Restaurants
WHEN IN NAPLES...
The time is nigh for UK newspapers to introduce an extra column, alongside Cases, Deaths and Deaths per Million, in their woeful world coronavirus tables.
And it’s Humbuggery: the propensity for a nation’s citizens to tut or, even, denounce one another for often imagined virus infringements. I fear the UK would retain its pole position – and right at the bottom would be the former Kingdom of Naples, whose people have never lost their belief in the capricious gods.
Defiant Naples, the only city that mounted a successful insurrection against the Nazis, is short of tourists and money but it’s awash with smiles.
The city might well be twinned with Havana, considering the neglect of its Spanish glories and the similarities between the pervasive authority of Castro’s Communism and that of the Comorra – not least in its rubbish and graffiti.
The buzz of its street life puts Rome in the shade. Its citizens are famously proud of being Neapolitans first and Italians second. In the 1990 Italian World Cup, Maradona went on TV to appeal to Neapolitans to support Argentina against Italy in the semi-final, in their own stadium. The next day, the city was bedecked with Argentinian flags.
We have just spent three very happy days at the delightfully cheap and friendly Duomo House overlooking the duomo. Not 100 yards from the hotel is Pio Monte della Misericordia, whose altarpiece, The Seven Works of Mercy, was painted by Caravaggio, in 1607.
Naples comes closer to competing with Rome in gastronomic, archaeological and artistic wonder than any other Italian city south of Florence.
The star of the Neapolitan baroque
pageant is the 18th-century Cappella Sansevero, the mausoleum built by Prince Raimondo di Sangro, which houses Sanmartino’s Veiled Christ.
The miracle of this extraordinary prone sculpture, at which even Bernini would have marvelled, is that one is tempted to lift the shroud that clings to His corpse as they look like separate entities. This was the only queue we saw. (Book online ahead.)
Two hundred yards away, calm can be found in the cloisters of Basilica di Santa Chiara, which were converted in the 18th century from a kitchen garden into a series of walkways adorned with majolica tiles and frescoes.
Naples thrives on dough and fried food, and it’s best to wallow at least once. Our best find was Pizzeria Donna Sofia (Loren, of course) on Via dei Tribunali. Not just pizzas and arancini but frittatine, the Neapolitan fritture. This will give you strength for the world-class National Archaeological Museum, home to the mosaics of Pompeii and the monolithic Toro Farnese, restored by Michelangelo.
We were very lucky to have restaurant tips from Naples guide Sophia Seymour (www.lookingforlila.com), who led us to the pretty terrace and antipasti of Taverna del Arte, near the university, and the fish dishes of La Stanza del Gusto, just by lively Piazza Bellini.
If it all gets a little hot, head up to the Royal Palace of Capodimonte with its Titians and the best view of Vesuvius, the bay and islands. Or take a ferry to Procida, where Il Postino was filmed, and enjoy a swim and linguine allo scoglio at the Lido La Conchiglia. Summer is far from over.