Historic Naples

Naples is Italy’s third biggest city after Rome and Milan with a population in its greater region of about three million.

Naples’ historic city centre has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And wide range of culturally and historically significant sites are nearby, including the Palace of Caserta and the Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Naples is close to the volcano of Mt Vesuvius which destroyed nearby Pompeii in Roman times. It is also famous for its Neapolitan cuisine.

In Italy’s tumultuous and divisive history Naples served as the capital of the Duchy of Naples for five hundred years from the 7th century under numerous powers including the Byzantines and the Normans. For six hundred years from the 13th century it was the capital of the Kingdom of Naples (1282–1816), and finally as the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies — until the unification of Italy in 1861.

Naples is also considered a capital of the Baroque, beginning with the artist Caravaggio’s career in the 17th century and the artistic revolution he inspired.

Located in southern Italy, on the spectacular Bay of Naples , the city’s port origins go back to the times of the ancient Greeks who established colonies along the southern Italian coast and in Sicily. It is therefore one of the most ancient cities in Europe.

It eventually became a major cultural centre in the Roman Republic. In the 6th century A.D., Naples was conquered by the Byzantine Empire, becoming an autonomous Duchy, later associated with the Normans, Swabians, and the Sicilian reign. Evidence of this period includes the churches of San Gennaro extra moenia, San Giorgio Maggiore, and San Giovanni Maggiore with surviving elements of 4th and 5th century architecture, the chapel of Santa Restituta in the 14th-century cathedral, and the Castel dell’Ovo, from the Norman period, although subsequently remodelled on several occasions.

With the French facing Angevin dynasty (1265-1442), Naples became the symbol of the prestige, dignity, and power of the dynasty. The city expanded to include suburbs and neighbouring villages. The Angevin also initiated an influential relationship with Western art and architecture, particularly French Gothic, integrated with the earlier Greek and Arab elements. The convents of Santa Chiara and San Lorenzo Maggiore and the churches of Donna Regina and I’lncoronata, San Lorenzo Maggiore, San Domenico Maggiore and the new Cathedral date from this period.

From the 15th to 17th centuries, Naples was governed by the Spanish Aragonese, who remodelled the defences and street pattern, and constructed the Castel Nuovo largely in the Tuscan style as one of the foremost centres of their empire. The period of Spanish rule is marked by the Royal Palace built in 1600 along one side of the imposing Piazza del Plebiscito.

From 1734, under the government of the Bourbons, Naples emerged, together with Paris and London, as one of the major capital cities of Europe. The architectural heritage of Naples from this period was widely influential, and is expressed particularly in the interior design of the royal palaces and associated noble residences that were part of Bourbon territorial system which extended far beyond the city itself. Important palaces of the 18th century include the large palace Albergo dei Poveri, and the National Archaeological Museum.

Destination: Italy