We soon arrived at The Catacombe di San Gennaro. But, what exactly is a Catacombe ? In simple terms, it is an underground cemetery. But, the Catacombe di San Gennaro, was from simple. It was historically referred to as “Death Valley” and according to our tour guide , Antonio, it was the place that most inhabitants of Southern Italy desired to be buried since the 4th century AD. Although it was built in 2nd AD, it was only considered to be underground burial chambers , but after Giovanni the First made a portion of the chamber a church and the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in the 6th century AD, it was transformed into the Catacombe we saw today with over 3000 graves.
Antonio provided us with some very informational details on the Catacombe. In our modern world and Western culture, often when someone passes, their bodies are put in coffins where we then bury them in plots decorated with headstones. But, in ancient times this was not how burials were gone about. In The Catacombe di San Gennaro, there are three categories of graves : the floor, the wall and the “oconsolia “ which was reserved for the bodies of those of high class and esteem and decorated with frescoes.
Now it is not called Catacombe di San Gennaro for no reason. San Gennaro is the patron saint of Naples who lived between the third and fourth centuries. San Gennaro was sentenced to death three times for attempting to convert the people to Christianity. Luckily, he escaped death twice , but he was not so lucky the third time and was sentenced to death on September 19, 305. He was laid to rest in the Catacombe but his remains were later moved due to change of empirical rule. In the sixth century , a portion of the church was cut off to build the Church of San Gennaro in dedication to his life and his heroism .
After our walk through of the Catacombe, we then boarded the bus and headed to the Nat’l Archaeological Museum of Naples. Upon our arrival, we were met in the foyer by statues of great stature and poise. Dr. Huber informed us that many of the statues in Ancient Roman culture depicted the body’s of Gods or a body that represented the cannon or the standard of beauty. The statues often had heads of locals of power, so the statues communicated poise, political and social power. We also learned that oftentimes nudity would represent divinity.
Now for the most scandalous portion of our day , The Secret Cabinet! Ancient Romans did not have the same stigma that modern societies share towards sexual topics. So, The Secret Cabinet was literally a corridor full of ancient Roman art and representations of explicit “relations”. A lot of the art was exaggerated and meant to be humorous , in order to ward off the evil eye that Romans believed lingered around their civilizations. We then were allowed to canvas the museum on our own and enjoy lunch in the heart of Naples as we canvased the city on foot.
We then wrapped up our day at The Palazzo Reali. The Palazzo Reali was the palace for the last ruling kingdoms of Napoli, but it is now a museum. The outside of the palace was beautiful and decorated with large sculptures of the kings who once ruled. Although it was closed, we were given an opportunity to walk in where we were met with a piece of American history! In the center of the courtyard sat Rosa Park’s home. We instantly were confused on how Rosa’s home made its way from Detroit to Naples , but upon more research we found that it is apart of the “Almost Home- The Ross Parks Project”. It implemented to remind those of Italy of the battle fought against civil rights issues in America and how it has now translated into the Black Lives Matter Movement.
After a packed day of sightseeing , many of took advantage of our last night in the city of Naples to shop, relax or try new foods. Naples has been a historically rich city that has taught us a lot.
Ciao Naples,
Kyla Maxwell
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