Magazine - 01/08/05

Some say Naples is the world's most beautiful town whereas others describe it as a foul-smelling, noisy labyrinth. You'll probably be disappointed and exasperated by this town if you only glance around—all you'll notice is litter-strewn streets, crumbling palaces and infernal traffic. In Naples, an uninterrupted flow of horn-hooting cars drive around until dawn and the area around the central train station is renowned as Western Europe's largest pickpocket zone.
 
Naples is not, and never will be, a 'museum town' like many historical Italian cities. But if you take the time to explore the local streets, then this ancient Greek town, inhabited continually for three thousand years by the same people, holds marvellous surprises in store.
 
Naples is a lively place where historical changes have been handed down from generation to generation, like a genetic heritage. "Naples is Pompeii before it was covered in ash", explains Jean-Noël Schifano, the French translator of Umberto Eco and a great connoisseur of this town. Its multi-layered history can be seen in the very buildings where Roman walls rest on Greek foundations which in turn rest on the remains of lava flows.
 
This strong identity stems directly from the town's three-thousand-year-old rich history throughout which the inhabitants have shared the same gestures, the same shouts, and the same taste for drama. A good example is the capuzelle (beloved heads) ceremony at the Fontanelle cemetery in the Sanità district, the stronghold of the camorra. The living 'adopted' a skull which they talked to sweetly, kissed and caressed (this practice was abolished by a bishop in the 1950s). Similarly, on All Saints' Day, Neapolitan families go for merry picnics on the graves of their ancestors...
 
This melting pot has seen the emergence of a unique attitude to life: an intense zest for life, a mix of irony and fatalism, and an enduring tolerance of human faults. Naples is baroque in all senses of the word—from the staircases by the architect San Felice to the cakes and ice-cream. Here, all the senses are aroused and stimulate the soul. And, reflecting the feverish artistic style of which Naples is a Mecca, gold is seen here alongside blood, pleasure next to death and bliss side by side with pain. Such is Naples...

What do you need to know about Naples to try to capture its spirit? Naples is a nation in its own right: a mix of Greek genius, Roman spirit and Spanish passion. The town might as well not be in Italy because it is so insular and its big rival cities in the North have not hesitated in reminding it so since the time of Italian Unity which heralded its decline. In the 18th century when Naples, alongside London and Paris, was a symbol of the civilised world, sheep were still grazing in the Capitol in Rome...
 
The history of Naples began with a Greek settlement, followed by a Roman conquest which left the Greek language and culture intact: Augustus, Cicero and Nero were fascinated by this fallen civilisation which lived on beneath their eyes. With its mild climate, beautiful bay and refined customs, Naples became the preferred winter retreat for rich Romans, like the well-read and gourmet General Lucullus, friend of Virgil.
 
Naples withstood barbarian invasions until the 12th century and then fell successively to several dynasties (Norman, Swabian, Angevin and Aragonese). Each contributed in its own way to the town but it was the long Spanish reign which shaped the town's Greek-Roman-Iberian appearance. During the 17th century, Naples enjoyed its heyday, founded a school of painting and saw the building of an abundance of palaces, cloisters and churches—hence its nickname, 'town of 500 churches'. Like Venice, the town also became a musical centre and built the first opera house, the San Carlo, long before Milan's Scala.

In Naples, everything takes place in the street: each vicolo, narrow and squalid like a thousand years ago, is a stage teeming with life. Stroll through the Spanish district, along Spaccanapoli and the streets perpendicular to it, and you'll be completely amazed. Even go as far as Forcella (the devil's fork), one of the Camorra's districts at the end of Via San Biagio dei Librai, close to the Duomo. If you're not wearing a Rolex, you have nothing to fear.
 
The average Neapolitan street is raucous with people speaking, singing and shouting to a backdrop of loud radio and television. Craftsmen work on their doorsteps. Baskets come down from the flats above for stallholders to fill—idleness is an art here. Old ladies place their chairs outside to watch soap operas on their TVs inside...

And then there is the Vespa which embodies the Neapolitan's very soul—like quicksilver and blaring, no obstacle can stop this modern centaur which can carry one, two, three or even four people without a helmet—often a whole rompish family. Neapolitan traffic is an incredible sight! Beware when you cross a street in Naples: there are no pedestrian crossings, no traffic lights, and no stop or give way signs. Drivers never seem to stop; luckily they avoid you with dexterity.
 
Any Italian town or village is centred around its piazza and Naples has many. Our favourites include: Piazza San Domenico Maggiore—here, apart from the church of the same name, you'll find the excellent confectioner, Scaturchio, selling mouth-watering babas; Piazza Bellini named after the composer born in Naples—a meeting point for youths and intellectuals and the setting for many cafes such as Caffè Letterario Intra Moenia (established by a publishing house); Piazza Plebiscito—with the traditionally marble-clad and gilted Gran caffè Gambrinus (an artistic and literary institution, from Verdi to Oscar Wilde) close by at the start of the chic Via Chiaia. Less expensive, and ideal for a quick dinner with an excellent deli counter and pastries, try the L.U.I.S.E snack bar, located next to the funicular railway up Vomero Hill, a young and hip place. As for the best ice-cream maker, that's Scimmia on Piazza Carità whose banana ice-cream, shaped like a banana and covered with chocolate, is a masterpiece.
 
When the evenings are hot, Neapolitans seek the cool air by the sea, along Lungo Mare. Buy a drink or some food from a nearby takeaway and sit on the sea wall opposite the Gulf of Naples, just like the Greeks probably did three thousand years ago...