- (May
3) - The poster
on the right is one of the many the
city is using to hype this year's
edition of Monuments in May. The
motto this year is cori, cuori e
colori (choirs, hearts and
colors - above that at the top is
the dialect 'o core è Napule/il
cuore di Napoli / the heart
of Naples). In theory, all or most
of the churches and various other
indoor and outdoor monuments should
be open and the streets a-swarm with
various types of entertainers all
out to thrill and delight you. As I
mention in another
entry on this topic, "...it is
a month-long
bath of culture, an attempt to
open everything in the city that
can be opened —all the museums,
churches, and archaeological
sites. The larger ones are usually
open all year round, but in May
the city makes an extra effort to
put the city's considerable
cultural wealth on display for
tourists." It usually runs
reasonably smoothly.
(May 4)
- In
August of 2012, the
newspaper, la
Repubblica, wrote
sadly that the area
where Naples was born
seemed to be destined to
die a death of a
thousand cuts. That area
is known by various
names: Monte di Dio,
Pizzofalcone, il
Pallonetto,
and Monte Echia. (A map
of the area is
here. Number 7 on
the map marks the
original height of the
Greek city of Parthenope
[seen in the photo]
founded centuries before
the sister city of
Neapolis. It's one block
from the Egg Castle.) La
Repubblica then
provided a laundry list
of everything that is not
being done to keep
this area from falling
apart. Besides
residences, Pizzofalcone
contains the Nunziatella
military academy, the
Institute for
Philosophical Studies,
and a number of historic
churches with their
works of art; it's all
densely packed into
about one sq. km right
next to Piazza del
Plebiscito and the Royal
Palace. The degradation
is visible and
disturbing. My interest
this morning was to see
how the elevator was
coming along. Currently, there
are four stairways on and
off this hill. They are
difficult and, at night,
totally dark. An elevator
would be a boon—a one-minute
easy way down to the seaside
and the rest of the city and
an easy way back up. I could
have saved myself the
trouble. The photo shown
here was taken a few hours
ago. It is identical
to the one I took for
my 2012 description of the
area. Nothing has changed
—cars are parked in front of
the site, and that crane
working on the top station
looks pretty in the same
position. The only
difference is that in this
photo there are more cars
parked in front of the
entrance, including my own (HEY!
HEY, YOU! Get away from...).
The construction site opened
in 2009 and the lift was to
be lifting by April 2011.
It's not major engineering;
one shaft, two stations.
When I took that other photo
in mid-2012 one of the
workers said, "Hang on for a
few months, chief. We're
almost done." Then he smiled.
(May 6)
- Word
comes from various
sources on the
successful restoration
and presentation of some
frescoes and mosaics in
the Villa of the
Mysteries at the
archaeological site of
Pompeii. The treatment
involved the use of the
antibiotic amoxicillin
to treat a strain of
streptococcus bacteria
that was gradually
destroying the original
pigment of the frescoes.
Restoration also
involved the use of
lasers to remove dirt
from surfaces soiled
from the old excavation
of the site in the early
1900s. The restoration
began in 2008 and some
of the results were
displayed in March of
this year. Additional
work continues on a
portion of the site that
collapsed in 2012 during
a rainstorm. The Villa
of the Mysteries
probably derives its
name from what some
scholars says are
representations of the
rites of female
initiation to marriage.
The villa is one of more
than 100 such structures
discovered in the area
of Vesuvius. They were
built beginning in the
second century BC up to
the mid-first century AD
and are in what is
called the "second
style".
(May 7) - SuperAbile
Onlus. The Italian acronym Onlus stands
for Organizzazione Non Lucrativa
di Utilità Sociale (that is,
non-profit organization for social utility.
Here the word (the way it is written with an
upper-case A,) means Super Able but is
also a brilliant pun on superabile/surmountable
). There are many hundreds of such
organizations in Italy, they are active in
environmental projects, public health, amateur
sports, public cultural activities in music
and art, etc. They are supported by public
monies as well as by contributions. The
interesting billboard sign shown here was put
up by SuperAbile, whose concern is
making the cities of Italy more livable for
those, for example, confined to wheelchairs or
are otherwise not "able", (a large group that
includes the blind, the deaf, the elderly,
etc. It's a long list.) The organization
has borrowed the Ignobel Prize concept from
Harvard's tongue-in-cheek awards that "honor achievements that first make
people laugh, and then make them think" (such
as, for example, the research that showed that
the presence of humans sexually arouses
ostriches!) SuperAbile has posted 60
such signs throughout Naples to award the 2015
Ignobel Prize to Architectural Barriers. Each
sign includes an image of a scene in Naples that
is particularly egregious in ignoring the laws
(they do exist) requiring restaurants, schools,
public transportation, etc. etc. to accommodate
the disabled. The image on the right of the sign
shown here is a stretch of the seaside where
restaurants have simply moved their tables out
to take up the entire sidewalk, a public
right-of-way. The English term for all of this
is Universal Design—that is, make
it as easy as possible for as many as
possible. The campaign features images of
various Italians who have won the real deal,
in this case Franco Modigliani, winner of the
1985 Nobel Prize in Economics.
(May 21) - This may not mean much to
those of you who live in the lap of all-day
every-day zombie consumerism ("Must buy!
NOW!") but around here, it's a big deal.
Naples now has its first 24/7 supermarket
(pictured). Conveniently, it is located in the
Vomero section of town at the top of via Tasso
across from a building known as a haunted house.
Remember, this is a town that still grabs some
shut-eye at 2 p.m. for a couple of hours and
wakes up only if it really has to. Most
supermarkets (itself, an alien import) now,
however, regularly stay open through that
noonish nightmare of nothingness, but this is
something special. You can actually go
shopping in the middle of the night. Of
course, to do that, you'll have to start your
car at 3 a.m., wake up the guy at your gate to
let you out of your full-security locked-down
urban fortress (his German shepherd is grouchy
at that time of the morning, too!) and then
wake him again when you come back a few
minutes later with the bread (and doggie
treat. If you forget that, your ankle will do
nicely).
(May 24) - At Pompei
work is almost completed on the restoration of
86 plaster casts of the remains of persons who
perished in the famous eruption of Vesuvius of
79 AD. Some of them are already known since
they were uncovered in the 1800s. This
display, however, will be part of an exhibit
set to open on May 26 as "Pompeii and Europe
1748-1943." The first date is of the initial
re-discovery of the buried city under king
Charles III and
the Bourbon dynasty. It
was the beginning of the scientific
rediscovery of Roman antiquity in the area. The
second date is the year before the last eruption
of the volcano, which took place in the middle
of WWII. The victims of 79 AD eruption were
swiftly buried in hot ash and apparently died
almost instantly. Modern
X-ray techniques, indeed, reveal intact
skeletal structures preserved within a natural
case of pyroclastic materials through the
centuries, thus making it possible to make
plaster molds. (photo,
la Repubblica)
(May 25) - "Fool
me once...etc." This is directly related to
the item called "The Little Choo-Choo that
Needed a Dictionary" (at this link). I fell
for this once before, when I thought the
Italian term inaugurare as in "to
inaugurate a new train station" meant that I
could run down there and ride the new train. I
was wrong. Really, they were wrong,
but they "inaugurated" the new station at
Piazza Municipio two days ago, anyway. Not the
whole station, but the line that drops you at
city hall and the main port and then continues
on to the main train station. This is not just
a big deal. It is the biggest
deal in 40 years of remaking public
transportation in Naples. So I went down to
get my ride and suddenly it all seemed so
familiar. This exchange ensued between yours
truly (YT) and a friendly gentleman (FG), who
was also at the ribbon cutting:
YT: "When can we get on the train?"
FG: "June 2."
YT: "Huh? I thought they were inaugurating
this thing today."
FG: "They are. But it's like a ship. You break
the bottle of bubbly on the bow, the ship
slides into the water and we all say auguri—good luck! best wishes! That's what the word means.
Passengers will have to wait a bit longer.
Think of the metaphor of the ship...ship and
meaning, ship and meaning."
YT: (Now, I'm getting steamed.) "But
you said like a ship. That's not a
metaphor; that's a simile! Hah!"
Having destroyed FG with
my repartee, I stalked off into one of the
dark tunnels to seek my train. A security
detail caught up with me and kindly showed
me the exit. Strangely, it is quite similar
to the entrance, except upside-down. So it's
"Fool me once, blah-blah-blah...fool
me twice..." and I have to have it explained
to me by Long John Chomsky.
(May 28) - Nice
poster. It's plastered up right near my house
and was put up by the Vitignoitalia (vines or
vineyards of Italy) organization to advertise
a wine festival/tasting on the premises of the
Egg Castle. Too bad the
poster plaster people did such a poor job.
Their handiwork is wrinkled, the edges are not
aligned well, and they spilled gobs of glue on
the sidewalk below for you to slip and hurt
yourself. (It has happened.)
It's not surprising to see Vesuvius used as an
advertising icon of Naples. There have been
thousands of examples over the years. Most of
them seem to be hand-drawn stylized graphics;
not too many use altered photos such as this
one. I find it very imaginative. You can
choose between a glass carafe pouring wine and
a foundry ladle pouring molten metal that then
becomes a flow of lava as it starts to splash
its way down the slopes of Vesuvius.
Speaking of poor poster plaster people, one of
the greatest of all Italian films is
acknowledged to be Bicycle Thieves (1948)
(originally translated as the singular, The
Bicycle Thief, in English - I don't know
why). The director was Vittorio De Sica. It is
a masterpiece of Neorealism.
The plot revolves around the plight of a
father and his son in post-war Italy. They
have a bicycle and find a job using their bike
to put up posters. Their bike gets stolen and
the rest of the film is about how they never
get their bike back. (Spoiler alert: No, they
never get it back. Spoiler alert two: never.)
(May 31) -
The Italian juvenile justice system concerns
boys and girls aged 14 to 18 years, who have
broken the civil or penal code. Italy's
approach to juvenile delinquency is a broad
socio-educational one with emphasis on
rehabilitation. Thus, besides the (1) IPM (Instituto
Penale per Minorenni/Penal Institute for
Minors) —the actual detention facility— you
find (2) “centers of first reception” and (3)
“communities for minors,” aimed at
psychological evaluation of young offenders.
Although such things are hard to compare
across national boundaries, Italy does rather
well [see
Meringolo, P. (2012). Juvenile justice system
in Italy: Researches and interventions. Universitas
Psychologica, 11(4), 1081-1092]. Naples and,
particularly, the small island of Nisida has
typically done very well since besides the
three-in-one approach all present at the same
location, there has now been for a number of
years a fourth prong: Nisida hosts The
European Studies Center, an observation
facility and data bank of the Phenomenon of
Juvenile Delinquency in Europe. By most
accounts, the little island has
been a model of how to handle a difficult
problem well.
Word now comes
from the Ministry of Justice that the entire
facility is being closed indefinitely. No
reason given. Just the sudden notice from one
day to the next, probably one of those
unsigned anonymous letters from a bureaucrat
with no face or name. Some of the 50 young
persons have already been removed and sent to
other facilities. It is really hard to know
what this means, and we won't know until the
Ministry of Justice steps up with an
explanation. The decision to close the
facility also affects the 15 members of the
staff. They will be staging a demonstration
this week to demand some answers.
The kids? Well, there are not that
many such facilities in the entire nation of
Italy —16 IPM's in all. Most of them are in
the southern regions of Campania, Puglia,
Reggio Calabria, and Siciliy, where organized
crime families involve children in criminal
activities from an early age. But in the city
of Naples —indeed, in the entire province of
Naples—
Nisida was the only such combined facility. In
the other provinces of the Campania region,
there is an IPM in Caserta, one in Benevento,
and one in Salerno. Those facilities may or
may not have adequate social and psychological
services, but there is (or was)
nothing like Nisida. (There is an interactive
map at
this website with a region by region
breakdown of juvenile facilities in Italy.
Also see this
general update on Nisida.)
(June
2) (If you
came from the link in the main index and
already knew the word accabadora, you
are either very well educated or Sardinian.
Don't worry, it's just a theatrical
presentation!)
The Church of
Purgatorio ad Arco on via dei Tribunali
(number 35 on this map)
did something a bit different this year to
start the tourist season. Instead of using the
premises to display some arcane aspect of
Neapolitan religious lore, they presented
something from Sardinia. Since I maintain a
small adjunct
section on Sardinia on this site I feel
justified—maybe even obligated—to sneak this in here.
It was a presentation called "Accabbai
- a ritual" and was dedicated to the
legendary female figure in Sardinia called
the accabadora or agabbadòra (from
the Sardinian s'accabadóra, lit.
"she who finishes"; also Sard. s'acabbu,
"the end"; ultimately from Spanish
acabar —to
finish, put an end to). The reference is to
no less than the woman who helps people die
when the time comes —that is, the aged, the sick,
those who haven't the strength or will to
take their lives but welcome release from
the travail of life. It is important to note
that the accabadora is not a feared
grim reaper figure, but a welcome,
benevolent angel of mercy. I have no
intention to discuss the ethics of "mercy
killing" or "active euthanasia" (that word,
itself, means "good death"), merely to note
that the practice is ancient and widespread
(and even modern in some countries). The
existence of these women in Sardinia has
generated a modest body of literature in
Italian, from the skeptics to those who
represent the general consensus that, yes,
these women existed (even as recently as the
mid-20th century) but only in a few small
areas. I asked around Naples, and the
Sardinian term accabadora is not
generally known at all, at least not here.
On the other hand, there have been at least
two novels at the national Italian level on
the subject in recent years, and there is an
artist in Rome, Andrea Pes, who draws an
illustrated e-book series (don't call them
comic books!) called Dora the Accabadora.
See? It rhymes nicely. Not so grim now, huh?
You should see the cartoon. photo: La
Reppublica
(June 4) - The newest station in the city
underground Metro train line has opened at Piazza Municipio,
the city hall. The entire underground complex
stretches from the city hall at the top
(north) of the square down to the entrance of
the port of Naples. The entire square is a rectangle
about 250 x 75 meters and is not all
finished, nor will it be for quite some time,
but at least the top of the square is
essentially done. For the first time in the 40
years that this largest single-city urban
construction project in Italy has been going on,
you can get on the line at Piscinola, 15 stops
away, up past the high Vomero section of the
city, and ride it all the way into town and then stay on and
get to the main train station. As the crow
flies, that's only a bit over 6 km (4 miles),
but in the old days (yesterday) only a crow
would have dared it. Major work remains: bring
in the narrow-gauge #6 line from the west; that
is, from the suburb of Fuorigrotta; then, finish
the line from the main train station up to the
airport and then on to complete the giant ring
around the city. (The ring will have 25
stations, 19 of which are now in service.)There is a
history of various episodes in the
construction of the Metro going back to 2002 at this link.
(June 7)
- Esoteric Naples - The city gears
a lot of its summer-time activities to
tourists from other parts of Italy, not
just those from abroad. Thus, aside from
all the art, music, architecture and
archaeology that anyone can enjoy, there
are always theatrical presentations,
which, obviously, involve language. That
might discourage those who don't speak
Italian; on the other hand, some of the
events are so choreographic, that you
might enjoy them anyway. This one, for
example. Esoteric Naples: Janare and
Benandanti, Tales of Campanian
Folklore from the Mouths of Demons and
Saints, presented at the Fontanelle
Cemetery image right. It is part of a
broader initiative promoted by the city of
Naples called Fantasmi a Napoli: Virgil
the Wizard
(fantasmi: phantoms, spirits,
ghosts, etc.). There are four points of
reference:
(1)
Janare is the local word in
Benevento for 'witches'. See entry
called The Witches
of Benevento;
(2)
Benandanti ("Good Walkers")
were agrarian visionaries in Friuli in
northeastern Italy during the 16th and
17th centuries. They claimed to travel
out of their bodies while asleep to
battle malevolent witches in order to
ensure good crops. During the witch
trials in the 1600s many of them were
accused of heresy and witchcraft.
(3)
The Fontanelle cemetery is the most
interesting (certainly the spookiest)
example of an ossuary in Europe. There
is a separate
entry here.
So, from June 25 through 28, you will be
led through the Fontanelle cemetery to
hear and watch actor/guides present
local traditions of witchcraft and magic
and compare them to those from elsewhere
in Italy. Fortunately, the presentations
are at 11 in the morning and again at
noon. If it were midnight I might not
go. Oh... (4)
Virgil. I remember studying the Aeneid,
but not that Virgil was a magician. In
Naples he's the one who put the Egg in
Egg Castle. Read
all about it, here. (If you really
do want to see this, call 339 8191605
and book a place. It costs ten euros.)
(June 10)
- Speaking of bones...
(Sorry, it just worked out that way.)
Friends from Napoli Underground have
reminded me of an interesting small
exhibit. Over on the Adriatic,
restoration is complete, and “the oldest
mother in the world” has been put on
display. She is cataloged as “Ostuni
1”—about
20 years of age at her death, dated to
28,000 years ago. Her remains, and those
of the fetus in her womb, were found in
the Grotto of Santa Maria di Agnano,
in the territory of Ostuni (a town
inland in the region of Puglia between
Bari and Brindisi). The remains were
placed in a special display case such as
to reunite symbolically the mother and
her unborn child. The burial of the
woman, together with the intentional
interment nearby of a horse and an
aurochs, is interpreted as a rite of
propitiation and regeneration vital to
the groups of Paleolithic hunters of the
area. Some cave drawings were also
present in the grotto. They were linear
and invite speculation that our species
had passed from mere representations of
reality to abstraction and use of signs
as communication. This exceptional find
was the work of the the team of Prof.
Donato Coppola in 1991. The exhibit is
in the Museum of “Civiltà
Preclassiche della Murgia Meridionale”
[Preclassical Civilizations of Southern
Murgia] of Ostuni, on the premises of
the church of San Vito Martire.
to
previous Miscellany page, #52
next Miscellany
page, #54
to
top of this page
April 25 & update May 1 - First, the not so good news: the recently opened looooong overdue tunnel from Castellammare out to Sorrento has been closed due to a land-slide. It should be re open very soon. That's what they said 10 years ago.
If you saw the original entry in this space from last week, I had been duped or at least drinking the same kool-aid of optimism as local reporters. They claimed that Piazza Municipio (photo, above right) had changed radically. I interpreted that to mean that the square that runs from city hall, the building at the very top of the square (shown in both images) down to the port was no longer the gaping open wound in the middle of the city that it has been for many years. Well, (the photo, right, is from this morning, May 1), it still gapes although it will open for business for at least some train service two weeks from today. There is said to be an entrance somewhere in this mess that will take passengers down to the train. Anyway, the one working track is below those two buildings in the top-right quadrant of the photo (right). I suspect that the entrance is up at the top, in front of the city hall near the recently installed, famous travelling fountain of Naples (photo, above, left). Today is international workers' day or labor day, the day when no one works. This morning everyone was working. That yellow crane was swiveling away and men were moving paving stones in around the fountain. The workers are getting overtime, double-time and free tattoos of Karl Marx inked on the body parts of their choice. The fountain and entrance may make it. The rest? Well, Schubert is likely to finish that unfinished symphony of his before they finish this square.
