strumpets.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24Many people may be surprised to think now, that Rome wasn't
0:08:24 > 0:08:27by any means the first capital of the united Italy.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Was it important that it should become the capital?
0:08:30 > 0:08:31It was a rhetorical decision.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Rome was the capital of the Ancient Roman Empire,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37the greatest empire of our history.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42It was the place where used to be the Christianity
0:08:42 > 0:08:45and of course the place of the Pope,
0:08:45 > 0:08:48the last barrier to the unification of Italy.
0:08:48 > 0:08:54Nevertheless the family of the King was not that happy to be in Rome.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58They were calling Rome the filthy, dirty and stinky Rome.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04Because, compared to the beautiful French architecture in Turin,
0:09:04 > 0:09:08home to the royal family, Rome must have felt like one big ruin.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13And so they didn't like the old higgledy-piggledy chaos of Rome.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17Indeed. They were absolutely opposed to that.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21The King's love of modernity
0:09:21 > 0:09:23propelled Rome towards a face-lift.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Major new structures were taking shape.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38Well, we are in the very heart of Rome,
0:09:38 > 0:09:43and this enormous building, this monument to Victor Emmanuel II,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45why was it built here in Rome?
0:09:45 > 0:09:49It was built, of course, to celebrate the unification of Italy.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54And it was built because when, in 1878,
0:09:54 > 0:09:58the King died, they decided immediately to celebrate
0:09:58 > 0:10:03the first King of Italy with a super-symbolic monument.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08It also emphasised the seismic power shift from the Church to the State.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13To accommodate it, a vast medieval district around the Capitoline Hill
0:10:13 > 0:10:14had to be demolished.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20It was planned in order to hide the monstrosity
0:10:20 > 0:10:24of the filthy, dirty Rome.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25And what do you think of it?
0:10:25 > 0:10:30I think it's a great building still today. As you can see, there are
0:10:30 > 0:10:34millions of tourists that are coming here taking photos
0:10:34 > 0:10:37of one of the most representative buildings of the period,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41across the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47But not everyone is as complimentary.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51Romans in particular have variously named it the Typewriter,
0:10:51 > 0:10:53the Wedding Cake and the Urinal.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57I wonder what today's travellers make of it?
0:10:57 > 0:11:03- Hello! How are you?- Hello! We're fine! It is Mr Portillo!
0:11:03 > 0:11:05Very lovely to see you both.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09Look, here you are at the Monument of Victor Emanuel II,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12which is very large, very prominent in Rome.
0:11:12 > 0:11:13I wonder what you think of it.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16- Wonderful.- Marvellous.- Wonderful.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19The sheer scale, it's massive.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Everything is almost... you could say overdone.
0:11:22 > 0:11:27As you say, it's brash, but it's exciting to look at.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30I like it, but it's not as pretty as the rest of them.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34- How are you enjoying Rome? - Wonderful.- Excellent.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Anyone pinching your bottom?
0:11:36 > 0:11:37- No.- No, unfortunately not!
0:11:39 > 0:11:40You enjoy the city.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00It's absolutely evident that one of the most popular places
0:12:00 > 0:12:04in Rome for tourists today, as ever, is the Trevi Fountain.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08With the tradition that if you throw three coins into the fountain
0:12:08 > 0:12:12you'll return to Rome, you'll meet a partner and you'll marry.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18The fountain dates back to 1762
0:12:18 > 0:12:23and was designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25It's the largest baroque fountain in Rome.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29The name Trevi refers to "tre vie",
0:12:29 > 0:12:33three roads that converge at the fountain.
0:12:37 > 0:12:42And you know what they say - when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49And if the coin doesn't work, well, there's always the selfie.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05Rome had once been the capital of a vast empire.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08But that didn't make it easy, after 1871,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10to unite the very different people
0:13:10 > 0:13:12who inhabit the Italian peninsula.
0:13:12 > 0:13:18A country can be drawn on a map or conjured up in political rhetoric...
0:13:19 > 0:13:23..but the regions of Italy are hugely divergent
0:13:23 > 0:13:25and independent minded.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30I'm leaving the Roman traffic behind
0:13:30 > 0:13:33to head to the stylish Piazza di Spagna.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39I'm so glad that I wore my sunglasses -
0:13:39 > 0:13:41it just makes me look like a local.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45No-one would guess that the fellow in the yellow jacket clutching
0:13:45 > 0:13:49a red 1913 handbook was anything other than a Roman.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56According to my faithful guide, the Spanish Steps are a good spot
0:13:56 > 0:14:00to practise the Italian tradition of the passeggiata - or promenade.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04I'm strolling with a purpose, and towards a destination.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10Here is the house referenced in my Bradshaw's guide.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14"At the foot of the steps in the Piazza di Spagna is the house
0:14:14 > 0:14:17"where John Keats died in 1821,
0:14:17 > 0:14:21"now used as the Keats And Shelley Museum."
0:14:21 > 0:14:24I suppose we are all drawn to the Romantic poets,
0:14:24 > 0:14:28with their love of nature and their appreciation of antiquity
0:14:28 > 0:14:30and their tragically short lives.
0:14:30 > 0:14:31BELL CHIMES
0:14:31 > 0:14:35I'm meeting Giuseppe Albano -
0:14:35 > 0:14:38the curator of a charming museum dedicated to their memory.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44- Well, it is the most spectacular view.- Absolutely.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47What was it that brought John Keats here?
0:14:47 > 0:14:50Well, John Keats, like many of his fellow Romantics,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54and indeed many generations before him, was very much inspired by Italy.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Rome, of course, was the Holy Grail of the Grand Tour,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01a phenomenon which had begun in the century before Keats.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04But Keats specifically came here because of his tuberculosis.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09He was suffering very heavily. He had already lost his mother
0:15:09 > 0:15:12and his younger brother to the disease and he was hoping
0:15:12 > 0:15:16that the milder climate, the Roman sunshine would alleviate his health.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19It was a vain hope because he died just three-and-a-half months
0:15:19 > 0:15:21- after arriving.- And as he looked from this house,
0:15:21 > 0:15:22the Rome that he saw,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25would it have been very different from what we see today?
0:15:25 > 0:15:27A different Rome, no, not at all.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Some of the buildings have been heightened, some of them
0:15:30 > 0:15:33had extensions put on in the 20th century, but essentially the skyline
0:15:33 > 0:15:36remains the same, the Spanish Steps were here.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40This area became known
0:15:40 > 0:15:42in the 19th century as the English ghetto
0:15:42 > 0:15:46because so many writers and artists were attracted from England,
0:15:46 > 0:15:49drawn by the area's bohemianism.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52There aren't many people less poetic than I am,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54but this would inspire anybody.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Well, it did inspire Keats, and he liked looking at the views very much.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Unfortunately he was too ill to write, however,
0:16:00 > 0:16:01which is the real tragedy.
0:16:01 > 0:16:07Born in 1795, John Keats is one of the great Romantic poets,
0:16:07 > 0:16:11along with his contemporaries, Lord Byron and Percy Shelley.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14They, unlike Keats, were rebellious and radical,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17like the rock stars of their day.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Keats's work found popularity
0:16:19 > 0:16:22only three decades after his untimely death,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26and followers of my guide were fascinated by his tragic story.
0:16:27 > 0:16:28As my Bradshaw's tells me,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32this house became a museum to both Keats and Shelley.
0:16:32 > 0:16:33How did this happen?
0:16:33 > 0:16:37The Keats-Shelley Memorial Association was founded first of all
0:16:37 > 0:16:40to purchase the house in which Keats died, but also to help protect
0:16:40 > 0:16:42the tombs of the poets - both Keats and Shelley -
0:16:42 > 0:16:44because they are both buried here in Rome.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49Keats died in 1821, aged just 25,
0:16:49 > 0:16:54and Shelley a year later, at only 29.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58When, in 1903, the house was in danger of being turned into a hotel,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00the great and the good fought to save it.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05And this is the room in which John Keats died here in Rome
0:17:05 > 0:17:08of tuberculosis, on 23rd February 1821.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10You can see the ceiling which inspired him to say,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12with its flower motifs,
0:17:12 > 0:17:16that he could almost feel the flowers growing above his own grave.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Ah, a Romantic poet to the very end.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37Until the 1860s, it would have been impossible
0:17:37 > 0:17:40for travellers to take a train south.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44Railway mania came late to Italy.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Largely because, prior to unification,
0:17:48 > 0:17:50there was no political will
0:17:50 > 0:17:53to connect the jumble of independent states.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58In the years before the First World War,
0:17:58 > 0:18:02Britain sought a southern European ally and courted Italy.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Selling trains was a commercial opportunity
0:18:06 > 0:18:09which could also create a diplomatic bond.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15The pitch was well-timed. The Italians were investing heavily
0:18:15 > 0:18:18in public works and were in the market for railways.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25According to my Bradshaw's, Naples is the City of Sirens.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29Verily "un pezzo di cielo caduto in terra."
0:18:29 > 0:18:32A bit of heaven that has tumbled to Earth.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36Now, you might think that a ludicrous Neapolitan exaggeration,
0:18:36 > 0:18:38but only if you've never been there.
0:18:44 > 0:18:49Naples sits beside a staggeringly beautiful natural harbour,
0:18:49 > 0:18:51in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02The Greeks, Oscans, Romans, Goths,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05Byzantines, Normans, Germans
0:19:05 > 0:19:09and Britons have all succumbed to its charm.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20Bradshaw's has an unbeatable description of this view.
0:19:20 > 0:19:25"Naples situated at the base and on the slopes of an amphitheatre
0:19:25 > 0:19:28"of hills, on the west side of a magnificent bay,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32"is one of the most beautifully situated cities in the world,
0:19:32 > 0:19:37"justifying the adage 'vedi Napoli e poi morire' -
0:19:37 > 0:19:39"see Naples and then die!"
0:19:39 > 0:19:44It is really stunning, but I do hope to survive the experience.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55The city of Naples was the most populated in Italy
0:19:55 > 0:19:56and one of the largest in Europe.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Visitors might have felt ill at ease
0:20:00 > 0:20:03in a city of such pitiable poverty.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07A quarter of its half-million inhabitants lived in abject squalor.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11The region lagged behind northern Europe
0:20:11 > 0:20:15but had experienced some modernisation under King Ferdinand,
0:20:15 > 0:20:19who embraced new technology, such as electric telegraphy
0:20:19 > 0:20:23and the building in 1839 of Italy's first railway
0:20:23 > 0:20:26from Naples to his palace at Portici.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29'I'm meeting Professor Augusto Vitale,
0:20:29 > 0:20:31'an industrial heritage expert,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35'outside the abandoned railway station that once served this line.'
0:20:35 > 0:20:39It's interesting that the first railway was built in southern Italy,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42which I think of being a rural community, not industrial.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Why was it built in southern Italy?
0:20:44 > 0:20:51Well, Naples was the head of a very large and poor country,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54but it collected hundreds of thousands of people here,
0:20:54 > 0:20:56it was a big market.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01And there was a very rich touristic market going to Pompeii
0:21:01 > 0:21:05and to the islands and to the Vesuvius.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08But before passengers could take the train,
0:21:08 > 0:21:12French engineer Louis Bayard had to overcome
0:21:12 > 0:21:15the technical challenge of constructing 33 bridges.
0:21:18 > 0:21:23By the 3rd of October 1839, the 7.5km track was ready
0:21:23 > 0:21:27for the first train ever to run on Italian soil.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32Tell me about the inauguration of Italy's first railway.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35It was a big event,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39because for the first time the people said the smoking machine
0:21:39 > 0:21:41going on the iron tracks,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45and the attractions were the locomotives
0:21:45 > 0:21:50that came from Longridge, Starbuck & Co of Newcastle upon Tyne.
0:21:50 > 0:21:51The King was there?
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Of course. He took place on the royal carriage,
0:21:55 > 0:22:01and after him, 15 carriages with troops and with dignitaries.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07On their 11-minute journey, the inaugural passengers
0:22:07 > 0:22:10were entertained by the band of the Royal Guard.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15How successful did the railway turn out to be?
0:22:15 > 0:22:17Well, it was a big success.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21In the first year, they had more than one million passengers
0:22:21 > 0:22:25going up and down from Castella to Naples.
0:22:25 > 0:22:26Giuseppe Garibaldi,
0:22:26 > 0:22:30one of the founding fathers of Italian unification,
0:22:30 > 0:22:34fought against the foreign powers' controlling of southern Italy
0:22:34 > 0:22:39and arrived in Naples by train on 7th September 1860.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45The real attraction that drew Bradshaw's travellers
0:22:45 > 0:22:48to Naples in 1913 was the ascent of Vesuvius
0:22:48 > 0:22:51and the Roman cities entombed by its ashes.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56This railway is called the Circumvesuviana,
0:22:56 > 0:23:00which means that it goes around the base of the volcano, Vesuvius.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03It runs along the tracks of the very first railway in Italy
0:23:03 > 0:23:07and it takes people to Pompeii and to Herculaneum -
0:23:07 > 0:23:11the towns that were destroyed by the volcano in AD79.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14And judging by the many languages that I can hear being spoken
0:23:14 > 0:23:19on the train today, it attracts people now from all over the world,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22to visit these historic sights and, of course, the volcano.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Vesuvius was infamous for being
0:23:34 > 0:23:37one of history's most destructive volcanoes,
0:23:37 > 0:23:39and early 20th-century travellers
0:23:39 > 0:23:42were drawn to see it with their own eyes.
0:23:44 > 0:23:49It had and has the potential to unleash its fearful might again,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52as it did as recently as 1944.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03But if Edwardians dared the ascent, then so must I.
0:24:04 > 0:24:05Luigi.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Most people walk up to the crater of Vesuvius.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16I'm very lucky to have my four-wheel drive Fiat
0:24:16 > 0:24:20taking us on this bumpy road with these magnificent views.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25And all around me there's signs of previous eruptions.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37This is the most awesome sight, in the proper sense of the word.
0:24:37 > 0:24:43Bradshaw's reminds me that an eruption causing widespread disaster
0:24:43 > 0:24:47and the loss of nearly 500 lives began on April 6th, 1906,
0:24:47 > 0:24:49just before the guide was written.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51But, of course, most famously,
0:24:51 > 0:24:56Vesuvius destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii in AD79.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00And since I was a child, I've been caught up with, almost haunted,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03by the thought of those Romans perishing
0:25:03 > 0:25:05as the ash poured upon them.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09And now I'm confronted with the very source
0:25:09 > 0:25:12of that violent volcanic energy.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22Like my Edwardian predecessors, I'll press on into the crater
0:25:22 > 0:25:27because somewhere down there is geologist Rossana D'Arienzo.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34- Rossana.- Hello, Michael. Welcome. - What a fantastic place.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Yeah, welcome to the inside part of the Vesuvio.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42In 1913, were tourists routinely allowed to come inside the crater?
0:25:42 > 0:25:47Yeah, was allowed to go inside.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49In the middle there was a cone,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53so they were able to go around this cone.
0:25:53 > 0:26:00Then, after 1944 eruption, the cone collapsed and lava went down.
0:26:00 > 0:26:06In the place that now we can see, the name is Valle dell'Inferno,
0:26:06 > 0:26:08just outside the crater.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10- The Valley of Hell.- Yeah.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20Thankfully, Vesuvius is currently dormant,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24but lest it should become active again, it's constantly monitored.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30I don't want to be nervous about this, but I can't help noticing
0:26:30 > 0:26:34that there's a lot of vapour rising today. What is this?
0:26:34 > 0:26:37Yeah. What you see is actually vapour.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40What you cannot see is a gas.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42Scientists have long recognised
0:26:42 > 0:26:45that gases dissolved in the earth's molten crust
0:26:45 > 0:26:49provide the driving force of volcanic eruptions.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and sulphurous gases
0:26:52 > 0:26:56must be measured and monitored.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58I introduce you to Bernadino.
0:26:58 > 0:26:59He's our volcanologist.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03And he's collecting gas from the inside part of the crater right now.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05- Do you want to try?- I'd love to.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09- So pull the syringe.- Yes.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11Yeah. This way.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14And then I push in... Ah! And there are all the lovely bubbles.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16And you see the gas coming inside?
0:27:16 > 0:27:18- I do.- You see bubbles? Good.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22A rise in temperature
0:27:22 > 0:27:25and the mix of gases are key eruption warning signs.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29If Vesuvius were in a pre-eruptive condition,
0:27:29 > 0:27:33the temperature reading could exceed 160 degrees.
0:27:35 > 0:27:36- 69 degrees.- Yes.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39That seems quite cool for a volcano.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Yeah, because we are on the upper part of the volcano.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46- It's a bit hotter downstairs. - Yeah, exactly.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48But can you reassure me that the volcano will not explode
0:27:48 > 0:27:51before I reach the bottom?
0:27:51 > 0:27:53Yeah. Never mind, you'll be safe.
0:27:53 > 0:27:54Thank you.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02'On the second part of my journey,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05'I'll learn about the true art of pizza...'
0:28:05 > 0:28:07BELL RINGS You know Picasso?
0:28:07 > 0:28:10- I do know Picasso. - Yes. You make Picasso, please.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13'..confront death and destruction in Messina...'
0:28:13 > 0:28:17Modern estimates reckon that perhaps 60 or 80,000 were killed.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20'..and be all at sea on my train.'
0:28:20 > 0:28:22It's quite alarming that we're actually sailing
0:28:22 > 0:28:24while the bow door is still coming down.