The sights of Naples

Museums, churches, castles, monuments and other sights in Naples

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In the city center

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Museo Archeologico
This is one of the most significant archaeological collections in Europe (certainly Southern Italy's best), the only absolutely required sight in Naples, and well worth 2–3 hours of your time. If you explore Pompeii without paying this museum a visit as well, you've missed out on half the riches. The best statues, mosaics, and wall paintings at Pompeii that could be carried off (and hadn't been already by looters) were long ago removed from the archaeological site to be preserved here, alongside finds from across Southern Italy as well as many from Rome itself (including the important and impressive statuary collected by the Farnese family)...» more
 
Top 5 sights in Naples
★★★ Museo Archeologico
★★ Museo Capodimonte
★★ Santa Chiara
★★ Cappella Sansevero
★ Certosa di San Martino
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Santa Chiara
Santa Chiara is the most rewarding of Naples' churches, built in 1328 and half-destroyed by incendiary bombs in 1943. It was restored as best as possible to its Gothic state in 1953—complete with its famous and gorgeous majolica-plated cloisters... » more
 
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Cappella Sansevero
If you want the best example of how baroque can be both ludicrously over-the-top, hauntingly beautiful, and technically brilliant all at once, search out the nondescript entrance to one of Italy's most fanciful chapels. This 1590 chapel is a festival of marbles, frescoes, and above all sculpture—in relief and in the round, masterfully showing off the considerable technical abilities and intricate visual storytelling of a few otherwise relatively unknown Neapolitan baroque masters... » more
 
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San Lorenzo Maggiore
The greatest of Naples' layered churches was built in 1265 for Charles I over a 6th-century basilica, which in turn lay over the remains of the ancient Greek and Roman cities (the foundations of the church are actually the walls of Greek Neapolis' basilican law courts.) The interior is pure Gothic, with tall pointed arches and an apse off of which radiate nine chapels. This is where, in 1334, Boccaccio first caught sight of Robert of Anjou's daughter Maria, who became "Fiammetta" in his writings... » more
 
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Presepi (Christmas crèches)
These dioramas of the Nativity, which probably date back to St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century but became most wildly popular here in Naples starting in the 17th century, are still an integral and important part of the Christmas season, assembled in church chapels and on piazze throughout Italy starting in November. Presepi seem to concentrate more on finely studied figures of peasants and townsfolk than the Holy Family itself ... » more
 
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Duomo (Cathedral)
The neo-Gothic facade of Naples' cathedral—built in the French Gothic style for Charles I in 1294 but rebuilt after a disastrous earthquake in 1456. The third chapel on the right is the sumptuous 17th-century Cappella di San Gennaro, elaborately frescoed by Domenichino and, later, Giovanni Lanfranco, who completed the concentric clouds of saints and angels spiraling up the airy dome to celebrate the city's patron saint and his miraculous blood... » more
 
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San Domenico Maggiore
This massive Gothic edifice was erected from 1289–1324, and rebuilt in the Renaissance and early baroque eras (when it received its prime attractions inside)... » more
 
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San Gregorio Armeno
The church was founded by devout 8th-century nuns who fled the persecutions in Byzantium, taking the relics of St. Gregory with them. But the baroque-era members of the sisterly order tended to be wealthy daughters of noble families, and so their church was decorated in a suitably rich rococo style... » more
 
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Museo Civico G. Filangeri
A small, private house museum with an eclectic collection—paintings by Ribera, Mattia Preti, and Luca Giordano; porcelains; Asian arms—in a late–18th century palazzo complete with grand salons, a library, and a preserved majolica floor up on the first floor... » more
 

By the waterfront

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Teatro San Carlo
San Carlo is one of the oldest, largest, and most respected opera houses in Italy, built by Giovanni Medrano in 1737 under the auspices of Charles of Bourbon (who didn't particularly care for opera, but cared very much about his reputation as an enlightened patron of the arts)... » more
 
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Galleria Umberto I
This early shopping mall—modeled on Milan's galleria—was built as part of Naples' urban renewal scheme following a cholera epidemic of 1884. The massive glass and iron-frame barrel vaults of its four wings and central dome soar some 187 feet above the inlaid marble flooring... » more
 
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Palazzo Reale
Naples' royal palace had to be restructured following Allied bomb damage in 1943, but retains some sumptuous royal apartments and, in niches along the 18th-century facade, statues of the greatest kings from the eight dynasties that have ruled Naples... » more
 
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Piazza Plebescito
The expansive Piazza Plebescito in front of the royal palace is one of Naples’ largest open spaces, laid out with a colonnaded hemicycle and equestrian statues of Charles III of Bourbon and Ferdinand IV in the early 18th century... » more
 
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Castel Nuovo
Though the core Maschio Angioino, or Angevin Dungeon, was built in the 13th century, the grand entrance arch wedged between two massive 15th-century bastions is pure Renaissance. Inside are statues and frescoes from the 14th and 15th century, a middling collection of paintings from the 15th to 20th centuries, and the huge Sala dei Baroni hall where Naples' City Council still meets... » more
 
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Castel dell'Ovo
n an ancient island just off the Santa Lucia headland, the Greeks built a fortification that was later adapted by the Romans and connected to the mainland by a pier. One of Naples' most ingrained legends is that hometown poet Virgil locked a magic egg (ovo in Neapolitan) in an iron cage under this castle, and should that egg ever break, Naples itself will crumble. Certainly this strategic spot at the edge of Naples' Bay has been key to the city's defenses for over 2,600 years... » more
 

In the hills

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Museo Capodimonte
Set in an 18th-century royal palace in the midst of shady, grassy Capodimonte park high above the city, this is by far the best painting gallery in all of Southern Italy, particularly strong in works from Old Masters representing all phases of the Renaissance and baroque periods, including notable works by Caravaggio and Ribera... » more
 
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Catacombe di San Gennaro
These wide tunnels lined with early Christian burial niches grew around the tomb of an important pagan family, but became a pilgrimage site when the bones of San Gennaro himself were transferred here in 5th century. Along with several well-preserved 6th-century frescoes there is a depiction of San Gennaro from the AD 400s whose halo sports an alpha and omega, and a cross—symbols normally reserved exclusively for Christ's halo... » more
 
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Certosa di San Martino
This 14th-century Carthusian monastery was baroqued in the 17th century, and is today famous for its fine church, peaceful cloisters, great views, small painting gallery, and remarkable presepio collection of Christmas crèches. What's more, the views across the city below from its perch atop Vomero hill are fantastic... » more
 
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Castel Sant'Elmo
Next door to the monastery of San Martino is the star-shaped Castel Sant'Elmo, built in a strategic position above the city in 1329–43 by the Angevins. It was enlarged in the 16th century and today offers a magnificent 360° panorama of Naples and its bay after a walk through the dark, echoey, medieval stone halls... » more
 

Tips & links

The Campania Artecard

Sights covered by Artecard
In Naples
Museo Archeologico
Museo Capodimonte
Certosa di San Martino
Castel Sant'Elmo
Castel Nuovo
Palazzo Reale
Duomo museums
...and more

Nearby in Campania
Pompeii
Herculaneum
Paestum (museum and site)
Reggia di Caserta
Capua amphitheater
Capua mithraeum
Campi Flegrei (pretty much everything)
...and more
Get the discount card: The Campania Artecard (www.campaniartecard.it) will get you into many top sights for free—not just in Naples, but across Campania, including Pompeii and other biggies (the list on the right compiles the highlights, but it covers 38 major sights flat-out, plus offers discounts on two dozen others and on theaters, shops, events, and tourist services). You can pick it up at participating sights, the airport, train stations, major ports, many hotels, car parks, travel agencies, newsstands...it's pretty easy to find.

There are nine versions, and it can get confusing. Avoid the cheapest, the "Napoli Centro Antico" one; it's not worth it. Here are the most useful variants:

  • Napoli e Campi Flegrei (€16) - Valid for 3 days; only gets you into three sights of your choice, plus 50% off any other sights you visit—plus free rides on public transportation in Naples and out to the Campi Flegrei.
  • Tutta La Regione 3 days (€27) - Valid for 3 days; only gets you into two sights (then 50% off the others), but it covers free rides on all public transport in Naples and across Campania.
  • Archeologia del Golfo (€30) - Valid for 3 days; gets you into just about every site of archaeological interest in Naples and its Bay (the Museo Archeologico, Pompeii, Herculaneum, the Campi Flegrei, etc); also covers all public transportation. Good deal.
  • Tutta La Regione 7 days (€30) - Valid for 7 days, covers you choice of 5 sights (then 50% off the others)—but, oddly, covers none of the transportation.

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