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Going
forward along these lanes, real hidden treasures are
revealed: The Chapel of Sansevero with sculptural
masterpieces from the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries including the famous Veiled Christ; San
Domenico Maggiore Square and Piazza del Gesù, where all
its scenic power dominates the large Church of Gesù
Nuovo. Opposite is the Monastery of Saint Chiara built
in Gothic style and re-done in Baroque form with its
splendid majolica-tiled cloister.
Very interesting the visits of the National
Archaeological Museum, the most important in Europe, and
of the Royal Palace of Capodimonte. To be a part of
Naples means also abandoning oneself to the daily
beauties, made of viewpoints overlooking the sea, small
local markets and stalls, hidden gardens, sellers of
water, chocolate manufacturers and confectioner’s shops
for tasty stops, fish, fruit and vegetable markets. The
citizens’ parlour is the Galleria Umberto I covered by a
metal-plated dome and with a polychrome marble floor.
Piazza del Plebiscito and Palazzo Reale are remarkable,
in addition to the large and mighty castles, far from
the pomp and elegance, such as: Castel Nuovo or Maschio
Angioino in Piazza Municipio, Castel dell'Ovo
outstretched over the sea, Castel Capuano and Castel
Sant'Elmo which dominates the city from above the
Vomero. Going towards the sea from Santa Lucia to
Mergellina and Posillipo a spectacular view of Capri,
Ischia and the Sorrentine Coast with the impressive
Vesuvius in the distance can be enjoyed.
To reach the top of the volcano you travel along a road
crossing groups of houses, outcrops o f lava, seams of
ashes, and cultivations of fruit trees, vegetables and
flowers, favoured by the fertility of the volcanic soil;
higher up the brooms and the characteristic lava and
rope, domestic pine and oak woods, and then more lava
flow until you reach quote 1000 metres in a wide area
where you leave the car and continue on foot towards the
crater from where an impressive view of the entire gulf
and the inside of the crater deep 200 metres can be
enjoyed. |
