Rione Sanità, walk underground to fall in love with the neighborhood

Not all neighborhoods are the same. Just outside the walls of the historic center of Naples, leaving behind Porta San Gennaro we go to the permanent market of Borgo Vergini. We can pass under the lights that draw in the air the verses of a beautiful love poem “Core analfabeta” (illiterate heart) by Totò. It is a warning: here you will learn to love! In these spaces you will still find the true Naples well preserved. To understand it, just listen to the sound of the Neapolitan language among the traders of fish, bread, clothes and spices that come from all over the world. In the parties of the Sanità district you will find live music and all the shops open even at night.

You can visit the Basilica Santa Maria alla Sanità and go underground through the path of the Catacombs or let yourself be thrilled at the Cimitero delle Fontanelle, but also admire the evocative transformation of the space that the association Vergini Sanità (in collaboration with the Celanapoli Association) operated in a stretch of the Augusteo del Serino Aqueduct, a space that houses prestigious artistic installations. The site is from Roman times.

Where do you enter this world that is invisible to most people? “In June 2014, the Associazione VerginiSanità, in collaboration with the Celanapoli Association, was entrusted with certain spaces on the ground floor of Palazzo Peschici-Maresca, in via Arena Sanità, with the goal of promoting cultural projects and activities, starting with the development of the Aqua Augusta, or Serino Aqueduct, archaeological site, now made accessible by a route leading to the underground layer”, says the architect Pippo Pirozzi. The site hosts Underneath the Arches, under the artistic direction of Chiara Pirozzi and Alessandra Troncone.

What is it?
In the fascinating space of the ancient Roman international artists selected for their inclination and talent in engaging with meaningful spaces are invited to create temporary and site-specific installations in dialogue with the space itself and the surrounding area.

Tonia Limatola

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