Naples · Chiaia under the full moon

A full-moon night on the Chiaia, «that endless promenade», and then back and forth along the shore: beyond telling, it gives a feeling of the infiniteness of space.

Naples, 5 March 1787

But neither to be told nor to be described is the glory of a night of the full moon such as we have enjoyed here, wandering through the streets and squares and on the quay, with its long promenade, and then backwards and forwards on the beach; one felt really possessed with the feeling of the infinity of space. So to dream is really worth all trouble.

Original German text · Neapel, den 5. März.

Aber weder zu erzählen noch zu beschreiben ist die Herrlichkeit einer Vollmondnacht, wie wir sie genossen, durch die Straßen über die Plätze wandelnd, auf der Chiaja, dem unermeßlichen Spaziergang, sodann am Meeresufer hin und wider. Es übernimmt einen wirklich das Gefühl von Unendlichkeit des Raums. So zu träumen ist denn doch der Mühe wert.

Today

The Riviera di Chiaia today, with the palaces facing the Villa Comunale. Photo Baku, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Riviera di Chiaia today, with the palaces facing the Villa Comunale. Photo Baku, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Riviera di Chiaia and the Villa Comunale (then the Villa Reale, opened in 1781) along the sea.

Where: Riviera di Chiaia, 80121 Napoli

Works and documents

Pietro Antoniani, the Riviera di Chiaia from the convent of Sant'Antonio at Posillipo, late eighteenth century: the boundless promenade with Vesuvius behind. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Pietro Antoniani, the Riviera di Chiaia from the convent of Sant’Antonio at Posillipo, late eighteenth century: the boundless promenade with Vesuvius behind. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
The Villa Reale at Chiaia, opened in 1781, in an anonymous Neapolitan gouache of the first half of the nineteenth century (Cooper Hewitt). Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
The Villa Reale at Chiaia, opened in 1781, in an anonymous Neapolitan gouache of the first half of the nineteenth century (Cooper Hewitt). Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.

AI reconstruction

The Chiaia on a night of full moon, 5 March 1787, with the gardens of the Villa Reale opened only a few years before: the boundless promenade. AI reconstruction (SPUN, 2026).
The Chiaia on a night of full moon, 5 March 1787, with the gardens of the Villa Reale opened only a few years before: the boundless promenade. AI reconstruction (SPUN, 2026).

Further reading

Sources

J.W. Goethe, Italienische Reise, original German text (public domain).

Translated by A.J.W. Morrison (Goethe’s Travels in Italy, London, Bell; public domain).

  • Place
  • Establishment Date
    1787-03-05
  • Address
    Riviera di Chiaia, 80121 Napoli
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