RIONE SANITÀ: THE NAPLES NEIGHBORHOOD THAT REMAINS TRUE TO ITS ROOTS 👕
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- Posted by VISIT NAPLES AND AMALFI COAST TRAVEL TIPS
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While Naples has changed throughout the years–some may even say “cleaned-up”–there’s one neighborhood where the city’s spirit, its ammuina (cheerful confusion), hasn’t been washed away. In Rione Sanità, fruit stalls overflowing with seasonal produce stand next to those selling budget packs of red underwear, vendors incessantly shout “FRUTTA FRESCA!”, mopeds topped with the Neapolitan version of a human pyramid zigzag between cars, and the walls continue to crumble somehow charmingly. In Rione Sanità, grandmothers chat in gossipy whispers on doorsteps while young kids (not necessarily related to said grandmothers) play made-up games in the streets. Rione Sanità is a neighborhood that just a few years ago tourists would have been scared to step foot in, but that today is on the tip of everyone’s tongue.
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Close to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Rione Sanità is famous for Palazzo dello Spagnolo (known for its monumental double-ramp staircase, known as the “falcon’s wing”), Palazzo San Felice (similar, but more modest) and the Borgo dei Vergini, which owes its peculiar name to a Greco-Roman past and a story of a local woman who attempted to seduce a chaste boy. As of 2022, the hypogea, including that of the Cristallini, is open to the public: the subterranean chamber dates back more than 2,300 years and was formerly used as a necropolis (part of a morbid side of the district that can also be found at Fontanelle Cemetery and the Catacombs of San Gaudioso).
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Rione Sanità is strikingly Neapolitan, the spirit of the ancient city, and yet it’s going through a renaissance: recent, buzzed-about openings like the hypogea, as well as Ciro Oliva’s famed PIZZERIA CONCETTINA AI TRE SANTI , are bringing attention to the neighborhood, smoothing out its rougher edges. But locals, who are opening and/or helming these places, are doing so on their own terms–without watering down the neighborhood’s character or forgetting its past.
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Why is it called Sanita'?
The district was built in the late 1500s in a country valley outside the city walls, used as a burial place. The name Sanita' (=health) comes from the healthiness of the area, since it was then pure uncontaminated and home to miraculous recoveries taking place in its catacombs. People claim that the name also comes from the frequent floods caused by the torrent that, falling down from Capodimonte, purified the district.
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San Gennaro gate
is on Via Foria, opposite Piazza Cavour: it was the only entry point from the north side of the city and the only one that led to the catacombs. Unlike the other gates of Naples, this one doesn't have two towers on the side but is surrounded by the buildings that were built around it.
Crossing the street you get into via Vergini, a cheerful and festive street, full of shops and market stalls, with the traders posing as soon as they see the camera . The market is open every day until 8 pm, Sunday until lunchtime.
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Street Art at Sanita'
Strolling around you cannot help but notice the plenty of street art painting the district alleys, made by unknown but also well-known artists.
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Palazzo San Felice
Built by the architect Ferdinando Sanfelice in 1728 as his own residence.
The building has an impressive façade, charmingly crumbling, highlighted by the openings of the windows decorated with stuccos. Due to its peculiar hawk-winged stairways, it looks like the building is collapsing towards the centre.
The building has an impressive façade, charmingly crumbling, highlighted by the openings of the windows decorated with stuccos. Due to its peculiar hawk-winged stairways, it looks like the building is collapsing towards the centre.
The stairs at the entrance are covered with blackboard stone, in honour of the architect's wife, originally from a city in Liguria called Lavagna(=blackboard).
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Piazza Sanita'
Piazza Sanita' is the perfect canvas for street artists Tono Cruz and Francisco Bosoletti.
Just opposite the church, on the façade of a residential building, Cruz has created, in collaboration with the children of the neighborhood, "Luce" (=light), a large round mural that reminds a beam of light: the faces of the children are painted as a symbol of hope for the future for the whole community.
Just opposite the church, on the façade of a residential building, Cruz has created, in collaboration with the children of the neighborhood, "Luce" (=light), a large round mural that reminds a beam of light: the faces of the children are painted as a symbol of hope for the future for the whole community.
On the side facade of the church, there is "RESIS-TI-AMO" (a mix of "resistance" and "I love you"), created by the Argentinian artist Francisco Bosoletti. The work is inspired by a true story and describes a Neapolitan couple who has overcome a terrible illness with care and love. These two lovers are a symbol of resistance to violence, disease, and offences.
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S.Maria alla Sanita' church
The church stands at the centre of the square and was erected at the beginning of 1600 over San Gaudioso catacombs.
You can also find a sculpture of San Vincenzo, called "O Munacone", guardian of the district.
Sanita' district used to celebrate its protector every year on the 5th of July, with a street party featuring music stars and celebrities. The celebration was suspended in 1975, when the Camorra irrupted asking for bribes. The church is therefore also known as "San Vincenzo church".
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"The Veiled Son" - San Severo fuori le mura church
A few steps from Santa Maria alla Sanita' Church you'll find another church that is worth visiting, it's called San Severo fuori le mura.
The church is located over the San Severo catacombs and was recently restored, in 2017, giving back to the public and the faithful a collection of artistic treasures such as Cappella dei Bianchi.
This chapel preserves the organs that Domenico Cimarosa played at a very young age, before becoming one of the great representatives of the Neapolitan music school. You can also admire works of the Neapolitan Baroque, such as Sant'Anna by Luca Giordano.
The work you'll like the most is The Veiled Son, a gem that was only recently added to the artistic heritage of the district. Freely inspired by the world-famous Veiled Christ, this sculpture was created by the artist Jago in New York from a single block of marble from Vermont. The veiled son represents the lifeless body of a migrant child who has just landed on the beach, as seen from the pebble near the hand and the swollen tummy. A really beautiful and moving work that tells us about one of the tragedies of our current history.
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Sanita' bridge
Sanita' bridge rules the district connecting two streets, Santa Teresa degli Scalzi and Corso Amedeo di Savoia, and came up from the idea of a Neapolitan architect to connect the Royal Palace of Capodimonte to the city.
A convenient lift lets the locals get up the bridge and therefore to the higher part of the city. It's interesting to see how some houses were built right under the bridge!
A convenient lift lets the locals get up the bridge and therefore to the higher part of the city. It's interesting to see how some houses were built right under the bridge!
Shortly after the bridge, you'll find the shape of Toto', one of the many installations dedicated to the actor, decorating his native district.
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Fontanelle cemetery
You'll get to Fontanelle cemetery, one of the most suggestive places of the Sanita' district and the whole city. Soaked with history, faith, rituals, and legends, Fontanelle cemetery is an ancient ossuary dug into the tuff rock of Materdei hill.
Its first purpose was to bury the bodies that found no place in the public churches' burials, then the victims of the great plague in 1656 and cholera in 1836. Today the cemetery hosts about 40,000 remains, but it looks like bones are kept underground for at least four meters deep!
The cemetery is also famous for a special ritual, called "anime pezzentelle", held for many years. The ritual consisted of the adoption, in exchange for a grace, of an unknown skull (capuzzella) corresponding to an abandoned soul (so-called "pezzentella"). Worshippers claimed that the identity of souls, with their name and their history, was revealed to them in a dream. The tormented souls needed care and attention, so the worshipper cleaned and polished the chosen skull, decorating with embroidered tissues, cushions, and rosaries. If the grace was granted, the skull was placed in a protective case, craving the sentence "for the grace received" and the worshipper's name; otherwise, it was abandoned and replaced with another skull.
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We have said that most of the skulls are unknown, but some of them became famous thanks to some mysterious legends.
One of these belongs to donna Concetta, known as "a capa che suda" (=sweating skull). Donna Concetta's skull is kept in a glass case, in a cavity on the left of the cemetery; According to the worshippers, the sweat is caused by the struggles and sufferings of the afterlife. The real reason is that this skull gathers moisture better than the others 
Shortly after, in another quite dark cavity on the left, you'll find the disturbing statue of ** Monacone ** San Vincenzo Ferreri, decapitated and dressed up with the typical black and white Dominican dress.
Your attention will definitely be caught by the Court, a cave illuminated by natural light ruled by three huge crosses. According to what has been said for at least a century, the bosses of the ancient Camorra met here to decide about death sentences, to take blood oaths, and other membership rituals.
To the right of the three crosses, you'll find another skull covered by flowers, rosaries, coins, and candles: it's the Captain' skull, that has two versions of the same legend. In short, it seems that a young groom triggered the Captain's soul mocking him, saying to not be afraid of a dead person and inviting him - ironically - to his wedding. The Captain went to the wedding indeed, disguised as a dark, silent, and severe character; by revealing his true identity, he scared the young couple to death.
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Toto'
After lunch, take the alley opposite the pizzeria: via Santa Maria Antesaecula. This is the place where Prince Antonio De Curtis, also known as Toto', was born in February 1989.
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Palazzo dello Spagnuolo
Back to the beginning of the district, visit the last building, called "Palazzo dello Spagnolo" because it belonged to a noble Spanish family in the nineteenth century: this is attributed to Ferdinando Sanfelice, too. It's very similar to Palazzo Sanfelice, but better kept: the colours are lively, the apartments doors are decorated, and has half-length portrays of the family who owns the apartment.
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My last TIPS
I suggest you being at Capodichino airport at least 3 hours before your plane's departure.
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