 Introduzione
Naples is a mixture of heart-stopping beauty, life-threatening chaos and a strong sense of life being lived to its limits, right in your face. If Milan is Italy's ego, Naples is its id. Squeezed in between Europe's second-largest active volcano on one side and the sulphurous springs and boiling mud pools of the Flegrean fields on the other, all hemmed in by the blue bay around which the city clusters.
Come Si Arriva By plane
Naples Capodichino Airport (NAP) is about 8km northeast of the city centre, it is southern Italy's main airport, linking Naples with most Italian and several major European cities. For getting to or from the airport, there are two possibilities: ANM bus 3S (30mins, every 15mins) from Piazza Garibaldi, or the Alibus airport bus (20mins, at least hourly) from Piazza Municipio. Alternatively you can get a taxi.
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By train
The central station of Naples is very well connected to the rest of Italy by a very frequent train service. The city is served by regionale, diretto, Intercity and the superfast Eurostar trains. They arrive and depart from Stazione Centrale (tel: 081 554 31 88) or Stazione Garibaldi (on the lower level). There are up to 30 trains daily to/from Rome.
The Ferrovia Cumana and the Circumflegrea (tel: 800 00 16 16), based at Stazione Cumana on Piazza Montesanto, 500m (0.3mi) southwest of Piazza Dante, operate services to Pozzuoli (every 22mins) and Cuma (six per day). The Circumvesuviana (tel: 081 772 24 44; Corso G Garibaldi), about 400m (0.25mi) southwest of Stazione Centrale (take the underpass from Stazione Centrale), operates trains to Sorrento via Ercolano, Pompeii and other towns along the coast. There are about 40 trains daily running between 05:00 and 22:30 with reduced services on Sunday.
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By bus
Most buses for Italian and some European cities leave from Piazza Garibaldi in front of Stazione Centrale. Check destinations carefully or ask at the information kiosk in the centre of the piazza because there are no signs. Maco (tel: 080 310 51 85) has buses to Bari (3hrs); Miccolis (tel: 099 735 37 54) runs to Taranto (4hrs), Lecce (5.5hrs) and Brindisi (5hrs), while CLP (tel: 081 531 17 07) serves Foggia (2hrs), Perugia (3.75hrs) and Assisi (4.75hrs).
You can buy tickets and catch SITA (tel: 081 552 21 76; www.sita-on-line.it, Italian only) buses either from the port, Varco Immacolatella, or from Via G Ferraris, near Stazione Centrale; you can also buy tickets at Bar Clizia (Corso Arnaldo Lucci 173). Within Campania, SITA runs buses to Pompeii (40mins) and several other towns on the Amalfi Coast, and Sa lerno (by motorway). Casting wider, it also links Naples with Bari (3hrs) and operates a service to Germany, including Dortmund via Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf. You can connect from this service for Berlin and Hamburg.
By Sea
Ferries and hydrofoils leave for Capri, Sorrento, Ischia, Procida and Forio from Molo Beverello in front of the Castel Nuovo. Longer-distance ferries for Palermo, Cagliari, Milazzo, the Aeolian Islands (Isole Eolie) and Tunisia leave from the Stazione Marittima, next to Molo Beverello. Alilauro and SNAV also operate hydrofoils to Ischia, Procida and Capri from Mergellina. Tickets for shorter journeys can be bought at the ticket booths on Molo Beverello and at Mergellina. For longer journeys try the offices of the ferry companies or travel agents.
By car
Naples is on the major north-south Autostrada del Sole, numbered A1 (north to Rome and Milan) and A3 (south to Salerno and Reggio di Calabria). The A30 skirts Naples to the northeast, while the A16 heads northeast to Bari.
When approaching the city, the motorways meet the Tangenziale di Napoli, a major ring road around the city. The ring road hugs the city's northern fringe, meeting the A1 to Rome and the A2 to Capodichino airport in the east and continuing towards Campi Flegrei and Pozzuoli and the west.
City Transport
The public transport ticket is the same no matter which way of transport you use, you can buy it at counters in the metro/train/funicolare stations, tobacconists and in all the shops that show the logo Gira Napoli - Napoli Pass. A ticket is valid for 90 minutes of unlimited travel by bus, tram, Metropolitana, funicular, Ferrovia Cumana or Circumflegrea. A daily ticket is good value. These tickets are not valid to Pompeii or Ercolano on the Circumvesuviana train line.
Bus:
Most city ANM buses operating in the central area depart from and terminate in Piazza Garibaldi. To locate your stop you'll probably need to ask at the information kiosk in the centre of the square. There are four frequent routes (R1, R2, R3 and R4) that connect to other (less frequent) buses running out of the centre. A night bus operates from 24:00-05:00 (hourly departures) from Stazione Centrale through the city centre to the Riviera di Chiaia and on to Pozzuoli, returning to Stazione Centrale.
Funicular:
Three of Naples' four funicular railways connect downtown with Vomero: Funicolare Centrale ascends from Via Toledo to Piazza Fuga; Funicolare di Chiaia travels from Via del Parco Margherita to Via D Cimarosa; and Funicolare di Montesanto climbs from Piazza Montesanto to Via Raffaele Morghen. The fourth, Funicolare di Mergellina, connects the waterfront at Via Mergellina with Via Manzoni. Giranapoli tickets are valid for one trip only on the funicular railways.
Metro:
You will find that there are 2 metro networks. One starts from the Gianturco passing by Napoli-Piazza Garibaldi, the railway station, and goes to Pozzuoli, the local call this just Metropolitana or "Metropolitana di Piazza Garibaldi". This serves the hystorical centrum and is the one you'll most likely use as tourist. Be a bit careful when using the Metropolitana, specially in the dead hours. The second and newest line serves for the moment the newest part of the city leaving from Piazza Vanvitelli and going to Secondigliano, in the near future also this metro should arrive to Napoli-Piazza Garibaldi. The local call this Metropolitana Collinare to distingush it from the previous one.
Tram:
Adding to the array of public transport options in Naples are trams. Tram 1 operates from east of Stazione Centrale, through Piazza Garibaldi, the city centre and along the waterfront to Piazza Vittoria. Tram 29 travels from Piazza Garibaldi to the city centre along Corso G Garibaldi.
Taxi:
Official taxis are white, metered and bear the Naples symbol on their front doors, but they don't seem to respond to the classic kerbside hail. There are taxi stands at most of the city's main piazzas. Be prepared for an extraordinary range of extra tolls on top of your fare, such as luggage in the boot, airport tolls and travelling on Sundays. Because of traffic delays, even a short trip may end up costing more than you anticipated.
Chiese e Musei
The Cathedral of Naples is the main church of Naples, southern Italy. It is dedicated to San Gennaro (St. Januarius), the city's patron. The church houses a vial of the Saint's blood that is brought out twice a year, on the first Saturday in May and the 19th September, and usually liquefies. According to legend if the blood should fail to liquefy, then something bad will happen to Naples.
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Gesù Nuovo (Church of Gesù Nuovo)
Gesù Nuovo (Italian New Jesus) is the name of a church and a square in Naples, Italy. They are located just outside the western boundary of the historic center of the city. The existence of the square is a consequence of the expansion of the city to the west beginning in the early 1500s under the rule of Spanish viceroy Pedro Alvarez de Toledo. The square is marked by three prominent landmarks: The Church of Gesù Nuovo, The Church of Santa Chiara and The Spire of the Immaculate Virgin.
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Chiesa di San Gregorio Armeno (Church of St. Gregory of Armenia)
Benedictine ruins still preside over this church. The convent attached to it earned a reputation for luxury since the nuns, traditionally from the noble families, were accustomed to lavish living, which continued here.
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Basilica di San Lorenzo Maggiore (The Church of San Lorenzo Maggiore)
The splendid Gothic church of San Lorenzo Maggiore stands on layers of antiquities. It is located at the precise geographic center of the historic center of the ancient Greco-Roman city, at the intersection of via San Gregorio Armeno and via dei Tribunali. Beneath its cloister, which contains exposed remains from Roman times, a large excavation from the Greek and Roman eras of Naples constitutes-with antiquities discovered below the nearby Duomo-a considerable segment of the ancient city centre.
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Chiesa di San Ferdinando (Church of San Ferdinando)
San Ferdinando is the neighborhood of Naples, southern Italy that includes, among other landmarks, the Royal Palace, the large adjacent square named Piazza del Plebiscito, the San Carlo opera house and the church of San Ferdinando, for which the area and adjacent small square are named. (Technically, the square is now called Piazza Trieste e Trento but is commonly referred to by the older name.)
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Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola (Church of San Francesco di Paola)
It is located at the west side of Piazza del Plebiscito, the city's main square.
In the early 19th century, King Joachim Murat of Naples (Napoleon's brother-in-law) planned the entire square and the large building with the colonnades as a tribute to the emperor. When Napoleon was finally dispatched, the Bourbons were restored to the throne of Naples.
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Girolamini
Girolamini is the name of a church and monastery complex in Naples, southern Italy. It is located directly across from the Cathedral of Naples on via Duomo. Palazzo Seripando was donated to the disciples of St. Phillip Neri in 1586. The original building was demolished and construction started on the new premises in 1592 on plans by the architect Giovanni Antonio Dosio. The church is in the style of the Florentine Renaissance: a Latin cross with three naves and lateral chapels. Later architects, such as Ferdinando Fuga who rebuilt the facade in 1780, also worked on the building.
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Chiesa di San Giovanni a Carbonara (Church of San Giovanni a Carbonara)
It is located at the northern end of via Carbonara, just outside what used to be the eastern wall of the old city. The name carbonara (meaning “coal-carrier”) was given to this site allocated for the collection and burning of refuse outside the city walls in the Middle Ages.
Chiesa di Santa Maria Donna Regina Vecchia (Church of Santa Maria Donna Regina Vecchia)
It is called Vecchia (“old”) to distinguish it from the newer and adjacent church of Santa Maria Donna Regina Nuova.
The earliest church is from the year 780 in a reference to the nuns of the church of San Pietro del Monte di Donna Regina. At that time, the church was quite near the old eastern city wall.
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Monastero di Santa Chiara
Santa Chiara is a religious complex in Naples, southern Italy, which includes the Church of Santa Chiara, a monastery, tombs and an archeological museum. This is the thirteenth-century's Gothic church/convent of Santa Chiara, marked most obviously by the belfry that stands within the grounds at the end of the square. The convent was built between 1310 and 1328 at the behest of the wife of King Robert of Anjou.
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Museo Archeologico Nazionale (National Archaeological Museum)
This is the most important archeological museum in Europe and contains the collection of objects that belonged to the Bourbon family and also a series of bronzes, sculptures and other objects found in the digs at Pompeii and Herculaneum. The famous “Tirannicidi” and all the sculptures on show in the “Galleria dei Grandi Maestri” (Great Masters Gallery) must be seen.
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Museo di Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace Museum)
Along the east side of the Piazza del Plesbiscito is the Palazzo Reale, the former Royal Palace, begun in 1600 by Dominico Fontana and restored in 1837-41. On the facade (169m/185yd) are eight marble statues of the various kings who ruled Naples. The palace contains a grand staircase of white marble (1651), a theater, seventeen richly appointed state apartments and the valuable Biblioteca Nazionale
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Certosa di San Martino (St. Martin's Charterhouse)
The National Museum of S. Martino is Naples' most varied and surprising museum; rich in artistic beauty, curiosity and various elements of style, it offers a marvelous panorama from its windows and terraces. Built on the hill of the Vomero, at the foot of the Castle of S. Elmo, it contains an 18th century church with its various sacristies, which are rich in the works of art, so that it is almost a gallery of Neapolitan art of its times. A fine cloister, the work of Cosimo Fanzago, other small cloisters, long rooms which record the history of Naples, models of ships, festive coaches, jewelry, records of the theatre of Pulcinella, folk costumes and uniforms, Abruzzo majolica, the shepherds from the cribs etc., are among the collections to be found here.
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Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte (Capodimonte Museum)
This Museum, opened in 1950, houses works of art ranging from the 13th to the 18th century which belonged to the Farnese family and which were then inherited by the Bourbon family. The “Roman Collection” that includes works of art by Michelangelo, Tiziano, El Greco, Raffaello and Botticelli is an essential part of any visit.
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Museo Principe Diego Aragona Pignatelli Cortes (Prince Aragona Pignatelli Cortes Museum)
The Museum was created in 1955 when the princess Rosina Pignatelli donated the park and villa, together with all its furnishings and collections to the Italian State. It displays a variety of furniture, domestic objects, silverware, ornaments and furnishings in bronze, small bronze statues and statuettes and porcelain, all of which demonstrate the interests of the Pignatelli family.
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Villa Communale Acquario (Villa Communale Aquarium)
One of the oldest aquariums in Europe, this underwater museum located in the center of Villa Communale Park will inspire beach fantasies when it's a bit cold outside; and you might just learn a thing or two. Local marine life, both animal and plant, fill about thirty oversized tanks. The aquarium is connected to the Zoological Institute, so up-to-date information and some special exhibits are the norm.
Historical buildings and monuments
This castle was built towards the end of the 13th century on the instructions of the Anjou family, and became an important cultural center where artists and writers such as Giotto, Petrarca and Boccaccio stayed. The Aragon dynasty expanded the building with two towers and a fantastic Arc de Triomphe. The Cappella Palatina chapel is also worth visiting.
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Castel dell'Ovo (Egg Castle)
First settled by the ancient Greeks the tiny island of Megaride is home to the city's oldest castle. Many believe the name, Castel dell'Ovo, is due to its unusual shape ('ovo' meaning 'egg'); however, others maintain that the name is linked to medieval legend. Apparently the poet Virgil hid an egg in an iron cage and left it to hang from a rafter in a secret place within the castle; if the egg is broken, both the castle and the city are doomed to destruction.
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Castel Sant'Elmo (Sant'Elmo Castle)
Castel Sant'Elmo is on the highest site of the city, on the Sant'Erasmo hill today known as the Vomero hill. Sant'Elmo is the name of both a hill and a fortress in Naples, located near the Certosa di San Martino. Together, the structures overlook Naples and are the most visible landmarks in the city. The name “Sant'Elmo” is from an old 10th-century church, Sant'Erasmo that name being shortened to “Ermo” and, finally, “Elmo”. The fortress is a star-shaped castle with six ramparts.
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Catacombe di San Gennaro (St. Januarius)
Dating from the 2nd century, these catacombs are quite different from Rome's dark, claustrophobic mazes. Here, one will find a mix of tombs, corridors and broad vestibules held up by columns and arches and decorated with early Christian frescoes and mosaics, now much dilapidated. Tradition has it that San Gennaro was originally buried here.
Cappella Sansevero (Sansevero Chapel)
The Cappella Sansevero (also known as the Capella Sansevero de' Sangri or Pietatella) is a chapel north to the church of San Domenico Maggiore, in the historic center of Naples. The chapel is more properly named the Chapel of Santa Maria della Pieta, or the Pietatella. It dates back to 1590 when the Sansevero family had a private chapel built in what were then the gardens of the nearby family residence, the Palazzo Sansevero. Definitive form was given to the chapel by Raimondo di Sangro, Prince of Sansevero.
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Castel Capuano (Capuano Castle)
The Castel Capuano, usually known as the Vicaria, at the east end of Via dei Tribunali was a Hohenstaufen and later an Angevin stronghold which has been occupied since 1540 by law courts. It takes its name from the fact that it was at that point in the city walls where the road led out to the city of Capua. The castle is at the east end of via dei Tribunali and until recently housed the Naples Hall of Justice, which has now moved to the new Civic Center, the Centro Direzionale.
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Carmine Castel (Carmine Castle)
Carmine Castel was one of the fortifications built by the Spaniards under Viceroy Pedro Alvarez de Toledo in the mid-1500s as part of the Spanish plans to surround the city with walls and forts. It stood at what was then the south-east corner of the walled city, that wall then turning in to the north. The fortress had great strategic value in the military history of the city up to and including the defense of the Neapolitan Republic of 1799 against the returning royalist forces of King Ferdinand IV. In order to make room for a modern road along the sea and the port of Naples, the fortress/castle was demolished in 1900 as part of the great urban renewal of Naples of that period. Two towers and fragmentary ruins still stand as historic markers.
San Paolo Maggiore
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Piazza Bellini
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Purgatorio ad'Arco
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Piazza Gesù Nuovo
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Gesù Nuovo
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San Domenico Maggiore
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Piazza Dante
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Teatro San Carlo
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Palazzo Reale
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Santa Lucia
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Piazza del Plebiscito
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Piazza del Plebiscito
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Places of Interest
This road is called by this name (it literally means Split Naples) as, when seen from the top end, it literally splits the city into two parts. SpaccaNapoli is a long straight road, or several roads about 2 km long and just 6 meters wide. On both sides a tightly-packed labyrinth of narrow, charming alleys spreads out. This is the old, working-class, full-blooded Naples. Walking along the SpaccaNapoli, it is possible to follow an itinerary in one of the most characteristic areas of Naples, which corresponds to the “Decumano inferiore” of the Greek-Roman city, with churches, historical buildings, squares and old tiny craftsmen's shops and laboratories.
Maniac motorists' aside, wandering Spaccanapoli is an experience for all the senses. Part treat, part tribulation. Made up of the streets of Benedetto Croce, San Biagio del Librai, and Vecchia Giudecca, this is the belly of Naples. It survives from the days when Naples was the Greek settlement of Neapolis (the new city). Spaccanapoli means “Naples-Splitter” - and that's exactly what it does - splits this clamorous city asunder.
Old Naples has an incredible number of churches and chapels, but they're not the real reason to explore. More than anything else, Spaccanapoli gives an insight into what it must be like to live among urban chaos at its most extreme. Washing flaps from everywhere; radios blare full blast; people shout rather than talk.
At Spaccanapoli's seedier eastern end, Vecchia Giudecca joins via Forcella. Known as “the Devil's Fork,” 20 years ago this was a no-go area for tourists. Even today, guidebooks give it cursory mention - if they mention it at all.
Make no mistake about it; people at this end of Spaccanapoli still live in slum conditions. These mean streets of medieval tenement housing make it easy to understand why Naples had a cholera outbreak in 1973.
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Vomero
This is an extremely peaceful, relaxing area of the city just the opposite of SpaccaNapoli. The area is full of museums, monuments, shops and historical coffee shops. A truly unforgettable experience is a trip on the Montesanto cable railway, from where it is possible to have a great view of Castel Sant'Elmo and the Certosa di San Martino. It borders to the north on the quarter of Arenella, to the west on the quarters of Soccavo and Fuorigrotta, to the south on Chiaia and to the east on the quarters of Avvocata and Montecalvario.
The name probably derives from its ancient agricultural function and from the word “vomere” (ploughshare). Due to the field work done here, the area for centuries was nicknamed “Hill of Broccolis”.
Nowadays Vomero is a residential zone that has conserved little from this rural past. Since the beginning of the 20th century the area has had a dramatic increase in residential housing. During this period, numerous dwellings were built around Villa Floridiana, Castel Sant'Elmo and San Martino, including villas in the late Art Nouveau style and large apartment houses for the upper middle class. Nevertheless, there are still historic buildings near the above-named monuments, such as the Villa del Pontano and an old building of the Bourbon customs office. Both are situated in the neighborhood of Antignano, one of the most popular and oldest of Vomero. After the Second World War the quarter began to expand to the hill of Camaldoli.
The new underground train system has contributed to speed up the public transport system and to ease traffic congestion in the last few years. It now connects Vomero with the city centre and the northern suburban quarters.
Galleria Umberto I
This gallery was built at the end of the nineteenth century. Galleria Umberto is an imposing building with four wings in iron and glass and a wonderful, huge dome in the middle. The style is similar to that of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan.
It is located directly across from the San Carlo opera house. It was built between 1887 and 1891, and was the cornerstone in the decades-long rebuilding of Naples called the risanamento (“making healthy again”) that lasted until World War One. It was designed by Emanuele Rocco, who employed modern architectural elements reminiscent of an earlier galleria in Milan. The Galleria was named for Umberto I, king of Italy at the time of its construction. It was meant to combine businesses, shops, cafes and social life public space with private space in the apartments on the third floor.
The Galleria is a high and spacious cross-shaped affair surmounted by a glass dome braced by 16 metal ribs. Of the four glass-vaulted wings, one fronts on via Toledo (via Roma), still the main downtown thoroughfare, and another opens onto the San Carlo Theater. It has returned to being an active center of Neapolitan civic life after some years of decay.
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Posillipo Hill
This hill, that is part of the sides of a crater, separates the Gulf of Naples from Pozzuoli dalla Grotta Romana. Since ancient times, this area has always been considered a residential area, where it is possible to rest from the efforts of city life. The very name of the area is a demonstration of this: the Greek term Pausilypon means “a respite from pain”. The beautiful villas with their wonderful views over the Gulf can still be admired today, like, for example, the seventeenth century Palazzo Donn Anna.
Posillipo is an exclusive and fascinating area of Naples: the incredible colors of the panorama, the splendid villas clinging to the hillside and overlooking the picturesque gulf together with the warmth of people, make it a unique corner of heaven.
At the foot of Posillipo hill, Mergellina owes its name to a bird that is very well known along the Neapolitan coast, the “mergus”. This area was known from the Renaissance as “Mergolino” and a watchtower, built on the seashore, was also named after it.
Mount Vesuvius
The Mount Vesuvius, a complex volcano, began to form about 300,000 years ago, after the nearby Somma Volcano collapsed. In 5960 B.C. and 3580 B.C., Vesuvius had two eruptions that rate among the largest known in Europe. The area was frequently jolted by large earthquakes. The 79 A.D. eruption of Vesuvius, which buried Pompeii and its sister city Herculaneum, was the first volcanic eruption ever to be described in detail. From 18 miles (30 km) west of the volcano, Pliny the Younger, witnessed the eruption and later recorded his observations in two letters.
Today more than two million people live in the immediate vicinity of Mount Vesuvius.
Underground Naples
This is a “city under the city” that is exceptionally old: archeological digs have found artifacts dating back 5000 years. The Greeks built imposing funeral monuments underneath the city, while the Romans built aqueducts, caverns and tunnels. The public can now visit some parts of these underground areas if accompanied by a guide.
Underground Naples has a unique charm: discovering it could turn out to be a highly evocative and original experience, lost in a muffled world of silence surrounded by treasures and secrets. With its numerous alleyways and passages, the underground city is enormous. Spelaeologists recently calculated that there are about 700 grottoes winding through the part which has already been explored, while there are just as many in the area that has not been explored yet.
Suggestive echoes, shadows, voices and footsteps of this subterranean world contrasts vividly with the chaotic ferment of the surface city. In the “quartieri Spagnoli” area, buried some 40 meters under the surface, you will admire catacombs, underground passages and aqueducts, used as a refuge by cursed early Christians or as hideaways during the war. Legend has it that the passageways are inhabited by the “monaciello”, a sort of evil and mischievous spirit, occasionally vexing unfaithful wives.
To visit the underground city you should contact Associazione Napoli Sotterranea, p.zza San Gaetano, 68, tel.081- 449821.
Eventi
The anniversary of the execution of Naples' patron saint and protector San Gennaro is marked at the Duomo and continues with an emotional procession to Santa Chiara. Gennaro (250-305) was the bishop of Pozzuoli, martyred during the reign of Diocletian. During the ceremony, two glass phials of the saint's blood are meant to liquefy before the expectant congregation. A notable liquefaction is considered a good omen to the city, while even a partial failure prefigures doom.
Maggio dei Monumenti - May
The city's premier cultural event. Occurring every May, it offers a month-long menu of exhibitions, concerts, dance performances, guided tours and much more.
Madonna del Carmine - 16th July
This religious festival takes place every year on 16 July as a devotion to the Madonna del Carmine (Our Lady of Mount Carmel). This day, the Piazza del Carmine in Naples culminates in a fireworks display which is filled with not only thousands of religious followers from Naples but the event also attracts tourists and pilgrims from other cities and countries all over the world.
The Neapolis Rock Festival - June-July
The Neapolis Rock Festival is held on the beach at Arenile di Bagnoli in the height of summer attracts top international acts. This annual music show has now been running for five years and has become very popular amongst rock music fans. It usually takes place at the end of June or the beginning of July, in the areas around Italsider di Bagnoli, and lasts for about a week.
The Fiesta di Piedigrotta - 5th to 12th September
One of Naples' most cherished religious figures is the elusive Madonna of Piedigrotta. This festival was instituted by Charles III in the 19th century and its centrepiece was a grand procession along the Riviera di Chiaia to the Piedigrotta Church. Before long it became the carnival of Naples and then fell into obscurity. In recent times, it has been resurrected and has become famous for its Neapolitan song contest, parades, and fireworks.
Notte di Capodanno New Years Eve
Crowds begin to gather in the Piazza as the sun goes down in a celebration of saying farewell to the old year and welcoming the new. Camaraderie is shared between friends and strangers. There are a variety of food and drink vendors, as well as concerts, fireworks and dancing until the wee hours of New Year's Day. Admission is free, but come early to pick just the right spot to enjoy the festivities.
Celebration of the Epiphany - 17th December-6th January
It's an integral part of the Christmas experience, with the holiday season stretching from December 17 through January 6, the day of Epiphany. Naples' regional celebration revolves around the presepi or intricate nativity scenes.
Parco Villa Communale Antiques Market - 3rd Sunday
Tourist lose themselves among the treasures of the past. Every third Sunday of the month the Parco Villa Communale is filled with more than one hundred antique dealers setting up shop. Browse lamps and silverware, books and jewellery. Europe is famous for its outdoor markets and Italy is well known for old treasures. The Parco Villa Communale is the has a long tradition of hosting the market, where you'll rub elbows with Italian natives, not only other tourists.
Pizzafest
There is no better place to eat vera pizza Napoletana than in the city that gave the world this culinary phenomenon. Organized by the local council and the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana, the festival is dedicated to the pizza in all its delicious forms. There is even the chance of learning the skilfull technique of preparing the base and tending to the essential element of any real pizza-making process: the wood-burning oven. Concerts, dancing and other cultural events distract you from the bel profumo.
I Cortili della Musica
Hosted in magnificent venues throughout the city, this festival is a feast of classical, jazz and traditional Neapolitan musical performances. The varied programs are offered in such venues as the Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Corigliano, Palazzo del Monte di Pieta and the Castelletto del Real Orto Botanico. This annual event draws thousands of fans and is sure to make your visit a memorable one.
Underground City Walking Tours
See the city that lies beneath and is hidden from the naked eye. The special winter tour of the Underground City includes 5,000 year-old, carved-out caves and slightly more recent Roman water systems. Note the underground cemetery, initially used as an illegal graveyard for the indigent. This tour offers a fascinating viewpoint few ever see. You will want to wear good walking shoes and bring a sweater.
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
This joyous occasion celebrates the Virgin Mother with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Considered a holy day, the event includes attendance at mass and laying flowers around the statues of Mary located in various parts of the city. There's an evening torchlight procession made of fir and broom wood. This tradition originated in pre-Christian days as part of a ceremony in the worship of light and the Winter Solstice.
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Guida Turistica di Napoli
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Standard - Da 105€
Dus (doppia uso si - Da 45€
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doppia uso singola - Da 45€
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Settimana Benesser - Da 1020€