NAPOLI -

Whatever you know or think you know about Napoli, it’s true. Whatever you have seen or read about Napoli, it’s true. It’s loud, it’s noisy, it’s worn out, it’s dirty, hectic, full of dog shit on the pavement… but…. it’s so much more.

There’s a saying; Napoli non è una città, è un mondo…Napoli is not a city, it’s a world. And it surely is, it’s a world of its own.

One of the oldest continuously inhabited urban areas in the world and the capital of Campania region, Napoli is a home to almost one million people and probably a billion of mopeds.

It’s one of those cities that never sleeps. Somewhere, someone is always riding the streets and making sure you hear it.

Five full days in this chaotic city we were just making sure we make safe and alive, as pedestrians are a second-class citizens in Napoli.

The narrow streets are covered in cobble stones and cars are driving without stopping, just announcing their arrival by honking the honk.

*M sitting by the window waiting for another ambulance or police car siren 🙂*

Situated below the foothill of one of few active volcanoes in the region, Napoli is famous for pizza, football club and one of the most notorious organized crime families in Italy that have claimed dozens of lives. We were there for pizza. And a bit more.

*Mount Vesuvio in the background is the only volcano on Europe’s mainland to have erupted in the last hundred years, in 1944*

Arriving to Napoli from Firenze was easy peasy. It took only 3 hours for the fast train FrecciaRossa to cover 500 km and connect Firenze to Napoli. Once it left the station, that typical Italian punctuality was seen in the fact that the PA was informing the passengers about the on time arrival, while being half an hour late in the start. Oh, well, what can you do?

Monument to Dante Alighieri at Piazza Dante with a boarding school in the background

The trip to Napoli was actually supposed to be my birthday trip in January 2020, but than pandemic closed the whole world and left us sitting in our homes for a while. When the opportunity for an Italian trip came back, without blink of an eye we decided to visit that wonder of the world. There are also direct flights from Napoli to different parts of Spain, which made the decision even easier.

Small concave structures that house Catholic statues are places of worship where Napoletans come to pray

It is believed that these votive shrines were created by Gregorio Maria Rocco, an 18th-century Dominican friar known for his fight against poverty in the city

In the mid-18th century, Rocco was looking for a way to make the streets of Naples safer at night. He thought that encouraging the creation of oil lamp-lit shrines could turn streets into places of worship, and drive away petty thieves. Neapolitans, known for their respect and devotion for different saints, were happy to follow his advice

One of the most famous parts in the city is definitely Quartieri Spagnoli

Once considered dangerous, they became an attraction not to be missed

The Spanish Neighborhood arise in the 16th century as an area used by the Spanish soldiers during the occupation and for a very long time it was linked to crime or prostitution, as a heritage from the solders

These days the Spanish quarters are one of the most bustling parts of the city with many coffee shops, restaurants, bars and a daily open market

We have spend almost a week in Napoli just wondering around, with few scheduled, planed and desired things to do and those were the tour Napoli Sotterranea – check, visit to aquarium – check, visit to Castel Sant’Elmo, pass by Castel dell’Ovo – check, check, day trip to Pompeii – check. What we have missed, because of poor organisation, is a visit to the tomb of Giacomo Leopardi and Virgil. The first one was a 1800 philosopher and a poet while the other was the character from the Band’s song The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.

Or was it the ancient Roman poet? Hm….got everything mixed up now 🤣

Piazza del Plebiscito, a large public square was named after the plebiscite taken on October 21, 1860, that brought Naples into the unified Kingdom of Italy under the House of Savoy

Got my eyes stuck on the creative solutions for the old balconies

Maybe similar ones can be used for Zagreb after 2020 earthquake

Alongside of the lungomare lays one of the oldest castles in the city Castel dell’Ovo, is

It’s located on the former island of Megaride, now a peninsula in the Gulf of Napoli

The castle’s name comes from a legend about the Roman poet Virgil, who had a reputation in the Middle Ages as a great sorcerer and predictor of the future. In the legend, Virgil put a magical egg into the foundations to support the fortifications. It remains there along with his bones, and had this egg been broken, the castle would have been destroyed and a series of disastrous events for Naples would have followed (source*wikipedia)

*The gulf of Napoli with Mount Vesuvius in the background*

Hidden behind the trees, in Chiaia neighborhood, lays the interdisciplinary research institute The Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, founded in 1872 as a private concern by Anton Dohrn, the German researcher

*Two years after the foundation of the research station, in 1874, the first public aquarium in Italy was opened*

Small, but interesting aquarium to visit

Open from Tuesday until Sunday, 9am-5pm, 8 euro ticket. I think we paid 5e iin 2022

*The only playground that we have found in seven days, in a park in between two traffic lanes, next to a roundabout 🙂*

*The view to the Castel Sant’ Elmo, a medieval fortress located on Vomero hill*

The name “Sant’Elmo” derives from a former 10th-century church dedicated to Sant’Erasmo, shortened to “Ermo” and, finally altered to “Elmo”

The fortress now serves as a museum, exhibition hall, and offices

Interesting reparations found on the walls of the fortress

*Galleria Umberto I is a public shopping gallery named after the than king of Italy, Umberto I*

The gallery was designed by Emanuele Rocco, who employed modern architectural elements reminiscent of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan

It is a high and spacious cross-shaped structure, surmounted by a glass dome braced by 16 metal ribs

The building is part of the UNESCO listing of the Historic Centre of Naples as a World Heritage Site

*The late Baroque, or Rococo style, Palazzo San Felice was erected between 1724 and 1726 by the architect Ferdinando Sanfelice*

Through an indistinct façade one enters to an interior octagonal courtyard leads to a double ramp stairwell

Its monumental staircase ad ali di falco “in falcon wings”, from which the light coming from the garden gushes in transparency leads to private flats with outdoor dryingmaschines

Our spacious Airbnb was located in Materdei neighborhood just minutes away from the Line 1 Metro station, that made easier for us to navigate both public and airport transfer.

The metro tickets available in kiosks, or selling point in the metro station, but only, for cash

The Materdei station was opened in 2003 and according to the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph it was ranked in 16th place as the most beautiful metro station in Europe.

The station was designed by Alessandro Mendini and includes the artworks of Sol LeWit

*Vanivtelli metro 1 station, art mosaic of Isabella Ducrot*

Busy and vivacious Materdei neighborhood was a perfect location to stay, as it was a short ride with Metro or bus to other parts of the city and just 20 minutes walk down the hill to the city center. Bustling with bars, shops, restaurants and what’s most important with the best pizzeria in the city, it’s a definitive recommendation from us.

When it comes to the city it self, that is something to be decided on your own. Be ready to die. Either form traffic or too much pizza, that will be up to you 🙂

NAPOLI

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