Naples

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Coordinates:  40°50′42″N 14°15′30″E
"Napoli" redirects here. For other uses, see Napoli (disambiguation) and Naples
(disambiguation).

Naples

Napoli  (Italian)
Napule  (Neapolitan)

Comune

Comune di Napoli

Top: Panorama view of Mergellina Port, Mergellina, Chiaia area,

over view of Mount Vesuvius, Second left: Naples Directional
Center (Centro Direzionale di Napoli) and Spaccanapoli Street,
Second right: Via Toledo Street, Third left: Naples Media Center,
Third right: Castel Nuovo (Maschio Angioino), Bottom: View
of Centro direzionale di Napoli, from Naples Railroad Station
 Flag

Coat of arms

Nickname(s): 

Partenope

show
Location of Naples
Naples

Location of Naples in Campania

Show map of Italy Show map of Campania Show all

Coordinates:  40°50′N 14°15′E

Country Italy

Region Campania

Metropolitan city Naples (NA)

Government

 • Mayor Luigi de Magistris (DA)

Area
[2]

 • Total 119.02 km2 (45.95 sq mi)

Elevation 99.8 m (327.4 ft)

[2]

Highest elevation 453 m (1,486 ft)

Lowest elevation 0 m (0 ft)

 Population

 (30 September 2017)[4][5]

 • Total 967,068

 • Density 8,100/km2 (21,000/sq mi)

Demonym(s) Napoletano
Partenopeo
Napulitano (Neapolitan)
Neapolitan (English)

Time zone UTC+1 (CET)

 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)

Postal code 80100, 80121-80147

Dialing code 081

ISTAT code 063049

Patron saint Januarius

Saint day 19 September

Website Official website

Naples (/ˈneɪpəlz/; Italian: Napoli [ˈnaːpoli] ( listen); Neapolitan: Napule [ˈnɑːpələ,
ˈnɑːpulə]; Ancient Greek: Νεάπολις, romanized: Neápolis)[a] is the regional capital
of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population
of 967,069 within the city's administrative limits as of 2017. 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.
First settled by Greeks in the first millennium BC, Naples is one of the oldest
continuously inhabited urban areas in the world. [6] In the ninth century BC, a colony
known as Parthenope or Παρθενόπη was established on the Island of Megaride.[7] In the
6th century BC, it was refounded as Neápolis. [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. [9]
It served as the capital of the Duchy of Naples (661–1139), then of the Kingdom of
Naples (1282–1816), and finally of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861.
Naples is also considered a capital of the Baroque, beginning with the
artist Caravaggio's career in the 17th century, and the artistic revolution he inspired.
[10]
 Due to poverty and lack of opportunity, waves of Italians emigrated from Naples in the
late 19th and early 20th century, with most going to the United States, where they
settled in industrial cities. Between 1925 and 1936, Naples was expanded and
upgraded by Benito Mussolini's government. During the later years of World War II, it
sustained severe damage from Allied bombing as they invaded the peninsula. The city
received extensive post-1945 reconstruction work.[11]
Since the late 20th century, Naples has had significant economic growth, helped by the
construction of the Centro Direzionale business district and an advanced transportation
network, which includes the Alta Velocità high-speed rail link to Rome and Salerno and
an expanded subway network. Naples is the third-largest urban economy in Italy,
after Milan and Rome.[12] The Port of Naples is one of the most important in Europe. In
addition to commercial activities, it is home to the Allied Joint Force Command Naples,
the NATO body that oversees North Africa, the Sahel and Middle East.[13]
Naples' historic city centre is the largest in Europe and has been designated as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. A wide range of culturally and historically significant sites
are nearby, including the Palace of Caserta and the Roman ruins
of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Naples is also known for its natural beauties, such
as Posillipo, Phlegraean Fields, Nisida, and Vesuvius.[14] Neapolitan cuisine is noted for
its association with pizza, which originated in the city, as well as numerous other local
dishes. Naples' restaurants have earned the most stars from the Michelin Guide of any
Italian city.[15] Naples' skyline in Centro Direzionale was the first skyline of Italy, built in
1994, and for 15 years it was the only one until 2009. The best-known sports team in
Naples is the Serie A club S.S.C. Napoli, two-time Italian champions who play football at
the Stadio Diego Maradona in the southwest of the city, in the Fuorigrotta quarter.

Contents

History[edit]
Main articles: History of Naples and Timeline of Naples history

Greek birth and Roman acquisition[edit]

Main articles: Magna Graecia and Ancient Rome

Mount Echia, the place where the polis of Parthenope arose

The Columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux incorporated into the facade of San Paolo Maggiore

A scene featuring the siren Parthenope, the mythological founder of Naples[16]

Naples has been inhabited since the Neolithic period.[17] The earliest Greek settlements

were established in the Naples area in the first millennium BC. Sailors from the Greek
island of Rhodes established a small commercial port called Parthenope (Παρθενόπη,
meaning "Pure Eyes", a Siren in Greek mythology) on the island of Megaride in the
ninth century BC.[18][19] By the eighth century BC, the settlement had expanded to include
Monte Echia.[20] In the sixth century BC the city was refounded as Neápolis (Νεάπολις),
eventually becoming one of the foremost cities of Magna Graecia.
The city grew rapidly due to the influence of the powerful Greek city-state of Syracuse,
[7]
 and became an ally of the Roman Republic against Carthage. During the Samnite
Wars, the city, now a bustling centre of trade, was captured by the Samnites;
[21]
 however, the Romans soon captured the city from them and made it a Roman colony.
[22]
 During the Punic Wars, the strong walls surrounding Neápolis repelled the invading
forces of the Carthaginian general Hannibal.[22]
Naples was greatly respected by the Romans as a paragon of Hellenistic culture. During
the Roman era, the people of Naples maintained their Greek language and customs,
while the city was expanded with elegant Roman villas, aqueducts, and public baths.
Landmarks such as the Temple of Dioscures were built, and many emperors chose to
holiday in the city, including Claudius and Tiberius.[22] Virgil, the author of
Rome's national epic, the Aeneid, received part of his education in the city, and later
resided in its environs.
It was during this period that Christianity first arrived in Naples;
the apostles Peter and Paul are said to have preached in the city. Januarius, who would
become Naples' patron saint, was martyred there in the 4th century AD. [23] The last
emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus Augustulus, was exiled to Naples by
the Germanic king Odoacer in the 5th century AD.
Duchy of Naples[edit]
Main articles: Duchy of Naples and List of Dukes of Naples
The Gothic Battle of Mons Lactarius on Vesuvius, painted by Alexander Zick

Following the decline of the Western Roman Empire, Naples was captured by

the Ostrogoths, a Germanic people, and incorporated into the Ostrogothic Kingdom.
[24]
 However, Belisarius of the Byzantine Empire recaptured Naples in 536, after entering
the city via an aqueduct.[25]
In 543, during the Gothic Wars, Totila briefly took the city for the Ostrogoths, but the
Byzantines seized control of the area following the Battle of Mons Lactarius on the
slopes of Vesuvius.[24] Naples was expected to keep in contact with the Exarchate of
Ravenna, which was the centre of Byzantine power on the Italian Peninsula.[26]
After the exarchate fell, a Duchy of Naples was created. 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.[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.[27] Theoctistus was appointed without imperial approval; his appointment
was later revoked and Theodore II took his place. However, the disgruntled general
populace chased him from the city, and instead elected Stephen III, a man who minted
coins with his own initials, rather than those of the Byzantine Emperor. Naples gained
complete independence by the early ninth century. [27] Naples allied with the
Muslim Saracens in 836, and asked for their support to repel the siege
of Lombard troops coming from the neighbouring Duchy of Benevento. However, during
the 850s, Muhammad I Abu 'l-Abbas led the Arab-Muslim conquest of the city, and
managed to sack it and take huge amount of its wealth. [28][29]
The duchy was under the direct control of the Lombards for a brief period, after the
capture by Pandulf IV of the Principality of Capua, a long-term rival of Naples; however,
this regime lasted only three years before the Greco-Roman-influenced dukes were
reinstated.[27] By the 11th century, Naples had begun to employ Norman mercenaries to
battle their rivals; Duke Sergius IV hired Rainulf Drengot to wage war on Capua for him.
[30]

By 1137, the Normans had attained great influence in Italy, controlling previously
independent principalities and duchies such
as Capua, Benevento, Salerno, Amalfi, Sorrento and Gaeta; it was in this year that
Naples, the last independent duchy in the southern part of the peninsula, came under
Norman control. The last ruling duke of the duchy, Sergius VII, was forced to surrender
to Roger II, who had proclaimed himself King of Sicily seven years earlier. Naples thus
joined the Kingdom of Sicily, with Palermo as the capital.[31]
Kingdom of Naples