We decided to stick with the idea that a round of the town on the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus was the best first option to get a handle on a city the size of Naples, in the fervent hope that there weren’t the great hordes of people that we saw in the city yesterday, a public holiday. And Naples really is on steroids – busy, crowded, noisy. The narrowest pedestrian streets (many are nothing more than laneways) have a continuous stream of cars and especially motorbikes, that zip in and out between the pedestrians and cars, all beeping their horns as they force their way through the crowds of walkers.
We sat atop the open-air bus and completed a
circuit of the old city, seeing some of the main historical features,
identifying places we wanted to return to and getting a general sense of the
layout of the place. Having completed a
circuit we are able to confirm beyond doubt that the Napolitano are
football-crazy – light-blue and white streamers are stretched between
buildings, above the street, everywhere (competing with the electrical cables)
and everywhere are flags, bunting, life-size cardboard cut-outs of players,
shops selling Napoli merchandise.
First stop was the15th century Santa Chiara
cloister. Probably forty metres square
in the usual design of wide, open corridors surrounding the four sides of the
grassed central courtyard. Absolutely beautiful frescoes on every wall of the
surrounds. The wealthy patron who financed the 18th century
refurbishment insisted that the tiled columns and tiled walls recount daily
Neapolitan life in an attempt to modernise it and so that the cloistered nuns
could get an idea of what life outside their walls was like. The central courtyard, which until then had
served as a vegetable garden for the nuns was pared back with more formal
greenery. This is perhaps the most
beautiful, peaceful setting we have encountered this trip, especially when
contrasted with the mayhem outside. Added to its charm was a museum displaying,
among other relics, centuries-old books (the photo is of a 15th
century book).
The adjacent museum contained artefacts and
segments of the original church, recovered after the church was bombed and
almost destroyed by the allies during World War II (what can we say?). The
museum also contained a huge hand-crafted 18th century nativity
scene, again displaying Neapolitan life as well.
The adjoining Santa Chiara Church was quite
impressive but not a standout.
Over the road to the magnificent Chiesa del
Gesu Nuovo, consecrated in 1601 on the site of a former palace. This church presents a real paradox. The external façade is a huge black concrete
monstrosity that has absolutely no relationship with what is to come
when you walk through the doors. A
jaw-dropping moment. Floor to high, high
ceiling decorations, statues, art works, not just in the main nave but in the
opulent chapels either side. Obviously
no expense was spared.
A light lunch in an adjacent laneway, then a
leisurely stroll along Via Benedetto Croce, a favourite shopping street in old
Naples, dodging the endless streams of shoppers and pedestrians coming from all
directions, regularly dodging motor bikes and occasionally cars (what cars were
doing in such a densely-packed pedestrian walkway is anybody’s guess), ducking
off from time to time to visit a church or have a drinks break, and then
finally heading up Via Duomo to the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary, the
main Napoli cathedral – grand on the outside, a little less grand than some of
the other churches inside except for the stunning frescoed dome. Wound our way down to the crypt containing
the tomb of Saint Gennaro, the city’s patron saint (in fact the church is
widely known as the Duomo di San Gennaro) and also inspected the church’s
beautiful baptistery.
About 6pm we made our way through the back
streets and lanes, many of which contain what are perhaps squats for African
refugees, to the peace and quiet of our apartment.
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