Tales of Naples
By Kisgood
Categories: History, Arts, Society & Culture
Naples: a city that, for 2500 years, has ignited the world with ingenuity and passion. A place where every corner hides an incredible story. Tales of talent, creativity, and beauty… stories that every Neapolitan should know, and that every traveler would love to hear. Tales of Naples is a 25-episode series dedicated to the figures, places, and history of one of Europe’s oldest and most multi-layered cities. Each episode presents a story that takes root in Naples before spreading out across the globe.The project has been selected by Neapolis 2500 Committee and cofunded by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
25 episodes indexed on PodSearch.
Recent episodes
- Threads of Genius: the Neapolitan Tailoring
It is the 1930s.In a quiet room, a man stands before a mannequin dressed in a tailored jacket. He walks around it, studying its shape. Then, suddenly, he begins taking the jacket apart. First he removes the lining, then the shoulder pads, and finally the remaining layers of padding.The man's name…
- Sophia Loren: the Actress that changed Hollywood
It is 9 April 1962.At the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, the thirty-fourth Academy Awards ceremony is underway.The auditorium is filled with some of the biggest stars in American cinema, but one seat that remains empty.One of the nominees for Best Actress is more than ten thousand kilometres away…
- Mary Shelley’s Neapolitan Secrets
It is December 1818.The rocky coastline of the Bay of Naples is bathed in winter sunlight as a young woman, dressed in mourning, makes her way towards a cave.Her name is Mary Shelley, and she has just published one of the most revolutionary novels ever written: Frankenstein.As she enters the cave…
- Neapolitan Pizza: the Taste that conquered the World
It is the late nineteenth century.On the deck of a steamship sailing from Naples to New York, hundreds of passengers stand looking out to sea. Some have never travelled beyond their hometowns. They carry little luggage and even less money, sometimes nothing more than an address written on a scrap…
- Luca Giordano: the Painter faster than Time
It is 1693.At the Royal Monastery of El Escorial, King Charles II of Spain is walking up the grand staircase, its walls and ceiling newly covered in frescoes.Suddenly, he stops and looks up in astonishment.Above him, across the still gleaming vault, stretches the magnificent Apotheosis of the…
- The City of Conservatories: how Naples taught the World Music
It is 1537.In a courtyard in Naples, a group of young boys stands together, dressed in simple clothes. Some keep their eyes lowered, while others look around with curiosity. In front of them, a man beats time with his hand as one of the boys begins to sing. Another joins him, then a third, and…
- Gustavo Lombardo’s Titanus: the Birth of the Italian Cinema Kingdom
It is 1898.Barely three years have passed since the invention of the cinematograph, and the Lumière brothers arrive in Naples to shoot some of their early films.The city becomes one of the first places in the world to be captured on film. The camera records its squares, streets and people going…
- Pietrangelo Gregorio: the Genius who invented Italian Private Television
It is 24 December 1966.The streets of Naples are crowded, and brightly lit shop windows draw in passers-by making their last purchases before Christmas.That day, outside a department store, something unusual catches people's attention: in the shop window, among clothes and merchandise, there is a…
- Giambattista Basile and the birth of the Literary Fairy Tale
It is 1634.In Naples, among aristocratic palaces and dark, narrow alleyways, stories are being told, and they offer little comfort. They are tales of curses and desperate desires, where beauty mingles with the grotesque, and magic does not always bring salvation. These are not stories for…
- The Royal Palace of Caserta: Luigi Vanvitelli’s Masterpiece
It is 20 January 1752.In the countryside north of Naples, King Charles of Bourbon lays the foundation stone of a building destined to astonish the world. Standing beside him is the architect Luigi Vanvitelli, holding the plans for a project that seems almost impossible to realise.That day marks…
- Vincenzo Tiberio: the Doctor who anticipated the Age of Antibiotics
It is 1895.In the courtyard of a house in Arzano, just outside Naples, a young doctor stands beside a well that collects rainwater. A greenish mould is growing along its damp walls, and it is this seemingly insignificant detail that catches his attention.The doctor's name is Vincenzo Tiberio, and…
- The Vesuvius Observatory: when Naples invented Modern Volcanology
It is 1856.The wind sweeps across the dark slopes of Mount Vesuvius, and high on the volcano, inside an isolated building, a man is working with a strange device made of needles, coils and metal wires.We are inside the world's oldest volcanological observatory, and the man is Luigi Palmieri.He is…
- The Treasure of San Gennaro: where faith meets splendor
It is 13 January 1527.At the high altar of Naples Cathedral, the notary Vincenzo de Bossis stands alongside a delegation of citizens. They are about to sign a unique agreement.The city is on its knees, devastated by the plague, and the people of Naples are pleading with San Gennaro, their patron…
- Raimondo di Sangro: the prince who challenged science and time
It is 1753.Inside a chapel, just a short walk from Spaccanapoli, a man stands contemplating a statue.Light filters down from above, falling upon a reclining figure covered by a marble veil so delicate that it seems almost transparent.The man is Raimondo di Sangro, the seventh prince of Sansevero…
- Matilde Serao: a pioneer of modern journalism
It is 16 March 1892. Naples is still shrouded in darkness when, in a small office lit by gas lamps, a woman sits at her desk. Before her lie newspapers, scattered sheets of paper and a typewriter.That day, the first issue of Il Mattino is published.At its helm is Matilde Serao, the first woman in…
- Diego Armando Maradona, the God of Naples
It is 5 July 1984.Naples' San Paolo Stadium is a roaring sea of eighty thousand people, even though there is no match scheduled that day.At the foot of the steps leading from the dressing rooms onto the pitch, a crowd of photographers waits, cameras firing in rapid succession. Then a young man…
- Enrico Caruso, the voice of the 20th century
It is 30 November 1902.In a small room, a man with an extraordinary voice is singing into a metal horn, while his performance is captured on a record.His name is Enrico Caruso, and his rendition of Vesti la giubba, from the opera Pagliacci, is about to become one of the most celebrated recordings…
- Matteo Ripa and the Chinese College: Europe's first school of sinology
It is 1724. A sailing ship flying the papal flag slowly approaches the port of Naples.On board, surrounded by crates of books, manuscripts and rare objects, is a man who has spent eleven years in China, at the court of the Kangxi Emperor.His name is Matteo Ripa, and he is not travelling…
- Pliny and the eruption of Vesuvius: the account that changed history
It is AD 79.In Misenum, on the Bay of Naples, a young man watches a cloud unlike anything he has ever seen.He is seventeen years old, and his name is Pliny.Before him, the sky is clear and the sea is calm. Yet above Mount Vesuvius, something is slowly rising, as though lifted by an invisible…
- Lucullus: the man who turned dining into an art
It is 60 BC.The sea washes against the rocky shores of the islet of Megaride, while the terraces of a magnificent villa fill the air with the scents of myrtle, wine and exotic spices.That villa belongs to a man who has turned refinement and the pleasures of the table into something approaching a…
- Teatro di San Carlo: the oldest Opera House in the world
It is 4 November 1737.Just a few steps away from the Royal Palace of Naples, a crowd of elegantly dressed people gathers outside a building ablaze with light.It is the opening night of the Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest opera house in the world.Tales of Naples is a podcast produced by Kisgood…
- The Zoological Station and the Aquarium of Naples
It is 14 April 1875.In the heart of Naples' Villa Comunale, a place that will change the history of scientific research is about to be inaugurated: the Zoological Station, a visionary institution created by the German zoologist Anton Dohrn, together with a remarkable attraction that still…
- The voyage of the steamship Francesco I: the first cruise in history
It is 16 April 1833.The port of Naples is packed with people.Crowds gather along the quays to witness something they have never seen before.The steamship Francesco I is about to set sail on an extraordinary voyage lasting more than one hundred days.It is the first cruise in history...Tales of…
- The Studium Generale: the world's first public and secular university
It is 5 June 1224.Inside the royal palace, Emperor Federico II is signing a document that will change forever the history of education: the founding charter of the Studium Generale.With that single act, Naples becomes home to the world's first public and secular university.Tales of Naples is a…
- Maria Teresa De Filippis: the first woman in Formula One history
It is 15 June 1958.The starting grid at Spa-Francorchamps is tense.Twenty Formula One cars are lined up waiting for the flag, engines trembling with anticipation.Among them, there is a Maserati driven by a rookie. Her name is Maria Teresa De Filippis,and in just a few moments she will become the…
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