Travels in Italy--Naples (Part 1 of 4)

Naples is a wonderful place in southern Italy.  It has history, culture, and food, not to mention the beautiful Bay of Naples. 

We visited Naples not long ago.  Naples is just a 3 hour train ride from Florence. We kicked off our visit with a walking tour of heart of the city.  Along the way, we snapped some photos. 

Naples on Foot:  Shortly after arriving, we stumbled across a religious procession, complete with banners and a band.

Below is a typical street scene in a residential neighborhood in old Naples.  As an aside, many households in Italy do not have a electric clothes dryer because electricity is expensive. Even our apartment lacks a dryer.  So, drying clothes outdoors is common.

In the heart of the old city, we found the Obelisk of San Gennaro.  San Gennaro is the chief patron saint of Naples, who was martyred for his beliefs during the late Roman era.  His body and two vials of his blood are kept in the nearby Naples cathedral.  The domed building in the background is the San Gennaro chapel attached to the Naples cathedral.  You might remember San Gennaro from a September 2015 blog post about the San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy in NYC.  

The Obelisk or Spire of San Gennaro was erected following a large earthquake in 1631 near Naples.  The city was not heavily damaged and the people of Naples thanked their patron saint San Gennaro by erecting the spire.

Cathedral Church of Naples:  Naples is home to many, many churches.  The Naples cathedral is located in the heart of Naples.  The church was built during the 13th and 14th centuries, with many changes over the following centuries.  We spent some time there to view the beautiful art and architecture.

The cathedral was built atop the site of two early Christian churches.  Underneath those early churches are Roman ruins and artifacts, and still deeper are Greek ruins and artifacts.  Naples became a Greek seaport and settlement during the second millennium B.C.  Naples in Greek means "new city" (neo and polis).

We met an archaeologist who gave us a helpful hint about understanding the history of southern Italy:  from ancient to moderns, southern Italy is a series of civilizations--early peoples, Greeks, Romans, Barbarians, Byzantines, Lombards, Italians, to name only a handful. Each civilization's archeological remnants are layered on top of another, sort of like Greg's favorite Italian food.  You guessed it.  The guide described southern Italy as one large flavorful lasagna with lots of layers. (Time for a break from blogging.  It's lunchtime.)

Naples Cathedral:  The façade

Naples Cathedral:  The nave

Naples Cathedral:  The main altar

Naples Cathedral:  The crypt, with a relic of San Gennaro.  (San Gennaro's body is buried in the catacombs of the cathedral.)

Naples Cathedral:  A side chapel used for temporary storage of "palm fronds" for Palm Sunday.  In many places in Italy, olive branches are used on Palm Sunday, instead of palm fronds. 

Attached to the Naples cathedral are many chapels, including two large magnificent chapels.  One is the Royal Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro (begun in the early 17th century), where the vials of blood are kept. The other is the Basilica of Santa Restituta (begun in the 4th century).

San Gennaro Chapel:  the altar with a reliquary bust of San Gennaro on the left

San Gennaro Chapel:  The chapel houses many gold, silver and bronzes busts of religious figures.

San Gennaro Chapel: The frescoed dome of the chapel

Basilica of Santa Restituta:  Mosaic of the Madonna and child between Saints Gennaro and Restituta by Lello da Orvieto (1322)

Basilica of Santa Restituta:  The chapel is decorated everywhere with colorful marble.

Next Up:  Our Naples walking tour continues.