The English version has been carried out by the English department of liceo classico scientifico Francesco Sbordone
Naples and its waters: a 2700 year long history
Parthenŏpe and Mount Echia:
The springs
At least four springs, historically verified and concentrated in the Santa Lucia area, have reached us. In the 1856 version of Notizie del bello dell'antico e del curioso della città di Napoli by Carlo Celano, it is clarified that: - -ancient sulphurous water - "The physical properties of ancient sulphurous water are to be clear, foamy, has a strong odor like spoiled eggs and is somewhat lighter than distilled water”.
- Acqua ferrata - "Acqua ferrata – also known as acqua luculliana – “is clear, has a sparkling odor and an astringent acid taste […] and weighs little more than ordinary water”.
In the 1856 version of the same text by Carlo Celano it is stated that "the other (springs) were seen in the month of June 1854 and by the chemists who studied them they were called new sulphurous water and the other acidulous water of S Lucia."
- The new sulphurous water - “The new sulphurous water is clear, has a strong odor and smells like rotten eggs”.
-The acidic water of Santa Lucia - "the acidic water of Santa Lucia “has no colour, gives off a smell like rotten eggs and has a rather pungent flavour”.
A spring was still present in a sort of courtyard of a building on Via Chiatamone until the early seventies, then definitively closed, and in its place the Hotel Continental building arose which sealed the spring forever.
On the Schiavoni topographical document, the attached sheet number 23, called Forte dell'Ovo, dated 1876, indicates that there would already have been a building on the site not similar to the current one, but already frequented by the resident aristocracy and high-end tourism , to be served on site with the possibility for the resident community to dedicate themselves to ferrata water baths.
Another source flowed close to the port and was also used to load water for sailing ships going to the Americas, because it was believed to be the only one in the world not subject to putrefaction.
Precisely for this reason, the pier adjacent to the palace, in the dock of Naples, is still called Beverello.