Naples: 10 curiosities

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Naples is a confused, messy, colorful, elegant and unfortunate city.
In Naples you are always open-mouthed:
because you eat the fritturina on the street and the pizza in the old town;
because you’re upset when there are three of them on a scooter;
because you are before the Veiled Christ;

Naples that is sometimes a flirtatious girl who does not stop talking and making her talk. Naples that at other times is a distinct lady contested between people and galatuomini, robbers and knights.

We can write you more if you want, but we prefer to leave you with little curiosities that maybe you will make you smile a little

Walking straight between the horses in Plebiscite Square

Tradition has it that it cannot pass among the horses of Plebiscite Square blindfolded without losing the sense of orientation due to the curse of Queen Margaret. But what is the truth? Well, first Piazza Plebiscito is a bit sloping and then the “vasoli” of the pavement are crooked…. so don’t follow them!

The horn

The horn in Naples is a symbol but remember that: the horn must be: Red, Hunchback, handmade, empty, hard, internally empty and with the tip. And then… must be given away! You can’t buy luck for yourself!

“Siehe Neapel und stirb!”

The translation of this German sentence is: SEE NAPLES AND THEN DIEwritten by the German poet Johan Wolfgang von Goethe. The poet, after his trip to Italy, was about to return to Germany but in love with Naples, he wanted to leave a message to humanity and what you cannot die without first having seen Naples once in your life

The strange clock

In Naples there is a unique watch in Europe that looks almost strange to see it! Built in 1853, this watch has a single hand and three numbers. 5-10-15. This clock, located in Piazza Dante, calculates the equation of time, i.e. the difference between the average and real solar time, thus considering the position of the sun.

The subway tour

Not only to easily travel around the city, the subway also becomes the means of transport for a unique tour, that of its stations. Hop on the metro at Garibaldi station and then visit the stations of:

• University
• Town hall
• Toledo

A recommendation… don’t stop only at the first release of Toledo, the most famous one, it is also worth the release of Montecalvario, in which you can still observe art such as the work “human race” by Oliviero Toscani

The historic pizza

Forget social media and advertising, the first pizza in Naples was born at Pizzeria Brandi who invented the Pizza Margherita!

The chair of Santa Francesca

In Naples, in the church of Santa Francesca a sort of small rite is held halfway between superstition and faith: women wishing to have a child or pregnant women sit on the chair of the Saint entrusting her with hopes and prayers. Attention: for Covid it is currently not open to visitors!

The painting in the framework of San Giorgio Maggiore

In via Duomo, in the church of San Giorgio Maggiore, there is a little secret: behind the painting of San Giorgio and the Dragon by D’Elia, behind the altar, there is another wonderful painting by Aniello Falcone, with the same subject, made around 1645.

The “monaciello” exists

Well this mischievous sprite who seems to steal from Neapolitan homes once really existed. The monaciello was none other than the pozzaro, the one who was in charge of drawing water from underground cisterns; small stature, dressed in black, sometimes he climbed higher from the wells, to the houses to steal gold and jewels.

Leopardi

Did you know that Leopardi died in Naples’ Then we tell you something more: many studies on the poet have discovered that the poet used to eat a sweet Neapolitan puff pastry from Pintauro (inventor of the puff pastry), used to sit at a coffee table in the Coffee two Sicilies in Charity Square and went crazy for the lemon granites. Leopardi’s tomb is now kept in theVergiliano Park but for many, his bones are actually found in the Fontanelle Cemetery in the Sanità district.

If you want to discover some little-known and touristic places in Naples, read our article 10 SECRET PLACES IN NAPLES

and how many do you know of these curiosities?