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Castel Capuano
This Norman castle has been the seat of the city's civil courts since 1540, and the crowd of noisy families, slick lawyers and menacing police around the main entrance is a permanent feature. Built in 1165 by William I to guard the nearby city gate Porta Capuana, it was later enlarged by the King Frederick II and fortified by Charles I of Anjou. The castle is not open to the public.
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Castel Dell'Ovo
According to myth, the Castel dell'Ovo owes its improbable name - Castle of the Egg - to Virgil. The Roman poet was said to have buried an egg on the site where the castle now stands, ominously warning that when the egg breaks the castle (and Naples) will fall. Killjoys prefer to say that the name of the castle is due to its oval shape.
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Castel Sant'Elmo
It might look strong and mean, but this hulking star-shaped heap has seen little military action. The biggest blow it received came in 1587 when a bolt of lightning hit the castle's stock of gunpowder, killing some 150 people. It has, however, seen plenty of prisoners, as its dungeons were used as a military prison until the 1970s.
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Cimitero Delle Fontanelle
The perfect place to sneak up on someone, this creepy underground cemetery heaves with the skulls and bones of some 40,000 Neapolitans. First used during the plague of 1656, it became the city's main burial site during the cholera epidemics of 1835 and 1974.
In the late 19th century it became a cult spot for the worship of the dead. Adherents would adopt a skull, pray for its soul and lavish it with treats in the hope of a little good fortune.
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Lago d'Averno
If someone tells you to go to hell, Lago d'Averno (Lake Averno) is a good place to start. In Virgil's Aeneid , it's from here that Aeneas descends into the underworld.
Not that there's anything infernal about it. Chilled-out and vine-fringed, the lake is an easy walk north of Lucrino train station.
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Lungomare
Strolling the lungomare (seafront) is as Neapolitan as lunch at Nennella. Running the length of Via Partenope and Via Francesco Carrociolo, this 2.5km (1.5mi) seaside stretch is particularly beautiful as the sun sets and the light over the sea takes on an orange hue - picture Capri on the horizon, Mt Vesuvius looming to the south and you hopelessly smitten.
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Marechiaro
Immortalised in a traditional 19th-century Neapolitan song 'Marechiaro' (Clear Sea) by Salvatore di Giacomo and Francesco Paolo Tosti, the little fishing village of Marechiaro is one for die-hard romantics. Complete with its own church, the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Faro, this is the place for candle-lit meals by lapping seas.
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Palazzo Donn'Anna
The most famous unfinished palazzo in Posillipo, Palazzo Donn'Anna takes its name from Anna Carafa, for whom it was built as a wedding present from her husband Ramiro Guzman, the Spanish viceroy of Naples. When Guzman hot-footed it back to Spain in 1644 he left his wife heartbroken in Naples. She died shortly afterwards and Cosimo Fanzago gave up the project. The semi-derelict palazzo is not open to the public.
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Porticciolo
Once home to the area's fishing fleet, Mergellina's marina is now a crowd-pulling combo of anchored yachts and kitsch Neapolitan chalets; neon-lit gelaterie and bars right on the water's edge. On summer evenings, families, love-struck teens and the odd worn-out tourist flock here for gelati, cocktails and a spot of double parking.
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Villa Comunale
Another Luigi Vanvitelli production, this long, leafy seaside strip was originally built for Bourbon royalty. Called the Passeggio Reale (Royal Walkway), it was off-limits to the plebs except on 8 September, the day of the Festa di Piedigrotta. Rumour has it that taking one's wife to the park on that day was a clause in many a marital contract. Husbands across the city must have heaved a sigh of relief when the park finally went public in 1869.
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