Things to do in Campania
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Palazzo Donn’Anna
Few buildings fire up the local gossipmongers like Posillipo’s seaside Palazzo Donn’Anna. Incomplete, semiderelict yet strangely beautiful, it 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 hotfooted it back to Spain in 1644 he left his wife heartbroken in Naples. She died shortly afterwards and architectural whiz-kid Cosimo Fanzago gave up the project. The grand yet forlorn heap sits on the site of an older villa, La Sirena (The Mermaid), reputed setting for Queen Joan’s scandalous sex orgies and crimes of passion (rumour has it that fickle Joan dumped her lovers …
reviewed
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Ristorante da Ciccio
Sublime local seafood and charming host Carlo make this atmospheric place a heart-stealer. Highlights include tubattone pasta with clams and pecorino cheese, and a zesty mussel soup topped with fried bread and chilli. The wizened man sitting out the front was once the chef. These days he spends his evenings cigarette in one hand, glass of wine in the other, happily muttering to himself.
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Pizzeria Da Franco
More deli than pizzeria, with hams hanging from the ceiling and bottles of olive oil squeezed onto the shelves, this hugely popular place does the best pizza in town. Served on a metal tray with plastic cutlery, the house speciality comes with tomato, mozzarella, rocket and Parmesan. Expect queues most summer nights.
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Da Michele
As hard-core as it gets, Naples’ most famous pizzeria takes the no-frills ethos to its extremes. It’s dingy and old-fashioned and serves only two types of pizza: margherita (tomato, basil and mozzarella) and marinara (tomatoes, garlic and oregano). But boy are they good!
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Villa Cimbrone
Some way east of Piazza del Duomo, the 20th-century Villa Cimbrone is worth seeking out for the vast views from the delightfully ramshackle gardens. The best viewpoint is the Belvedere of Infinity, an awe-inspiring terrace lined with fake classical busts.
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Certosa di San Martino
The high point (quite literally) of Neapolitan baroque, this stunning charterhouse, Certosa Di San Martino, is home to the Museo Nazionale di San Martino. Founded as a Carthusian monastery in the 14th century, the Certosa owes most of its present look to facelifts in the 16th and 17th centuries, the latter by baroque maestro Cosimo Fanzago. The church and the rooms that flank it contain a feast of frescoes and paintings by Naples’ greatest 17th-century artists – Francesco Solimena, Massimo Stanzione, Giuseppe de Ribera and Battista Caracciolo.
Adjacent to the church, the elegant Chiostro dei Procuratori is the smaller of the monastery’s two cloisters. A grand corridor…
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Nennella
NennellaCasareccio (homestyle) cooking and Neapolitan theatricality collide at loud, unmissable Nennella. Give your name to Ciro and wait for the boisterous staff to call you in. Inside, roguish waiters serve up uncomplicated gems like crispy fried sardines, lip-smacking spaghetti con lupine (spaghetti with lupin) or insalatona nennella (rocket, bresaola and radish salad).
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Lombardi a Santa Chiara
From J-Lo lookalikes to cantankerous nonni, Neapolitans clamber to get into this faded favourite. Perche? For classic pizza, hearty pasta and finger-licking seafood. Vegetarians are spoilt for choice, with satisfying salads and an artfully combined platter of courgettes, artichokes and buffalo mozzarella. Weekend queues are long, so book ahead.
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Gay-odin
Not so much a chocolatier as an institution, Gay-odin concocts some of the city’s finest cocoa creations, including oh-so-Neapolitan chocolate ‘cozze’ (mussels). For a punch to the palate, try the chocolate-coated coffee beans or the fiery peperoncino-cioccolato (chilli-chocolate) combo. This branch also sells Gay-odin’s creamy-licious gelato.
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La Stalla
Go up the grand staircase to the large, open-air terrace covered by bamboo awnings and flanked by an orchard of lemon and orange trees. Here a small army of waiters works tirelessly, serving pastas and pizzas, meats and fish. The pastas are fine but it's the wood-fired pizzas that stand out.
reviewed
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Mondo Bio
Flying the banner for organic vegetarian food, this bright shop-cum-restaurant serves a limited range of meat-free dishes. The menu, chalked up outside, changes daily but might include zuppa di soia verde (soybean soup) and polpette di tofu (tofu balls).
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Kukai
Sick of spaghetti? Then join the urban-savvy for fresh sushi and real-deal temaki. Sip green tea and choose from a menu that a Tokyoite couldn't fault. As for the takeaway and delivery service - it's as brisk as a Bullet Train.
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MAV
On the main street linking the ruins and the train station, child-friendly MAV is a new virtual-reality archaeology museum bringing the region’s ruins back to life through holograms and computer-generated video.
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Caffè Gambrinus
Tourists and overdressed visitors self-consciously sip overpriced coffee and cocktails at Naples’ most venerable cafe. Oscar Wilde and Bill Clinton count among the celebs who have graced its lavish art-nouveau interior.
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Eddy Monetti Men's Store
The menswear branch of Eddy Monetti is an elegant den of Burberry blazers, Ralph Lauren shirts and irresistible cashmere sweaters. The vibe is monied and the service suitably snooty.
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Pintauro
Another local institution, the cinnamon-scented Pintauro peddles perfect sfogliatelle to shopped-out locals.
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Galleria di Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano
Banking group Intesa Sanpaolo has put its profits to good use, restoring the exquisite 17th-century Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano it occupies and opening a small art gallery on its piano nobile (main floor). While the 19th-century stucco detailing and frescoes are delightful, the gallery’s pièce de résistance is Caravaggio’s final masterpiece, The Martyrdom of St Ursula (1610). Completed a few weeks before the artist’s lonely death, it depicts the brutal scene of a vengeful king of the Huns piercing the heart of his unwilling virgin bride-to-be, Ursula. Positioned behind the dying martyr is a haunted Caravaggio, an eerie premonition of his own impending death. The tumu…
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Chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine
Doting mothers, political drama and the odd miracle: it’s little wonder that this veteran church plays a starring role in Neapolitan folklore. According to legend, when Conrad (Corradino) of Swabia was charged for attempting to depose Charles I of Anjou in 1268, his mother, Elisabetta di Baviera, desperately tried to collect the money required to free her son. Alas, the money arrived too late, Conrad lost his head and his grief-stricken mamma handed the cash to the church (on the condition that the Carmelite brothers prayed for him every day). They agreed, the church went up and a monument to Conrad still remains in the transept. Yet Christ’s own mother is the real prot…
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Giardini di Augusto
Get away from the Capri crowds by heading southwest of the monastery where, at the end of Via Matteotti, you have the unexpected green oasis of the colourful Giardini di Augusto. Founded by the Emperor Augustus, you should spend a few minutes contemplating the breathtaking view from here: gaze ahead to the Isole Faraglioni and the three dramatic limestone pinnacles that rise vertically out of the sea. Measuring 109m, 81m and 104m respectively, the stacks are home to a rare blue lizard that was once thought to be unique to the Faraglioni but has since been found on the Sicilian coast. While sadly beyond the capacity of even the most sophisticated camera lens, a photo from …
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Monte Nuovo
It’s not every week that a mountain just appears on the scene. But this is exactly what happened just west of Pozzuoli in 1538. It all began in the early 1530s, when the area began experiencing an unusual level of seismic activity. Meanwhile, locals began noticing a dramatic uplift of the land between Lago d’Averno, Monte Barbaro and the sea, which displaced the coast by several hundred metres. Little did they know that under them a Monte Nuovo was getting set for its grand debut. At 8pm on 29 September 1538, a crack appeared in the earth near the ancient Roman settlement of Tripergole, spewing out a violent concoction of pumice, fire and smoke over six days. By the e…
reviewed
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Piazza del Gesù Nuovo
Flanked by the spiky Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo and the Basilica di Santa Chiara, this lively square is one of Naples' most beautiful. For hundreds of years it was the principal western entrance to the city. But it wasn't until two major modifications in the 16th century that the piazza took on its current proportions.
Firstly, Ferrante Sanseverino knocked down the houses that were blocking his beautiful 15th-century palazzo (later to become the Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo) and in one fell swoop cleared the square's northern flank. Some years later, Spanish viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo demolished the Angevin city gate and once again moved the city walls westwards.
At its centre soar…
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Albergo dei Poveri
Not impartial to a spot of PR, Bourbon king Charles VII built this giant poorhouse at a main city entrance to promote himself as enlightened and compassionate. In the process of a slow restoration, it currently houses 85 families, by now the descendants of needy families housed there after WWII. According to locals, they share the place with a number of luminous ghosts.
Charles's gesture was grand indeed - the Albergo dei Poveri (Hostel of the Poor) is Europe's largest public building. If all had gone according to architect Ferdinando Fuga's plans, though, it would have been bigger. His original designs called for a facade 600m long, with five internal courtyards. When co…
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Museo Archeologico di Pithecusae
The town's other cultural heavyweight is the Museo Archeologico di Pithecusae, housed in the elegant Villa Arbusto, former pad of Angelo Rizzoli. The villa overlooks Monte Vico, site of the ancient settlement and acropolis of Pithecusae, and its collection features important finds from the island's Hellenic settlement, from imported earthenware to parts of the acropolis itself. Older still are the fragments of Mycenaen pottery and Bronze Age vases from Casamicciola.
The collection spans Ischia's development from Neolithic to Roman times. A highlight is the legendary 7th-century Nestor's Cup in Sala (Room) II. The three Homeric verses scratched onto its side read: 'I am Ne…
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Via Chiaia
Join the perma-tanned locals for a fix of people watching, window shopping and palazzo gazing on this pedestrianised street. Linking Piazza Trieste e Trento with Piazza dei Martiri (and Santa Lucia with Chiaia), it’s a particular hit with evening flâneurs, not to mention home to the 16th-century Palazzo Cellamare at No 149. Built as a summer residence for Giovan Francesco Carafa, the palazzo later hosted Bourbon monarchy guests, including Goethe and Casanova. Towards the western end of the street you pass under what looks like a triumphal arch but is, in fact, a bridge built in 1636 to connect the hills of Pizzofalcone and Mortella. Past the arch, turn right into blue-…
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Villa Floridiana
While the lush, manicured gardens are worth the trip for the lofty views alone (think city, sea and Capri), the cultural highlight here is the National Museum of Ceramics. Housed in the stately Villa Floridiana – a gift from King Ferdinand I to his second wife, the Duchess of Floridia – its 6000-piece collection features priceless Chinese Ming (1368–1644) ceramics and Japanese Edo (1615–1867) vases on the lower floor. The top floor is dedicated to European ceramics, including some sumptuous Meissen pieces, as well as a smattering of paintings from greats such as Francesco Solimena, Francesco De Mura and Vincenzo Camuccini. At the time of research, the middle floor and its…
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