An Accidental Day at the MANN - 4/10

In case it isn't obvious:  I'm the one that does the majority of our travel planning.  I'm usually the one that finds the venues, books the tickets, figures out how to get where we want to go, etc.  Most of the time, I think I do a pretty good job of it, too.  But even I make dumb mistakes every now and then.

I was looking forward to a visit to the Cimitero delle Fontanelle -  one of several ossuaries in Napoli.  This one is interesting as it is mainly a collection of skulls located inside a cave.  Creepy fun!  Looking at Google Maps, I determined that we would take the metro out to Materdei station and from there, it would be a "mostly flat" 9-minute walk.

Sometimes, Google Maps lies.  Or else it has a strange definition of "flat."  In any event, we did have to go down several steep flights of stairs to get down to Via Fontanelle where the Cimitero is located - which meant of course that we would have to climb back up later.

We navigated our way down the steps and up the street - a mix of dirty garages, seedy-looking little shops, and residential flats - only to be greeted by this:

Yup - it was closed, as per the sign on the gate.  Somehow, I'd missed that when I looked up the opening hours online (I did check back later and sure enough, the site is listed as "temporarily closed" due to some ongoing renovations).  Needless to say, I was super annoyed with myself.  It did make me feel slightly better to see that I wasn't the only one who missed it: there was what appeared to be a tour group standing around in the street scratching their heads in puzzlement as well.

So, disappointed, we hiked back up the street - and climbed up all those steps, ugh - and returned to the station.  Resting on a nearby bench, we caught our respective breaths and thought about what to do with our now wide-open day.  Paolo suggested revisiting the Museo Archaeologico Nazionale di Napoli - otherwise known as MANN.   Although we previously visited this museum back in 2018, in that hot, sweaty, leg-aching moment, I just didn't have the energy to look for anything new-to-us to do.  So we got ourselves back on the metro and rode out to Museo station - which has an exit right next to the museum.

Interior courtyard of the MANN

And, as things usually do, it worked out splendidly.  We re-visited some old favorites...

My man Claudius ❤

Artemis of Ephesus

…and found some new exhibits and collections we hadn't seen on our first visit.  There was a Gladiators exhibit this time around, which was interesting - and included skeletons of (probable) gladiators from what is now York, England.  So I got to see some skulls after all!

Gladiator who likely got his head cut off in the arena in York

Ancient arena games-themed art

They also had an exhibit related to contemporary toys and games...it was a bit strange to see those items interspersed among the more classical collections:

Perhaps a modern artistic take on amphorae?  The purple one on the right looked a bit like Grimace

Paolo particularly wanted to see the Magna Grecia collection, which I think we might have missed last time we visited:

The flooring throughout this exhibit area is part of the collection - we had to wear these special booties while in this part of the museum

Detail from the artwork on the vase above

I don't know why, but I like this amusing little guy.

So - a day that started out as something of a disappointment ended up being pretty great after all.  We concluded our day with an excellent meal; we were excited to find that there was a well-rated Japanese restaurant about a three minute walk from our hotel.  I'd definitely recommend Koi if you're in Napoli and in the mood for something other than pizza:

And so ended our visit to Napoli; we spent half the next day on trains heading home (well worth it too, as I would never, never want to bring a car into Napoli - I do not have a death wish).  We were once again stopped by polizie at the train station for an ID check:  

This time, they spent quite a few minutes scrutinizing our documents.  One of the officers gave me a funny look and asked me (I think) to confirm that I am, in fact, Italian as he was scanning my Italian passport.  "Sì, sì."

Hard to believe that two weeks from now, we'll be back in the US.

A Very Full Tuesday in Ravenna

I forgot to mention in Monday's post that while at the train station in Termoli, we were subjected to a random document check by two policemen.  We both had to present our passports for examination by the officers, one of whom made notes (I gave them both of my passports).  I made sure to point out that Paolo's permesso receipt was stuck in the back of his passport, too.  I guess everything was in order, as they handed everything back and went on their way.  They didn't request to examine our train tickets, or even inquire as to we were going.

We found Ravenna to be a very walkable city; it's easy to get from one end of the centro storico to the other fairly quickly.  Most of the historic center is a Limited Traffic Zone (zona traffico limitato or ZTL in Italian), so there are very few cars, motorbikes, and scooters around.  We noticed that much of the population seems to get around the town center by bicycle (bicicletta; commonly shortened to bici - bike).  Everywhere you look there are either bicycles leaning against buildings, or else signs indicating bikes are not to be parked in a given spot (though it appears that these signs are ignored more often than not).   

We managed to pack quite a lot of sightseeing into our Tuesday.  After a ho-hum but adequate breakfast at our B&B, we headed out to the Battistero degli Ariani - the Arian Baptistery, which dates from around the end of the 5th century, during the reign of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great.  

The baptistery was once part of a larger building, as evinced by the partial remains of exterior arches and other indications.  Like many ancient buildings in Ravenna, it's somewhat sunken - Ravenna was quite marshy back in the day

Photo taken while standing in one of the niches

Although mostly empty and undecorated today, the baptistry still retains its gorgeous mosaic ceiling:

Mosaic ceiling

Close-up of the ceiling; the figures in the center circle are the personification of the Jordan River, Jesus, and John the Baptist

You can still see a bit of the original paintings on some of the arches in the windows and the niches

On our way to our next planned stop, we passed the Municipal Tower, which has a decided lean (though my photos don't capture this very well):

We also passed a mosaic workshop that looked really interesting; there was a sign inviting people to come in; we tried to do so, only to find that the shop was closed.  Still, we did see some lovely pieces in the courtyard of the workshop:

Not an actual mosaic piece - just the sign that got our attention

Upon reaching our next destination, we discovered that there was another church next to it, so we decided to stop first at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore - where we discovered the Madonna dei Tumori - yes, that does translate to "Madonna of the Tumors!"

The Madonna of the Tumors.

We walked across the way to our original destination:  the stunning Basilica di San Vitale:

Built on the alleged site of the martyrdom of one Saint Vitalis - exactly which one is debatable - the church is famous for its beautiful mosaics.  And they did not disappoint (although my photos really don't do them the justice they deserve; if you want to see more - and better - photos, here is a good link):

The central crowned figure here is Emperor Justinian I

And here is his wife, Empress Theodora

Looking up into the dome

The sacrifice of Isaac

Even the floors are gorgeous

Viewed from below, these angels really seem to be hovering in the air above you

The bell tower of Santa Maria Maggiore viewed through a flying buttress of the basilica

Honestly, if you ever have the opportunity to go to Ravenna, but only have time to see one thing, make it this Basilica.

Just a short walk away from San Vitale is another awesome site with well-preserved mosaics:  the Mausoleo di Galla Placida (although Galla Placida - daughter of an emperor, wife of another emperor, and mother to yet another emperor - isn't actually buried there).  The lovely patterns on the ceiling here are symbolic of Ravenna - you see them replicated all over the city:

The mausoleum

This blue flower pattern is found all over Ravenna, as is the blue and gold one in the above and below photos

Not Galla Placida's sarcophagus

After our visits to these to amazing places, we stopped for caffè at a little place just outside the grounds of the basilica.  From our table on the street, we noticed the Annafietta mosaic shop across the way, where mosaic pieces are made on-site.  We stopped in and had an opportunity to see some of the artisans at work, as well as to do a little bit of shopping - I say a little bit of shopping because I had to control myself - there were some truly tempting pieces, but the prices were a bit out of my reach (deservedly so). Also, I realized that it would have been extremely difficult to bring the rather large piece I particularly admired with us to the US without risking damage:

Artisans at work with gold leaf

Just a few of the many pieces on display

Our next stop of the day was at the Baptistery of Neon (Battistero Neoniano), an Orthodox baptistry.  I observed that although the two baptisteries we visited today were built by different Christian sects, the central ceiling mosaics were remarkably similar.

It's the octagonal building to the right

John the Baptist, Jesus, and the River Jordan, again.

From the Baptistery, we moved next door to the Archiepiscopal Museum (Museo Arcivescovile), which also houses the Chapel of St. Andrew (Capella di Sant'Andrea).

A headless Emperor

Calendar used for calculating the date of Easter 

Iron Ivory Throne

St. Andrew's Chapel

Our final stop of the day was a visit to the Duomo, the Cathedral of the Resurrection.  Here, somewhat to my amusement, we found the Madonna of the Sweat (Madonna del Sudore).  According to this Wikipedia page, a drunken soldier whacked the icon with his knife, causing it to "sweat" blood (wouldn't that just be "bleeding?").  The people of Ravenna believed that the Sweating Madonna's intercession saved them from plague.   It seems there's been no indication whether she will intercede on their behalf as to the current Covid plague.

Many of the churches have audio tours available online or via download/app.  Not the duomo - here, they do things Old School-style.

Madonna of the Sweat

No sweat

After all that sightseeing, and taking in all those amazing mosaics, we were quite hungry when dinner time rolled around.  This evening, we had a reservation at Osteria il Paiolo.  It was a great way to end a wonderful day, despite some wacky glitches when translating the menu; and in spite of our server deciding that I was going to eat something other than what I actually ordered for the second course:

At least it was just the leg...

I couldn't pass up the chance for another bowl of passatelli

Not what I ordered; she decided I would like this better.  Perhaps, but she could have asked first!

Come to think of it, she chose our dessert too - and we had to share!