Naples - History, Main sights, Sports, Food and drink, The Neapolitan diaspora, Famous Neapolitans, Public transport

40°50N 14°15E, pop (2000e) 1 205 000. Seaport and capital city of Naples province, Campania, SW Italy; on the Tyrrhenian Sea, 189 km/117 mi SE of Rome; founded c.600 BC by refugees from Greek colony of Cumae; capital of Napoleon's Parthenopean Republic (1799) and of the Sicilian kingdom (1806); joined Kingdom of Italy, 1860; severely damaged in World War 2, and by earthquakes, 1980; archbishopric; airport; railway; car ferries to Sardinia and Sicily; university (1224); commerce, textiles, cars, aerospace, telecommunications, glass, food processing, tourism; several areas economically deprived; Cathedral of San Gennaro (13th–15th-c), Church of San Lorenzo Maggiore (1266–1324), Porta Capuana (15th–16th-c), Church of San Giovanni a Carbonara (14th–15th-c), national museum; folk song festival (Sep).

Comune di Napoli
Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Campania
Province	Naples (NA)
Mayor	Rosa Russo Jervolino
Elevation	17 m
Area	117 km²
Population
- Total (as of December 31, 2004)	1,000,470
- Density	8,457/km²
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	40°50′N 14°15′E
Gentilic	Napoletani
Dialing code	081
Postal code	80100
Patron	Saint Januarius
- Day	September 19
Location of Naples in Italy
Website: www.comune.napoli.it

Naples (Italian: Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule, from Greek Νεάπολη < Νέα Πόλις Néa Pólis 'New City') is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of the Campania region and the Province of Naples. By one count the metropolitan area of Naples is the second largest in Italy after that of Milan, with more than 4,200,000 inhabitants. Neapolitan ('o napulitano) is the colourful, rich Romance language that has been a trademark of southern Italy ever since the period of the Kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicilies. This history, coupled with its size, has given Naples the unofficial status of being the Capital of the South (in Italy).

The city is served by Naples International Airport at Capodichino.

History

See also: Duchy of Naples

Naples was founded between the 7th and 6th centuries BC by the Greeks and was given the name Neapolis. Naples was also the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and after the Congress of Vienna became the capital of the (newly named, but geographically unchanged) Kingdom of Naples.

Population, immigration and age

Naples is the largest and most prosperous city in Southern Italy and one of the largest cities in Italy, with a population of 1,000,449. Unlike many Northern Italian cities where immigrants make up a large segment, there are few immigrants in Naples. Like many other Western European cities, Italy has been witnessing an influx of Eastern Europeans, who make up the vast majority of the foreigners in Naples.

Age profile (of the greater metropolitan area) 00-14 years of age: (579,088) or 18.76% 15-64 years of age: (2,093,764) or 67.87% 65 years and over: (412,595) or 13.37%

Unlike Northern Italy, where many cities have an older age profile, Naples and many other southern cities have higher proportions of youth.

Estimates of unemployment in the city of Naples run between 20% and 30%, again depending on accuracy of statistics that attempt to account for the relatively large number of persons who work in the "submerged economy".

Harbour and airport

There are 370 enterprises with more than 5,200 employees in the port of Naples. In the city of Naples, there were (as of December 31, 2003) about 12 thousand legal immigrants—that is, those with permission to stay;

Main sights

In 1995 the Historic Centre of Naples was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Although Naples is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and rich in history and monuments, it is sometimes overlooked by mass tourism and is less visited than other Italian cities.

Churches and religious buildings

Santa Chiara Cathedral of Naples San Domenico Maggiore Gesù Nuovo Sansevero Chapel San Lorenzo Maggiore Santa Maria Donna Regina Vecchia Santa Maria Donna Regina Nuova Santa Maria del Carmine Girolamini San Ferdinando San Francesco di Paola San Giovanni a Carbonara San Gregorio Armeno Sant'Anna dei Lombardi Sant'Eligio Maggiore Santa Caterina a Chiaia Santa Maria La Nova Santa Restituta San Pietro Martire San Pietro a Maiella San Gennaro extra Moenia Hermitage of Camaldoli Santissima Annunziata

Historic castles, palaces and museums

Naples is renowned for its historic castles:

Castel dell'Ovo Castel Capuano Maschio Angioino or Castel Nuovo (the New Castle) San Martino Sant'Elmo Carmine Castle Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte Royal Palace National Archaeological Museum Villa Pignatelli Palazzo Como Pietrarsa railway museum Palazzo Serra di Cassano

Others

Centro Direzionale San Carlo Theater Piazza del Plebiscito Bourbon Hospice for the Poor Villa Comunale Porta Capuana Archbishops Palace Immacolatella Parco Virgiliano Villa Floridiana Galleria Umberto Spaccanapoli San Gennaro dei Poveri Palazzo Doria d'Angri Piazza dei Martiri Botanical Garden Spires of Naples

Beneath Naples

Subterranean Naples consists of old Greco-Roman reservoirs dug out from the soft tufo stone on which, and from which, the city is built. There are also large catacombs in and around the city and other visits such as Piscina Mirabilis, the main cistern serving the bay of Naples during Roman times.

Other

Naples is the site of a number of Italian, international and US military facilities. the NATO Joint Forces Command Naples (JFC) (formerly AFSOUTH) in the Naples suburb of Bagnoli, responsible for the coordination of NATO forces in the Southern European Region; and the US Naval Support Activity Naples, located at the Capodichino airport, a major US Navy administrative base responsible for the support and control of US Naval assets in the 6th Fleet area of responsibility.

Music of Naples

Naples has played an important and vibrant role over the centuries not just in the music of Italy, but in the general history of western European musical traditions.

Around Naples

The islands of Procida, (famously used as the set for much of the film Il Postino), Capri and Ischia can all be reached quickly by hydrofoils and ferries. As well, Naples is near the volcanic area known as the Campi Flegrei and the port towns of Pozzuoli and Baia, which were part of the vast Roman naval facility, Portus Julius.

Sports

Naples is the home of a number of professional sports teams.

Food and drink

Naples is by tradition the home of pizza.

Naples offers several kinds of unique pastry, the most famous of which is perhaps the babà, followed by choux (Neapolitans write it as sciù) and the Pastiera, a cake prepared for Easter.

Naples is also known for its ice cream (in Italian gelato).

The Neapolitan diaspora

(related article: Italian diaspora)

The so-called "Neapolitan diaspora" — the great waves of emigration from Naples and southern Italy to the Americas, especially the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina — was part of the pattern of large-scale emigration from Italy, in general, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Depending on just how one defines the area under scrutiny — city of Naples, province of Naples, region of Campania, or all of southern Italy (including Sicily and Sardinia) — most reliable estimates claim that at least 4 million of those who left were from Naples or near Naples. ISSN: 01979183

Famous Neapolitans

Franco Alfano, composer Enrico Alvino architect Giambattista Basile poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector Gian Lorenzo Bernini sculptor Libero Bovio author, journalist Renato Caccioppoli, mathematician Fabio Cannavaro football player Al Capone (born in Brooklyn to Neapolitan parents) Francesco Caracciolo naval officer Battistello Caracciolo painter Renato Carosone singer Enrico Caruso opera singer Domenico Cimarosa, composer Pino Daniele singer-songwriter Antonio de Curtis (Totò) writer and actor Eduardo De Filippo writer and actor Peppino De Filippo actor Enrico De Nicola jurist, journalist and politician Armando Diaz general Salvatore di Giacomo writer, poet and lyricist Gaetano Filangieri jurist Vincenzo Gemito sculptor Giacinto Gigante painter Furio Giunta Saint Januarius (San Gennaro) Bishop of Naples and patron saint of the city. Luca Giordano painter Giuseppe Patroni Griffi screenwriter John Gotti Mobster (born in the bronx) Ruggero Leoncavallo composer Alfonso Maria de' Liguori jurist and writer (Catholic saint) Pirro Ligorio, Mannerist architect Sophia Loren actress Giambattista Marini, poet Giovan Battista Marino Mario Merola Singer,"the King of Sceneggiata" Giuseppe Migliozzi General (military) Domenico Morelli painter Riccardo Muti conductor (schooled in Naples) Giorgio Napolitano Italian politician, lifetime Senator and President of the Republic Francesco Antonio Picchiati architect Nicola Porpora, composer Salvator Rosa poet, satirist and Baroque era painter Davide Rummolo swimmer Ferdinando Russo poet, journalist and writer Ludovico Sabbatini, religious teacher and priest Raffaele Sacco poet and lyricist Ferdinando Sanfelice Jacopo Sannazaro poet Antonio Scarfoglio jounalist Edoardo Scarfoglio journalist Domenico Scarlatti composer Matilde Serao journalist and novelist Massimo Stanzione Statius, Roman poet Massimo Troisi actor Giambattista Vico philosopher Domenico Antonio Vaccaro sculptor, architect and painter Raffaele Viviani author Lamont Young architect

Public transport

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Naples is served by the Naples metro, trams, buses and trolleybuses. Suburban rail services are provided by:

Trenitalia Circumvesuviana Ferrovia Cumana (Ferrovia Circumflegrea) Ferrovia Alifana (now MetroCampania Nord-Est)

Community Boards of Naples

Naples is politically divided into ten Community Boards :

1 : Chiaia, Posillipo and San Ferdinando 2 : Avvocata, Montecalvario, San Giuseppe, Porto, Mercato and Pendino 3 : Stella and San Carlo all'Arena 4 : San Lorenzo, Vicaria and Poggioreale-Zona Industriale 5 : Arenella and Vomero 6 : Barra, Ponticelli and S.Giovanni a Teduccio 7 : Miano, S.Pietro a Patierno and Secondigliano 8 : Chiaiano, Piscinola-Marianella and Scampia 9 : Pianura and Soccavo 10 : Bagnoli and Fuorigrotta