Naples,
the third-largest Italian city,
occupies one of the most beautiful
natural settings of any city in Europe.
Above it is the bare cone of Mount
Vesuvius, an active volcano, and
beside it the broad sweep of the Bay
of Naples and the Tyrrhennian
Sea. The city itself is a mad
jumble of tenements and traffic, street
vendors and crumbling palaces.
A
toll road leads most of the way up to
the summit of Vesuvius (it is
the local Lover’s Lane); the final
few hundred yards involve an energetic
scramble up a bare pumice track. The
viewing platform is right on the rim of
the caldera and provides a dizzying
view of both the steam-filled abyss and
the whole of the Bay of Naples.
Nearby,
the remains of Pompeii and Herculaneum,
engulfed in the great eruption of AD79,
are a unique record of how ordinary
1st-century Romans lived their daily
lives. Moulds of people and animals
found well-preserved, buried under the
burning ash, can be seen at Pompeii,
and the decoration in some of the
excavated villas is amazingly intact,
including numerous wall paintings of
gods and humans in scenes ranging from
the heroic to the erotic.
The
city of Casertawas the
country seat of the Kings of Naples.
The Baroque Royal Palace owes
much to Versailles. There are imposing
Greek temples at Paestum.
The
peninsula just south of Naples is one
of the most popular regions in Italy
for holidaymakers, especially those in
search of sun and sand. But the added
bonus for many is the extraordinary
beauty of the region: sheer craggy
cliffs rise over the shimmering
blue-green Mediterranean waters, and
everywhere there are views of hills and
sea. History and culture are also
present in abundance and it is easy to
understand the persistent attraction of
the area for visitors.
Museums: In Naples: the National Museum, which houses one of the most important archaeologic collections in the world (statues by the great Greek masters Policleto, Lisippo and Prassitele); mosaics and wall paintings from Pompeii; the collection of jewels, small bronzes, household goods and utensils. In the Museum and Galleries of Capodimonte, tourists can admire all-time pictorial masterpieces by Titian, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Caravaggio; sculptures, tapestries and ceramics. The National Museum of San Martino has historic, artistic and monumental sections. In Benevento, the Museum of the Sannio holds an important archaeologic room with Samnitic, Italic, Italiot relics and an interesting collection of coins, with very rare gold coins of the Longobard Princes. Precious works of art can be admired in the Cathedral Museum and the Provincial Museum in Salerno.
Napoli Travel
Naples Services:
