Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Noto

What people wore

Cost of wedding attire

A wedding dress for an ordinary person usually cost up to 30 ducats, though wealthy families could spend up to 300 ducats on garments with gold and silver fabrics.

Daily life

Limited water and sanitation infrastructure

Public infrastructure for water was inadequate, leading households to rely on cisterns or local wells, with communities strictly distinguishing between water used for drinking and water used for animals or washing. In towns without sewer systems, private homes generally had no toilets.

At the table

Staple meals for working families

Working-class families often ate pasta, specifically a cheap, mixed-quality version called monnezzaglia, or relied on tavern food like the hearty minestra maritata soup made with meat and vegetables.

Music

Music during religious festival processions

Religious processions often featured musicians, including porters who danced while carrying heavy barrels of wine on their shoulders to the sound of a distant orchestra.

At the table

Street foods costing one soldo

For a single soldo, the poor in Naples could purchase various street foods, such as slices of pizza, portions of fried fish known as fragaglia, or nine boiled chestnuts to eat with bread.

Getting around

The Lettiga: A Mule-Drawn Carriage

The lettiga, a national carriage suspended between two mules, was a common way to travel through regions lacking roads suitable for wheeled vehicles. It was notoriously fatiguing and slow, moving at an average speed of about three miles per hour.

Work

Common Jobs: Farming and Crafts

The most common occupations in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies were agricultural laborers, followed by mechanics and craftsmen. In 1826, agricultural workers, including husbandmen and shepherds, accounted for over 1.5 million of the male population.