L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano I n the 18th century, at t h e h e i g h t o f t h e B a r o q u e p e r i o d , N a p l e s , o n e o f Italy's most beautiful c i t i e s , w a s k n o w n a s t h e c i t t à d e l l e c i n q u e c e n t o cupole, "the city with five hundred cupolas," because of the number of churches one could admire in its his- torical center. I n d e e d , t h e C a m p a n i a c a p i t a l c o u n t s a b o u t o n e thousand churches and reli- gious buildings on its terri- tory, more than the holy city by definition, Rome, which h a s " o n l y " n i n e h u n d r e d . Not a huge difference, sure, but you know we Italians are keen on campanilismo, t h e h a b i t o f i d o l i z i n g o u r o w n t o w n t o t h e p o i n t o f e x c e s s , s o y o u c a n b e t Neapolitans are pretty proud of their city's superiority in this field! The earliest churches in Naples were built shortly before the Edict of Milan of 313 AD when Emperor Con- stantine declared freedom of c u l t f o r C h r i s t i a n s i n t h e Roman Empire. Still today, we can see traces of these early, paleochristian places of worship in the hypogea of many of Naples' churches. It is the case, for instance, of t h e B a s i l i c a d i S a n Pietro ad Aram, originally built in the 12th century and expanded in the 17th, or of the churches of San Gior- g i o M a g g i o r e a n d S a n Giovanni Maggiore. Oth- ers remain alive in the very architecture of buildings cre- ated in centuries closer to us. Others still lie under- ground, intact, in the city's c a t a c o m b s , j u s t l i k e i n Rome. N a p l e s i s , s t i l l t o d a y , deeply connected with its spirituality and with reli- gious practices, and it has always been. It doesn't sur- p r i s e , s o , t o s e e s o m a n y c h u r c h e s a d o r n i n g i t s streets. Not all of them are in use; not all of them are in top-notch conditions, just like those of another incred- ible place in our beautiful p e n i n s u l a : P a l e r m o . Y e t , even those that were aban- doned centuries ago - per- haps because the wealthy families who commissioned t h e m n o l o n g e r e x i s t o r , more prosaically, because the number of worshippers no longer calls for their use - pay tribute to the greatness of the artists and architects who created them and, most o f a l l , t o t h e f a i t h o f Neapolitans. Even in their d i l a p i d a t e d s t a t e , t h e y charm and they attract: they a r e s t i l l a p l a c e o f d e e p , sheer faith. More are, however, the churches that strike for their m a j e s t y a n d b e a u t y , a n d that we can still visit today. F o r i n s t a n c e , w e s h o u l d remember the only example s t i l l s t a n d i n g o f a n e a r l y medieval church in Naples, San Giovanni a Mare, but also examples of gothic a r c h i t e c t u r e , l i k e S a n L o r e n z o M a g g i o r e o r San Pietro a Majella. W e c a n ' t w r i t e a b o u t churches in Naples without mentioning the breathtaking Cappella di Sansevero, once the private chapel of the Sansevero family, who had it built in the 18th cen- tury. Indeed, its patron, Rai- mondo di Sansevero, was quite a character: believed to be an alchemist, he was rumored to have managed to petrify a human body's b l o o d v e s s e l s t h r o u g h magic. Today, we also know the Cappella because it is the home of the Cristo Vela- to, a marble sculpture of the Cristo Morto (Christ lying after death) so beautiful it was thought to have been created with magic, too. Of c o u r s e , w e c a n ' t f o r g e t Naples' Duomo, the Catte- d r a l e d i S a n t a M a r i a Assunta, a well-balanced mixture of many architec- tural styles, from medieval gothic to 19th century neo- gothic: the church is known f o r h o m i n g t h e f a m o u s Tesoro di San Gennaro, all the jewels and gold the peo- ple of Naples donated for the saint, or wealthy faithful h a d c o m m i s s i o n e d i n h i s honor. It's here that, every year, twice a year, the mira- cle of San Gennaro's blood takes place. The last curious Neapoli- tan church we'd like to men- tion is the Baroque Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco (17th century), which had been commissioned by a group of rich Neapolitan families to become their burial place. T h e c h u r c h , a b e a u t y i n itself, strikes especially for one thing: the skulls and bones decorating its façade, a c l e a r h i n t a t w h a t t h e building had been intended for. Q uindi (kween - d e e ) c o m e s from the vul- g a r L a t i n e x p r e s s i o n eccum inde, "here from this point," which then turned i n t o c u m i n d e , t h r o u g h a series of key linguistic muta- tions that change the way we pronounce words when speaking them fast. Ah, the beauty and mysteries of lan- g u a g e s a n d t h e w a y t h e y evolve! This very common term can be translated into Eng- lish in many ways, including "therefore," "accordingly," " h e n c e , " a n d " t h u s . " F o r instance, we can say Ho fini- to tardi di lavorare, quindi non sono andato a fare la spesa ("I finished work late, therefore I couldn't go to do food shopping"). Famously, D e s c a r t e s w r o t e i n L a t i n Cogito ergo sum, which we translate in Italian as Penso, quindi sono ("I think, there- fore I am" in English). Often, however, you can also translate quindi with " s o " i n E n g l i s h , b u t o n l y when it introduces a sen- tence that shows the conse- quence of the previous, just like in "The test was way too long, so I couldn't finish it in time:" in Italian we would t r a n s l a t e t h a t " s o " w i t h quindi (Il test era troppo lungo, quindi non sono rius- cito a finirlo in tempo). I n t e r e s t i n g l y t h o u g h , q u i n d i h a d a m u c h m o r e v a r i e d a r r a y o f m e a n i n g s during the Middle Ages and t h e R e n a i s s a n c e , w h e n i t could also be a locative, that is, it could be used to indi- cate the position of some- thing, or could have a tem- p o r a l m e a n i n g , t o s h o w when something took place. Q u i t e s t r a n g e , t o m o d e r n e a r s : d e f i n i t e l y o l d - f a s h - ioned! Ho sentito parlare molto bene di quel ristorante quin- di ho prenotato lì I h e a r d a l o t o f g o o d things about that restaurant, therefore I booked there E' stato molto maleduca- t o , q u i n d i a g i r ò d i c o n - seguenza H e ' s b e e n v e r y r u d e : therefore I will act accord- ingly. Credevo che mi chiamassi tu, quindi non ho telefonato! I thought you were call- ing me, so I didn't ring you myself! LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Word of the day: quindi - when you need to justify yourself! that Naples has more churches than Rome? The dome of a Neapolitan church: there are about 1000 churches in Naples (Photo: Emei/Dreamstime) © Jovanmandic | Dreamstime.com

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