Naples: overview

The very idea of this teeming, undisciplined town once intimidated the faint-hearted, but recent times have seen change in this history-rich city of which the Neapolitans are rightly proud. Naples remains a glorious assault on your senses, as explosive as Vesuvius, its local volcano. This is a fabulous but frenetic city, so take more care than you would elsewhere in Italy. For adventurous travellers looking for an introduction to the south, the rewards are rich. Indeed, two of Naples’ museums – the Museo Archeologico Nazionale and the Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte – are among Europe’s most important, but they play second fiddle to the colourful street life.In the outdoor theatre that is Italy, Naples has unabashed melodrama to be seen everywhere: around the port, the popular quarters of Spaccanapoli, even the more bourgeois neighbourhoods of Vomero and Posillipo. You will want to spend hours in the restaurants – this is where pizza began.

The face of Naples has been made and remade by its many earthquakes. Many churches, palaces and museums still show signs of ongoing reconstruction and restoration after the devastating quake of 1980.

The only way to get a feel for the city is to walk its different quarters and ride the funiculars up the Vomero hill. Also try the glossy metro line from Piazza Dante to Vomero, even if you don’t need to travel by train. Each station is adorned with bold contemporary artworks. Make easy forays to Pompeii, Herculaneum and the islands of Capri and Ischia but avoid the crime-infested city suburbs. From here you can also explore the Amalfi Coast, a coastal road not for the faint-hearted.

Naples' Museo Archeologico houses many fine Greek sculptures
Naples' Museo Archeologico houses many fine Greek sculptures
Naples' Museo Archeologico houses many fine Greek sculptures

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Best places to visit in Naples

Castel Nuovo

Towering over the main square, Piazza Municipio, is the massive, dry-moated Castel Nuovo. The 13th-century fortress of Naples’ French ruler Charles d’Anjou, it was rebuilt in the 15th century as a palace for the Spanish kings of Aragon. When Charles I built the castle he could now have known that seven centuries later it would still serve as the political hub of the city. Entrance to what is now administrative offices and a communal library is between two towers on the west side, through a two-storey Renaissance Triumphal Arch crowned by a statue of St Michael.

Museo Archeologico Nazionale - Naples' Archaeological Museum

One of the great museums of the world, Naples' Archeological Museum is a feast of southern Italy’s Greek, Etruscan and Roman past. All visits to Pompeii and Herculaneum should begin or end here, since the world-famous collections display not only the paintings and mosaics buried there by Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago, but a host of other sculptures from the region’s villas and temples.The ground floor is devoted to sculpture, including many Roman copies of classics from Greece’s Golden Age in the 5th century BC. The most famous is the Doryphorus (Spear-carrier) of Polycletus, second in fame among Greek sculptors only to Phidias. Also on display is the Farnese Bull (Toro Farnese), the largest Classical sculpture ever discovered, hewn from a single marble block.

Greek bronzes and Roman mosaics

Most popular are the stunning Herculaneum bronzes and Pompeii mosaics on the mezzanine floor. The lively mosaics from Pompeii’s patrician villas make a striking contrast with the rigid formality of church mosaics elsewhere in Italy. They include Clients Consulting a Sorceress, Strolling Musicians, vivid little friezes of an octopus, a chained dog, a cat catching a quail and the huge exciting mural of Alexander driving Darius of Persia from the battlefield at Issus in 333BC. The paintings here are the best preserved of any from Roman antiquity – frescoes in brilliant blues, greens and the inimitable Pompeii reds. Other highlights include the Gabinetto Segreto (Secret Cabinet), a collection of erotic images which lift the lid on the racy ancient world, with graphic scenes depicted on Greek vases, Roman terracottas and Etruscan mirrors.

Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte

The Capodimonte Museum is housed in a beautifully restored 18th-century hilltop palace, the Palazzo Reale di Capodimonte. The grounds offer a welcome rest before and after a visit to the exceptional collection of Italian and European paintings. Highlights include Giovanni Bellini’s gentle Transfiguration of Christ standing serenely between Moses and Elijah; Mantegna’s Portrait of a Boy; and Michelangelo’s drawing of Three Soldiers for his Vatican fresco of St Peter’s Crucifixion. The stark realism you will see in Caravaggio’s Flagellation and the Seven Works of Mercy launched a whole Neapolitan school of ‘Caravaggeschi’ shown here.

Pizza

Pizza was born in Naples, and genuine Neapolitan pizza is unbeatable. Its secret, apart from the fresh mozzarella – another regional speciality – lies in the baking. It is cooked quickly, at a high temperature, in a dome-shaped, wood-fired brick oven. The classic Neapolitan pizza is the margherita, topped by tomatoes and mozzarella, and supposedly invented in 1889 to welcome Queen Margherita on her visit to Naples. Its rival is the marinara, made with tomatoes and oregano. Authentic pizzerias, which are often cramped and crowded, with marble-top tables, include Di Matteo (Via Tribunali 94; tel: 081-455 262) and Da Michele (Via Sersale 1; tel: 081-553 9204). The Piazza Sannazzaro, at the heart of the Mergellina district, also has a reputation for excellent pizza.

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