OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
1.Green Grotto, Capri
On the other side of the island from its far more famous sibling, the Blue Grotto, this smaller cave glows emerald green once you duck inside. The best way to get here is to rent a kayak at Punta Carena and then make your way past Marina Piccola towards the Faraglioni rocks.
Green Grotto entrance, Capri
2.Napoli Sotterranea
Piazza S Gaetano 68 • 081 40 02 56 • Guided tours in English: 10am, noon, 2pm, 4pm and 6pm • Adm This tour’s entrance is next to San Paolo Maggiore and takes you into a world of excavations that date back to the 4th century BC (bring a jacket as it can be cool). The digging began when the Greeks quarried large tufa blocks to build the city of Neapolis. Caves were also dug here to be used as tombs. Centuries later the Romans turned this underground area into aqueducts and cisterns, which were in use until the cholera epidemic of 1884.
3.San Gaudioso Catacombs
Basilica of Sta Maria della Sanità, Via della Sanità 124 • Guided tours: every hour between 10am and 1pm • Adm This labyrinth of underground tunnels was built by the Romans for use as cisterns. It evolved into catacombs in the 5th century, when St Gaudiosus, a North African bishop and hermit, was interred here. Visitors can see the remains of fresco and mosaic decorations.
4.Spiaggia di Fornillo, Positano
Few know that there’s a pleasant alternative to the crowded main beach at Positano, with its rows of sunbeds and umbrellas. To get to Fornillo, head west on the path past the ‘O Guarracino restaurant, around the cliff. It’s a rocky beach, overlooked by two towers, but there’s a café-restaurant and facilities (for further details see Positano).
5.Cimitero delle Fontanelle
Via delle Fontanelle 154 • 081 29 69 44 • Open by appt only Once a Roman quarry for tufa blocks, this cavern became a gruesome depository for the city’s dead during the cholera epidemic of 1884. Graves and tombs were emptied all over Naples and the skulls stacked here – some 40,000 in all, with the addition of still more during the cholera outbreak of 1974.
Skulls, Cimitero delle Fontanelle
6.MADRe
Via Settembrini 79 • 081 193 130 16 • Open 10am–7:30pm Wed–Mon (to 8pm Sun) • Adm Housed in a 14th-century church, this museum aims to bring contemporary art to the forefront. Exhibitions from the 1940s onwards contrast with the surrounding history of Naples. Permanent exhibitions include the Historical Collection, exploring artistic language.
Colourful galleries, at MADRe
7.Sibyl’s Grotto, Cumae
Although some experts believe that this magnificent structure once served a military purpose in Roman times, others hold with a mythological origin. Walking along the unusual wedge-shaped walls, which are pierced at intervals with shafts of light, creates a decidedly hypnotic effect on most visitors, as if in preparation for an encounter with the great oracle herself (priestess of Apollo) in her grotto (for further details see Cumae).
8.Tomb of Virgil and Crypta Neapolitana
Salita della Grotta 20, Mergellina • Open 9am–5pm Tue–Sun What is known as Virgil’s tomb is a Roman burial vault that dates back to the Augustan age. It is a typical columbarium, the “dovecote” style of burial, with niches for urns containing the ashes of the deceased. The Romans later took to burying their dead in sarcophagi (coffins), as the fashion changed to belief in an afterlife, perhaps adopted from the Egyptians. Next to the tomb are a tufa quarry and a crypta (tunnel), built as an under-ground road in the 1st century.
9.Parco Sommerso, Baia
Glass-bottom boat tours or land tours: call 349 497 41 83 or visit www.baiasommersa.it; diving and snorkelling tours: call 081 853 15 63 Most of the ancient city of Baia now lies underwater, due to the shifting of the coastline and slow seismic disturbances. What you can still make out just below the surface of the water are remnants of the grandiose port and parts of various villas and temples (for further details see Baia).
10.San Gennaro Catacombs
Via Capodimonte 13 • Guided tours: every hour between 10am & 7pm Mon–Sat, between 10am & 1pm Sun and public hols • Adm Burials here date back to the 2nd century and the site was originally used by pagans as well as Christians. In the 5th century, the body of San Gennaro, Naples’ patron saint, was brought here, and the place became an important pilgrimage site. Frescoes and mosaics on the two levels of this vast layout attest to its importance over the centuries.
San Gennaro Catacombs
