Naples is located within and beyond the most famous Gulf and the Vesuvius, wich overlooks the city from its summit.
More than every other city, Naples, sumptuous and poor, joyful and sad, beloved and hated, is the city of ambiguities, where everything is all at once opposite to everything. A bit like Pulcinella, the traditional carnival mask, symbol of the Naples citizens: simple but smart, fiery but essentially good.
Following broadly the main stages of the history of Naples, let's start from the VIII-VI century, when the Greeks colonized this prosperous land and called it Neapolis (new city). In the next centuries, Naples became the Roman's favorite place for holidays. From 1000 a.C. the city changed a lot of dominations: from Normans, to French, Spanish, until the unity of Italy in 1860.
From the artistic point of view the thirteen and the fourteen century constituted the period of maximum beauty: under the influence of French architecture were built the churches of Santa Chiara, San Lorenzo Maggiore, Donnereggia and dell'Incoronata.
Nowdays Naples is a huge and modern metropolis. If you want to see the Old City and to breath the soul of it, you must walk through the picturesque alleys in the historical center, where shouts of traders and merchants survives, and where people invade roads, plazas and streets in every hour of the day.
