FROM CHINA TO NAPLES: THE TERRACOTTA EXERCISE

Italian first in Naples for the international exhibition “The Terracotta Army and the First Emperor of China” until January 28 in the Basilica of the Holy Spirit in Toledo Street. An extraordinary trip to China of 2,200 years ago is the most complete exhibition ever proposed on the necropolis and the life of First Emperor Qin Shi Huan-Gdi and his “Terracotta Army”, the eighth wonder of the world, partially restored in the 1800s square meters of the sixteenth-century church of the old town.

Thus strengthens the ancient bond between the Neapolitan city and the Chinese culture, of which there are only toponomastic testimonies but also the fervent activities of the University of the Orientale Studies. In Naples more than 300 reproductions of statues – over 170 soldiers and horses – wagons, weapons and utensils discovered in the necropolis. Choosing the Basilica of the Holy Spirit is no accident: the imposing place of worship, a symbol of Catholic culture, recalls the sacredness and strength of the mausoleum that houses statues in China. A parallelism succeeded in a fascinating encounter between cultures. China’s First Emperor Terracotta Army is one of the 20th century’s greatest archaeological discoveries.