Napoli

All right, more or less recovered – although at one point late this afternoon it took everything I had in me not to just lie down on that bench at the National Archaeological Museum and take a nap. Nothing against the museum, which was fascinating, but that (I hope) last bit of jet lag caught up with me. ..

There’s not much interesting to say about why I’m here: basically, a chunk of space before spring breaks, graduations, grandchild care and then who-knows-what summer plans for folk, and well, I’ve never been here. So here I am.

Naples certainly has a reputation, but that reputation – of being super dangerous with thieves on motorbikes constantly swiping purses – seems…undeserved. Yes, it’s not pristine, and yes it’s very much lived in – and has been for 3000 years – but so far feels quite safe. There are a lot of tourists here right now, and there are obviously touristy sections, but it’s not constructed around the tourist experience, which I like, although others wouldn’t. Most of the tourists seem to be Italian, but I’ve also encountered large groups of French schoolkids – I presume they’re doing Pompeii (since a lot of them were at the museum today).

(Reminder – click on images for larger versions. Video at Instagram, especially Stories.)

This morning, I hit a few churches all the same area – San Domenico Maggiore, Santa Chiara, Gesu Nuovo.

On the way though, this street. I thought I’d share just a few of the shrines on this one street:

San Domenico Maggiore – obviously, the main Dominican center for the area. There are only 6 friars there now – 2 died in November/December.

I took the tour of the Sacristy, “treasure room,” crypt, and cell of St. Thomas Aquinas. Thomas was here twice, the last time in 1372, called to establish a university before he was sent to participate in the Council of Lyons. He died on the way.

Some photos of the exterior and interior of the church. The column is a “plague column” with Dominic on top, erected in thanksgiving for the end of a 17th century plague.

The sacristy.

You’re wondering about this “first bishop of New York” business. Well:

RICHARD LUKE CONCANEN WAS A Catholic prelate born in Ireland in 1747. He completed his studies in Italy and served various roles in several churches.

Thanks to his friendship with the Archbishop of Baltimore, he was able to secure permission to establish a Dominican province in the newly established United States. In 1808, Pope Pius VII appointed Concanen as the first bishop of the Diocese of New York. He was consecrated in Rome but due to embargoes related to the ongoing Napoleonic Wars, he was never able to set foot on American soil. He was trying to set sail for the United States when he was detained by the French who were occupying Naples. Later released, he died in Naples in 1810.

The caskets lining the top are those of Aragonese royalty and nobility. At some point, I believe in the last century, the bodies were all removed, analyzed, and the clothing taken off for study and preservation. And now some of that clothing is in the adjacent “treasure room” – and it’s stored in drawers which you can just..open. Which is a little strange.

Now to the cell:

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Now just down the road a bit to the Santa Chiara complex. There is a church, which is free to enter, and then the historic cloister and a museum, which have an entrance fee. There are still sisters here (and I saw a couple of Franciscans conversing, so perhaps friars live here as well) but the cloister, with its beautiful Majorca tiled columns and benches, are for the public now.

The church was bombed in 1943 – a photo from the museum shows the damage, and one display shows a wall frieze that was destroyed, along with pieces that were retrieved.

The cloister. I find it so interesting that the tiles are all simply pastoral scenes. The wall paintings are all religious in nature, so I wonder if these tiles were painted in this way to give the nuns some pleasant memories of life outside the enclosure.

Now to Gesu Nuovo, the Jesuit church. I hit it about 15 minutes before the afternoon closure, so I think I’ll try to get back to take another look.

I love the way the busts around the altar – representing saints with a particular relationship to the Eucharist – are leaning out, as if they are assisting at Mass with great attention.

This side chapel – of St. Francis Xavier – was something. Those are reliquaries lining the walls.

St. Giuseppi (Joseph) Moscati is buried here – died in 1927, canonized in 1987, he was a physician, beloved, renowned and of course devout. Several reverenced his tomb in the few minutes I was there, and I’ve seen his image in quite a few churches so far – he’s not at Padre Pio levels, but he’s certainly popular.

The photo below shows how close the last two churches were – the building with the scaffolding is Gesu Nuovo, and Santa Chiara is right across from it.

Lunchtime! You know what that means….

My landlady had said that in her opinion, this was the best pizza in town. So I figured I might as well start at the top to have a good baseline for comparison. (I’d seen it mentioned in online discussions as well) So I hopped on the Metro and went down there, and yes, it was excellent. And yes, Americans paying $20 for your most basic “artisanal” Neapolitan pizza…you have a reason for your tears…

Then back on the Metro – it’s not exactly warm here. Yes the sun is shining, but it’s been in the high 40’s, which to the Neapolitans, is a catastrophe. They keep apologizing for the weather. Well, I don’t mind it at all – but I’m still glad it’s supposed to be in the 50’s next week – and after eating my pizza outside (there would have been a wait for indoor seating), even with heaters, I wanted to be inside for the rest of the day. So off to the museum.

The National Archaeological Museum of Naples is the repository for most of what has been retrieved from Pompeii and Herculaneum. There’s more to see there than that, but that was my focus today. The mosaics were like nothing I had ever seen before – gorgeous and detailed. The household items were beautiful in a way that speaks to the care humans are capable of giving to the fashioning of even the tools of ordinary life. I did expect more plaster casts though – only one was on display.

The last image is of baking pans – a hare on the far left and a pig in the middle.

One more church before the day is done, featuring the body of a new-to-me saint – Nunzio Sulprizio.

And then…back. By way of goats.