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Home > Features > Naples
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Simon Calder's report on Naples
Posted On
30.09.07 |
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Italy’s third city once had a reputation for being noisy, dirty and crime-ridden. But today, says Simon Calder, it’s a beautiful and civilised place, and the perfect base for exploring the stunning Amalfi coast.
An Italian masterpiece on the Med: that sums up the civilised and cultured city of Naples. The city's busy harbour connects the Italian mainland with islands great and small, from Sicily to Capri - and is the reason for Naples' long existence. The Greeks founded a new city (‘neapolis’) here hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. The name evolved to ‘Napoli’, and the rest is chequered history.
Start amid the jumble of streets that form the historic centre. This is where to find the city's signature dish, the pizza Margherita: simply tomato, mozzarella and basil, bursting with flavour and goodness.
To experience la dolce vita, Naples-style, wander into the vast, echoing Galleria Umberto I, where rich Neapolitans go to shed some of their excess wealth. Naples’ golden age was the first half of the 17th century. Wander along the Via dei Tribunali, picking off the Baroque palaces and churches from that illustrious time.
Wherever you are in Naples, you are always conscious of Vesuvius, the beautiful volcano above the bay to the south. You can wander to the summit, then inspect the once-thriving city of Pompeii, frozen in a moment of time and tragedy by the eruption of AD79 wrought on the thriving city of Pompeii.
Both Vesuvius and Pompeii are accessible via the Circumvesuviana railway line from Naples. And at the other end of the line lies Sorrento, a civilised resort with a lively centro storico and waterfront views. This is also the starting point for one of the great little road trips of Europe. For more than 30 sinuous kilometres, a thread of highway laces between a placid sea and the majestic limestone cliffs. At Positano, clamber through the gorgeous clutter of pastel-painted houses that cling to the hills. Further east, visit picturesque Amalfi, which bestows its name upon the whole coast. Then climb to Ravello, 500m above the Med for a sunset drink with the ultimate view: the Villa Cimbrone, created by an English nobleman on what feels like the edge of the world.
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Simon Calder, Travel Journalist
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