Naples: The City of Historical Edifices

Naples is one of the oldest cities in Italy, which holds many historical destinations, attracting many tourists around the world. This makes tourism as one of the major sources of the country's economy.

Naples is a city of beauty and abounds in history, culture, and arts. This city belongs to southern Italy, the capital of Capania region and Naples province. With a 3.8 million population, it is the next most inhabited place in Italy. Naples is renowned for its pivotal role in history since its existence for the past 2,500 years.

Naples is a place which sits on a vast underground cavity, too. It was built with layers of tufa rock. There are man made artificial caves that were built in addition to the existing natural caves. In early times, the Greeks and the Romans used these undergrounds as catacombs and storage sites.

The city is considered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This is due to its abundant architectures that largely hailed from the Medieval Renaissance and Baroque periods. Naples is comparable with pizza which stemmed from the city. The strongest influence of the Neapolitan culture is with its music that has greatly contributed with the popularity of opera, classic, and folk songs.

Naples offers so many historical castles such as the ancient Castel Nuovo, also known as Machio Angioino. The castle was established during the time of King Charles I. A lot of key religious events have been conducted in Castel Nuovo. In 1294, Pope Celestine V declared his resignation as pope in one of the halls of the castle. This castle was also used when Pope Boniface VIII has been elected as pope.

The city also boasts of its 448 historical churches making it deserving the title as one of the most dominant Catholic cities in the whole world. The Duomo is the main church of Naples that embraces the work of arts of Neapolitan Baroque. San Gennaro is Naples' Patron Saint. According to some superstitious belief, the coagulated blood of the saint liquefies two times in a year. Another beautiful Neapolitan baroque church is the Gesu Buovo. The church presents a large diversity of relics being displayed throughout its edifice.

A tour to the excavation site of the Cathedral of Naples is an exciting adventure. There have been many archeological artifacts and remains of the Greek and Roman epoch that were discovered in its underground area. Another excavation site is the San Lorenzo Maggiore lying underneath Angevin church, a gothic church. Visitors can have the fantastic opportunity to witness the ruins of the early Greek - Roman Naples.

Tourists can explore the Napoli Sotterranea to witness several grottos about 30 meters underground. It is also deemed as the oldest squares in the city. This underground path has been utilized as the water supply system of the city during the ancient period. During the World War II it was used as a refugee camp. The tour to these tourist destinations will expose you to the history of Naples with its hidden city.

The city of Naples has a lot of mystery and superstition. A tour to the heart of the city grants you a chance to catch a glimpse of some of the mysteries and legends behind Naples' existence. The Sansevero Chapel was a temple of masonry and asterism back in the ancient times. It holds marble masterpieces as old as 18th century. One of the masterpieces this place contains is the Veiled Christ. The chapel also houses two replicas of the human circulatory system which was created by Prince Raimondo di Sangro, an inventor and alchemist.

San Carlo Theatre is a tourist attraction of Naples, too. It was built during the time of King Charles of Bourbon in 1737. San Carlo Theatre is the first opera house in Europe and has been very popular because of its outstanding architectural design. The crown of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies is the main attraction of the theatre.

Naples is rich with many museums which features the most important historical artifacts in the country. Among the most popular museums is the Naples National Archeological Museum. This museum is full of ruins from Pompeii, Hercullaneum as well as the artifacts from the Greek - Renaissance times. The Museo di Capodimonte is also a museum which houses an all-embracing selection of art gallery. The gallery features paintings of famous people like Simone Martini, Raphael, Titian, and Caravaggio among many others.

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