San Gregorio Armeno is universally known as the Street of the Nativity; during the Christmas holidays, this narrow street becomes extremely crowded. On both sides it is full of small shops and stores where crafted artisans shape precious and original Nativity characters made of terracotta. But they are open all year long and, when the Christmas holidays are over, their production changes, adapting to news and events that happen both in the city and in the whole country. Thus, it is easy to find figurines of politicians, TV and movie stars, famous musicians and athletes. But San Gregorio Armeno is not just folklore: all the figurines made by Neapolitan artisans, handcrafted using traditional techniques, really are the product of popular art. Colorful and ancient, the shops in Via San Gregorio Armeno parade in front of each other showing off the masterpieces of the Neapolitan art of the Nativity scene. Rigorously handmade and in terracotta, artfully painted in every detail and dressed in small hand-sewn dresses, the figurines of San Gregorio not only reproduce the appearance of the characters but manage to narrate their story and to unveil their true soul. Even today it is possible to walk around San Gregorio Armeno and observe the artisans at work, while modeling the terracotta or giving the last touch to their gracious statuettes.
The Monastery of San Gregorio Armeno stands on the remains of the temple of Cerere Attica. It was built in the eighth century by a group of nuns of the order of San Basilio who escaped from Constantinople with the relics of Saint Gregory, Bishop of Armenia. At the behest of the Abbess Beatrice Caracciolo, between 1579 and 1582 the Church was embellished with a wooden ceiling carved and decorated by painter Filippo Teodoro di Liagno and “carpenter” Giovanni Andrea Magliulo. Between 1671 and 1684 Luca Giordano adorned the church with a unitary tale consisting of fifty-two episodes. Other works were made by ornamental architect Dionisio Lazzari and painters Giovan Battista d’Adamo and Luise Lago. In the eighteenth century the Church was decorated with stuccos, marbles and brasses typical of the Neapolitan baroque, with an organ and two carved wooden works by architect Niccolò Tagliacozzi Canale. The wooden entrance door, carved in high relief with the figures of Saint Lawrence, Saint Stephen and the Evangelists, however, was built in the sixteenth century. The true heart of Naples lives in these streets, in all the beauty of its tradition and its ancient origins.
Categoria: Places
