Halloween Treats in Naples

Paying tribute to the deceased can be a Halloween treat in Naples.  A few sights, in particular, stand out.

Where to see the macabre:

• The San Guadioso Catacombs have frescoes painted by Dominican monks who wanted to honor their wealthy deceased patrons by creating their images (skirts for women, pants for men) and using their skeletons and skulls for decoration.

• The Santa Maria Church of the Souls of Purgatory has an underground catacomb which burgeons with unburied bones.  Neapolitans still leave flowers and notes under the skull of virgin-bride Lucia who died of consumption before she was to wed the Marquee Giacomo Santomango in 1789.

• The Sansevero Chapel has an underground chamber displaying two anatomical machines -- a man and woman skeleton with vein and artery structures.  Raimondo di Sangro -- an alchemist, freemason, and excommunicated scientist -- built this church, which houses the Veiled Christ, but also these gruesome machines.

Where to see the eerie:

• The English Cemetery is all that remains of Eusapia Palladino's legacy.  The graveyard is located off the street where the medium and levitator once lived.

• Execution Square has a spacious, yet hollow feel that matches perfectly with the number of executions that took place here, including of Eleonora Pimentel Fonseca.

• The Garden of the Fugitives is the eeriest attraction in Pompeii.  A row of men, women, and children lie eternally frozen, victims of the Mt. Vesuvius eruption in 79 A.D.

Where to see the just plain gross:

• Any Tripperia will do, but the one on Via Pignasecca is particularly gorey, with its hanging tripe outside the restaurant dripping with water and lemon.  Mmmmmmm.