Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe, and it wears its age openly: Greek street plans, Roman ruins beneath churches and Baroque chapels, all in the shadow of Vesuvius. Its historic centre has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995. Here are the facts and stories that make the city special.
10 fun facts about Naples
- A 'new city' from the Greeks: Greek settlers founded Neapolis, meaning 'new city', in the 5th century BC, next to an older settlement called Parthenope. The modern name Napoli comes straight from it.
- Streets drawn by the Greeks: Spaccanapoli, the long, straight street that splits the old centre in two, follows one of the decumani, the main east–west streets of ancient Neapolis.
- A royal capital: for centuries Naples was the capital of the Kingdom of Naples and later of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which ended with Italian unification in 1861. The Royal Palace on Piazza del Plebiscito was begun in the early 1600s.
- Pizza as world heritage: in 2017 UNESCO added the art of the Neapolitan pizzaiuolo to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Legend says the pizza Margherita was named in 1889 after Queen Margherita of Savoy, its tomato, mozzarella and basil matching the Italian flag.
- Blood that turns liquid: three times a year, on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, on 19 September and on 16 December, the dried blood of San Gennaro, the city's patron saint, is shown in the cathedral, and the faithful wait for it to liquefy.
- Older than La Scala: the Teatro di San Carlo opened in 1737, more than 40 years before La Scala in Milan, and is one of the oldest opera houses in Europe still in use.
- A volcano next door: Vesuvius, which buried Pompeii and Herculaneum in AD 79, last erupted in 1944 and is still closely monitored today.
- A city under the city: beneath the centre runs a maze of tunnels and cisterns cut into the soft yellow tuff since Greek times. During the Second World War they served as air-raid shelters.
- A metro stop like the sea: Toledo station on Line 1, designed by the Spanish architect Óscar Tusquets and opened in 2012, takes you down through deep-blue mosaics and light that feel like diving underwater.
- Christmas all year round: Via San Gregorio Armeno is lined with workshops making hand-crafted nativity figures, from shepherds and fishmongers to footballers and politicians.
The legend of Castel dell'Ovo
Naples' oldest castle stands on the tiny island of Megaride, joined to the waterfront by a causeway. According to myth, this is where the body of the siren Parthenope washed ashore after she failed to lure Odysseus with her song, and the first settlement took her name. In the Middle Ages, people believed that the Roman poet Virgil had been a magician, and legend says he hid an egg in a glass jar inside an iron cage in the castle's foundations. As long as the egg stays whole, the castle and the city will stand; if it ever breaks, disaster will follow. That is how the fortress got its name: Castel dell'Ovo, the Egg Castle.
The Sansevero Chapel and the Veiled Christ
The Sansevero Chapel, a small family chapel in the old centre, was transformed in the 18th century by Raimondo di Sangro, Prince of Sansevero, an inventor and alchemist whose experiments fascinated and frightened his neighbours. Its centrepiece is the Veiled Christ, carved by Giuseppe Sanmartino in 1753: the dead Christ lies under a marble shroud so fine that you can see his face and wounds through it. Legend claims the prince turned real cloth into stone with an alchemical formula, but the figure and veil were carved from a single block of marble.
What to eat in Naples
- Pizza napoletana: a soft, puffy, leopard-spotted crust, best as a simple marinara or margherita.
- Pizza fritta: fried pizza dough filled with ricotta, provola and pork, sold hot from windows in the old centre.
- Sfogliatella: a shell-shaped pastry with crisp, layered dough, filled with ricotta, semolina and candied citrus peel.
- Babà: a small, airy yeast cake soaked in rum syrup, sold in every pastry shop.
- Espresso: short, strong and often pre-sweetened. Ask about the caffè sospeso, the custom of paying for an extra coffee for someone who cannot afford one.
Good to know before you go
- Pompeii and Herculaneum are both reached on the Circumvesuviana train. Herculaneum is smaller and easier to see in a morning; Pompeii needs most of a day.
- The Sansevero Chapel is small and very popular, so book your visit in advance.
- Visit the National Archaeological Museum before Pompeii: it holds many of the frescoes, mosaics and statues found there and in Herculaneum.
- Take a funicular up to the Vomero hill and walk to Castel Sant'Elmo for a view over the whole bay and Vesuvius.
Explore Naples with World City Trail
Our Naples scavenger hunt turns these sights into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around two hours, with about 46 minutes of walking, past places including the National Archaeological Museum and the Sansevero Chapel with its Veiled Christ.
At each stop you solve a puzzle and hear a short story, at your own pace. You can start whenever you like.
Play the Naples scavenger hunt →
Facts checked in October 2026.