Portici is a town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 and comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

of the Province of Naples

Province of Naples

The Province of Naples is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital city is Naples, within the province there are 92 Comuni of the Province of Naples.-Demographics:...

 in the Campania

Campania

Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

 region of southern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It is the site of the Portici Royal Palace

Palace of Portici

The Royal Palace of Portici is a former royal palace in Portici, southern Italy. Today it is the home of the Orto Botanico di Portici. The Botanic Gardens are operated by the University of Naples Federico II...

.

Geography

Portici lies at the foot of Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...

 on the Bay of Naples, about 8 km (5 mi) southeast of Naples itself. There is a small port

Port

A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....

. To the south east is Ercolano

Ercolano

Ercolano is a town and comune in the province of Naples, Campania . It lies at the western foot of Mount Vesuvius, on the Bay of Naples, just southeast of the city of Naples. The medieval town of Resina was built on the volcanic material left by the eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed the ancient...

, formerly Resina, which occupies the site of ancient Herculaneum

Herculaneum

Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in AD 79, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano, in the Italian region of Campania in the shadow of Mt...

. San Giorgio a Cremano

San Giorgio a Cremano

San Giorgio a Cremano is a primarily residential town and comune in the province of Naples, in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is located on the foothills of Mount Vesuvius to the west of the volcano, and is six kilometres to the south east of the centre of Naples...

 is another town nearby.

History

The city was completely destroyed by the Eruption of Vesuvius in 1631, but was rebuilt. Charles III of Spain

Charles III of Spain

Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...

, King of Naples and Sicily, built a royal palace in the town

Palace of Portici

The Royal Palace of Portici is a former royal palace in Portici, southern Italy. Today it is the home of the Orto Botanico di Portici. The Botanic Gardens are operated by the University of Naples Federico II...

 between 1738-1748. After Garibaldi defeated

Expedition of the Thousand

The Expedition of the Thousand was a military campaign led by the revolutionary general Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860. A force of volunteers defeated the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, leading to its dissolution and annexation by the Kingdom of Sardinia, an important step in the creation of a newly...

 the Bourbons in 1860, the palace was turned into the Portici botanic gardens

Orto Botanico di Portici

The Orto Botanico di Portici , also known as the Orto Botanico della Facoltà di Agraria dell'Università di Napoli-Portici, is a botanical garden operated by the University of Naples Agriculture Department, and located at Via Università, 100 – 80055 Portici, Province of Naples, Campania, Italy...

 and the Royal Higher School of Agriculture. It once contained the antiquities from Herculaneum, which have since been moved to Naples.

Economy

The inhabitants were historically engaged in fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

, silk

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...

-growing and silk-weaving

Weaving

Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...

up tp the beginning of the 20th century. Later a more diversified economy emerged, with industry and trade as main pillars.

Vincenzo Cuomo is the mayor. In 2009, he banned shops from displaying Christmas decorations because shopkeepers were the subject to extortion to buy Camorra (mob) sold decorations.

Boeing is opening a research centre for advanced materials under an agreement with Alenia.