Naples is a city full of contrasts. One of the most interesting is the inexplicable union between sacred and profane. Neapolitans have a strong faith (they are Catholics), but they also have a wide range of pagan beliefs, with some being almost macabre.
There is nothing more traditional than the cult of the Anime Pezzentelle, which represents Neapolitans’ very special connection with the afterlife.
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What are the ‘Anime Pezzentelle’
The Anime Pezzentelle are souls trapped in Purgatory. According to medieval religious tradition, there are many ways for a soul to end up in Purgatory. In the specific case of the Anime Pezzentelle, these are the souls of those who weren’t buried, so they are lost and need help to find their way to Paradise.
The main characteristic is that an Anime Pezzentella is anonymous, and the living person adopts its skull, thus establishing a direct relationship with that soul. The skulls of the Anime Pezzentelle are housed in special niches and cared for by the living.
The Origins of the ‘Anime Pezzentelle’ Cult
The cult traces back to the early 1600s when a terrible plague decimated the population of Naples and the surrounding areas. These were mostly poor people whose bodies were abandoned and forgotten inside mass graves. At the time, there weren’t any cemeteries, established only two centuries later by a French decree, and only the nobles and those part of a religious order were buried in churches’ chapels.
Over the years, the remains of the poor souls began to be taken care of, with families adopting a skull and caring for it as if it were the remains of a loved one. Neapolitans would make small chapels (or cardboard boxes that would serve as a dwelling place for the deceased if they weren’t rich), and they would pray for the dead.
Once a skull is chosen, its Anima Pezzentella invokes the refrisco, the alleviation of the sentence, and the living who adopted it would ask for intercession and divine pardon in exchange.
A significant revival of this peculiar cult occurred during World War II, with the missing bodies of numerous soldiers. The families unable to give their loved ones proper burials began again to adopt the skulls of purgatorial souls.
The Places of Worship of the ‘Anime Pezzentelle’
In the city of Naples, there are three special places where the Anime Pezzentelle are cared for: the church of Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio in Arco, the church of Santa Luciella ai Librai, and the Fontanelle Cemetery.
In the church of Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio in Arco is preserved the veiled skull of Lucia, a young girl who died soon after her wedding. All women turn to her for prayers of love and to solve marriage problems.
The church of Santa Luciella ai Librai houses another special Anime Pezzentella, the gloomy skull with ears. This weird-looking skull seems to have conserved the tips of the ears, and Neapolitans think that it hears better than all the other skulls, which is why it is the most prayed to.
The peculiar Fontanelle Cemetery is filled with skulls of lost souls, and it houses around 40,000 human remains. Among the anonymous remains, there are two known ones: Count Filippo Carafa and Donna Margherita. The latter is kept in a glass case: the skull has the mouth wide open, and the legend says that she choked to death while eating a plate of gnocchi.
The most famous skull in the Fontanelle Cemetery is that of the Capitano (‘captain’). The legend tells that a young Camorrista desecrated the cemetery by making love there with a girl, and suddenly, he heard the voice of the Captain threatening the young man’s death on his wedding day.
Mocking it, he replied, saying he wasn’t afraid and dared the captain to show up at his wedding while secretly vowing never to marry. Years went by, and the young man who had forgotten about the challenge got engaged. A man in black appeared at his wedding: it was the captain’s soul, finally taking revenge by killing the newlyweds.
The ‘Anime Pezzentelle’ Cult Today
The Anime Pezzentelle cult was officially banned by the Catholic Church in 1969, so devotees are technically forbidden to practice its rituals. Nonetheless, people continue to bring small tributes to the Purgatory skulls, asking for help in receiving grace. Not everyone prays to the Anime Pezzentelle for divine help: some Neapolitans ask them to grant material wishes, such as obtaining the winning lottery numbers!
Read more about spooky legends and myths:
Legends and Ghost Stories of Milan
San Bernardino alle Ossa (Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Ossa
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