L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE FRANCESCA BEZZONE " Napule è mille culure, Napule è mille paure, Napule è a voce d' 'e creature che saglie chi- ano chianu e tu saje ca nun si sulo:" Naples is a thou- sand colors, Naples is a thousand fears, Naples is the voice of chil- dren gently coming through: and you know you're not alone. This sang Pino Daniele, beloved and dearly missed Neapolitan singer who made of his Napoletanità a badge of honor, as well as the root of his national success. But before him, hundreds of artists, dozens of kings and thousands of common people declared their love eternal for the heady, mes- merizing charms of Naples, the "only true Italian metropolis," to say it with the words of the great Elsa Morante. Naples is colors, fears, voic- es. It's culture and history. Naples is poetry and love, as one would expect from a city born in honor of the daughter of a god and the muse of chorus and dance, who let herself die in the sea when her voice failed to enchant Odysseus as much as she expected and desired. Parthenope was her name and, today, Naples still carries her scent of salt water, lemons and jasmine, still sings her melodies, still chants her poetry in every stone and brick. Naples, the city of a thousand churches, heart and soul of popu- lar Catholic tradition, home of one of the greatest Saints, Janu- arius. Naples, the enchanting heart of Italy, " in my eyes is, without possibility of any com- parison, the most beautiful city of the Universe," as stated by Marie-Henri Beyle, better known with his pen name of Stendhal, who in Naples lived and worked. A long history, that of the city of Parthenope and, yesterday as today, if you're after the heart and soul of it, it's to the Quartieri Spagnoli you need to head. No place in Italy is more controversial: beautifully charm- ing, because old and filled with lore and heritage, but at the same time considered one of the most dangerous areas of the city. Depending on whom you talk to, opinions on Naples' own popu- lar soul vary largely and are often negatively biased by that stereotypically negative image of Naples herself that, about a year ago, brought the British tabloid The Sun to include it among the most dangerous places on Earth (worldwide uproar and apologies ensued). The Quartieri Spagnoli today are an intricate labyrinth of streets, called home by about 15.000 people. They comprise a plethora of bassi - small one- story buildings once occupied by families and workshops, today mostly boarded up or inhabited by elderly people - churches, shops, small restaurants, divided in three borgate: San Ferdinan- do, Montecalvario and Avvoca- ta. In truth, the Quartieri Spag- noli never enjoyed good fame, as witnessed by the words of Neapolitan poet Salvatore di Giacomo who, already in the 19th century, stressed how "hon- est, decent families would avoid them." However, they did start as a place for the rich and noble: it was the Spanish viceroy Pedro de Toledo who chose the area in the 16th century as the perfect location for Spanish politicians and ministers to live. Apparent- ly, he liked it because of its beauty and pleasantness, full as it was with mulberry trees and green. After the ministers and their families came Spanish sol- diers, who lived in the bassi and attracted large numbers of pros- titutes, ready to keep them com- pany while they were far from home; but the military didn't only bring around easy women, but also helped the flourishing of commerce: soon the many alleys around Via Toledo, the Quartieri Spagnoli's main artery, filled up with workshops and stores, bringing a multi cultural and varied population to move into them. Those Spaniards, though, were quarrelsome and so the new Viceroy, the Count of Ognatte, decided to create proper military barracks in the Pizzofalcone area of San Ferdinando, to free the more central streets from crimi- nality. Then, in the 18th century, after Spain finally left the city, the Quartieri Spagnoli turned into a favorite artists' spot: poet Eleonora Pimentel Fonseca was one of the first to choose them as her residence, but even greater names made them their abode: among them the French - and already mentioned - Stendhal, of course, but also Goethe and our very own Giacomo Leopardi, who spent his 24 months resi- dency in Naples between Via San Mattia and Via Santa Maria Ogni Bene. Very much in the same period, the art of acting also found a home in the Quartieri Spagnoli, with the opening of several theaters, including the Teatro Nuovo, built in 1773. Local lore tells that, during the Fascist era, a woman known familiarly as la bot- tigliera (the bottles' woman) ran, just beside the theatre, a small dive, which she kept open 24 hours a day. Apparently, Italy's last king, Umberto II (known also as the King of May, as he was in power only between the 4th of May 1946 and the 12th of June of the same year) liked the place, where he used to stop after meeting a Neapolitan actress, special friend of his, at the Teatro Nuovo. And how can we forget, to say it all, that it's in Via San- t'Anna di Palazzo, at the heart of the Quartieri, that the most famous pizza in the world, the Margherita, was born? Indeed, it was there in 1889 that the tricol- ored delicacy was created in honor of Queen of Italy. The history of the Quartieri Spagnoli, in its variegated nature and its ever-fluctuating social status, is mirror to that of the city itself and of the city, they remain today the pulsating heart, the home of the true, popular Naples, that where everything - the beau- tiful and the bleak, the colorful and the dark, the joyous and the dismal - meet each other, more real than reality. It's here, in these narrow streets filled with voices, people and laundry hang- ing from each and every win- dow, that the real Naples rests. And, in spite of the bad rep some still insist giving them, these are streets of an inexplica- ble loveliness, even where they look dingy, even if they are dirti- er than one would expect; the Quartieri Spagnoli of Naples have the same breathtaking, mes- merizing uniqueness of Jerusalem's old city, with her open air stalls, pomegranate juice vendors and rowdiness, filled, also because of all that, with a touchable, perceivable sense of life, so powerful to conquer every visitor, who leaves yearn- ing for more. Enzo Gragnaniello, a famous Neapolitan singer and song- writer, speaks of poesia dei Quartieri Spagnoli, when he says how "they have their own language, but to truly understand them you must close your eyes and listen to them, feel them. Indeed, living the Quartieri Spagnoli means feeling them." He continues, pondering on the everlasting diatribe on safety in the Quartieri: "I believed that those saying that (the area is dangerous) were never really here. Of course there are people mingling with criminals, but let's be honest, you'll find those in every area of a big city. People are anarchic, here, but they are intrinsically good. You see, the people here are il popolo (sim- ple, humble people), and il popo- lo cooks well. And where people knows how to cook, you'll find wisdom and feelings and you mustn't be afraid: in a place like this, there is no room for fear." This article was inspired by Gigi di Fiore's recent piece on the history of the Quartieri Spag- noli on Focus Storia no. 144, and by Xavi Bosh's 2015 docu- mentary I Quartieri Spagnoli: Detrás de los Prejudicios. The Quartieri Spagnoli, often denigrated, are in fact the most real way to get to know the essence of Naples Inventive methods to get your shopping in the quartieri The heart and soul of Naples: history and poetry of the Quartieri Spagnoli

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