Naples
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A large city in the south of Italy that is not only the “home” of pizza but also full of architectural and cultural visitor attractions, and also features a few dark ones, mostly underground. Just beyond the outskirts of the city, Mt Vesuvius looms large, the volcano that in the year 79 CE destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum … and a renewed eruption (seen as “overdue” by some volcanologists) could pose a threat to modern-day Naples. In the meantime it’s a wonderful city to visit, and about 20 million people do so annually, and it’s quite rewarding for dark tourists too.
More background info: The history of Naples goes far back, having been founded by the ancient Greeks in the 8th century BCE. This makes it one of the oldest cities in the world to have been continuously inhabited. The name goes back to the Greek “Neapolis” (‘new city’). In Italian the name is Napoli.
In the Middle Ages the city became the capital of first the Byzantine Duchy of Naples and then of the Kingdom of Naples, which lasted until 1816, when it was taken over by the Spanish House of the Bourbons, together with Sicily. The Bourbon rule was overthrown in 1860 under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi (a name you frequently encounter in Naples to this day) and the next year Naples became part of the unified Kingdom of Italy.
Naples suffered numerous cholera epidemics, in particular the especially deadly one of 1884. After this a major project of improvements to the city’s sewers and general infrastructure was begun to improve sanitary conditions that lasted until the time of WW1.
The Italian Fascist era under Mussolini from 1922 to 1943 engulfed Naples too, but left less of an architectural mark on the city than it did e.g. in Rome (see especially Foro Italico). In WWII Naples became the Italian city most bombed by the Allies – its important port making it a prime target. That was the time when the extensive underground tunnel systems were transformed into air-raid shelters (see below).
At the end of September 1943, when the German Nazis were in charge of much of Italy after Mussolini’s ousting in July, Neapolitans revolted against their rule and actually managed to kick them out just before the Allied forces (British and American) arrived to liberate the city. The uprising is known as “Quattro Giornate di Napoli”, or the ‘Four Days of Naples’ (also the subject of a 1962 movie of the same name), from 27 to 30 September, when the German Nazi commander negotiated a handover of the city. The Nazis retreated, but not before leaving much destruction and looting assets such as vehicles and food.
The Allied forces arrived on 1 October – to a city that had already freed itself. Neapolitans are unsurprisingly still proud of this episode of successful rebellion and the mostly young men who were involved (and of whom at least 150 were killed, probably many more; the exact figure was never established) are affectionately known as the “Scugnizzo”. Dictionaries usually give the expression ‘street urchin’ as the English equivalent of that word, but in this case it’s probably better rendered as ‘young rebels’.
Much of Naples lay in ruins at the end of WWII and reconstruction took decades. Yet Naples remained impoverished compared to the big cities in the north of Italy. Unemployment was, and still is, high.
Naples has infamously also been plagued by organized crime in the form of the mafia, in this case more specifically the Camorra. In recent decades (and in particular in 2019 and 2020) top members of the Camorra were arrested, tried and sentenced to long prison terms but the organization has not been stamped out altogether.
Today, Naples is Italy’s third largest city (after Rome and Milan), with a population of just under a million, and has seen much economic growth from the late 1990s onwards. In 1995, the city’s historical centre was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
What there is to see: Apart from being a good springboard for excursions to Pompeii and Herculaneum, Naples itself also features several dark attractions of its own, many of them underground.
These are the places given their own separate chapters here:
- Napoli Sotterranea (‘undergound Naples’) in the Centro Storico (‘historic centre’)
- Napoli Sotterranea in the Quartieri Spagnoli (‘Spanish Quarter’)
- Bourbon Tunnels (Galleria Borbonica)
In addition there’s the famous Cappella Sansevero, best known for its fabled trompe l’œil sculpture of a veiled corpse of Christ, though there are also numerous other, similarly impressive sculptural works – and in the underground crypt you can find two old “anatomical machines”, as they call them, which are actually medical wax models of whole bodies without skin so that the vascular system is exposed. They are quite spooky to look at too. Unfortunately photography was forbidden in the chapel and the crypt (and it was strictly enforced) so that I can’t provide images for any of this.
Between Via Monteoliveto and Piazza Giacomo Matteotti stands an example of fascist-era architecture, namely in the form of a large post office – it even says on the facade “E. FASCISTA” next to the year 1936.
A striking fascist-era monument can be found by the waterfront west of the inner city halfway down Viale Anton Dohrn. It’s mainly dedicated to the WW1 general Armando Diaz, who is celebrated as having led the Italian military to the decisive victories against Austro-Hungarian forces in 1918. The sides of the monument feature glorifying bas-reliefs typical of the Mussolini era.
At the western end of the same road, in the centre of Piazza della Repubblica stands another, more modern monument. This one is for the “Scugnizzo”, the fallen rebels of the Four Days of Naples (see above).
A much more modest monument just south of the Royal Palace overlooking the gardens is the “Spiral of Life” sculpture dedicated to the innocent victims of violent crime.
Much larger in scale is something I discovered by chance when I researched what the Campania “Artecard” (see below) would cover and found the Science Museum (Città della Scienza ) included, which is on the western outskirts of Naples; checking the location on Google Maps I discovered that this museum sits right next to what remains of the huge former steelworks of Bagnoli. Photos I found online intrigued me so I set off in the hope of being able to do some urbexing in the abandoned plant (it closed sometime in the 1990s). Alas, I didn’t get very far. The whole complex is surrounded by high walls/fences, and the only gap is a guarded gate. It was open and so I walked in a bit and quickly snapped a few pics from the steelworks and blast furnace in the distance before I was shooed away by security. Getting closer would be great but it seems that this cannot be done, at least not legally.
Another thing that didn’t work out at all was a visit to the ossuary at Cimitero delle Fontanelle. It was marked as “temporarily closed” on Google Maps, but at the time its website still quoted opening times, so I asked my guide at the Catacombe di San Gennaro and he told me that Fontanelle had been closed for five years and would be unlikely to reopen. The San Gennaro catacombs (aka Catacombe di Napoli) are a top sight, though, but all the burial niches and graves are empty, so unlike at the associated Catacombe di San Gaudioso there are no human remains to be seen here. Given the absence of skulls and bones and also the catacombs’ age (they date back to the earliest years of Christianity – way outside this website’s time frame; see here) I decided against giving them a chapter of their own here. But this enormous underground complex is certainly worth a look (visit by guided tour only, also available in English, 13€, best bought in advance online – and the ticket gives you free entrance to the Catacombe di San Gaudioso).
Google Maps locators:
Cappella Sansevero: [40.8493, 14.2549]
Fascist-era post office: [40.8438, 14.2518]
Armando Diaz monument: [40.83229, 14.23036]
Scugnizzo monument: [40.83181, 14.22633]
Spiral of Life monument: [40.83517, 14.25016]
Steelworks of Bagnoli: [40.8089, 14.1809]
Blast furnace of the Bagnoli steelworks: [40.8141, 14.1731]
Catacombe di San Gennaro (ticket desk and tour meeting point): [40.8651, 14.2474]
Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo: [40.8475, 14.2519]
Castel Sant’Elmo: [40.8441, 14.2394]
Castel Nuovo: [40.8385, 14.2528]
Royal Palace: [40.8364, 14.2498]
Galleria Umberto I: [40.8385, 14.2495]
National Archaeological Museum: [40.8536, 14.2505]
Toledo metro station: [40.8425, 14.2488]
Central train station (Garibaldi): [40.8531, 14.2727]
Airport: [40.8779, 14.2828]
Access and costs: fairly easy to get to; not necessarily expensive.
Details: Naples is well connected, by plane, ferry and overland. From Rome, high-speed trains take less than an hour to get there. Naples airport is close to the city and has flights from various European cities (the proximity of the airport has the downside that you get a lot of aircraft noise overhead during the day even in the historic centre).
You can even get to Naples by ferry, e.g. from Palermo in Sicily. Driving your own (hire) car to Naples is also a possibility, but driving within Naples requires nerves of steel and having to deal with lack of parking.
Getting around: from/to the airport you could take a taxi, but a much cheaper and easy alternative is the Alibus, which is quite frequent and for only 5€ connects the airport swiftly with Naples Central Station (Piazza Garibaldi) as well as the passenger terminals in the port.
Within the city, walking is mostly the best way of getting around, but for some things you will need public transport, such as going all the way out to Bagnoli. As Naples is a very hilly city, its funiculars are useful for getting to attractions such as the hilltop Castel Sant’Elmo. The metro is useful (and comparatively affordable) for longer distances too, and some of its stations are visitor attractions in themselves (see below).
If you get a Naples or Campania “Artecard” for three days, public transport is free within the city or the whole Campania region (the latter including regular regional trains to Pompeii and Herculaneum!). In addition it gives you free entrance to two attractions (again including Pompeii and Herculaneum with the Campania card) and beyond that reductions for a large number of other sights (usually half price). So it can be worth the 41€ (Campania “Artecard”, the Naples three-day card costs 27€).
However, it is not a physical card, but only a digital one, meaning it has to be downloaded via a special (free) app on to a smartphone, paid for by credit card and then needs activating at the first use. Trying to obtain such a digital “card” online proved a right hassle, not helped by the cumbersome and erratic website and the fact that you first have to register (providing all manner of personal data). When I tried, the purchase was eventually made and approved by my bank app but the purchase did not show up in the “Artecard” app. So I had to go to an “Artecard infopoint”. There it took another hour to make the purchase there and then by debit or credit card on a card reader machine and then there was the issue of getting the “Artecard” on to the smartphone. In the end it worked, though (and the money for my first attempt did not go out of my account, thankfully). At attractions and at the automatic turnstiles for public transport (metro, trains) you have to scan one of the two QR codes you receive in the app (one for transport, the other for attractions). Annoyingly, if you don’t use the card for even just a short while you have to sign back in when you need it again, typing your username and password. I had to do that every time I used it. Surely there must be a better way. But if you can handle all the hassle and complications and plan to use the card a lot, you can make a good saving and don’t have to buy tickets individually.
Accommodation options are plentiful and cover all price ranges and categories, from affordable budget hostels and self-catering apartments to top-end hotels. Since I was staying in Naples for eight nights I went for the self-catering option and had a rooftop flat that came with a good view of Vesuvius in the distance on clear days (unfortunately I had only two of those during my time there, with plenty of rain and even thunder and hailstorms the rest of the time).
For food & drink, Naples offers all manner of delights, from self-catering to gourmet eating out. Cheap and cheerful street food is in between and very popular. Of course, legendarily having been “invented” in Naples, pizza is a big thing here and there is no shortage of pizzerias with proper wood-fired ovens and the pizzas are rarely expensive. A local speciality is also pizza fritta, which is indeed deep-fried pizza. It comes in two forms, filled and completely deep-fried, or only the dough deep-fried and then topped with cheese, tomatoes and whatever other ingredients. Something worth trying, but better not to have on a regular basis (there are many much healthier options).
As for drinks, along with the usual coffees, soft drinks, as well as the omnipresent Aperol and Limoncello Spritz, there is also a diverse craft-beer scene, and I found local wine from Campania more than drinkable and often quite cheap. The spirit of choice here is grappa.
Time required: For only the dark things covered here, four or five days may be enough, but to get a bit more out of this intriguing city consider staying somewhat longer. I had eight days on my January 2026 trip to Naples (including day trips to Pompeii and Herculaneum) and still didn’t get to see anywhere near as much as there would have been to see.
Combinations with other dark destinations: Naples makes a perfect base for day trips to both Pompeii and Herculaneum, both quite easily reached by regional trains from Naples central station.
A bit further away, and requiring a vehicle of your own (i.e. most likely a hire car) is the ghost town of San Pietro Infine, a former village destroyed in WWII battles.
For more places yet further away see under Italy in general. Rome is quite easily reached by high-speed train connections (in under an hour). And you can also get to Sicily from Naples by ferry.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: Naples offers innumerable non-dark attractions, far too many to be covered here. Only a few examples will have to suffice:
Of the countless church buildings in Naples (including the cathedral and a number of basilicas), the one I liked best was Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo with its distinctive spiky front facade and opulent interior.
There are several castles too, including the Castel dell’Ovo on a peninsula by the waterfront, Castel Sant’Elmo perched high atop a hill (providing the best panoramic view over Naples) or the Castel Nuovo, i.e. “New Castle”, which however actually dates back to the 13th century. I did not enter any of these during my trip to Naples but I did visit the staterooms of the Royal Palace (located at Piazza Plebiscito, 9h to 17:30h for the museum, the staterooms are open to 20h; 15€), which turned out to be so over-the-top palatial that they made the Imperial palaces in Vienna (where I’m based) look modest and under-decorated …
A particularly grand public building is the Galleria Umberto I with its shops and cafes and a huge glass dome in the centre – very reminiscent of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. Right opposite is the Teatro di San Carlo (adjacent to the Royal Palace).
There’s no shortage of art galleries and museums in Naples, and the one I contemplated most but then didn’t manage to visit is the National Archaeological Museum (9h to 19:30h, closed Tuesdays, 20€). Amongst many other things this has items from Pompeii and Herculaneum, including “infamously” a collection of pieces of erotic art (now openly accessible and no longer only by special request/arrangement … times aren’t as prudish now as they used to be).
As already mentioned above, some of the metro stations (on line 2) have been very artfully designed and hence are tourist attractions in themselves. The top pick is Toledo metro station, with its watery themed artwork and enormous LED-lit tubular installation overhead above the escalators. But other metro stations are adorned with modern art as well, such as Dante metro station (one stop north from Toledo) featuring a peculiar installation with numerous pairs of shoes wedged behind steel bars along one wall.
There’s also plenty of street art, ranging from simple graffiti to large-scale wall murals. And one particular person you can see depicted all over Naples is Argentinian football “God” Diego Maradona, who played for SSC Napoli between 1984 and 1991 and led the club to its first national title. The enduring bond with Maradona in Naples is mind-boggling, from the wall paintings (some showing him like an angel with wings!) to the kitschy Maradona figurines in souvenir shops – he’s absolutely everywhere. The most famous mural of him (probably due to the Instagram curse) is located in the Spanish Quarter.
All the grandeur, history and various forms of art aside, one of the best joys of Naples is simply wandering around its old city streets, which are often very narrow alleyways, some so much so that the only motorized traffic that can fit through is scooters. The latter are omnipresent and always honking and you have to take great care to get out of their way swiftly.
Naples has a bad reputation with regard to rubbish (partly because of strikes and even some mafia involvement in the past), and you can indeed still see heaps of wildly dumped rubbish. But on the other hand I’ve never seen such a dense availability of recycling bins of all sorts (for glass, paper, compost, metal, etc.). On that front Naples is actually ahead of any other city I’ve visited or lived in!
