Napoli: Atlante della Città Storica

One of the best finds in our research trips to Naples has been Italo Ferraro’s six-volume Napoli: Atlante della Città Storica (Naples: Clean, Oikos, 2002-).

Each of these hefty volumes takes on a different section of the city, moving rione by rione through the architecture and arts, urban fabric and history of the city with gorgeous color and black and white images, maps and street plans, elevations and axonometric projections of city blocks and individual buildings and complexes. The format is large, the design and layout elegant, and the information authoritative and up-to-date. Ferraro and his colleagues offer a wealth of detail, bibliographical citation and fine indexes.

We came across a copy of the first volume several years ago at the Port’Alba book stalls. It was a real steal and we lugged it home in our baggage. Subsequent volumes have been a bit more pricey (140-180 Euros), but well worth the investment.

Next time you're at Port’Alba look for some bargain copies (and if there are extras, do let us know!)

Een passie voor Napels

We’re constantly on the lookout for digital resources to incorporate into, or link out to, our Medieval Naples pages. Recently we came across some wonderful photos of medieval and modern Naples on the site Een passie voor Napels (A Passion for Naples: A Cultural Travel Guide) curated by Henk Woudsma. The site uses a blog format, with a fine index of sites, to offer a detailed look at the city's major monuments, its urban fabric, street life and high culture. The site is written in Dutch and uses Google Translate for an English version.

With Henk’s kind permission we’ll be featuring some of his photos and other resources in our Interactive Map of Medieval Naples and web galleries, linking out to his originals.

We recommend the site to all and invite you to suggest other resources.

(Photo: © Henk Woudsma)