ENGLISH * NAPLES, S. MARTINO
CHARTERHOUSE
NEXT
TO THE MENACING S. ELMO, THE "PARADISE ON EARTH", AS THE SAN MARTINO
CHARTERHOUSE WAS ONCE CALLED, ON ACCOUNT OF THE PLEASANTNESS OF ITS POSITION.
A CRENELLATED PALACE BETWEEN TWO BASTIONS, ITS WHITE RECTILINEAL FORM CROWNING
THE GREEN OF THE HILL CAN BE SEEN FROM EVERY PART OF THE CITY. IT WAS FOUNDED
BY HIS FATHER KING ROBERT AND COMPLETED DURING THE REIGN OF GIOVANNA I, WHO
GAVE IT TO THE CISTECIAN ORDER. IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND CELEBRATED
MONASTERIES IN EUROPE, AND OUR VIEW FROM ABOVE CONFIRMS ITS REPUTATION. OF
THE TWO CLOISTERS BOUNDED BY BEAUTIFUL RENAISSANCE ARCADES, ONE IS THE MONKS
CEMETERY. FROM THE MONASTERY'S AIRY LOGGIAS, ONE CAN ENJOY A VIEW OF THE WHOLE
CITY. HOWEVER, SAN MARTINO IS IMPORTANT ABOVE ALL FOR ITS MUSEUM. SINCE WE
ARE UNABLE TO SEE INSIDE EITHER, WE SHALL HAVE TO BE CONTENT WITH DESCRIBING
THEM.
THE CHURCH WAS DESIGNED
BY COSIMO FANZAGO IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, AND ITS INTERIOR CONTAINS MANY
WORKS OF ART IT IS THE MOST SPLENDID EXAMPLE OF NEAPOLITAN BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE,
AND HAS A SINGLE NAVE FLANKED BY SIDE CHAPELS, WHICH ARE ELEGANTLY DECORATED
IN THE STYLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. THERE IS A MAGNIFICIENT FLOOR OF
INLAID MARBLE, AND THE ALTAR FRONTAL IS STUDDED WITH PRECIOUS STONES.
THE MUSEUM HOUSES A COLLECTION OF OBJECTS
TO DO WITH NEAPOLITAN HISTORY AND ART, AND IS DIVIDED INTO THREE SECTIONS:
HISTORICAL, ARTISTIC AND MONUMENTAL. HERE WE CAN SEE THE FAMOUS "TAVOLA
STROZZI", THE FIRST PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE CITY. THE COLLECTION OF COINS,
MEDALS, PRINTS AND THE DECORATIVE ARTS FROM THE BOURBON AND FRENCH PERIODS
IS VERY IMPORTANT. THEN THERE ARE PORTRAITS OF THE BOURBON MONARCHS; RELICS
OF THE RISORGIMENTO; ARMS AND COSTUMES DATING FROM THE BOURBON PERIOD; MEMENTOES
OF THE NEAPOLITAN NAVY: TWO HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES FOR GRAND OCCASIONS, ONE
WITH PANELS PAINTED BY SOLIMENA; A COLLECTION OF PHARMACEUTICAL JARS AND AN
IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF GLASSWARE... ALSO
WORTH VISITING IS THE REPRESENTATIVE COLLECTION OF NINETEENTH CENTURY NEAPOLITAN
PAINTING. THE GREATEST CURIOSITY KEPT IN THE SAN MARTINO MUSEUM, HOWEVER,
IS THE FAMOUS NEAPOLITAN NATIVITY CRECHE, WHICH WAS DONATED TO THE COLLECTION
AT THE END OF THE LAST CENTURY BY THE COMIC DRAMATIST CUCINIELLO. IT IS WITHOUT
DOUBT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE OF ITS KIND IN THE WORLD.
