National Geographic Traveller (UK)
14 hours in NAPLES
8AM
BREAKFAST AT GAMBRINUS
This is Naples’ grande dame bar par excellence, and it’s at its most energetic in the morning, when locals nip in for their morning coffee and stand at the bar while tourists sit at tables beneath mirrors and frescoes. If you’re so inclined, ask to pay for a caffe sospeso — a ‘suspended coffee’. It’s a Neapolitan tradition, in which you pay in advance for the coffee of someone who needs it. grancaffegambrinus.com
10AM
PAY YOUR RESPECTS TO THE DEAD
Neapolitans have a fiercely close relationship with the dead, from the mini chapels outside houses on every block to places where, in the past, locals would ‘adopt’ the skull of an unknown person who hadn’t been given a proper burial. In the basement of the atmospheric Purgatorio ad Arco church, you’ll find homemade niches housing skulls and bones, as well as letters asking them for favours, and presents, from perfume samples to bus tickets. purgatorioadarco.it
11AM
DESCEND INTO OLD NAPLES
The Greeks called their city Neapolis, or ‘new city’, and you can walk the streets they built (and which the Romans took over) below the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore, in the Centro Storico. The church was built over the Greek agora, which was covered by a mudslide in 472, preserving the site. Today you can stroll through the Roman market, view an ancient water-heating system and see where Roman mosaics meet the original Greek city walls. laneapolissotterrata.it
1PM
LUNCH ON ANCIENT PIZZA
Sitting beneath the old city gates, Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba is said to be the world’s oldest pizzeria — it’s been going strong since 1738 as a street food joint, and as a restaurant since 1820. This means that for once, you should forgo innovation and try the Mastu Nicola — an 18th-century pizza said to have been born here. It’s topped with lard, ricotta mousse and pecorino cheese, with basil and pepper on top. anticapizzeriaportalba.com
2PM
SEE THE CENTRO STORICO
There are things to see on every block of Naples’ historic centre, from the religious complex of Santa Chiara, with its brightly tiled courtyard, to the Cappella Sansevero, known for its sculpture of the Veiled Christ.
Don’t miss a walk down the street of
San Gregorio Armeno, where artisans craft nativity scenes. Today they also make figurines of politicians, and various modern professions. It might verge on cheesy, but the craftsmanship is incredible. monasterodisantachiara.it museosansevero.it
4PM
SOAK UP THE WATERFRONT
The astonishing scenery that inspired the famous saying, ‘ Vedi Napoli e poi Muori’
— meaning ‘see Naples and die’ — is all yours, thanks to wide pavements designed for modern flaneurs. Follow the lungomare promenade from Piazza dei Martiri, swivel past the Castel dell’Ovo fortress, which sticks into the sea. From there, keep going to the statue of Umberto I, where you’ll find one of the city’s best views, with plastic chairs laid out around little kiosks, looking at Vesuvius, Sorrento and over to Capri.
5PM
UNCOVER SECRET HISTORY
The catacombs of San Gennaro are the widest in southern Italy: huge, cathedral-like spaces unravelling below the Capodimonte hill, where Neapolis’s early Christians were buried. Down in the district of Sanità is an incredible discovery: an ancient Roman aqueduct, built by the emperor Augustus, still standing below a block of flats. Intimate guided tours by a local association take you down to see it — as well as to other sites, including an ancient, semi-excavated tomb. catacombedinapoli.it
7PM
ART WITH HEART
Sprawling across the ground floor of an ancient palazzo, with a Roman wall at the back, Magazzini Fotografici is a nonprofit space attempting to kick-start sustainable tourism by luring in lovers of photography. The exhibitions (free entry) tend to pair an established photographer with an up-andcoming one — check the website for details as turnover tends to be fast. Owner Yvonne De Rosa came home to found the space and the adjacent bar after 15 years in London, so leave time for a drink. magazzinifotografici.it