Adoption of skeletons and other phantasmagoria

We arrive in Naples carrying all the unfortunate prejudices of a sulphurous city. It is dizzy-making: so much beauty, so much neglect, such perfection, it’s a place of extremes…

Your initial instinct would be to flee the Sanità, the poor area of town, but we cannot help but stay and marvel at the neighbourhood. And we have a guide. He’s an artist from the Sanità, painter, ceramist and art conveyor Diego Loffredo, who sheds light on everything. The artist creates traditional ceramics harking back to the Greek past of Naples, that are valued by the most prestigious art galleries. But he holds his modern ceramics and paintings closer to his heart.

Like in most other parts of the city, cemeteries are buried underground in the natural cavities of the rock or are interred within the local stone, which is both soft and resistant. Remains from the 17th century victims of the plague lie alongside 18th century corpses (more than forty thousand in total) that were descended from the city’s many churches. Neapolitans often adopt one of these souls that haunt purgatory, thus creating a close link to them, one made of fantasy and of hoping for favours from the dead, in return for their prayers for the souls of the dead.

What else is there to see in Naples? Everything, starting with the heart of the historical centre, the Piazza Bellini, the Church of New Christ and the square (Piazza del Gesù Nuovo), the cathedral (Il Duomo) with the receptacle of San Gennaro’s blood that becomes liquid twice a year to the jubilation of the Neapolitans. Or provokes misery if this miracle does not take place. The Lungomare, with its underground passages criss-crossing each other, the gorgeous theatres like the one where Totó reigned, an old film by the latter, a place to sit and listen to a cult song like Malafemma, that every Neapolitan loves to this day. And of course, the archaeological museum is a must, even for those who usually shun such exhibits. This one is warm, and warmer still in its ‘secret cabinets’, inaccessible by children, with their inexhaustible collections of erotic works from Pompeii and Herculaneum. What is the best time to visit? Naples changes its make-up every hour, taking on a new beauty. But at night, it is at its best; the tiny imperfections become invisible and are replaced by magical lights.

Hegel Goutier