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Positano from the sea
  Naples has its own special shape, defined partly by landscape, partly by chance and partly by governmental edict. The only way to get a feel for the place is to spend time walking through its different quarters. To orient yourself, find Piazza Garibaldi. From here, the long Corso Umberto I just down to the left (southwest) to the Piazza Bovio, where, changing its name to Via Agostino Depretis, it continues on to the Piazza Municipio. The corso is one of the main traffic routes in Naples and at midday is jammed with buses, taxis, cars and motorbikes. At night it is lined with prostitutes. The thoroughfare was forced through the narrow, crowded streets that surround it in 1888, in an effort to improve air circulation after a cholera epidemic four years earlier. The rather drab Universita hulks about halfway down, on the right side. Naples was originally founded by the Greeks before it was conquered by the Romans. During the days of the Roman Empire, it was a favorite holiday hotspot for many of the emperors because of the city’s Mediterranean climate and easy coastal access. This strategic port location has also enabled Naples to play an important commercial role over the years. Its popularity today, however, is perhaps not as it once was. A reputation of unemployment, mafia crime, and theft or pick-pocketing lingers, although there has been substantial improvement and campaigns to combat all of these in the last 15 years. The city has recently experienced a renaissance-like revival with increasing tides of artists, musicians, theatre and film troupes, and writers flocking to this Mediterranean refuge. Geographically, Naples is located in the Campania volcanic arc – halfway between Campi Flegrei and Mount Vesuvius. The sight of the Bay of Naples and its rock structures is the stuff tropical paintings are made of. Naples is divided into several different neighborhoods, including the old center where the buildings are crowded, the new administrative district, and the business district where all the roads and traffic converge. The other neighborhoods are located in the Capodimonte and San Martino hills. Tourists of Naples should visit the Castel Dell’Ovo, which is nicknamed the “Egg Castle”. Legend has it that the poet Virgil placed a magical egg in the castle’s foundations to support the structure. Castel Dell’Ovo is built on a small island by the Normans and dates back to the 12th Century. It is a great place to enjoy the Naples waterfront. There is also a small fishing village or marina around the castle’s southern walls, where tourists today can enjoy a number of fine restaurants. The Castel Nuovo is another site that should be visited. It is often called Maschio Angioino and used to be the royal residence of King Charles I of Anjou. It is a symbol of architecture for the city of Naples. The catacombs beneath Naples are also popular among tourists. These caverns include the “Napoli Sotteranea” and the Piscina Mirablis, which is the main cistern. These tunnels lie about 30 meters beneath the city and were used as raid shelters during WWII. There remain inscriptions in the tunnel walls describing the suffering endured at the time by the Napoli inhabitants. Aside from visiting the sites and enjoying the beauty and climate of Naples, it is important to try some of Naples’ legendary Neapolitan pizza. The Pizza Margherita, made of mozzarella cheese, pomodoro and basil sauce, and cooked in a Tandoori-like oven, originated from Naples and is not the same anywhere else. When Charles I of Anjou built the Castel Nuovo in 1272, he could not have known that seven centuries later it would still serve as the political hub of the city. The Municipal Council of Naples meets in the huge Sala dei Baroni, where the cruel Charles is said to have performed some of his bloodiest executions. Perhaps the finest architectural element in this imposing fortress is its famous Triumphal Arch, built in 1454-1467 to commemorate Alphonso I's defeat of the French. It is the only Renaissance arch ever to have been built at the entrance to a castle. A short walk up the Via San Carlo leads to the Teatro San Carlo, the largest opera house in Italy and one of the finest in the world. It is the opera house of one's dreams, all red velvet and gold trim, with six tiers of boxes opening out in the shape of a horseshoe from the stage. Built in 1737 under the direction of Charles III of Bourbon, the theater retains its perfect acoustics, helped by the insertion, after a fire in 1816, of hundreds of clay pitchers between the walls. The monthly tourist magazine Qui Napoli, available at tourist offices, gives full listings of the many concerts, operas and recitals performed here throughout the year. Even on the sixth tier, you will sit in your own private box, in a velvet seat, inches beneath the ceiling. Across the street is the Galleria Umberto I, erected in 1887 on a neoclassical design similar to that of its older brother in Milan. Its glass ceiling, 56 meters (184 feet) high, and its mosaic-covered floor were reconstructed after bomb damage in World War Two. Pleasant cafes permit a moment's rest; a major telephone and telegraph center links it to the outside world. The wide Piazza Plebiscito around the corner is embraced by the twin arcades of the Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola (1817-32), modeled after the Pantheon in Rome. The imposing church has unfortunately, little to offer the tourist other than the pungent shade of its dingy arcades. The Piazza itself is now a major parking lot, illustrating one of the city's major modern headaches: cars. Buses ply regularly from here to most points in the city. The sprawling red facade of the Palazzo Reale (1600) looms across the street with its eight statues illustrating the eight Neapolitan dynasties (see above). At the foot of its monumental marble staircase — whose lavishness shocked Mark Twain upon his visit here in 1868 — stand the original bronze doors from the Castel Nuovo. The cannonball lodged in the left door is an eery reminder of an early siege. Upstairs are an impressive, if somewhat uncomfortable-looking, throne room and a small, lavish theater. Further rooms stretch off into an endless magnificence of period furniture and Dresden china. Another famous castle, the Castel dell'Ovo on the waterfront, is also in use by modern man. It is a popular spot for scientific conventions. Its oval shape > (hence the name) is apparently the responsibility of the Spanish viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo, who reconstructed it in 1532-53. It was originally begun by William I in 1154, finished by Frederick II and enlarged by the not-to-be-outdone Charles I of Anjou. Pleasant restaurants line the shore; children do bellyflops from the causeway; the speedboats of the Guardia Finanza lurk along the Quay. Great Museums The Museo Archaeologico Nazionale di Napoli is one of the great museums of the world, housing the most spectacular finds from Pompeii and Herculaneum and some of the finest examples of Greek sculpture visible today. A trip to the museum will take an entire morning. The ground floor is devoted to classical sculpture and Egyptian art. In the main entrance hall, a monolithic sarcophagus depicts a famous and important scene: Prometheus creating man out of clay. Another awesome sarcophagus presents a raucous Bacchanalian celebration. Through a doorway to the right, a pair of statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, who killed the tyrant Hipparchus, fairly leaps out at you as you enter the room. These are actually Roman copies of originals once installed in the Agora in Athens. In a further room stands a Roman copy of the famous statue of Doryphorus by Poly-cleitus (440 BC), considered the "canon of perfection" of manly proportions. This statue, found at Pompeii, and others of its period are evidence of the fine tastes brought to Italy by its Greek settlers. The rich collection of Pompeiian mosaics on the mezzanine floor reminds us that art never gets better through the ages; it only changes its form, as a beautiful model changes her dress during a fashion show. Everything in these rooms comes from the floors, walls and courtyards of houses unearthed at Pompeii. The freshness and color of these works after centuries buried in lava are an amazing tribute to the craftsmanship of their ancient makers. Room LIX contains two of the most famous of the mosaics, both signed by a master of the craft named Dioscorides from the island of Samos. That labeled 9987 depicts, according to some, two women consulting a sorceress, and according to others, three women gossiping. This mosaic and 9985, which shows a dwarf, two women and a man with musical instruments, are thought to represent scenes from a Greek comedy. The Nile scenes in room LX, from a later period, present a world of bright ducks, crocodiles, hippopotami and snakes. These mosaics originally framed the Battle of Issus. now in Room LXI. In this huge scene Alexander the Great is presented in his victorious battle against the Persian emperor Darius in 333 BC. The thicket of spears creates an illusion of an army vaster than that actually shown. Through the large Salone dell'Atlante at the top of the stairs is a series of rooms containing the fabulous wall-paintings from different Campanian cities. One could spend a whole morning in this section alone. Quite startling is the 6th Century BC Sacrifice of Iphigenia. the Greek equivalent of the Biblical sacrifice of Isaac. The deer borneby Artemis in the top of the picture replaced Iphigenia at the last minute, just as Isaac was replaced by a ram. Far happier is The Rustic Concert, in which Pan and several nymphs tune up for a Roman shindig. Churches A visit to the churches of Naples, as to the churches of any Italian city, is the best introduction to the local streetlife. Unlike in the United States, whose architectural unifiers are primarily shopping malls and banks, in Italy a visit to a church, a quick confession, a curtsy in front of an altar are still a daily reality for large sections of the population. Walking from church to church, one encounters weddings, masses, funerals in progress; rich and poor emerging together into the twilight after services; families, old people, young people, going to their daily mass. The church of Monteoliveto. abou: halfway up the Via Roma, is a warren of Renaissance monuments hidden away in surprising corners. Far in the back of this aisleless basilica, begun in 1411, stands a bizarre group of terracotta figures by the artist Guido Mazzoni. The eight statues, looking almost alive in the dim light that filters into their chapel, represent the Pieta, and are said to be portraits of Maz-zoni's 15th Century friends. Further back, down a side passage, waits the Old Sacristy (in restauro, 1985), containing frescoes by Vasari and quite wonderful wood stalls, inlaid with Biblical Scenes. In the very front of the church, to the left of the entrance, another passage leads to the Piccolomini Chapel where a relief of a nativity scene by the Florentine Antonio Rossellino (1475) is a delight to behold. Unlike in Rome, which is heavily Baroque, no one architectural style dominates the Neapolitan ecclesiastical scene. One learns to phase in and out of the Gothic, the Renaissance, the Baroque with the ease of a true modern dilettante. The church of Gesu Nuovo. at the top ot the street called Trinita Maggiore, presents perhaps the most harmonious example of the Neapolitan Baroque. The embossed stone facade originally formed the wall of a Renaissance palace. At noon on Saturdays, when weddings inevitably occur here, the massive front doors are thrown open to give a splendid view of fully lit baroque at its best. The interior has a unique design, being almost as wide as it is deep. The colored marbles and bright frescoes seem to spiral up into the dome. Directly above the main portal, just inside the church, stretches a wide fresco by Francesco Solimena (1725) depicting Heliodorus driven from the temple. The ubiquitous Solimena ruled Neapolitan painting in the first half of the 18th Century. A more austere, and older architectural approach is demonstrated by the Gothic church of Santa Chiara, just across the street. Founded in 1310-28 by Robert the Wise for his queen, Sancia, the huge church — the biggest in Naples — became the favorite place of worship of the Neapolitan nobility. Extensive bomb damage during the Second World War destroyed many of its most important works of art, but worth more than a moment's gander in its vast, now relatively empty interior is the Tomb of Robert the Wise (1343) behind the main altar, by the brothers Giovanni and Pacio Bertini of Florence. Through a courtyard to the left of the church is the entrance to its immense and peaceful cloister, where majolica-tiled pathways meander through a wild and beautiful garden of roses and fruit trees. The steep Via Santa Maria di Constan-tinopoli leads up to the Conservatorio di Musica, founded in 1537, the oldest musical conservatory in Europe. Its important library and museum are open from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., but best of all is to wander through its courtyard listening to the music of violins, organs, harps and pianos spilling down from upper storeys. Just down the block, the church of San Pietro a Maiella, built in 1313-16, will reward the visitor with one of the most famous ceilings in Italy. The Calabrian Mattia Preti began painting it in 1656, at the age of 43, a few months after leaving his native Taverna for the more rigorous artistic challenges of Naples. Five years later he completed his work, establishing himself as one of the most talented painters of his generation. The panels in the nave tell the story of Saint Celestine V (see Abruzzo, above), while the panels in the transept present the life of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, the virgin martyr who was beheaded for out-arguing pagan scholars. The Naples Duomo is a magnificent gothic warehouse of relics from every period of the city's history. Here are stored, in a chapel off the right aisle, the head of Saint Januarius, the Patron Saint of the city, and two phials of his blood. The magical powers of the blood are the subject of what the irrepressible Twain called "One of the wretchedest of all the religious impostures in Italy — the miraculous liquefaction of the blood."The miracle has been taking place every year on Dec. 16, Sept. 19 and the first Saturday in May since the saint's body was brought to Naples from Pozzuoli, the place of his martyrdom, by Bishop Severus in the time of Constantine. It is said that if the blood fails to liquefy, some awful unknown thing will happen to the city's inhabitants. | |
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Article Contributors Anonymous user updated 1 year ago Mirko updated 1 year ago Anonymous user updated 1 year ago |
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