Crowded and colorful, bustling, energetic, and animated, gritty and crumbling – no panoply of words can ever describe Naples’ Quartieri Spagnoli. The street network of the “Spanish district” was set out in the 17th-century during the Spanish rule of the Kingdom of Naples. The troops were quartered here in this district bordered by one of the main…
Queen Sancha of Majorca has certainly left her mark on Naples: among other structures, she mandated the building of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata and also the double-monastic complex of the Basilica di Santa Chiara. Her husband, King Roberto d’Anjou, is buried behind the main altar and the mid-14th-century funerary monument was sculpted by two…
When recently in Naples, our napoletani friends, Roberta and Adriano, knew I was eager to see more of the “undiscovered Naples.” Roberta decided where our explorations should start: at the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata Maggiore. The Baroque church with concave facade is flanked by an 18th-century bell tower – currently under restoration – with a…
A stroll amidst the botteghe of the presepari (creche-scene artists) in Via San Gregorio Armeno in Naples is quite simply an immersion into a showroom of superb Italian craftsmanship. In the splendid presepi napoletani (Neapolitan creche scenes), figures of the Holy Family, the Magi, angels and shepherds…… ….have been traditionally surrounded by joyful dancers with tambourines.. …musicians playing…
Ask any Neapolitan, “Who was Diego Maradona for you?” and more than one will reply quite simply, “Dio.” On a recent jaunt with my husband Pino to one of my favorite cities in all of Italy, Naples, I asked friend and Naples guide, Roberta, about the Neapolitan adoration – as if for a god – of Argentinian…
Don’t leave the 13th-century cathedral of Todi before heading underground. To the left of the altar, steps lead down into the 13th-century crypt, perhaps once Todi’s baptistery. Stone remnants from the Roman period of Todi to the 19th-century on the walls, guide your walk: The crypt was once used for the burial of Todi’s…
When you come out of Todi’s Duomo, the Piazza del Popolo spreads out before you like a medieval stage set: Opposite the Duomo is the primary seat of civic power, the mid-14th-century Palazzo dei Priori – where the civic magistrates, i priori, governed in the Middle Ages and some of Todi’s city officials have their offices now. The palazzo is…
Famed American sculptor of monumental works, Beverly Pepper is now a household word in Todi, especially since the inauguration of il Parco di Beverly Pepper in 2019. Pepper and journalist husband Curtis Bill Pepper had settled in Todi in the 1970’s and soon drew other artist friends to Todi, among them acclaimed Irish artist Brian…
Rising proudly at the end of Piazza del Popolo, the origins of Todi’s Duomo (cathedral), Santa Maria Annunziata, are uncertain. Construction probably started at the end of the 12th-century on site of a pre-existing Roman edifice after almost total destruction by a fire in 1190 of a previous church. The facade dates to the 13th-century but was…
Certamente, the Church of San Fortunato is to be celebrated – and not only on October 14th. the Festa di San Fortunato, patron saint of Todi. His church looks out from the highest point in Todi. The foundation stone was laid in the late 13th-century and construction started on the church under after the demolition…