Spanish Quarters

Neapel · Italy · Urban site

Always leave a chair empty at the table for 'a Bella 'Mbriana. If the gecko sits still on the wall, she has just looked in.

The grid of steep alleys was laid out in the 1500s for the Spanish garrison, and here the bassi, single-room dwellings, open straight onto the street. It is in these homes that the household spirit of Naples lives: 'a Bella 'Mbriana, whose name comes from meridiana, the noon sun. She is the good half of the pair in which 'o munaciello is the capricious one. Legend makes her a princess who lost her reason from an unhappy love and drifted through the alleys like a shadow, while her father secretly rewarded every house that took her in. She must never be spoken ill of and never be startled. A chair is left empty for her at table, the gecko on the wall is her sign and is never killed, and when things go badly people call out Bella 'mbriana, scétate — wake up.

FAQ

Where is Spanish Quarters located?

Spanish Quarters is in Neapel, Italy.

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