From an artistic and architectural point of view, Naples’ urban fabric retains countless wonderful historic monuments, inextricably interwoven with the modern city, proof of a rare, extraordinary continuum.
UNESCO’s Bureau du Patrimoine Mondial has acknowledged this unique characteristic and inscribed the Historic Centre of Naples in its World Heritage List with the following motivation: «Naples is one of the most ancient cities in Europe, whose contemporary urban fabric preserves the elements of its long and eventful history. Its street pattern and sumptuous ancient buildings from different ages give its historic centre an outstanding universal value which has had a profound influence in many parts of Europe and beyond. It testifies to a remarkable exchange of knowledge in a particular period or in a particular cultural area, on the development of architecture or technology, of monumental arts, of city planning or landscape designing. It provides a remarkable example of a kind of construction or of architectural or landscape complex that illustrates a significant period in human history».
There are countless interesting sights in the city: museums, churches, ruins, parks, underground areas, while the surroundings offer an unbeatable range of unique destinations, all within easy reach from Naples: Capri, Sorrento, the Vesuvius, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Caserta, Campi Flegrei.
The two most important museums are: the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, the oldest archaeological museum in Europe, holding the extraordinary collection of objects found in the 18th-century excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum, the impressive Farnese collection and an Egyptian section. The Museo Nazionale di
Capodimonte, a Bourbon palace surrounded by a vast monumental park, with a picture gallery that ranges from Masaccio to Velàzquez, from Titian to Caravaggio up to contemporary art.
Places to visit
