Pizzofalcone

- Santa Maria Apparente, Suor Orsola, Santa Maria degli Angeli, Monte di Dio, Pizzofalcone, p.tta Salazar, Santa Lucia, Borgo Marinari -

Our itinerary begins at the Central Funicular stop on the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the connecting artery around the Saint Elmo hillside created by Alvino in the last years of the Bourbon monarchy. For those who wish to descend on foot, we recommend the Passaggiata del Petraio, which is rich in dramatic glimpses of Naples. Facing Corso Vittorio Emanuele, at the top its tall distinctive staircase, is the church of Santa Maria Apparente (1584, 1642). Continuing toward Piazzetta and Via Cariati, on the uphill side we come across the monastic citadel of Suor Orsola Benincasa (now university buildings). Turning back a little, and descending through Piazzetta Cariati, we encounter the eighteenth century Palazzo Cariati, and a little further on, Santa Caterina da Siena. From here, taking Vico San Nicola da Tolentino, we set off toward Pizzofalcone, through a densely populated area on the edge of the Spanish Quarter that was already completely urbanized between the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries. For the most part there were religious communities here. At the outset we encounter, at the end of a small square, the church of San Carlo alle Mortelle, founded in 1616. Then, in the Piazza Mondragone, the Mondragone Institute, founded, along with the small church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in 1653 and recently restored. We then proceed along Via Nicotera. On the right are various imposing buildings (note Palazzo Monteroduni). Narrow streets open off to the left. We cross Chiaia Bridge, which has linked the two heights since 1636. At this point we are on Pizzofalcone hill, which occupies the area of what was once the crater of Mount Echia. This was the site of the Greek settlement of Paleopolis, and it also bears traces of prehistoric habitation. On its heights stood LucullusÕs villa, transformed into a fortress in the fifth century AD (it is said that after being deposed, the child emperor Romulus Augustolus was held prisoner here). Throughout the Middle Ages, because of the roughness of the terrain, the hill was the site of hermitages. In the Aragonese period, the cliff was fortified. It was only between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in fact, that the area became populated with the aristocratic residences (attracted by the construction of the Viceroy's Palace) that even today in their nineteenth century incarnations give a certain tone to the Via Monte di Dio. On the right we come across the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, by the Theatine Father Grimaldi. Continuing toward the summit (the descent toward Calascione is on the right), we encounter Palazzo Ciccarelli, Palazzo Caracciolo di Vietri, and, on the left side, Palazzo Serra di Cassano, the work of Ferdinando Sanfelice. To the right, taking Via Parisi, we reach the church of the Nunziatella, the site of the Military Academy. Descending to the left, we reach Via Egiziaca a Pizzofalcone, and the church of that name (1650), by Cosimo Fanzago. On the right, in a small piazza which enjoys a wonderful vista, are the church of the Immacolata and Palazzo Carafa di Santa Severina, now site of the military department of the National Archives. Continuing downward along Via Solitaria we pass the Istituto Artistico Industriale (Institute of Arts and Industry), promoted by Gaetano Filangieri, and then reach Piazza Plebiscito and the quarter of Santa Lucia, created in the years after the unification of Italy by widening the beach through land reclamation. Entering Via Chiatamone, we pass the church of the Immaculate Conception (1617, 1627), which contains canvasses by Paolo De Matteis. Descending along Via Partenope, we wind up at the beachside hotels with their eclectic and rationalistic styles, and at the building of the Economics Faculty, by Camillo Guerra. (Paolo Mascilli Migliorini)