Few people know that beneath the busy streets of Naples lies an extraordinary subterranean art collection, open to any curious traveller for the price of a metro ticket.

Toledo station, designed by Catalan architect Oscar Tusquets Blanca and curated by Italian art critic Achille Bonito Oliva, has been described as “the most beautiful subway stop in Europe”. Wrapped around the entrance hall is an ornate mosaic designed by South African artist William Kentridge, depicting the Naples Procession led by San Gennaro. Figures from Italian history and blood-red musical scores are woven with maps of the city’s first underground rail system: all tiled by hand in the style of the Cosmati masters.

Materials and colours in Toledo station move down through black asphalt to ochre and finally azure, representing the earth’s strata. Descending the escalator, you can gaze up through the cavernous Cratere di Luce (Crater of Light) to the sunshine above. Moving walkways between platforms double as immersive installations. Ponder giant portraits from cultures around the world in The Human Race by Oliviero Toscani; walk on water through By The Sea…You And Me, shimmering oceanic panels by Texan artist Robert Wilson.

At the kaleidoscopic Università station, Egyptian architect Karim Rashid has created a thoroughly psychedelic commute. In this steel hall of mirrors, pink and purple walls glisten like pulled sugar. 3D shapes animate as you walk by, exploring the language of our new digital era. Beyond the turnstiles you’ll meet Rashid’s Conversational Profile, polished black pillar-sculptures in the futurist style of Bertelli’s famous Continuous Profile of Mussolini. And at the exit stairways, each step shows a slice of a screenprint homage to Dante and his beloved muse Beatrice.

If you’re visiting the Museo Archeologico Nazionale on your trip, go via the Museo station to see Mimmo Jodice’s mesmerizing, torchlit photos of ancient bronze statues. A perfect opener for the Farnese Hercules that greets you, fresh from killing his lion, in the museum’s atrium.

A highlight of the Quattro Giornate station on Line 1 is Marisa Albanese’s celestial Combattenti (Fighters). Sitting weightless above the escalators, the sculptures are dedicated to the women of the Italian Resistance—their unsung strength during the WWII uprising of Naples in September 1943.

There are currently 14 ‘art stations’ distributed along lines 1 and 6 of the Metro network, featuring more than 180 works by 90 international artists and architects.

Two new stations, dedicated to the city’s archaeological treasures, are currently in planning. Duomo station will be built around the excavations of a 1st-century temple and athletic race track; Municipio will showcase, among other precious artefacts, the preserved skeletons of three Roman ships.

Samantha Edwards
Most Played | Copywriting + Creative
www

For more information and images of the art stations view this excellent video.

List of art stations:
Line 1: Garibaldi, Università, Toledo, Dante, Museo, Materdei, Salvator Rosa, Quattro Giornate, Vanvitelli, Rione Alto
Line 6: Mostra, Augusto, Lala, Mergellina

The metro is open 6:00 to 23:00 every day of the year.
A travelcard, valid for one day, costs 3.50 Euro.

Here’s a nautical idea for your vacation.

Take a boat for lunch at Maria Grazia’s restaurant on the beach of Marina del Cantone. Not just lunch but their infamous dish of spaghetti and zucchini.

On the way you will cruise along the coastline of Massa Lubrense and sail around Punta Campanella at the extreme tip of the Sorrento Peninsula. After taking in the scenery and keeping cool by swimming in the crystal clear waters you step ashore at Marina del Cantone to the welcoming entrance of Maria Grazia. There’s no rush, take your time to savour the dish, the wine and the surroundings before sailing off to Positano.
Suggest you book a table in advance

Relax, take in the sun as you follow the shoreline round to the magical setting of Positano waiting like an old friend with outstretched arms to welcome you in. Once ashore soak up the atmosphere, browse the boutiques, sip wine at beach cafes and be amazed by the multicoloured buildings perched above you.

It will be difficult to leave but on the return journey you will be rewarded by the natural beauty of this unique location as you sail close to Li Galli, home of the legendary Siren, and the cathedral like Faraglioni rocks next to Capri. Back on dry land you can start planning your next voyage to the islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida.

“But I’ve never sailed a boat”, I hear some of you say. The solution is simple, take a stroll to Sorrento’s harbour where you will find the small unassuming office of Nautica Sic Sic. Small but overflowing with 30 years experience of sailing the waters of the Bay of Naples and the Amalfi coast.

A warm welcome awaits from Capt. Maurizio and his crew who will be pleased to offer advice and proposals for sailing to your dream location. Here’s their website.

Friends of Sorrento offers advice and assistance in arranging private boat trips as well as a choice of boat tours for small groups (12 max) along the Amalfi coast and around the islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida. These provide opportunities to go ashore and for swimming and snorkelling. Full details here.

We asked one of our members, Paul Barber, to write an account of his visit to Sofia Loren’s home town, Pozzuoli. Other attractions include the Flavian Amphitheater, which is the third largest Roman amphitheater in Italy, and a Piazza that rises and falls with the volcanic activity.

Pozzuoli is very well-known with Italians and is a very important place for its ancient sights and because of the nearby Solfatara volcano, which is very active. Once the traveller arrives in Pozzuoli, they can visit the ‘Flavian Amphitheatre’, go down to the waterfront for lunch and return up the hill out of town to the Solfatara volcano.

View over Naples towards Pozzuoli from Vesuvius

When visiting Mount Vesuvius our guide told us about the volcano monitoring station situated there and explained that it is linked to another at Solfatara, where ground movement is constantly monitored in case of eruption of the super-volcano there. Pozzuoli is situated in the middle of the Phlegrean Fields of small volcanos and is subject to a phenomena known as Bradyism, in which the whole town slowly rises, sinks and rises again caused by the underlying volcanic activity. The town has risen more than 11 feet in the past 30 years!

Amphitheatre above and below

The ‘Flavian Amphitheatre’ is very interesting; built between AD 69-79, the third largest amphitheatre in Italy (with a seating capacity of 20,000 people), it was the site of the martyrdom of Naples’ beloved San Gennaro – who’s remains are to be found in the Duomo of Naples. The exterior of the building is crumbling a bit, but unlike Rome’s Colosseum, the flooring of the Flavian Amphitheatre survives intact. Visitors can wander through the tunnels and chambers beneath, where gladiators and wild beasts once awaited their fate.

Moving down towards the waterfront, in a palm-shaded, sunken park at the centre of town lies the romantically half-flooded ‘Temple of Serapide’. This was once the marketplace of the Roman city and is marked by three standing columns and a ring of column stubs surrounding a raised circular dais. The site is not open to the public, but can be seen clearly from the surrounding fence.

Temple of Serapide with restaurants in the background

Next to the ‘Temple of Serapide’ is the ‘Trattoria il Tempio’, where the umbrella shaded tables are set on cobblestones directly overlooking the ancient site. Pozzuoli’s seafood was a wonderful experience and this restaurant serves an excellent array of dishes.

A 20-minute walk above Pozzuoli is the elliptical caldera of the ‘Solfatara Volcano’. Although it hasn’t actually erupted since AD 1198, the parched, alien landscape of bubbling mud pits and fumaroles furiously venting sulphurous steam remind intrepid visitors that molten lava still runs just under the ground surface here. Monitoring of ground movement and sampling of gases keep an eye on what’s going on under the surface, together with monitoring on Vesuvius scientists keep an eye out for any sign of increased volcanic activity. This has been a visitor attraction since early Roman times and in its modern incarnation as a tourism site has been going strong since 1900. Guided tours are available to take visitors round the site, which is well worth a visit for those who want to see volcanic activity close-to.

Solfatara fumarole

Other interesting sites nearby that could be visited on a guided tour include the ‘Cave of the Cumean Sybil’ and ‘Lago di Averno’ (the gateway to the underworld where Aeneas descended to confront Hades) and trip on a glass-bottomed boat to see the old part of Baia town several metres below sea level (Baia’s underwater archeological park).

Paul Barber. June 2017

Editor’s notes
Pozzuoli is still relatively quiet in comparison to the region’s other attractions and offers visitors a unique opportunity to explore Roman ruins, above and below water, and a volcanic landscape, once thought of as the ‘gateway to hell’. Located 20 km west of Naples it takes around 40 minutes by road and 90 minutes by train. Visitor access to these sites and the transport infrastructure continue to be improved and private small group tours are currently available with Friends of Sorrento.

You can find more information about Pozzuoli on Wikipedia

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Sun glasses, swimming costume, lotion and some Euros are all you need for a day’s relaxation down where the Bay of Naples caresses Sorrento.

Marameo beach, restaurant and lounge bar provides a very comfortable and convenient location for those who enjoy the sounds and breeze from the sea. Visitors can take the public lift from the Villa Communale, located in the heart of Sorrento, down to the sea shore. A few steps along brings you to Marameo’s entrance, where fresh towels and smart changing rooms await.

It has all the facilities you require for topping up your tan and swimming. Order snacks and cocktails from your lounger or choose a fresh seafood dish at a table in the restaurant area.

Every sun lounger offers a choice of wonderful scenes. Grand majestic hotels perched on the cliffs above share the same view of the coastline stretching from Sorrento, Sant’Agnello, Meta di Sorrento and beyond. In the opposite direction Capri hides teasingly behind the heading of the peninsula.

Across the bay Vesuvius dominates the skyline with Naples cautiously creeping up its slopes. Time perhaps to plan a visit to the volcano’s crater or Pompeii, Herculaneum and even Naples itself, maybe tomorrow?

Marameo has a pleasant, stylish atmosphere during the day. Transforming at sunset into an intimate setting for a candlelit dinner. We recommend visitors take the lift, or walk down, to the port and view the location and its facilities. Members are eligible for a special rate.

Marameo Beach and Restaurant
Spiaggia San Francesco, Sorrento
www.marameobeach.com

View from a panoramic terrace

We asked one of our members, Paul Barber, to write an account of his journey to Procida. It is one of the Flegrean Islands off the coast of Naples created by the eruption of four volcanoes, now dormant and submerged. It is a location for films and an annual film festival.

Procida – Mr Ripley and The Postman
Procida is the smallest and least touristy of the three volcanic islands in the Bay of Naples. Mercifully (for some) off the mass-tourist radar, Procida is like a Portofino prototype and is refreshingly honest and real. Procida is loved by Italians, who flock there in August but is less visited than its tourist-hotspot neighbours Capri and Ischia. Procida is very heavily populated, with 10,000 residents squeezed into less than two square miles and has an authentic lived-in feel. The island doesn’t have many particular sights of interest so travellers should visit to experience the island’s picturesque, slightly shabby charm, beautiful scenery and wonderful seafood.

Procida’s charm has led to it featuring in a number of films including the classic ‘Il Postino’ and ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’. Procida has frequent ferry services from Naples, Pozzuoli and Ischia and is ideal to visit on a day-trip. My ferry left Naples at 9.25am, arriving on Procida an hour later, with my chosen return ferry departing at 4pm, arriving in Naples at 5pm. That allowed me to be back in Sorrento for my evening meal.

Visitors disembarking from ferries arrive at the Porto. A road runs along the harbour-side passing the island’s principal church ‘Santa Maria della Pieta’. On the landward side of the street are shops, restaurants and bars, with the rest of the town built on the slopes behind. From the church a picturesque narrow lane climbs upwards to a junction where you turn left to the Terra Murata (“walled land”). Here is the highest and most defensive crag on the island; the site of the oldest settlement, a fortress, a monastery and – until recently – a prison. Ascending through two stone gateways you reach the Terra Murata. There are superb views from the road leading up to the walls, and from a panoramic terrace (belvedere) looking towards the Bay of Naples. Here you also clearly see the now defunct prison, falling into disrepair.

Porto and Marina Corricella

Walking back down to the junction there is a flight of steps on the left which leads down to the very beautiful Marina Corricella. This is a thin sliver of waterfront backed by a “cliff” of colourful fishermen’s houses. There are several bars and restaurants in Corricella, with tables attractively scattered along the waterfront, interspersed with painted fishing boats and nets. This is a wonderful spot to have a lazy lunch of seafood with the water lapping nearby, and is where much of ‘Il Postino’ was filmed. It is a bit of a walk from the Porto and you have to climb up the steps to leave the settlement, but it is well worth the effort.

Procida lunch

This short visit filled my time on the island and I saw most of the island’s places of interest. It is a vibrant, interesting place, and for the intrepid traveller who wants to see this authentic no-frills gem of an island well-worth the effort to visit.

I found the ferry journey to Procida very good, even though I took the slow ferry rather than the jetfoil. There are plenty of sailings daily from both Naples and Pozzuoli (worth knowing that, because the ferry journey from Pozzuoli to Procida is very short indeed!). Visiting Procida requires people with a reasonable level of fitness, because it is hilly, and to get from the ferry landing to any of the sights can be quite tiring.

Paul Barber. June 2017

Editor’s notes
After the glitz and glamour of Capri and the spas and gardens of Ischia, Procida offers visitors a unique charm and relaxed environment just a ferry ride from the tourist hot spots. There are ferries from Naples, Pozzuoli and Ischia (for island hoppers) or you can book a boat tour from Sorrento with visits to Ischia and Procida. View itinerary

You can find more information about Procida on these websites:
Wikipedia

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