-
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.
-
Villa Floridiana & Museo Nazionale della Ceramica Duca di Martina
Not one for understated gift giving, King Ferdinand I had the elegant Villa Floridiana and its stately gardens built for his second wife, the Duchess of Floridia. Purchased by the Italian government in 1919, the gardens were opened to the public and the villa turned into a ceramics museum. In a city short on space, the park is a soothing tonic of oaks, palms and terraces looking out over city and sea.
Read more about Villa Floridiana & Museo Nazionale della Ceramica Duca di Martina
-
Villa Rosebery
In an area famed for its blue-ribbon real estate, Villa Rosebery is a star resident. Built in the 18th century, its history is both romantic and epic. It was used by Luigi of Bourbon in the early 19th century for his trysts with the dancer Amina Boschetti, and it was from here that King Vittorio Emanuele III left Italy in 1946 after the abolition of the monarchy.
