Between Esotericism and Enlightenment: the Historic Cemetery of the 366 Fosse in Naples

Naples is one of the most fascinating Italian cities, rich in history, culture and, of course, art. All this is certainly due to its historical past, starting from the Greeks up to the present day, but it is in 1700 that under the House of Bourbon it took on the true face that we still know today, becoming one of the European capitals of culture. In fact, it was in the 18th century, defined as the golden century for Naples, that King Charles of Bourbon commissioned the construction of major building works such as the residences of the palace of Capodimonte and Portici and the first opera house in Europe, the Teatro San Carlo . But then, having succeeded him, continuing his work of building renovation, King Ferdinand IV commissioned the Florentine architect Ferdinando Fuga two works, a European symbol of enlightened piety: the gigantic Royal Albergo dei Poveri (a building with a façade 360 meters long) and the 366 Fosse Cemetery.

And it is in this climate that in 1762 the architect Fuga, just outside the city walls, began the design and construction of the Geniale Cemetery on the Poggioreale hill. Here, in the central courtyard, arranged in 19 rows with 19 pits per row, with the exception of the central one which has 18, 360 pits were created + a further 6 in the central body for a total of 366 pits (one for each day of the year, including the leap year). Each measured 4.20 x 4.20 meters and had a depth of 7 meters and were sealed with piperno stones with a progressive number carved on them. The burial followed a chronological criterion: every day the one corresponding to the day of the year was opened and, once the names had been recorded in a special register, the people who had passed away on that day were welcomed. In the evening it was sealed, but not before being sprinkled with lime, to be reopened only after exactly one year, thus limiting the risks of contagion. In 1764, due to the epidemic of putrid fevers, in just 7 months this resting place welcomed around 40,000 corpses coming directly from the Hospital of Santa Maria degli Incurabili. Closed in 1890, it is thought that over a million bodies were laid here in just over a century.