Naples History Walk

The Catacombs of San Gennaro are distinguished by their remarkably spacious, wide-reaching tunnels carved directly into the soft yellow volcanic tuff of the Capodimonte hill. Unlike the narrow, claustrophobic corridors typical of other…

The San Lorenzo Maggiore complex sits at the geographic center of ancient Neapolis, identified by its entrance on Piazza San Gaetano. While the structure above is a thirteenth-century Gothic basilica, its defining characteristic is the…

The Complesso Monumentale San Lorenzo Maggiore is defined by a deep vertical layering of history. While its street-level facade displays a distinct Baroque style designed by the architect Ferdinando Sanfelice, the site contains the…

Castel Nuovo is recognizable for the five massive, crenellated towers that guard its perimeter, standing as an imposing fortress between the harbor and the heart of Naples. First constructed in twelve seventy-nine by Charles the First of…

The Teatro di San Carlo features an exterior adorned with ionic loggias and reliefs depicting music and poetry. Inaugurated in seventeen thirty-seven, it stands as the oldest continuously active opera house in the world. King Charles the…

The Royal Palace of Naples presents a long, imposing facade to Piazza del Plebiscito, distinguished by eight large statues of former kings standing in exterior niches. Commissioned in sixteen hundred by the Spanish viceroy Fernando Ruiz de…

Piazza del Plebiscito is identifiable by its expansive twenty-five thousand square meter surface and the distinctive, semi-circular colonnade that arches before the neoclassical facade of the Basilica of San Francesco di Paola. Facing this…