Naples
A city in the heart of the Mediterranean, always a cross-road of cultures and different types of people; a city of a thousand problems and as many and more solutions, a theatrical city, the native land of Pulcinella, of Viviani, of the De Filippo brothers, of Totò, of Troisi; Naples as Sthendhal said, together with Paris is “ the only possible European capital”.
The origins of the city of Naples plunge in the myth and refer to the discovery on the island of Magaride of the body of the mermaid Partenope found lifeless, letting herself die for not being able to charm with her songs the fearless Ulisse. Then it was Nea Polis, the new city, born and developed between two fires: on the East side the Versifies , on the West side the fermenting grounds of Campi Flegrei: In the centre, centuries of history and an enormous artistic and cultural heritage that today is acknowledged by the UNESCO.
Innumerable are the symbolic places of this extraordinary city, so many and so important that it seems impossible to imagine a complete itinerary.
Starting from the multi ethnical and multicoloured area of the railway, you go through the entire “Rettifilo” opened at the end of the nineteenth century to resolve the difficult conditions described by Matilde Serao in her book “Il ventre di Napoli”. At the end of that long road of merchants and universities you reach the other entrance to the city: the Molo Beverello where the international cruise ships and the ferryboats from Sorrento dock. Right across soars the Castel Nuovo, which everybody knows as the Maschio Angioino, with the nearby Palazzo Reale surrounded by jewels like the Teatro San Carlo, the Galleria Umberto I, the Church of San Ferdinando, the amazing square of the Pebliscito and the Church of San Francesco di Paola, the luxurious Via Chiaia and the fishing village of Santa Lucia with the mysterious Castel dell’Ovo. From there you can proceed towards Mergellina, Posillipo and Marechiaro or instead towards the hilltop at the Castel Sant’Elmo and at the Eremo dei Camandoli. Remaining in the centre, instead, you can advance through the entangled net of the alleys which seems to be built in defence of the inestimable treasures of the city: the Church of Santa Chiara with its majolica Cloister, the Chapel of Sansevero with its Cristo Velato, the cellars of the urchins and then Spaccanapoli, the street of the Tribunali, and the street of the nativity cribs: San Gregorio Armeno to reach finally at the Duomo of San Gennaro where twice a year, thousands of devotees anxiously attend the scene of the miraculous liquefaction of the Patron Saint’s blood.
In conclusion, there are still many other jewels of this astonishing city, the National Archaeological Museum with thousands of evidences of Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Museums of Capodimonte, of San Martino and of Villa Pignatelli with their magnificent picture-galleries, the Museum of present-day art, those of the historical railways of Pietrarsa and of the Sea of Bagnoli, the modern City of Science…
But Naples is mostly voices, faces, and everyday life: a continuous discovery, a continuous marvel.
Nello Pane
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