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Chiesa di Sant'Angelo a Nilo
Benignly presided over by a quartet of tubby gilt cherubs, this modest 14th-century church contains one of the first great artworks to grace the Neapolitan Renaissance - the majestic tomb of Cardinal Brancaccio, the church's founder. Although considered a part of Naples' artistic heritage, the sarcophagus was actually sculpted in Pisa. After a year chipping away at it, the artists shipped it down to Naples in 1427.
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Chiesa di Sant'Anna dei Lombardi
The Chiesa di Sant'Anna dei Lombardi is a sanctified stunner. In fact, it's often spoken of as more a museum of Renaissance art than a church; a fact that owes much to the close links that existed between the Neapolitan Aragonese and the Florentine Medici dynasty.
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Chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine
Santa Maria del Carmine plays a starring role in local folklore. When Conrad of Swabia was charged with treason in 1268, his mother desperately tried to raise money to pay a ransom for her son's life. But she was too late and Conrad was beheaded. Grief-stricken, she gave the money to the church, on the condition that the Carmelite brothers prayed for him every day. They agreed and the cashed-up brothers built the church you see today.
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Chiesa e Chiostro di San Gregorio Armeno
There are churches and then there is the Chiesa e Chiostro di San Gregorio Armeno. Zealously run by a posse of snappy nuns, the recently-restored 16th-century church boasts a jaw-dropping baroque interior designed by Nicolò Tagliacozzi Canale. Highlights include sumptuous wood and papier-mâché choir stalls, a 17th-century marble altar by Dionisio Lazzarn and lavish frescoes by Paolo de Matteis and Luca Giordano.
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Chiesa e Pinacoteca dei Girolamini
Opposite the Duomo is the entrance to the Chiesa dei Girolamini, also called San Filippo Neri, a rich baroque church of two facades. The more imposing 18th-century facade is closed for restoration. The adjoining 17th-century convent features a raffish cloister, complete with rambling lemon trees and faded majolica tiles. A small gallery on the convent's 1st floor features superb local art, including works by Luca Giordano and Battista Caracciolo.
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Chiesa E Scavi Di San Lorenzo Maggiore
Soaring, vast and bathed in light, this French Gothic masterpiece was commenced in 1270 by French architects who built the apse. Local architects took over the following century, recycling ancient columns in the nave. Victim of a baroque makeover in the 17th- and 18th centuries, it was stripped back to its original Gothic splendour in the mid-20th century, although a concession was made for Ferdinando Sanfelice's petite baroque facade.
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Chiesa San Giovanni a Carbonara
This fabulous Gothic cluster comprises a church, a chapel and a cloister, fronted by an 18th-century double-flight staircase by stair-meister Ferdinando Sanfelice. While the chapel is currently closed, the wooden-beamed church is a treasure-trove of stunning marble sculpture.
Standing at 18m behind the main altar, the colossal monument to King Ladislas (built in 1428) is a sublime mix of Renaissance and Gothic styles.
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Chiesa San Pietro a Maiella
Not many churches are dedicated to hermits. But not many hermits go on to become popes as Pietro del Morrone did when, in 1294, he was named Pope Celestine V. The typically Gothic interior dates to the 14th century, but the ceiling is pure baroque, with 10 superlative round paintings by Mattia Preti. Along with the impressive gilded wooden ceilings, they were discovered under stucco during a late-19th-century restoration.
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Chiesa Santa Caterina a Formiello
Despite the grime, this richly decorated Renaissance church is one of Naples' most beautiful. Harmoniously proportioned and softly lit, it boasts a series of exceptional frescoes by Luigi Garzi, as well as the relics of the martyrs of Otranto. The martyrs were all killed in 1480 when Turkish invaders swept into the Puglian coastal town after a lengthy siege and vented their bloody fury by killing 800 citizens.
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Chiesa Santa Maria degli Angeli
This yellow-hued baroque church was financed by Costanza Doria del Carretto, a noble lady with a deep purse and pious heart, and donated to the priests of the Teatini order.
Step inside for works by Neapolitan stalwarts Massimo Stanzione and Luca Giordano, as well as Francesco Grimaldi's famous dome.
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Chiesa Santa Maria del Parto
Founded by poet Jacopo Sannazzaro, this Renaissance favourite was built on land donated to him by King Frederick of Aragon in 1497. The church was completed shortly before the poet died in 1530. Sannazzaro's tomb sits behind the altar.
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Chiesa Santa Maria della Sanità & Catacomba di San Gaudioso
Topped by a green-and-yellow tiled dome, the much-loved Basilica Santa Maria della Sanità is known also as the Chiesa di San Vincenzo, in honour of the cult of San Vincenzo Ferreri. Gracing dusty Piazza della Sanità since the 17th century, its architectural highlight is a sumptuous double stairway leading up to a raised altar. Below the altar sits the 5th-century Cappella di San Gaudioso, entrance to the catacombs below.
Read more about Chiesa Santa Maria della Sanità & Catacomba di San Gaudioso
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Chiesa Santa Maria delle Anime Purgatorio Ad Arco
Guarded by three bronze skulls, this 17th-century church is macabre. Inside, two winged skulls adorn either side of the main altar. Built by a congregation dedicated to praying for souls in purgatory, the church became a centre for the Neapolitan cult of the dead which, although officially banned, is said to be far from extinct. Cult practices included lavishing care and gifts on a skull as a means of keeping in touch with an absent loved one.
Read more about Chiesa Santa Maria delle Anime Purgatorio Ad Arco
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Chiesa Santa Maria di Piedigrotta
The fishing families of Mergellina had already built a church on this site when, in 1353, the Virgin Mary appeared to a Benedictine monk, a nun and Pietro the Hermit (later to become Pope Celestine V; telling them to build her a church. She was taken at her word and the church was consecrated within the year. Since then, the church has remained the central focus of the Festa di Piedigrotta, celebrated on 8 September.
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Chiesa Santa Maria Donnaregina Vecchia
Home to Naples University's architectural restoration department, this beautiful 14th century church features a light-filled pentagonal apse, its walls and fan-vaults revealing traces of Giotto-esque frescoes, decorated with Angevin lilies and the red and white stripes of Hungary. Coffered ceilings drip with beautiful frescoes by Pietro Cavallino, while Mary's spectacular marble tomb sits along the left-side wall.
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Chiesa Santa Maria in Portico
Craving baroque? This 17th-century church should hit the spot. Check out the fabulous frescoes by Fabrizio Santafede (a good name for a church painter - 'Santafede' means 'holy faith'), Paolo De Matteis, Giovan Battista and Fedele Fischetti. In the sacristy there's a life-size 17th-century presepe , while the stucco work and high altar is by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro.
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Chiesa Santa Maria Incoronata
The beautiful Gothic arches of the Chiesa Santa Maria Incoronata date to the mid-14th century. Situated on the sunken site that Charles I of Anjou had earmarked for his planned Castel Nuovo, the church was built on the wishes of Giovanna of Anjou, who wanted somewhere to conserve a fragment of her most precious relic - Jesus' crown of thorns.
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Chiesa Santa Maria Maggiore
The full title of this church, Santa Maria Maggiore alla Pietrasanta, is a reference to a 17th-century practice of kissing the church's pietrasanta (holy stone) to gain indulgences. Dating to the 6th century, the church was originally built by San Pomponio, the Bishop of Naples. According to legend, he did so to appease worried locals, who reported sightings of the devil in the form of a pig on the site.
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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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Città della Scienza
Part of a major redevelopment of the Bagnoli steelworks area, this huge, high-tech museum takes the 'geek' out of science. Get clued up on physics at the science gym, walk through constellations in the high-tech planetarium or just go plain silly pressing lots of funky buttons.
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Duomo
Every year in May, September and December thousands gather in the Duomo to pray for a miracle - that the blood of the city's patron saint San Gennaro, kept here in two phials, will liquefy and save Naples from any potential disaster. When the miracle failed to occur in 1944, Vesuvius erupted. When it failed in 1980, the city was hit by a devastating earthquake.
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Edenlandia
Fabulously kitsch and loads of fun, the Edenlandia amusement park boasts over 200 attractions, including dodgem cars, a fairy-tale castle, high-tech 3D cinema and flight simulator. The relatively cheap admission covers the cinema, variety show and children's theatre.
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Fontana dell'Immacolatella
Diva of the local fountain scene, the Fontana dell'Immacolatella is a grand three-arched affair. Known also as the Fontana del Gigante, it was built by Michelangelo Naccherino and Pietro Bernini in 1601. Two minor arches, under which stand statues of river gods, flank a grand central arch topped by a look-at-me collection of obelisks, cherubs and coats of arms.
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Fontana di Nettuno
A studly Neptune tops this baroque ensemble by Cosimo Fanzago, Michelangelo Naccherino and Pietro Bernini. Under the glistening god, a cast of lions and spewing creatures complete the lavish picture. Built in 1601, this city favourite has had several addresses. Its last move came when work on the metro forced a transfer from Piazza Bovio to its current position. Will it stay or will it go? Only the Gods know.
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Galleria Principe di Napoli
Naples' oldest shopping arcade has seen better days. Now abandoned, it was designed by Nicola Briglia and built between 1876 and 1883. Its soaring neoclassical look is almost identical to that of its younger, better-loved sibling Galleria Umberto I, located at the lower end of Via Toledo.
