Italy Advisor

The cult of the dead in Naples is really strong not only during Halloween period: the ghost stories include “munacielli”, “belle ‘Mbriane” and other  paranormal phenomena.

In Neapolitan esoteric stories,  the bella ‘Mbriana is a must. This romantic Neapolitan legend tells of a princess who had lost her mind: she was caught in a bad romance,  a truly unhappy love affair. So since then she used to wander close to the alleyways of the city like a ghost. Her father the king gave gifts to those houses where the  girl was given help and support. From this it was springing a legend of fortune: in the fervid imagination of Naples people the” bella ‘Mbriana” has become the spirit of the house: she stays forever in a place which she has
chosen to protect.
She appears for a few moments, next to a curtain swinged by the wind or in a reflection of a mirror or of a window. Neapolitans imagine her as a
young woman with a sweet and gentle face, as a clear and bright figure.
The beautiful entities ‘Mbriane  take revenge on those who offend the house she has put under her support. Old Neapolitans said that you have never to complain about your own house!!

Did you know that the Basilica of San Pietro ad Aram was built on the site where St. Peter celebrated mass for the first time? Here he baptised also Saint Candida and Saint Aspreno, that is the first Neapolitans he converted to Christianity.

The Fontanelle cemetry is an old tuff quarry in the Sanità area of Naples, which traces back to the Aragonese period. The name “Fontanelle”, meaning small fountains, comes from the underground springs existing in the area. During XVII century, the quarry was a cemetery: here the people started to bury the victims of the plague, especially the 1656 outbreak.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 7th, 2011 at 1:09 pm and is filed under Events in Italy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.