A mother's love is infinite, just like the sea, as the poem goes To Mom by Salvatore Di Giacomo:

"Pecché ll'amore 'e mamma è na ricchezza, è comme 'o mare can nun fernesce maje"

In the city of Naples, as throughout the Campania, the mother figure is highly felt, the meaning of mother is celebrated not only as an earthly role but also a divine one, in the case of the mother of Jesus.

To talk about moms, that is, to define our moms, there would be so many adjectives but there is one that can best describe them: tireless and combative. They take care of us, worry about us and give us so much love. We remember one Neapolitan mom for all, the Filomena Marturano by Vittorio de Sica.

On the occasion of the Mother's Day we decided to tell you how much the topic of maternity is very dear to the Neapolitans, retracing together symbolic places of motherhood.

The chair of miracles: the intercession of St. Mary Frances

Another place symbolic of the importance of motherhood in Naples is the chair of St. Mary Frances. The desire to maternity here is so strong that it prompts women with fertility problems to rely on the patron saint of Naples.

Countless worshippers used to go to the Church of St. Mary Frances, in Vico Tre Re in Toledo, at the beginning of the Spanish Neighborhoods to sit on the fertility chair, on which the Saint used to sit to rest from the Passion pains she felt especially on the Fridays of Lent.

In a small side chapel by climbing some stairs you reach the room where the fertility chair.

Upon entering, it is impossible not to notice the countless blue and pink ribbons, often with attached photos of babies, a sign of gratitude from many women who, after visiting the church, received the long-awaited miracle.

Many mothers even name their female daughters. Mary Frances, or in the case of sons Francis, in honor of the Santa.

Once they sit on the fertility chair, the women confide their requests to the nun and pray, trusting in the power of St. Mary Frances, making a great act of faith.

Naples and devotion to St. Mary: the Marian cult.

Speaking of the theme of motherhood, it is impossible not to think of the many celebrations of the figure of Saint Mary's, mother of Jesus, which are held at various locations in the Campania.

The Marian cult began to spread from the 15th century A.D. but as early as the development of the Christianity the Mother of the Lord was revered, especially because of the need of the humblest part of the people to have a female figure to honor.

Thanks to the Marian cult major Marian centers were founded including. Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje, so important for the appearances of the Virgin Mary.

In Campania the entire month of May is dedicated to the worship of Saint Mary's. During this month, rites, homilies, masses, rosaries, Marian litanies, or even little flowers are celebrated.

Saint Mary's is usually celebrated on September 12, but in Campania there are also other anniversaries dedicated to the mother of Jesus.

For example, on July 16 we celebrate Santa Maria del Carmine, with fireworks, processions and flower displays, and on Sept. 8 Saint Mary of Piedigrotta. From this occasion, precisely derives the renowned Feast of Piedigrotta.

In 1835, this festival was an opportunity to introduce the world to the songs of Naples, so much so that in that year the song I love you very much became the quintessential Neapolitan song.

Unfortunately, starting around 1960, this festival began its decline, due to the authorities neglecting it, and it was not until 2007 that a new edition of this festival was held, with dances, floats, fireworks and illuminations.

In addition, toward the end of May, the faithful, starting from Naples, precisely from the Basilica Santa Maria del Carmine Maggiore, near Market Square, they go on a pilgrimage, to reach the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary, a Pompeii. Despite starting from Naples, there are intermediate stages at Porches, Herculaneum, Torre del Greco and Torre Annunziata, to allow other believers to join the walk.

During the route, which is traveled on foot, the faithful recite the Rosary, and often arouse the interest of residents, who throw rose petals as they pass by.

The mothers of the Children of Our Lady

Mothers without the means to be able to raise their children entrusted their children to churches or complexes in order to enable them to live a better life. Particularly in Naples in the monumental complex of the Holy Annunciation, children were anonymously entrusted to the Wheel of Exposures, also known as Annunziata Wheel.

This complex was not a orphanage, but rather a brefotrophy, i.e., an institution that took in children with the purpose of being able to find decent housing for them.

The Wheel, placed on a pin, allowed the child to be left outside, with guaranteed anonymity, although mothers often left a medal, an object, or a symbol that could somehow refer to them, with the hope of future reunion, which unfortunately happened only in rare cases.

When a child was left inside the Wheel, the system was made to ring a bell so that it could alert the Rotara, a figure ready to receive the arrival of a new baby.

As soon as they entered the complex, the children became Children of Our Lady, precisely because, passing through the Wheel, and entering the complex, it was as if they had acquired the protection of the Madonna, who accepted them without the prejudice of their origins.

The last name carried was the same for everyone: Esposito, considered so discriminatory to people that it was later banned, by Royal Decree No. 985 of June 3, 1811, from Joachim Murat, who alternatively proposed giving them a surname that described a characteristic of theirs, one that did not emphasize the infamous roots of the bearers of that surname.

Once the child was received, the Marking, that is, it was noted with an actual admission form, writing down the time and day of the infant's admission, features, age, and also any special characteristics. In 1933 a medical record also began to be made to note health conditions as well.

Since 1875, however, the Wheel was no longer used, because of the economic problems involved in handling such a large number of abandoned children, resulting in miserable living conditions in the brephotrophs.

When it was closed, the little ones were taken directly to the complex of the Holy Annunciation.

How the adoption of the Children of Our Lady took place.

After the initial paperwork was taken care of, as early as the next day the child would be placed in foster care, or if he or she was sick, he or she would be treated in the hospital itself and then moved on to adoption.

Very young children were given in rearing to the nannies, who could feed them with their milk. The nannies normally lived in the countryside or a rural area, in the eastern part of Naples, in order to raise children in a healthy way.

Being a nanny was a real trade, so much so that women were paid to be able to do it. The nannies who were taking in foster children were women who had lost a child or were breastfeeding.

After weaning, the baby was returned to the complex of the Holy Annunciation, looking for a new family for foster care, or often the family that had been caring for him since he was a child would adopt him.

Many families also decided to care for a child simply out of the desire and joy of raising one. What is more, if the adopted child was male, he could potentially be a labor force. For girls, on the other hand, the situation was more difficult because there was a need to make them a dowry to enable them to marry.

To the children who were instead returning to the Holy Annunciation, immediately a new family was being sought for foster care.

Families often did not formally adopt children, so the surname remained unchanged. Many years ago there was a difference between affiliation and adoption. The former, abolished in 1983, provided for a change of surname, but not inheritance, unless a will was made in which the family explicitly specified what the adoptee should inherit.

So what are you waiting for to visit all the places that tell the story of motherhood?