Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
enormous for us to finish in our lifetimes, but at least we will have contributed to what are important
scientific, historical and archaeological discoveries'.
Speleologists Fulvio Salvi and Luca Cuttitta prefer dark cisterns to southern sunshine any day.
Mixed Blessings
And yet, not even the infectious enthusiasm of Naples' speleologists is enough to secure
the protection and preservation of the city's
sottosuolo
. The golden era of the 1990s,
which saw the city council provide generous funding to speleological research, has since
been supplanted by standard Italian bureaucracy and political bickering. As a result, many
precious sites uncovered by the city's speleologists remain indefinitely abandoned, with
little money to salvage and restore them. As Fulvio Salvi from NUg (Napoli Underground
Group) laments: 'The problem with Naples is that it's almost too rich in historical treas-
ure. It creates a certain amount of indifference to such marvels because they are almost a
dime a dozen here'.
A more positive outcome involved NUg's discovery of a long, ring-shaped corridor be-
neath the Quartieri Spagnoli. Part of the ancient Largo Baracche district, the unearthing
called for its transformation into a much-needed community centre - a wish that fell on
deaf ears at the Municipio. Destined to become a squat, its saving grace was a gung-ho
group of young community activists called SABU. Giving the space a mighty scrub, the
group opened it as a nonprofit art lab and gallery in 2005, headed by 24-year-old archae-
ology students Giuseppe Ruffo and Pietro Tatafiore. As Giuseppe explains, 'The gallery is
an open space where emerging artists can exhibit their work, amongst them young gradu-
ates from Naples' Accademia delle Belle Arti. Unfortunately, such spaces are lacking in
Naples'.
