Naples' streets are famously narrow (it was the first city in the world to set up a pedestrian one-way street),[124] so the general public commonly use compact hatchback cars and scooters for personal transit. Book your tickets online for the top things to do in Naples, Italy on Tripadvisor: See 199,410 traveler reviews and photos of Naples tourist attractions. The Naples National Archaeological Museum is one of the city's main museums, with one of the most extensive collections of artefacts of the Roman Empire in the world. The Bosco di Capodimonte, the city's largest verdant space served as a royal hunting preserve, within the Park there are a further 16 historic buildings including residences, lodges, churches as well as fountains, statues, orchards and woods.[84].

[39] During the 14th century, the Hungarian Angevin king Louis the Great captured the city several times. [26], The years between 818 and 832 were tumultuous in regard to Naples' relations with the Byzantine Emperor, with numerous local pretenders feuding for possession of the ducal throne. Naples was the location for several early Italian cinema masterpieces.

[156] Another form of opera originating in Naples is opera buffa, a style of comic opera strongly linked to Battista Pergolesi and Piccinni; later contributors to the genre included Rossini and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Januarius, who would become Naples' patron saint, was martyred there in the 4th century AD. By the end of the 19th century, party politics had begun to emerge; during the fascist era, each commune was represented by a podestà. Naples hosts also the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte, established in 1812 by the king Joachim Murat and the astronomer Federigo Zuccari,[112] the oldest marine zoological study station in the world, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, created in 1872 by German scientist Anton Dohrn, and the world's oldest permanent volcano observatory, the Vesuvius Observatory, founded in 1841. Its province-level municipality is the third-most populous metropolitan city in Italy with a population of 3,115,320 residents, and its metropolitan area (that stretches beyond the boundaries of the Metropolitan City of Naples) is the second-most populous metropolitan area in Italy and the 7th-most populous urban area in the European Union. A wide range of culturally and historically significant sites are nearby, including the Palace of Caserta and the Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. [134] Four public elevators are in operation in the city: within the bridge of Chiaia, in via Acton, near the Sanità Bridge,[135] and in the Ventaglieri Park, accompanied by two public escalators.[136]. 25. The garden's 15 hectares feature around 25,000 samples of vegetation, representing over 10,000 plant species. [106] Another notable centre of education is the Istituto Universitario Orientale, which specialises in Eastern culture, and was founded by the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ripa in 1732, after he returned from the court of Kangxi, the Emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty of China.[107]. harvnb error: no target: CITEREFMagnussonGoring1990 (, Hilmar C. Krueger. [66][67][failed verification], Naples is a major national and international tourist destination, being one of Italy and Europe's top tourist cities. Perhaps the most well known song is "Ninì Tirabusciò". In the 20th century, philosophers like Benedetto Croce pursued the long tradition of philosophy studies in Naples, and personalities like jurist and lawyer Enrico De Nicola pursued legal and constitutional studies. It has some of the world's best opera and theater houses and is often called an open-air museum, due to its many historic statues and monuments. [166] The genre became a formal institution in 1835, after the introduction of the annual Festival of Piedigrotta songwriting competition. 23. Approximately one kilometre (0.62 miles) of the many kilometres of tunnels under the city can be visited from the Napoli Sotteranea, situated in the historic centre of the city in Via dei Tribunali. [8] The city was an important part of Magna Graecia, played a major role in the merging of Greek and Roman society, and was a significant cultural centre under the Romans. [104] It is host to the Botanical Garden of Naples, which was opened in 1807 by Joseph Bonaparte, using plans drawn up under the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV. Wineries in the Vesuvius area produce wines such as the Lacryma Christi ("tears of Christ") and Terzigno. [15] The best-known sports team in Naples is the Serie A club S.S.C. Although Naples' Greco-Roman culture endured, it eventually switched allegiance from Constantinople to Rome under Duke Stephen II, putting it under papal suzerainty by 763. The Autostrada A1, the longest motorway in Italy, links Naples to Milan. Naples is internationally famous for its cuisine and wine; it draws culinary influences from the numerous cultures which have inhabited it over the course of its history, including the Greeks, Spanish and French. In 1480 the writer and poet Jacopo Sannazzaro wrote the first pastoral romance, Arcadia, which influenced Italian literature. [131], The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Naples, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 77 min.