In the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, Italy’s third largest city, ancient queen of the Mezzogiorno, the country’s south, is a glorious contradiction. The face of Napoli is luminous, yet sports plenty of wrinkles, scars, and squalour. History, good eating (hey, pizza was invented here), and high culture – right alongside the sinister machinations of the notorious Camorra, as the local mafia is known. Where the traffic is chaotic (even more than in Rome, some claim) and the locals live in the streets, with Madonnas gracing facades, laundry hung from building to building and the shouts of Neapolitan mammas echoing down the lanes.
The local colour provided by the colourful locals is supplemented in spades by the gorgeous monuments harboured in the streets of Naples, starting with notable churches such as the 16th-century Cappella Sansevero, with more than two dozen spectacular works of religious art such as the famous Veiled Christ; San Giorgio Maggiore, , dating in its current form from the 17th century; and Santa Chiara Basilica, including a 14th-century monastic complex. Then, too, there are grand palazzi, as well, such as the 14th-century Palazzo Filomarino, later remodeled in Baroque style, and the 18th-century Rococo Palazzo Riario Sforza, home to an aristocratic family that included a powerful archbishop and now a luxury boutique hotel).
Read more in our post Naples: Beauty and Wrinkles in the Shadow of Vesuvius.
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