A TASTE OF HISTORY

Naples is much more than “‘o paese do’ sole”, there is the proud tradition of pizza making, delicious pastry, chocolate art, coffee rituals and freshly squeezed orange and lemon juice. Everything with a secular tradition.

It’s no wonder that many wrinkle their noses, when they hear the name Naples. For the poor Southern Italian capital has certainly not been known for anything positive in recent years. Images of waste piled up in the streets have been going round the world for several years. But that’s not all: Italy’s biggest book success in recent years, the journalist Roberto Saviano’s “Gomorra”, was translated into 45 languages, including Dutch. In Saviano’s very effective language, he describes the outskirts of Naples, torn apart by crime, where the local Camorra clans fight each other in what seems to be unstoppable carnage. Naples, however, is much more than waste problems and Camorra killings, for with its more than 2,500 years of history, Naples is one of the Italian cities with the most impressive abundance of culture, handicrafts, folkloristic and religious traditions, natural beauty and monumental architecture.

In fact, Naples is not just a city. Naples is also – and perhaps most of all – a state of mind, one large theater scene where the visitor implicitly agrees to be exposed to constant “sensory bombardment”, which involves eyes, ears and nose.

And of course, also, your palate because here at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, you’ll be able to find a number of historic gastronomic shops which continue to fly the city’s culinary flag high. So, in the search for Naples’ gastronomic roots, All About Italy has gone for a historic-gastronomic walk in the city centre and presents here an “atmosphere report” from some of Naples’ oldest and most famous gastronomic places, which will certainly bring a smile to the lips of gastronomic connoisseurs.