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Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the third most populous metropolitan city in Italy with a population of 2,958,410 residents, and the eighth most populous in the European Union. Its metropolitan area stretches beyond the boundaries of the city wall for approximately . Naples also plays a key role in international diplomacy, since it is home to NATO's Allied Joint Force Command Naples and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean.
Founded by Greeks in the first millennium BC, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban areas in the world. In the eighth century BC, a colony known as Parthenope () was established on the Pizzofalcone hill. In the sixth century BC, it was refounded as Neápolis.Daniela Giampaola, Francesca Longobardo (2000). Naples Greek and Roman. Electa. The city was an important part of Magna Graecia, played a major role in the merging of Greek and Roman Republic society, and has been a significant international cultural centre ever since with particular reference to the development of the arts.
Naples served as the capital of the Duchy of Naples (661–1139), subsequently as the capital of the Kingdom of Naples (1282–1816), and finally as the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies — until the unification of Italy in 1861. Naples is also considered a capital of the Baroque, beginning with the artist Caravaggio's career in the 17th century and the artistic revolution he inspired.Alessandro Giardino (2017), Corporeality and Performativity in Baroque Naples. The Body of Naples. Lexington. It was also an important centre of humanism and Enlightenment. The city has long been a global point of reference for classical music and opera through the Neapolitan School. Between 1925 and 1936, Naples was expanded and upgraded by the Fascist Italy. During the later years of World War II, it sustained severe damage from Allied bombing as they invaded the peninsula. The Four Days of Naples (Italian: Quattro giornate di Napoli) was an uprising in Naples, Italy, against Nazi German occupation forces from 27 September to 30 September 1943, immediately prior to the arrival of Allied forces in Naples on 1 October during World War II. The city underwent extensive reconstruction work after the war.
Since the late 20th century, Naples has had significant economic growth, helped by the construction of the Centro Direzionale business district and an advanced transportation network, which includes the Alta Velocità high-speed rail link to Rome and Salerno and an expanded Naples Metro. Naples is the third-largest urban economy in Italy by GDP, after Milan and Rome. The Port of Naples is one of the most important in Europe.
Naples's historic city centre has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A wide range of culturally and historically significant sites are nearby, including the Palace of Caserta and the Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Naples is undoubtedly one of the world's cities with the highest density of cultural, artistic, and monumental resources, described by the BBC as "the Italian city with too much history to handle."
Sailors from the Greek island of Rhodes established probably a small commercial port called Parthenope (Παρθενόπη, meaning "Pure Eyes", a Siren in Greek mythology) on the island of Megaride in the ninth century BC. "Port of Naples" . World Port Source. Retrieved 15 May 2012. By the eighth century BC, the settlement was expanded by Cumaeans, as evidenced by the archaeological findings, to include Monte Echia. Archemail.it . Retrieved 3 December 2012. In the sixth century BC the city was refounded as Neápolis (Νεάπολις), eventually becoming one of the foremost cities of Magna Graecia.
The city grew rapidly due to the influence of the powerful Greek city-state of Syracuse, and became an ally of the Roman Republic against Carthage. During the Samnite Wars, the city, now a bustling centre of trade, was captured by the Samnium; however, the Romans soon captured the city from them and made it a Roman colony. During the Punic Wars, the strong walls surrounding Neápolis repelled the invading forces of the Carthaginian general Hannibal.
The Romans greatly respected Naples as a paragon of Hellenistic culture. During the Roman era, the people of Naples maintained their Greek language and customs. At the same time, the city was expanded with elegant Roman , Roman aqueduct, and Thermae. Landmarks such as the Temple of Dioscures were built, and many emperors chose to holiday in the city, including Claudius and Tiberius. Virgil, the author of Rome's national epic, the Aeneid, received part of his education in the city, and later resided in its environs.
It was during this period that Christianity first arrived in Naples; the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul are said to have preached in the city. Januarius, who would become Naples's patron saint, was there in the fourth century AD. The last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus Augustulus, was exiled to Naples by the Germanic king Odoacer in the fifth century AD.
In 543, during the Gothic Wars, Totila briefly took the city for the Ostrogoths, but the Byzantines seized control of the area following the Battle of Mons Lactarius on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Naples was expected to keep in contact with the Exarchate of Ravenna, which was the centre of Byzantine power on the Italian Peninsula.
After the fell, a Duchy of Naples was created. Although Naples's Greco-Roman culture endured, it eventually switched allegiance from Constantinople to Rome under Duke Stephen II, putting it under Pope suzerainty by 763.
The years between 818 and 832 saw tumultuous relations with the Byzantine Emperor, with numerous local pretenders feuding for possession of the ducal throne. Theoctistus was appointed without imperial approval; his appointment was later revoked and Theodore II took his place. However, the disgruntled general populace chased him from the city and elected Stephen III instead, a man who minted coins with his initials rather than those of the Byzantine Emperor. Naples gained complete independence by the early ninth century. Naples allied with the Muslim Saracens in 836 and asked for their support to repel the siege of Lombards troops coming from the neighbouring Duchy of Benevento. However, during the 850s, Muslim general Muhammad I Abu 'l-Abbas sacked Miseno, but only for Khums purposes (Islamic booty), without conquering the territories of Campania.Hilmar C. Krueger. "The Italian Cities and the Arabs before 1095" in A History of the Crusades: The First Hundred Years, Vol.I. Kenneth Meyer Setton, Marshall W. Baldwin (eds., 1955). University of Pennsylvania Press. p.48.
The duchy was under the direct control of the Lombards for a brief period after the capture by Pandulf IV of the Principality of Capua, a long-term rival of Naples; however, this regime lasted only three years before the Greco-Roman-influenced dukes were reinstated. By the 11th century, Naples had begun to employ Normans Mercenary to battle their rivals; Duke Sergius IV hired Rainulf Drengot to wage war on Capua for him.
By 1137, the Normans had attained great influence in Italy, controlling previously independent principalities and duchies such as Capua, Benevento, Salerno, Amalfi, Sorrento and Gaeta; it was in this year that Naples, the last independent duchy in the southern part of the peninsula, came under Norman control. The last ruling duke of the duchy, Sergius VII, was forced to surrender to Roger II, who had been proclaimed King of Sicily by Antipope Anacletus II seven years earlier. Naples thus joined the Kingdom of Sicily, with Palermo as the capital.
The University of Naples, the first university in Europe dedicated to training secular administrators, was founded by Frederick II, making Naples the intellectual centre of the kingdom. Conflict between the Hohenstaufens and the Pope led in 1266 to Pope Innocent IV crowning the Angevin duke Charles I King of Sicily: Charles officially moved the capital from Palermo to Naples, where he resided at the Castel Nuovo. Having a great interest in architecture, Charles I imported French architects and workmen and was personally involved in several building projects in the city. Many examples of Gothic architecture sprang up around Naples, including the Naples Cathedral, which remains the city's main church.
Following the Spanish victory, Naples became part of the Spanish Empire, and remained so throughout the Habsburg Spain period. The Spanish sent to Naples to directly deal with local issues: the most important of these viceroys was Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, who was responsible for considerable social, economic and urban reforms in the city; he also tried to introduce the Inquisition. In 1544, around 7,000 people were taken as slaves by Barbary pirates and brought to the Barbary Coast of North Africa.
By the 17th century, Naples had become Europe's second-largest city – second only to Paris – and the largest European Mediterranean city, with around 250,000 inhabitants.Colin McEvedy (2010), The Penguin Atlas of Modern History (to 1815). Penguin Group. p. 39. The city was a major cultural centre during the Baroque era, being home to artists such as Caravaggio, Salvator Rosa and Bernini, philosophers such as Bernardino Telesio, Giordano Bruno, Tommaso Campanella and Giambattista Vico, and writers such as Giambattista Marino. A revolution led by the local fisherman Masaniello saw the creation of a brief independent Neapolitan Republic in 1647. However, this lasted only a few months before Spanish rule was reasserted. In 1656, an outbreak of Naples Plague killed about half of Naples's 300,000 inhabitants.
In 1714, Spanish rule over Naples came to an end as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession; the Austrian Charles VI ruled the city from Vienna through viceroys of his own. However, the War of the Polish Succession saw the Spanish regain Sicily and Naples as part of a personal union, with the 1738 Treaty of Vienna recognising the two polities as independent under a cadet branch of the Spanish Bourbons.
In 1755, the Duke of Noja commissioned an accurate topographic map of Naples, later known as the Map of the Duke of Noja, employing rigorous surveying accuracy and becoming an essential urban planning tool for Naples.
During the time of Ferdinand IV, the effects of the French Revolution were felt in Naples: Horatio Nelson, an ally of the Bourbons, arrived in the city in 1798 to warn against the French republicans. Ferdinand was forced to retreat and fled to Palermo, where he was protected by a Royal Navy. However, Naples's Social class lazzaroni were strongly pious and royalist, favouring the Bourbons; in the mêlée that followed, they fought the Neapolitan pro-Republican aristocracy, causing a civil war. Eventually, the Republicans conquered Castel Sant'Elmo and proclaimed a Parthenopaean Republic, secured by the French Army. A counter-revolutionary religious army of lazzaroni known as the sanfedismo under Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo was raised; they met with great success, and the French were forced to surrender the Neapolitan castles, with their fleet sailing back to Toulon.
Ferdinand IV was restored as king; however, after only seven years, Napoleon conquered the kingdom and installed Bonapartist kings, including installing his brother Joseph Bonaparte. With the help of the Austrian Empire and its allies, the Bonapartists were defeated in the Neapolitan War. Ferdinand IV once again regained the throne and the kingdom.
Public health conditions in certain areas of the city were poor, with twelve epidemics of cholera and typhoid fever claiming some 48,000 people between 1834 and 1884. A death rate 31.84 per thousand, high even for the time, persisted in the absence of epidemics between 1878 and 1883. Then in August 1884, Naples fell victim to a major cholera epidemic, caused largely by the city's poor sewerage infrastructure. In response to these problems, in 1885, the government prompted a radical transformation of the city called risanamento to improve the sewer infrastructure and replace the most clustered areas, considered the main cause of , with large and airy avenues. The project proved difficult to accomplish politically and economically due to corruption, as shown in the Saredo Inquiry, land speculation and extremely long bureaucracy. This led to the project to massive delays with contrasting results. The most notable transformations made were the construction of Via Caracciolo in place of the beach along the promenade, the creation of Galleria Umberto I and and the construction of Corso Umberto.
Naples was the most-bombed Italian city during World War II. Though Neapolitans did not rebel under Italian Fascism, Naples was the first Italian city to rise up against Nazi Germany military occupation; for the first time in Europe, the Nazis, whose leader in this case was Colonel Scholl, negotiated a surrender in the face of insurgents. The city was already completely freed by 1 October 1943, when British and American forces entered the city. Departing Germans Book burning the library of the university, as well as the Italian Royal Society. They also destroyed the city archives. Time bombs planted throughout the city continued to explode into November. Departing Germans also "looted all the food and fuel. They blew up the city's gas, water and sewage piping. They destroyed its port facilities ... and scuttled more than 300 ships in the harbor. They destroyed 75% of the major bridges, stole nearly 90% of the city's trucks, buses and trams, demolished railroad tracks and tunnels...."Green, Dominic. "'Naples 1944' Review: The Cost of Conquering" The Wall Street Journal, April 11, 2025. The symbol of the rebirth of Naples was the rebuilding of the church of Santa Chiara, which had been destroyed in a United States Army Air Corps bombing raid.
Special funding from the Italian government's Fund for the South was provided from 1950 to 1984, helping the Neapolitan economy to improve somewhat, with city landmarks such as the Piazza del Plebiscito being renovated. However, high unemployment continues to affect Naples.
Italian media attributed the city's recent illegal waste disposal issues to the Camorra, the organized crime network centered in Campania. Due to illegal waste dumping, as exposed by Roberto Saviano in his book Gomorrah, severe environmental contamination and increased health risks remain prevalent. In 2007, Silvio Berlusconi's government held senior meetings in Naples to demonstrate their intention to solve these problems. However, the late-2000s recession had a severe impact on the city, intensifying its waste-management and unemployment problems. "Naples, city of the hard luck story" . The Guardian. 16 October 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2010. By August 2011, the number of unemployed in the Naples area had risen to 250,000, sparking public protests against the economic situation. "Unemployment spawns protests across Naples". Demotix.com. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2011. In June 2012, allegations of blackmail, extortion, and illicit contract tendering emerged concerning the city's waste management issues. "Cricca veneta sui rifiuti di Napoli: arrestati i fratelli Gavioli" (in Italian) . Il Mattino. 20 June 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2012. "Gestione rifiuti a Napoli, undici arresti tra Venezia e Treviso" (in Italian) . Il Mattino di Padova. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
Naples hosted the sixth World Urban Forum in September 2012 UN Habitat. Retrieved 24 December 2011. and the 63rd International Astronautical Congress in October 2012. In 2013, it was the host of the Universal Forum of Cultures and the host for the 2019 Summer Universiade.
The most prominent forms of architecture visible in present-day Naples are the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque styles. Naples has a total of 448 historical churches (1000 in total Ilgiornaledellarte.com ), making it one of the most Catholic cities in the world in terms of the number of places of worship. In 1995, the historic centre of Naples was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, a United Nations programme which aims to catalogue and conserve sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of mankind.
Naples is well known for its castles: The most ancient is Castel dell'Ovo ("Egg Castle"), which was built on the tiny islet of Megarides, where the original colonists had founded the city. In Roman times the islet became part of Lucullus's villa, later hosting Romulus Augustulus, the exiled last western Roman emperor. It had also been the prison for Empress Constance between 1191 and 1192 after her being captured by Sicilians, and Conradin and Giovanna I of Naples before their executions.
Castel Nuovo, also known as Maschio Angioino, is one of the city's top landmarks; it was built during the time of Charles I, the first king of Naples. Castel Nuovo has seen many notable historical events: for example, in 1294, Pope Celestine V resigned as pope in a hall of the castle, and following this Pope Boniface VIII was elected pope by the cardinal collegium, before moving to Rome.
Castel Capuano was built in the 12th century by William I, the son of Roger II of Sicily, the first monarch of the Kingdom of Naples. It was expanded by Frederick II and became one of his royal palaces. The castle was the residence of many kings and queens throughout its history. In the 16th century, it became the Hall of Justice.
Another Neapolitan castle is Castel Sant'Elmo, which was completed in 1329 and is built in the shape of a star. Its strategic position overlooking the entire city made it a target of various invaders. During the uprising of Masaniello in 1647, the Spanish took refuge in Sant'Elmo to escape the revolutionaries.Giuseppe Grispello, Il mistero di Castel Sant'Elmo, Napoli, Guida, 1999, .
The Carmine Castle, built in 1392 and highly modified in the 16th century by the Spanish, was demolished in 1906 to make room for the Via Marina, although two of the castle's towers remain as a monument. The Vigliena Fort, built in 1702, was destroyed in 1799 during the royalist war against the Parthenopean Republic and is now abandoned and in ruin.Ruggiero Gennaro, I castelli di Napoli, Napoli, Newton & Compton, 1995, .
Previously a Bourbon palace, now a museum and art gallery, the Museo di Capodimonte is another museum of note. The gallery features paintings from the 13th to the 18th centuries, including major works by Simone Martini, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, El Greco, Jusepe de Ribera and Luca Giordano. The royal apartments are furnished with antique 18th-century furniture and a collection of porcelain and majolica from the various royal residences: the famous Capodimonte Porcelain Factory once stood just adjacent to the palace.
In front of the Royal Palace of Naples stands the Galleria Umberto I, which contains the Coral Jewellery Museum. Occupying a 19th-century palazzo renovated by the Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza, the Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina (MADRE) features an enfilade procession of permanent installations by artists such as Francesco Clemente, Richard Serra, and Rebecca Horn.Aric Chen (18 September 2005). Going to Naples . New York Times. Retrieved 30 January 2013. The 16th-century palace of Roccella hosts the Palazzo delle Arti Napoli, which contains the civic collections of art belonging to the City of Naples, and features temporary exhibits of art and culture. Palazzo Como, which dates from the 15th century, hosts the Museo Civico Filangieri of plastic arts, created in 1883 by Gaetano Filangieri.
The San Gennaro dei Poveri is a Renaissance-era hospital for the poor, erected by the Spanish in 1667. It was the forerunner of a much more ambitious project, the Bourbon Hospice for the Poor started by Charles III. This was for the destitute and ill of the city; it also provided a self-sufficient community where the poor would live and work. Though a notable landmark, it is no longer a functioning hospital.
There are large catacombs in and around the city, and other landmarks such as the Piscina Mirabilis, the main cistern serving the Bay of Naples during Roman times.
Several archaeological excavations are also present; they revealed in San Lorenzo Maggiore the macellum of Naples, and in Santa Chiara, the biggest thermal complex of the city in Roman times.
Another important park is the Parco Virgiliano, which looks towards the tiny volcanic islet of Nisida; beyond Nisida lie Procida and Ischia. Parco Virgiliano was named after Virgil, the classical Roman poet and Latin writer who is thought to be entombed nearby. Naples is noted for its numerous stately , fountains and stairways, such as the Neoclassical Villa Floridiana, the Fountain of Neptune and the Pedamentina stairway.
In the first years of the 20th century, a local version of the Art Nouveau phenomenon, known as "Liberty style Napoletano", developed in the city, creating many buildings which still stand today. In 1935, the Rationalist architect Luigi Cosenza designed a new fish market for the city. During the Benito Mussolini era, the first structures of the city's "service center" were built, all in a Rationalist-Functionalist style, including the Palazzo delle Poste and the Pretura buildings. The Centro Direzionale di Napoli is the only adjacent cluster of skyscrapers in southern Europe.
| 1. Pianura 2. Bagnoli 3. Posillipo 4. Fuorigrotta 5. Soccavo 6. Chiaiano 7. Arenella 8. Vomero 9. Chiaia 10. San Ferdinando| width="30" | 11. Montecalvario 12. San Giuseppe 13. Avvocata 14. Porto 15. Pendino 16. San Lorenzo 17. Mercato 18. Vicaria 19. Stella 20. San Carlo all'Arena| width="30" | 21. Piscinola 22. Scampia 23. Miano 24. Secondigliano 25. San Pietro a Patierno 26. Poggioreale 27. Zona Industriale 28. San Giovanni a Teduccio 29. Barra 30. Ponticelli| width="30" |
Winters are mild, and snow is rare in the city area but frequent on Mount Vesuvius. November is the wettest month in Naples, while July is the driest.
| + Average sea temperature (Neapolitan Riviera): | ||||||||||||
Naples's population rose from 621,000 in 1901 to 1,226,000 in 1971, declining to 910,000 in 2022 as city dwellers moved to the suburbs. According to different sources, Naples's metropolitan area is either the second-most-populated metropolitan area in Italy after Milan (with 4,434,136 inhabitants according to Svimez Data) or the third (with 3.5 million inhabitants according to the OECD). In addition, Naples is Italy's most densely populated major city, with approximately 8,182 people per square kilometre; however, it has seen a notable decline in population density since 2003, when the figure was over 9,000 people per square kilometre.
| 14,627 |
| 7,510 |
| 4,477 |
| 3,344 |
| 2,356 |
| 2,101 |
| 1,721 |
| 1,550 |
| 1,184 |
| 1,076 |
In contrast to many northern Italian cities, there are relatively few foreign immigrants in Naples; 94.3% of the city's inhabitants are Italian nationals. In 2023, there were a total of 56,153 foreigners in the city of Naples; the majority of these are mostly from Sri Lanka, China, Ukraine, Pakistan and Romania. Statistics show that, in the past, the vast majority of immigrants in Naples were female; this happened because male immigrants in Italy tended to head to the wealthier north. cittadini stranieri tuttitalia.it
Naples is also served by the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, a modern university which opened in 1989, and which has strong links to the nearby province of Caserta. Another notable centre of education is the University of Naples "L'Orientale", which specialises in Eastern world, and was founded by the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ripa in 1732, after he returned from the court of Kangxi Emperor, the emperor of the Manchu people Qing dynasty of China.
Other prominent universities in Naples include the Parthenope University of Naples, the private Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples, and the Jesuit Pontifical Theological Seminary of Southern Italy. The San Pietro a Maiella music conservatory is the city's foremost institution of musical education; the earliest Neapolitan music conservatories were founded in the 16th century under the Spanish. The Academy of Fine Arts located on the Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli is the city's foremost art school and one of the oldest in Italy.Cassese, Giovanna (2013). Accademie patrimoni di belle arti , p. 189. Gangemi Editore. Naples hosts also the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte, established in 1812 by the king Joachim Murat and the astronomer Federigo Zuccari, (2025). 9788890729409, INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte. ISBN 9788890729409 the oldest marine zoology study station in the world, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, created in 1872 by German scientist Anton Dohrn, and the world's oldest permanent volcano observatory, the Vesuvius Observatory, founded in 1841. The Observatory lies on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, near the city of Ercolano, and is now a permanent specialised institute of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics.
Since 2021, the mayor of Naples is Gaetano Manfredi, an independent politician candidated by the center-left coalition, former minister of university and research in the second Conte government, and former rector of the University of Naples Federico II.
| 1st municipality | – Chiaia, Posillipo, San Ferdinando |
| 2nd municipality | – Avvocata, Mercato, Montecalvario, Pendino, Porto, San Giuseppe |
| 3rd municipality | – San Carlo all'Arena, Stella |
| 4th municipality | – Poggioreale, San Lorenzo, Vicaria, Zona Industriale |
| 5th municipality | – Arenella, Vomero |
| 6th municipality | – Barra, Ponticelli, San Giovanni a Teduccio |
| 7th municipality | – Miano, San Pietro a Patierno, Secondigliano |
| 8th municipality | – Chiaiano, Marianella, Piscinola, Scampia |
| 9th municipality | – Pianura, Soccavo |
| 10th municipality | – Bagnoli, Fuorigrotta |
Naples is a major national, and international tourist destination, one of Italy's and Europe's top tourist cities. Tourists began visiting Naples in the 18th century during the Grand Tour.
In the last decades, there has been a move away from a traditional agriculture-based economy in the province of Naples to one based on service industries. The service sector employs the majority of Neapolitans, although more than half of these are small enterprises with fewer than 20 workers; about 70 companies are said to be medium-sized with more than 200 workers, and about 15 have more than 500 workers.
The sector is constantly growing and the prospect of reaching the art cities of its level is once again expected in a relatively short time; tourism is increasingly assuming a decisive weight for the city's economy, which is why, exactly as happened for example in the case of Venice or Florence, the risk of gentrification of the historic centre is now high.
Regional rail services are provided by Ente Autonomo Volturno and Trenitalia through the Naples metropolitan railway service
The city's main railway station is Napoli Centrale, which is located in Piazza Garibaldi; other significant stations include the Napoli Campi Flegrei and Napoli Mergellina. Napoli Afragola serves high-speed trains that do not start or finish at Napoli Centrale railway station. Naples's streets are famously narrow (it was the first city in the world to set up a pedestrian one-way street), "Istituzione di un senso unico pedonale zona Decumani nel periodo natalizio" (in Italian) . Comune di Napoli. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2011. so the general public commonly use compact hatchback cars and scooters for personal transit. Since 2007, trains running at have connected Naples with Rome with a journey time of under an hour, and direct high speed services also operate to Florence, Bologna, Milan, Turin and Salerno. Direct sleeper 'boat train' services operate nightly to cities in Sicily.
The port of Naples runs several ferry, hydrofoil, and SWATH catamaran lines to Capri, Ischia and Sorrento, Salerno, Positano and Amalfi. Services are also available to Sicily, Sardinia, Ponza and the Aeolian Islands. The port serves over 6 million local passengers annually, plus a further 1 million international cruise ship passengers. A regional hydrofoil transport service, the "Metropolitana del Mare", runs annually from July to September, maintained by a consortium of shipowners and local administrations.
The Naples International Airport is located in the suburb of San Pietro a Patierno. It is the largest airport in southern Italy, with around 250 national and international flights arriving or departing daily.
The average commute with public transit in Naples on a weekday is 77 minutes. Nineteen per cent of public transit commuters ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 27 minutes, while 56% of riders wait for over 20 minutes. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is , while 11% travel for over in a single direction. Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .
The city furthermore operates the Naples Metro (), an underground rapid transit rail transport which integrates both surface railway lines and the city's metro stations, many of which are noted for their decorative architecture and public art. In fact, the station of Via Toledo is often in the top spots of the rankings of the most beautiful metro stations in the world.
There are also four in the city (operated by ANM): Centrale, Chiaia Funicular, Montesanto and Mergellina. Five public are in operation in the city: within the bridge of Chiaia, in via Acton, near the Sanità Bridge,under the Mount Echia, and in the Ventaglieri Park, accompanied by two public .
The Neapolitan Academy of Fine Arts, founded by Charles III of Bourbon in 1752 as the Real Accademia di Disegno (English language: Royal Academy of Design), was the centre of the artistic School of Posillipo in the 19th century. Artists such as Domenico Morelli, Giacomo Di Chirico, Francesco Saverio Altamura and Gioacchino Toma worked in Naples during this period, and many of their works are now exhibited in the academy's art collection. The modern Academy offers courses in painting, Interior design, sculpture, design, restoration, and urban planning. Naples is also known for its theatres, which are among the oldest in Europe: the Teatro di San Carlo opera house dates back to the 18th century.
Naples is also the home of the artistic tradition of Capodimonte porcelain. In 1743, Charles of Bourbon founded the Royal Factory of Capodimonte, many of whose artworks are now on display in the Museum of Capodimonte. Several of Naples's mid-19th-century porcelain factories remain active today.
Naples is traditionally credited as the home of pizza. This originated as a meal of the poor, but under Ferdinand IV it became popular among the upper classes: famously, the Margherita pizza was named after Queen Margherita of Savoy after her visit to the city. Cooked traditionally in a wood-burning Masonry oven, the ingredients of Neapolitan pizza have been strictly regulated by law since 2004, and must include wheat flour type "00" with the addition of flour type "0" yeast, natural mineral water, peeled tomatoes or fresh , mozzarella, sea salt and extra virgin olive oil. "Proposal of recognition of the Specialita' Traditionale Garantita 'Pizza Napoletana'" . Forno Bravo. 24 May 2004. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
Spaghetti is also associated with the city, and is commonly eaten with clams vongole or lupini di mare. A popular Neapolitan folklore symbol is the comic figure Pulcinella eating a plate of spaghetti. Other dishes popular in Naples include Parmigiana di melanzane, spaghetti alle vongole and casatiello. As a coastal city, Naples is furthermore known for numerous seafood dishes, including impepata di cozze (peppered ), purpetiello affogato (octopus poached in broth), alici marinate (marinated anchovies), baccalà alla napoletana (salt cod) and baccalà fritto (fried cod), a dish commonly eaten during the Christmas period.
Naples is well known for its sweet dishes, including colourful gelato, which is similar to ice cream, though more fruit-based. Popular Neapolitan pastry dishes include zeppole, Rum baba]], sfogliatelle and pastiera, the latter of which is prepared specially for Easter celebrations. Another seasonal sweet is struffoli, a sweet-tasting honey dough decorated and eaten around Christmas. Neapolitan coffee is also widely acclaimed. The traditional Neapolitan flip coffee pot, known as the cuccuma or cuccumella, was the basis for the invention of the espresso machine, and also inspired the Moka pot.
Wineries in the Vesuvius area produce wines such as the Lacryma Christi ("tears of Christ") and Terzigno. Naples is also the home of limoncello, a popular lemon liqueur.
In May 2024, Time Out has named Naples the best city for food.
The term "Neapolitan language" is often used to describe the language of all of Campania (except Cilento), and is sometimes applied to the entire South Italian language; Ethnologue refers to the latter as Napoletano-Calabrese. This linguistic group is spoken throughout most of southern continental Italy, including the Gaeta and Sora district of southern Lazio, the southern part of Marche and Abruzzo, Molise, Basilicata, northern Calabria, and northern and central Apulia. In 1976, there were an estimated 7,047,399 first language of this group of dialects.
Later Neapolitan was replaced by Italian in the first half of the 16th century, during Spanish domination. In 1458 the Accademia Pontaniana, one of the first academies in Italy, was established in Naples as a free initiative by men of letters, science and literature. In 1480 the writer and poet Jacopo Sannazzaro wrote the first pastoral romance, Arcadia, which influenced Italian literature. In 1634 Giambattista Basile collected Pentamerone five books of ancient tales written in the Neapolitan dialect rather than Italian. Philosopher Giordano Bruno, who theorised the existence of infinite solar systems and the infinity of the entire universe, completed his studies at the University of Naples. Due to philosophers such as Giambattista Vico, Naples became one of the centres of the Italian peninsula for historical and philosophy of history studies.
Jurisprudence studies were enhanced in Naples thanks to eminent personalities of jurists like Bernardo Tanucci, Gaetano Filangieri and Antonio Genovesi. In the 18th century Naples, together with Milan, became one of the most important sites from which the Enlightenment penetrated Italy. Poet and philosopher Giacomo Leopardi visited the city in 1837 and died there. His works influenced Francesco de Sanctis, who studied in Naples and eventually became Minister of Instruction during the Italian kingdom. De Sanctis was one of the first literary critics to discover, study and diffuse the poems and literary works of the great poet from Recanati.
Writer and journalist Matilde Serao co-founded the newspaper Il Mattino with her husband Edoardo Scarfoglio in 1892. Serao was an acclaimed novelist and writer during her day. Poet Salvatore Di Giacomo was one of the most famous writers in the Neapolitan dialect, and many of his poems were adapted to music, becoming famous Neapolitan songs. In the 20th century, philosophers like Benedetto Croce pursued the long tradition of philosophy studies in Naples, and personalities like jurists and lawyer Enrico De Nicola pursued legal and constitutional studies. De Nicola later helped to draft the modern Constitution of the Italian Republic and was eventually elected to the office of President of the Italian Republic. Other noted Neapolitan writers and journalists include Antonio De Curtis, Giancarlo Siani, Roberto Saviano and Elena Ferrante. In Naples'44, An Intelligence Officer in the Italian Labyrinth (London, Eland, 2002), the acclaimed British travel writer Norman Lewis records the lives of the Napolitean people following the liberation of the city from Nazi forces in 1943.
The music Opera genre of opera buffa was created in Naples in the 18th century and then spread to Rome and northern Italy. In the period of Belle Époque, Naples rivalled Paris for its café-chantants, and many famous Neapolitan songs were originally created to entertain the public in the cafès of Naples. Perhaps the most well-known song is "Ninì Tirabusciò". The history of how this song was born was dramatised in the eponymous comedy movie starring Monica Vitti.
The Neapolitan popular genre of sceneggiata is an important genre of modern folk theatre worldwide, dramatising common canon themes of thwarted love stories, comedies, tearjerker stories, commonly about honest people becoming camorra outlaws due to unfortunate events. The Sceneggiata became very popular amongst Neapolitans and eventually one of the best-known genres of Italian cinematography thanks to actors and singers like Mario Merola and Nino D'Angelo. Many writers and playwrights, such as Raffaele Viviani, wrote comedies and dramas for this genre. Actors and comedians like Eduardo Scarpetta and then his sons Eduardo De Filippo, Peppino De Filippo and Titina De Filippo contributed to making the Neapolitan theatre. Eduardo's comedies and tragedies, such as Filumena Marturano and (which he also filmed as Side Street Story), are well-known.
During the late Baroque music, Alessandro Scarlatti, the father of Domenico Scarlatti, established the Neapolitan school of opera; this was in the form of opera seria, which was a new development for its time. Another form of opera originating in Naples is opera buffa, a style of comic opera strongly linked to Battista Pergolesi and Piccinni; later contributors to the genre included Rossini and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Teatro di San Carlo, built in 1737, is the oldest working theatre in Europe, and remains the operatic centre of Naples. The earliest six-string guitar was created by the Neapolitan Gaetano Vinaccia in 1779; the instrument is now referred to as the romantic guitar. The Vinaccia family also developed the mandolin. Influenced by the Spanish, Neapolitans became pioneers of classical guitar music, with Ferdinando Carulli and Mauro Giuliani being prominent exponents. Giuliani, who was actually from Apulia but lived and worked in Naples, is widely considered to be one of the greatest guitarist and composers of the 19th century, along with his Catalonia contemporary Fernando Sor. Another Neapolitan musician of note was opera singer Enrico Caruso, one of the most prominent opera of all time: he was considered a man of the people in Naples, hailing from a working-class background.
A popular traditional dance in Southern Italy and Naples is the Tarantella, which originated in Apulia and spread throughout the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Neapolitan tarantella is a courtship dance performed by couples whose "rhythms, melodies, gestures, and accompanying songs are quite distinct", featuring faster, more cheerful music.
A notable element of popular Neapolitan music is the Canzone Napoletana style, essentially the traditional music of the city, with a repertoire of hundreds of folklore songs, some of which can be traced back to the 13th century. The genre became a formal institution in 1835, after the introduction of the annual Festival of Piedigrotta songwriting competition. Some of the best-known recording artists in this field include Roberto Murolo, Sergio Bruni and Renato Carosone. There are furthermore various forms of music popular in Naples but not well known outside it, such as cantautore ("singer-songwriter") and sceneggiata, which has been described as a musical soap opera; the most well-known exponent of this style is Mario Merola.
Naples was the location for several early Italian cinema masterpieces. Assunta Spina (1915) was a silent film adapted from a theatrical drama by Neapolitan writer Salvatore Di Giacomo. The film was directed by Neapolitan Gustavo Serena. Serena also starred in the 1912 film Romeo and Juliet.
A list of some well-known films that take place (fully or partially) in Naples includes:
Naples is home to one of the first Italian colour films, Toto in Color (1952), starring Totò (Antonio de Curtis), a famous comedic actor born in Naples.
Some notable comedies set in Naples include Ieri, Oggi e Domani ( Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow), by Vittorio De Sica, starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni, Adelina of Naples (Academy Award-winning movie), It Started in Naples, L'oro di Napoli again by Vittorio De Sica, dramatic movies like Dino Risi's Scent of a Woman, war movies like The Four Days of Naples by Sardinian director Nanni Loy, music and Sceneggiata movies like Zappatore, from the eponymous song by Libero Bovio, starring singer and actor Mario Merola, crime movies like Il Camorrista with Ben Gazzara playing the part of infamous camorra boss Raffaele Cutolo, and historical or costume movies like That Hamilton Woman starring Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier.
More modern Neapolitan films include Ricomincio da tre, which depicts the misadventures of a young emigrant in the late 20th century. The 2008 film Gomorrah, based on the book by Roberto Saviano, explores the dark underbelly of the city of Naples through five intertwining stories about the powerful Camorra, as well as the TV series of the same name.
Several episodes of the animated series Tom and Jerry also have references/influences from Naples. The song "Santa Lucia" played by Tom Cat in Cat and Dupli-cat has its origins in Naples. "Neapolitan Mouse" takes place in the same city.
The Japanese series JoJo's Bizarre Adventures part 5, Vento Aureo, takes place in the city.
Naples has appeared in episodes of TV serials such as The Sopranos and the 1998 version of The Count of Monte Cristo, starring Gérard Depardieu.
Some of the city's smaller clubs include Sporting Neapolis and Internapoli, which play at the Stadio Arturo Collana. The city also has teams in a variety of other sports: Eldo Napoli represents the city in basketball's Serie A and plays in the city of Bagnoli. The city co-hosted the EuroBasket 1969. Partenope Rugby is the city's best-known rugby union side: the team has won the rugby union Serie A twice. Other popular local sports include futsal, water polo, horse racing, sailing, fencing, boxing and martial arts. The Accademia Nazionale di Scherma (National Academy and Fencing School of Naples) is the only place in Italy where the titles "Master of Sword" and "Master of Kendo" can be obtained.
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