FOLKLORE AND CULTURE
Discover the thousand colors of Naples

SAN FRANCESCO DI PAOLA
This neoclassical masterpiece has become
one of the icons of the city of Naples.
Framing the enormous Piazza del Plebiscito with its majestic and famous colonnade, this neoclassical church evokes the Pantheon in Rome, both the façade and in the interior. This imposing nineteenth-century church, with its tympanum on Ionic columns, its three high domes and its circular plan, is one of the city’s most popular and most visited sites. The church is topped by three domes: the central one, 53 metres high, was built on a high and wide drum.

CHIESA DEL GESÙ NUOVO
It is undoubtedly one of the most important churches
and famous in Naples: find out why!
This monumental church is characterised by a rusticated façade with diamond-pointed piperno stones, one of the rare cases in Italy, and its rich interior furnishings that represent one of the most precious examples of Neapolitan Baroque. One unique feature of the church is the presence of a miraculously unexploded bomb from the Second World War and now on public display.

CHIESA E CHIOSTRO DI SANTA CHIARA
A tour of one of the oldest churches in Naples with its cloister, a triumph of colors and beauty.
In the picturesque street known as Spaccanapoli, stands the Complex of Santa Chiara, which with its Basilica, monumental cloisters, Archaeological Excavations and the Museo dell’Opera with part of Giotto’s frescoes, is a must-see in the city. The famous cloisters with marvellous 18th-century majolica tiles, Baroque frescoes and interior architecture, is one of the city’s most precious hidden gems.

DUOMO DI NAPOLI
The imposing cathedral located on the nineteenth-century via Duomo, stands conspicuously in the heart of the Greek-Roman city.
Naples Cathedral is a true monumental masterpiece waiting to be discovered. Home of the miraculous melting of the blood of San Gennaro, it stands out on Via Duomo with its very high neo-Gothic façade, about 50 metres high. The rich and sumptuous interior features a variety of styles, dominated by Baroque, and features masterpieces by great artists. From the right aisle of the Cathedral, you can access the Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro, which houses the blood of the patron saint of Naples and is a jewel of world art and architecture.

CHIESA E CERTOSA DI SAN MARTINO
It rises in the enchanted and dreamy scenery of the San Martino belvedere, one of the most loved places by Neapolitans.
Moving away from the old town, this monumental complex, located on the top of the panoramic hill of Vomero is one of the most beautiful places in Naples. It was erected in 1325 at the behest of Charles of Anjou, who wanted it in a dominant position in the city. The church is one of the best examples of Baroque architecture and has about one hundred rooms, two churches, a courtyard, four chapels, three cloisters and hanging gardens. Chronologically, it is the second Carthusian monastery in Campania, having been founded nineteen years after that of San Lorenzo in Padova and forty-six years before that of San Giacomo in Capri.

COMPLESSO DI SAN DOMENICO MAGGIORE
The complex incorporates the imposing basilica, but not only and really deserves to be visited in its entirety.
The Church, with its religious complex of the same name, is one of the largest in Naples, taking into consideration the whole Basilica and Convent. It was built by Charles of Anjou in 1283 and is worth a visit for its monumental beauty. Of Gothic design with Baroque interventions, it has housed and continues to house important works of art: for example, it was this church that originally housed Caravaggio’s Flagellation of Christ, now in the Capodimonte Museum.

CIMITERO DELLE FONTANELLE
Discovering the suggestive cult (all Neapolitan)
of the “pezzentelle souls”.
The Fontanelle Cemetery is a unique site in the world, a former ossuary covering more than 3,000 square metres, it contains the remains of an unknown number of people. It is located in Sanità, one of the richest areas of Naples in terms of history and tradition. The cemetery is notable because it was here that the ritual of the “anime pezzentelle”, i.e., the adoption and care by a Neapolitan of a specific skull of an abandoned soul in exchange for protection. Every corner of the Fontanelle Cemetery is full of history, anecdotes, legends and curiosities just waiting to be discovered.

CATACOMBE DI SAN GENNARO
It is one of the oldest places of worship in the city, seat of the ancient burials of the first Christians and of the bishops of the city.
These are ancient underground cemetery areas dating back to the 2nd-3rd centuries and represent the most important monument of Christianity in Naples. The entrance to the catacombs is currently located near the church of the Incoronata in Capodimonte and, together with the Miglio Sacro, it is a surprising walk through time, the first burial site of San Gennaro, a place to discover stories, architecture and frescoes. Crossing the tuff stone hill, our visit ends in the ancient Rione Sanità, which has now been redeveloped thanks to the young people of the neighbourhood, who have strongly supported this tourist and cultural route since 2006.