“San Gennaro is the true god of Naples!”.
Alexandre Dumas wrote it. And he was not exaggerating, given that the ancient martyr is the absolute lord of Neapolitan devotion. In Neapolitan culture the presence of the Sacred is continuous, daily, incessant, there is nothing that is not intended as bestowed by the Sacred.
You can breathe it while walking through the streets of the historic center, where representations of small altars with the statue of the Madonna, Child Jesus, or other myths of the Catholic religion in the center, predominate, surrounded by photos of people who have abandoned earthly life to be welcomed by the Kingdom of Heaven. Alongside this profound devotion, the Profane takes his space, outlined by stories without a sacred basis, pure representation, superstition, magic.
