Saints & Superstitions - Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast - page 454

Sant'Anastasia at the foot of Mt Vesuvius. The focus of their devotion is an unusual image
of the Virgin Mary, in which her cheek is wounded. According to legend, the wound's ori-
gins go back to Easter Monday in 1500, when a disgruntled mallet player hit the Virgin's
image with a wooden ball. Miraculously, the image began to bleed, leading to the sour
sport's hanging and the construction of the sanctuary on the site of the event. As they ap-
proach the sanctuary, the fujenti run towards it. Some fall into a trance, with many more
shouting, crying and walking on their knees towards the image in what can be described
as a collective purging of guilt and pain. In Naples, the lead-up to the festival is an event
in itself. From the week following the Epiphany (6 January) to Easter Monday, hundreds
of neighbourhood congreghe (instrument-playing congregations) parade through the
streets, carrying a statue of the Madonna, collecting offerings for the big day and playing
an incongruous medley of tunes (think 'Ave Maria' followed by a 1970s Raffaella Carrà
pop hit).

Exactly which saint you consult can depend
on what you're after. If it's an addition to the
family, chances are you'll head straight to the
former home of Santa Maria Francesca delle
Cinque Piaghe to sit on the saint's miraculous
chair. It's the closest thing to a free fertility
treatment in Naples.
On the opposite side of Via Toledo, in the
Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo, entire rooms are ded-
icated to Dr Giuseppe Moscati (1880-1927), a
much-loved local medic canonised in 1987. Here, body-part-shaped ex-voti smother the
walls, each one a testament to the MD's celestial intervention.
For many, the wish list doesn't stop at good health or the pitter-patter of little feet, with
common requests ranging from next week's winning lottery numbers to a decent-looking
date.
Despite the Madonna's popularity, the city's ultimate holy superhero is San Gennaro.
Every year in May, September and December thousands of Neapolitans cram themselves
into the Duomo to pray for a miracle: that the blood of Naples' patron saint, kept here in
two phials, will liquefy and save Naples from any potential disaster.
According to scientists, the so-called miracle has a logical
explanation. Apparently, it's all to do with thixotrophy; that is,
the property of certain compounds to liquefy when shaken and
then to return to their original form when left to stand. To veri-

For centuries, locals believed that a crocodile
lurked below the Castel Nuovo. Some said the
reptile lunched on Queen Joan II's ex-lovers.
Others swore that political prisoners were on
the menu. According to writer and intellectual
Benedetto Croce, the crocodile was eventually
caught using a horse's thigh as bait.