Walk Into the Cult of the Dead at Cimitero delle Fontanelle
Step through the gate in the Rione Sanità and the city noise falls away. What you find inside is a vast tufo quarry hollowed into chambers and corridors, stacked with thousands of human remains — the monumental ossuary that became the symbol of Naples' devotion to its anonymous dead. This is the place to begin, because the Neapolitan relationship with the dead is not mournful; it is intimate, practical, almost domestic. Look for the small shrines assembled around individual skulls, the capuzzelle, adopted by generations of locals who prayed for these unnamed souls in exchange for graces, lottery numbers, or a husband. The practice is called the cult of the anime pezzentelle — the "poor little souls" — and it long predates any official Church sanction.
The roots run deeper than Christianity. In Greco-Roman Neapolis, processions were held for Hecate, goddess of the dead, and Lake Averno, west of the city, was considered an entrance to the underworld. When the plague of 1656 killed vast numbers of Neapolitans, the tufo quarries beneath the city were turned into ossuaries — which is how places like the Fontanelle came to hold what they hold.
Follow the Skull Cult Through the Churches
The devotion is not confined to one site. Several churches in the historic centre keep it alive, and you can visit them on foot in a single afternoon.
- Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco — skulls are worked into the exterior decoration, and the cult remains active here. This is the most direct encounter with the anime pezzentelle tradition in a working church.
- Chiesa di Santa Luciella — home to hypogean spaces tied to the same traditions.
- Basilica di San Pietro ad Aram — another stop on the map of Naples' underground devotional sites.
- Sant'Agostino alla Zecca — likewise associated with the city's hypogea and the cult of the dead.
If you want structure, look for the themed night ghost tours and esoteric Naples itineraries that run around this period — they string these sites together after dark, when the subject feels considerably closer.
Time Your Visit to the Festival "Uànema"
Since 2022, Naples has gathered its death-related heritage into a cultural festival called Uànema, held around the Commemorazione dei defunti. The festival's draw is access: special openings of hypogea, catacombs and necropolises that are not ordinarily on the tourist circuit. If you are planning for 2026, build your trip around this window — the observance falls on 2 November, with celebrations beginning the evening of 31 October, and 2 November itself is the traditional day for cemetery visits. Check the festival programme closer to the date for which specific sites are opening and when.
Eat the Sweet That Looks Like a Coffin
Neapolitan food carries the holiday as much as the churches do. The signature sweet is torrone dei Morti — also called o' murticiello — a soft chocolate-and-hazelnut confection whose rectangular shape deliberately resembles a small coffin. Pastry shops across the city sell it in many flavours, and it is the thing to carry home. Two other seasonal items belong to the same days:
- Pomegranate — the fruit is linked to Persephone and the myth of return from the underworld, and it appears in markets and homes at this time.
- "Cuppetiello di ammennole atterrate" — sugared almonds sold in the streets, the kind of thing you buy from a stall and eat while walking.
Look for these in the city's pastry shops and street markets rather than at any single address; they are seasonal, widespread, and best found by wandering.
Keep the Customs, and Know Where You Are
The observances you will notice around you are domestic as much as public. From 31 October, lit candles are placed on windowsills to guide souls home. Families leave a place set at the table, or a bucket of water, for souls still travelling. You are a guest in a city that treats its dead as neighbours — move through the Rione Sanità and the historic centre with that in mind, and the visit will give you more than a checklist of sights.
Start with the dates: the evening of 31 October through 2 November. Book your stay near the historic centre or the Rione Sanità so the Fontanelle, the churches of the skull cult and the street markets are all within reach, then watch for the Uànema programme to see which underground sites will open their doors while you are there.