There’s no absence of character within the narrow streets of the Italian city of Naples, with the vibrant community based-life of its locals contributing much to its unique personality. It’s not a quiet city by any means and visitors either embrace its noise and constant hustle and bustle or reject it vehemently, making this a destination that is subject to extremes of opinion and one which invokes the use of a variety of superlatives in reference to it.
Like the majority of Italy’s popular visitor cities, Naples has its fair share of interesting architecture with the 800-year-old cathedral or Duomo attracting a good deal of the sightseeing action. Nearby this masterpiece is the Chiesa dei Girolamini with its wonderful old baroque features and the equally impressive Chiesa del Gesu Nuovo.
Museums are an abundant feature of the city and offer a wealth of cultural enrichment; however, visitors should make sure to leave time to enrich their bodies with some of the awesome food on offer at the city’s myriad dining establishments. Italian food is always touted as tasty but with Naples you’ll definitely need to loosen those belt buckles a notch or two as the local cuisine is internationally recognised as second to none.
Highlights
Piazza Matteotti: one of the city’s most significant squares from an aesthetic and architectural perspective and home to some fine old baroque buildings, some of which were commissioned by Mussolini himself.
Palazzo Reale: 150 years of effort went in to completing this fine building which was originally commissioned in the early 17th century by the Spanish viceroys.
Monte di Pietà: this early 16th century house demonstrates the great wealth and extravagance enjoyed by the Italian aristocracy during the period.
The Aquarium: an old facility, Europe’s oldest of this nature, in fact, but still worthy of a visit with its collection of over 200 species of sea creatures.
Botanical Gardens: home to a large and varied collection of plant life specimens drawn from the four corners of the globe. 12 hectares of land are dedicated to the display of these interesting plants, trees and flowers.
The Gardens of Augustus: dating back as far as Roman times, these gardens are among the oldest in the country and were allegedly founded by Julius Caesar himself.