| Historic Burial Places of Naples |
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| Publications - Articles |
| Written by Jorge Silva |
| Saturday, 18 September 2010 09:20 |
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Naples has always been a city continuously scourged by plagues, wars, earthquakes and eruptions. Overcrowded by a huge population since the late Middle Ages, burying the dead has always been quite a serious problem. Religion, superstition and tradition bring some more color to this interesting – although a bit creepy - subject. Christian Burial in Naples The first well-known burial places of Naples were the Greek necropolis in the tuff caves north of the city, from where the tuff stone used to be extracted for construction. A fine example is the “ipogeo dei togati” (because two statues of people wearing togas can be seen there), which can be accessed through a building near Piazza Cavour. Unfortunately, this masterpiece is not open to the public, except on rare special occasions. In fact, these tombs were not exactly the first ones, since some Neolithic sepulchers were found nearby, at Materdei. In the I Century AD, the Christian communities rejected the roman incineration tradition and resumed underground burial as a way of sparing the bodies for the Final Judgment. Catacombs, like those of San Gennaro and San Gaudioso, remained active until the V Century, but this habit was never really abandoned by Neapolitan people, especially because the church grounds, which were supposed to be a direct gate to Heaven, were not large enough to accommodate an ever growing population. Nobles, wealthy people who made generous donations to the Church and members of especially dedicated fraternities where the only ones who had their access to holy ground assured. During great calamities like plagues, wars and natural disasters, mass graves were the solution, although they were used very often by the lower ranks of the population. Their use was quite widespread: Via Toledo, Piazza Mercato and other public spaces outside the city walls. A permanently open mass grave was that of the Ospedale degli Incurabili, at Via Foria. Public cemeteries came only in the beginning of the XIX Century, with the sanitary laws promulgated under French domination (1805-1815). The Cimitero Monumentale, on the hill of Poggioreale - where, in the XVI Century, an invading French army scourged by a plague had used a cave as a mass grave - was the first one, in 1812. Other ones would soon follow. Cimitero delle Fontanelle Tuff caves north of Naples have, since many centuries ago, been used to bury dead people. The Fontanelle cave began to be used as a burial place during the great Plague of 1650, which caused 300.000 dead. Even wealthy people, who had paid to be buried in the church, had, very often, their dead bodies secretly transferred during the night by the undertakers, who were running out of room in the churches. After all, Naples was a very densely populated city. Corpses were left anarchically in piles until, by the end of the XVIII Century, a major flood brought a large amount of human remains outside the cave. For weeks local inhabitants were scared of coming out of their houses, fearing they would find the unburied corps of one of their loved ones. Then, in the early 1800’s a local brotherhood, led by the monk Gaetano Barbato started to clean the bones and store them in a tidy way, behind fences. Also some chapels and altars were then built. In 1872 the cemetery was opened to the public. A popular devotion related to the cult of the souls was then disseminated: many people “adopted” souls by taking care of the respective skulls. Wooden or stone boxes were made to store them, bearing the name of the family that was adopting them, sometimes expressing public gratitude for the help received. Some skulls were baptized by the people who adopted them. Some earned nicknames, like “The smiling Skull”. Many legends are associated to them. Let’s see, for example, the legend of “The Blacked-eyed Skull” or “The Captain’s Skull”, because it was said to have belonged once to a Spanish soldier: It is said that a man dressed in old Spanish military clothes was seen at the wedding of a girl who had begged his soul to help her find a husband. The jealous groom didn’t like the way he was looking at his wife and punched him on the left eye. The next day, when the bride came to the cemetery to thank the soul for the grace received, she noticed that the skull had a black eye, just where her husband had punched the Spanish soldier’s ghost. Despite this adoption and the “baptism” of some skulls, almost all of the human remains there are anonymous, except two, belonging to the Count of Caraffa - who owned the lands in which the cemetery stands - and his wife. Their mummified bodies are exposed in two coffins near the main entrance. Two empty rooms were kept to receive the bodies of any tragedy that could happen, like the cholera epidemic of 1836. The Neapolitans are used to them. In 1969, the archbishop of Naples, Corrado Ursi, banned superstition by having the cemetery closed. In spite of that closure, a few years later, many skeletons of a mass grave found during the excavations for the subway network were brought to the cemetery. Today, about 40.000 human remains are exposed in the cemetery. Probably, a few millions remain under the soil. In 2002, during the “Maggio dei Monumenti”, the cemetery was open to the public once again. Since then it began opening once or twice a year. On 23rd May 2010, a pacific demonstration by the locals demanded the cemetery to be left permanently open to the people of Naples. The cemetery is now permanently open from 10:00 to 17:00, except on Wednesdays. Let´s see for how long… Cimitero delle 366 Fosse The 366-Pit Cemetery was projected in 1762 by architect Ferdinando Fuga, the one who designed the Albergo dei Poveri, the shelter for the poor and indigent at Via Foria ordered by Charles III of Borbon. It was meant to serve the tenants of the Albergo and replace the mass grave of the Ospedale degli Incurabili, a filthy open-air pit where the bodies of poor people were thrown into. The stinky smell then was so strong that it was felt all along Via Foria. The concept of this cemetery is based on a square formed by 19 rows of 19 pits (361 in total), with 5 more under the roof of the main entrance. This way we had 366 pits, one for each day of the year. The dead of the day were thrown into a pit that was then sealed until the next year, giving time for the bodies inside to decompose. The pit nr. 366, which was used only once each 4 years proved to be very useful during some great calamities that caused a great mortality. As said above, the bodies were just thrown into the pit, which didn’t provide much dignity to the ceremony. After the Risanamento of the end of the XIX Century, mass graves were gradually abandoned, but the cemetery was used until late XX Century. Some tombs on the walls and under the roof of the main entrance go forth to the 1980s. Cimitero degli Inglesi The English Cemetery was licensed by royal decree of 1826 to the British consul in Naples, Sir Henry Lushington. Located near the church of Santa Maria della Fede, it was made to bury the members of the protestant community, who were generally very wealthy and influent people. Although most of these citizens came actually from Britain, some of them came from other protestant countries, like Germany or Switzerland. In 1893, when the new English Cemetery was built at Poggioreale, this one was closed. In 1954 the place was given back to the Naples Authorities. Negligence started, then, to become evident. In 1985 on the occasion of “Maggio dei Monumenti” the cemetery was recovered for the people. Some tombs were removed, with a few being transferred to the San Martino Museum, and the place was turned into a sort of public garden. It was reopened in 1990, but some years later it was decaying again. Only 9 of the original 250 tombs can be seen today. More than 100 graves with their human remains lie underground. In the late 1800s, the famous Italian medium Eusapia Paladino used to come for a nice walk between the graves, to meditate and – maybe – contact the souls of the dead. Today we can see a bunch of kids playing soccer in a place that used to be peaceful. Cimitero dei Colerosi The Cemetery of the Choleric was built in 1836, in order to face a terrible cholera epidemic, which was responsible for 23.000 dead. It was designed by Luigi Santa Croce and built by Leonardo Langhezza. After another cholera epidemic, in 1884, which drove to the great urban renewal 5 years later (Risanamento), the cemetery was slowly abandoned. In 1960 it was converted into a botanic garden but after a few years negligence turned it into an urban jungle. Addresses, Contacts and Other Useful Information Ipogeo dei Togati Associazione Culturale Celanapoli Via Santa Maria Antesaecula, 126/129 – 80137 Napoli info (+39) 3475597231 e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Catacombe di San Gennaro Via Tondo di Capodimonte,13 Tel.: +39 081 7411071 / +39 081 744 37 14 e-mail:
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Piazza Sanità,14 Tel.: +39 081 744 37 14 e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (Guided visits Monday to Sunday from 10.00 to 13.00) Cimitero delle Fontanelle Napoli, Via Fontanelle 154 tel. +39 081 5573913 (Permanently open from 10:00 to 17:00, closed on Wednesdays) Cimitero di Santa Maria del Popolo (detto Delle 366 Fosse) Via Fontanelle al Trivio, 50, Napoli Tel. +39 081 7806933; mobile +39 333 1606015 Cimitero acattolico di Santa Maria della Fede (ex Cimitero degli Inglesi) Piazza Santa Maria della Fede (church yard) (Permaently open to the public) For further information: Osservatorio Turistico Napoli, Colonnato San Francesco di Paola Piazza del Plebiscito tel. +39 081 2471123 Direzione Regionale per i Beni culturali e Paesaggistici della Campania Castel dell'Ovo via Eldorado, 1 80132 Napoli Tel. +39 0812464111 Fax. +39 0817645305 Bibliography
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| Last Updated on Monday, 29 November 2010 05:37 |
