One of our goals for our last day in Naples was to see the
city from its highest point, which is not to say that we wanted to climb
to that spot, by any means! So, we
headed for one of the three funiculars traveling to the top of the Vomero, the
hill overlooking the city and bay.
En route, we did make the obligatory stop at a church, Santa
Anna dei Lombardi, where we saw a life-sized sculptural grouping, Mazzoni’s Lamentation, which depicts Christ,
deposed from the cross and surrounded by his distraught mother and mourning
disciples. It was a fitting way to begin
Holy Thursday.
We also detoured to walk for several blocks through the
Spanish quarter, in order to get an up close and personal view of that
tightly-packed neighborhood wedged between busy Via Toledo and the base of the
Vomero.
Then, it was onto the funicular and the slow (but far faster
than we would have made it on foot) ascent up the hill. We found a neighborhood that seems far
removed from the teeming streets below.
Large apartment buildings lined the quiet streets that led us to a
piazza that overlooked the city, harbor, and lungomare. We were able pick out many of the sites we’d visited
this week, as well as other landmarks. We also saw a flyover of military jets
trailing the colors of the Italian flag -- red, white and green – a
continuation of this week’s constitutional anniversary observance.
The Certosa di San Martino, a former monastery and now a
rich museum, occupies a prominent spot on the hill.
In addition to an ornate church, sacristy,
and prior’s quarters, there are several courtyards and cloisters, a naval
museum, an extensive art collection, and an extraordinary array of the
presepe, or Christmas scenes, for which
Naples is famous. They range from one contained in an eggshell to an enormous
scene, with countless figures, which takes up an entire room -- actually a
specially-constructed cave.
In addition
to all this, were the spectacular city and water views.
Right next door, the Castel Sant’ Elmo occupies the highest
point in the city. The defensive
structure offers little other than the vistas that position provides, but
that’s why we’d come. We could see (a
few) parts of the city bathed in sun, while elsewhere the cloudy sky was turning
leaden and rain seemed to be falling.
We took a different funicular down the hill and wandered
through a very interesting neighborhood of small shops and markets that spilled
out into the streets. Most interesting
were the busy fish mongers, butchers, and even a shop selling nothing but
tripe. Back in the Centro Storico, we
decided to just walk in the general direction of our next destination, without
retracing familiar routes and without any real regard for our maps. We found ourselves pretty much off the beaten
path, ultimately winding up in the university area, where we picked up a sample
of the characteristic Neapolitan pastry, sfogliatelle,
a many-layered, shell-shaped delight filled with a sweet ricotta
confection. It was quite a change from
our usual mid-afternoon apple, but, again, when in Naples… (That probably goes
for the pizza we had for breakfast this morning, too – no kidding!)
The Cappella Sansevero alone is worth a trip to Naples, and
any trip to this city without a visit to it would be a huge mistake. The museum is small and contains funeral
monuments of a princely family, but the knock-out stars of the small collection
are two pieces of sculpture, each of which is simply breathtaking. The most famous is Sammartino’s Veiled Christ, a representation of the
body of Christ, seen (wounds and all) through a thin shroud. It is simply impossible to understand how the
sculptor could have made marble appear transparent. I’d use the word incredible, if I didn’t feel
that it’s become the most undervalued word in the English language. Suffice it to say, it was another powerful
Holy Week experience for us. Practically
on top of the Veiled Christ comes
another jaw-dropping work, the Disillusionment,
by Queirolo. This sculpture presents a
man breaking free of a net whose fibers are so detailed and realistic that,
once again, it’s impossible to believe that the material is not textile at all,
but marble. We wish we had photos so you
could see these works, but photography was forbidden and, for once, Tom obeyed
the rules. (That had more to do with the
presence of several guards in a very small space than his law-abiding nature
where such things are concerned!) You’ll
have to look them up online; if you use the sculptures’ names and “sansevero”,
they’re not hard to find.
The afternoon’s last stop was back at the Duomo to have a
better look at the ornate “over-the-topness” of the San Gennaro chapel, and
then home for happy hour before heading out for one more pizza.
We joined the small crowd waiting for the doors to open at
Gino Sorbillo’s Pizzeria on Via Tribunali.
Once they opened and we had a taste of their offerings, we understood
why there was an even bigger crowd outside when we left. Great pizzas (Yes, we each had our own.) and
I sense that this morning’s first–ever pizza for breakfast is going to be
repeated very soon. Three pizza meals in
24 hours; don’t tell the diet police!
We came to Naples in hopes of discovering just why people
are attracted to a city that had previously seemed chaotic, overwhelming, and
perhaps a bit scary to us. We’ve
thoroughly enjoyed our four days here, right in the middle of all the
Neapolitan stereotypes. We’ve seen
amazing sites, not all of them the kind found in guide books, many of them just
part of life on the streets here, ready for the interested observer to notice
and appreciate.
Tomorrow morning, we’ll be picking up a rental car and
heading to Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot, and a change from the urban
adventures we’ve had so far.
But
first, some random notes about Naples:
Traffic – The streets and on the sidewalks (Sometimes they’re
indistinguishable!) are full of motor cycles, people, strollers, taxis, and
small cars.
Streets as retail space – Outdoor markets, as well as tiny storefronts selling everything
from groceries to hardware with their wares spilling out onto the sidewalks and
streets testify to lack of space and high rents.
Bassi – The tiny, dark, one-room ground floor family dwellings that still exist
in the Centro Storico. Because they
typically don’t have windows, doorways are left open, allowing a peek into the
definition of tight quarters, and a plausible explanation for the fact that so
much of life seems to take place on the streets.
One-man industries – The Centro Storico is studded with small workshops, where
mechanics, craftsmen, repairmen, tradesmen work, often with their doors open to
the street.
Walking waiters – They hustle along the streets delivering coffee and treats
throughout the neighborhoods.
Bridal shops – It seems as if all Italy must come here to shop for attire for
brides and their bridesmaids. Most of
the dresses are, of course, WAY beyond over-the-top; this is Naples,
remember?!?
Which brings us to -- Baroque! The
ornate church interiors typify everything about this city. Nothing is under done or subtle, and less is
never more. As a rule of thumb, that’s
probably as good as any to explain this city.
