COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are proving costly to shops and businesses worldwide - and in Naples, they may be fatal to artisan workshops in the street of San Gregorio Armeno.
Located in the historic city of Naples, in Italy, this narrow street is the most famous centre in the world for producing small statues embellishing Nativity scenes, the so-called ‘presepe’, which is present in many houses at Christmas time.
Artisans have been working and keeping this centuries-old tradition alive in this street for generations, but since the first lockdown in March 2020, they are struggling to survive. Recently, after weeks of forced closure, they finally re-opened, but that is not enough.
Wednesday 21 April 2021
The force behind maximalist Milanese label Etro, Veronica Etro finds inspiration in Naples, the corner of Italy where splendid palaces, lava-clad ruins and gritty street life merge
Veronica Etro
What s your connection to Naples?
‘My great-grandfather was Neapolitan so I feel partially rooted here, but what appeals to me most is the authenticity. Everything here is unique – the food, the people, the places, the traditions – it’s a world of its own. When I think of the area, I recall the sorbet hues, the blue horizon between sea and sky, the positivity and the relaxed attitude: things that have been a big influence on my work.’
COVID: Naples crib makers say street for sale
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sei in
Developers want to turn it into shopping mall say artisans
12 Aprile 2021
NAPLES, APR 12 - The iconic Nativity-scene makers
along Naples Via San Gregorio Armeno, listed among the 10 most
famous streets in the world, say the storied thoroughfare risks
being turned into a shopping mall after developers buy them out
amid the COVID crisis.
The creche makers demonstrated outside their closed workshops on
Monday, displaying a placard saying San Gregorio Armeno For
Sale .
One of the 40 or so artisans, Salvatore Gambardella, said they
have come from the estate agents to ask if we want to sell our
Chasing Glamour and Grit in Unforgettable Naples
Glamorous and gritty, beautiful and brash, there is nothing shy about Naples. Often maligned and misunderstood, this is a city of faded splendor and unbridled enthusiasm that gets in your face with its vivacious, and often audacious, culture. In short, there is no half-way with Naples: You either love or hate it.
Neapolitans are flamboyant with colorful clothes and loud, animated conversations, along with an unabashed street culture, over-the-top hospitality, and a “love it or leave it” attitude. You’ll get the idea with about 10 minutes of people-watching at any corner in the tight web of streets in the city’s old town. An open-air theater plays out in daily life: a signora lowers a basket from a fourth-floor balcony on a rope for her groceries. Strings of laundry flap between the buildings like flags, a man and woman yell out a conversation between windows, and the scent of basil-tinged tomato sauce bubbles out an open door
Naples Underground Route Reopens Despite COVID-19
February 25, 2021
Internationally renowned site has re-opened for visits from Monday to Friday by following all safety regulations, while Saturday and Sunday, they will remain closed, in line with all other museums and places of culture in the city
Italy has managed to get the pandemic under control and is moving on with life, in what will hopefully soon be a post-COVID world
Naples Underground (Napoli Sotterranea) has been open for over 30 years in Naples and is located in via dei Tribunali on the Decumano Maggiore in Naples, a few steps from via San Gregorio Armeno