Naples
Overview
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples
. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius
and the Phlegraean Fields
, it is the capital of the region of Campania
and of the province of Naples
. Naples is known internationally for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music, and gastronomy, and has played an important political and cultural role both within and beyond the Italian peninsula throughout its 2,800-year existence.
Founded around the 9th century BC as a Greek colony, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
Gulf of Naples
The Gulf of Naples is a c. 15 km wide gulf located in the south western coast of Italy, . It opens to the west into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered on the north by the cities of Naples and Pozzuoli, on the east by Mount Vesuvius, and on the south by the Sorrentine Peninsula and the main...
. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...
and the Phlegraean Fields
Campi Flegrei
The Phlegraean Fields, also known as Campi Flegrei, , is a large wide caldera situated to the west of Naples, Italy. It was declared a regional park in 2003. Lying mostly underwater, the area comprises 24 craters and volcanic edifices. Hydrothermal activity can be observed at Lucrino, Agnano and...
, it is the capital of the region of Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
and of the province of Naples
Province of Naples
The Province of Naples is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital city is Naples, within the province there are 92 Comuni of the Province of Naples.-Demographics:...
. Naples is known internationally for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music, and gastronomy, and has played an important political and cultural role both within and beyond the Italian peninsula throughout its 2,800-year existence.
Founded around the 9th century BC as a Greek colony, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
Timeline
1266 Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
1343 A tsunami, caused by the earthquake in the Tyrrhenian Sea, devastates Naples (Italy) and the Maritime Republic of Amalfi, among other places.
1494 Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.
1495 King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne.
1504 France cedes Naples to Aragon.
1516 The Treaty of Noyon between France and Spain is signed. Francis I of France recognises Charles's claim to Naples, and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor recognises Francis's claim to Milan.
1590 Carlo Gesualdo, composer, Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, murders his wife, Donna Maria d'Avalos, and her lover Fabrizio Carafa, the Duke of Andria at the Palazzo San Severo in Naples.
1629 An earthquake in Naples, Italy, kills about 10,000 people.
1762 Great Britain declares war on Spain and Naples.
1906 Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples.
Encyclopedia
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples
. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius
and the Phlegraean Fields
, it is the capital of the region of Campania
and of the province of Naples
. Naples is known internationally for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music, and gastronomy, and has played an important political and cultural role both within and beyond the Italian peninsula throughout its 2,800-year existence.
Founded around the 9th century BC as a Greek colony, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Originally named Parthenope (Παρθενόπη) and later Neápolis (Νεάπολις – English
: New City), it was among the foremost cities of Magna Graecia
, playing a key role in the merging of Greek culture into Roman society. Naples eventually became part of the Roman Republic
as a major cultural center; the prominent Latin poet, Virgil
, received part of his education in the city and later resided in its environs. As a microcosm of European history, the city has witnessed the rise and fall of numerous civilizations, each leaving traces in its art and architecture. Although many Greek and Roman ruins are in evidence in Naples and its surroundings, the most prominent forms of architecture now visible derive from the Medieval
, Renaissance
, and Baroque
periods.
Between 1282 and 1816, Naples was the capital city of a kingdom that bore its name – the Kingdom of Naples
. Then, in union with Sicily
, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies
until the unification
of Italy in 1861. During the Neapolitan War
of 1815, Naples strongly promoted Italian unification.
Naples' historic city centre is the largest in Europe, covering 1700 hectares (4,200.8 acre), and is listed by UNESCO
as a World Heritage Site
. Over the course of its long history, Naples has been the capital of duchies, kingdoms, and one Empire
, and has consistently been a major cultural center with a global sphere of influence, particularly during the Renaissance
and Enlightenment
eras. In the immediate vicinity of Naples are numerous sites of great cultural and historical significance, including the Palace of Caserta and the Roman ruins of Pompeii
, and Herculaneum
.
As of 2011, Naples has a population of around 1 million people within its administrative limits. According to different sources, its metropolitan area
is either the second most populated metropolitan area in Italy after Milan
(with 4,434,136 inhabitants according to Svimez Data) or the third (with 3.1 million inhabitants according to OECD). In addition, Naples is Italy's most densely populated major city, with over 8,000 people per square kilometre.
Naples is the fourth-richest city in Italy, after Milan, Rome
and Turin
. It is the world's 91st richest city by purchasing power
, with a GDP of $43 billion, surpassing the economies of Budapest
and Zurich
. The port of Naples
is one of the most important in Europe, and has the world's second-highest level of passenger flow, after the port of Hong Kong
. Although the city has experienced remarkable economic growth in recent decades, and unemployment
levels in the city and surrounding Campania have decreased since 1999, Naples is still characterized by political and economic corruption
and a thriving black market empire. Numerous major Italian companies, such as MSC Cruises, are headquartered in the city, while the Bagnoli
district hosts a major NATO military base. The city also hosts the SRM Institution for Economic Research and the OPE Company and Study Centre. Naples is a full member of the Eurocities
network of European cities. The city was selected to become the headquarters of the European institution Acp/Ue and as a City of Literature
by UNESCO
's Creative Cities Network
. The Villa Rosebery
, one of three official residences of the President of Italy, can be found in the city's Posillipo
district.
Naples was the most-bombed
Italian city during World War II
. Much of the city's 20th-century periphery was constructed under Benito Mussolini
's fascist government, and during reconstruction efforts after World War II. In recent decades, Naples has constructed a large business district, the Centro Direzionale
, and has developed an advanced infrastructure, including an Alta Velocità
high-speed rail link to Rome, and an expanded subway network, which is planned to eventually cover half of the region. The city will host the 63rd International Astronautical Congress
in October 2012, and will also be the host of the 2013 Universal Forum of Cultures
.
Culinarily, the city is synonymous with pizza
, which originated in the city. Neapolitan music
has furthermore been highly influential, credited with the invention of the romantic guitar
and the mandolin
, as well as notable contributions to opera
and folk standards
. Popular characters and historical figures who have come to symbolise the city include Januarius
, the patron saint
of Naples, the comic figure Pulcinella
, and the Siren
s from the Greek epic poem
the Odyssey
.
Founded in the 6th century BC, somewhat late in the scheme of Magna Graecia
, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Originally named Parthenope (Παρθενόπη) and later Neápolis (Νεάπολις – Greek
for "New City"), it was among the foremost cities of Magna Graecia
, playing a key role in the transmission of Greek culture to Roman society. Naples eventually became part of the Roman Republic
as a major cultural centre; the premiere Latin poet, Virgil
, received part of his education there and later resided in its environs.
The new city grew thanks to the influence of the powerful Greek city-state
of Siracusa, and at some point the new and old cities on the Gulf of Naples
merged into one. The city became an ally of the Roman Republic
against Carthage
; the strong walls surrounding Neápolis stopped the invading forces of the Carthaginian general Hannibal from entering. During the Samnite Wars
, the city, now a bustling centre of trade, was captured
by the Samnites
; however, the Romans soon captured the city from them and made it a Roman colony
.
The city was greatly respected by the Romans as a paragon of Hellenistic culture
. During the Roman era, the people of Naples maintained their Greek language
and customs, while the city was expanded with elegant Roman villa
s, aqueduct
s, and public baths
. Landmarks such as the Temple of Dioscures
were built, and many powerful emperors chose to holiday in the city, including Claudius
and Tiberius
.
It was during this period that Christianity
first arrived in Naples; the apostles
Peter
and Paul are said to have preached in the city. St. Januarius
, who would become Naples' patron saint
, was martyred there in the 4th century AD.
The last emperor of the Western Roman Empire
, Romulus Augustulus, was exile
d to Naples by the Germanic king Odoacer
in the 5th century AD.
Following the decline of the Western Roman Empire
, Naples was captured by the Ostrogoths, a Germanic people
, and incorporated into the Ostrogothic Kingdom
. However, Belisarius
of the Byzantine Empire
recaptured Naples in 536, after entering the city via the aqueduct
.
As the Gothic Wars of the mid-6th century wore on, Totila
briefly took the city for the Ostrogoths in 543, before, finally, the Battle of Mons Lactarius
on the slopes of Vesuvius
left the Byzantines in control of the area. Naples was expected to keep in contact with the Exarchate of Ravenna
, which was the centre of Byzantine power on the Italian peninsula
.
After the exarch
ate fell, a Duchy of Naples
was created. Although Naples' Greco-Roman
culture endured, it eventually switched allegiance from Constantinople
to Rome
under Duke Stephen II
, putting it under papal
suzerainty
by 763.
The years between 818 and 832 were tumultuous in regard to Naples' relations with the Byzantine Emperor, with numerous local pretenders feuding for possession of the ducal throne. Theoctistus
was appointed without imperial approval; this was later revoked and Theodore II took his place. However, the disgruntled general populace chased him from the city, and instead elected Stephen III
, a man who minted coins with his own initials, rather than those of the Byzantine Emperor. Naples gained complete independence by 840.
The duchy was under the direct control of the Lombards
for a brief period, after the capture by Pandulf IV
of the Principality of Capua
, a long-term rival of Naples; however, this regime lasted only three years before the Greco-Roman-influenced dukes were reinstated. By the 11th century, Naples had begun to hire Norman
merecenaries, the Christian descendants of the Viking
s, to battle their rivals; Duke Sergius IV
hired Rainulf Drengot
to wage war on Capua for him.
By 1137, the Normans had attained great influence in Italy, controlling previously independent principalities and duchies such as Capua
, Benevento
, Salerno
, Amalfi
, Sorrento
and Gaeta
; it was in this year that Naples, the last independent duchy in the southern part of the peninsula, came under Norman control. The last ruling duke of the duchy, Sergius VII
, was forced to surrender to Roger II
, who had proclaimed himself King of Sicily seven years earlier; Naples thus joined the Kingdom of Sicily
, where Palermo
was the capital.
After a period of Norman rule, the Kingdom of Sicily
went to the Hohenstaufens, a German royal house
. The University of Naples Federico II
, the oldest state university in the world, was founded by Frederick II
, making Naples the intellectual centre of the kingdom. Conflict between the Hohenstaufens and the Papacy
led in 1266 to Pope Innocent IV
crowning the Angevin
duke Charles I King of Sicily: Charles officially moved the capital from Palermo to Naples, where he resided at the Castel Nuovo
. During this period, many examples of Gothic architecture
sprang up around Naples, including the Naples Cathedral, which remains the city's main church.
In 1282, after the Sicilian Vespers
, the Kingdom of Sicily was split in half. The Angevin Kingdom of Naples
included the southern part of the Italian peninsula, while the island of Sicily
became the Aragonese
Kingdom of Sicily
. Wars between the competing dynasties continued until the Peace of Caltabellotta
in 1302, which saw Frederick III
recognized as king of Sicily, while Charles II
was recognised as king of Naples by Pope Boniface VIII
. Despite the split, Naples grew in importance, attracting Pisan
and Genoese
merchants, Tuscan
bankers, and some of the most prominent Renaissance
artists of the time, such as Boccaccio
, Petrarch
and Giotto
. During the 14th century, The Hungarian
Angevin king Louis the Great captured the city several times. Alfonso I
conquered Naples after his victory against the last Angevin
king, René, and Naples was unified with Sicily again for a brief period.
Sicily and Naples were separated in 1458, but remained dependencies of Aragon
under Ferrante
. The new dynasty enhanced Naples' commercial standing by establishing relations with the Iberian peninsula
. Naples also became a centre of the Renaissance, with artists such as Laurana
, da Messina
, Sannazzaro
and Poliziano
arriving in the city. In 1501, Naples came under direct rule from France
under Louis XII
, with the Neapolitan king Frederick
being taken as a prisoner to France; however, this state of affairs did not last long, as Spain
won Naples from the French at the Battle of Garigliano
in 1503.
Following the Spanish victory, Naples became part of the Spanish Empire
, and remained so throughout the Spanish Habsburg
period. The Spanish sent viceroy
s to Naples to directly deal with local issues: the most important of these viceroys was Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, who was responsible for considerable social, economic and urban reforms in the city; he also supported the activities of the Inquisition
.
During this period, Naples became Europe's second-largest city, second only to Paris
. The city was a cultural powerhouse during the Baroque
era, being home to artists such as Caravaggio
, Salvator Rosa
and Bernini
, philosophers such as Bernardino Telesio
, Giordano Bruno
, Tommaso Campanella
and Giambattista Vico
, and writers such as Giambattista Marino. A revolution led by the local fisherman Masaniello
saw the creation of a brief independent Neapolitan Republic
in 1647, though this lasted only a few months before Spanish rule was reasserted. In 1656, an outbreak of bubonic plague
killed about half of Naples' 300,000 inhabitants.
In 1714, Spanish rule over Naples came to an end as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession
; the Austria
n Charles VI
ruled the city from Vienna
through viceroys of his own. However, the War of the Polish Succession
saw the Spanish regain Sicily and Naples as part of a personal union
, with the 1738 Treaty of Vienna
recognising the two polities as independent under a cadet branch of the Spanish Bourbons
.
During the time of Ferdinand IV
, the effects of the French Revolution
were felt in Naples: Horatio Nelson
, an ally of the Bourbons, even arrived in the city in 1798 to warn against the French republicans. Ferdinand was forced to retreat and fled to Palermo
, where he was protected by a British fleet
. However, Naples' lower class
lazzaroni
were strongly pious
and royalist
, favouring the Bourbons; in the mêlée that followed, they fought the Neapolitan pro-Republican
aristocracy, causing a civil war
.
Eventually, the Republicans conquered Castel Sant'Elmo
and proclaimed a Parthenopaean Republic
, secured by the French Army
. A counter-revolutionary religious army of lazzaroni known as the sanfedisti
under Fabrizio Ruffo
was raised; they met with great success, and the French were forced to surrender the Neapolitan castles, with their fleet sailing back to Toulon
.
Ferdinand IV was restored as king; however, after only seven years Napoleon
conquered the kingdom and installed Bonapartist kings, including his brother Joseph Bonaparte
. With the help of the Austrian Empire
and its allies, the Bonapartists were defeated in the Neapolitan War
, and Ferdinand IV once again regained the throne and the kingdom. The Congress of Vienna
in 1815 saw the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily combined to form the Two Sicilies
, with Naples as the capital city. In 1839, Naples became the first city on the Italian peninsula to have a railway, with the construction of the Naples–Portici line.
led by Giuseppe Garibaldi
, which culminated in the controversial Siege of Gaeta
, Naples became part of the Kingdom of Italy
in 1861 as part of the Italian unification
, ending the era of Bourbon rule. The kingdom of the Two Sicilies
had been wealthy, and 80 million ducat
s were taken from the old kingdom's banks as a contribution to the new Italian treasury
. The economy of the area formerly known as Two Sicilies collapsed, leading to an unprecedented wave of emigration
, with an estimated 4 million people emigrating from the Naples area between 1876 and 1913.
In 1884, Naples fell victim to a major cholera
epidemic
, caused largely by the city's poor sewerage
infrastructure. Government measures to improve sanitary conditions in the Neapolitan slums in 1885 proved largely ineffective.
During the early 20th century, efforts to industrialise the city were hampered by corruption and a lack of infrastructure. Facing a slumping economic situation, many poorer Neapolitans emigrated northwards, or headed overseas to the United States
and Argentina
.
Naples was the most-bombed
Italian city of World War II
. Though Neapolitans did not rebel under Italian fascism
, Naples was the first Italian city to rise up against German
military occupation
; the city was completely freed by October 1, 1943. The symbol of the rebirth of Naples was the rebuilding of the church of Santa Chiara
, which had been destroyed in a United States Army Air Corps
bombing raid.
Special funding from the Italian government's Fund for the South
from 1950 to 1984 helped the local economy to improve somewhat, with city landmarks such as the Piazza del Plebiscito
being renovated. However, high unemployment
and waste management problems
continue to affect Naples; Italian media have attributed the city's waste disposal issues to the activity of the Camorra
organised crime
network. In 2007, Silvio Berlusconi
's government held senior meetings in Naples to demonstrate their intention to solve these problems. However, the late-2000s recession had a severe impact on the city, intensifying its waste-management and unemployment problems. By August 2011, the number of unemployed in the Naples area had risen to 250,000, sparking public protests against the economic situation.
Naples' 2,800-year-history has left it with a wealth of historical buildings and monuments, from medieval castles to classical
ruins. The most prominent forms of architecture visible in Naples are the Medieval
, Renaissance
and Baroque
styles. The historic centre of Naples is listed by UNESCO
as a World Heritage Site
. Naples has a total of 448 historical churches, making it one of the most Catholic
cities in the world in terms of the number of places of worship.
The main city square or piazza
of the city is the Piazza del Plebiscito
. Its construction was begun by the Bonapartist king Joachim Murat
and finished by the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV
. The piazza bounded on the east by the Royal Palace
and on the west by the church of San Francesco di Paola
, with the colonnades extending on both sides. Nearby is the Teatro di San Carlo
, which is the oldest and largest opera house
in Italy. Directly across from San Carlo is Galleria Umberto, a shopping centre
and social hub.
Naples is well known for its historic castles: the ancient Castel Nuovo
, also known as Maschio Angioino
, is one of the city's foremost landmarks; it was built during the time of Charles I, the first king of Naples. Castel Nuovo has seen many notable historical events: for example, in 1294, Pope Celestine V
resigned as pope in a hall of the castle, and following this Pope Boniface VIII
was elected pope by the cardinal collegium
, before moving to Rome. The castle which Nuovo replaced in importance was the Norman-founded Castel dell'Ovo
(Egg Castle), which was built on the tiny islet
of Megarides, where the original Cumae
an colonists founded the city. The third Neapolitan castle of note is Sant'Elmo
, which was completed in 1329 and is built in the shape of a star
. During the uprising of Masaniello
in 1647, the Spanish took refuge in Sant'Elmo to escape the revolutionaries.
Naples is widely known for its wealth of historical museums. The Naples National Archaeological Museum
is one of the city's main museums, with one of the most extensive collections of artifacts
of the Roman Empire
in the world. It also houses many of the antiques unearthed at Pompeii
and Herculaneum
, as well as some artifacts from the Greek
and Renaissance
periods.
Previously a Bourbon palace, now a museum and art gallery, the Museo di Capodimonte
is another museum of note. The gallery features paintings from the 13th to the 18th century, including major works by Simone Martini
, Raphael
, Titian
, Caravaggio
, El Greco
and many others, Neapolitan School painters Jusepe de Ribera and Luca Giordano
. The royal apartments are furnished with antique 18th century furniture and a collection of porcelain
and majolica
from the various royal residences: the famous Capodimonte Porcelain Factory
was just adjacent to the palace.
In front of Royal Palace of Naples there is the Galleria Umberto I, which contains the Coral Jewellery Museum
Naples is the seat of the Archdiocese of Naples
, and the Catholic faith
is highly important to the populace; there are hundreds of churches in the city. The Cathedral of Naples is the city's premier place of worship; each year on September 19, it hosts the Miracle of Saint Januarius
, the city's patron saint
. During the miracle, which thousands of Neapolitans flock to witness, the dried blood of Januarius is said to turn to liquid when brought close to holy relic
s said to be of his body: this is one of Naples' most important and longstanding religious traditions. Below is a selective list of some of the best-known churches, chapels, monastery complexes and religious structures in Naples:
Aside from the main piazza
, Naples has two other major public squares: the Piazza Dante
and the Piazza dei Martiri. The latter originally had only a memorial to religious martyr
s, but in 1866, after the Italian unification
, four lions were added, representing the four rebellions against the Bourbons.
The San Gennaro dei Poveri
is a Renaissance-era hospital
for the poor, erected by the Spanish in 1667. It was the forerunner of a much more ambitious project, the Bourbon Hospice for the Poor
started by Charles III
. This was for the destitute and ill of the city; it also provided a self-sufficient community where the poor would live and work. Though a notable landmark, it is no longer a functioning hospital.
lies is a series of caves and structures created by centuries of mining, and the city rests atop a major geothermal zone. Subterranean Naples consists of old Greco-Roman reservoirs dug out from the soft tufo stone
on which, and from which, the city is built. Approximately one kilometer of the many kilometers of tunnels under the city can be visited from the Napoli Sotteranea, situated in the historic centre of the city in Via dei Tribunali
. There are also large catacombs
in and around the city, and other landmarks such as the Piscina Mirabilis
, the main cistern serving the Bay of Naples during Roman times. This system of tunnels and cisterns covers most of the city and lies approximately thirty metres below ground level. Moisture levels are around 70%. During World War II
, these tunnels were used as air-raid shelter
s, and there are inscriptions in the walls depicting the suffering endured by the refugees of that era.
in Naples, the most prominent is the Villa Comunale
, previously known as the Royal Garden, as its creation was ordered by Bourbon king Ferdinand IV
in the 1780s. Another important park is Parco Virgiliano
, which looks towards the tiny volcanic islet of Nisida
; beyond Nisida lie Procida
and Ischia
. Parco Virgiliano was named after Virgil
, the classical Roman poet
who is thought to be entombed
nearby.
Naples is noted for its numerous stately villa
s, such as the Neoclassical
Villa Floridiana
, built in 1816.
(which was used as the set for much of the film Il Postino
), Capri
and Ischia
can all be reached from Naples by hydrofoil
s and ferries. Sorrento
and the Amalfi Coast
are situated south of the city, while the Roman ruins of Pompeii
, Herculaneum
and Stabiae
, which were destroyed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
in 79 AD, are also visible nearby. Naples lies near the volcanic area known as the Campi Flegrei
and the port towns of Pozzuoli
and Baia
, which were part of a vast Roman naval facility, Portus Julius
.
and the volcanic area known as the Campi Flegrei
(en
: Phlegraean Fields).
) of Naples are listed below. For administrative purposes, these thirty neighbourhoods are grouped together into ten governmental community boards.
2. Bagnoli
3. Posillipo
4. Fuorigrotta
5. Soccavo
6. Chiaiano
7. Arenella
8. Vomero
9. Chiaia
10. San Ferdinando
|width="30"|
|valign="top"|
11. Montecalvario
12. San Giuseppe
13. Avvocata
14. Porto
15. Pendino
16. San Lorenzo
17. Mercato
18. Vicaria
19. Stella
20. San Carlo all'Arena
|width="30"|
|valign="top"|
21. Piscinola-Marianella
22. Scampìa
23. Miano
24. Secondigliano
25. S.Pietro a Patierno
26. Poggioreale
27. Zona Industriale
28. San Giovanni a Teduccio
29. Barra
30. Ponticelli
|width="30"|
|valign="top"|
|}
Gulf of Naples
The Gulf of Naples is a c. 15 km wide gulf located in the south western coast of Italy, . It opens to the west into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered on the north by the cities of Naples and Pozzuoli, on the east by Mount Vesuvius, and on the south by the Sorrentine Peninsula and the main...
. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...
and the Phlegraean Fields
Campi Flegrei
The Phlegraean Fields, also known as Campi Flegrei, , is a large wide caldera situated to the west of Naples, Italy. It was declared a regional park in 2003. Lying mostly underwater, the area comprises 24 craters and volcanic edifices. Hydrothermal activity can be observed at Lucrino, Agnano and...
, it is the capital of the region of Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
and of the province of Naples
Province of Naples
The Province of Naples is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital city is Naples, within the province there are 92 Comuni of the Province of Naples.-Demographics:...
. Naples is known internationally for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music, and gastronomy, and has played an important political and cultural role both within and beyond the Italian peninsula throughout its 2,800-year existence.
Founded around the 9th century BC as a Greek colony, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Originally named Parthenope (Παρθενόπη) and later Neápolis (Νεάπολις – English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: New City), it was among the foremost cities of Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia
Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north...
, playing a key role in the merging of Greek culture into Roman society. Naples eventually became part of the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
as a major cultural center; the prominent Latin poet, Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
, received part of his education in the city and later resided in its environs. As a microcosm of European history, the city has witnessed the rise and fall of numerous civilizations, each leaving traces in its art and architecture. Although many Greek and Roman ruins are in evidence in Naples and its surroundings, the most prominent forms of architecture now visible derive from the Medieval
Medieval architecture
Medieval architecture is a term used to represent various forms of architecture common in Medieval Europe.-Characteristics:-Religious architecture:...
, Renaissance
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
, and Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
periods.
Between 1282 and 1816, Naples was the capital city of a kingdom that bore its name – the Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
. Then, in union with Sicily
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...
, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies even before formally coming into being, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states before Italian unification...
until the unification
Italian unification
Italian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century...
of Italy in 1861. During the Neapolitan War
Neapolitan War
The Neapolitan War was a conflict between the Napoleonic Kingdom of Naples and the Austrian Empire. It started on 15 March 1815 when Joachim Murat declared war on Austria and ended on 20 May 1815 with the signing of the Treaty of Casalanza...
of 1815, Naples strongly promoted Italian unification.
Naples' historic city centre is the largest in Europe, covering 1700 hectares (4,200.8 acre), and is listed by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
as a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
. Over the course of its long history, Naples has been the capital of duchies, kingdoms, and one Empire
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
, and has consistently been a major cultural center with a global sphere of influence, particularly during the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
and Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
eras. In the immediate vicinity of Naples are numerous sites of great cultural and historical significance, including the Palace of Caserta and the Roman ruins of Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
, and Herculaneum
Herculaneum
Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in AD 79, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano, in the Italian region of Campania in the shadow of Mt...
.
As of 2011, Naples has a population of around 1 million people within its administrative limits. According to different sources, its metropolitan area
Naples metropolitan area
The Naples metropolitan area is the urban agglomeration centred around the city of Naples in Campania, Italy.The total population of Province of Naples is 3,092,859, the third metropolitan area in Italy by population, 969,061 of this coincides with the city of Naples...
is either the second most populated metropolitan area in Italy after Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
(with 4,434,136 inhabitants according to Svimez Data) or the third (with 3.1 million inhabitants according to OECD). In addition, Naples is Italy's most densely populated major city, with over 8,000 people per square kilometre.
Naples is the fourth-richest city in Italy, after Milan, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. It is the world's 91st richest city by purchasing power
Purchasing power parity
In economics, purchasing power parity is a condition between countries where an amount of money has the same purchasing power in different countries. The prices of the goods between the countries would only reflect the exchange rates...
, with a GDP of $43 billion, surpassing the economies of Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
and Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
. The port of Naples
Port of Naples
Port of Naples is one of the largest Italian seaports and one of the largest seaports in the Mediterranean Sea basin having an annual traffic capacity of around 25 million tons of cargo and 500,000 TEU's....
is one of the most important in Europe, and has the world's second-highest level of passenger flow, after the port of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. Although the city has experienced remarkable economic growth in recent decades, and unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
levels in the city and surrounding Campania have decreased since 1999, Naples is still characterized by political and economic corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
and a thriving black market empire. Numerous major Italian companies, such as MSC Cruises, are headquartered in the city, while the Bagnoli
Bagnoli
Bagnoli is a western seaside district of Naples, Italy, well beyond the confines of the original city. It is beyond Cape Posillipo and, thus, looking on the coast of the Bay of Pozzuoli.- History :...
district hosts a major NATO military base. The city also hosts the SRM Institution for Economic Research and the OPE Company and Study Centre. Naples is a full member of the Eurocities
Eurocities
EUROCITIES is the network of major European cities.The EUROCITIES network was founded in 1986 by mayors from six large European cities:* Barcelona, Spain* Birmingham, United Kingdom* Frankfurt, Germany* Lyon, France* Milan, Italy* Rotterdam, Netherlands...
network of European cities. The city was selected to become the headquarters of the European institution Acp/Ue and as a City of Literature
City of Literature
UNESCO's City of Literature program is part of its Creative Cities Network which was launched in 2004. The Network was born out of UNESCO's Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity initiative which was created in 2002...
by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
's Creative Cities Network
Creative Cities Network
Not to be confused with:*Creative Cities, an international European project designed and managed by the British Council.*Creative city, an urban planning concept.*Creative City, an urban development project in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates....
. The Villa Rosebery
Villa Rosebery
The Villa Rosebery is one of the three official residences of the President of the Italian Republic ....
, one of three official residences of the President of Italy, can be found in the city's Posillipo
Posillipo
Posillipo is a residential quarter of Naples, southern Italy, located along the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples; it is called Pusilleco in the Neapolitan language.-Geography:...
district.
Naples was the most-bombed
Bombing of Naples in World War II
Naples was the most bombed Italian city in World War II. There were about 200 air strikes between 1940 to 1944 by Allied forces, with 180 raids on the city in 1943...
Italian city during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Much of the city's 20th-century periphery was constructed under Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's fascist government, and during reconstruction efforts after World War II. In recent decades, Naples has constructed a large business district, the Centro Direzionale
Centro Direzionale
The Centro Direzionale is a service center in Naples, Italy. The district is mainly devoted to business.The project of the Centro Direzionale dates back to 1964. It was designed in 1982 by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange....
, and has developed an advanced infrastructure, including an Alta Velocità
Treno Alta Velocità
Treno Alta Velocità SpA is special purpose entity owned by RFI for the planning and construction of a high-speed network in Italy.-Purpose:...
high-speed rail link to Rome, and an expanded subway network, which is planned to eventually cover half of the region. The city will host the 63rd International Astronautical Congress
International Astronautical Congress
Every year, the International Astronautical Federation together with the International Academy of Astronautics and the International Institute of Space Law , holds the International Astronautical Congress which is hosted by one of the national society members of the IAF.They are an annual meeting...
in October 2012, and will also be the host of the 2013 Universal Forum of Cultures
Universal Forum of Cultures
The Universal Forum of Cultures is an international cultural event intended to take place every three years. This event is organized by Forum Foundation....
.
Culinarily, the city is synonymous with pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
, which originated in the city. Neapolitan music
Music of Naples
Naples has played an important and vibrant role over the centuries not just in the music of Italy, but in the general history of western European musical traditions. This influence extends from the early music conservatories in the 16th century through the music of Alessandro Scarlatti during the...
has furthermore been highly influential, credited with the invention of the romantic guitar
Romantic guitar
The early romantic guitar is the guitar of the Classical and Romantic period of music, showing remarkable consistency in the instrument from 1790 to 1830. By this time guitars used single strings of six or more...
and the mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, as well as notable contributions to opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and folk standards
Canzone Napoletana
Canzone Napoletana, sometimes referred to as Neapolitan song, is a generic term for a traditional form of music sung in the Neapolitan language, ordinarily for the male voice singing solo, although well-represented by female soloists as well, and expressed in familiar genres such as the lover's...
. Popular characters and historical figures who have come to symbolise the city include Januarius
Januarius
Januarius, Bishop of Naples, is a martyr saint of the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, later sources and legends claim that he died during the Diocletianic Persecution, which ended with Diocletian's retirement in...
, the patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of Naples, the comic figure Pulcinella
Pulcinella
Pulcinella, ; often called Punch or Punchinello in English, Polichinelle in French, is a classical character that originated in the commedia dell'arte of the 17th century and became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry....
, and the Siren
Siren
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous mermaid like creatures, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on an island called Sirenum scopuli...
s from the Greek epic poem
Homeric Greek
Homeric Greek is the form of the Greek language that was used by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey. It is an archaic version of Ionic Greek, with admixtures from certain other dialects, such as Aeolic Greek. It later served as the basis of Epic Greek, the language of epic poetry, typically in...
the Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
.
Greek birth, Roman acquisition
Magna Graecia
Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north...
, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Originally named Parthenope (Παρθενόπη) and later Neápolis (Νεάπολις – Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
for "New City"), it was among the foremost cities of Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia
Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north...
, playing a key role in the transmission of Greek culture to Roman society. Naples eventually became part of the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
as a major cultural centre; the premiere Latin poet, Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
, received part of his education there and later resided in its environs.
The new city grew thanks to the influence of the powerful Greek city-state
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
of Siracusa, and at some point the new and old cities on the Gulf of Naples
Gulf of Naples
The Gulf of Naples is a c. 15 km wide gulf located in the south western coast of Italy, . It opens to the west into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered on the north by the cities of Naples and Pozzuoli, on the east by Mount Vesuvius, and on the south by the Sorrentine Peninsula and the main...
merged into one. The city became an ally of the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
against Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
; the strong walls surrounding Neápolis stopped the invading forces of the Carthaginian general Hannibal from entering. During the Samnite Wars
Samnite Wars
The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars, between the early Roman Republic and the tribes of Samnium, extended over half a century, involving almost all the states of Italy, and ended in Roman domination of the Samnites...
, the city, now a bustling centre of trade, was captured
Capture of Neapolis
-The Spark to the Second Samnite War:The Romans confronted the Samnites in the middle of the Liris river valley, sparking the Second, or Great Samnite War , which lasted twenty years....
by the Samnites
Samnium
Samnium is a Latin exonym for a region of south or south and central Italy in Roman times. The name survives in Italian today, but today's territory comprising it is only a small portion of what it once was. The populations of Samnium were called Samnites by the Romans...
; however, the Romans soon captured the city from them and made it a Roman colony
Colonies in antiquity
Colonies in antiquity were city-states founded from a mother-city—its "metropolis"—, not from a territory-at-large. Bonds between a colony and its metropolis remained often close, and took specific forms...
.
The city was greatly respected by the Romans as a paragon of Hellenistic culture
Hellenistic civilization
Hellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BCE to about 146 BCE...
. During the Roman era, the people of Naples maintained their Greek language
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and customs, while the city was expanded with elegant Roman villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
s, aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
s, and public baths
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
. Landmarks such as the Temple of Dioscures
Castor and Pollux
In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri . Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who visited Leda in the guise of a swan...
were built, and many powerful emperors chose to holiday in the city, including Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
and Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
.
It was during this period that Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
first arrived in Naples; the apostles
Apostle (Christian)
The term apostle is derived from Classical Greek ἀπόστολος , meaning one who is sent away, from στέλλω + από . The literal meaning in English is therefore an "emissary", from the Latin mitto + ex...
Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
and Paul are said to have preached in the city. St. Januarius
Januarius
Januarius, Bishop of Naples, is a martyr saint of the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, later sources and legends claim that he died during the Diocletianic Persecution, which ended with Diocletian's retirement in...
, who would become Naples' patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
, was martyred there in the 4th century AD.
The last emperor of the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
, Romulus Augustulus, was exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
d to Naples by the Germanic king Odoacer
Odoacer
Flavius Odoacer , also known as Flavius Odovacer, was the first King of Italy. His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented himself as the client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in 480, of the...
in the 5th century AD.
Duchy of Naples
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
, Naples was captured by the Ostrogoths, a Germanic people
East Germanic tribes
The Germanic tribes referred to as East Germanic constitute a wave of migrants who may have moved from Scandinavia into the area between the Oder and Vistula rivers between the years 600 and 300 BC. Later they went to the south...
, and incorporated into the Ostrogothic Kingdom
Ostrogothic Kingdom
The Kingdom established by the Ostrogoths in Italy and neighbouring areas lasted from 493 to 553. In Italy the Ostrogoths replaced Odoacer, the de facto ruler of Italy who had deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 476. The Gothic kingdom reached its zenith under the rule of its...
. However, Belisarius
Belisarius
Flavius Belisarius was a general of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinian's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Mediterranean territory of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century previously....
of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
recaptured Naples in 536, after entering the city via the aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
.
As the Gothic Wars of the mid-6th century wore on, Totila
Totila
Totila, original name Baduila was King of the Ostrogoths from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the territories in Italy that the Eastern Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540.A relative of...
briefly took the city for the Ostrogoths in 543, before, finally, the Battle of Mons Lactarius
Battle of Mons Lactarius
The Battle of Mons Lactarius took place in 552 or 553 in the course the Gothic War waged on behalf of Justinian I against the Ostrogoths in Italy....
on the slopes of Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...
left the Byzantines in control of the area. Naples was expected to keep in contact with the Exarchate of Ravenna
Exarchate of Ravenna
The Exarchate of Ravenna or of Italy was a centre of Byzantine power in Italy, from the end of the 6th century to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the Lombards.-Introduction:...
, which was the centre of Byzantine power on the Italian peninsula
Italian Peninsula
The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula is one of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe , spanning from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale...
.
After the exarch
Exarch
In the Byzantine Empire, an exarch was governor with extended authority of a province at some remove from the capital Constantinople. The prevailing situation frequently involved him in military operations....
ate fell, a Duchy of Naples
Duchy of Naples
The Duchy of Naples began as a Byzantine province that was constituted in the seventh century, in the reduced coastal lands that the Lombards had not conquered during their invasion of Italy in the sixth century...
was created. Although Naples' Greco-Roman
Greco-Roman world
The Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman culture, or the term Greco-Roman , when used as an adjective, as understood by modern scholars and writers, refers to those geographical regions and countries that culturally were directly, protractedly and intimately influenced by the language, culture,...
culture endured, it eventually switched allegiance from Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
under Duke Stephen II
Stephen II of Naples
Stephen II was the duke of Niples during an important transitionary period in its history, from 755 to his death. He was styled by nipleseminentissimus consul and was the leader of the niples local aristocracy when he was appointed by the patrician of Sicily. By the end of his reign, through a...
, putting it under papal
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
suzerainty
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
by 763.
The years between 818 and 832 were tumultuous in regard to Naples' relations with the Byzantine Emperor, with numerous local pretenders feuding for possession of the ducal throne. Theoctistus
Theoctistus of Naples
Theoctistus was the Duke of Naples during a very confused period in her history. His reign began sometime around 818 and lasted until 821.On the death of Anthimus, a war of succession broke out in Naples on account of the number of pretenders to the ducal throne...
was appointed without imperial approval; this was later revoked and Theodore II took his place. However, the disgruntled general populace chased him from the city, and instead elected Stephen III
Stephen III of Naples
Stephen III was the duke of Naples during an important transitionary period in its history, from 821 to his death. By the end of his reign, Naples was completely independent....
, a man who minted coins with his own initials, rather than those of the Byzantine Emperor. Naples gained complete independence by 840.
The duchy was under the direct control of the Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
for a brief period, after the capture by Pandulf IV
Pandulf IV of Capua
Pandulf IV was the Prince of Capua on three separate occasions.From February 1016 to 1022 he ruled in association with his cousin Pandulf II. In 1018, the Byzantine catapan Boiannes destroyed the Lombard army of Melus of Bari and his Norman allies at Cannae...
of the Principality of Capua
Principality of Capua
The Principality of Capua was a Lombard state in Southern Italy, usually de facto independent, but under the varying suzerainty of Western and Eastern Roman Empires. It was originally a gastaldate, then a county, within the principality of Salerno....
, a long-term rival of Naples; however, this regime lasted only three years before the Greco-Roman-influenced dukes were reinstated. By the 11th century, Naples had begun to hire Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
merecenaries, the Christian descendants of the Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
s, to battle their rivals; Duke Sergius IV
Sergius IV of Naples
Sergius IV was Duke of Naples from 1002 to 1036. He was one of the prime catalysts in the growth of Norman power in the Mezzogiorno in the first half of the eleventh century...
hired Rainulf Drengot
Rainulf Drengot
Rainulf Drengot was a Norman adventurer and the first count of Aversa .When one of Rainulf's numerous brothers, Osmond, was exiled by Richard I of Normandy for the murder of one of his kin, Rainulf, Osmond, and their brothers Gilbert Buatère, Asclettin , and Raulf went on a pilgrimage to the...
to wage war on Capua for him.
By 1137, the Normans had attained great influence in Italy, controlling previously independent principalities and duchies such as Capua
Principality of Capua
The Principality of Capua was a Lombard state in Southern Italy, usually de facto independent, but under the varying suzerainty of Western and Eastern Roman Empires. It was originally a gastaldate, then a county, within the principality of Salerno....
, Benevento
Duchy of Benevento
The Duchy and later Principality of Benevento was the southernmost Lombard duchy in medieval Italy, centred on Benevento, a city central in the Mezzogiorno. Owing to the Ducatus Romanus of the popes, which cut it off from the rest of Lombard Italy, Benevento was from the first practically...
, Salerno
Principality of Salerno
The Lombard Principality of Salerno was a South Italian state, centered on the port city of Salerno, formed in 851 out of the Principality of Benevento after a decade-long civil war....
, Amalfi
Duchy of Amalfi
The Duchy of Amalfi or the Republic of Amalfi was a de facto independent state centred on the Southern Italian city of Amalfi during the 10th and 11th centuries. The city and its territory were originally part of the larger ducatus Neapolitanus, governed by a patrician, but it extracted itself...
, Sorrento
Duchy of Sorrento
The Duchy of Sorrento was a small peninsular principality of the Early Middle Ages centred on the Italian city of Sorrento.Originally, Sorrento was part of the Byzantine Duchy of Naples in the Dark Ages, but in the ninth century, along with Amalfi and Gaeta, it broke away from the Neapolitans to...
and Gaeta
Duchy of Gaeta
The Duchy of Gaeta was an early medieval state centred on the coastal South Italian city of Gaeta. It began in the early ninth century as the local community began to grow autonomous as Byzantine power lagged in the Mediterranean and the peninsula thanks to Lombard and Saracen incursions.Our...
; it was in this year that Naples, the last independent duchy in the southern part of the peninsula, came under Norman control. The last ruling duke of the duchy, Sergius VII
Sergius VII of Naples
Sergius VII was the thirty-ninth and last duke of Naples. He succeeded his father John VI on the Neapolitan throne in 1120 or 1123 at a time when Roger II of Sicily was rising rapidly in power...
, was forced to surrender to Roger II
Roger II of Sicily
Roger II was King of Sicily, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, later became Duke of Apulia and Calabria , then King of Sicily...
, who had proclaimed himself King of Sicily seven years earlier; Naples thus joined the Kingdom of Sicily
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...
, where Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
was the capital.
Norman to Angevin
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...
went to the Hohenstaufens, a German royal house
Royal House
A royal house or royal dynasty consists of at least one, but usually more monarchs who are related to one another, as well as their non-reigning descendants and spouses. Monarchs of the same realm who are not related to one another are usually deemed to belong to different houses, and each house is...
. The University of Naples Federico II
University of Naples Federico II
The University of Naples Federico II is a university located in Naples, Italy. It was founded in 1224 and is organized into 13 faculties. It is the world's oldest state university and one of the oldest academic institutions in continuous operation...
, the oldest state university in the world, was founded by Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
, making Naples the intellectual centre of the kingdom. Conflict between the Hohenstaufens and the Papacy
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
led in 1266 to Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV , born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was pope from June 25, 1243 until his death in 1254.-Early life:...
crowning the Angevin
Capetian House of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...
duke Charles I King of Sicily: Charles officially moved the capital from Palermo to Naples, where he resided at the Castel Nuovo
Castel Nuovo
Castel Nuovo , often called Maschio Angioino, is a medieval castle in the city of Naples, southern Italy. It is the main symbol of the architecture of the city...
. During this period, many examples of Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
sprang up around Naples, including the Naples Cathedral, which remains the city's main church.
In 1282, after the Sicilian Vespers
Sicilian Vespers
The Sicilian Vespers is the name given to the successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out on the Easter of 1282 against the rule of the French/Angevin king Charles I, who had ruled the Kingdom of Sicily since 1266. Within six weeks three thousand French men and women were slain by...
, the Kingdom of Sicily was split in half. The Angevin Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
included the southern part of the Italian peninsula, while the island of Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
became the Aragonese
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
Kingdom of Sicily
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...
. Wars between the competing dynasties continued until the Peace of Caltabellotta
Peace of Caltabellotta
The Peace of Caltabellotta, signed on 31 August, 1302, was the last of a series of treaties, including those of Tarascon and Anagni, designed to end the conflict between the Houses of Anjou and Barcelona for ascendancy in the Mediterranean and especially Sicily and the Mezzogiorno.The peace divided...
in 1302, which saw Frederick III
Frederick III of Sicily
Frederick II was the regent and subsequently King of Sicily from 1295 until his death. He was the third son of Peter III of Aragon and served in the War of the Sicilian Vespers on behalf of his father and brothers, Alfonso and James...
recognized as king of Sicily, while Charles II
Charles II of Naples
Charles II, known as "the Lame" was King of Naples, King of Albania, Prince of Salerno, Prince of Achaea and Count of Anjou.-Biography:...
was recognised as king of Naples by Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII , born Benedetto Gaetani, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1294 to 1303. Today, Boniface VIII is probably best remembered for his feuds with Dante, who placed him in the Eighth circle of Hell in his Divina Commedia, among the Simonists.- Biography :Gaetani was born in 1235 in...
. Despite the split, Naples grew in importance, attracting Pisan
Republic of Pisa
The Republic of Pisa was a de facto independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa during the late tenth and eleventh centuries. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century before being surpassed and...
and Genoese
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
merchants, Tuscan
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
bankers, and some of the most prominent Renaissance
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
artists of the time, such as Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
, Petrarch
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
and Giotto
Giotto di Bondone
Giotto di Bondone , better known simply as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late Middle Ages...
. During the 14th century, The Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
Angevin king Louis the Great captured the city several times. Alfonso I
Alfonso V of Aragon
Alfonso the Magnanimous KG was the King of Aragon , Valencia , Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica , and Sicily and Count of Barcelona from 1416 and King of Naples from 1442 until his death...
conquered Naples after his victory against the last Angevin
Capetian House of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...
king, René, and Naples was unified with Sicily again for a brief period.
Aragonese to Bourbon
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
under Ferrante
Ferdinand I of Naples
Ferdinand I , also called Don Ferrante, was the King of Naples from 1458 to 1494. He was the natural son of Alfonso V of Aragon by Giraldona Carlino.-Biography:...
. The new dynasty enhanced Naples' commercial standing by establishing relations with the Iberian peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
. Naples also became a centre of the Renaissance, with artists such as Laurana
Francesco Laurana
Francesco Laurana, also known as Francesco de la Vrana was a Dalmatian-born sculptor and medallist. He is considered as both Croatian and Italian sculptor.-Life and works:...
, da Messina
Antonello da Messina
Antonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio was an Italian painter from Messina, Sicily, active during the Italian Renaissance...
, Sannazzaro
Jacopo Sannazaro
Jacopo Sannazaro was an Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist from Naples.He wrote easily in Latin, in Italian and in Neapolitan, but is best remembered for his humanist classic Arcadia, a masterwork that illustrated the possibilities of poetical prose in Italian, and instituted the theme of...
and Poliziano
Poliziano
Angelo Ambrogini, commonly known by his nickname, anglicized as Politian, Italian Poliziano, Latin Politianus was an Italian Renaissance classical scholar and poet, one of the revivers of Humanist Latin...
arriving in the city. In 1501, Naples came under direct rule from France
Ancien Régime in France
The Ancien Régime refers primarily to the aristocratic, social and political system established in France from the 15th century to the 18th century under the late Valois and Bourbon dynasties...
under Louis XII
Louis XII of France
Louis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...
, with the Neapolitan king Frederick
Frederick IV of Naples
Frederick IV , sometimes known as Frederick I or Federico d'Aragona, was the last King of Naples of the House of Trastámara, ruling from 1496 to 1501...
being taken as a prisoner to France; however, this state of affairs did not last long, as Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
won Naples from the French at the Battle of Garigliano
Battle of Garigliano (1503)
The Battle of Garigliano was fought on December 29, 1503 between a Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and a French army commanded by Ludovico II, Marquis of Saluzzo.-Preliminary phase:...
in 1503.
Following the Spanish victory, Naples became part of the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
, and remained so throughout the Spanish Habsburg
Habsburg Spain
Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries , when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty...
period. The Spanish sent viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
s to Naples to directly deal with local issues: the most important of these viceroys was Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, who was responsible for considerable social, economic and urban reforms in the city; he also supported the activities of the Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
.
During this period, Naples became Europe's second-largest city, second only to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The city was a cultural powerhouse during the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
era, being home to artists such as Caravaggio
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
, Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa was an Italian Baroque painter, poet and printmaker, active in Naples, Rome and Florence. As a painter, he is best known as an "unorthodox and extravagant" and a "perpetual rebel" proto-Romantic.-Early life:...
and Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
, philosophers such as Bernardino Telesio
Bernardino Telesio
Bernardino Telesio was an Italian philosopher and natural scientist.While his natural theories were later disproven, his emphasis on observation made him the "first of the moderns" who eventually developed thescientific method.-Biography:...
, Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno , born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in proposing that the Sun was essentially a star, and moreover, that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited...
, Tommaso Campanella
Tommaso Campanella
Tommaso Campanella OP , baptized Giovanni Domenico Campanella, was an Italian philosopher, theologian, astrologer, and poet.-Biography:...
and Giambattista Vico
Giambattista Vico
Giovanni Battista ' Vico or Vigo was an Italian political philosopher, rhetorician, historian, and jurist....
, and writers such as Giambattista Marino. A revolution led by the local fisherman Masaniello
Masaniello
Masaniello was a Neapolitan fisherman, who became leader of the revolt against Spanish Habsburg rule in Naples in 1647.-Name and place of birth:...
saw the creation of a brief independent Neapolitan Republic
Neapolitan Republic (1647)
The Neapolitan Republic was a Republic created in Naples, which lasted from 22 October 1647 to 5 April 1648. It began after the revolt led by Masaniello and Giulio Genoino against the Spanish viceroys....
in 1647, though this lasted only a few months before Spanish rule was reasserted. In 1656, an outbreak of bubonic plague
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
killed about half of Naples' 300,000 inhabitants.
In 1714, Spanish rule over Naples came to an end as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
; the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n Charles VI
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
ruled the city from Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
through viceroys of his own. However, the War of the Polish Succession
War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession was a major European war for princes' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests...
saw the Spanish regain Sicily and Naples as part of a personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
, with the 1738 Treaty of Vienna
Treaty of Vienna (1738)
The Treaty of Vienna or Peace of Vienna was signed on November 18, 1738. It ended the War of the Polish Succession. By the terms of the treaty, Stanisław Leszczyński renounced his claim on the Polish throne and recognized Augustus III, Duke of Saxony. As compensation he received instead the...
recognising the two polities as independent under a cadet branch of the Spanish Bourbons
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
.
During the time of Ferdinand IV
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
, the effects of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
were felt in Naples: Horatio Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
, an ally of the Bourbons, even arrived in the city in 1798 to warn against the French republicans. Ferdinand was forced to retreat and fled to Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, where he was protected by a British fleet
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. However, Naples' lower class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
lazzaroni
Naples Lazzaroni
The Naples Lazzaroni is used as a generic term to include various kinds of the lower class people in Naples, Italy. Described as "street people under a chief", they were often depicted as "beggars"—which some actually were, while others subsisted partly by service as messengers, porters, etc.No...
were strongly pious
Piety
In spiritual terminology, piety is a virtue that can mean religious devotion, spirituality, or a combination of both. A common element in most conceptions of piety is humility.- Etymology :...
and royalist
Monarchism
Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy as a form of government in a nation. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government out of principle, independent from the person, the Monarch.In this system, the Monarch may be the...
, favouring the Bourbons; in the mêlée that followed, they fought the Neapolitan pro-Republican
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
aristocracy, causing a civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
.
Eventually, the Republicans conquered Castel Sant'Elmo
Sant'Elmo
Sant'Elmo is the name of both a hill and a fortress in Naples, located near the Certosa di San Martino. Together, the structures overlook Naples and are the most visible landmarks in the city...
and proclaimed a Parthenopaean Republic
Parthenopaean Republic
The Parthenopean Republic was a French-supported republic in the territory of the Kingdom of Naples, formed during the French Revolutionary Wars after King Ferdinand IV fled before advancing French troops...
, secured by the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
. A counter-revolutionary religious army of lazzaroni known as the sanfedisti
Sanfedismo
Sanfedismo was a popular anti-Republican movement, organized by Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, which mobilized peasants of the Papal States against the Parthenopaean Republic in 1799, its aims culminating in the restoration of the Bourbon Kingdom of Naples under Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies...
under Fabrizio Ruffo
Fabrizio Ruffo
Fabrizio Ruffo was an Italian cardinal and politician, who led the popular anti-republican Sanfedismo movement .-Biography:...
was raised; they met with great success, and the French were forced to surrender the Neapolitan castles, with their fleet sailing back to Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
.
Ferdinand IV was restored as king; however, after only seven years Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
conquered the kingdom and installed Bonapartist kings, including his brother Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...
. With the help of the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
and its allies, the Bonapartists were defeated in the Neapolitan War
Neapolitan War
The Neapolitan War was a conflict between the Napoleonic Kingdom of Naples and the Austrian Empire. It started on 15 March 1815 when Joachim Murat declared war on Austria and ended on 20 May 1815 with the signing of the Treaty of Casalanza...
, and Ferdinand IV once again regained the throne and the kingdom. The Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
in 1815 saw the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily combined to form the Two Sicilies
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies even before formally coming into being, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states before Italian unification...
, with Naples as the capital city. In 1839, Naples became the first city on the Italian peninsula to have a railway, with the construction of the Naples–Portici line.
Italian unification and the present day
After the Expedition of the ThousandExpedition of the Thousand
The Expedition of the Thousand was a military campaign led by the revolutionary general Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860. A force of volunteers defeated the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, leading to its dissolution and annexation by the Kingdom of Sardinia, an important step in the creation of a newly...
led by Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
, which culminated in the controversial Siege of Gaeta
Siege of Gaeta (1860)
The Siege of Gaeta was the concluding event of the war between the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. It started on November 5, 1860 and ended February 13, 1861, and took place in Gaeta, in today's Southern Lazio .-Background:...
, Naples became part of the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
in 1861 as part of the Italian unification
Italian unification
Italian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century...
, ending the era of Bourbon rule. The kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies even before formally coming into being, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states before Italian unification...
had been wealthy, and 80 million ducat
Ducat
The ducat is a gold coin that was used as a trade coin throughout Europe before World War I. Its weight is 3.4909 grams of .986 gold, which is 0.1107 troy ounce, actual gold weight...
s were taken from the old kingdom's banks as a contribution to the new Italian treasury
Treasury
A treasury is either*A government department related to finance and taxation.*A place where currency or precious items is/are kept....
. The economy of the area formerly known as Two Sicilies collapsed, leading to an unprecedented wave of emigration
Italian diaspora
The term Italian diaspora refers to the large-scale migration of Italians away from Italy in the period roughly beginning with the unification of Italy in 1861 and ending with the Italian economic miracle in the 1960s...
, with an estimated 4 million people emigrating from the Naples area between 1876 and 1913.
In 1884, Naples fell victim to a major cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
, caused largely by the city's poor sewerage
Sewerage
Sewerage refers to the infrastructure that conveys sewage. It encompasses receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, screening chambers, etc. of the sanitary sewer...
infrastructure. Government measures to improve sanitary conditions in the Neapolitan slums in 1885 proved largely ineffective.
During the early 20th century, efforts to industrialise the city were hampered by corruption and a lack of infrastructure. Facing a slumping economic situation, many poorer Neapolitans emigrated northwards, or headed overseas to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
Naples was the most-bombed
Bombing of Naples in World War II
Naples was the most bombed Italian city in World War II. There were about 200 air strikes between 1940 to 1944 by Allied forces, with 180 raids on the city in 1943...
Italian city of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Though Neapolitans did not rebel under Italian fascism
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
, Naples was the first Italian city to rise up against German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
military occupation
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
; the city was completely freed by October 1, 1943. The symbol of the rebirth of Naples was the rebuilding of the church of Santa Chiara
Santa Chiara (Naples)
Santa Chiara is a religious complex in Naples, southern Italy, that includes the Church of Santa Chiara, a monastery, tombs and an archeological museum.-Architecture:...
, which had been destroyed in a United States Army Air Corps
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
bombing raid.
Special funding from the Italian government's Fund for the South
Cassa per il Mezzogiorno
The Cassa del Mezzogiorno was a public effort by the government of Italy to stimulate economic growth and development in the less developed southern regions of Italy. It was established in 1950 primarily to construct public works and infrastructure projects, and to provide credit subsidies and...
from 1950 to 1984 helped the local economy to improve somewhat, with city landmarks such as the Piazza del Plebiscito
Piazza del Plebiscito
Piazza Plebiscito is one of the largest squares in Naples. It is named for the plebiscite taken on October 2 in 1860 that brought Naples into the unified Kingdom of Italy under the House of Savoy...
being renovated. However, high unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
and waste management problems
Naples waste management issue
The Naples waste management crisis was a series of events surrounding the lack of waste collection in the city of Naples that peaked in the summer of 2008, but carries on to the present day.-Background:...
continue to affect Naples; Italian media have attributed the city's waste disposal issues to the activity of the Camorra
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
organised crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
network. In 2007, Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
's government held senior meetings in Naples to demonstrate their intention to solve these problems. However, the late-2000s recession had a severe impact on the city, intensifying its waste-management and unemployment problems. By August 2011, the number of unemployed in the Naples area had risen to 250,000, sparking public protests against the economic situation.
Architecture
- See also, Buildings and structures in Naples
Naples' 2,800-year-history has left it with a wealth of historical buildings and monuments, from medieval castles to classical
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
ruins. The most prominent forms of architecture visible in Naples are the Medieval
Medieval architecture
Medieval architecture is a term used to represent various forms of architecture common in Medieval Europe.-Characteristics:-Religious architecture:...
, Renaissance
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
and Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
styles. The historic centre of Naples is listed by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
as a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
. Naples has a total of 448 historical churches, making it one of the most Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
cities in the world in terms of the number of places of worship.
Piazzas, palaces and castles
- See also, List of palaces in Naples
The main city square or piazza
Piazza
A piazza is a city square in Italy, Malta, along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. The term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza...
of the city is the Piazza del Plebiscito
Piazza del Plebiscito
Piazza Plebiscito is one of the largest squares in Naples. It is named for the plebiscite taken on October 2 in 1860 that brought Naples into the unified Kingdom of Italy under the House of Savoy...
. Its construction was begun by the Bonapartist king Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
and finished by the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
. The piazza bounded on the east by the Royal Palace
Royal Palace (Naples)
The Royal Palace is a palace in Naples, southern Italy. It is one of the four residences used by the Bourbon Kings of Naples during their rule of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies : one is in Caserta, another on the Capodimonte hill overlooking Naples, and the third is in Portici on the slopes of...
and on the west by the church of San Francesco di Paola
San Francesco di Paola (Naples)
San Francesco di Paola is a church in Naples, southern Italy. It is located at the west side of Piazza del Plebiscito, the city's main square....
, with the colonnades extending on both sides. Nearby is the Teatro di San Carlo
Teatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe.Founded by the Bourbon Charles VII of Naples of the Spanish branch of the dynasty, the theatre was inaugurated on 4 November 1737 — the king's name day — with a performance...
, which is the oldest and largest opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
in Italy. Directly across from San Carlo is Galleria Umberto, a shopping centre
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
and social hub.
Naples is well known for its historic castles: the ancient Castel Nuovo
Castel Nuovo
Castel Nuovo , often called Maschio Angioino, is a medieval castle in the city of Naples, southern Italy. It is the main symbol of the architecture of the city...
, also known as Maschio Angioino
Capetian House of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...
, is one of the city's foremost landmarks; it was built during the time of Charles I, the first king of Naples. Castel Nuovo has seen many notable historical events: for example, in 1294, Pope Celestine V
Pope Celestine V
Pope Saint Celestine V, born Pietro Angelerio , also known as Pietro da Morrone was elected pope in the year 1294, by the papal election of 1292–1294, the last non-conclave in the history of the Roman Catholic Church...
resigned as pope in a hall of the castle, and following this Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII , born Benedetto Gaetani, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1294 to 1303. Today, Boniface VIII is probably best remembered for his feuds with Dante, who placed him in the Eighth circle of Hell in his Divina Commedia, among the Simonists.- Biography :Gaetani was born in 1235 in...
was elected pope by the cardinal collegium
Collegium (ancient Rome)
In Ancient Rome, a collegium was any association with a legal personality. Such associations had various functions.-Functioning:...
, before moving to Rome. The castle which Nuovo replaced in importance was the Norman-founded Castel dell'Ovo
Castel dell'Ovo
Castel dell'Ovo is a castle located on the former island of Megaride, now a peninsula, on the gulf of Naples...
(Egg Castle), which was built on the tiny islet
Islet
An islet is a very small island.- Types :As suggested by its origin as islette, an Old French diminutive of "isle", use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability....
of Megarides, where the original Cumae
Cumae
Cumae is an ancient Greek settlement lying to the northwest of Naples in the Italian region of Campania. Cumae was the first Greek colony on the mainland of Italy , and the seat of the Cumaean Sibyl...
an colonists founded the city. The third Neapolitan castle of note is Sant'Elmo
Sant'Elmo
Sant'Elmo is the name of both a hill and a fortress in Naples, located near the Certosa di San Martino. Together, the structures overlook Naples and are the most visible landmarks in the city...
, which was completed in 1329 and is built in the shape of a star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
. During the uprising of Masaniello
Masaniello
Masaniello was a Neapolitan fisherman, who became leader of the revolt against Spanish Habsburg rule in Naples in 1647.-Name and place of birth:...
in 1647, the Spanish took refuge in Sant'Elmo to escape the revolutionaries.
Museums
Naples National Archaeological Museum
The Naples National Archaeological Museum is a museum in Naples, southern Italy, at the northwest corner of the original Greek wall of the city of Neapolis. The museum contains a large collection of Roman artifacts from Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum...
is one of the city's main museums, with one of the most extensive collections of artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
in the world. It also houses many of the antiques unearthed at Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
and Herculaneum
Herculaneum
Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in AD 79, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano, in the Italian region of Campania in the shadow of Mt...
, as well as some artifacts from the Greek
Magna Graecia
Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north...
and Renaissance
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
periods.
Previously a Bourbon palace, now a museum and art gallery, the Museo di Capodimonte
Museo di Capodimonte
The National Museum of Capodimonte is located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italian schools of painting, and some important Ancient Roman...
is another museum of note. The gallery features paintings from the 13th to the 18th century, including major works by Simone Martini
Simone Martini
Simone Martini was an Italian painter born in Siena.He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style....
, Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
, Titian
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
, Caravaggio
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
, El Greco
El Greco
El Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his ethnic Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος .El Greco was born on Crete, which was at...
and many others, Neapolitan School painters Jusepe de Ribera and Luca Giordano
Luca Giordano
Luca Giordano was an Italian late Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain....
. The royal apartments are furnished with antique 18th century furniture and a collection of porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
and majolica
Victorian majolica
Victorian Majolica is earthenware pottery made in 19th century Britain, Europe and the USA with molded surfaces and colorful clear lead glazes.-History:...
from the various royal residences: the famous Capodimonte Porcelain Factory
Capodimonte porcelain
Capodimonte porcelain is porcelain created by the Capodimonte porcelain manufactory, which was established in Naples, Italy in 1743. Capodimonte porcelain was made in direct emulation of Meissen porcelain...
was just adjacent to the palace.
In front of Royal Palace of Naples there is the Galleria Umberto I, which contains the Coral Jewellery Museum
Coral Jewellery Museum
The coral and cameos jewellery museum Ascione was opened in Naples in Galleria Umberto I in one of the most beautiful and attractive places in the city, opposite the opera-Teatro di San Carlo and near the Royal Palace of Naples, enjoying a wonderful view of Vesuvius. Here you can visit also a...
Churches and religious structures
- See also: Churches in Naples and Archdiocese of NaplesRoman Catholic Archdiocese of NaplesThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in southern Italy, the see being in Naples. A Christian community was founded in the 1st century AD and the diocese was raised to the level of an Archdiocese in the 10th century. Two of Archbishops of Naples have...
Naples is the seat of the Archdiocese of Naples
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in southern Italy, the see being in Naples. A Christian community was founded in the 1st century AD and the diocese was raised to the level of an Archdiocese in the 10th century. Two of Archbishops of Naples have...
, and the Catholic faith
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
is highly important to the populace; there are hundreds of churches in the city. The Cathedral of Naples is the city's premier place of worship; each year on September 19, it hosts the Miracle of Saint Januarius
Januarius
Januarius, Bishop of Naples, is a martyr saint of the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, later sources and legends claim that he died during the Diocletianic Persecution, which ended with Diocletian's retirement in...
, the city's patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
. During the miracle, which thousands of Neapolitans flock to witness, the dried blood of Januarius is said to turn to liquid when brought close to holy relic
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
s said to be of his body: this is one of Naples' most important and longstanding religious traditions. Below is a selective list of some of the best-known churches, chapels, monastery complexes and religious structures in Naples:
Other features
Piazza
A piazza is a city square in Italy, Malta, along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. The term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza...
, Naples has two other major public squares: the Piazza Dante
Piazza Dante (Naples)
Piazza Dante is a large public square in Naples, Italy, named after the poet Dante Alighieri. The square is dominated by a 19th-century statue of the poet, sculpted by Tito Angelini.-Overview:...
and the Piazza dei Martiri. The latter originally had only a memorial to religious martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s, but in 1866, after the Italian unification
Italian unification
Italian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century...
, four lions were added, representing the four rebellions against the Bourbons.
The San Gennaro dei Poveri
San Gennaro dei Poveri
San Gennaro dei Poveri is a hospital in Naples in southern Italy.Historically, San Gennaro dei Poveri was the first Hospice for the Poor in Naples. It was founded in 1667 and intended to be a great "poor house", a place for at least some of the city's 10,000 mendicant poor at the time...
is a Renaissance-era hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
for the poor, erected by the Spanish in 1667. It was the forerunner of a much more ambitious project, the Bourbon Hospice for the Poor
Ospedale L'Albergo Reale dei Poveri, Naples
The Albergo Reale dei Poveri is a former public hospital/almshouse in Naples, southern Italy. It was designed by the architect Ferdinando Fuga, and construction was started in 1751. It is five storeys tall and about long. It was popularly known as "Palazzo Fuga"...
started by Charles III
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
. This was for the destitute and ill of the city; it also provided a self-sufficient community where the poor would live and work. Though a notable landmark, it is no longer a functioning hospital.
Beneath Naples
Underneath NaplesNaples underground geothermal zone
Running beneath the Italian city of Naples and the surrounding area is an underground geothermal zone called the "Campi Flegrei" . This geothermal area runs generally from Mount Vesuvius beneath a wide area including Pompei, Herculaneum, Naples and over to Pozzuoli and the coastal Baia area...
lies is a series of caves and structures created by centuries of mining, and the city rests atop a major geothermal zone. Subterranean Naples consists of old Greco-Roman reservoirs dug out from the soft tufo stone
Tuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
on which, and from which, the city is built. Approximately one kilometer of the many kilometers of tunnels under the city can be visited from the Napoli Sotteranea, situated in the historic centre of the city in Via dei Tribunali
Via dei Tribunali (Naples)
Via dei Tribunali is a street in the old historic center of Naples, Italy.It was the main decumanus — that is, the main east-west street—of the ancient Greek and then Roman city of Neapolis, paralleled to the south by the lower decumanus and to the north by the upper decumanus...
. There are also large catacombs
Catacombs of San Gennaro
The Catacombs of San Gennaro are underground paleo-Christian burial sites in Naples, Italy. They are situated in the northern part of the city, on the slope leading up to Capodimonte...
in and around the city, and other landmarks such as the Piscina Mirabilis
Piscina Mirabilis
The Piscina Mirabilis was a freshwater cistern on the Bacoli cliff at the western end of the Gulf of Naples, southern Italy. One of the largest freshwater cisterns built by the ancient Romans, it was situated there in order to provide the Roman western imperial fleet at Portus Julius with drinking...
, the main cistern serving the Bay of Naples during Roman times. This system of tunnels and cisterns covers most of the city and lies approximately thirty metres below ground level. Moisture levels are around 70%. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, these tunnels were used as air-raid shelter
Air-raid shelter
Air-raid shelters, also known as bomb shelters, are structures for the protection of the civil population as well as military personnel against enemy attacks from the air...
s, and there are inscriptions in the walls depicting the suffering endured by the refugees of that era.
Parks, gardens and villas
Of the various public parksPark
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
in Naples, the most prominent is the Villa Comunale
Villa Comunale
The Villa Comunale is the most prominent and visible park in Naples, southern Italy. It was built in the 1780s by King Ferdinand IV on land reclaimed along the coast between the main body of the city and the small port of Mergellina...
, previously known as the Royal Garden, as its creation was ordered by Bourbon king Ferdinand IV
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
in the 1780s. Another important park is Parco Virgiliano
Parco Virgiliano
Parco Vergiliano is a public park in Naples, southern Italy. It is located directly across from the Mergellina railway station and in back of the church of Santa Maria di Piedigrotta....
, which looks towards the tiny volcanic islet of Nisida
Nisida
Nisida is a volcanic islet of the Flegrean Islands archipelago, in southern Italy. It lies at a very short distance from Cape Posillipo, just north of Naples; it is now connected to the mainland by a stone bridge. The islet is almost circular, with a flooded crater forming the bay of Porto Paone on...
; beyond Nisida lie Procida
Procida
Procida is one of the Flegrean Islands off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. The island is between Cape Miseno and the island of Ischia. With its tiny satellite island of Vivara, it is a comune of the province of Naples, in the region of Campania. The population is about ten...
and Ischia
Ischia
Ischia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south and has...
. Parco Virgiliano was named after Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
, the classical Roman poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
who is thought to be entombed
Virgil's tomb
Virgil's tomb is a Roman burial vault dating back to the Augustan age, located in Naples, southern Italy. It is found at the entrance to the old Roman tunnel known as the grotta vecchia or cripta napoletana in the Parco Virgiliano in the Piedigrotta district of the city.Virgil's tomb is located on...
nearby.
Naples is noted for its numerous stately villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
s, such as the Neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
Villa Floridiana
Villa Floridiana
The Villa Floridiana is a large park in the Vomero quarert in Naples, southern Italy. It is overlooks the western Neapolitan suburbs of Chiaia and Mergellina....
, built in 1816.
The wider Naples area
The islands of ProcidaProcida
Procida is one of the Flegrean Islands off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. The island is between Cape Miseno and the island of Ischia. With its tiny satellite island of Vivara, it is a comune of the province of Naples, in the region of Campania. The population is about ten...
(which was used as the set for much of the film Il Postino
Il Postino
Il Postino is a 1994 Italian film directed by Michael Radford. The film was originally released in the U.S. as The Postman, a straight translation of the Italian title...
), Capri
Capri
Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy...
and Ischia
Ischia
Ischia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south and has...
can all be reached from Naples by hydrofoil
Hydrofoil
A hydrofoil is a foil which operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to airfoils.Hydrofoils can be artificial, such as the rudder or keel on a boat, the diving planes on a submarine, a surfboard fin, or occur naturally, as with fish fins, the flippers of aquatic mammals, the...
s and ferries. Sorrento
Sorrento, Italy
Sorrento is a small town in Campania, southern Italy, with some 16,500 inhabitants. It is a popular tourist destination which can be reached easily from Naples and Pompeii, as it lies at the south-eastern end of the Circumvesuviana rail line...
and the Amalfi Coast
Amalfi Coast
-In popular culture:The Amalfi Coast is a popular destination among tourists. It was featured in "Positano," a short story written by American author John Steinbeck in 1953...
are situated south of the city, while the Roman ruins of Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
, Herculaneum
Herculaneum
Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in AD 79, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano, in the Italian region of Campania in the shadow of Mt...
and Stabiae
Stabiae
Stabiae was an ancient Roman town, located close to the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia approximately 4.5 km southwest of Pompeii. It was positioned on a 50 m high headland overlooking the Gulf of Naples...
, which were destroyed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...
in 79 AD, are also visible nearby. Naples lies near the volcanic area known as the Campi Flegrei
Campi Flegrei
The Phlegraean Fields, also known as Campi Flegrei, , is a large wide caldera situated to the west of Naples, Italy. It was declared a regional park in 2003. Lying mostly underwater, the area comprises 24 craters and volcanic edifices. Hydrothermal activity can be observed at Lucrino, Agnano and...
and the port towns of Pozzuoli
Pozzuoli
Pozzuoli is a city and comune of the province of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean peninsula.-History:Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of Dicaearchia...
and Baia
Baiae
Baiae , a frazione of the comune of Bacoli) in the Campania region of Italy was a Roman seaside resort on the Bay of Naples. It was said to have been named after Baius, who was supposedly buried there. Baiae was for several hundred years a fashionable resort, especially towards the end of the Roman...
, which were part of a vast Roman naval facility, Portus Julius
Portus Julius
Portus Julius was the home port for the Roman western imperial fleet, the classis Misenensis, named for nearby Cape Miseno...
.
Geography
Naples lies atop a geologically active region, near to both Mount VesuviusMount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...
and the volcanic area known as the Campi Flegrei
Campi Flegrei
The Phlegraean Fields, also known as Campi Flegrei, , is a large wide caldera situated to the west of Naples, Italy. It was declared a regional park in 2003. Lying mostly underwater, the area comprises 24 craters and volcanic edifices. Hydrothermal activity can be observed at Lucrino, Agnano and...
(en
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: Phlegraean Fields).
Quarters
The thirty quarters (quartieriQuartiere
A quartiere is a subdivision of certain Italian towns. The word is from quarto, or fourth, and was thus properly used only for towns divided into four neighborhoods. The English word "quarter" to mean a neighborhood A quartiere (plural: quartieri) is a subdivision of certain Italian towns. The...
) of Naples are listed below. For administrative purposes, these thirty neighbourhoods are grouped together into ten governmental community boards.
Bagnoli
Bagnoli is a western seaside district of Naples, Italy, well beyond the confines of the original city. It is beyond Cape Posillipo and, thus, looking on the coast of the Bay of Pozzuoli.- History :...
3. Posillipo
Posillipo
Posillipo is a residential quarter of Naples, southern Italy, located along the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples; it is called Pusilleco in the Neapolitan language.-Geography:...
4. Fuorigrotta
Fuorigrotta
Fuorigrotta is a western suburb of Naples, southern Italy.-Geography:It lies beyond the Posillipo hill and has been joined to the main body of Naples by two traffic tunnels through that hill since the early 20th century....
5. Soccavo
Soccavo
thumb|250px|Urban sprawl in Soccavo.Soccavo is a western suburb of Naples, with a population of about 48,000.-Geography:Soccavo is bounded on one side by the area of Fuorigrotta and on the other by the Camaldoli hill...
6. Chiaiano
Chiaiano
Chiaiano is a north-western suburb of Naples, with a population of about 23,000.-Geography:Chiaiano it's a hilly and wooded area that lies between Camaldoli and the Campi Flegrei.-History:...
7. Arenella
Arenella
Arenella is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. It is on the Vomero hill above the city and was, at approximately 300 meters in elevation, many years ago considered a place to go to "get away from it all." It is adjacent to the main hospital section of the city, set somewhat higher, on...
8. Vomero
Vomero
Vomero is a central district of Naples, with a population of about 48,000.-Geography:Vomero is a hilly and heavily urbanized area in the center of Naples...
9. Chiaia
Chiaia
Chiaia is a neighbourhood on the seaside in Naples, bounded by Piazza Vittoria on the east and Mergellina on the west. The most prominent landmark in the area is the large public park known as the Villa Comunale...
10. San Ferdinando
San Ferdinando (Naples)
San Ferdinando is a southern district of Naples, with a population of about 18,000.-Overview:San Ferdinando district includes, among the various landmarks, the Royal Palace, Piazza del Plebiscito , the San Carlo opera house and the church of San Ferdinando, from which the district is...
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11. Montecalvario
Montecalvario
Montecalvario is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. The area centers roughly on the square called Piazza Carità and the metal monument to Salvo d'Acquisto at the northern end of the Spanish Quarters of the city; the area stretches along the main downtown street, via Toledo , to include a...
12. San Giuseppe
San Giuseppe (Naples)
San Giuseppe is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy, that includes many of the items of interest on the western side of the historic center of Naples, including the square and church of Gesù Nuovo, the buildings along via Benedetto Croce and the square, Piazza San Domeico Maggiore....
13. Avvocata
Avvocata
Avvocata is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. It is just outside, to the west, of the original historic center of the Greco-Roman city of Naples...
14. Porto
Porto (Naples)
Porto is the neighborhood of Naples, southern Italy, that includes the area adjacent to the main passenger terminals of the port of Naples, but does not extend much farther than that to the eastern freight facilities of the port...
15. Pendino
Pendino
Pendino is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. The area centers roughly on Palazzo Como, the building that houses the Filangieri museum, on the main north-south street in the area, via Duomo...
16. San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo (Naples)
San Lorenzo is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. It incorporates the precise geographical center of the ancient Greco-Roman city, centered on the intersection of Via San Gregorio Armeno and Via dei Tribunali....
17. Mercato
Mercato (Naples)
Mercato is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. It is in the south-eastern part of the city, bounded by the industrial port of Naples on the south and adjacent to the site of one of the most historic churches in Naples, the church of the Carmine. At the center of the area is "Market...
18. Vicaria
Vicaria
Vicaria is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. It takes its name from the eastern section of via dei Tribunali , in the neighbourhood of San Lorenzo, once known as "via della Vicaria", since the Vicaria Vicaria (Italian: "vicarage," in the secular meaning of "residence of the...
19. Stella
Stella (Naples)
Stella is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. The area includes the National Archaeological Museum, stretches north through the Sanità section of the city, up the Capodimonte hill to include the grounds and buildings of the Capodimonte art museum....
20. San Carlo all'Arena
San Carlo all'Arena
San Carlo all'Arena is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy, to the north-east of the old historic center of the city. The area centers on the gigantic Bourbon Hospice for the Poor on the square, Piazza Carlo III, named for Charles III the first Bourbon king of Naples.-External links:...
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21. Piscinola-Marianella
Piscinola-Marianella
Piscinola, or Piscinola-Marianella, is a northern suburb of Naples, Italy, with a population of ca. 20,000.-History:Until 1865 it was an autonomous municipality merged in Naples....
22. Scampìa
Scampia
Scampìa is a modern suburb in the north of Naples. The population is about 80,000.-Geography:The district lies in the far north of Naples. To the south are the suburbs of Piscinola-Marianella, Miano and Secondigliano.-History:...
23. Miano
Miano
Miano is a suburb of Naples with a population of around 26,000.-History:Since the recent administrative reorganization of the area, Miano is part of the 10th community board.-Economy:...
24. Secondigliano
Secondigliano
Secondigliano is a relatively modern suburb in the north of Naples, in southern Italy.-History:The name may derive from a contraction of "secondo" and "miglio" since the area was at the second milestone on the old road to Capua...
25. S.Pietro a Patierno
San Pietro a Patierno
San Pietro a Patierno is a suburb of Naples, in southern Italy.-Geography:It is one of the largest suburbs of Naples and is relatively lightly populated compared to surrounding areas, with around 20,000 residents...
26. Poggioreale
27. Zona Industriale
Zona Industriale
Zona Industriale , is a quarter of Naples, Italy. With Piggioreale, San Lorenzo and Vicaria it forms the Fourth Municipality of the city.-Geography:...
28. San Giovanni a Teduccio
San Giovanni a Teduccio
San Giovanni a Teduccio is a coastal suburb in the east of Naples, in southern Italy.-History:The area was incorporated into the city of Naples under Fascist rule...
29. Barra
Barra (Naples)
Barra is an eastern suburb of Naples, southern Italy with a population of some 40,000 inhabitants Barra occupies the easternmost section of the Naples comunes territory, ranging from the sea to the Vesuvio's slopes, bounding with Poggioreale.The area has suffered much the same fate of urban decay...
30. Ponticelli
Ponticelli
Ponticelli is an eastern suburb of Naples, southern Italy with a population of some 70,000 inhabitants, not counting the large number of unregistered and illegal residents, which some estimates put as high as 60,000.-Geography:...
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Climate
Naples has a typical Mediterranean climateMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
, with mild, wet winters and warm, dry summers. The mild climate and fertility of the Gulf of Naples
Gulf of Naples
The Gulf of Naples is a c. 15 km wide gulf located in the south western coast of Italy, . It opens to the west into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered on the north by the cities of Naples and Pozzuoli, on the east by Mount Vesuvius, and on the south by the Sorrentine Peninsula and the main...
made the region famous during Roman times, when emperors such as Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
and Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
holidayed near the city.
Demographics
The population of the centre area (the comune di Napoli) is around one million people. Naples' greater metropolitan areaNaples metropolitan area
The Naples metropolitan area is the urban agglomeration centred around the city of Naples in Campania, Italy.The total population of Province of Naples is 3,092,859, the third metropolitan area in Italy by population, 969,061 of this coincides with the city of Naples...
, sometimes known as Greater Naples, has a population of approximately 4.4 million, and includes towns which such as Arzano
Arzano
Arzano is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 9 km north of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 37,994 and an area of 4.68 km²....
, Casandrino
Casandrino
Casandrino is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 11 km north of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 13,574 and an area of 3.2 km²....
, Casavatore
Casavatore
Casavatore is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 8 km north of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 19,608 and an area of 1.62 km²...
, Casoria
Casoria
Casoria is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 9 km northeast of Naples.Casoria borders the following municipalities: Afragola, Arzano, Cardito, Casalnuovo di Napoli, Casavatore, Frattamaggiore, Naples, Volla.-History:The name of Casoria is...
, Cercola
Cercola
Cercola is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 9 km northeast of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 19,232 and an area of 3.7 km²....
, Marano di Napoli
Marano di Napoli
Marano di Napoli is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 9 km northwest of Naples.-Main sights:...
, Melito di Napoli
Melito di Napoli
Melito di Napoli is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 9 km north of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 36,031 and an area of 3.7 km²....
, Mugnano di Napoli
Mugnano di Napoli
Mugnano di Napoli is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 10 km northwest of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 31,602 and an area of 5.27 km²...
, Portici
Portici
Portici is a town and comune of the Province of Naples in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is the site of the Portici Royal Palace.-Geography:...
, Pozzuoli
Pozzuoli
Pozzuoli is a city and comune of the province of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean peninsula.-History:Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of Dicaearchia...
, Quarto, San Giorgio a Cremano
San Giorgio a Cremano
San Giorgio a Cremano is a primarily residential town and comune in the province of Naples, in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is located on the foothills of Mount Vesuvius to the west of the volcano, and is six kilometres to the south east of the centre of Naples...
, San Sebastiano al Vesuvio
San Sebastiano al Vesuvio
San Sebastiano al Vesuvio is a comune in the province of Naples, located on the western slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Its elevation means that it is often a few degrees cooler than the neighbouring metropolis of Naples....
, Volla. The demographic profile
Demographic profile
A demographic or demographic profile is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment...
for the Neapolitan province in general is quite young: 19% are under the age of 14, while 13% are over 65, compared to the national average of 14% and 19%, respectively. Naples has a higher percentage of females (52.4%) than males (47.6%). Naples currently has a higher birth rate
Birth rate
Crude birth rate is the nativity or childbirths per 1,000 people per year . Another word used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude birth rate is subtracted from the crude death rate, it reveals the rate of natural increase...
than other parts of Italy, with 10.46 births per 1,000 inhabitants, compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.
Unlike many northern Italian cities, there are relatively few foreign immigrants in Naples. 98.5% of the people are Italian nationals
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
. In 2006, there were a total of 19,188 foreigners in the city of Naples; the majority of foreigners are Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an, hailing mostly from Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. There are few non-Europeans, although there are small Sri Lankan
Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora
The Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora refers to the global diaspora of the people of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. It can be said to be a subset of the larger Sri Lankan as well as Tamil diaspora....
and East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
n immigrant communities. Statistics show that the vast majority of immigrants in Naples are female; this is because male workers tend to head North.
Education
Naples is noted for its numerous higher educationHigher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
institutes and research centres. Naples hosts what is thought to be the oldest state university in the world, in the form of the University of Naples Federico II
University of Naples Federico II
The University of Naples Federico II is a university located in Naples, Italy. It was founded in 1224 and is organized into 13 faculties. It is the world's oldest state university and one of the oldest academic institutions in continuous operation...
, which was founded by Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
in 1224.
The university is among the most prominent in Italy, with around 100,000 students and over 3000 professors. It host to the Botanical Garden of Naples
Botanical Garden of Naples
The Botanical Garden of Naples, Italy is a research facility of the University of Naples Federico II....
, which was opened in 1807 by Giuseppe Bonaparte
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...
, using plans drawn up under the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
. The garden's 15 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s feature around 25,000 samples of vegetation, representing over 10,000 plant species.
Naples is also served by the Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli
Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli
The Second University of Naples is a university located in Naples and Caserta, Italy. It was founded in 1991 and is organized into departments and Specialist Schools....
, a modern university which opened in 1989, and which, despite its name, has strong links to the nearby province of Caserta
Province of Caserta
The Province of Caserta is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Caserta. The former royal palace of Caserta is located near to the city.It has an area of 2,639 km², and a total population of 879,342...
. Another notable centre of education is the Istituto Universitario Orientale
Naples Eastern University
The Naples Eastern University is a university located in Naples, Italy. It was founded in 1732 and is organized in 4 Faculties...
, which specialises in Eastern culture
Eastern world
__FORCETOC__The term Eastern world refers very broadly to the various cultures or social structures and philosophical systems of Eastern Asia or geographically the Eastern Culture...
, and was founded by the Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
missionary Matteo Ripa in 1732, after he returned from the court of Kangxi
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor ; Manchu: elhe taifin hūwangdi ; Mongolian: Энх-Амгалан хаан, 4 May 1654 –20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.Kangxi's...
, the Emperor
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
of the Manchu Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
of China
China proper
China proper or Eighteen Provinces was a term used by Western writers on the Qing Dynasty to express a distinction between the core and frontier regions of China. There is no fixed extent for China proper, as many administrative, cultural, and linguistic shifts have occurred in Chinese history...
.
Other prominent universities in Naples include the Parthenope University of Naples
Parthenope University of Naples
The Parthenope University of Naples is a university located in Naples, Italy. The “Parthenope” is now one of the fully accredited universities in Naples...
, the private Istituto Universitario Suor Orsola Benincasa
Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples
The Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples is a university located in Naples, Italy. It was founded in 1864 and is organized into 3 departments.-Organization:The university is divided into 3 departments* Education* Law* Letters-External links:...
, and the Jesuit-run Theological Seminary of Southern Italy
San Luigi Papal Theological Seminary of Southern Italy
The San Luigi Papal Theological Seminary of Southern Italy is an institution of higher learning in Naples, Italy. It is located prominently on via Petrarca in the Posillipo section of the city...
. The San Pietro a Maiella music conservatory
Music Conservatories of Naples
The Music Conservatory of Naples is a music institution in Naples, southern Italy. It is currently located in the complex of San Pietro a Majella.-San Pietro a Majella:...
is the city's foremost institution of musical education; the earliest Neapolitan music conservatories were founded in the 16th century under the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
Naples hosts also the oldest marine zoological study station in the world, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Stazione Zoologica
The Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn is a research institute in Naples, Italy, devoted to basic research in biology. Research is largely interdisciplinary involving the fields of evolution, biochemistry, molecular biology, neurobiology, cell biology, biological oceanography, marine botany, molecular...
, created in 1872 by German scientist Anton Dohrn
Anton Dohrn
Felix Anton Dohrn was a prominent German Darwinist and the founder and first director of the Stazione Zoologica, Naples, Italy.-Family history:...
, and the world's oldest permanent volcano observatory, the Vesuvius Observatory
Vesuvius Observatory
The Vesuvius Observatory is the surveillance centre for monitoring the three volcanoes which threaten the Campanian region of Italy: Mount Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei and Ischia. Founded in 1841 on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius , it is the oldest volcanology institute in the world....
, founded in 1841. The Observatory lies on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, near the city of Ercolano
Ercolano
Ercolano is a town and comune in the province of Naples, Campania . It lies at the western foot of Mount Vesuvius, on the Bay of Naples, just southeast of the city of Naples. The medieval town of Resina was built on the volcanic material left by the eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed the ancient...
, and is now a permanent specialized institute of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics.
Politics
Each of the 8,101 comuneComune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
in Italy is today represented locally by an elected mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
and a city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
, known as a sindaco and informally called the first citizen. This system, or one very similar to it, has been in place since the invasion of Italy by Napoleonic
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
forces in 1808. When the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies even before formally coming into being, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states before Italian unification...
was restored, the system was kept in place with members of the nobility filling mayoral roles. By the end of the 19th century, party politics
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
had begun to emerge; during the fascist era
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
, each commune was represented by a podestà. Since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the political landscape of Naples has been neither strongly right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
nor left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
— both Christian democrats
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
and democratic socialists
Democratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
have governed the city at different times, with roughly equal frequency. Currently, the mayor of Naples is Luigi de Magistris of the IDV
Italy of Values
Italy of Values is a centrist, populist and anti-corruption political party in Italy. The party, which is affiliated to the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party , is headed by former Mani pulite prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, who entered politics in 1996.The party aims to gather and give...
party; de Magistris has held the position since the 2011 elections, supported only by the Communist Refoundation Party
Communist Refoundation Party
The Communist Refoundation Party is a communist Italian political party. Its current secretary is Paolo Ferrero....
.
Administrative subdivisions
| Map | Municipality | Population | President | Quarters |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I First Municipality of Naples Municipalità 1 Country:Municipality: NaplesArea:8.80 km²Population:84,067 Pop. density:? km²Established:2005Seat:Via Santa Maria degliAngeli a Pizzofalcone, 1President:Fabio ChiosiVice President:Maurizio TesoroneWebsite:... |
84,067 | Fabio Chiosi | Chiaia Chiaia Chiaia is a neighbourhood on the seaside in Naples, bounded by Piazza Vittoria on the east and Mergellina on the west. The most prominent landmark in the area is the large public park known as the Villa Comunale... , Posillipo Posillipo Posillipo is a residential quarter of Naples, southern Italy, located along the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples; it is called Pusilleco in the Neapolitan language.-Geography:... , San Ferdinando San Ferdinando (Naples) San Ferdinando is a southern district of Naples, with a population of about 18,000.-Overview:San Ferdinando district includes, among the various landmarks, the Royal Palace, Piazza del Plebiscito , the San Carlo opera house and the church of San Ferdinando, from which the district is... |
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| II Second Municipality of Naples Municipalità 2 Country:Municipality: NaplesArea:4.56 km²Population:91,536 Pop. density:? km²Established:2005Seat:Piazza Dante, 93President:Alberto PatrunoVice President:Maria Luisa RegaWebsite:Map... |
91,536 | Alberto Patruno | Montecalvario Montecalvario Montecalvario is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. The area centers roughly on the square called Piazza Carità and the metal monument to Salvo d'Acquisto at the northern end of the Spanish Quarters of the city; the area stretches along the main downtown street, via Toledo , to include a... , San Giuseppe San Giuseppe (Naples) San Giuseppe is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy, that includes many of the items of interest on the western side of the historic center of Naples, including the square and church of Gesù Nuovo, the buildings along via Benedetto Croce and the square, Piazza San Domeico Maggiore.... , Avvocata Avvocata Avvocata is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. It is just outside, to the west, of the original historic center of the Greco-Roman city of Naples... , Porto Porto (Naples) Porto is the neighborhood of Naples, southern Italy, that includes the area adjacent to the main passenger terminals of the port of Naples, but does not extend much farther than that to the eastern freight facilities of the port... , Pendino Pendino Pendino is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. The area centers roughly on Palazzo Como, the building that houses the Filangieri museum, on the main north-south street in the area, via Duomo... , Mercato Mercato (Naples) Mercato is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. It is in the south-eastern part of the city, bounded by the industrial port of Naples on the south and adjacent to the site of one of the most historic churches in Naples, the church of the Carmine. At the center of the area is "Market... |
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| III Third Municipality of Naples Municipalità 3 Country:Municipality: NaplesArea:9.51 km²Population:103,633 Pop. density:? km²Established:2005Seat:Via Lieti, 91President:Alfonso PrincipeVice President:Sergio GaliettoWebsite:Map... |
103,633 | Alfonso Principe | Stella Stella (Naples) Stella is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. The area includes the National Archaeological Museum, stretches north through the Sanità section of the city, up the Capodimonte hill to include the grounds and buildings of the Capodimonte art museum.... , San Carlo all'Arena San Carlo all'Arena San Carlo all'Arena is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy, to the north-east of the old historic center of the city. The area centers on the gigantic Bourbon Hospice for the Poor on the square, Piazza Carlo III, named for Charles III the first Bourbon king of Naples.-External links:... |
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| IV Fourth Municipality of Naples Municipalità 4 Country:Municipality: NaplesArea:9.27 km²Population:96,078 Pop. density:? km²Established:2005Seat:Via Emanuele Gianturco, 91President:David LebroVice President:Giovanni ParisiWebsite:Map... |
96,078 | David Lebro | San Lorenzo San Lorenzo (Naples) San Lorenzo is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. It incorporates the precise geographical center of the ancient Greco-Roman city, centered on the intersection of Via San Gregorio Armeno and Via dei Tribunali.... , Vicaria Vicaria Vicaria is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. It takes its name from the eastern section of via dei Tribunali , in the neighbourhood of San Lorenzo, once known as "via della Vicaria", since the Vicaria Vicaria (Italian: "vicarage," in the secular meaning of "residence of the... , Poggioreale, Zona Industriale Zona Industriale Zona Industriale , is a quarter of Naples, Italy. With Piggioreale, San Lorenzo and Vicaria it forms the Fourth Municipality of the city.-Geography:... |
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| V Fifth Municipality of Naples Municipalità 5 Country:Municipality: NaplesArea:7.42 km²Population:119,978 Pop. density:? km²Established:2005Seat:Via Morghen, 84President:Mario CoppetoVice President:Giuseppe CrosioWebsite:Map... |
119,978 | Mario Coppeto | Arenella Arenella Arenella is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. It is on the Vomero hill above the city and was, at approximately 300 meters in elevation, many years ago considered a place to go to "get away from it all." It is adjacent to the main hospital section of the city, set somewhat higher, on... , Vomero Vomero Vomero is a central district of Naples, with a population of about 48,000.-Geography:Vomero is a hilly and heavily urbanized area in the center of Naples... |
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| VI Sixth Municipality of Naples Municipalità 6 Country:Municipality: NaplesArea:19.28 km²Population:117,641 Pop. density:? km²Established:2005Seat:Corso Sirena, 305President:Anna CozzinoVice President:Massimo CilentiWebsite:Map... |
84,067 | Anna Cozzino | San Giovanni a Teduccio San Giovanni a Teduccio San Giovanni a Teduccio is a coastal suburb in the east of Naples, in southern Italy.-History:The area was incorporated into the city of Naples under Fascist rule... , Barra Barra (Naples) Barra is an eastern suburb of Naples, southern Italy with a population of some 40,000 inhabitants Barra occupies the easternmost section of the Naples comunes territory, ranging from the sea to the Vesuvio's slopes, bounding with Poggioreale.The area has suffered much the same fate of urban decay... , Ponticelli Ponticelli Ponticelli is an eastern suburb of Naples, southern Italy with a population of some 70,000 inhabitants, not counting the large number of unregistered and illegal residents, which some estimates put as high as 60,000.-Geography:... |
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| VII Seventh Municipality of Naples Municipalità 7 Country:Municipality: NaplesArea:10.26 km²Population:91,460 Pop. density:? km²Established:2005Seat:Piazza Giovanni Guarino, 3President:Giuseppe EspositoVice President:Nunzia BarbatoWebsite:Map... |
91,460 | Giuseppe Esposito | Miano Miano Miano is a suburb of Naples with a population of around 26,000.-History:Since the recent administrative reorganization of the area, Miano is part of the 10th community board.-Economy:... , Secondigliano Secondigliano Secondigliano is a relatively modern suburb in the north of Naples, in southern Italy.-History:The name may derive from a contraction of "secondo" and "miglio" since the area was at the second milestone on the old road to Capua... , S.Pietro a Patierno San Pietro a Patierno San Pietro a Patierno is a suburb of Naples, in southern Italy.-Geography:It is one of the largest suburbs of Naples and is relatively lightly populated compared to surrounding areas, with around 20,000 residents... |
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| VIII Eighth Municipality of Naples Municipalità 8 Country:Municipality: NaplesArea:17.45 km²Population:92,616 Pop. density:? km²Established:2005Seat:Viale Resistenza, comp... |
92,616 | Carmine Malinconico | Chiaiano Chiaiano Chiaiano is a north-western suburb of Naples, with a population of about 23,000.-Geography:Chiaiano it's a hilly and wooded area that lies between Camaldoli and the Campi Flegrei.-History:... , Piscinola-Marianella Piscinola-Marianella Piscinola, or Piscinola-Marianella, is a northern suburb of Naples, Italy, with a population of ca. 20,000.-History:Until 1865 it was an autonomous municipality merged in Naples.... , Scampìa Scampia Scampìa is a modern suburb in the north of Naples. The population is about 80,000.-Geography:The district lies in the far north of Naples. To the south are the suburbs of Piscinola-Marianella, Miano and Secondigliano.-History:... |
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| IX Ninth Municipality of Naples Municipalità 9 Country:Municipality: NaplesArea:16.56 km²Population:106,299 Pop. density:? km²Established:2005Seat:Piazza Giovanni XXIII, 2President:Fabio TirelliVice President:Livio FalconeWebsite:Map... |
106,299 | Fabio Tirelli | Pianura Pianura Pianura is a western suburb of Naples, southern Italy. It is bounded on one side by the area of Soccavo and on the other side by the outskirts of the town of Pozzuoli.-Personalities:*Justin Russolillo , presbyter... , Soccavo Soccavo thumb|250px|Urban sprawl in Soccavo.Soccavo is a western suburb of Naples, with a population of about 48,000.-Geography:Soccavo is bounded on one side by the area of Fuorigrotta and on the other by the Camaldoli hill... |
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| X Tenth Municipality of Naples Municipalità 10 Country:Municipality: NaplesArea:14.16 km²Population:101,192 Pop. density:? km²Established:2005Seat:Via Acate, 65President:Giuseppe BalzamoVice President:Luca SimeoneWebsite:Map... |
101,192 | Giuseppe Balzamo | Bagnoli Bagnoli Bagnoli is a western seaside district of Naples, Italy, well beyond the confines of the original city. It is beyond Cape Posillipo and, thus, looking on the coast of the Bay of Pozzuoli.- History :... , Fuorigrotta Fuorigrotta Fuorigrotta is a western suburb of Naples, southern Italy.-Geography:It lies beyond the Posillipo hill and has been joined to the main body of Naples by two traffic tunnels through that hill since the early 20th century.... |
Economy
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. It is the world's 91st richest city by purchasing power
Purchasing power
Purchasing power is the number of goods/services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if you had taken one dollar to a store in the 1950s, you would have been able to buy a greater number of items than you would today, indicating that you would have had a greater purchasing...
, with an annual GDP of $43 billion. Were Naples a country, it would have the world's 68th biggest economy, approaching the size of that of Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
. Naples is a major cargo terminal
Container terminal
A container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example trains or trucks, in which case the terminal is described as a maritime...
, and the port of Naples
Port of Naples
Port of Naples is one of the largest Italian seaports and one of the largest seaports in the Mediterranean Sea basin having an annual traffic capacity of around 25 million tons of cargo and 500,000 TEU's....
is one of the Mediterranean's biggest and most important. The city has experienced significant economic growth since World War II, and unemployment in the region has decreased dramatically since 1999. Naples was also formerly an industrial hub, although many of its factories are now defunct. The city is characterized by high levels of political corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
and organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
.
Naples is a major national and international tourist destination, being one of Italy and Europe's top tourist cities. Tourists began with visiting Naples in the 18th century, during the Grand Tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
. In terms of international arrivals, Naples was the 166th-most-visited city in the world in 2008, with 381,000 visitors (a −1.6% decrease from the previous year), coming after Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, but overtaking York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
and Dallas.
In recent times, there has been a move away from a traditional agriculture-based economy in the province of Naples to one based on service industries. In early 2002, there were over 249,590 enterprises operating in the province registered in the Chamber of Commerce Public Register. The service sector employs the majority of Neapolitans, although more than half of these are small enterprises with fewer than 20 workers; 70 companies are said to be medium-sized with more than 200 workers; and 15 have more than 500 workers.
Employment in the province of Naples breaks down as follows:
| Public services Public services Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly or by financing private provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus that certain services should be available to all, regardless of income... |
Manufacturing Manufacturing Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale... |
Commerce Commerce While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any... |
Construction Construction In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking... |
Transport Transport Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations... ation |
Financial services Financial services Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,... |
Agriculture Agriculture Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the... |
Hotel trade Hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms... |
Other activities | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage Percentage In mathematics, a percentage is a way of expressing a number as a fraction of 100 . It is often denoted using the percent sign, “%”, or the abbreviation “pct”. For example, 45% is equal to 45/100, or 0.45.Percentages are used to express how large/small one quantity is, relative to another quantity... |
30.7% | 18% | 14% | 9.5% | 8.2% | 7.4% | 5.1% | 3.7% | 3.4% |
Transport
Naples is well-connected to several major motorways (itItalian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
: autostrada). The Autostrada A1
Autostrada A1 (Italy)
The Autostrada A1, or Autostrada del Sole , is an Italian motorway which connects Milan with Naples via Bologna, Florence and Rome. At 754 km, it is the longest Italian autostrada and is considered the “spinal cord” of the country’s road network...
, the longest transalpine motorway
Autostrade of Italy
The Autostrada is the Italian national system of motorways. The total length of the system is about 6,400 km. In North and Central Italy this is mainly as tollways, with the biggest portion in concession to the Atlantia group which operates some 3,408 km...
in Italy, links Naples to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. The A3 runs southwards from Naples to Salerno
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....
, where the motorway to Reggio Calabria
Reggio Calabria
Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...
begins, while the A16 runs east to Canosa. The A16 is nicknamed the autostrada dei Due Mari ("Motorway of the Two Seas") because it connects the Tyrrhenian Sea
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.-Geography:The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia , Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria and Sicily ....
to the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
.
Naples has an extensive public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
network, including tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
s, buses, funicular
Funicular
A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...
s and trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
es, most of which are operated by the municipally-owned company Azienda Napoletana Mobilità (ANM)
ANM (Naples)
Azienda Napoletana Mobilità SpA , more commonly known simply as ANM, is a municipally controlled public company that is the primary provider of surface public transportation in the city of Naples, Italy, and also provides a portion of the surface transit service in surrounding municipalities...
. Three public elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
s are in operation in the city – one within the bridge of Chiaia
Chiaia
Chiaia is a neighbourhood on the seaside in Naples, bounded by Piazza Vittoria on the east and Mergellina on the west. The most prominent landmark in the area is the large public park known as the Villa Comunale...
, one in via Acton and one near the Sanità Bridge. The city furthermore operates the Naples Metro
Metropolitana di Napoli
Metropolitana di Napoli is the metro system serving the city of Naples, Italy. The system includes three underground rapid transit lines and commuter railways , with planned upgrading and expansion work underway...
, an underground rapid transit
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
railway system
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
which integrates both surface railway lines and the city's metro stations. Suburban rail
Regional rail
Commuter rail, also called suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates between a city center, and the middle to outer suburbs beyond 15km and commuter towns or other locations that draw large numbers of commuters—people who travel on a daily basis...
services are provided by Trenitalia
Trenitalia
Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. Trenitalia is owned by Ferrovie dello Stato, itself owned by the Italian Government. It was created in 2000 following the EU directive on the deregulation of rail transport.-Passenger transport:...
, Circumvesuviana
Circumvesuviana
Circumvesuviana is a group of narrow-gauge railways connecting towns to the south-east of Naples, Italy. Its tracks run around the base of Mount Vesuvius, and , they completely encircle it, as well as running on down the Sorrento peninsula...
, Ferrovia Cumana
Ferrovia Cumana
The Cumana Railway is a regional railway in Campania, southern Italy, connecting Naples by two separate routes with Torregaveta, near Cuma in the town of Bacoli . It passes through Pozzuoli and the volcanic Campi Flegrei area...
and Metronapoli
Metronapoli
Metronapoli SpA is an Italian company responsible for the provision of public transport in the city of Naples, and its primary function is the operation and maintenance of the Naples Metro system. It was founded on 26 July 2000 and became operational on 1 February 2001...
.
The city's main train station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
is Napoli Centrale
Napoli Centrale railway station
Napoli Centrale is the main railway station in the city of Naples and southern Italy and the sixth largest station in Italy in terms of passenger flow. It is located next to Piazza Garibaldi to the east of the old city...
, which is located in Piazza Garibaldi; other significant stations include the Napoli Campi Flegri
Napoli Campi Flegrei railway station
Napoli Campi Flegrei railway station serves the city and comune of Naples, in the region of Campania, southern Italy. Opened in 1925, it is the second most important railway station in Naples, after Napoli Centrale. It also forms part of the Naples Passante railway.The station is currently...
and Napoli Mergellina
Napoli Mergellina railway station
Napoli Mergellina railway station serves the city and comune of Naples, in the region of Campania, southern Italy. Opened in 1925, it is the third most important railway station in Naples, after Napoli Centrale and Napoli Campi Flegrei. It also forms part of the Naples Passante railway.The...
. Naples' streets are famously narrow (it was the first city in the world to set up a pedestrian one-way street), so the general public commonly use compact hatchback
Hatchback
A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...
cars and scooters
Scooter (motorcycle)
A scooter is a motorcycle with step-through frame and a platform for the operator's feet. Elements of scooter design have been present in some of the earliest motorcycles, and motorcycles identifiable as scooters have been made from 1914 or earlier...
for personal transit.
Since 2007, Naples has been connected to Rome by a high-speed railway run by Treno Alta Velocità
Treno Alta Velocità
Treno Alta Velocità SpA is special purpose entity owned by RFI for the planning and construction of a high-speed network in Italy.-Purpose:...
, with trains running at almost 300 km/h (186 mph), reducing the journey time to under an hour.
The port of Naples runs several public ferry, hydrofoil
Hydrofoil
A hydrofoil is a foil which operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to airfoils.Hydrofoils can be artificial, such as the rudder or keel on a boat, the diving planes on a submarine, a surfboard fin, or occur naturally, as with fish fins, the flippers of aquatic mammals, the...
and SWATH catamaran
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...
services, linking numerous locations in both the Neapolitan province
Province of Naples
The Province of Naples is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital city is Naples, within the province there are 92 Comuni of the Province of Naples.-Demographics:...
, including Capri
Capri
Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy...
, Ischia
Ischia
Ischia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south and has...
and Sorrento
Sorrento
Sorrento is the name of many cities and towns:*Sorrento, Italy*Sorrento, Florida, United States*Sorrento, Louisiana, United States*Sorrento, Maine, United States*Sorrento, Victoria, a township on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia...
, and the Salernitan province
Province of Salerno
The Province of Salerno is a province in the Campania region of Italy.-Geography:The largest towns in the province are: Salerno, the capital, which has a population of 139,579; Cava de' Tirreni with a population of 53,488; Battipaglia with a population of 51,115; and Nocera Inferiore which has a...
, including Salerno
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....
, Positano
Positano
Positano is a village and comune on the Amalfi Coast , in Campania, Italy. The main part of the city sits in an enclave in the hills leading down to the coast.-History:...
and Amalfi
Amalfi
Amalfi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno, c. 35 km southeast of Naples. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto , surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery...
. Services are also available to destinations further afield, such as Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, Ponza
Ponza
Ponza is the largest of the Italian Pontine Islands archipelago, located 33 km south of Cape Circeo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It also the name of the commune of the island, a part of the province of Latina in the Lazio region....
and the Aeolian Islands
Aeolian Islands
The Aeolian Islands or Lipari Islands are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily, named after the demigod of the winds Aeolus. The locals residing on the islands are known as Eolians . The Aeolian Islands are a popular tourist destination in the summer, and attract up to...
.
Within the suburb of San Pietro a Patierno
San Pietro a Patierno
San Pietro a Patierno is a suburb of Naples, in southern Italy.-Geography:It is one of the largest suburbs of Naples and is relatively lightly populated compared to surrounding areas, with around 20,000 residents...
is the Naples International Airport
Naples International Airport
Naples Airport is the airport serving Naples, Italy. It is located north-northeast of the city in the Capodichino district of Naples. The airport has two terminal buildings: Terminal 1 is for departing travellers and Terminal 2, located away from the airfield, is used for charter operations...
, the largest airport in southern Italy, with around 140 national international flights arriving or departing daily.
Art
Naples has long been a centre of art and architecture, dotted with Medieval, Baroque and Renaissance-era churches, castles and palaces. In the 18th century, Naples went through a period of neoclassicismNeoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
, following the discovery of the remarkably intact Roman ruins of Herculaneum
Herculaneum
Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in AD 79, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano, in the Italian region of Campania in the shadow of Mt...
and Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
.
The Neapolitan Academy of Fine Arts, founded by Charles III of Bourbon
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
in 1752 as the Real Accademia di Disegno (en
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: Royal Academy of Design), was the centre of the artistic School of Posillipo
Posillipo
Posillipo is a residential quarter of Naples, southern Italy, located along the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples; it is called Pusilleco in the Neapolitan language.-Geography:...
in the 19th century. Artists such as Domenico Morelli
Domenico Morelli
Domenico Morelli was an Italian painter, one of the most important Neapolitan artists of the 19th century. He enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Naples in 1836. His early works are Romantic and contain imagery drawn from the Middle Ages and Byron...
, Giacomo Di Chirico
Giacomo Di Chirico
Giacomo Di Chirico was an italian painter. Together with Domenico Morelli and Filippo Palizzi, he was one of the most elite Neapolitan artists of the 19th century...
, Francesco Saverio Altamura and Gioacchino Toma worked in Naples during this period, and many of their works are now exhibited in the Academy's art collection. The modern Academy offers courses in painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, decorating
Interior design
Interior design describes a group of various yet related projects that involve turning an interior space into an effective setting for the range of human activities are to take place there. An interior designer is someone who conducts such projects...
, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
, restoration, and urban planning. Naples is also known for its theatres, which are among the oldest in Europe – the Teatro di San Carlo
Teatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe.Founded by the Bourbon Charles VII of Naples of the Spanish branch of the dynasty, the theatre was inaugurated on 4 November 1737 — the king's name day — with a performance...
opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
dates back to the 18th century.
Naples is also the home of the artistic tradition of Capodimonte porcelain
Capodimonte porcelain
Capodimonte porcelain is porcelain created by the Capodimonte porcelain manufactory, which was established in Naples, Italy in 1743. Capodimonte porcelain was made in direct emulation of Meissen porcelain...
. In 1743, Charles of Bourbon founded the Royal Factory of Capodimonte, many of whose artworks are now on display in the Museum of Capodimonte. Several of Naples' mid-19th-century porcelain factories remain active today.
Cuisine
Naples is internationally famous for its cuisineNeapolitan cuisine
Neapolitan cuisine has ancient historical roots that date back to the Greco-Roman period, which was enriched over the centuries by the influence of the different cultures that controlled Naples and its kingdoms, such as that of Aragon and France...
and wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
; it draws culinary influences from the numerous cultures which have inhabited it over the course of its history, including the Greeks
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Neapolitan cuisine emerged as a distinct form in the 18th century. The ingredients are typically rich in taste, while remaining affordable to the general populace.
Naples is traditionally credited as the home of pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
. This originated as a meal of the poor, but under Ferdinand IV
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
it became popular among the upper classes: famously, the Margherita pizza was named after Queen Margherita
Margherita of Savoy
Margherita of Savoy , was the Queen consort of the Kingdom of Italy during the reign of her husband, Umberto I.-Family:...
after a visit to the city. Cooked traditionally in a wood-burning oven
Masonry oven
A masonry oven, colloquially known as a brick oven or stone oven, is an oven consisting of a baking chamber made of fireproof brick, concrete, stone, or clay. Though traditionally wood-fired, coal-fired ovens were common in the 19th century, modern masonry ovens are often fired with natural gas or...
, the ingredients of Neapolitan pizza have been strictly regulated by law since 2004, and must include wheat flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
type "00" with the addition of flour type "0" yeast
Yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
, natural mineral water, peeled tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
es or fresh cherry tomato
Cherry tomato
A cherry tomato is a small variety of tomato that has been cultivated since at least the early 1800s and thought to have originated in Peru and Northern Chile. Cherry tomatoes range in size from a thumbtip up to the size of a golf ball, and can range from being spherical to slightly oblong in shape...
es, marine salt
Sea salt
Sea salt, salt obtained by the evaporation of seawater, is used in cooking and cosmetics. It is historically called bay salt or solar salt...
and extra virgin olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
.
Spaghetti
Spaghetti
Spaghetti is a long, thin, cylindrical pasta of Italian origin. Spaghetti is made of semolina or flour and water. Italian dried spaghetti is made from durum wheat semolina, but outside of Italy it may be made with other kinds of flour...
is also associated with the city and is commonly eaten with the sauce ragù
Neapolitan ragù
Neapolitan ragù is one of the two most famous varieties of meat sauces called ragù...
: a popular Neapolitan folkloric
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
symbol is the comic figure Pulcinella
Pulcinella
Pulcinella, ; often called Punch or Punchinello in English, Polichinelle in French, is a classical character that originated in the commedia dell'arte of the 17th century and became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry....
eating a plate of spaghetti. Parmigiana di melanzane
Parmigiana
Parmigiana is a Southern Italian dish made with a shallow-fried sliced filling, layered with cheese and tomato sauce, then baked. Parmigiana made with a filling of aubergine is the earliest version...
, mozzarella, spaghetti alle vongole and casatiello are among the dishes popular in the city.
Naples is well known for its sweet dishes, including colourful gelato
Gelato
Gelato is the italian word for ice cream and sorbet. Italians use the word gelato to mean a sweet treat that is served frozen. Indeed, gelato, just like ice cream, is made with Milk, cream, various sugars, flavoring including fresh fruit and nut purees....
, which is similar to ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
, though more fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
-based. Popular Neapolitan pastry
Pastry
Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder and/or eggs. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked products are called "pastries."...
dishes include zeppole
Zeppole
A zeppola or St. Joseph's Day cake, also called sfinge, and in Rome Bignè di S. Giuseppe, is a pastry typical of Roman, Neapolitan and generally peninsular Italian cuisine...
, babà
Rum baba
A rum baba or baba au rhum is a small yeast cake saturated in liquor, usually rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream or pastry cream...
, sfogliatelle
Sfogliatelle
Sfogliatelle , are shell shaped filled pastries native to Italian cuisine. "Sfogliatelle" means "many leaves/layers," the pastry's texture resembling leaves stacked on each other.-Origin:...
and pastiera
Pastiera
Pastiera is a type of Italian cake made with ricotta cheese. It originates from the area of Naples. It is a typical cake during Easter time.-Mythical origins:...
, the latter of which is prepared specially for Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
celebrations. Another seasonal sweet is struffoli
Struffoli
Struffoli is a Neapolitan dish made of deep fried balls of dough about the size of marbles. Struffoli are crunchy on the outside and light inside. They are mixed with honey and other sweet things...
, a sweet-tasting honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
dough decorated and eaten around Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
.
Neapolitan coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
is also widely acclaimed. The traditional Neapolitan flip coffee pot
Neapolitan flip coffee pot
The Neapolitan flip coffee pot, or Napoletana, is a drip brew coffee maker for the stovetop. It consists of a bottom section filled with water, a filter section in the middle filled with finely ground coffee, and an upside-down pot placed on the top. When the water boils, the entire three-part...
known as the cuccuma or cuccumella was the basis for the invention of the espresso machine
Espresso machine
An espresso machine is used to produce the traditional Italian coffee beverage called espresso.-History:The first machine for making espresso was built and patented by Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy, who demonstrated a working example at the Turin General Exposition of 1884. He was granted patent no...
, and also inspired the Moka pot.
Wineries in the Vesuvius area produce wines such as the Lacryma Christi
Lacryma Christi
Lacryma Christi, , is the name of a celebrated Neapolitan type of wine produced on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius in Campania, Italy.-Origins of name:...
("tear of Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
") and Terzigno. Naples is also the home of limoncello
Limoncello
Limoncello is an Italian lemon liqueur mainly produced in Southern Italy, especially in the region around the Gulf of Naples, the Sorrentine Peninsula and the coast of Amalfi and islands of Procida, Ischia and Capri, but also in Sicily, Sardinia, Menton in France, and the Maltese island of Gozo...
, a popular lemon liqueur
Lemon liqueur
Lemon liqueur is a liqueur made from lemons, liquor, and sugar. It is light to bright lemon yellow in color; intensely lemony in flavor; clear, cloudy, or opaque; and sweet or sweet and sour. Lemon zest is used, with or without lemon juice. If juice is omitted, water may be added, and the...
.
Naples in film
Naples has been the setting of many works of film. Comedies set in Naples include It Started in NaplesIt Started in Naples
It Started in Naples is an American romantic comedy film made by Paramount Pictures and released in August 1960. It was directed by Melville Shavelson and produced by Jack Rose from a screenplay by Suso Cecchi d'Amico based on the story by Michael Pertwee and Jack Davies...
, L'oro di Napoli by Vittorio De Sica and Dino Risi's Scent of a Woman
Profumo di donna
Profumo di donna is a Commedia all'italiana film directed by Dino Risi in 1974 based on Il buio e il miele, a story by Giovanni Arpino. Both Risi and the leading actor Vittorio Gassman won important Italian and French awards...
. The 2008 film Gomorrah, based on the book by Roberto Saviano
Roberto Saviano
Roberto Saviano is an Italian writer and journalist.In his writings, articles, television programs, and books he employs prose and news-reporting style to narrate the story of the Camorra , exposing its territory and business connections.Since 2006, following the publication of his bestselling...
, explores the dark underbelly of the city of Naples through five intertwining stories about the powerful Neapolitan crime syndicate, the Camorra
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
. In the 1954 Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
cartoon Neapolitan Mouse
Neapolitan Mouse
Neapolitan Mouse is the 86th one reel animated Tom and Jerry short, created in 1953 directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Ed Barge, Irven Spence, Ray Patterson and Kenneth Muse, with backgrounds by John...
, Tom and Jerry visit Naples on a cruise.
Language
The Naples dialect, a distinct language which is mainly spoken in the city, is also found in the region of CampaniaCampania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
, and has been diffused to other areas of Southern Italy by Neapolitan migrants. On 14 October 2008, a law was passed by the Region of Campania, stating that the Neapolitan language was to be legally protected.
The term "Neapolitan language" is often used to describe the language of all of Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
, and is sometimes applied to the entire South Italian language; Ethnologue
Ethnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
refers to the latter as Napoletano-Calabrese. This linguistic group is spoken throughout most of southern continental Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, including the Gaeta
Gaeta
Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....
and Sora
Sora, Italy
Sora is a city and comune of Lazio, Italy, in the province of Frosinone. It is built in a plain on the banks of the Liri. This part of the valley is the seat of some important manufactures, especially of paper-mills....
districts of southern Lazio, the southern part of Marche
Marche
The population density in the region is below the national average. In 2008, it was 161.5 inhabitants per km2, compared to the national figure of 198.8. It is highest in the province of Ancona , and lowest in the province of Macerata...
and Abruzzo
Abruzzo
Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...
, Molise
Molise
Molise is a region of Southern Italy, the second smallest of the regions. It was formerly part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise and now a separate entity...
, Basilicata
Basilicata
Basilicata , also known as Lucania, is a region in the south of Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south, having one short southwestern coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania in the northwest and Calabria in the southwest, and a...
, northern Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
, and northern and central Puglia. In 1976, there were theorised to be 7,047,399 native speaker
First language
A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...
s of this group of dialects.
Music
_-_n._0278_-_napoli_-_teatro_san_carlo_2.jpg)
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
for more than four centuries. The first music conservatories
Music Conservatories of Naples
The Music Conservatory of Naples is a music institution in Naples, southern Italy. It is currently located in the complex of San Pietro a Majella.-San Pietro a Majella:...
were established in the city under Spanish rule in the 16th century. The San Pietro a Majella music conservatory, founded in 1826 by Francesco I of Bourbon
Francis I of the Two Sicilies
-Biography:Francis was born in Naples, the son of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. He was also the nephew of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI the last King and Queen of France before the first French Republic....
, continues to operate today as both a prestigious centre of musical education and a musical museum.
During the late Baroque period
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
, Alessandro Scarlatti
Alessandro Scarlatti
Alessandro Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. He was the father of two other composers, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti.-Life:Scarlatti was born in...
, the father of Domenico Scarlatti
Domenico Scarlatti
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. He is classified as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style...
, established the Neapolitan school of opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
; this was in the form of opera seria
Opera seria
Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770...
, which was a new development for its time. Another form of opera originating in Naples is opera buffa
Opera buffa
Opera buffa is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ‘commedia in musica’, ‘commedia per musica’, ‘dramma bernesco’, ‘dramma comico’, ‘divertimento giocoso' etc...
, a style of comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
strongly linked to Battista Pergolesi
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi was an Italian composer, violinist and organist.-Biography:Born at Iesi, Pergolesi studied music there under a local musician, Francesco Santini, before going to Naples in 1725, where he studied under Gaetano Greco and Francesco Feo among others...
and Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure, even to music lovers today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the Neapolitan opera buffa—of his day...
; later contributors to the genre included Rossini and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
. The Teatro di San Carlo
Teatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe.Founded by the Bourbon Charles VII of Naples of the Spanish branch of the dynasty, the theatre was inaugurated on 4 November 1737 — the king's name day — with a performance...
, built in 1737, is the oldest working theatre in Europe, and remains the operatic centre of Naples.
The earliest six-string guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
was created by a Neapolitan named Gaetano Vinaccia in 1779; the instrument is now referred to as the romantic guitar
Romantic guitar
The early romantic guitar is the guitar of the Classical and Romantic period of music, showing remarkable consistency in the instrument from 1790 to 1830. By this time guitars used single strings of six or more...
). The Vinaccia family also developed the mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
. Influenced by the Spanish, Neapolitans became pioneers of classical guitar
Classical guitar
The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
music, with Ferdinando Carulli
Ferdinando Carulli
Ferdinando Maria Meinrado Francesco Pascale Rosario Carulli was an Italian composer for classical guitar and the author of the first complete classical guitar method, which continues to be used today. He wrote a variety of works for classical guitar, including concertos and chamber works...
and Mauro Giuliani
Mauro Giuliani
Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani was an Italian guitarist, cellist and composer, and is considered by many to be one of the leading guitar virtuosi of the early 19th century.- Biography :...
being prominent exponents. Giuliani, who was actually from Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
but lived and worked in Naples, is widely considered to be one of the greatest guitar players
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and composers of the 19th century, along with his Catalan
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
contemporary Fernando Sor
Fernando Sor
Josep Ferran Sorts i Muntades was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer. While he is best known for his guitar compositions, he also composed music for a wide range of genres, including opera, orchestra, string quartet, piano, voice and ballet...
. Another Neapolitan musician of note was opera singer Enrico Caruso, one of the most prominent opera tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
s of all time: he was considered a man of the people in Naples, hailing from a working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
background.
A notable element of popular Neapolitan music is the Canzone Napoletana
Canzone Napoletana
Canzone Napoletana, sometimes referred to as Neapolitan song, is a generic term for a traditional form of music sung in the Neapolitan language, ordinarily for the male voice singing solo, although well-represented by female soloists as well, and expressed in familiar genres such as the lover's...
style, essentially the traditional music
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
of the city, with a repertoire of hundreds of folk
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
songs, some of which can be traced back to the 13th century. The genre became a formal institution in 1835, after the introduction of the annual Festival of Piedigrotta
Piedigrotta
Piedigrotta Literally, "at the foot of the grotto". A section of the Mergellina quarter of Naples, Italy, so-called for the presence of the Church of the Madonna of Piedigrotta near the entrance to an ancient Roman tunnel...
songwriting competition. Some of the best-known recording artists in this field include Roberto Murolo, Sergio Bruni and Renato Carosone
Renato Carosone
Renato Carosone , born Renato Carusone, was among the greatest figures of Italian music scene in the second half of the 20th century. He was also a modern performer of the so-called canzone napoletana, Naples' song tradition.-Beginnings:Carosone was born in Naples...
. There are furthermore various forms of music popular in Naples but not well known outside it, such as cantautore ("singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
") and sceneggiata, which has been described as a musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
; the most well-known exponent of this style is Mario Merola
Mario Merola
Mario Merola was an Italian singer and actor, most prominently known for having rejuvenated the traditional popular Neapolitan melodrama known as the sceneggiata....
.
Sports
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
during the early 20th century, the sport is deeply embedded in local culture: it is popular at every level of society, from the scugnizzi (street children
Street children
A street child is a child who lives on the streets of a city, deprived of family care and protection. Most children on the streets are between the ages of about 5 and 17 years old.Street children live in junk boxes, parks or on the street itself...
) to wealthy professionals. The city's best known football club is SSC Napoli
S.S.C. Napoli
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli, is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926. The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2011–12 season....
, which plays its home games at the Stadio San Paolo
Stadio San Paolo
Stadio San Paolo is a multi-purpose stadium in the western suburb of Fuorigrotta in Naples, Italy, and is the third largest football stadium in Italy after the San Siro and Stadio Olimpico. For the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, it hosted the football preliminaries. It is currently used mostly for...
in Fuorigrotta
Fuorigrotta
Fuorigrotta is a western suburb of Naples, southern Italy.-Geography:It lies beyond the Posillipo hill and has been joined to the main body of Naples by two traffic tunnels through that hill since the early 20th century....
. The team plays in the Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
league and has won the Scudetto twice; it once named Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona is a retired Argentine football player and widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting...
among its players. The team has also won the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
.
The city has produced numerous prominent professional players, including Ciro Ferrara
Ciro Ferrara
Ciro Ferrara is a former Italian footballer and current head coach of the Italy U-21 team. He spent his playing career as a defender initially at Napoli and later on at Juventus. He is also a former manager of Juventus.-Napoli:...
and Fabio Cannavaro
Fabio Cannavaro
Fabio Cannavaro, Ufficiale OMRI is a former Italian footballer considered one of the greatest defenders of all time and was given the name "Muro di Berlino" which means The Berlin wall by Italian supporters. He spent the majority of his career in Italy...
. Cannavaro was captain of Italy's national team
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...
until 2010, and led the team to victory in the 2006 World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
. He was consequently named World Player of the Year
FIFA World Player of the Year
The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award given annually to the male and female player who were thought to be the best in the world, based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams...
.
Some of the city's smaller clubs include Sporting Neapolis and Internapoli
Internapoli Camaldoli S.S.D.
Società Sportiva Dilettantistica Internapoli Città di Marano is an Italian association football club based in the Vomero area of Naples, Campania. Founded as S.C.Vomero in 1909, the club has been re-founded several times, first under the Cral Cirio in 1935 and Internapoli dominion in 1964...
, which play at the Stadio Arturo Collana
Stadio Arturo Collana
Stadio Arturo Collana is a football stadium in Naples, Italy; it is located in the Vomero area of the city. The stadium was built in the latter part of the 1920s, originally under the name Stadio XXVIII Ottobre....
. The city also has teams in a variety of other sports: Eldo Napoli
Basket Napoli
Basket Napoli is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in the city of Naples. For past club sponsorship names, see the list below.-History:...
represents the city in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
's Serie A
Serie A (basketball)
Lega Basket Serie A is the highest level club competition in Italian professional basketball where play determines the national champion. The season consists of a home-and-away schedule of 30 games, followed by an eight-team playoff round. Quarterfinals and semifinals series are best-of-five, and...
and plays in the city of Bagnoli
Bagnoli
Bagnoli is a western seaside district of Naples, Italy, well beyond the confines of the original city. It is beyond Cape Posillipo and, thus, looking on the coast of the Bay of Pozzuoli.- History :...
. Partenope Rugby are the city's best-known rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
side: the team has won the rugby union Serie A
Serie A (rugby union)
Serie A is the name of the second tier of the Italian Rugby Union championship. Until the creation of the Super 10 in a 2002 restructuring exercise, it was the name of the top tier....
twice. Other popular local sports include water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
, horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
, sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
, fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
, boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, taekwondo
Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...
and martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
. The Accademia Nazionale di Scherma (National Academy and Fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
School of Naples) is the only place in Italy where the titles "Master of Sword" and "Master of Kendo
Kendo
, meaning "Way of The Sword", is a modern Japanese martial art of sword-fighting based on traditional Japanese swordsmanship, or kenjutsu.Kendo is a physically and mentally challenging activity that combines strong martial arts values with sport-like physical elements.-Practitioners:Practitioners...
" can be obtained.
Notable people from Naples
- StatiusStatiusPublius Papinius Statius was a Roman poet of the 1st century CE . Besides his poetry in Latin, which include an epic poem, the Thebaid, a collection of occasional poetry, the Silvae, and the unfinished epic, the Achilleid, he is best known for his appearance as a major character in the Purgatory...
(45–96), poet - Pope Boniface VPope Boniface VPope Boniface V was pope from 619 to 625.He was consecrated as pope on December 23, 619. He did much for the Christianising of England and enacted the decree by which churches became places of refuge for criminals....
(died 625), pope - Pope Urban VIPope Urban VIPope Urban VI , born Bartolomeo Prignano, was Pope from 1378 to 1389.-Biography:Born in Itri, he was a devout monk and learned casuist, trained at Avignon. On March 21, 1364, he was consecrated Archbishop of Acerenza in the Kingdom of Naples...
(1318–1389), pope - Joan I of NaplesJoan I of NaplesJoan I , born Joanna of Anjou, was Queen of Naples from 1343 until her death. She was also Countess of Provence and Forcalquier, Queen consort of Majorca and titular Queen of Jerusalem and Sicily 1343–82, and Princess of Achaea 1373/5–81....
(1328–1382), queen - Pope Boniface IXPope Boniface IXPope Boniface IX , born Piero Tomacelli, was the second Roman Pope of the Western Schism from November 2, 1389, until October 1, 1404...
(1356–1404), pope - Giovanni PontanoJovianus PontanusIovianus Pontanus was an Italian humanist and poet.-Biography:Pontanus was born at Cerreto in the Duchy of Spoleto, where his father was murdered in one of the frequent civil brawls which then disturbed the peace of Italian towns.His mother escaped with the boy to Perugia, and it was here that...
(1426–1503), writer, diplomat, humanist, poet - Alfonso II of NaplesAlfonso II of NaplesAlfonso II of Naples , also called Alfonso II d'Aragon, was King of Naples from 25 January 1494 to 22 February 1495 with the title King of Naples and Jerusalem...
(1448–1495), king - Jacopo SannazaroJacopo SannazaroJacopo Sannazaro was an Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist from Naples.He wrote easily in Latin, in Italian and in Neapolitan, but is best remembered for his humanist classic Arcadia, a masterwork that illustrated the possibilities of poetical prose in Italian, and instituted the theme of...
(1458–1530), poet - Pietro SummontePietro SummontePietro Summonte was an Italian Renaissance humanist of Naples, a member of the learned circle of friends in the Ciceronian manner that constituted Pontano's Accademia Pontaniana. Summonte's care in preserving his correspondence on artistic matters with the Venetian Marcantonio Michiel resulted in...
(1463–1526), poet, writer, humanist - Pirro LigorioPirro LigorioPirro Ligorio was an Italian architect, painter, antiquarian and garden designer.-Biography:Ligorio was born in Naples. In 1534 he moved to Rome, where he developed his interest in antiquities, and was named superintendent to the ancient monuments by the Popes Pius IV and Paul IV...
(1510–1583), architect - Laura TerracinaLaura Terracina-Life:Terracina was born in Chiaia, a suburb of Naples. Her mother, Diana Anfora of Sorrento and father, Paolo Terracina, had at least one more daughter and two sons. She got encouragement from the famous poet Vittoria Colonna, who sent her a brief poem praising her talents...
(1519-c. 1577), poet - Giambattista Della PortaGiambattista della PortaGiambattista della Porta , also known as Giovanni Battista Della Porta and John Baptist Porta, was an Italian scholar, polymath and playwright who lived in Naples at the time of the Scientific Revolution and Reformation....
(1535–1615), alchemist, scientist, philosoper, writer, playwright - Giordano BrunoGiordano BrunoGiordano Bruno , born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in proposing that the Sun was essentially a star, and moreover, that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited...
(1548–1600), philosopher - Luca ValerioLuca ValerioLuca Valerio was an Italian mathematician. He developed ways to find volumes and centers of gravity of solid bodies using the methods of Archimedes. He corresponded with Galileo Galilei and was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei.-Biography:...
(1552–1618), mathematician - Giambattista Marino (1569–1625), poet
- Gian Lorenzo BerniniGian Lorenzo BerniniGian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
(1598–1680), sculptor, painter, architect - Salvator RosaSalvator RosaSalvator Rosa was an Italian Baroque painter, poet and printmaker, active in Naples, Rome and Florence. As a painter, he is best known as an "unorthodox and extravagant" and a "perpetual rebel" proto-Romantic.-Early life:...
(1615–1673), poet, satirist, painter - Francesco Antonio PicchiatiFrancesco Antonio PicchiatiFrancesco Antonio Picchiati was an Italian architect from Naples. He was son of architect Bartolommeo Picchiati and is known primarily for three projects in Naples:...
(1619–1694), architect - MasanielloMasanielloMasaniello was a Neapolitan fisherman, who became leader of the revolt against Spanish Habsburg rule in Naples in 1647.-Name and place of birth:...
(1622–1647), revolutionary - Gennaro AnneseGennaro AnneseGennaro Annese was an Italian revolutionary, who led the rebels in Naples against Spain in 1647-1648.Annese was an arquebus maker who lived near the Porta of the Carmine. He succeeded Masaniello during the Neapolitan Revolt of 1647...
(1604–1648), revolutionary - Luca GiordanoLuca GiordanoLuca Giordano was an Italian late Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain....
(1634–1705), painter - Ludovico SabbatiniLudovico SabbatiniVenerable Ludovico Sabbatini was an Italian priest and religious educator, who was beatified by the Catholic Church in 1765...
(1650–1724), religious teacher, priest - Giambattista VicoGiambattista VicoGiovanni Battista ' Vico or Vigo was an Italian political philosopher, rhetorician, historian, and jurist....
(1668–1744), philosopher - Ferdinando SanfeliceFerdinando SanfeliceFerdinando Sanfelice was an Italian late Baroque architect and painter.Sanfelice was born in Naples and died there. He was one of the principal architects in Naples in the first half of the 18th century. He was a student of Francesco Solimena.Sanfelice was known primarily for temporary displays...
(1675–1748), painter - Domenico Antonio VaccaroDomenico Antonio VaccaroDomenico Antonio Vaccaro was an Italian painter, sculptor and architect, the son and pupil of Lorenzo Vaccaro. Lorenzo was in turn a pupil of Cosimo Fanzago and was part of a large family of artists including Andrea Vaccaro, a pupil of Girolamo Imparato.Domenico Antonio was born in Naples and his...
(1678–1745) architect, painter - Domenico ScarlattiDomenico ScarlattiGiuseppe Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. He is classified as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style...
(1685–1757), composer - Nicola PorporaNicola PorporaNicola Porpora was an Italian composer of Baroque operas and teacher of singing, whose most famous singing student was the castrato Farinelli. One of his other students was composer Matteo Capranica.-Biography:Porpora was born in Naples...
(1686–1768), composer - Alphonsus LiguoriAlphonsus LiguoriSaint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, scholastic philosopher and theologian, and founder of the Redemptorists, an influential religious congregation...
, (1696–1787), saint, writer - Bernardo TanucciBernardo TanucciBernardo Tanucci was an Italian statesman, who brought enlightened government to the backward Kingdom of the Two Sicilies for Charles III and his son Ferdinand IV.-Biography:...
(1698–1783), jurist, politician, minister - Luigi VanvitelliLuigi VanvitelliLuigi Vanvitelli was an Italian engineer and architect. The most prominent 18th-century architect of Italy, he practiced a sober classicizing academic Late Baroque style that made an easy transition to Neoclassicism.-Biography:Vanvitelli was born at Naples, the son of a Dutch painter of land and...
, (1700–1773), architect - Eleonora Fonseca PimentelEleonora Fonseca PimentelEleonora Anna Naria Felice de Fonseca Pimentel was an Italian poet and revolutionary connected with the Neapolitan revolution and subsequent short-lived Neapolitan Republic of 1799, a sister republic of the French Republic and one of many set up in the 1790s in...
(1751–1799), poet, journalist, revolutionary - Ferdinand I of the Two SiciliesFerdinand I of the Two SiciliesFerdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
(1751–1825), king - Gaetano FilangieriGaetano FilangieriGaetano Filangieri , Italian jurist and philosopher, was born in San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, a country near Naples....
(1752–1788), jurist - Raffaele SaccoRaffaele SaccoRaffaele Sacco was an Italian optician Raffaele Sacco (August 14, 1787 - January 20, 1872) was an Italian optician Raffaele Sacco (August 14, 1787 - January 20, 1872) was an Italian optician (reputed inventor of the aletoscope ( an apparatus to verify the authenticity of stamps, wax seals, etc.)...
(1787–1872), poet, inventor, lyricist - Salvadore Cammarano (1801–1852), librettist, poet, playwright
- Domenico MorelliDomenico MorelliDomenico Morelli was an Italian painter, one of the most important Neapolitan artists of the 19th century. He enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Naples in 1836. His early works are Romantic and contain imagery drawn from the Middle Ages and Byron...
(1823–1901), painter - Ruggiero Bonghi (1826–1895), philologist, politician
- Lord ActonJohn Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron ActonJohn Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, KCVO, DL , known as Sir John Dalberg-Acton, 8th Bt from 1837 to 1869 and usually referred to simply as Lord Acton, was an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer...
(1834–1902), historian - Giovanni BovioGiovanni BovioGiovanni Bovio was an Italian philosopher and radical politician. He has been a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.He was involved in setting up the radical movement "Fascio della democrazia" in 1883....
(1837–1903, philosopher, politician - Peppino TurcoPeppino TurcoGiuseppe “Peppino” Turco was an Italian songwriter.Turco was born in Naples. Initially he was a renowned journalist and poet, collaborating with the satirical newspaper Capitan Fracassa in Rome and various Neapolitan periodicals...
(1846–1907), songwriter, journalist - Lamont YoungLamont Young (Naples)Lamont Young Italian architect and urban planner from the late 19th and early 20th century. He was born in Naples and all of the works and urban design associated with his name are found in that city...
, (1851–1929), architect - Vincenzo GemitoVincenzo GemitoVincenzo Gemito was an Italian sculptor and artist.Although he worked in various studios of well known artists in his native Naples, Rome and Paris, he is considered to have largely been self-taught, the reason he produced such distinctive works for that time, replacing sentiment with outstanding...
(1852–1929), sculptor - Matilde SeraoMatilde Seraoframe|Matilde Serao.Matilde Serao was a Greek-born Italian journalist and novelist. She was the founder and editor of Il Mattino, and she also wrote several novels.-Biography:...
(1856–1927), writer, journalist - Ruggero LeoncavalloRuggero LeoncavalloRuggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer. His two-act work Pagliacci remains one of the most popular works in the repertory, appearing as number 20 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.-Biography:...
(1857–1919), composer
- Salvatore Di GiacomoSalvatore Di GiacomoSalvatore Di Giacomo was a Neapolitan poet, songwriter and playwright.Di Giacomo is credited as being one of those responsible for renewing Neapolitan dialect poetry at the beginning of the 20th century...
(1860–1934), poet - Eduardo di CapuaEduardo di CapuaEduardo di Capua was an Italian singer and songwriter.-Biography:He was born in Naples in 1865. Together with the poet Giovanni Capurro, di Capua wrote the song "'O Sole Mio", which has since been recorded by many singers, both classical and popular...
(1865–1917), composer - Ferdinando RussoFerdinando RussoFerdinando Russo was a prominent Neapolitan journalist primarily remembered as a dialect poet and composer of song lyrics. He was also the author of a small volume, La Camorra, about organized crime in Naples, serialized in five installments in 1897 in il Mattino, still the largest Neapolitan...
(1866–1927), poet, journalist, writer - Benedetto CroceBenedetto CroceBenedetto Croce was an Italian idealist philosopher, and occasionally also politician. He wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, methodology of history writing and aesthetics, and was a prominent liberal, although he opposed laissez-faire free trade...
, (1866–1952), writer, politician, senator, philosoper - Victor Emmanuel III of ItalyVictor Emmanuel III of ItalyVictor Emmanuel III was a member of the House of Savoy and King of Italy . In addition, he claimed the crowns of Ethiopia and Albania and claimed the titles Emperor of Ethiopia and King of Albania , which were unrecognised by the Great Powers...
(1869–1947), king - Enrico Caruso (1873–1921), opera singer
- Salvatore Gambardella (1873–1913 ), composer
- Enrico CannioEnrico CannioEnrico Cannio was an Italian musician and composer. He initially received a diploma in piano to become an orchestra conductor; he spent his whole life in Naples, and during his career he worked at three singing schools in the city. He also led three local theater orchestras, at the Eden, the...
(1874–1949), composer - Ernesto De CurtisErnesto De CurtisErnesto De Curtis was an Italian composer.Born in Naples, the son of Giuseppe De Curtis and Elisabetta Minnon, he was a great-grandson of composer Saverio Mercadante and the brother of poet Giambattista De Curtis, with whom he wrote the song "Torna a Surriento"...
(1875–1937), composer - Enrico De NicolaEnrico De NicolaEnrico Roberto De Nicola was an Italian jurist, journalist, politician, and the first provisional Head of State of the newborn republic of Italy from 1946 to 1948.-Biography:...
(1877–1959), president, jurist, journalist - Libero BovioLibero BovioLibero Bovio , was a Neapolitan lyricist and dialect poet.Bovio was one of those responsible for the rejuvenation of Neapolitandialect in plays, poetry and song at the beginning of the twentieth...
(1883–1942) poet, songwriter - Cesare Andrea BixioCesare Andrea BixioCesare Andrea Bixio was an Italian composer. He was one of the most popular Italian songwriters of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. His hits included Vivere, Mamma, Parlami d'amore, Mariù, La Mia Canzone del Vento, and many others. The lyricist for most of his hits was B. Cherubini...
(1896–1978), composer - TotòTotòPrince Antonio Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno De Curtis di Bisanzio Gagliardi, best known by his stage name Totò and nicknamed il principe della risata was an Italian comedian, film and theatre actor, writer, singer and songwriter...
(1898–1967), actor - Eduardo De FilippoEduardo De FilippoEduardo De Filippo was an Italian actor, playwright, screenwriter, author and poet, best known for his Neapolitan works Filumena Marturano and Napoli Milionaria.-Biography:...
(1900–1984), actor, writer - Renato CaccioppoliRenato CaccioppoliRenato Caccioppoli was an Italian mathematician.- Biography :Born in Naples, Campania, he was the son of Giuseppe Caccioppoli , a surgeon, and his second wife Sofia Bakunin , daughter of the Russian revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin. After earning his diploma in 1921, he enrolled in the department of...
(1904–1959), mathematician - Luigi Cosenza (1904–1984), architect
- Salvatore Mazzocco (1915–1976), composer
- Renato CarosoneRenato CarosoneRenato Carosone , born Renato Carusone, was among the greatest figures of Italian music scene in the second half of the 20th century. He was also a modern performer of the so-called canzone napoletana, Naples' song tradition.-Beginnings:Carosone was born in Naples...
(1920–2001), singer-songwriter, musician - Domenico Rea (1921–1994), writer, journalist
- Giorgio NapolitanoGiorgio NapolitanoGiorgio Napolitano is an Italian politician who has been the 11th President of Italy since 2006. A long-time member of the Italian Communist Party and later the Democrats of the Left, he served as President of the Chamber of Deputies from 1992 to 1994 and as Minister of the Interior from 1996 to...
(1925–), politician, president - Fausto SarliFausto Sarli-Biography:Sarli was born in Naples in 1927 and died in Rome December 9, 2010. He presented his first collection at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence in 1954 at the age of 29. In 1958, he established his own house, in Naples. He opened ateliers in Rome on Via Veneto and Milan. Sarli exports its...
(1927–2010), fashion designer - Bud SpencerBud SpencerBud Spencer is an Italian actor, filmmaker and former swimmer . He is known for past roles in spaghetti westerns together with his long time filmpartner Terence Hill...
(1929-), swimmer, water polo player, actor - Luciano De CrescenzoLuciano De CrescenzoLuciano De Crescenzo is an Italian writer, film actor, director and engineer.Born in Naples, he graduated in engineering and worked for IBM Italy until 1976, when he published the bestseller Così parlò Bellavista , a collection of facts and anecdotes about his city which sold 600,000 copies in...
(1929-), engineer, writer, actor, director, philosoper - Mario MerolaMario MerolaMario Merola was an Italian singer and actor, most prominently known for having rejuvenated the traditional popular Neapolitan melodrama known as the sceneggiata....
(1934–2005), singer - Mariano Rigillo (1939-), actor
- Mario TreviMario TreviMario Trevi,stage name of Agostino Capozzi is an Italian singer, film actor and theater actor.-Biography:Mario Trevi was born in Melito di Napoli, Italy, November 2, 1941....
(1941-), singer - Riccardo MutiRiccardo MutiRiccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
(1941-), conductor - Edoardo BennatoEdoardo BennatoEdoardo Bennato is an Italian singer-songwriter. He is the brother of the singer-songwriter Eugenio Bennato.-Biography:...
(1946-), architect, singer, songwriter - Tullio De PiscopoTullio De PiscopoTullio De Piscopo is an Italian drummer and singer.De Piscopo was born the son of a drummer in an orchestra. In 1969 he moved to Turin, where he began a successful career as drummer for several popular artists, including Gerry Mulligan, Ástor Piazzolla, Aldemaro Romero, Gato Barbieri, Mina, Lucio...
(1946-), singer, songwriter - Mario Terlizzo (1947-), Royal Caribbean director of port operations
- Michele CampanellaMichele CampanellaMichele Campanella is an Italian pianist who specialises in the music of Franz Liszt, and is also a conductor.Campanella was born in Naples in 1947. He won the Alfredo Casella Prize at age 19, after studying with Vincenzo Vitale...
(1947–), pianist and conductor - Gianni Nazzaro (1948-) singer, actor
- Tony EspositoTony Esposito (musician)Antonio "Tony" Esposito is an Italian musician, singer-songwriter and drummer from Italy.-Career :Esposito was born in Naples.He is well known for his 1984 hit single "Kalimba de Luna" from his album Il grande esploratore....
, (1950-), musician, songwriter - Gabriele SalvatoresGabriele SalvatoresGabriele Salvatores , is an Italian Academy Award-winning film director and screenwriter.-Biography:Born in Naples, Salvatores debuted as a theatre director in 1972, founding in Milan the Teatro dell'Elfo, for which he directed several avant-garde pieces until 1989.In that year, he directed his...
, (1950-), director, Academy Award winner - Alan SorrentiAlan Sorrenti- Biography :Sorrenti was born in Naples, but his mother was Welsh, and he spent much of his childhood in Aberystwyth, WalesSorrenti's career began in the early 1970s...
(1950-), singer, songwriter - Marisa Laurito (1951-), actress, singer
- Francesco ClementeFrancesco ClementeFrancesco Clemente is an Italian and American contemporary artist. Influenced by thinkers as diverse as Gregory Bateson, William Blake, Allen Ginsberg, and J Krishnamurti, the art of Francesco Clemente is inclusive and nomadic, crossing many borders, intellectual and geographical.Dividing his time...
(1952-), artist - Massimo TroisiMassimo TroisiMassimo Troisi was an Italian actor, film director, and poet. He is best known for his role as Mario Ruoppolo in the 1994 film Il Postino.- Early years and TV star :...
(1953–1994), actor - Lina Sastri (1955-), actress
- Pino DanielePino DanielePino Daniele is an Italian vocalist, composer, and musician, whose influences cover a wide number of genres, fusing pop, blues, jazz, Italian and Middle eastern music into his own unique brand of world music.-Studio albums:...
(1955–), singer-songwriter, musician - Teresa De SioTeresa De SioTeresa De Sio is an Italian folk singer-songwriter and the sister of the actress Giuliana De Sio.-Biography and career:She was born in Naples and lived in Cava de' Tirreni, the originary town of her family...
(1955-), musician, singer, songwriter - Nino D'AngeloNino D'AngeloGaetano "Nino" d'Angelo is an Italian singer. He was born in San Pietro a Patierno, a suburb of Naples. Nino had a very difficult childhood, and to help his family's poor financial condition he left the school and started working at a very young age.Thanks to Alberto Lupo he was able to enter the...
(1957-), singer, actor - Mario MartoneMario MartoneMario Martone is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He has directed 15 films since 1985. His film L'amore molesto was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival...
(1959-), director - Iaia Forte (1962-), actress
- Gigi D'AlessioGigi d'AlessioLuigi "Gigi" D'Alessio is an Italian popular singer and Neapolitan singer-songwriter.-Career:D'Alessio was born in Naples. Well-known in Naples beginning in the early 1990s and throughout Italy due to participation in the Sanremo Festival in 2000 and 2001. He has also made overseas appearances,...
(1967-), singer - Paolo SorrentinoPaolo SorrentinoPaolo Sorrentino is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He was born in Naples.Sorrentino's first film as screenwriter, Polvere di Napoli, was released in 1998. He began directing several short movies, like L'amore non ha confini, in 1998, and La notte lunga, in 2001...
(1970-), screenwriter, director - Fabio CannavaroFabio CannavaroFabio Cannavaro, Ufficiale OMRI is a former Italian footballer considered one of the greatest defenders of all time and was given the name "Muro di Berlino" which means The Berlin wall by Italian supporters. He spent the majority of his career in Italy...
(1973–), World Cup-winning footballer - Antonio Di NataleAntonio di NataleAntonio Di Natale is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Udinese.A versatile striker with a lethal eye for goal, Di Natale can play anywhere in the front line, as a lone striker or out wide in an attacking trident. He is notable for his dribbling skills, pace and for his ability to...
(1977–), national footballer - Massimiliano RosolinoMassimiliano Rosolino-Biography:Born in Naples of an Italian father, Salvatore, and Australian mother, Carolyn, he moved to Australia at the age of three, coming back to Italy at six. Rosolino declared about his beginnings as a swimmer:...
(1978–), swimmer, olympian - Roberto SavianoRoberto SavianoRoberto Saviano is an Italian writer and journalist.In his writings, articles, television programs, and books he employs prose and news-reporting style to narrate the story of the Camorra , exposing its territory and business connections.Since 2006, following the publication of his bestselling...
(1979–), journalist, writer - Ambra ValloAmbra ValloAmbra Vallo is a classical ballet dancer. Born in Naples, Italy, she is currently a Principal Dancer with the Birmingham Royal Ballet.-Biography and Career:She trained at the Royal Ballet School of Flanders...
, principal dancer
Twin towns and sister cities
Naples is involved in town twinningTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
(known as gemellaggio in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
). Below is a list of partner cities listed on the official website of the city of Naples:
Kagoshima, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Miami, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
Călăraşi
Calarasi
Călăraşi , the capital of Călăraşi County and Sud-Muntenia Region in the Wallachia region, is situated in south-east Romania, on the bank of Danube's Borcea branch, at about 12 kilometers from the Bulgarian border and 125 kilometers from Bucharest....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
Gafsa
Gafsa
Gafsa is the capital of Gafsa Governorate of Tunisia. Its name was appropriated by archaeologists for the Mesolithic Capsian culture. With a population of 84,676, it is the 9th Tunisian city.-Overview:...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
, Palestinian Authority Nosy Be
Nosy Be
Nosy Be is an island located off the northwest coast of Madagascar. Nosy Be is Madagascar's largest and busiest tourist resort. It has an area of 312 km2 and its population was officially estimated at 36,636 in 2001....
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
Palma, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana....
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
Tripoli, Lebanon
Tripoli, Lebanon
Tripoli is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in Lebanon. Situated 85 km north of the capital Beirut, Tripoli is the capital of the North Governorate and the Tripoli District. Geographically located on the east of the Mediterranean, the city's history dates back...
Santiago de Cuba Province
Santiago de Cuba Province
Santiago de Cuba Province is the second most populated province in the island of Cuba. The largest city Santiago de Cuba is the main administrative center...
, Cuba Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, since 1964 Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou , is the capital and largest city of Henan province in north-central China. A prefecture-level city, it also serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational centre of the province, as well as a major transportation hub for Central China...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
UNESCO status
In 1995, the historic centre of Naples was listed by UNESCOUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
as a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
, a United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
programme which aims to catalogue, name, and conserve sites of outstanding cultural
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
or natural
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
importance to the common heritage of mankind
Common heritage of mankind
Common heritage of mankind is a principle of international law which holds that defined territorial areas and elements of humanity's common heritage should be held in trust for future generations and be protected from exploitation by individual...
. The UNESCO evaluation committee described Naples' centre as being "of exceptional value", and went on to say that Naples' setting on
the Bay of Naples
Gulf of Naples
The Gulf of Naples is a c. 15 km wide gulf located in the south western coast of Italy, . It opens to the west into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered on the north by the cities of Naples and Pozzuoli, on the east by Mount Vesuvius, and on the south by the Sorrentine Peninsula and the main...
"gives it an outstanding universal value which has had a profound influence".
See also
- CamorraCamorraThe Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
- Neapolitan languageNeapolitan languageNeapolitan is the language of the city and region of Naples , and Campania. On October 14, 2008 a law by the Region of Campania stated that the Neapolitan language had to be protected....
- Neapolitan MastiffNeapolitan MastiffThe Neapolitan Mastiff, Italian Mastiff, is a large, ancient dog breed. This massive breed is often used as a guard and defender of family and property due to their protective instincts and their fearsome appearance....
- Diego Armando Maradona
- SirenuseSirenuseThe Sirenusas , also known as the Gallos , are an archipelago of little islands off the Amalfi Coast of Italy near Positano and the Isle of Capri. The name, Sirenuse, is a reference to the mythological sirens said to have lived there...
- CorsicaCorsicaCorsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
- University of Naples Federico IIUniversity of Naples Federico IIThe University of Naples Federico II is a university located in Naples, Italy. It was founded in 1224 and is organized into 13 faculties. It is the world's oldest state university and one of the oldest academic institutions in continuous operation...
- List of radio stations in Naples
- Naples waste management issueNaples waste management issueThe Naples waste management crisis was a series of events surrounding the lack of waste collection in the city of Naples that peaked in the summer of 2008, but carries on to the present day.-Background:...