The Neapolitan legends of love are many and varied. Naples and love are united by an indissoluble bond that does not stop growing ever since the foundation of the city. There are many places in the city linked to passionate love stories: with Discover Naples, on the occasion of the World Kiss Day, let’s discover 2 Neapolitan love legends together!
If you missed the last appointment with the Neapolitan cornicello, retrieve it here: The Neapolitan horn: rules to go!
This Neapolitan richblood is red-hot in hatred, burns in love and is consumed in the dream.
–Matilde Serao
The four hills of Naples
The 4 hills of the city at the foot of Vesuvius are the subject of our first story. Their birth, in fact, would seem to be linked to the love of four brothers for a woman. Handed down by Matilde Serao in her Neapolitan legends, it is perhaps one of the most characteristic legends of our city.
Young, beautiful and, above all, united by a deep brotherly love were the four young men of the legend. This mutual love was the cause of their misfortune: after having decided to express their feelings, the boys discovered that they were all in love with the same woman! Although the woman in question did not reciprocate the love of any of the four, the clash between brothers was inevitable and lasted until the beloved disappeared.
They waited for his return for years, until they turned into four hills that took the name of Poggioreale, San Martino, Vomero and Capodimonte. Reconciled and united forever, the four brothers still await the return of their beloved.
The impossible love between Posillipo and Nisida
Among the Neapolitan legends of love, it is worth telling what is hidden behind two of the most characteristic areas of the Neapolitan territory. Subject of a story as passionate as little known, that between Posillipo and Nisida is perhaps the most beautiful story of an impossible love…
Posillipo was a well-liked young man by many, kind and generous, in love with the beautiful and evil Nisida who, however, did not return his love. In fact, Nisida was painted as a young glacial woman, who took pleasure in seducing and deluding the young men in love with her. The same fate fell to Posillipo.
To escape the tearing suffering, Posillipo decided to end his life by drowning himself in the sea. It was in these circumstances that Fate entered into play: the young man did not die but was transformed into a beautiful cape.
Similar fate fell to Nisida who, however, was transformed into a rock united, through an isthmus, to Posillipo. Symbol of two people who are near to one another without ever touching each other. Posillipo enjoys a beautiful view, as well as the nature of the young man who admired the beautiful Nisida. The latter, on the other hand, because of its evil nature, houses the juvenile prison.
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