
You have chosen to come to Naples!
Oh yes to get to this point means that you decided: you booked flight and stay.
And it is right that before your arrival you can get an idea even if minimal, of the immense cultural, historical and artistic baggage that this city can offer you.

Naples
The city of Naples, rich in history and tradition, dominates the homonymous gulf, and is surrounded by wonderful places such as Vesuvius, the Sorrento peninsula, the islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida and the Campi Flegrei.
Located at the center of the Mediterranean, it has always played a fundamental role in connecting different cultures, and has seen the succession of different historical phases over the centuries and left their mark both in the architecture of the city and in the traditions and character of the Neapolitan people . Capital of the Campania Region and "capital" of Southern Italy, Naples today covers an area of 117 square kilometers, with a population, in the city alone, of over one million inhabitants.
The historical route of the city of Naples can be summarized in the following phases, each of which is dedicated a paragraph.

The Duchy of Naples
The division of the Roman Empire, the barbarian invasions in the peninsula, and then the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 AD) determined the history of Naples in the early Middle Ages. In 536 Justinian, emperor of the East, sent Belisarius to conquer the city, which even defended itself valiantly; then, in 542, Naples was invaded by the Goths, which routed the Byzantine forces; these, however, in 553 resumed there under the command of Narses, who with a great battle at the foot of Vesuvius definitively chased the Goths from Campania.
Later, even under the unwelcome Byzantine domination, the city had to repel strong and rough enemies like the Lombards and the Vandals. After an attempt of independence in 615, which led to an autonomous government of short life, the emperor of the East in 661 accepted the requests of the Neapolitans, appointing a Neapolitan duke to head the city: Basilio. In this way, although formally depending on Byzantium, the city dispose of its own government, which was first appointed by the Byzantines, then became elective, and finally hereditary. This lasted from 661 to 1137, a period of bitter struggles in which Naples was after all one of the few islands of civilization remained in the peninsula now subjugated by the barbarian populations.
The Norman domain
During the centuries of ducal rule, Naples often found itself opposed to the Lombards and the Saracens, and for this reason sometimes resorted to the support of other populations, called in mercenary form to help the Neapolitan defenses. This was the case of the Normans, who were granted the fief of Aversa in exchange for resistance to the expansionist ambitions of Benevento. But these, under the dynasty of the Altavilla, soon did not know how to settle for their role, and undertook a series of brilliant campaigns that led them to conquer Sicily, from which they drove the Arabs, and then to extend their ambitions on southern Italy. . Ruggiero II, proclaimed king, occupied Salerno, Amalfi, Capri, Ravello and Amalfi and in 1137, with an agreement with Duke Sergio, imposed his power over Naples; at the death of the duke, Ruggiero recognized the city's independence and appointed a supervisor to return to Palermo. In 1154, Ruggiero also died, and Guglielmo I, called il Malo, succeeded him; in spite of the name, he was a just and wise ruler, and since then the history of Naples was closely linked to that of Palermo; built Castel Capuano, made important alliances with the Maritime Republics, earned the esteem of the Neapolitan aristocrats. After him, William II, called the Good, governed as wisely, and at his death an assembly of nobles, prelates and representatives of the people, to prevent the kingdom falling into the hands of the Germans who were pressing at the borders, appointed Tancredi d'Altavilla as his successor. They were the last flashes of life of the Norman kingdom, because, after having repelled the Swabian siege in 1191, at the death of Tancredi in 1194 the German sovereign Henry VI took possession of the south of Italy.Napoli sveva
After 3 years of reign of Henry VI, not very happy with the city, there was the ascent to the throne of Frederick II, considered by many to be the greatest king who has ever been on a European throne. With Naples it did not have a good relationship from the beginning, so much so that in the first period the Neapolitans supported several attempts at subversion; then the relations improved and, when between 1220 and 1222 the monarch visited the city, he remained impressed and promoted important restoration and embellishment works. A man of great culture, he created a strong central power for his reign, reorganized the public administration, justice, the army, and commerce; became the protagonist of some successful military enterprises in Germany and Jerusalem, but above all it must be remembered that he loved to surround himself with poets, philosophers and writers, and gave the city of Naples the first State University of history: the famous "Studium" ", which soon acquired great international prestige, equaled only by the universities of Paris and Bologna. At the death of Frederick, however, his successor Corrado encountered many problems to be accepted in the city, and it took several months of siege to overcome the resistance, supported also by Pope Innocent IV. In 1254 both Corrado and the Pope died, and this time the new pontiff Alexander IV did not give a hand in Naples, who had to welcome the new sovereign Corradino, accompanied and supported by his uncle Manfredi for his young age.
The Spanish viceroyalty
This definition is attributed to the two centuries of colonial domination between 1503 and 1707 : the choir The ruler of Madrid exercised his power over Naples and the kingdom with greed and inability; a swarm of viceroy happened to the regency of the city, and became the protagonist of bullying, theft of works of art, the imposition of strangling taxes. In this period, to defend the people from the Iberian arrogance, the phenomenon of the "camorra" was born and became established, which initially constituted a sort of secret society for the purpose of mutual assistance. Numerous war events marked this era: the occupation of the Pugliese possessions of Venice, the African expedition to Tunis and the famous one in Tripoli (in which there was the victory of Lepanto), the punitive expedition against Pope Paul IV, and, on the defensive plan, the French invasion rejected in 1526, and numerous raids by Arab and Turkish pirates. Also on the home front, there were numerous attempts at popular uprising, due to the unsustainable fiscal pressure and attempts to establish the Inquisition; the most famous and daring was that of 1647, which saw Masaniello as the protagonist at the head of an enraged crowd, who held for over a year in check the Spanish "masters", until the taking of the Castello del Carmine, headquarters of the insurgents. From the artistic point of view, however, the city also knew in this period to express great individuality in all fields (Torquato Tasso, Giovambattista Basile, Giambattista Marino in literature, Tommaso Campanella, Giordano Bruno and Giambattista Vico in philosophy, Massimo Stanzione, Battistello Caracciolo , Bernardo Cavallino, Salvator Rosa, Luca Giordano, Mattia Preti, Andrea da Salerno in painting, Pietro Bernini, Michelangelo Naccherino, Giovanni da Nola and Girolamo Santacroce in sculpture, Domenico Fontana and Cosimo Fanzago in architecture); among the most significant works that remain of time, we should mention the Palazzo Reale , the Certosa di San Martino and the church of Gesù Nuovo .
The eighteenth century borbonico
The years after 1707 constituted a period of transition, characterized by an Austrian viceroyalty that did not leave great signs on the city's history. In 1734 Charles of Bourbon ascended on the throne of Naples, heir to the Spanish dynasty, who - despite his descent - immediately marked his reign with greater autonomy than the previous two centuries.The sovereign, the throne as Charles VII, implemented a series of reforms in the areas of administration, taxation, trade and the military, which constituted a new impetus for the development in the following decades of activities that still today they characterize the economic and productive fabric of Naples: from the craft activities (the crib art, but also the workings of the coral, the ceramics and porcelains, precious metals, wood) to the industrial ones (the shipyards of Castellammare, the manufactory di S. Leucio), to the commercial ones (the port of Naples). His efforts to contain the temporal power of the clergy and to bring down the feudal privileges still existing at the time was also strong.
The reign of Charles I has left important signs also in the city's architecture and urban planning (in 1737 the San Carlo Theater, in 1738 work began for the construction of the oils/monuments/ PortaCapuana.htm "> Porta Capuana In 1493 he died, and Alfonso II ascended the throne, but under the pressure of a possible return French, supported by many internal protesters, soon abdicated in favor of his son Ferrantino, but Ferrantino could not resist the French army of Charles VIII, and had to flee to Ischia while the Angevins entered the city, only when Carlo returned to Paris, leaving some garrisons in Naples, the Aragonese managed to return to the city, and regain the favors of the Neapolitan people, but died two years later, among the regrets of the Neapolitans, and the crown passed to Uncle Federico d'Altamura.

Naples after the Unification of Italy
On the death of Ferdinando, the young Francesco II, who will be the last King of the Two Sicilies, succeeds him. It is 1860, and the landing at Marsala dei Mille led by Garibaldi is facilitated by the mutiny of the Bourbon navy, and by the benevolence of some generals stationed in Sicily; while they are going back to the boot, the Garibaldini acquire the consent of the liberals, of the English and Piedmontese diplomacy, of the bourgeoisie and even of the Camorra. Francis II, in order not to dye the capital with blood, carries his army to the north, beyond the Volturno river, and awaits the Garibaldini, who will face in the battle of Caiazzo. Squeezed between the army of Garibaldi to the south and the Piedmontese army, which in the meantime penetrates from the north under the command of Vittorio Emanuele II, the Neapolitan regiments are perched in the fortress of Gaeta, where they resist for a long time, but without the possibility of overturning the results of the war. Thus, with the historic meeting of Teano, Vittorio Emanuele is seen delivering the whole Southern Italy and September 7 Garibaldi enters Naples and, from the balcony of Palazzo Doria d'Angri , announces to the people annexation to the nascent Italian state, under the Savoy crown; the plebiscite of October 21 will confirm this action.
The following are years of change and adjustment, especially for the population, grappling with a new political reality and with a distant government and indifferent; in the countryside the phenomenon known as "brigandage" spreads, and the repression is harsh, sending an army of 120,000 men.
From this period begins the decline of the South of Italy that as a result still alive and current sees huge economic divergences between Southern Italy and Northern Italy with the latter rich, industrialized and supported by the government central with continuous public funding.