Naples Porta Nolana Fish Market and Piazza Dante Farmer’s Market
If a city has a market, I’m going to visit it. Having been a chef who specialized in fish and seafood, I’m always attracted to a city’s fish market and the Porta Nolana market did not disappoint. It’s outside, on the street, and very much reminded me of the La Vucchiria street market in Palermo with the crumbling buildings, artfully displayed food, and vendors in rubber boots calling out jokes to each other and selling their wares to passersby. We seemed to be the only obvious tourists there, and while we got a few curious looks, no one seemed to care.
We walked from the train station at Piazza Garabaldi to the streets where it starts; Via Santa Maria delle Grazie a Loreto and Via Padre Ludovico da Casoria. Naples has quite a few markets and if you want to see more than what I’ve seen here, I highly recommend you check out Napoli Unplugged’s extensive list of markets in Naples and map of the markets.
Like the shrines in my Naples at Night post, this neighborhood had its own shrines watching over it.
On our first Sunday in Naples we came across a Farmer’s market in Piazza Dante. This one seemed to focus on organic and artisanal products only, from cheeses, to meats to bee keeping and honey production. There was even a display encouraging people to grow their own produce.
12 Comments
jenjenk
the one thing about farmers markets that kill me as much as i love it, is that i’m not usually staying at an apartment – i’d LOVE to be able to cook some of these things up!!
were you guys staying in an apartment??
wired2theworld
Jen- Yes, we were in an apartment, but we didn’t buy anything to cook because the kitchen was tiny and we wanted to eat out. But yes, I’ve done it before (bought food in the local markets to cook) and it’s awesome.
Kent @ No Vacation Required
All of my attention is going to those sandwiches. Can’t wait to get to Italy (and will make market visits part of the plan!).
wired2theworld
Kent, even in the train stations, the panini are good!
Myra
I also love visiting markets when I travel (especially in Italy!). I always get romantic, and imagine myself living in the city, strolling through the stalls, and carefully selecting the freshest items for that night’s dinner. Instead, I end up buying a piece of fruit for lunch. 🙂
wired2theworld
I do the same thing; the romantic image is there and reality is often another story!
Dave from The Longest Way Home
If there’s one thing you are going to go, it’s make me crave for cured meats! Although available in SEA, it’s really not to the same “taste”.
I really like who there are still markets like this in Europe. I remember several in Southern France, and although not a favorite in terms of the location, I really enjoyed going through those markets.
I hope these markets had younger Italians in them too?
wired2theworld
Yes, people of all ages frequent these markets. And yes, markets like this are still all over Europe (which is why I love it so). Farmer’s markets are on an upswing in the US and you get many similar to the one at Piazza Dante, but I don’t know of any fish markets like the one at Porta Nolana out in the street here!
Candice Michelle
Anyone who can give me an idea how to cook Orata? I’m not familiar with this fish, but I guess it tastes like any other typical fish foods. I want to cook it with something spicy. I will deeply appreciate it if you can help me with this.
Stephan Hilson
When I see the fish in the fish market, I remember the similar look of fishes near my place. The sandwich looked very nice and edible. Market cheese and savory cookies are unique so I hope that I could visit Naples market someday. Thanks for sharing the great photographs.
AdaTheDaydreamer
Now I couldn’t agree more with the sandwiches. They look awesome!
Christina Ivonne
That looks awesome, when I visited China it was… I dont know how to describe, extremely strange… People eating scorpions and worms from a stick looked strange at me who was eating some cookies lol !