Chiesa San Giovanni a Carbonara
Naples
Sumptuous sculpture and Technicolor frescoes makes this Gothic church worth a detour. Andrea de Firenze, Tuscan sculptors and northern-Italian artists…
Must-see attractions in Bay of Naples
Naples
William Kentridge’s monumental equestrian statue trumpets entry to this award-winning, jaw-dropping Metro Art Station, then his dazzling mosaic of shadowy…
Naples
This evocative guided tour leads you 40m below street level to explore Naples' ancient labyrinth of aqueducts, passages and cisterns.
Naples
The extraordinary Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo is an architectural Kinder Surprise. Its shell is the 15th-century, Giuseppe Valeriani–designed facade of Palazzo…
Pompeii
Covering an entire insula (city block) and claiming two atria at its front end (humbler homes had one), Pompeii's largest private house is named after the…
Naples
One of the best spots to chill with a spritz is this free-spirited, bar-lined square. Featuring excavated ruins from the city's 4th-century Greek city…
Bay of Naples
South of Oplontis, Stabiae stood on the slopes of the Varano hill overlooking what was then the sea and is now modern Castellammare di Stabia. Here at…
Bay of Naples
Some 2km up Via Rosini, which becomes Via Solfatara (about 900m north of the metro), the surreal Solfatara crater was known to the Romans as the Forum…
Pompeii
The oldest and most important of Pompeii's religious buildings, the Tempio di Apollo largely dates from the 2nd century BC, including the striking…
Bay of Naples
Dating back to the 8th century BC, Cuma was the first Greek settlement on the Italian mainland. Its ruins are shrouded in ancient mythology: in Virgil's…
Casa e Chiesa di Santa Maria Francesca delle Cinque Piaghe
Naples
The very essence of Naples' cultish brand of Catholicism, this holy sanctuary was once the stamping ground of stigmatic and mystic Santa Maria Francesca…
Naples
This kooky museum serves up an eclectic collection of treasures, from historic Asian and European armour and weaponry to sumptuous paintings spanning the…
Pompeii
At this typical 2nd-century-BC bathing complex, bathers would enter from the vestibule, stop off in the vaulted apodyterium (changing room), and then pass…
Chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine
Naples
Its 17th-century campanile (bell tower) is Naples' tallest, and this iconic church is home to a famously nimble crucifix. Now hanging in a tabernacle…
Chiesa di San Domenico Maggiore
Naples
Completed in 1324 on the orders of Charles I of Anjou, this was the royal church of the Angevins. Pietro Cavallini's frescoes in the Cappella Brancaccio…
Casa della Venere in Conchiglia
Pompeii
Casa della Venere in Conchiglia harbours a lovely peristyle looking onto a small, manicured garden. It's here in the garden that you'll find the large,…
Pompeii
The 1st-century AD Casa del Poeta Tragico features the world's first-known 'beware of the dog' – cave canem – warnings. Visible through a protective glass…
Naples
Just up from Cavour metro station, a clamorous alley juts off Via Foria through the grey ashlar keyhole of Naples’ oldest gate. Ethereal images by Mattia…
Naples
The late Annibale Oste was one of Naples' most celebrated sculptors and designers; his workshop is now a small gallery-archive showcasing some of his…
Bay of Naples
In Virgil's Aeneid, it is from Lago d'Averno that Aeneas descends into the underworld. It's hard to imagine hell in such a bucolic setting, where old…
Naples
On hot summer evenings, Piazza Dante turns into a communal living room, packed with entire families who stroll, eat, smoke, play cards, chase balloons and…
Complesso Monumentale dei Girolamini
Naples
The Chiesa dei Girolamini features two facades, the more imposing of which is the 18th-century one facing Piazza dei Girolamini on Via dei Tribunali. The…
Naples
For Continental grandeur, it's hard to beat Piazza del Plebiscito. Whichever way you look, the view is show-stopping. To the northwest, vine-covered…
Museo del Tesoro di San Gennaro
Naples
If you're intrigued by Naples' cultish love affair with San Gennaro, eye up his glittering treasury at the Museo del Tesoro di San Gennaro, adjacent to…
Naples
Incomplete, semiderelict yet hauntingly beautiful, this seaside Posillipo villa takes its name from Anna Carafa, for whom it was built as a wedding…
Naples
When Madonna and Child overload hits, reboot at Naples' museum of modern and contemporary art. In the lobby, French conceptual artist Daniel Buren sets…
Naples
Flanked by the spiky Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo and the Basilica di Santa Chiara, this lively square is one of Naples' most beautiful. For hundreds of years it…
Museo Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei
Bay of Naples
This usually crowd-free museum occupies the commanding Castello di Baia, built in the late 15th century by the Aragonese as a defence against possible…
Naples
An evocative combo of bobbing boats, seaside dining and cocktail-sipping night owls, the small, rocky Borgo Marinaro is where – according to legend – the…
Naples
When Ferdinand Acton, a minister at the court of King Ferdinand IV (1759–1825), asked Pietro Valente to design Villa Pignatelli in 1826, Valente whipped…
Chiesa di Sant'Anna dei Lombardi
Naples
This magnificent church is testament to the close links that once existed between the Neapolitan Aragonese and the Florentine Medici dynasty. One…
Naples
You'll stumble across two deities in this dusty little square. First is ancient-Egyptian river god Nilo: the marble Statua del Nilo was erected by…
Bay of Naples
Before moving into the colossal Reggia di Caserta, Charles III of Bourbon called this more modest palace home. Built between 1738 and 1742, the frescoed…
Naples
The Chiesa di San Giovanni a Mare is a rare example of Romanesque architecture in Naples. Erected by Benedictine monks in the 12th century, the nave forms…
Chiesa di San Pietro a Maiella
Naples
Dedicated to hermit Pietro del Morrone, who was promoted to Pope Celestine V in 1294, this Gothic veteran is most famous for its series of baroque ceiling…
Chiesa di Sant'Eligio Maggiore
Naples
Dating from 1270, this simple Gothic beauty was the first church built by the Angevins. The church was once adorned with frescoes, of which a few…
Bay of Naples
Rione Terra is Pozzuoli's oldest quarter and its ancient acropolis. The original 2nd-century-BC temple to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva was replaced by a…
Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli
Naples
Naples' Palazzo Reale is home to the Biblioteca Nazionale, its priceless treasures including at least 2000 papyri discovered at Herculaneum and fragments…
Naples
In an area famed for its blue-ribbon real estate, Villa Rosebery is a star resident. Built in the 18th century, it has a history both romantic and epic…
