Naples historic centre walking tour

Discover the city of Naples and its wonders during this walking tour that will take you to the historic center and will tell you everything about the city's, from its foundation to the present day, through the many sovereigns and dynasties that ruled in Naples and the bombing during World War II.

Start from Piazza Bellini with a first stop at the Greek walls. Dating back from the 5th and 4th centuries BC, the walls used to be the city defenses thanks to the natural valleys all around them. The walls follow the edge of the plateau where the ancient city was created and despite the severe damages during the centuries they are still easily recognizable. Continue your walking tour to Via dei Tribunali and the ancient Roman Forum, until you reach Piazza San Gaetano, the ancient Greek square. Along the way we will admire the Baroque Church of Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio. You will also learn what the particular tradition of the "adoption of capuzzelle" is ("capuzzelle" meaning "skulls of the dead").

Then we will make a short walk down Via San Gregorio Armeno, the street famous for being the street of nativity scenes, where you can see countless artisan shops that only create navitivy scenes for Christmas. We will then continue on to Spaccanapoli, the most traditional neighborhood of the city of Naples, as well as one of the most famous. Spaccanapoli owes its name to the fact that these close streets divide the city historic center into seven parts with geometrical precision. We will walk to Piazzetta Nilo where you will see the famous statue of the Nile and then three important churches, San Domenico Maggiore, Santa Chiara and la Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo. We will walk into the last two and discover interesting details, such as some fragments of paintings by Giotto, an unexploded bomb dating back to World War II and the tombs of several Angioni and Bourbon kings.