Steps away from Naples’ Gothic Church of Santa Chiara…..….. ……the Baroque Gesu’ Nuovo church sits in solemn splendor on the Piazza Gesu’ Nuovo. The “New Jesus” church (the name deliberately distinguishes it…
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In the difficult years following World War II, in the working class district of Naples, i quartieri spagnoli (“the Spanish quarter”)…………many a creative napoletano became adept at the art of arrangiarsi (literally, “to arrange…
The Basilica di Santa Chiara in Naples is a regal church…..– and not only for its elegance but for the purpose of its construction: to house the bodies of the royal descendants…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…