The Journey Home — Day 6 — Torre del Greco and Boscotrecase

The original plan for today was to make a quick late morning stop to the cemetery in Cercola to see where my great-grandfather, Nicola Piromallo was buried. However, at the lunch on June 4th my Zio Nicola (more about that later) told me that he wanted us to visit family in Torre del Greco. So we were able to work that into the schedule.

Cercola is about 30 minutes from Naples and it was were my grandparents lived before coming to America and three of my dad’s older siblings were born there. So the anticipation was high. As we drove through the streets I could almost sense their presence.

We were met outside the cemetery gate by Nicola and his daughter Nadia and he led us to the spot were my great grandfather and his grandfather, grandmother, mother, father and aunt are interred. He also showed us the old Piromallo crypt that was sold by my second great-grandfather Saverio Giovanni Piromallo. Apparently, Saverio like gambling and women and sold off much of his inheritance. 

Now a little about how Nicola in my zio even though he is my dad’s first cousin and younger then me. My great-grandfather remarried in 1913 after my great-grandmother passed away. His second wife was only 30 years old and had two children Emilia and Anna both born a few years before my dad. Nicola is the son of Anna and therefore my 1st cousin once removed. The custom in Naples is that out of respect you refer to your parents 1st cousin as zio or zia. Hence, Nicola is my zio! I would add that up until a few months ago I did not know about Nicola.