Italy - Naples - Images of Southern Italy's largest and most culturally rewarding city

Laying in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius and rising like a mythical siren from its half moon bay, Naples, capital of the southern Italian region of Campania is Italy's third largest city and arguably it's most bewitching. Naples was founded by ancient Greek colonists between the Seventh and Sixth Centuries BC and for most of its history since then it's been the desire of many conquerors and admirers and the city is filled with magnificent indelible legacies of its past.

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Laying in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius and rising like a mythical siren from its half moon bay, Naples, capital of the southern Italian region of Campania is Italy's third largest city and arguably it's most bewitching. Naples was founded by ancient Greek colonists between the Seventh and Sixth Centuries BC and for most of its history since then it's been the desire of many conquerors and admirers and the city is filled with magnificent indelible legacies of its past.

For a period Naples was Europe's largest city, a capital of glamour that attracted kings, aristocrats, intellectuals and artists and travellers on the famous grand tour acclaimed Naples to be the most glorious and dazzling capital of the west. When the 18th century famous writer and poet Goethe visited Naples he declared it a paradise and that the site of the bay, the islands and volcano the castles and villas exceeded all his expectations inspiring him to famously declare that 'anyone can be forgiven for losing his mind in Naples'.

Its neighbour streets which are more like an open-air museum and where every element of life has been elevated to an art form are filled with authentic pizzerias, formidable fortresses, magnificent Baroque churches, grand royal palaces, lively piazza's, colourful outdoor markets and narrow cobblestone alleys replete with laundry fluttering above between houses whilst below barking dogs hastily avoid being run-over by zooming scooters piled with two or three passengers. UNESCO has declared the Historic Center of Naples a World Heritage Site.

Pulsating and passionate, Naples is louder, more intense, more chaotic and more rewarding than most anywhere else in Italy and one thing is for certain, Naples is not a place as the famously coined phrase says 'to see and die', it's a city that once seen and experienced you obtain a zest to live a fuller and richer life.
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