Historic Town Centre

Hidden cloisters, ancient sanctuaries, underground rooms, pizzerias, food stalls and craft shops. The historic centre of Naples is a kaleidoscope of shapes and colours. The most important sites of cultural and historical interest gravitate around the two main decumani (the main streets that cut through the city from east to west and follow the urban layout of the ancient Roman city). The first of these major arteries is Spaccanapoli, formed by via San Biagio dei Librai, via Benedetto Croce and via Vicaria Vecchia, the second is via dei Tribunali. It is in this area that you will find the Gothic forms of the Duomo, the Sansevero Chapel with its impressive Veiled Christ, the Basilica of Santa Chiara and the explosion of colours in the cloister of the Clarisse, the Monumental Complex of San Lorenzo Maggiore, the tunnels of underground Naples, the church and cloisters of San Gregorio Armeno, the Via dei Presepi with figurines of any famous character you can think of, the National Archaeological Museum and the Gesù Nuovo church, and again the Pio Monte della Misericordia with Caravaggio's masterpiece.