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This daily trip does not claim to be exhaustive, there are so many things to see! But it certainly represents a good cross-section of Naples.
Let’s start from the upper part of the city, from Vomero. It is a hill from which the relative district takes its name, guardian of a magnificent view from which to admire the Neapolitan city.
How best to start the day if not with a breakfast from one of the oldest pastry shops in the city: Scaturchio. This pastry shop born at the beginning of the 1900s, famous for the still completely artisanal production of desserts, one above all “his majesty the sfogliatella, curly or shortcrust pastry ….” It is located in Largo San Martino 5
I recommend this location both for the quality of the desserts offered and because from this splendid location you can enjoy an enviable view of the city.
A few meters away is the entrance to the San Martino Certosa and Sant’Elmo Castel
What to see at the San Martino Certosa? Surely, the heart of the Certosa: the Church, custodian of Neapolitan cultural and pictorial masterpieces.
What to see in Sant’Elmo Castel? The tour of the fortress starts from Piazza d’Armi, from which you can admire the city from above and its gulf.
A short walk takes you to the Funicolare Centrale (one of 4 in Naples), a unique means of public transport built in 1928 by Gioacchino Luigi Mellucci which, in a few minutes, takes you in the center of Napoli ; Augusteo stop (from the name of the theater located at the exit of the funicular).
The building you find on your right is my atelier, but we will go left towards Via de Francesco de Sanctis, 19/21 to the San Severo Chapel, home to some of the Neapolitan mysteries still unsolved.
The “Veiled Christ” and the “Anatomical Machines”.
Work on the chapel began in 1593 by the Di Sangro di Sansevero family, but it was in the 18th century that Prince Raimondo Di Sangro decided to expand it and enhance it with numerous works.
Prince Raimondo Di Sangro, man of arms, scholar, publisher, first Grand Master of Neapolitan Masonry, he was – more than anything else – prolific inventor and enterprising patron. However, by virtue of his mainly esoteric conception of knowledge, Raimondo di Sangro was always reluctant to reveal the “secrets” of his inventions in detail.
The chapel is a riot of Neapolitan Baroque style, but I suggest the
“Cristo Velato” and “Macchine Anatomiche”
I don’t want to reveal anything else but I’ll just tell you that for both works the execution techniques are not yet known…
It’s done, now lunch time and you are in the best area of Naples for an unforgettable pizza.I suggest “Pizzeria Starita” in via Materdei 27/28…don’t miss “angioletti con la Nutella…
In Via San Biagio Dei Librai, 39, not far away, I share a curiosity “the doll hospital”. The story begins at the end of the 19th century with Luigi Grassi. Whether they were ceramic or fabric, it didn’t take much for them to break. This, combined with the white coat he used to wear so as not to get dirty, had gradually given him the fame of “doll doctor”, to whom children turned to heal their toys.
For dinner, going back towards the “Funicolare Centrale” I recommend “Trattoria San Ferdinando” in via Nardones 117, to have dinner with typically napoletan dishes.
…. and don’t forget that I’m waiting for you for a real napoletan coffee in via Toledo 256, second floor
