RIONE SANITA'

September 17, 2024

Rebirth. There is no more appropiate word to describe what is happening to the Sanitá district, the area between Capodimonte and the back of the Archeological Museum.

In the past, this part of the city was very dangerous and very poor. Famous to be the set of many old movies and to be the birth place of the most popular Neapolitan comedian, actor and poet of all time ‘Totó’, where today you can visit his old home.

Situated in the Stella-San Carlo quarter, Sanitá as we see it today was developed in the 16th century on land north of Napoli outside the walls of the city.

Originally, Sanita was a wooded area with springs of pure water (probably from this it took the name Sanitá, health) and it started off as a greek-roman burial area and this is where you can find the greek and early christian catacombs of San Gennaro and San Gaudioso and also the Fontanelle Cemetery, where victims of the plague were buried in 1656. This might be another theory about the origin of the name. Not only the health of the living but also of the dead. This is explained by the deep connection between Neapolitans and the after life. The Fontanelle cemetery is a typical example of this where people used to come to the cemetery and ‘adopt’ a skull or a skeleton in order to look after it and ask for a ‘miracle’. You can read more about the cemetery here.

Centuries after centuries, Sanitá became very poor and dangerous, even though royalty and aristocratic families built their palaces in the area and many religious orders settled there too. This is the reason why Sanitá has the highest number of churches in Napoli.

Only in recent years have things started to change for the better in Sanitá. Inhabitants started to tire of the increasing crime rate and decided to try and improve the area themselves. This part of Napoli, completely abandoned by institutions and politicians for so many years, is improving thanks to the courage and industry of many young Neapolitans, who instead of move abroad (like many) decided to work hard and make the area a better place to live and more pleasant for tourists to visit and see all the amazing things this zone has to offer.

Lots of things to see in Sanitá then. First of all the Fontanelle Cemetery, which is planned to reopen soon after a restyling of the entrance by the world renowned Italian architect Lorenzo Piano.

As I have already mentioned, the key of this rebirth is the younger generation which made possible the restoration and the reopening of the San Gennaro and San Gaudioso catacombs. It is called the Cooperative of the Paranza. To know more about the catacombs and this project visit their official website here: Catacombs of Naples.

This Cooperative is also responsable for the restoration of Sant' Aspreno ai Crociferi church, where the sculptor Jago based his studio and his permanent exhibition of sculptures. His art is deeply inspired by the classical sculpture of the greatest Italian sculptors such as Michelangelo. Jago is so deeply inspired by this area and and Napoli which is visible in his works of art, in particular the Veiled son, a clear reference to the Veiled Christ in the Sansevero chapel. Jago is also working on a very ambitious project for Sanitá: making a giant David statue like Michelangelo’s statue in Florence, but in the guise of a woman.

The model of Jago's statue in Sant' Aspreno ai Crociferi church.

You can visit the the Jago Museum and the catacombs with the same ticket and it is valid for one year.

There is also the restoration of the abandoned church of Santa Maria Maddalena ai Cristallini (also known as Chiesa dei Cristallini). The church reopened as an art gallery after being closed for 40 years. Locals contributed in creating their own works of art inspired by the life and people of the area. It is filled with portraits of the same residents you can see on the streets of Sanitá, who have lived here with their families all their lives.

A little hidden gem of Sanitá is the Palazzo dello Spagnolo, in via dei Vergini. The Palace was built in 1738 for an aristocratic family and is an exquisite example of Neapolitan Rococo style. Today the palace is divided into apartments although it is open to the public for guided tours.

The younger generation as well as students moving in and immigrant communities settling there as well as tourists visiting is creating a new dynamism in Sanitá then. Thanks to them many abandoned churches or convents have now been converted into bed and breakfasts and hotels in order to attract tourists. This definitely seems to be working! A big advantage of Sanitá is that is a cheaper area to stay in although at the same time it is very central. This has led to many a new opening of pizzerias and typical Neapolitan food restaurants. One pizzeria even has a Michelin star ‘Michelin da Concettina ai Tre Santi’. Enjoy!.

The Underground City

October 9, 2023

Napoli is definitely a city with many wonders and thousands of secrets. Every century left an important mark on the city making it how we see it today. Napoli is not just a unique city on its surface, but also in its depths. Napoli was founded by the Greeks around 500BC. and by physically going down under the streets of Napoli you can discover remnants of the original Greek city. This area is called decumani (decumans), from the old term indicating the main streets that ran through the city (today via Tribunali, via Constantinopoli and via Benedetto Croce). You can still visit the Greek tunnels underground where the population used to hide during the bombing of WWII.

There are different sites where you can book your excursion under the city offering different tours (available in other languages as well).

One of the most famous is the Napoli Sotterranea, near via dei Tribunali, one of the busiest streets of the old part. The guide will take you down to the very depths under the centro storico (old town).

The entrance of Napoli Sotterranea in via dei Tribunali.

The visit starts from the 136 steps that go down the ground for about 40 metres. Warning: it is always desirable to bring a jumper as the temperature drops dramatically (or can also be a nice refreshment from the heat). — The steps down.

There are 136 steps down to the tunnels. They are 40 metres below ground. Warning: it is always advisable to bring a jumper as the temperature drops dramatically (or otherwise it can also be a nice refreshment from the heat). One of the best parts to see is the Greek-Roman Aqueduct, big cisterns of water which used to supply the city, and the the remains of the Roman theatre, accessible through a typical Neapolitan house. During WWII, these tunnels were used by the Neapolitans as shelter from the aerial bombing that was destroying and damaging the city. Many objects of daily life were found, like children's toys, clothes and books. There is even a Hypogeum Garden, a scientific project dedicated to the power of the Earth. The garden, is in fact a great attraction not only for tourists but also for scientists and botanists. Here there is a variety of vegetable plants, which were able to grow despite the absence of natural light.

Overall, this tour is very interesting and I really suggest to do it if you have the time. Although, i must warn you if you are claustrophobic! During the visit you will be able to walk through very narrow tunnels carrying only a candle! In case you don't feel comfortable to continue, the guide can take you back to a certain level where you can wait for the rest of the group to come back. To know more about this excursion, visit the official website of Napoli Sotterranea or go to the bottom of the post for tickets and timetables.

The Pozzari were men who used to carry vases to supply the city with water. — The *Pozzari* were men who used to carry vases to supply the city with water.

Some of the caves were used as shelter from the bombing during the WWII. — Some of the caves were used as shelter from the bombing during WWII.

Not far from the Napoli Sotterranea in piazza San Gaetano, there is the San Lorenzo Maggiore church, here you can have a guided tour of the archeological site under the structure of the church. The excursion starts at almost 10 metres under the city from the medieval remains of the church, continuing to the remains of the Greek and Roman city where there are still the visible ruins of the market, a temple, shops, houses, marvellous mosaics and marble architectural remains. Archeologists have outlined a map of the ancient city where the church now is. More info about the excursions on San Lorenzo Maggiore or visit the official website or go to the bottom of the post.

Greek and Roman streets of the ancient city under the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore.

Temples and private habitations under the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore.

Another interesting tour under Napoli is the Bourbon Tunnel. In 2007, a group of geologists discovered a tunnel long about 84 meters of carafa caves just under Piazza Plebiscito. The construction of the tunnel started in 1853 and finished in 1855 for king Ferdinand II of Bourbon. The underground tunnel linked the Royal Palace to the sea, its purpose was as a secret tunnel to move the royal troops. The tunnel was divided in two sections, the Royal Gallery and the Road Regia, one for carriages and the other one for all the pedestrians.

In the years of WWII, the Bourbon tunnel was also used as an air raid shelter. The geologists found a large amount of personal items and objects, cars, motorbikes and vehicles, even statues and funeral monuments.

There is also a tour around the Catacombs of Napoli where you will find the the final resting place of thousands of Neapolitan skeletons from centuries past . There are different tours, one of the most popular is to visit the San Gennaro catacombs. San Gennaro is the saint protector of the city, and here is where his remains where originally found. Today his remains are in the Cathedral (Duomo). The area of the catacombs is quite spacious and it is divided in two levels: covered in tuff (tufo, typical Neapolitan stone that covers most of the underground tunnels) there is the lower catacombs, with a baptismal basin, and an upper level were the tomb of San Gennaro was. Probably originally these spaces were used as a sepulchre of an aristocratic family and then used by the christian community around the 2nd century A.D. Later additions were made in order to keep the remains of Sant Agrippino, the first patron of Napoli, in the 4th Century A.D. Another interesting place to visit is the Bishops Crypt and the underground cathedral. Miglio Sacro is in the area of Sanitá, which links all the churches to the catacombs.

All these different tours of underground Napoli are very interesting journeys through the history of the city. I really suggest to try and do at least one of these tours, if you can, first because it's a unique experience ( in no other city it is possible to see, even in Rome) and also because it is a different way to understand what's below the surface and to discover the centuries of history buried under Napoli.

Official website: Napoli Sotterranea
Piazza San Gaetano 68 Napoli
Tel.: 0039 081 296944 / 0039 081 0190933
Mobile: 0039 392 1733828 / 0039 334 3662841
Email: info@napolisotterranea.org

Timetable excursions: in English 10,00-12,00 / 14,00-16,00 / 18,00

Also tours in other languages (french, german, spanish).

Duration of the tour: about 2 hours.

You can book online on the official website or on the official app.

Official website: San Lorenzo Maggiore - La Neapolis Sotterrata

Piazza San Gaetano 316 Napoli

Tel.: 0039 081 211 0860 / Whatsapp 0039 389 1091 865

Email: visite.sanlorenzo@libero.it

Timetable tours: 9.30 - 17.30 (everyday) Timetable excursions: in English 11,00 / 13,15 / 15,15 / 17,00

Tickets: € 9 / € 7 with Artecard, for teachers, university students and Over 65 / € 6 Under 18 / € 4 School groups / Free under 6.

Official website: Bourbon Tunnel - il Tunnel Borbonico.

Tel.: 0039 366 248 4151 / 0039 081 764 5808

Email: mail@galleriaborbonica.com

The tour to the tunnel has three different entrances and for each entrance there is a different tour with different fees. Some tours are not suitable for children.

Official website: Catacombs of Napoli - Catacombe di Napoli.

Via Capodimonte, 13 (Entrance near the Basilica del Buon Consiglio).

Tel.: 0039 081 744 37 14
Email: info@catacombedinapoli.it

Source: 2018/4/24/the-underground-city

Welcome to Napoli ….. City of Art and…..Champions of Italy!

Napoli - THE RENAISSANCE

June 21, 2023

If you have been in Napoli these past months, you must have seen an explosion of blue & white banners, flags and pictures of Maradona around the city. Probably you must have thought ‘what’s going on here?’. It’s a very simple explanation. Napoli football club won the serie A, which is the the main football championship in Italy.

It is very hard for me to explain what this victory means for the city.

Because is NOT just a game, but it is much much more. A lot more.

Napoli is feeling like it’s a city on the up. The successful football season gave the city a new vibrant, self confident feeling. Yes, because you might think ‘It’s just a game’. Probably true, but not in Napoli. We live everything to the extreme! Including football.

We need to go back a few years to fully understand why football is so important to the citizens of Naples.

Precisely 33 years ago there was a man called Maradona. You can love him or hate him, surely as a human being he can be criticised, but as a football player (except for the English) he was a God, at least in Napoli.

I am old enough to remember what he did for the city. When he arrived in 1984 the city was in a sorry state of decline and the football team were a real disaster. But he gave Neapolitans hope. It was like David against Goliath, the hopeless Neapolitan team of the south against the big boy rich teams of the north, such as Juventus, Inter & AC Milan. No one believed in us, but Maradona took Naples to two league championships and to UEFA cup glory.

Maradona was the catalyst that initiated Naples steady ascent from the dark days of urban decay and crime to a reawakening of what Naples had to offer the world. Beauty, passion, life and vitality. Since the pandemic this renaissance has accelerated. Improvements in infrastructure and ambitious civic projects are finally unlocking the potential of the city. Today it is a safer more business friendly city. Tourism as well is growing rapidly. Once, not so long ago, tourists would only fly into Naples to use it only as a gateway to Sorrento and the Amalfi coast. But now all that is changing. People from all over the world are finally discovering what an incredible city Napoli is and it is becoming a destination city like Rome, Florence or Venice.

Going back to the football, that is why it is so important. Because it has given the city a new optimistic and joyful vibe. Even the elderly ladies at the market were talking about it like they were professional managers! Around March this year, despite the famous superstitious nature of the Neapolitan people, we started to decorate the streets with blue and white flags even before it was certain that Napoli would win the championship!. It didn't really matter, Neapolitans were happy to be doing so well anyway. We were determined to enjoy the moment we had been waiting 33 years for.

Believe me, in all my life I’ve never seen my city so beautiful and joyful, and studying art I feel proud that tourists are discovering and loving Napoli with its amazing architecture, its incredible treasures, its beautiful landmarks and traditions, and of course food.

It is safe to quote Goethe ‘See Napoli and then die’ (‘Vedi Napoli e poi muori’) because there’s no other place like it.

Banners and flags all over the monuments and buildings.

I asked my artist husband to make banner ……he made a masterpiece!

In loving memory to my dad (big Napoli fan), his favourite flag!

The Girl From Naples Is Back!

May 31, 2022

Hi there! Here I am again! I have just realised that my last blog was dated 2018! .

We all know very well, the last two/three years have been very difficult. We had a global pandemic that has changed not only our lives but also our way of travelling, so keeping up with all the restrictions and rules have made writing a travel blog very challenging, almost impossible and quite frankly, very depressing. So I am sorry for this long absence. I will try to write more often because there is still so much more to know about my wonderful city and region.

I have to say I really do miss travelling. Properly travelling, discovering new places, new countries, new cultures. It’s one of the things I have been missed the most. I have been travelling back and fourth between England and Italy for family reasons and had few outings in Italy without going too far. But I so miss that excited spirit that comes with a new adventure! As I said before our way of travelling has changed and so did we. A lot of people were (and still are) very scared to go to a foreign country, without knowing if they have to quarantine, having tests, etc. Let’s face it. It also has been very expensive and quite stressful to travel. Book the right test for all the family, get the green pass, quarantine in a hotel, ‘no you might not need to quarantine’, etc. How many times did you hear all this?

My very first holiday after two years, one of my favourite destinations: the island of Ischia (August 2021).

Fear also changed everything. I went to Ischia last August and even though it’s still my favourite, it was strangely too quiet, not as buzzy as it used to be. Most of the tourists were italians or local.

Thankfully, the situation is getting better everywhere. Now when you come to Italy, you don’t need to quarantine or show a negative test anymore. Since April 1st, all the travel restrictions have stopped. Hooray!

Even wearing masks indoors and having to show your green pass (the QR code showing you had two jabs and a booster) when travelling or indoors restaurants and bars has stopped.

If you test positive, you still need to quarantine until you have a negative result and must wear a mask.

Hopefully, even those few restrictions will drop by the end of April/beginning of May, so we can all enjoy the summer, the very first summer without stress!

I can’t wait to write more about my region. This summer, to celebrate the end of the pandemic, there are a lot of events and new places opening to visit for the very first time.

A place I definitely will write about is the island of Procida that this year has been nominated as Italian Capital of Culture 2022. Many events on the land and sea have been organised and a taste of the flavours of the Mediterranean cuisine. Definitely a place to visit!!

Finally also in Napoli, tourists are slowly returning and actually, for the summer, many hotels and b&bs are already fully booked!

Of course, please consider that rules to visit museums and art galleries are changing on a daily basis so I will try and keep all information up to date. It is recommended to book ahead of a visit to a museum as now in many places there are limited spaces for visitors. Remember also that from April to October it is free entry in all museums every first Sunday of the month.

It’s so good to know that we can start to think about travelling again and return to our ‘normal’ life.

Napoli is finally open to the world once again! Welcome back! Bentornati!

A Neapolitan very committed to social distancing!

Pizzeria da Michele: London vs Napoli.

May 5, 2017

The life of a blogger is tougher than you think!. Oh, yes it is!. Just imagine, all the time going around the city, finding new places to see and trying new pizza restaurants. It's tough!. For my followers I would do anything!. For this blog I am going to an old traditional Neapolitan pizzeria that has just opened in London. I am talking about L' Antica Pizzeria da Michele.

LONDON - Antica Pizzeria da Michele, 125 Stoke Newington Church St, Stoke Newington, London N16 0UH. — **LONDON** - Antica Pizzeria da Michele, 125 Stoke Newington Church St, Stoke Newington, London N16 0UH.

NAPOLI - Antica Pizzeria da Michele, Via Cesare Sersale 1, 80139 Napoli. — **NAPOLI** - Antica Pizzeria da Michele, Via Cesare Sersale 1, 80139 Napoli.

You might think 'well, there are many pizza restaurants in London, why is this one so special?'. Well, first because it makes an amazing pizza and I can say this as a Neapolitan and secondly because it is one of the oldest pizzerias in Napoli, opened by Michele Condurro in 1870. The Condurro's pizza making origins go even further back as the grandfather of Michele was a pizza maker at the court of the Bourbons. In 1844 the grandfather made a pizza for the Russian Tzar Nicholas II and his wife Alessandrina Feodorwna, who had come to visit king Ferdinand II. For this occasion he made a special pizza just for them: the cosacca, half marinara half margherita. The legend says that they enjoyed the pizzas so much that they gave the Neapolitan king a present of two bronze statues, now in the gardens of the Royal Palace in Piazza Plebiscito. The rest is history. Since this time, the Condurro family have only made two types of pizzas: Margherita (mozzarella cheese, tomato, oil and basil) and Marinara (tomato, garlic, oil and oregano).

In the movie Eat Pray Love, Julia Roberts appears eating a delicious pizza in the Pizzeria da Michele. You might of liked or not liked the movie, but honestly I can't disagree with Julia, 'It is a moral imperative to enjoy a pizza in Napoli!'.

The menu at Antica pizzeria da Michele in Napoli.

The following step is to open a restaurant in other places in the world, so more people can enjoy amazing pizzas. After Tokyo and Rome, London is next!.

LONDON - Pizzaioli (Pizza makers). — **LONDON** - Pizzaioli (Pizza makers).

NAPOLI - Pizzaioli. — **NAPOLI -** Pizzaioli.

In cosmopolitan London which has a huge choice of international cuisines, it is a challenge to open a pizzeria with just two types of pizza. It seems though for the expat Neapolitans they finally have a proper Neapolitan pizzeria in the UK and apparently, British people seem to appreciate it as well. Probably the time of the 'pineapple pizza' is fading into the past. More people around the world are well travelled now and appreciate authentic food and that is why Londoners are flocking to eat the proper Neapolitan Pizza. Just a few weeks ago, in the London Evening Standard Newspaper, Gordon Ramsey expressed his opinion regarding the 'pineapple pizza', "an absolute no-no on the Italian dish". Neapolitans have the same opinion. Pineapple pizza is just wrong!. Personally, I don't want to create a debate about it, but as a Neapolitan, I can understand why we are so passionate about it. We take very seriously our products from Napoli. We also want you to enjoy the best pizza available and not a second best experience.

And speaking of authenticity, if you want to go to L' Antica pizzeria da Michele in London, be aware that the pizzeria like the Napoli one is always busy and you can't book a table in advance. The system is 'first come, first served', so I suggest you turn up as early as you can. For the London one there is an app to tell you when it is your turn in the queue.

Some people say that the real secret of the pizza is the water used to make the dough and that's why Neapolitan pizzas are so unique, however the London one is very close to the original. The oven and the chefs were brought from Naples and the pizzas have the same authentic flavours. The tomato sauce is deliciously fresh and the smell of the basil is amazing. Ah!!, it really seemed to me that I was in Napoli...except for the weather!.