We only hear bad things about Napoli, the Mafia, the rubbish and the corruption, but it is an incredible city, full of fascinating stuff. It may not have the elegance of Milan, but it has its own charm and is bursting with life.
I stayed near Spaccanapoli, which means Naples splitter. It is a 2 kilometre road that splits old Napoli in 2.
These photos were taken from Castel St Elmo which sits high above the city and offers amazing views.
The last photo is of Piazza Plebiscita, one of the most amazing squares I have seen in all of Italy. I’ll show you photos from the ground later, along with a closer view of the Galleria Umberto1, which is almost as big as Milan’s Galleria.
Napoli also has a modern section, but I didn’t go there.
Spaccanapoli is a pedestrian street. The entrance leaves you in no doubt.
The street is actually called Via Benedetto Croce, and here is where you will see Napoli at its most exciting best.
The street and narrow side streets are stuffed full of shops, incredible old apartment buildings, churches and lots of people. If you want a nativity scene, or a figurine, or a painted plate you have come to the right place.
This is Spaccanapoli from the street looking back towards St Elmo.
The area is crowded with life. There are shops selling things you didn’t think you needed, food markets and wonderful old buildings in various states of repair.
People live and work in these streets. They are impossibly narrow, but life goes on just as it does elsewhere.
Via Toledo runs at right angle to Spaccanapoli and leads down to the port. As you get closer to the bay it becomes more modern and elegant.
Galleria Umberto1 is enormous. It is very similar to the Galleria in Milan, but doesn’t have the beautiful shops. The space seemed a bit wasted to me.
Piazza Plebiscita is very grand. It was once used as a car park until the administration came to its senses.
The beautiful church in the Piazza is Naples’ answer to the Pantheon in Rome. The royal palace sits at the opposite side of the square and Galleria Umberto is nearby. This place is huge and most impressive.
From here you can see Castel St Elmo watching from above.
From here it is hop, skip and a jump, or in my case a short trudge to the beautiful Bay of Naples.
Naples has the largest historical centre in Europe and it is a Unesco World Heritage protected site, with good reason. Don’t leave Naples out of your Italian trip, it is wonderful. All those Italians who left here to live in other places in the world must have found life much less exciting than home.