Sunday March 25 was cloudy and felt cool even though the temperature reached 13C. Alain and I were both tired from the past two days, so we decided to take it easy on Sunday. It was also daylight savings time in Europe, so we lost an hour of sleep. Of course, just after we awoke mid-morning, after a long sleep, we heard a procession going down our street!
Photo of procession from our balcony
We decided to just be flâneurs in Napoli, wander about and check out what might be interesting.
Graffitti on a closed shop-- laundry day
Line up at Scaturchio, the pastry shop
Another great shop door cover
We headed to Mexico for a coffee. So nice to have a coffee in a hot espresso cup.
Area on left for keeping cups warm
More grafitti
More street displays of treats
We decided to scout out the Cappella Sansevero (Sansevero Chapel), which was at the top of our list. It turned out to be open and there was only a very short line to enter. As usual, there is an austere outside and an amazing baroque interior. We were not allowed to take photos and they were very strict about their policy.
The Sanservo Chapel was erected in the late 16th century by Giovan Francesco di Sangro, but it was Raimondo di Sangro (1710- 1771), the seventh Prince of Sanservo who conceived and had built between the 1740s and the 1770s the present day interior. He commissioned the finest artists to adorn the interior.
The Chapel is both a family mausoleum and a temple of initiation, reflecting de Sangro's accomplishments as a patron of the arts, inventor, man of letters and publisher, as well as alchemist and Grand Master of the Freemasons in the Kingdom of Naples.
Outside of the Chapel
Raimondo di Sangro's first work of importance was the decoration, in 1749, of the vaulted ceiling, with a representation of the Glory of Heaven. The work was done by Francesco Maria Russo, who used colours invented by di Sangro. The colours are still incredibly vivid today.
Internet photo which doesn't do the actual chapel justice--- the colours of the ceiling are still vivid today
The masterpiece of the Chapel is il Cristo Velato (the Veiled Christ), sculpted by Giuseppe Sanmartino in 1753. It is renowned for the remarkable tissue-like quality of the marble. It really is amazing-- one can see a bulging vein on Christ's forehead and it really looks like he is suspended between life and death.
The sculptures along the side of the Chapel are also masterpieces. The sculpture Disinganno (Disillusion) was dedicated by di Sangro to his father. The image shows a man who liberates himself from a net, a symbol of sin. The work is by Francesco Queirolo completed in 1754.
From the internet-- Disillusion by Francesco Queirolo
There is also a piece Pudicizia (Modesty) whose veiled figure pays tribute to Raimondo's mother who died when he was only 11 months old.
From the internet-- Modesty-- the statue's lost gaze and broken plaque represent a life cruelly cut short
I have tried to insert a video from YouTube which may or may not work. It is an amazing chapel and should not be missed when in Naples. See also www.museosansevero.it for more information.
After our visit to the Chapel, we wandered a bit more and stopped for a cuoppo fritto (cup of fried food). We tried the fried vegetables at a hole in the wall place just around the corner from our apartment. There was only room for two small tables. We sat down and had our treat and talked to a couple visiting Naples from Rome (He was from Rome and she was originally from Tunisia). They were also sampling the Naples street.
We stopped for a coffee at Pasticceria San Capparelli, a relative of the owner of Capriccio, where we had started our food tour on Friday.
Alain with another coffee at Pasticceria Capparelli
Coffee machine and adjoining hot water where the espresso cups were warming
We decided to visit the Duomo, the main Cathedral in Naples. We were not sure if it would be open. It turned out the Cathedral was open and services were just about to start. We were able to see the Cappella di Gennaro and the Battistero di San Giovanni in Fonte (Western Europe's oldest baptistry), just as the gates to these sections were being closed. The Duomo is widely known as the Cathedral di San Gennaro, in honour of Saint Januarius, the city's patron saint.
Building of the Cathedral was started by Charles I of Anjou in 1272, continued during the reign of Charles II and consecrated in 1315 under the rule Robert of Anjou. It was largely destroyed in a 1456 earthquake and has had changes over the subsequent centuries. The neo- Gothic facade was only added in the late 19th century. There is an incredible gilded ceiling.
The Duomo - facade from 19th century
The alter and beautiful gilded ceiling
Teenager praying at about 6:30 p.m.
High baroque interior
Fresco on one wall
Waiting for the service to start
The Baptistry, which we only had a moment to look at, has fragments of 4th century mosaics.
The Baptistry
After our visit to the Duomo, we continued to walk on Duomo Street. We are now well-versed in recognizing apartment buildings that used to be the homes of aristocrats in past centuries -the volcanic stone arches and often coats of arms or other decorations at the top of the arches.
A beautiful building- still well preserved
We walked a bit further and saw a banner down a side street for Madre- museo d'arts contemporanea Donnaregina, a contemporary art museum that takes its name from the building that hosts it, the Palazzo Donnaregina. The museum opened in 2005.
Outside of Madre
We saw that the museum was one of the Piano City Napoli hosts and that there was a concert taking place in a performance space. Admission was free and were able to hear a concert by the final pianist, Luca Amitrano. He is a professional musician, composer and choir director.
Entrance to the museum...
Signage for Piano City Napoli 2018
Luca Amitrano engaged the audience, which continued to grow as the hour concert proceeded. He did a number of his own compositions and then did some improvisations. It was a real scene, as a lot of the audience knew each other. We stayed for the entire hour until 8:00 p.m.
Luca Amitrano
At the piano
Performance space at the museum - there were also benches on both sides of the room, where we were sitting
After the concert, we walked back to the apartment and Alain made a wonderful meal. The appetizer was fresh tomato on freselle and the main course was a delicious filet of fresh fish and an artichoke. I don't get tired of Italian artichokes, which are in season at this time of year and very plentiful.
Tomatoes on freselle
Artichoke and fish in the background
It was nice to have a quiet day that had great surprises, including the Cappella Sansevero and the piano concert. I think that the entire concept of Piano City which is held annually at different times in the year in Milan, Palermo and Naples, would really work in Toronto.
Monday March 26 was mainly cloudy with a bit of sun and a high of 14C. Our destination was Pompeii. We walked to the train station to catch the 11:11 a.m. train. On the way, we saw that a small square off Via Tribunale (the main street perpendicular to the street we are staying on) was being readied for the film shoot for the RAI (Italian network) and HBO miniseries of Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend . The series will be in Italian with English subtitles and should be on the air later in 2018. Getting the square to look like the 1950s Old Salumeria sign Old potato sacks etc. Approaching the Galleria in front of the train station The train was very old, crowded and there were about 20 stops before we got to Pompeii. However, the trip still only took 40 minutes. We got the audio guide and a map, that was often frustrating to follow. We ended up spending 3 1/2 hours walking around the ruins of Pompeii and we felt we had ...
Sunday April 1 was cloudy with a high of only 8C. However, there was no rain during the day. We started our day by walking to the Sunday Columbia Street Flower Market, about a 10 minute walk from our flat. It was a great scene-- tons of people buying plants and flowers and lots of little cafés and bakeries lining the sides of the market area. The street is blocked off for the weekly market. Wonderful row housing near the Flower Market Another view Great plants It is busy-- walking up to the market, we saw lots of people carrying flowers Great selection English lavender Orchid guy We liked the vendors shouting: "Three for a tenner". There was live music too We stopped for a coffee at Start Coffee- another busy place with a line for take out. We decided to have a coffee inside. Start Coffee beside the flower market We then walked down to Brick Lane to check out the Sunday scene there. We stopped for a photo...
Wednesday March 7 started out sunny with a high of 17C. It became cloudy in the afternoon and there was a surprise brief rainfall at around 4:30 p.m. We started our day with a coffee at Lot Sixty One and then made our way to St. John's Co-Cathedral, where we spent a few hours. Late morning photo of the new Market building across from the coffee shop Walking in front of Valletta Library- lots of temporary sculptures for Valletta 2018 celebrations Alain in front of sculpture- "In one ear and out of the Other" Outside of the entrance to the Cathedral is a Monument to the Great Siege. The monument, the work of a Maltese sculptor Antonio Sciortino, was inaugurated in 1927 to commemorate the victims of the Great Siege of 1565. The three figures represent Faith, Civilization and Valour. The Great Siege Monument There was a makeshift memorial with candles and flowers placed at the monument in commemoration of Daphne Ca...
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