Naples, from 18 April the Fontanelle Cemetery reopens to the public

In Naples, the Fontanelle Cemetery will be open again. The project to enhance the monumental site promoted under the Special Public-Private Partnership of the City of Naples and the La Paranza Cooperative has been completed. The inauguration is scheduled for Saturday 18 April, in the presence of the Archbishop of Naples, Don Mimmo Battaglia, the Mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi, and the community of the Rione Sanità. It will be accessible for six days a week, from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm (last entrance at 5.15 pm) and will be closed on Wednesdays, while the only day of the year when the Cemetery will be closed is 25 December.

The inauguration on the 18th will consist of a real community march in which third sector organisations, schools, parishes and all the citizens that make up the Rione Sanità Heritage Community will take part. Following this, the site will be open and accessible free of charge to citizens and visitors with restricted access until 6 p.m. From 19 April it will be regularly open to everyone forever.

It is a former ossuary covering more than 3,000 square metres and containing the remains of an unknown number of people. It is located in the Sanità district, one of the richest in history and tradition in Naples. The cemetery is known because it was here that the ritual of the 'anime pezzentelle' took place, consisting of the adoption and care by a Neapolitan citizen of a certain skull of an abandoned soul (known as a capuzzella) in exchange for protection.

"The reopening of the Fontanelle Cemetery represents a point of arrival with a strong symbolic value for the city and our administration. Ever since we took office, we have worked to ensure that the site, abandoned for too many years and then closed due to lack of maintenance, could once again be revealed to the Neapolitans and the millions of tourists who visit Naples all year round. Through the public-private partnership instrument, a management model is being experimented that enhances the Cemetery, respects its different vocations and creates development in the area. The entire Fontanelle district and the entire Rione Sanità will benefit, also because road resurfacing initiatives are planned, as well as a new transport network that will make the area more accessible,' says Mayor Gaetano Manfredi.

The maintenance work has improved accessibility and made the spaces more welcoming. The reopening of this extraordinary site represents a further, great opportunity for the young people and for the entire Rione Sanità and the city of Naples _ Stefano Consiglio, president of the Fondazione con il Sud _ Collaboration between the public and private social sectors, especially in the South, is a formidable positive multiplier, as other experiences we have supported in various southern cities also demonstrate. For this reason, it must become practice for all administrations in Southern Italy'.