Flavio Gioja

The sailors Flavio Gioia ( 13-14. Century) is venerated as the alleged inventor of the compass with a monument at the harbor and named after him square in Amalfi, the former maritime republic in Italy. However, the person is historically not guaranteed and is also claimed by the neighboring village of Positano as citizens today, especially not for tourist reasons.

The compass itself to have been common in the Mediterranean before Gioia, improvements in mind, however, attributed to him. The compass rose is seen as a homage to the Gioia his time King of Naples Charles of Anjou.

The origin of the legend can be traced to two sources. First found in Flavio Biondo Italia Illustrata ( 1474 ), the following sentence:

As a result, Giovanni Battista Pio wrote in his Lucretius comment In Carum Lucretium poetam Commentarii (1511, p 207):

This can be translated as:

Alternatively, the translation be denominated:

The surname Gioia is this derivation according to legend, to the same- village.

In honor of Gioia located near the lunar north pole crater Gioja in 1935 named after him.