Tag Archives: Campania

Un Giorno a Napoli

06 Thursday Feb 2020

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Vespa Napoli Centro StoricoNapoli is one of the oldest continually inhabited urban areas in the world.  It was founded by Greek sailors from Rhodes in 680 BC.  They named her Parthenope after the siren who tried to lure Ulysses. In 474 BC it was renamed Neapolis, meaning ‘new city’ giving us the present name as well as the anglicized Naples.  After Roma and Milano,  Napoli is the 3rd largest city in Italia.

Napoli is an open air museum layered with 2800 years of history-from Ancient to Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque, with ruins, castles, historic buildings and monuments.  It was one of the wealthiest cities in Europe before Italian unification of 1860.  Allied bombing during WWII caused severe damage, resulting in extensive reconstruction after 1945. Napoli’s Centro Storico, the largest in Europe, still has the rectangular grid layout of the original Greek streets, called Decumani and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995.Napoli

Napoli is underrated, misunderstood and does not get the love it deserves, except from fans of Elena Ferrante novels. News of corruption, the Camorra and ongoing garbage crises give it a bad rep. It it ironic that everyone-including many Italians fears for their life and thinks it is just a crime pit, when Napoli is actually safer than most large North American cities. It is vibrant, wonderfully chaotic, full of life and passionate, friendly people. Napoli has an ‘edge’ to it and is anything but boring! Via dei Tribunali Napoli

Not even 2 hours from Orsara di Puglia, I had only been to Napoli to take ferries or fly home.  2 years ago, I decided just days in advance to arrive by bus the day before my flight and stay 24 hours.  Best plan ever!  Last year I went for the day with my cugino who had an airport pickup, and took the bus home for €11.

I would not advise anyone to see Napoli in one day. 3-4 days is needed, not including daytrips to Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, Capri or Ischia.  However, if you have only un giorno-one day to spare, because you are headed somewhere else or taking a daytrip, this is my suggested itinerary!

My first full day in Napoli was a last minute plan.  I had 4 ‘must see’ things on my list. They were all walking distance from Piazza Dante, so I booked a night at the wonderfully named ‘Il Paradiso di Dante’. If arriving at the Stazione in Piazza Garibaldi or the bus terminal behind it, all of the destinations are easily reached on foot or by Metro.  A day ticket for the Metro is €4.50. From Capodichino airport, the Alibus is a 15 min non-stop ride to Piazza Garibaldi for €5.

I realize few people will drool over ancient frescos or Caravaggio for as much time as I do, so I am adding a few extra sites along the way.  This itinerary can be done in reverse and/or in different order. Antico forno Attanasio sfogliatelle

The first stop on any visit to Napoli is for Sfogliatelle –crunchy layered pastry, filled with sweet ricotta, lemon and candied peel. Sfogliatelle in Napoli are delicious and inexpensive.  The best are served straight from the oven at Antico Forno Attanasio, Via Ferrovia 1-4 just a few blocks from Piazza Garibaldi.  At €1.30, why stop at just one?  The lineup moves quickly.  The sign above the oven says ‘Napule tre cose tene belle….o’ mare o’ vesuvio e sfogliatelle’ / Napoli has 3 beautiful things….the sea, Vesuvius and sfogliatelle.sfogliatella

Walk down Corso Umberto I to Via Duomo (or Metro to Museo if reversing).  Turn right on Via dei Tribunali a long narrow street packed with great stuff.  It is one of the original Greek Decumani. Napoli has elevated graffiti into an art form, so keep an eye out for cool street art.

Blub Verdi, NapoliFirst stop is the small octagonal church Pio Monte della Misericordia to see Caravaggio’s masterpiece 7 opere di Misericordia-7 Acts of Mercy hanging where it has been for over 400 years. Napoli has been a capital of the Baroque since the 1606 artistic revolution following the arrival of Caravaggio. Admission is €8.  Open daily from 9:00-18:00 except Sunday it closes at 14:30. Do not miss this and click the link to read my post!Pio Monte della Misericordia

Not even 100 m away is the Duomo Santa Maria Assunta built on the site of a temple of Neptune.  It was ruined in the 1456 earthquake and repeatedly renovated, resulting in a mishmash of styles and a Neogothic facade.  The church is often called San Gennaro- Napoli’s patron saint.  The Cappella di San Gennaro contains an ampule of his blood that is brought out on the 1st Saturday in May, September 19th and December 16th for the miracle of his blood liquefying.

Facciata Duomo di Napoli

Duomo di Napoli. Image Wikimedia Commons

The entrance to Napoli Sotterranea is close by on Via dei Tribunali.  Napoli’s stratified history is visible here…..40 m below street level are Greek structures, Roman aqueducts and cisterns, catacombs, a Bourbon royal escape tunnel and stuff left over from 1945 when the underground was an air raid shelter! The tour is 1.5 hours so I have never had enough time, but it sounds fascinating!

Presepio Via San Gregorio ArmenoAt Piazza San Gaetano turn left onto Via San Gregorio Armeno.  Napoli has a long presepio– Nativity Scene tradition. This street is full of artigiani– artisans making presepio pieces along with figurines of contemporary personalities.  I like to visit the bottega of Antonio Pepe.

Via San Gregorio Armeni Napoli, Antonio Pepe, www.unpodipepe.ca

‘Lavorazioni di Pastori e Scenografie Presepiati Antonio Pepe’, Via San Gregorio Armeno, Napoli (no relation!)

The end of this street intersects with the one parallel to Via dei Tribunali, another of the Decumani, called ‘Spaccanapoli’ meaning ‘cut across Napoli’ because it cuts the centro storico in half.  There may be time later to visit the Chiostro di Santa Chiara, cloisters with beautiful majolica tile work.

Back on Via dei Tribunali turn left at Piazza Luigi Miraglia to Via Francesco de Sanctis 19, the Cappella San Severo.  My Zia told me not to miss this! It is a Baroque chapel with strict security, admission limits and no photography allowed.  Lineups can be long, but I only waited 30 minutes.

The main attraction is Giuseppe Sammartino’s jaw dropping 1753 sculpture Cristo Vellato- Christ laying on a  mattress, covered in a sheer veil with a lace edge-all sculpted out of marble.  It is so lifelike, the urge to reach out and touch it is hard to resist.  The owner, Prince Raimondo di Sangro dabbled in alchemy.  Baroque urban legend is that he taught the artist how to calcify a veil with marble crystals…but it is actually sculpted. The small Chapel is filled with other magnificent works of art. Admission is €8 or online €10.  Open 9:00-18:00.  Closed Tuesdays! It may be better to see this first then walk back to Via S Gregorio Armeno.San Gregorio Armeno Napoli

When hunger strikes, there is plenty of cibo di strada-street food available on Via dei Tribunali and Spaccanapoli. Fritto misto –fried fish or vegetables in paper cones, pizze fritte and pizza al portafoglio are all delicious. Sfogliatelle and babà are €1! Pizza Margherita

Via dei Tribunali is also home to Gino Sorbillo pizza, which always has lineups. The line moves quickly, but with a shortage of time, try one of the less known places.  It is hard to find bad pizza in Napoli!Port'Alba Via dei Tribunali Napoli

Exit Via dei Tribunali through the Port’Alba to Piazza Dante on Via Toledo. From here, walk or take the Metro 1 stop to Museo.  Walking will take almost the same amount of time.  The Museo Archeologico Nazionale Napoli (MANN) is massive and has the world’s biggest collection of Greco Roman art and artifacts.  For archeology nerds like me, this is Heaven and it needs its own post.  The frescoes and artifacts from Pompeii and Ercolano/Herculaneum are here, and the massive Farnese collection sculptures such as Toro Farnese. Marble sculpture Toro Farnese in MANNapoliThe Gabbinetto Segreto is a secret room full of ancient erotica, mostly from Pompeii’s brothel.  Admission is €18 and well worth it.  Tickets can be bought online.  Open from 9:00-19:30- later than other places, but it is closed Tuesdays! Read more about MANN in Blub a Napoli.  The day can also start at MANN, doing the itinerary in reverse.Museo Archeologico Nazionale Napoli

Depending on how much time is spent walking, visiting all of the above and when you need to leave, there may be time for more.  Take the Metro 2 stops to the award winning Toledo station, walk to the end of Via Toledo to Piazza del Plebescito, one of the largest piazze in Italia.  Piazza del Plebescito NapoliOn Via Chiaia is Caffè Gambrinus the historic caffè letterario where European intellectuals including Oscar Wilde, Hemingway, D’Annunzio and Totò hung out.  Caffe Gambrinus NapoliMussolini shut it down for being antifascist.  That alone is reason to have another sfogliatella there-even take-out will cost more due to the location, but worth it.Caffe Gambrinus Napoli

If you somehow still have time left, walk to Galleria Umberto I, Teatro San Carlo Opera House or Via Santa Lucia by the harbour and Castel dell’Ovo. Need more sfogliatelle? Stop at Pintauro, Via Toledo 275.  Then take the Metro back to Piazza Garibaldi.

Napoli is great to visit any time of year! Remember that MANN and the Cappella San Severo are closed Tuesdays.   Busier times include December for the Presepi on display and the 3 San Gennaro dates. I have only been in July or August when a lot of Napoletani are at the beach.  There are less cars on the road-according to my taxi driver-named Gennaro of course!  He was so impressed that I was able to understand him!  We had many neighbours and friend from Napoli when I was growing up so I understand Napoletano quite well.Via San Gregorio Armeno

An old saying goes ‘Vedi Napoli e mori’. I hope you enjoyed un giorno a Napoli-I guarantee you will be back! Have an extra sfogliatella for me! Buon viaggio, Cristina

Stay tuned for my next post on Napoli street art!

La Certosa di Padula

27 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by in Architecture, Italia, Travel

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la-certosa-di-padula-facciataIn August, I attended the Association of Italian Canadian Writers (AICW) 16th biennial conference ‘Italian Canadian Literature: Departures, Journeys, Destinations’ where I read my first short story in public.  38 speakers, AICW members and friends came from across Canada, Italy, Germany, Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom.  The conference presentations were amazing and an anthology will be published next year.

View from Conference Room

View from Conference Room

The conference was held in Padula (Salerno, Campania) at La Certosa di Padula, a Carthusian Monastery built in 1306 and added onto over the next 450 years. Dedicated to San Lorenzo, the style is mostly Baroque and it is the largest monastery in Italia. Chiostro Grande is the largest cloister in the world, surrounded by 84 columns.  The place is huge with a total of 320 rooms! In 1998, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano and the archeological sites of Paestum and Velia.  I have now been to all of them except Velia.padulachiostro

The Certosa site is made up of spaces for contemplation -the cloisters, library and chapels, and spaces for work -the kitchen, cantina, laundry, stables and gardens.padulafrescocloister

While I was there, due to restoration work the upper floor was not accessible. This meant I was not able to see the monks’ cells or take the white marble scala elittico to the large biblioteca (library) which has a Maiolica tile floor from Vietri sul Mare and 2000 remaining manuscripts. I was also not able to see the last construction added to the site in 1799, the famous Scalone Elicoidale –an ornate double ramped, double helix shaped staircase in an octagonal tower with 8 large open windows overlooking a garden.  The Scalone spirals incorporating the Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Section, which I find fascinating.  It connects the upper floor to the Chiostro Grande and was used by the cloistered monaci for their passeggiata settimanale –weekly walk. Being a lover of staircases, books and libraries, the closure was disappointing, but luckily there was still a lot left to see. padulasanlorenzoMost of the chapels are Baroque and very ornate, with the largest collection of Scagliola work found anywhere. Scagliola (sca·LYOH·lah) is a technique for painting stucco columns, sculptures, and other architectural features to look like inlays in marble and semi-precious stones, such as madre di perla. Those monaci were frugal and talented!  Now I know what to call the areas of my house that I have painted to look like Carrara marble!padulacucina2

The Monastery kitchen, renovated in 1742, could have been the perfect setting for ‘Masterchef: Medieval edition’. It is brightened by yellow and green Maiolica tiles which look completely out of place.  The colours were chosen to keep the flies away- at least that is what the guard told me!  padulacucinaThe most striking feature in the cucina is an enormous cappa or hood, on a furnace with an antique boiler and a base covered in maiolica tiles.  The inside of the cappa is blackened from hundreds of years of use.  Stone work tables are in place and on the back wall is a large fresco, painted in 1650, obscured by time and smoke.  This part of the cucina with its barrel vaulted ceiling used to be a rectory before the 1742 reno. The cucina has its own cloister and small garden, with the cantina and laundries next to it.

Chi lava i piatti?

Chi lava i piatti?

The monaci ate frugal, meatless meals in solitude in their cells, except during special occasions. The refettorio (rectory) hall with 61 stalls carved of walnut wood is where they sat at meal times on feast days and during Lent.  The 1749 fresco is of Le Nozze di Cana.  refettorioOccasionally the cucina was used to prepare rich meals for visits by important guests, most famously the one organized for Emperor Carlo V on his return from Tunisia in 1535.  The monaci prepared him a frittata with 1,000 eggs.  My first night in Padula, August 10th, was the annual Festa della Frittata di Mille Uova, recreating this event. The modern contraption used to make the frittata was made in 1996 and looks like a colossal pizzelle iron that flips over and rolls across a massive fire pit!  Unfortunately we don’t know what the monaci used to make their frittata.

Frittatta di mille uova making contraption!

Frittatta di mille uova making contraption!

In 1802, the monaci had to abandon La Certosa, and Napoleonic troops took away any treasures that were cartable. They returned a few years later, but abandoned La Certosa for the last time in 1866.  20 years later, it was declared a national monument. During the 2 World Wars the complex was mostly abandoned, being used briefly as a prison camp, and as a children’s holiday camp.  Padula received funds for restoration in 1982.view-from-hotel-certosa

Padula is a very nice town of 5,000. Getting there without your own car is extremely difficult.  Padula is on the A3 Salerno-Reggio Calabria road, exit Buonabitacolo.  The closest train station is Sapri on the Cilento coast. There are a couple of buses a day from Napoli, which make stops in every town along the way. Although very out of the way, Padula is worth the detour!  The drive there from Paestum was stunning.  Admission to La Certosa di Padula is €4 for adults. Make sure you have at least 4 hours to visit. There are 2 very nice, affordable hotels in Padula, Grand Hotel Certosa and Villa Cosilinum. padula

Buon Viaggio!

Paestum

10 Monday Oct 2016

Posted by in Architecture, Italia, Travel

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tempiodinettuno2The first time I saw Paestum I was 11 years old. Even then, I was an archeology and mythology nerd and was fascinated by the wonders of this place.  It took many years, but I finally went back to Paestum this year! It was every bit as enchanting as it was then-maybe even more!paestumforum

Paestum was founded around 600 BC by Greek colonists from Sybaris, a Greek colony in Calabria. They named it Poseidonia, after Poseidon, Greek God of the sea. Poseidonia became a prosperous trade center in Magna Grecia, the Greek colonies in Southern Italia. They even minted their own coins.  The Lucanians took over around 390 BC and called it Paistom.  In 273 BC, the Romans conquered, Latinized the name to Paestum, and constructed more buildings. Paestum was partially damaged by an earthquake after the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.  In the 5th Century AD with Christianity came a Paleochristian church and a Bishop.  Deforestation and other factors led to conditions that brought malaria.  The malaria plus Saracen attacks caused the abandonment of Paestum by 877 AD.  The inhabitants retreated to higher ground at Capaccio, 6 km away.  Overgrown by forest and buried by swamps, Paestum remained hidden and forgotten for almost 900 years. In 1748, the temples were rediscovered by road builders, who apparently kept ploughing right through.la-basilica

Paestum is in a quiet, idyllic setting in the countryside, surrounded by farmland. 3 well-preserved majestic Greek temples rise up out of the plain. La Basilica is the oldest of the temples, built in 550 BC and is actually a temple to Hera.  18th century archeologists mistakenly identified it as a Roman building used as a meeting place.

La Basilica

La Basilica

Right next to it, the Tempio di Nettuno (Neptune is the Roman equivalent of Poseidon) resembles the Parthenon.  It was built in 460 BC and is the best preserved Doric temple outside of Greece.  It is almost intact, with only the roof and a bit of the inside missing. You can actually walk inside both of these temples!

Tempio di Nettuno

Tempio di Nettuno

A bit farther away from the other 2 temples is the Tempio di Cerere (Temple of Ceres/ Demeter) which was actually a temple to Athena.  18th Century archeologists must have been very confused. It was built in 500 BC and the architecture is part Doric, part Ionic. At some point, it was used as a church and has 3 medieval tombs in the floor.  The inside of this temple is not accessible.

Tempio di Cerere

Tempio di Cerere

The remains of the ancient city also include a Roman Forum, paved streets, the foundations of public buildings and many residential Roman houses, an amphitheater, and a swimming pool/gymnasium. Walking through the overgrown areas provides some of the best views and glimpses of some mosaic floors.  paestumforum2The city walls, almost 5 km long, are mostly intact with 24 towers and 4 gates.  Only 20% of the site has been excavated.  80% of Paestum is still buried under agricultural land, most of it privately owned. A road cuts the site in 2 and has a few restaurants, bars, souvenir shops, a small piazza, the Paleochristian church, an information center, and the museum.  The amphitheater is only half exposed as the road was enlarged in the 1930’s and buried the east half of it!paestummatrimonio

The Museo Nazionale contains all of the items found in tombs in and around Paestum and the Metopes from a temple 9 km away. There are also Giovanni Piranesi’s etchings of the site, printed in 1778. The most amazing thing in the museum was on loan and I did not get to see it!  It is the 470 BC Tomba del Tuffatore, tomb of the diver, a fresco painted on the underside of a tomb which portrays a young man in mid-air diving off a cliff into water.  It is thought to portray the harmonious passage from life to death.paestumtempiodinettuno

The Archeological site of Paestum is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the Cilento coast, Vallo di Diano National Park, the archeological site of Velia and the Certosa di Padula.   Today, Paestum is a Frazione or hamlet of Capaccio in the province of Salerno.  It is accessible by bus or local train from Salerno (30 minutes), but the best way to get there is by car.  The drive is spectacular and it is worth going out of the way for.  Even on a ‘busy’ summer day, the site is not crowded.  Staying the night is a great idea, as you can visit the ruins just before sunset.  A combination ticket to the site and museum is €9.

Buon Viaggio, Cristina