Christmas Alley

Nook of Naples: The famous precipe (or nativity scenes) sold down Christmas Alley year round are a 'must-do' for any visitor to Naples. The street also provides some fantastic shopping for the holidays, although during December hordes of people trample through. The pulcinella also feature down this street, which are the well-known Neapolitan puppets.

To know more about Christmas Alley and the precipe, I'd like to give a fantastic blogger of Christmastime In Italy center stage. Check out her pictures of the precipe and explanation of how Neapolitans use these delightful ornaments.

Here I'll provide a map on how to get to Christmas Alley, formally known as Via San Gregorio Armeno and located in the heart of downtown Naples.

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!

Saint Patricia's Weekly Miracle

Nook of Naples:  This morning, I attended mass at the San Gregorio Armeno Church in the historic center of Naples.  I came for a very special reason -- Saint Patricia's blood is said to liquefy each Tuesday after the 9:30 am service.


Saint Patricia's remains as well as a tooth and a wax imitation of her body lie inside a coffin at a side altar:

In addition, her blood hangs on the left side of the front altar and is covered with a cloth.

Not much is known about Saint Patricia, her deeds transferred only orally throughout the centuries.  Purportedly, she was born rich and noble in Constantinople during the seventh century.   She was also a descendant of the Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great.  Wanting to lead a life of celibacy, she fled to Rome to avoid an arranged marriage.  When her father died, Saint Patricia returned to Constantinople and gave all her inherited wealth to the poor.  Thereafter, she embarked on a ship back to Rome, but a furious storm drove the vessel to the Gulf of Naples, where she took shelter at the Castel dell'Ovo.  With her friends, she decided to establish a prayer community in Naples and spent her life helping the needy of the city until her death in 665.


Further legend has it that her body was venerated for several centuries until, between 1198 and 1214, a knight wanted a memento from Saint Patricia and plucked out her tooth.  An outpouring of blood came from the empty cavity, thereafter flowing at different periods of time.  Calling it a miracle, nuns preserved some of this blood in two bulbous vials that look like Byzantine perfume bottles.


At San Gregorio Armeno Church, the 'Sisters of Saint Patricia' help with the mass, take care of the cloister, and continue to venerate Saint Patricia's remains.  Many of them, interestingly, come from the Philippines.  


After this morning's Eucharist, the priest lifted Saint Patricia's blood from the hook, brought it to the middle of the altar, and worshippers stood in a line to kiss the receptacle.  Once the mass ended, I approached a nun tidying up the altar and asked if I could see the blood once more.  She didn't hesitate.  She immediately brought the silver receptacle over to me and I kissed the glass in the middle.  Inside it, one opaque vial had a discernible syrupy dark liquid.  The sister moved the receptacle, reciting a prayer, while I watched the liquid ooze back and forth inside the vial.  I felt a strong agape toward this kind Sister who was so willing to share this with me.


On a more tongue and cheek note, I've already written about the patron saint of Naples, San Gennaro, whose vial of blood is located at the National Cathedral (Il Duomo).  His blood liquifies every September 19th as well as the Saturday before the first Sunday in May.  The blood of Saint Patricia -- the patroness saint of Naples -- liquifies on her saint's day of August 25th and each Tuesday after the morning mass.  This means Saint Patricia performs her miracle 53 times a year.  All this definitively proves to me, once again, without a shadow of a doubt that women work harder than men.


Getting There:  San Gregorio Armeno Church is located on San Gregorio Armeno Street, also colloquially known as Christmas Alley.  The opulent Baroque Church is right in the middle of the precepe shops.  After a little shopping for Neapolitan originals like pulcinella, precepe pieces, and the napoletana macchinetta, don't forget to go around the corner to visit the spectacular cloister attached to the church.

Precepe Along Christmas Alley

Pulcinella Along Christmas Alley