Category: LIVE NAPLES

A Fabulous Musical Street

Posted on by alice

Alice: I remember when I came to Naples eighteen years ago. It was a dark and rainy January and I would walk the historical centre, making friends with the people I’d meet at the shops and bars I spent time in to keep warm. One of the friends I made was working in a CD store on via Sebastiano I had stumbled upon because I was too shy to visit the stores, although I was fascinated by their instruments, especially their mandolins. He introduced me to local musicians like Pino Daniele, Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare, Almamegretta and 99 Posse. Along the street named after the once-present San Sebastiano Monastery and with its proximity to the Music Conservatory which has been visited by Rossini, Alessando Scarlatti, Bellini and Donizetti (among others), it is still the home to the biggest concentration of music instruments and equipment in Naples.

Fiorella: You are right! It is always nice to walk by the Conservatory and hear the musicians and singers practising.
Neapolitans are never tired of visiting this fabulous place.
The Royal Conservatory of San Sebastiano was established  in 1807 by King Giuseppe Bonaparte. In 1826 it was named Royal Conservatory of Music of San Pietro a Majella. It originated by fusing together three conservatories founded in the 16th century in the churches of Santa Maria di Loreto, Sant’Onofrio in Capuana and Pietà dei Turchini. The aim of the three institutions was to rescue children from the streets of Naples by housing them and educating them through music.
The conservatory and the adjacent church are part of the 14th century monastery of San Pietro a Majella, built at the end of the 13th century and dedicated to Pietro Angeleri, who became Pope as Celestine V in 1294.

The church is also a must-see! The transept is decorated with valuable frescoes dating from the 14th century, baroque marble inlays and a cycle of paintings by Mattia Preti, amongst the others. The fabulous 17 th century cloister with palm and banana trees and a monument to Beethoven by Francesco Jerace, leads to a second cloister and to the Conservatory.
The Conservatory library houses important manuscripts of the numerous composers  who lived and worked in Naples.

Alice: Also Neapolitan-by-adoption like me love to walk down the narrow, tree-lined street and hear notes from guitars, violins and mandolins waft in and out of the doors of the stores. Music lovers will truly appreciate this corner of Neapolitan history. Don’t be shy like I was initially!We visited Giuseppe Miletti store as well as others the other day to buy a speaker and a mixer for upcoming concerts. Two hours and an impromptu concert later, we walked out smiling and in appreciation of Manuela’s patience for all the models she happily let us try!

When you leave via San Sebastiano, turn left at Spaccanapoli to check out the artisan street vendors and street musicians performing for the throngs of people walking by. If you’re looking for something to please your sweet tooth, there is Gay Odin which has some of the best chocolate and gelato in town.
In the late 19 th c. Isidoro Odin, a young chocolatier from Alba, come to Naples, one of the most important and populated European capitals. Naples was a melting pot where artists, aristocrats, scholars and food-lovers from all over Europe spent their time in the already colorful and busy streets of the city. The first classy and wonderfully smelling factory was opened in Chiaia, the area where it is still today. Isidoro worked day and night to create delicious new delicacies and surprise the Neapolitan fine palates. Gay Odin chocolate was and is still today considered one of the best in town. All phases of production are handmade, from chocolate roasting to packaging. Packaging is still the original from paper with vintage images to fabulous boxes representing Naples’ vedutas and guaches. One of the reasons why it is in the registry of Italy’s historical places.
Fiorella: Hungry for something more substantial? Try out the pizza at historical Pizzeria Lombardi.
Pizzeria Lombardi a Santa Chiara is a 5 th generation pizzeria, decorated with majolica tiles inspired from the next door cloister of Santa Chiara. The first pizzaiolo in the family started in 1892 in his bare basso (street level home) in vico Limoncello where calzoni with ricotta and maybe cicoli or simply tomato sauce were coming out from a frying pan and sold for few liras to the neighbours. Four generations have made pizzas every day in the historical center.
A coffee is also mandatory in 70s original style Settebello bar, a bohemian spot where whoever desire to play the piano is welcome…be advised though that the owner, Pino, is an expert in classical music. Also, his fabulous nephew is a musician who studies music and plays piano between serving one espresso after another. Intellectuals, street artists, old professors, street vendors and students are all sitting at the tables of this welcoming corner, where table service is not charged.

 

Fabulous Festival in the Sanita’

Posted on by alice

We’ve written about the Sanità before because it is near and dear to our hearts. It’s a thriving market in the middle of street art and historical landmarks. It’s a place where people call you by name and it has an uncontaminated charm full of artists wanting to be off the radar, families, tourists and students. Naples is a very unique city in many respects as it is a city which welcomes people in the same way that a small town might do so. The Vergini, an area of the Sanità right off of Piazza Cavour is seems like a town within a city and since 2016 they’ve been hosting bi-annual street parties which the whole city (and tourists) love to go to. Although many neighborhoods in Naples have their own form of festivals, often connected to food, the parties at the Vergini is something a bit out of the ordinary. It feels like a sort of Homecoming party/Carnival where the normal shops host budding DJs, stages are set up where normally market stalls would be to host actors, dancers and singers

 

and food shops cook fresh fish and fried pizza outside of their doors for all the passersby. You might find yourself in the middle of a spontaneous street karaoke session or a dance party in front of a church or a wine bar.

 

On your way to the party, you cannot miss the famous Porta San Gennaro. Look up to the arch whose fresco by Mattia Preti represents the Immaculate Conception holding the baby and surrounded by angels. At the sides of the Madonna we see a kneeling St. Francis Xavier and St. Gennaro offering her his blood, a haggard woman on the steps in the lower section of the fresco symbolizes the plague and the two marble statues represent St. Gennaro and Michael. The artist  was charged with painting tributes to the Madonna on all the city gates after the plague epidemic in 1656 and this is the only fresco that has survived.

On the other side of the gate is a bust of St Gaetano and under the arch we see a shrine showing the Virgin, located here since 1887 to remind us of salvation from another epidemic (Asiatic disease) that shook Naples in 1884.

Originally located in proximity of via Settembrini, at the beginning of the 16th c, under the Vice-Kingdom of Don Pedro de Toledo, the city walls were enlarged and the gate was moved to is present location. The name remained the same as the gate gave access to both the catacombs of San Gennaro and the church of San Gennaro extra moenia (outside the city walls).

Porta San Gennaro and the permanent light installation dedicated to Totò the famous actor who was born in the Sanità district

Take in the art of this historic part of the city wall before getting your fill of food and music in The Vergini at today’s much-anticipated event of The Sanità Ta Ta featuring many artists such as Galera De Rua, Tartaglia Aneuro and Tommaso Primo.

If it’s late enough when  you finish celebrating, you can return to right below Porta San Gennaro to check out the all night stands along Via Foria who are open for the Epiphany tradition of candy-filled stockings that the children will find in the morning.

 

Art of Writing

Posted on by alice

Speaking and writing is the most common way of communicating and expressing ourselves.

Poets, singers and talented writers have a sort of a mission in writing and giving joy to the others through their words. But what about somebody who didn’t have a formal education and yet made their way of writing an art as well as a job for three generations?

Learning from his grandpa and his father how to write prices on wooden signs for sellers in the markets of Naples. This is perhaps how his art of writing became a job.

  

Pasquale De Stefano works in a tiny room in a vicolo of the Borgo di Sant Antonio market (better known as O Buvero amongst Neapolitans). He learned from his father how to use rulers, pencils and acrylic coulours to make the signs.

To arrive there, you pass by the Renaissance marble arch of Porta Capuana

and walk in the chaotic market Borgo of Sant Antonio

untill you reach a dark alley where on the ground floor Pasquale is hard at work. Recently he has been noticed beyond the markets by shops or simply by people who want to advertise their actvities…and maybe his work will soon become trendy.

While steadily concentrating on his work, he wastes no time as he both writes and talks kindly to those who come to visit him.

When you leave this old post war corner of Napoli and as soon as you go back in the market you realize that there is no stall without one of his signs. He is a Neapolitan star without even knowing it.

  

We all appreciate some street art and graffitti artists (not on monuments and historical buildings!)

and what about using English to express what a UK or US citizen would never understand?

English is the international language and apaprently very trendy on clothing…but maybe in certain cases people should use their own language.

We still find it fabulous, though.

 

                      

 

Follow the red thread in the Royal Palace

Posted on by alice

The hanging garden of the Royal Palace has been reopened to the public after a long restoration last November.

The Japanese artist Uemon Ikeda (residing in Rome), along with 12 students from the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples, has installed  An Enchanted Garden to the East of the Sun in occcasion of the garden’s reopening. The red wool and silk thread that leads from the courtyard of the Palace through the fabulous marble staircase and the rooms of the Royal Apartment is still present.

   

 

 

We can follow it along the halls displaying the famous and delicate tapestries from the Royal Factory of Naples, the amazing rococò stuccoes decorating some of the ceilings, furniture, paintings and the fabulous doors of the royals.

The thread weaves a connection among art, arhitecture, the flora of the garden and of course the enchanting view of the Bay.

 

 

 

After a tour of the Royal Apartment a coffee at the Gambrinus cafè is mandatory. This 19th c. historical caffetteria is at the corner of via Chiaia and Piazza Plebiscito, in front of the San Carlo Opera House.

Neapolitans stand by the counter to sip the espresso surrunded by the original Liberty Style stuccoes, paintings and decorations.

 

Three fabulous doorways

Posted on by alice

Fiorella: Sometimes I walk in the same streets where I have been so many times and I still appreciate the fabulous details. All the staircases, balconies, walls or portals that you can only find here. Other times I am horrified by illegal remodels or additions.

Alice: Any street that you walk on holds so many surprises. I really love the Neapolitan portals. When I came here many years ago I would get lost looking at the details of seemingly hidden places that had so many stories to tell. There are innumerable incredible doorways in Naples that it is very hard to choose which ones I love most. Let’s try to pick two or three of them.

In a shabby but charming corner of our fabulous Naples Antonio Penne, the secretary of King Ladislao di Durazzo built his palazzo in 1406. Some ashlars of the façade are sculpted with the French lily, symbol of the Royal family, some others show feathers. Penna in Italian means plume, feather so the symbol refers to the name of the family and the role of Antonio Penna as the King’s Secretary. The façade is a mix of central Italian and Catalan style with its depressed arch.

Among the centuries the building was owned by different noblemen, an ecclesiastic order and a volcanologist. More recently it has been purchased by the Regione Campania.

 

What make this building (who desperetly needs restoration) fabulous is the sober, geometric façade. It shows some unexpected symbols and the inscription above the portal carved in what looks like a marble ribbon is especially of note. It is an epigramm by the poet Marziale «QUI DUCIS VULTUS NEC ASPICIS ISTA LIBENTER OMNIBUS INVIDEAS IN-VIDE NEMO TIBI» You who grimace, you poisonous who does not read gladly these verses. May you be jealous of everyone and may no one be of you.  Antonio Penna uses Marziale’s verse to tell passers-by that he knows his beautiful home can generate envy, but envious people are stupid fools to be ignored…

For an unknown reason some unique Neapolitans put ceramic tiles with a similar meaning outside their bassi (street level homes) or shops and, in addition, a horn of good luck. However, facade of their buildings are not so classy though the sentiment still prevails that others can still envy their status. Not so fabulous, but…

Alice: Speaking of fabulous, I would definetly mention the doorway of Palazzo Zevallos.

Fiorella: I am with you darling… In via Toledo at n.185 stands the impressive façade of the 17th c. Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano, commissioned by the Spanish merchant Giovanni Zevallos to Bartolomeo Picchiatti.

Alice: His son Francesco Antonio was an archaeologist, antiquarian and architect and had renovated the church of the Pio Monte della Misericordia. They had good genes!

Fiorella: This is a Palazzo where I always go to admire the very interesting collection of paintings and sculptures, with some emblematic 19th c. examples and of course the indisputed star of the museum, the Martyrdom of Saint Ursula which is known to be the last work by Caravaggio. The palazzo itself is a work of art, but let’s focus only to the portal that impresses all the passers-by.

Zevallos commissioned the building and when he died from the horrendus plague in 1656 his heirs sold it to his financier agent Jan Vandeneynden. Vandeneynden was a merchant and an art dealer. He was close to Flemish artists and restless collectors such as Gaspare Roomer. Thus Palazzo Zevallos housed amazing artworks for two generations of the Vandeneynden family. One of Jan V.’s granddaughters married a Colonna prince of Stigliano thus continuing the amazing role of the residence as a house museum under the Colonna di Stigliano.

The fabulous doorway shows the coat of arms of the Colonna di Stigliano family which had displayed in the residence works by Luca Giordano, Titian, Anton Van Dyck, Poussin and many others and hosted musicians such as Farinelli, Scarlatti and Pergolesi. In the 1830ies one of the Colonna sold the 1st floor to the banker Carlo Forquet who redecorated it with the stuccoes and frescoes that we can still appreciate. By the 1920ies the Banca Commerciale had bought the whole building and run a quite theatrical Art Nouveau renovation of the courtyards and the internal loggias. In 2007 the Palazzo became a museum housing a permanent art collection well displayed in this fabulous architectural framework.

The majestic portal opens these wonders and memories to visitors. It is impressive with its geometric and at the same time eccentric pillars in marble and piperno. They are decorated with diamond-shaped elements and end with two vases. A rich garland and curls in white marble support the crowned coat of arms.

 

There are many other portals which deserve to be mentioned, but in talking about geometry, ashlars and diamond-shaped elements we cannot forget a walk we did in the side streets of Quartiere Sanità. Here we noticed many bizarre balconies and doorways.

One of them-not the craziest-perhaps has the ambition of recalling the façade of Gesù church or the pillars on the sides of Palazzo Zevallos’ portal. Who knows…these are only some of the mysteries of our fabulous city

                            
pillar of Palazzo Zevallos’ portal 
detail of the façade of the Church of Gesù.
Picture by Raffaele Lello Mastroianni                                                                        
                                                                                        

 

 

 

Rococò or roccocò?

Posted on by alice

Fiorella: Christmas is coming and the dilemma is Rococò or roccocò. Why don’t to do both?

Alice: We all know that the Rococo style originated in France in the early 18th century but spread in other European countries such as Austria, Germany and of course Italy. Furniture, porcelain, decorative arts, paintings, stuccoes and architectural elements started to be shaped as asymmetric, curly, gilded or pastel colored: exuberance became the key word.

The world rococo comes from the French rocaille, a shell-covered rock that was used to decorate artificial grottoes.

What does roccocò mean then? It is not soft or light as the rococò 18th c. stuccoes. It’s not popular in the rest of Europe, yet it is really famous in Napoli and there is no Christmas without it!

Fiorella: This biscuit made with almond, honey, candied and Neapolitan pisto (mix of spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and coriander) was invented in 1320 by the nuns of the Real Convento della Maddalena and was called roccocò for its semi-round but irregular, asymmetryc shape.

 

 

We love to go around Naples at Christmas time and walk through the halls of the Royal PalaceRoyal  to admire the rococò doors and stuccoes,

 

      

 

enter the fabulous church of San Gregorio Armeno to be raptured by the two fabulous, extravagant wooden choir-lofts and then

get some Christmas calories at our beloved Borgo dei Vergini. Here between the tarallificio Poppella and the local gluten-kingdom bakery we can snack on a roccocò while immerging ourselves in the fabulous rococò staircases of Palazzo dello Spagnolo and Sanfelice.

 

 

Once “ai Vergini” how to miss mustacciuoli (or mostaccioli), susamielli or raffiuoli? These are only some of the Christmas sins to be committed.

 

You don’t like sweets? No worries, the choice of savory is just as broad!

 

   

pizza di scarola (escarole pie) and papaccelle (pickled small peppers)

 

baccalà fritto (deep fried codfish)

 

 

 

A Fabulous Night Among the Artichokes

Posted on by alice

Alice: Fiorella, we have to tell the readers about our Friday night in the Vergini!

Fiorella: Who would’ve thought that we would be at a party around pineapples, art students, families and one of the funniest DJs I have heard in a long time!

Alice: When you told me about a party at Ciro, our favorite vegetable seller, I had to go to see what a night dancing to Neapolitan 90’s pop while buying vegetables for Saturday’s lunch looked like.

Fiorella: And it looked FABULOUS.

Alice: Every day this bustling market street hosting Palazzo dello Spagnolo and the famous Ciro Oliva pizzeria is full of cars and mopeds and baby strollers and people going every which way to buy fish, socks, oranges, a newspaper or mozzarella but Friday night it was magical. There was a new energy where the stands used to be which connected artists from around the city, locals, tourists and two of the best up-and-coming bloggers in the area to relax, sip wine, dance and eat delectable, homemade sandwiches filled with ingredients from Ciro’s mom like meatballs, friarielli and eggplant Parmesan.

Fiorella: It was unforgettable! I loved how Ciro, still dressed in his work clothes, was dancing next to the DJ while he continued to sell his fruit and vegetables.

Alice: That is Naples for you…a surprise around every corner. Where else can you find this kind of spontaneous creativity?

 

 

 

RIA ROSA: A FABULOUS NEAPOLITAN CHARACTER

Posted on by alice
Fiorella: Alice I know that you are a big fan of varietà theatre and that you also studied all of the theatres of Naples. Haven’t you also done researches on cafè chantant which inspired your performances? It is a world which isn’t that well known as an important facet of the life and culture of Naples.
You, an American in Naples, you made me fall in love with my compatriot Ria Rosa!
Alice: It is seriously a joy to share with those reading a little about the biography of a woman so revolutionary and ironic!
Historically, Naples is a city of  theatre, music and film: it has the oldest Opera House in Europe which was opened here in 1737. Did you know that Enrico Caruso was from Naples?
More recently Pino Daniele, beloved in all of Italy composed blues songs in Neapolitan dialect. You cannot forget about the actors such as Vittorio De Sica, Totò, Sofia Loren among others who are etched in the fabric of this dramatic city.
Many say that Naples is a stage. You hear the notes it in the voices of those selling fish in the morning, in the calls of the lemon granita vendors on Via Dei Tribunali, on the street corners with buskers playing music from all over the world, in the piazzas full of performances of every type and the way people tell a story to their best friend over coffee.
A few years ago I had an opportunity to spend a summer researching women in theatre and music during Naples heyday at the Fondo De Mura in Castel Nuovo (Maschio Angioino).
The Belle Epoque with the Festival of Piedigrotta, Salone Margherita and a pervasive culture of performance produced exceptional writers, actors, dancers and musicians but there was one woman who I came across, Ria Rosa (Maria Rosaria Liberti), who changed the
face of the traditional Neapolitan song. I had to put her song “Preferisco il ‘900” (I prefere the 20th century) in my show which she wrote in Neapolitan the early 30’s in New York.
New York is the city where she settled after doing a tour there in her early 20’s:
My boyfriend is not modern, he prefers the 19 th century. Instead, I like the 20 th century
Every day I get so angry!
This girdle needs to be loosened, it is such a waste of time
Lipstick, cigarettes, men’s trousers… he doesn’t want to see any of it, he would rather die!
Instead, I want to do all of those things just to spite him
I want to smoke, I want to wear lipstick on my lips!  What’s wrong with that?
I want to go walking in the sand of Coroglio Beach, I love the smell of the beach there!

Coroglio Beach     

Il mio fidanzato non é moderno, gli piace l’Ottocento, a me invece piace il Novecento e tutti i giorni mi devo intossicare (arrabbiare).
Il corpetto va allacciato, questo spreco non mi piace. Il rossetto, la sigaretta, i pantaloni alla maschietto… non vuole vedere nulla di questo. Che lo possano ammazzare!
E io invece per dispetto lo voglio fare. Voglio fumare e il rosso sulle labbra voglio vedere! Che male c’è?
Sulla spiaggia di Coroglio mene vado a passeggiare. Sulla sabbia, sugli scogli ma che odore che ci sta.
She went to New York and never looked back. In a world dominated by male composers, agents and producers, she was one of the only women to write and perform her own songs. In contrast to the other songs of immigration, love and family being performed by others who had left the home country, she chose not to adhere to the traditional themes of that time and penned lyrics with social and political importance.
One of the best things about her music is that she never lost the roots of her native Napoli. Not only are the songs in the Neapolitan dialect, they are full of details about the streets, the people and the landscape of the city. Fabulous!
Today when I perform the song, charged with irony and humor but the honesty of having to fight for the freedom of expression, I try to think of all of the courage it took to leave her country and blaze a path for other female performs to come after her.
When Igo to Coroglio beach, a place where music echoes on the water all night at the clubs dotting the coastline, I think of Ria Rosa in New York, imagining herself in trousers, walking unaccompanied in the sand, cigarette in hand and the reddest of lipstick on her.

The Miracle of San Gennaro

Posted on by alice

Three Days of the Feast

The Feast of the Patron Saint Gennaro falls on September 19 in memory of the the martyrdom of San Gennaro which presumably occurred in 305 AD.

There are two other feasts of note during the year:

On the Saturday before the first Sunday of May (in memory of the transport of the remains of the body of the Saint from Montevergine to Naples) a similar celebration is held. Followers crowd the Cathedral and pray that the miracle of the liquefaction of San Gennaro’s blood is repeated. The first known occurrence of the blood phenomenon was in 1389.

Both in May and September, the celebration is followed by the “octave”: a period of eight days during which the casing container of the blood is exposed to the public for the traditional kiss.

The third celebration is on December 16th which dates back from 1632, the year following the terrible eruption of Vesuvius. According to tradition, San Gennaro saved his beloved Naples from the eminent tragedy.

The Spectacle of the Miracle

The ceremony of San Gennaro is a perfect snapshot of Naples with its contrast and social complexities that coexist and come together for this unique event. The cathedral is filled to the brim with believers, onlookers and tourists while the highest ecclesiastic authorities, the mayor, the noble Delegation of San Gennaro and representatives made up of illustrious descendants of the Bourbons and San Gennaro’s ancestors are there to directly witness the miracle.

 

The Parenti di San Gennaro (Relatives of St. Gennaro), seated on the first pews soberly and somberly recite their rituals and prayers in the Neapolitan dialect. This congregation of women exalt the saint, praying in a respectful but also personal and familiar way:

San Gennaro mio fa tu ca io nun ne pozzo proprio cchiù and arrimmierece chisti guaje (I cannot take it anymore..fix my troubles…). Naples is forever in a state of emergency or in disarray so the ritual is always relevant, unfortunately!

The cardinal holds the vial with the blood and shows how it is still coagulated.

For the relatives waiting is not a good sign so the prayers become even more insistent as if they were yelling from their balconies to call to their child playing ball in the street below. San Gennà… Facci ‘a grazia…Faccia gialla fa ‘o miracolo.

San Gennaro…have mercy on us, Yellow Face give us a miracle. Faccia gialluta-Yellow Face is the nickname of the saint, referencing the golden bust representing him. Even if the sound of the nickname might be offensive, it is also is quite personal and informal.

When the blood liquifies a distiguished member of the Delegation waves a white handkerchief towards the applauding crowd.

Naples-New York

On the same day Little Italy in New York celebrates San Gennaro as well. How did it begin? The Neapolitan immigrants who were owners of a bar on Mulberry Street built a small chapel dedicated to San Gennaro where they collected offers for the poor people of the neighborhood. This is where the celebration began. Now the celebration lasts 11 days where the main theme is food: the zeppole pastries which remind the descendants of the immigrants of the sweet Neapolitan flavor.

In Naples, in addition to the torroni nougats sold on the stands between Via Duomo and Via Foria, in the last few years a pasticceria has invented a new pastry: the hat of San Gennaro!

 

 

If you are not able to be in Naples on one of the three days but you would like to witness the miracle of the liquefying blood in a streamlined way, every Tuesday morning at San Gregorio Ameno church you can observe the liquefying of Saint Patrizia. Believe it or not, it is a great excuses to visit a fabulous late Baroque style church.

 

The story continues … The day after the miracle of San Gennaro people play numbers at the lotto.

Fabulous San Giovanni a Carbonara

Posted on by alice

Fiorella: Apart from pizza and pastries, Naples is famous for archaeology and lots of Baroque…one of the many interesting contrasts of this city. And if you look hard enough, you can find gems of the Renaissance in this fabulous città d’arte.

Alice: I love the Baroque in Naples but it is so great to find those rare places that are examples of other styles. Do you have some favorite spots?

Fiorella: The church of Sant Anna dei Lombardi, the sepulcher for Cardinal Brancaccio by Donatello and Michelozzo in the church of Sant’Angelo al Nilo, the Succorpo in the Duomo and the marble arch of Castel Nuovo are some of the best but I think one of the most notable examples of the local Renaissance is the church of San Giovanni a Carbonara.

Only a few minutes walking from the Duomo and the MADRE museum, in via San Giovanni a Carbonara you find this amazing site where I lead tours to visitors who want to stay away from the typical tourists routes.

Alice: Sometimes off-the-beaten path is the best! I want to know more about Napoli Renaissance. Can we walk there together for a short guided tour? We should also specify that Carbonara has nothing to do with the famous Italian pasta dish that I love so much. However, let’s promise our readers that after the visit they can have a break at the close-by Rescigno bakery, a gluten (and not only) paradise.

Fiorella: Exactly! Carbonarius, indeed, was a place outside the city walls where refuse was collected and burned…not inviting at all.

Alice: By refuse, do you mean trash? But San Giovanni is so pretty!

Fiorella: The complex of San Giovanni was built in the 1340s in this restyled area and dedicated to St. John the Baptist. During the reign of King Ladislao di Durazzo it became the Royal cemetery. Damaged during the earthquake of 1688, it was restructured in the 18th c. by Ferdinando Sanfelice, our beloved Neapolitan architect famous for its spectacular double flight staircases.  Remember our post about the 5 Fabulous Things of Naples?

Climbing the stairs, half way up, we see the Chapel of Saint Monica with its 15 entrances. Continue up the steps-

Alice: Wait, how many steps exactly?

Fiorella: Do not complain-a fabulous surprise is waiting for you. Plus, you are a pro at stairs, I know you live on the fifth floor with no elevator! Anyway, after a little bit of a walk upstairs, you will finally reach the church of San Giovanni. So worth it. And remember we are going to Rescigno afterwards for some of the most delicious snacks ever!

The courtyard is also the entrance to the Cappella Seripando, called the chapel of Crucifix after Giorgio Vasari painted the Crucified Christ (1545) now in the presbytery of the church of San Giovanni.

Suppressed as religious order, the complex was used by military and then bombed in WWII. It was later restored and returned to its origin. The XV century portal, once a side entrance, leads into the church.

Alice: This place is fascinating. Another example of the layers of history around every corner of this city.

Fiorella: The first monument we see is the Miroballo Altar (second half of the15th c.) that reminds us of the arch of Castel Nuovo.

 

Alice: That arch is another one of my favorites as well…anyway, go on!

Fiorella: The Sepulchre of Giovanni Miroballo is a round arch, decorated with statues of saints ending with a tympanum on which St. Michael stands. The central niche, in the arch shows St. John the Evangelist by Giovanni da Nola, and the virtues: Temperance, Strength, Prudence and Justice.

In the tympanum you see the founders of the chapel with the Virgin Mary, Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. The chapel, is considered to be the work of Lombard artists. Probability Jacopo della Pila, Tommaso Malvito, G.T.Malvito and may be Pietro da Milano, in Naples to work for King Alfonso of Aragon at the Arch of Castel Nuovo which is the triumphal arch celebrating his accession to the throne.

Walking towards the altar, amongst sculptures and paintings, you reach the 15th c. Chapel of Caracciolo di Vico (to the left of the presbytery) with a concentric square marble floor and a white cupola which repeats the same geometric motif. The chapel shows the work of the most important sculptors working in Naples between the 15th and 17th c. Giovanni da Nola, Girolamo D’Auria and Annibale Caccavello amongst the others.

Bartolomé Ordóñez and Diego de Siloe are the two foreign artists who realized the altar in around 1516. Active also in Rome, they were familiar with classical sculpture and Raphael’s work. More decisive and dynamic is Ordóñez style, fluid and softer de Siloe’s. The Epiphany in the center, indeed, is attributed to Ordóñez. Here the draperies and the features of the Magi and the other characters are well defined. While Saint George who kills the dragon and the other figures dressed in light fluid drapes would seem to be by de Siloe as well as the flat sculpted Christ on the frontal altar.

Leaving this exquisite space we reach the apse where the impressive Sepulcher of King Ladislao di Durazzo dominates the scene. It was commissioned by his sister who inherited the throne as Giovanna II and it is dated 1428. On the first level of the gigantic monument are the frescoes by Leonardo da Besozzo and statues representing the Virtues with their iconographic elements: Temperance, who pours water into wine; Strength with the column of Samson; Prudence with the snake; Magnanimity who holds a shell with a cherub.

On the second level we see Ladislao and Giovanna II on the throne. At the side of them we can see Military Virtue with the globe and Hope with cupped hands and Charity with a horn of plenty and two maidens and Faith with a goblet.

There is also Giovanna the Queen who descends from a valorous brother and royalty continues on top of the arch where Ladislao’s parents, Carlo III and Margherita di Durazzo are found. Can you see the bishop blessing the king, the Madonna and child together with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Augustine, protecting him?

An opening between the statues of the Virtues leads onto the Chapel of the Caracciolo del Sole family, commissioned by Sergianni Caracciolo, lover of Queen Giovanna II.

 

Alice: Wait, a lover? Scandalous! I guess that is nothing new.

 

 

Fiorella: Yes, he was not a very faithful lover however. Appointed by the Queen as Great Seneschal, he was an ambitious man, ready to do anything in order to obtain office and riches, he betrayed even Giovanna and this eventually led to his murder in 1432.

The chapel is circular and completely frescoed (15th c.) with Stories of the Virgin’s life. Look at the scene in which St. Anna gave birth to Mary: there is a woman looking out of the window with washing hung up outside; another, on the ground floor, is cleaning a chicken.

Alice: Not much has changed in Naples in terms of the washing hanging outside although I don’t think I have ever seen anyone cleaning a chicken! Yet.

 

 

Fiorella: The fabulous floor of this chapel dates back to early 15th c. Local craftsmen created these zoomorphic motifs, vegetable elements and portraits. In some tiles, you see a sun, symbol of the Caracciolo del Sole (Caracciolo of the Sun) family.

Sergianni’s sepulcher was commissioned by his son about ten years after his assassination to celebrate the power of the Seneschal.

 

Alice: There is so much here to take in. A perfect place to wander, explore and take in art and architecture without the hustle and bustle of throngs of tourists. I am getting hungry, though…

Fiorella: Ok, ok, I know just the place to take you. But before you leave the church, take in what remains of the 15th c. fresco of the Annunciation and if it’s sunny don’t miss the little balconies next to the church with washing and a Naples-style panaro (basket) hung up outside.

 

 

Are you ready for a coffee and a Naples-style snack? You know we are not  yogurt-and-an-apple type snackers and the near-by Rescigno bakery offers a wide selection of savory and sweet treats to commit an understandable sin!

 

Alice: I mean, didn’t we earn it? All those stairs! I will take two taralli, please!

Fiorella: Just two taralli? They are so delicious but there are so many choices of wonderful things to go for. You can taste a frittatina di maccheroni (pasta and béchamel which is breaded and fried), a focaccia with so many perfect toppings to choose from. But have you tried their primi piatti?

Alice: Yes, of course! You know I love my carbs and this place has so many choices. One of my favorites first dishes at Rescigno is sartù di riso which takes a while to make but only minutes to devour. Sartù is the Neapolitan elaboration of the French word sur tout (above all). Sartù comes from when chefs created this fusion dish to please the Bourbon nobility. It is a perfect blend of ragù meat sauce, rice, and tiny meatballs (sometimes salami) and then baked with breadcrumbs to perfection. I think I will take one tarallo for the road and enjoy this amazing dish.

 

 

p.s. Thanks to Raffaele Lello Mastroianni for the photo of the Crucifix by Vasari