Ten Overlooked Sights of Naples

Here are my top ten sights of Naples.  I call them overlooked because they seldom make it into the travel guides and tend to have fewer tourists, but these gems also won't disappoint.  They leave visitors dreaming of mythical lands and legendary heroes.  

10)  Pizzofalcone -- Mythically said to be where the Siren, Parthenope, was born, the rock is located right beside the Military Academy.  Walking around this area feels like a seedy adventure.  The streets behind Piazza del Plebiscito become small and you must ask the locals directions at every block.  Once you reach the rock itself, there's a fine view of Naples.

9)  Entrance to Hades -- Meet Carlo Santillo who will guide you with candles and oil lamps through a Roman military tunnel.  He'll also show you the River Styx and the cave where the Sybil uttered her oracles.

8)  Temple of Apollo Celebrations -- Come before sundown at the summer or winter solstice as well as the vernal and spring equinoxes and a group of nature-minded Italians will be holding a ceremony to bring together all religions and all cultures.  They beat drums and give offerings to nature.  The event is free and hosted by Centro Nuova Era.

7)  The Papyrus Scrolls at the National Library -- Come nose-to-nose with 2,000 year old papyrus scrolls written in Greek and found during the 18th century at the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum.  If you make an appointment, the librarians take you through the backdoors of one of the most prominent and oldest libraries in Europe until you reach this secluded exhibition.

6)  The Macabre Dominicans -- Part of the Naples parallel city, the San Guadioso catacombs hide underneath the Santa Maria della Sanita Church.  Tours show you the tomb of the African San Guadioso, a stunning fresco of Saint Catherine, and the artwork of Dominicans who painted their wealthy patrons using skulls and skeletons.

Burial Niches

5)  Santa Chiara Cloister -- Search for an assassination mystery.  Somewhere on the grounds, Queen Joanna I's remains were dumped.  Still today no marker bears witness to where the excommunicated Queen rests.  Some say they are located up a flight of stairs behind an always locked door.  The Cloister itself is decorated with breathtaking Spanish tiles.

The hallway beyond which Queen Joanna's bones might lie

4)  Purgatory -- The Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco Church has an underground more macabre than the Dominicans.  Since the 17th and 18th centuries, innumerable bones of the deceased have been left unburied here.  In particular, people leave flowers and cards alongside the bones of Santa Lucia, a girl stricken by tubercolosis a few days before she was to wed a Marquis.

Underground Chapel

3)  Santuaria Sacra -- Religious shops along the two famed streets of Decumano Maggiore and Via Tribunali sell items necessary for the more than 200 churches located in downtown Naples.  Priest garbs, Eucharist holders, and knick-knacks are everywhere.  One of the most charming are the silver body parts.  Buy one of these and head down to Gesu Nuovo Church where you can leave your healed or in-need-of-healing body part in the side chapel of San Giuseppe Moscati, a physician saint.

2)  University of Naples Museums -- Winding up a labrynth of stairs, passing students and faculty, several science museums display dinosaur fossils, insects, and artifacts from Troy.

1)  Riccardo Dalisi's Workshops -- Architect, tinsmith artist, and maker of the Alessi version of the Napoletana, walking along Rua Catalana you can enjoy Dalisi's art between buildings and on street corners.  Two workshops are also open, inspired by Dalisi's works.

Inside a Dalisi inspired workshop

Buon Divertimento!

Ten Overlooked Sights In Italy

When the monthly magazine L'Espresso took a poll to ask Italians what it means to be Italian, people throughout the country overwhelmingly replied their art and history.  The sights in Italy are infinite.  Every kilometer of the country burgeons with historical gems.  While most tourists flock to popular places such as the Vatican, St. Mark's in Venice, or Michelangelo's David in Florence, many more pearls lie hidden in full view.  These places have fewer tourists, yet their historical depth tend to intrigue visitors.  

Here are my top ten picks of overlooked sights in Italy:


10) The Greek Philosophers City in Velia -- The Greek philosophers Parmenides and Zeno lived and lectured among these ruins in the 5th century B.C. The vast complex has a trail that winds up to a hilltop castle built during medieval times.  There's also a Roman theater, a Forum, and a Roman villa tucked behind brush.  Velia is located in the Cilento National Park where you can camp, hike, and enjoy the beaches.

9)  The Abbey and Cemetery of Montecassino -- One of the few remaining territorial abbeys, this monastery is important to scholars because it holds many original codices from the medieval ages.  Built over a Temple of Apollo in the sixth century A.D., the Nazis tried to take over the region in 1944, but a battalion of Polish forces routed them out.  A moving tribute to their heroism can be found at the bottom of the abbey in the form of a large cemetery and memorial.

8)  The Arberesh in Civita, Calabria -- The Albanians are the largest minority in Italy and have been here since the 16th century when they escaped the Ottoman onslaught across the Adriatic.  Today, hotels are named after Skanderbeg and monuments to Albanian heroes are everywhere in this area. The Arberesh have retained an ancient form of Albanian and linguists flock here to study their unique tongue. At Civita, in particular, you can visit the ethnographic museum and walk across a devil's bridge.

7)  The Etruscan Tour -- These mysterious ancients left bulbous tombs in Certeveteri, vibrant fresco tombs in Tarquinia, and a 180-meter deep well on the hilltop of Orvieto. Start at the National Etruscan Museum in Rome and then drive through the countryside to each of these impressive towns.

6) The Paper Makers of Amalfi -- The Valley of the Mills is a hiking trail going past the ruins of Amalfi's famous paper mills, which began their production in the 13th century. At the end of the trail, you can picnic next to a beautiful waterfall.  Thereafter, you can buy some limoncello in Sorrento, enjoy a concert at Ravello, buy ceramics in Vietri sul Mare, or check out the abundance of things to do in this region at one of my all-time favorite blogs:  Ciao Amalfi.

5)  The Villa of Tiberius at Sperlonga -- Emperor Tiberius had a summer home in Sperlonga while he still ruled Rome.  These ruins now contain a mammoth cave and an impressive museum of items that were found inside the villa.  A public beach is right next door.  Sperlonga is also near Gaeta, where you can visit Split Rock, Cicero's Tomb, or follow signs 80 km into the mountains to see the Grotto di Pastena.

4) Medieval Physicians of Salerno -- The oldest medical school on the continent also had the largest number of women physicians. They wrote prescriptions for things like wandering uteruses and worms in the ears. Walking toward the medical school means stopping at the macabre Duomo full of anguished scenes of saints as well as their unburied bones. On the way out of the city, you can follow signs to a hilltop Argonese Castle.

3)  Sailing with Odysseus across Scylla and Charybdis -- Sailing from the Italian mainland to Sicily, a ferry takes you across the Strait of Messina, considered to be the original Scylla and Charbybdis where Ulysses passed. From here, my top picks for travel in Sicily are the ancient ruins of Agrigento and the ancient philosopher-city of Siracusa.

Strait of Messina

2)  Archeological Park of Baia -- Three enormous terraces have baffled archeologists for centuries.  Nobody knows definitively what purpose these ruins served.  Located in the Phlegraean Fields or Fields of Fire, visitors can wander through what looks like baths, steep stairwells, open gymnasium spaces, and three temples, including the Temple of Echoes.

Temple of Echoes

1)  The Sassi Caves of Matera -- These caves date back 7,000 years, but people inhabited them until the 1970's when the government deemed them dangerous and had the caves evacuated.  The picaresque city of Matera cuts into a mountain and you can stay in cave hotels.  Mel Gibson filmed The Passion of Christ here.

The Precepe Tour

The Christmas Special:  The Precepe, or nativity scenes, are a Neapolitan tradition that make Christmas particularly special in this city.  In keeping with the spirit, I would like to suggest a Saturday walking tour of the most spectacular precepe.  Children will particularly love these places and adults will be able to see some of the top sights of Naples, with a Christmas bent.


1)  Start at the Villa Comunale in the Chiaia district where you'll easily find parking and enjoy a view of the Bay of Naples and the Castel dell'Ovo.  The Villa Comunale is a large park with play sets for kids.  A few blocks up the road from here, enter the Santa Maria in Portico Church.  Go to the sacristy where you'll find a life-size precepe created in the 17th-century.  (Address:  Via Santa Maria in Portico 17)

2)  Take the funicular at Parco Margherita up to the Vomero district and then walk up the hill to the  Certosa di San Martino.  The vast number of precepe in this museum are considered the finest in the world, including a figurine created by Guiseppe Sanmartino, the sculptor of the Veiled Christ. 


3)  Walk down the hill to the Vanvitelli metro station and take the subway to Piazza Dante.  You can also take the stairs across the street from the Certosa that wind down into Naples.  The stairs provide wonderful overlooks of the city as well as quick access to the city center.  However, I've been warned several times that the area is dangerous (even during the day) with mafia, pickpockets, and a descent into some of the seediest places in Spaccanapoli.


Once you get to Piazza Dante, walk down Via Monteoliveto until you come to Piazza Monteoliveto.  Take a right into the piazza and you'll find the Sant'Anna dei Lombardi Church.  Go into the caverns of the sacristy to find Guido Mazzoni's Lamentation over the Dead Christ (1492), with seven life-size terracotta figures surrounding Christ.  Beyond it, you'll also find Vasari's sacristy with wood marquetry and a stunning ceiling fresco.  In a room between these two amazing works, you'll find a sprawling precepe scene.

Mazzoni's Lamentation of Christ

Precepe Scene

Vasari Sacristy

4)  Go up to Piazza Del Gesu Nuovo and walk down Via Benedetto Croce.  This is one of the two main arteries of downtown Naples with a wealth of things to see.  Walk along this road and take a left onto Via San Gregorio Armeno, also known as Christmas Alley.  (I would highly recommend stopping first in a side street of Via San Severo to visit the Veiled Christ.)  If you're at Christmas Alley on a Tuesday morning, you'll also be able to see the miracle of Saint Patricia's blood liquifying.


At Christmas Alley you can buy vintage Neapolitan delights such as pulcinella, the Neapolitan Flip-Over coffee maker, and precepe figurines.  But be aware that you won't be able to take precepe through customs, so the precepe you buy in Naples will likely stay in Naples.


5)  If you're not tired out by then, walk to Via Duomo, take a left, then take another left on Via Anticaglia.  This street is one of the oldest of the city, dating back to Greco-Roman times.  Along here, smaller shops tout elaborate handmade precepe also. 

On another day, you can also visit the Reggia di Caserta and look for a massive precepe behind glass.

Precepe figurines at the Reggia di Caserta

These are my top six picks of where to find precepe around Naples, but they can be found almost everywhere.  What's more, Neapolitans are so proud of this distinct artistic heritage that precepe can be viewed during all months of the year.  If you happen to be visiting the city in June, you can also take a precepe tour. 

For other ideas of what to see and what to eat during Christmas in Naples, check out my Table of Contents -- Holidays in Naples.

Buon Natale a tutti!

St. Thomas Aquinas

The Sacristy

Nook of Naples:  St. Thomas Aquinas lived in Naples for many years and you can find one of his handwritten works in the Manuscript Department of the National Library. 


St. Thomas Aquinas also headed the Theology University beginning in 1272.  The University was located at what today is the San Domenico Maggiore church in downtown Naples.


If you visit the church, make sure to look inside the sacristy where 42 coffins are arranged along the balcony.  One contains the remains of King Alphonse of Aragon and another of King Ferdinand I of Aragon.

The Tombs along the Balcony

King Ferdinand I of Aragon

A mystery also exists inside this sacristy:  the Treasure Room was suppose to hold the human hearts of King Charles II of Anjou as well as King Alphonse and King Ferdinand I, but when the French occupied the Kingdom of Naples in the 19th century, the relics disappeared forever.


Getting There:  Vico San Domenico Maggiore 18 (the piazza along Via Benedetto Croce/Via S. Biagio Dei Librai)

Opening Night at Teatro San Carlo

Arriving on time -- even though the show began a few minutes late -- we searched for the usher roaming somewhere in the hallway.  Once found, he fished for a key and then led us to Lilliputian double doors, which he unlocked.  We entered the box, left our coats on one of the hooks, passed through velvet red drapery, and sat down on two lonely wooden chairs.  With balcony seating, the ceiling fresco was almost in arm's length reach. 

I had vertigo before the show began. (It's high up there.)  Beneath us, six to eight Italians crunched together in their lower box seats, continuing their chatter long after the singers came on stage.  Mirrors along the walls  of their boxes reminded us that the Teatro San Carlo was built during the Bourbon period when the King sat in his royal box in the center. 

The mirrors allowed audiences to view both the show and the King at the same time. The balcony boxes, however, didn't have mirrors, thereby keeping the riff-raff (like us) from having such an honor.  When the lights dimmed and the production began, we hung our bodies over the velvet parapet in order to see most of the stage.



Hasmik Papian, an Armenian opera singer, played the role of Floria Tosca. Keeping her residence in Vienna, she performs world-wide and yesterday she graced Naples with her outstanding voice. After dramatically killing the sadistic Baron Scarpia, then watching the execution of her hapless lover Mario Cavaradossi, Tosca jumped off a bridge and the music ended with emotional force.  The audience went wild with applause and shouted "Brava!"

To purchase tickets, I suggest you go directly to the box office during the weekday.  You can also take guided tours of the theater.  Pictures of the stage aren't allowed, but I was able to take a few images of the lush seating and the actors giving their bows to roaring applause:

Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaavi!

As an additional treat, after the show we walked along the bustling streets of night time Naples. On Sunday afternoons Neapolitans stay at home to eat with their families. Once darkness hits, they take their children and stroll through piazzas and town centers en masse. Stores, outside vendors, restaurants, and caffe's light up the streets and the crowds feel festive.

Last night, I withstood more than three hours of stiletto heels and balcony seating at the Teatro San Carlo in order to enjoy the five o'clock opening show of Giacomo Puccini's La Tosca. 

Deluge in Pompeii

Pompeii Amphitheater

December 3, 2010

By now you've probably heard that it won't stop raining in the Campania region. Newspaper articles also report that the ruins of Pompeii are collapsing. The deluge has persisted for at least three or four weeks. In the last few days my neighbor has even started building an ark. (Little does she know that each night I haul a few buckets of pitch away from the site, so that when the time comes, she'll have no seal for the bottom of her sinking vessel.) During the day, I decided to visit Pompeii to see the real story of the collapsing destruction for myself.

Rest assured, Pompeii remains as it has always been -- in ruins.

I took a map from the Information Office and set off to see the damage. The all-important Forum remains in tact. So do the newly renovated Forum Baths and the famous House of the Faun and Villa of the Mysteries. Walking along the main artery of Via dell'Abbondanza, the street remains in excellent sloped condition and today's rain flowing down toward the Stabia Gate shows how Pompeii inhabitants would have welcomed this deluge because it meant that all the trash during ancient times, from animal feces to human body parts, would have been washed out of the city.

The brothel remains unaffected, the damage reported in the Christian Science Monitor said to be the 'little brothel,' which is not on the tourist map, is never part of any tour, and thus far has never been open to the public.


The 'house of gladiators' is cordoned off and, indeed, rubble appears:

View from Via dell'Abbondanza

Second View from other side of Via dell'Abbondanza

Interestingly, this house has never been open to the public and has never showed up on the map of tourist attractions. Although I had heard of the house, in all my visits to Pompeii I had never been able to find it. Only thanks to the collapse do I now know exactly where the gladiators prepared for combat. 

Across the street and a little further down, the House of Venus -- with its vibrantly colored fresco of naked Venus -- still looks fantanstic. During WWII, bombs fell on Pompeii and the House of Venus was obliterated, but archeologists received money in 1952 to reconstruct the villa piece by piece.

Perhaps the recent newspaper reports are all about politics. The EU wants a reason to embarrass right-wing faux-mafia troublemaker Berlusconi (for which I give my wholehearted support). But I also fear a touch of ignorance or at least unreasonable expectations on the part of UNESCO. Archeologists (especially for tourists sake and often under pressure from those who fund them) have always taken artistic license when studying artifacts and rebuilding ruins. They often liberally add modern day plaster or add wooden beams, they restore color to frescoes, and sometimes surmise from a few pebbles what an entire villa may have looked like. Their creations are highly breakable, yet sustain the weight of 3 million visitors per year. Pompeii is Disneyland by another name.

And what's wrong with that?

I would like to thank archeologists for their painstaking work and their layered methodologies. Because, in the end, walking through ruins such as Pompeii is not so much about accuracy as it is about erecting shadows of a lost history that smacks down my modern day hubris.  After a visit, I must ask myself:  do we really do things better? 

Living among these ruins certainly has a strong impact on the culture of Naples. I've noticed time and again that Neapolitans strongly believe 'the old ways are better', whether it be the old ways of making wine, making vintage gloves, or hearkening back to a coffee roaster's decades-long history in order to sell his product.

For most of my visit to Pompeii, the rain came in sheets. Tonight, I again plan to hide more of my neighbor's buckets of pitch inside my apartment. I'm also scratching obscene graffiti along my walls. Sorry Cheryl, but I want my fifteen minutes of fame, even if it will be in 2,500 years from now when archeologists find an ark covered in mud silt, apartment houses with crude water heaters, an unstable electrical network that probably meant regular power outages, and grossly large piles of ossified trash that never washed away from the streets. Also, they'll find a whole room stacked with buckets of pitch and obscene graffiti that was responsible for the drowning of an entire community, and it must certainly have been-- as archeologists will surmise -- over a nasty lover's quarrel.

The Self-Guided Tours: I recently re-wrote my posts on Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the National Archeological Museum, creating them into self-guided tours for anyone who prefers venturing through the life of ancients at their own pace. Hope you may enjoy it.