Naples meets the Celestial Empire in the church of the Holy Family of the Chinese

The Museum of Health Arts of Naples invites the public to wish Christmas on Friday 20 December at 20.00:1732 pm in the Church of the Holy Family of the Chinese (entrusted to the Neapolitan Curia for the Catholic worship of the Chinese population) for a guided tour and a concert of two cellos. Founded by Matteo Ripa from Eboli in XNUMX, the place bears witness to the ancient bond between Naples and China already in the century of the Enlightenment, not by chance defined for Europe as the 'Chinese century'. In that era, in fact, the capital of Campania imported the art of silk and porcelain processing, which finds one of its most important artistic expressions in that of Capodimonte. And the bond between the two realities also finds traces in the medical field.

The director of the Museum of Health Arts in Naples, Gennaro Rispoli, says: ''The presence of the small Chinese community in Naples has also had an impact on the medical-scientific field. We recall that Domenico Cirillo, director of the medical-surgeon college of the Incurabili, wrote 'De pulsibus', in which he describes the arterial pulsation of the pulse, also taking into account the experience of Chinese medicine''. The ancient College of the Chinese was the first experience in Europe of a college for the training of Catholic missionaries of Chinese language and nationality destined to evangelize China and a boarding school for Chinese-language interpreters. From the experience of the college, in the post-unification era, what is now the Oriental University Institute of Naples was born.

On Friday evening, Carmela Caccioppoli, head of cultural programming at the Museum of Sanitary Arts, will lead visitors around the complex, located on the hill, formerly known as 'Pirozzoli', which overlooks the village of Sanità, which was accessed from the Salita dei Cinisi which, still in the 700th century, was the only passageway, passable on foot or by sedan chair, towards the hill of Capodimonte. The itinerary will continue among the beauties of the Church, in the frescoed entrance hall with the coat of arms of the Congregation of the Holy Family of Jesus Christ, designed by Matteo Ripa. After the visit, there will be a concert for two cellos: Francesco Scalzo and Raffaele Sorrentino will perform traditional Christmas classics.

The participation fee required is 15 euros, partly intended to support the church still officiated by Father Paolo Kong, head of the Chinese Catholic community in Italy, and partly the cultural activities of the Museum of Health Arts in Naples.