Naples

t Castel Nuovo, the medieval seat of Naples’ kings

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Experience Naples

Naples is a vibrant cacophony of world-class museums, ancient ruins, crumbling churches and Baroque palaces blended into the fabric of a bustling modern city. Founded by the Greeks, it is one of only a few Italian cities that have remained continuously occupied from ancient times to the present day. The Romans enlarged and embellished it and in later centuries it was the much sought-after prize of foreign invaders and Imperialists – most notably the Normans, Hohenstaufen, French and Spanish.

Greek colonists founded a settlement overlooking the Bay of Naples as early as the 4th century BC, calling it Parthenope. As the settlement continued to expand, they established Neapolis (new city) next to the Palaeopolis, or old city. Neapolis was a leading commercial centre, and the Greek language and customs survived even during the Roman period, when this was a favourite area of the elite.

After the fall of the Roman Empire and a wave of invasions, the city came under Byzantine influence and went through a period of rebirth. In the 12th century, the invading Normans succeeded in conquering the whole of southern Italy. Naples itself became a capital, and the court began to attract famous artists. The 1400s were a golden era for Naples, but there followed two centuries of oppressive rule by Spain. In 1734 King Charles began the period of Bourbon hegemony. With the exception of the short-lived republican government in 1799 and the subsequent decade of French dominion, the Bourbons ruled Naples until 1860.

Since the unification of Italy, in the mid-19th century, the city’s problems have become national issues – most notably the wealth gap between northern and southern Italy.