Dialogue with the afterlife Faith Memory Devotion Cult Souls

"Refrisco all'anema d'o priatorio!"

This is the exclamation that accompanies a grace received. It is a blessing sent by the living so that the souls in Purgatory may find relief.

The veneration of the souls in Purgatory is a ritual that links the city to the world of the dead, in a place that tells the story of Naples, its faith and its humanity.

The Fontanelle Cemetery

The site was an ancient tuff quarry carved into the Materdei hill, called Fontanelle for the streams of water that flowed from the surrounding hills.

The ossuary has preserved for at least four centuries the remains of those who could not afford a burial and the victims of epidemics that struck Naples in the past.

The devotion to the skulls began at the end of the 19th century, when don Gaetano Barbati wanted to organize the anonymous bones, helped by the women of the neighborhood.

Read the History

Now closed

From Mondays to Sundays 10 am — 6 pm

Last admission at 5:15 pm

Closed on Wednesdays and Christmas Day

On Mondays and Fridays, the Cemetery is open for worship and accessible for prayer in the dedicated area from 9:00 am to 10:00 am.

Choose your experience

Admission with audio guide

We will accompany you, step by step, letting the voices of the local community reveal the history of the site through the audio guide app. It will not be a guided tour, but an immersive experience, capable of making you feel part of the story that this neighbourhood has preserved for centuries.

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Guided Tours (Italian only)

We will guide you through the site with a visit rich in atmosphere, telling you about the cult of the anime pezzentelle and the legendary figures that inhabit the cemetery and have become part of the city’s collective imagination.

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For Residents

If you are a resident of Naples’ 2nd or 3rd Municipality, you can access the site free of charge by booking the accompanied tour on our website.

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School visits

Booking is mandatory in order to guarantee the presence of museum educators. For safety reasons, groups of between 25 and 50 participants will be divided into two subgroups. One teacher is admitted free of charge for every 15 pupils.

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Group Tours

If you are a group of 20 participants or more, book the experience you prefer.

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Download the App
for admission
with audio guide

Enjoy the audio-guided tour and discover Fontanelle through the voices of the people who live there. Please download it before entrance: the site has poor signal coverage.

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GET IT ON Google Play

The stories

The Fontanelle Cemetery holds stories and legends that characterise almost every corner. Among them, certain figures and key points of the site stand out.

Golgotha

The central area, named for its resemblance to Calvary. The name derives from the Aramaic word for ‘skull’.

The Captain

The skull ‘with the black eye’. It is regarded as the protector of women seeking a husband and a ‘righteous’ leader of the people.

The Tribunal

Named after the arrangement of the skulls, which resemble a jury. It is said that the neighbourhood’s “guappi” (local gangsters) used to gather here to take oaths and make blood pacts.

Concetta

She is also known as ‘'a capa che suda’ (the sweating head), because her skull is always shiny and clean, unlike the others, whose heads are covered in dust. Women who wish to have a child turn to her for help.

Don Gaetano Barbati

The statue dedicated to the parish priest who, in 1872, organised the rearrangement of the bones, thereby restoring dignity to the remains of the deceased.

Fresco with Cross

A cave carved out of tuff contains a fresco depicting a cross, along with several symbols relating to the Passion of Jesus.

Ossuary

Here are collected the largest bones, arranged around the statue of Jesus by the women who helped don Gaetano Barbati to organise the ossuary.

The Spouses

The only remains placed in coffins are those of Filippo Carafa and Margherita Petrucci, which were probably transferred here from the crypt of a church in Naples.

Draining Seats

It is not clear whether this is the place where bodies were left to drain before burial, or whether these are the remains of excavations for the extraction of tuff.

Entrance

The main entrance to the cemetery from Via Fontanelle.

Nave of the Priests Nave of the Plague Victims Nave of the Pezzentelli Via Fontanelle

Voices from the Community

Fontanelle is much more than a place to visit. A neighborhood within the neighborhood that tells the story of Naples in its essence, a community that remembers and passes on its narrative.

Clemente

He started at the age of eight, lowering himself into country wells for fun. He has never stopped going down since.

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Antonella

She lives suspended between the Materdei district and the Fontanelle, a place that fascinates her like a nativity scene and has given her a deep sensitivity.

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Nonno Pino

The Fontanelle Cemetery gave him shelter during the war and, even today, it is the place where he feels at home.

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Mafalda

Her love for and gratitude towards this place were passed down to her by her aunts, who entrusted their prayers to the capuzzelle.

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Lina

For her, the symbolic dimension of the Cemetery is deeply important, because here the souls are presences, not absences.

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Maria

Her memories of the neighbourhood are of a place full of life, and she is convinced that both the souls and its inhabitants share the same desire not to be abandoned.

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Pina

She began taking care of the souls of the Cemetery at the age of fifteen, putting them in order and dusting them.

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Angelo

Angelo remembers the work of care he carried out with the parish priest many years ago, and he is convinced that the souls in the Cemetery are now all blessed.

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Emanuele

Over the years, he came to understand the value of his neighbourhood and founded the Giovani delle Fontanelle Committee to enhance his community.

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Ilaria

For her, the Fontanelle represent the hope that her neighbourhood can become a place where young people are able to hope and stay.

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Roberta

Thanks to her grandmother’s stories, the Cemetery seemed to her like a magical place, full of tales and legends.

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Anna

She grew up in devotion to and respect for the dead and for this place. In her heart lies the full strength of her bond with the Fontanelle.

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Tina

As a child, she used to play in the Cemetery with her friends. A few years later, thanks to cinema, she came to understand the historical value of the place.

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Rosario

He remembers the neighbourhood as a village where everyone felt like family. Over the years, he guided many visitors in discovering the Cemetery.

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How to get here

How to reach
the Fontanelle Cemetery

The site is located between the Sanità and Materdei districts, and is accessible from both neighborhoods.

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Fontanelle Cemetery

Via Fontanelle, 80, 80136
Naples, Italy

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Catacombs of San Gennaro

26 minutes

26 minutes walk from the Fontanelle Cemetery

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Catacombs of San Gaudioso

15 minutes

15 minutes walk from the Fontanelle Cemetery

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Basilica di San Severo

19 minutes

19 minutes walk from the Fontanelle Cemetery

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Chiesa blu

23 minutes

23 minutes walk from the Fontanelle Cemetery

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Metro L1 / Materdei

10 minutes

Metro L1 Materdei station: 10 minutes walk

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Jago Museum

26 minutes

26 minutes walk from the Fontanelle Cemetery

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Metro L2 / Cavour

27 minutes

Metro L2 Cavour station + C52 shuttle bus

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Metro L1 / Museo

27 minutes

Metro L2 Cavour station + C52 shuttle bus

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Support the Fontanelle Cemetery

With your donation, you can support the restoration and preservation of a landmark in the Rione Sanità district and in Naples.

"Refrisco all'anema d'o priatorio!"

The Fontanelle Cemetery

Choose your experience

Admission with audio guide

Guided Tours (Italian only)

For Residents

School visits

Group Tours

Download the Appfor admissionwith audio guide

The stories

Voices from the Community

How to get here

How to reachthe Fontanelle Cemetery

Support the Fontanelle Cemetery

Download the App
for admission
with audio guide

How to reach
the Fontanelle Cemetery