Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
NEAPOLITAN NUANCES
Local historian, architect and author Andrea Maglio says to keep an eye out for these easily missed
musts.
Tunnel Borbonico
In this subterranean tunnel (
Click here
) you can still see dusty old vehicles, graffiti and toilets from
when it was used as a WWII air-raid shelter. It's a wonderful place to see Naples' stratified history.
Rival Obelisks
The impressive
guglie
(obelisks) that dot Spaccanapoli exemplify the collision of religion and politics
in Naples. When a deputation of noblemen devout to San Gennaro erected the
Guglia di San Gen-
Dominicans quickly commissioned the
Guglia di San Domenico
OFFLINE MAP
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(Piazza San Domenico Maggiore) , arguing that Naples' true patron saint was San Domenico. The
bickering beckoned the mediation of the pope, who declared both saints patrons of the city.
Sacred Profanity
Naples is famous for blurring the boundary between the sacred and the profane. The Guglia di San
Gennaro is built around an ancient Roman obelisk found under the city, while the Cimitero delle Fon-
tanelle (
Click here
) was home to a very cultish brand of Catholicism. In the paintings of Jusepe de
Ribera, such as his
St Jerome and the Angel of Judgement
in the Palazzo Reale di Capodimonte the
holy protagonists were often inspired by the city's poor. The result was a very human representation of
the divine, reflecting the familiarity and irreverence that Neapolitans have always felt towards their
much-loved saints.
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1
Capodimonte &
La Sanità
Palazzo Reale di
Capodimonte
( 081 749 91 11;
www.coopculture.it
; Parco di Capodimonte; museum adult/reduced €7.50/3.75, park
admission free; museum 8.30am-7.30pm Thu-Tue, last entry 1hr before closing, park 7am-8pm daily;
2M or 178)
On the northern edge of the city, this colossal palace took more than a cen-
tury to build. It was originally intended as a hunting lodge for Charles VII of Bourbon, but
as construction got under way in 1738, the plans kept on getting grander and grander. By
PALACE, MUSEUM, PARK
