We had breakfast and went out hiking – today was church day, and we saw lots of Chiesas. I saw lots of graphiti and lots of posters all over Naples. Aviva had a schedule of when churches opened, but we were right in expecting the reality to be different than the posted times.

Posters for a performance by Tony Levin's band in Naples

Here I am on a street in Naples

We stopped inside Sant Anna Dei Lombardi.

On the way to Gesu Nuovo, Aviva thought she’d forgotten her wallet at the room, so I had to trot back – when I couldn’t find the wallet in the room, I called her cell phone (having internationally operational cell phones is so wonderful in emergencies) – she had found her wallet at the bottom of her bag. So, I walked back and we went to Gesu Nuovo. This is one of the largest churches in Naples, begun by the Jesuits in 1584. The facade is in the form of a beehive, an adaptation of a palace of a prince of Salerno.

The column of Mary Immaculate in Gesu Nuovo Square

A detail of the facade and the main entrance

As we were walking along, I suddenly heard an “umph” and crowd noises. I turned and Aviva had caught her foot in a hole of bad pavement and fallen on her face. Literally, she had a huge lump over her left eyebrow. The police came and called an ambulance. Aviva decided she felt good enough to walk it off and not go to the hospital; she had to sign a form waiving a hospital visit.

We walked further to Pio Monte Della Miscordia. Aviva ran into a Spanish woman who was a doctor. She told Aviva she should be fine as long as she cleans and protects the scrapes from infection. She was only 29!

In front of one of the old churches that was closed, we found cool sculptures of skulls and cross bones outside.

Aviva really loves art!

We walked past an antique store that was quite a sight – Aviva bought a few metal votive items.

More walking, now to San Lorenzo Maggiore.

Ticket for San Lorenzo Maggiore

We walked some more and ended up at La Basilica di Santa Restituta. This is based on the oldest cathedral in Naples, founded on the orders of Constantine. St. Restituta was an African and a martyr.

A mosaic in S. Restituta

The bapistry of San Giovanni in Fonte, off to the side of S. Restituta

We walked down the next side street to Cappella San Severo. This houses two famous sculptures, and two famous preserved disection studies that date back to 1760.

Ticket for Cappella San Severo

Il Cristo Velato by Giuseppe Sanmartino, 1753

Il Disinganno by Francesco Queirolo, 1757

A woman that was disected and preserved in 1760, from the museum collection.

A man that was disected and preserved in 1760, from the museum collection.

We walked over to the Duomo di San Gennaro, which is dedicated to St. Januarius . This church is highly decorated and has an extensive treasury.

This is the ceiling of San Gennaro

Tickets for the Duomo

Tickets for the Duomo

Finally, worn out and sore, we stopped at Santa Chiara. This seems to be a popular site for weddings, as there was one here when we came by early in the day and one just starting as we visited this time. Therefore, we didn’t walk all the way down the church, but we did drop in to see the entry area and rear of the church. We sat down for a while in the church yard and watched the children playing soccer and the people walking around.

The facade of Santa Chiara

A typical street in Naples

Back at the hotel, the woman that runs the gift shop told Aviva she’d never let anyone take her to the hospital in Naples!

The hotel suggested a restaurant for dinner and made a reservation for us. We strolled over to the place – it was Saturday and it seemed like everyone that lives in Naples was strolling along the Via Toledo! The hotel gave us the wrong address, but a woman on the street spoke a little English and helped us find the right place. We had a very nice dinner at Hosteria Toledo at Vico Giardinetto 78/a just off or Via Toledo. The food was very good and the service was great.