venerdì 30 maggio 2014

BEAUTIFUL CHAOTIC NAPLES


BEAUTIFUL, CHAOTIC NAPLES



Naples was founded by Greek traders, established on the Island of Megaris, where today the Castel dell'Ovo stands. The original name was Parthenope in honour of the siren, who drowned herself after failing to seduce Ulysses.   But the most important Greek city was Cuma; in 474 BC the Cumaens founded Neapolis on the land, where today is the historic center.  


In the Roman times, Neapolis became a successful Roman resort. During the Roman Civil War (88-82 BC) Neapolis' citizens opposed Rome, invoking the wrath of Cornelius Sulla who promply took the city and slaughtered thousands of its citizens. In 79 AD the volcano Vesuvius drowned Pompeii and Herculaneum in a mix of lava, mud and ash.
In 1139 Naples was included in the Norman Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which had its capital in Palermo. Wnen the swabian rulers were defeated at Benevento in 1265, Charles of Anjou became king. The Angevins were popular, but they were overthrown by Alfonso d'Aragona, known as the Magnanimous,      




CASTELNUOVO

The Castle was built by order of Charles d'Anjou, the first sovereign of the french dynasty.  Work began in the late May-early June and was entrusted to the architect Pierre de Chaule. In 1281 the drawbridge was added in 1282 the palace was habitable. The sovereigns resided in the nord-east wing, completed in 1284.   
In 1442, the battles that brought Alfonso of Aragona to conquest to the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples caused severe damage to the Castle. The sovereign immediately ordered it to be rebuilt and entrusted the project to the Majorcan Guillermo Sagrera, during the period from 1446 and 1450. Sagrera restored the Sala dei Baroni ("the Barons'Hall"), the previous Angevin living room frescoed by Giotto. The Castle is characterized by the Renaissance appearance. The reconstruction was hallmarked by the Catalan nature of the artists that Alfonso involved and was the response to the need to align the structure to the changes brought about by the "art of war": the use of artillery required the construction of sturdy Towers and low, thick curtain walls. Tall, massive Towers were added (Torre dell'Oro and Torre Beverello on the Southern side, Torre San Giorgio, Torre di Mezzo and Torre di Guardia on the western side), curtains with robust foundations, "armored" with stone finishes that covered Yellow tuft. Along the perimeter there was a patrol walkway on the escarpment base (the ravelin) that appeared for the first way in Italy. It was an innovation that afforded defense from enemy fire. In 1485, the city's barons took up arms against Alfonso's successor, Ferdinand I. Within a year, however, the ringleaders were executed in the Sala dei Baroni in Castelnuovo. So peace was restored. In 1501 Naples became a part of the Spanish Empire.    
  










 Alfonso d'Aragona's Arch of Triumph









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Guillermo Sagrera - Barons' Hall Vault






Nel 1480 i Turchi avevano assediato e costretto alla resa Otranto. Dopo un anno, data anche la morte del sultano Maometto il Conquistatore, un esercito guidato dal principe ereditario Alfonso, riuscì a riconquistare la città. Questi eventi avevano fatto riemergere lo spirito di ribellione dei baroni. Questi non potevano dimenticare che Ferrante era un figlio illegittimo di Alfonso il Magnanimo, che aveva sottomesso il Regno con la  forza. Verso la figura di Ferrante, essi nutrivano addirittura un senso di “superiorità”.  I feudatari avevano propri eserciti di mercenari e assoldavano bande di briganti. Ferrante mirava al potere assoluto, e già alla fine della guerra contro Giovanni d’Angiò aveva imprigionato baroni ribelli, confiscandone i beni. Così si spiega perché si unissero ai congiurati anche importanti dignitari di corte come il segretario del re Antonello Petrucci e il ministro Francesco Coppola conte di Sarno.

L’occasione della congiura fu data dall’elezione a papa di Innocenzo VIII, che i baroni speravano di incitare contro Ferrante. Per di più, il principe ereditario Alfonso si era reso subito inviso al nuovo pontefice, reclamando l'annessione al regno di Napoli di Pontecorvo, Benevento e Terracina. Il papa rifiutò, e allora Ferrante sospese l’omaggio dovuto alla Chiesa, e attuò severe misure fiscali nei confronti dei beni ecclesiastici. I baroni decisero di sfruttare questo antagonismo e nei primi mesi del 1485 si rivolsero al papa Innocenzo nella sua veste di sovrano feudale del regno di Napoli, chiedendo che dichiarasse decaduto Ferrante. Il 7 maggio del 1486, Roberto Sanseverino fu sbaragliato da Alfonso a Montorio.Il 13 agosto del 1486 il re invitò tutti i baroni al matrimonio di sua nipote Maria Piccolomini, in Castel Nuovo. Furono accolti in pompa magna e, quando furono riuniti tutti nella Gran Sala, furono dichiarati tutti in arresto.




PALAZZO REALE


In 1600 the Viceroy of Naples, Count of Lemos, commissioned the building of a royal palace in Naples from the architect Domenico Fontana who had already worked in Rome for the Pontifical Court. The existin Viceroy's palace was in the area that is now the location of Giardino Italia, but its almost fortress-like characteristics did not appear to be suited for accomodating the sovereign. The residence underwent significant modifications over time.

In 1734 the throne was conquered by Charles of Bourbon, son of Philip V of Spain and Elisabetta Farnese. The new monarch intervened on the interiors and decorations of the palazzo: still in the 1700s, Ligi Vanvitelli closed the arch of the facade to reinforce the statics, creating niches which, in 1888, were used to house statues of the sovereigns of Naples.  


















CHIESA SAN FRANCESCO DI PAOLA













GALLERIA UMBERTO I

















TEATRO SAN CARLO







 

 

THE DUOMO




REGGIA DI CAPODIMONTE








Pope Paul III




Titian - Danae

I VICOLI (LANES)

It is a characteristic area of the city, which should be avoided by tourists.






"Vicoli la cui entrata è una lunga volta: impressione di attraversare una frontiera, di penetrare in una città proibita. Vicoli simili a una coltellate tra le case molto alte." Roger Peyrefitte - "Dal Vesuvio all'Etna" 

 

MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO


The Museum's history began with the arrival in Naples of Charles of Bourbon in 1734. The Kingdom of Naples was restored to its autonomous status after almost two centuries of government by viceroys. The new sovereign was the son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, Elisabetta Farnese, the last in line of the great family of princes. From his mother's family Charles inherited an extraordinary collection split between Parma and Rome, which incudes works by the greatest artists working through the 1500s to the 1700s, as well as prestigious relics of ancient history like the great Roman statues fro the Baths of Caracalla in Rome.

In 1738 the works from the excavations in Resina, ordered by the Bourbons, were added, in particular the sculpted decoration from the theatre of Herculaneum. A decade later, the ecavation of Pompeii began and in 1749  that othe nearby Stabiae. These archeological discoveries echoed across all of Europe: Naples became the chief destination of the Grand Tour, the journey of discovery into testimonies of ancient history, undertaken by the Young European aristocrats to complete their cultural education.

The precious material, recovered thanks to the "rediscovry" of the ancient towns around Vesuvius, buried by the eruption of 79 AD, was exhibited in the rooms of the palace, or Raggia, at Portici and constituted the core of the "Museo Herculanense". In 1777 Ferdinand IV of Bourbo, Charles' son and successor, decided to found a great museum in which to collect not only objects and works of art brought from the ecavavations around Vesuvius, but also the impressive Farnese family collection - in part still in Rome in palazzo Farnese - and to include painting and sculpture exhibited at Capodimonte, a library and a school of "Fine Art. A site was identified in the former "Palazzo degli Studi", a Sixteenth-century cavalry barracks, modernised in the 1600s to house the University, which was transferred to the Jesuit Salvatore complex.

FARNESE COLLECTION
This collection includes the extraordinary masterpieces collected by Pope Paul III Farnese and his nephew Alessandro, inherited in the 1700s by Charles of Bourbon and transferred to Naples by Ferdinand IV. 











Aphrodite Kallipygos ("of the beautiful buttocks")





Ercole Farnese, an ellenistic sculpture by Glycon from Athens

FRESCOES FROM POMPEII 












Traditional Places


Caffè Gambrinus


Wonderful songs of Naples:

Marechiaro


See also:


NAPLES SEEN FROM CASTEL SANT'ELMO
http://johncristiani.blogspot.it/2014/04/naples-seen-from-castel-santelmo.html



CAMPANIA - L'INCANTEVOLE SORRENTO
http://cristigianni.blogspot.it/2016/04/campania-lincantevole-sorrento.html


POMPEI - LA FIORENTE CITTA' DISTRUTTA DAL VESUVIO NEL 79 d.C.
http://johncristiani.blogspot.it/2017/02/pompei-la-fiorente-citta-distrutta-dal.html


AMALFI E LA COSTIERA AMALFITANA
https://johncristiani.blogspot.com/2019/04/amalfi-e-la-costiera-amalfitana-la.html






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