At the end of November 2011, we set off again from the gloomy city of Brno towards the sunny south. Naples, the regional center of southern Italy, as
the destination for our second-ever field trip. In the city under Mount Vesuvius, we spent several days seeing monuments dating from antiquity
to the Baroque. Naples enchanted us with its lively, ever-changing rhythm, from the main streets to the remote alleys of the Spanish quarter.
Of its medieval monuments, we visited the baptistery of the Naples cathedral, San Giovanni in Fonte, with its early 5th-century mosaics, both
the seaside castles, Castel dell'Ovo and Castel Nuovo, the seat of Charles I of Anjou, where we first saw the Gulf of Naples with the looming
silhouette of Mount Vesuvius. At almost every corner, we encountered the distinctive local tradition of tombstones. In the impressive Catacombs of
San Gennaro, we were guided by the most qualified person, Carlo Ebanista, a professor at the University of Naples. One of the most unforgettable
experiences was the day we spent with Elisabetta Scirocco (Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence), who took us through the church of Santa Maria
Donnaregina and the Franciscan monastery of Santa Chiara – this is where our future cooperation and friendship began.
Martina Lázničková
(Translated by Katarína Šimová)
