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ADOPT A BEGGAR’S SKULL

ADOPT A BEGGAR’S SKULL

Naples

Cimitero delle Fontanelle - Via Fontanelle 80

The Cimitero delle Fontanelle (cemetery of the fountains) is an old graveyard that rests on an ancient water spring. Rather than a cemetery, it is a large mass grave that hosts, in its caves and tunnels, thousands of skulls of victims of plague and cholera. To those who rested in the Fontanelle Cemetery, too poor to receive a standard burial, the rite of the “anime pezzentelle” (beggar’s souls) was performed: an orphan skull or capuzzella was “adopted” and taken care of in exchange of help and favors. Like the illustrious head of Pasquale, known to guess the right lottery numbers, or another capuzzella that has the power to make its ‘foster parent’ find true love within a year.
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