Napoli - The Ultimate Battle of Sex and Death

Today was our first day of excursions in the birthplace of Neapolitan pizza, aka the best type of pizza in existence. We’ve been here one and a half days and I’ve already inhaled two full pizzas senza rimpianti (#noragrets). This hotel’s beds are the most comfortable thus far and the roof of the hotel has an amazing view of the historic city (but I was too busy eating a sfogliatelle to take a pic (I greatly enjoy food if you can’t tell)).

A clementine peel from breakfast in the shape of “the boot”.

We started the morning on Naples’ public transportation and made it to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples with all 14 of us! Just kidding. We all were too eager to make it to the secret cabinet to get left behind. The Archaeological Museum was started during the temporary Bourbon rule in Naples when the Bourbons began the first excavations of Pompeii. It was the first prototype for a museum and played into the ideology of the Grand Tour, which promoted a “daring attempt to seize knowledge”. The museum is a collection of artifacts found in Pompeii and Herculaneum as well as a few other sites and traveling exhibits (Tom was quite excited about the Chinese puppets). We started off looking at several statues of historical heroes and the idea of the perfect male physique.

The class wanting to “touch the butt”, belonging to Doryphorus, an image of the perfect gluteus maximus. (Finding Nemo circa 2003)

We then went to the exhibit with excavated artifacts from Pompeii. The mosaics were different from the previous Moorish-built Catholic cathedrals in that the tiles were smaller, allowing for even more detail. You don’t even have to close your eyes for it to almost feel like nothing changed at all (see “Pompeii” by Bastille). While taking in the mosaics of incredible detail, we were tasked with thinking about what the Romans wanted us to think. Certain pieces varied in style and tile sizes, and there were a series of incorrectly depicted human skeletons and many, many roosters. My favorite piece from the collection was the famous Alexander the Great and Darius mosaic that brought flashbacks from AP World History. The entire collection was stunning and emphasized how highly the Romans held art in their culture. 

The amazing detail salvaged from Pompeii.

The iconic Alexander nonchalantly racing into battle.

After admiring Alexander’s large eyes exuding confidence and power, we ventured into the Gabinetto Segreto. The Bourbons were far less open with sex than the Roman and hid all the phallic statues in a cabinet—the Secret Cabinet. Young men used to bribe the guards to sneak a peak at the erotic collection, basically the ancient version of paying for a ticket for museum entry. There was a wide range in the collection as it hailed from a time of satyrs and non binary sexuality. 

Tom remained an observer as this was Mike’s area of expertise. 

After the museum, we headed to the catacombs.In Roman culture, proper burial is very important. They would worship their ancestors, thus the care of the bodies was key after death. The catacombs were where the Romans were buried. This catacomb in particular was highly revered because the two most important patron saints of Naples, San Gennaro and San Agrippino, were originally buried there. Being buried close to a saint was considered to be closer to God. Each saint had a chapel built in the catacombs in their honor, and San Agrippino’s is still used to a certain extent today. Our guide Antonio was very passionate about the work he 
was doing with the catacombs. At one point in the tour,
he showed us several tombs he had excavated himself, 
and he later shared the extent to how deeply he had 
explored the available rooms of the catacombs. At the end of the tour, he sat us down and told us the story behind the preservation of the catacombs, explaining how it started with volunteers, and how he—a 30-year old—is the oldest tour guide/staff member. He ended his speech emphasizing the importance the youth and 
the benefits of social enterprising. He is now one of Katie’s favorite human beings (though we all thoroughly enjoyed him). 

The entrance to the catacombs (boo-jee).

San Gennaro’s chapel

The group mesmerized by Antonio.

After the catacombs, we went to a restaurant recommended by Antonio, and, after that recommendation, I would trust the Italian Stallion with my life. We each ordered our own pizza (as that is the Italian way to do it (God bless the Italians)) and the 
majority of us ate the entire thing. After lunch, we walked/rolled to Cimitero Fontanelle. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, Naples suffered from 5 eruptions of Vesuvius, 3 famines, and 2 plagues, which left many bodies on the streets of the city. Because of the implications of dead bodies—both religious and sanitary—it became a law to get the dead out of the city limits. The cemetery became a place for all. There were 40,000 skulls and 8,000,000 bones in the tunnels, many of which anonymous. The public began to sanctify the bones and pray to them after several prayers were answered. Some of the lost souls would also come to women in dreams and tell them a little bit about who they were. People began to “adopt” the remains and donate ex-votos to give the bodies more of a proper burial and to make them more comfortable. The Catholic Church disapproved of what people were 
doing and closed the cemetery, but public uproar caused them to re-open it, though adopting the bodies became outlawed 1969. The sheer amount of bones was jarring, and the combination of seeing the catacombs and cemetery within a few hours caused several of us to reflect on the finiteness of mortality. The heaviness of death overshadowed the ridiculous statues we’d seen in the Secret Cabinet just that morning. It was a very powerful experience.

A fraction of the skulls and offerings from the cemetery. 

After spending so much time on death, we went to church, but it was closed (until 4:30!). The next stop of the day was the duomo of Naples. It housed San Gennaro’s reliquary and a baptistery we got tickets to go see, but the church forgot to tell us it was closed (typical). The inside was still fairly spectacular, even if it was baroque. We wandered around for a while taking it all in, and I think Hannah might have left an offering to the saint of single women. Tim also reunited with a friend he made on our flight Naples and got her son’s number (#penpals?). After the duomo, we checked our respective fitness watches and health apps and discovered we had already walked between 6 and 7 miles, so we decided to walk some more. We went to see a castle where Mike crushed our dreams and told us princesses actually do not live in large castles. Before gunpowder and cannons, castles were formidable fortresses, only conquerable by sieges and food supply. We then went to Piazza del Plebiscito where Garibaldi was once welcomed by a sea of waving handkerchiefs and saluting arms. Mike told us to shout praise for Garibaldi, but only in our heads because, as with most historical figures, he is not as warmly welcomed now. 

 

The baroque duomo where San Gennaro’s blood did not liquify.

The plebe’s square unworthy of patricians.

The castle unfortunately not occupied by princesses :(.

All in all, it was a pretty neat day, even if I now want to lob my feet off. Ciao for now!