Ancient Treasures
The site of Paestum is one of the finest examples of Greek Doric architecture based on logic, simplicity and harmony. Its three temples, dedicated to Neptune, Hera and Ceres, are among the best preserved in Europe. Smooth or fluted, the column is the key element that no superfluous decoration distracts from its supporting role. The Greeks also developed a town planning system based on a checkerboard pattern. The historic heart of Naples thus retains the grid pattern of the original Neapolis. The Romans took over these plans and renamed the roads cardo (North-South) and decumanus (East-West). Paved with black basalt, these Roman roads are unmissable! The vault and the brick are the two key elements that allowed the Romans to build higher and bigger. Triumphal arches, such as the Arco Felico on the Via Domitiana in Solfatare, celebrate military might, while temples and basilicas illustrate the power of religious and civil authorities. On the civil side, don't miss the Temple of Serapis at Pozzuoli. Notice the traces left by marine molluscs along its columns : they are the proof that here the earth moves, making the sea level vary ! Pozzuoli is also home to a superb amphitheatre, whose basement still preserves the systems that allowed the animals' cages to be lifted into the heart of the arena. But it is the amphitheatre of Santa Maria Capua Vetere that has the great honour of being second in size only to the Colosseum in Rome! The Romans also mastered the architecture of water, as shown by the monumental thermal complex of the site of Baia. At the same time, they were also able to develop a domestic architecture, mixing ingenuity, intimacy and decorative richness, as Pompeii and Herculaneum clearly show. The former reveals an astonishing urbanism made of streets paved with volcanic stones, lined with raised pavements and crossed by oval stone blocks - the pedestrian crossings of the time! -and an ingenious system of drains fed by an aqueduct. But the real wealth of Pompeii is of course the sumptuous houses. The Roman domus is organized around an atrium bordered by a peristyle and in the center of which sits a rainwater basin, theimpluvium, fed by an opening in the roof called compluvium. The house is thus turned inwards, preserving the privacy of its occupants. The houses of the wealthiest families are full of sublime decorations, such as the house of the Vetti brothers. See its rich frescoes and mosaics. A popular seaside resort, Herculaneum is home to sumptuous homes with azure blue frescoes. Note also the porticoed pavements: the powerful wanted to be able to walk around, but sheltered from the elements! Outside the cities, the properties became larger and more sumptuous, we speak then of villas. The Villa of the Mysteries, near Pompeii, is one of the most famous. In Castellamare di Stabia, don't miss the Villa di Arianna, which has thirteen rooms and a vast thermal complex. The site of Oplontis in Torre Annunziata is home to the sumptuous villas of Crassius and Poppea, with their vast gardens and porticoes.
Amazing Middle Ages
Naples is home to many early Christian treasures, starting with the catacombs, long underground tunnels used as burial places. The Catacombs of San Gaudioso have several galleries decorated with frescoes and mosaics, the oldest of which date back to the 4th century. But the most impressive are the Catacombs of San Gennaro, which extend over two floors. Many of the churches in Naples are built on the foundations of early Christian buildings, such as the Basilica of San Gennaro, whose original structure dates back to the5th century, or the Church of San Paolo Maggiore, which retains the three naves of the original basilica: it even incorporates the columns and pronaos of a Roman temple! These early Christian buildings bear the mark of Byzantium. Decorative richness, powerful vaults, domes and cupolas characterize this influence, which continued until the 11th century in sublime buildings, such as the Duomo of Amalfi, whose rich bronze portal was cast in Constantinople, just like that of Ravello. Influenced by Byzantium, the Romanesque style is also adorned with the trappings of the Arab-Norman style, typical of southern Italy. The characteristic features of this hybrid style are the horseshoe arches and intertwined patios and arcades. It can be seen in the superb cathedral of San Michele in Caserta and in the campanile of the Duomo in Salerno. As we have said, in Naples all the periods are mixed together in an astonishing architectural syncretism. The Duomo of the city is a superb example. Originally a Paleochristian basilica with the oldest baptistery in the Western world, the cathedral also contains ancient columns that now separate its three naves, while its Capella Minutolo retains Gothic lines and decorations. But the greatest witness to Neapolitan Gothic is the Church of Santa Chiara, with its projecting vaults, its glass and marble rose window and its interior with the pure elegance typical of conventual buildings. The medieval period also saw the growth of the cities, which were endowed with civil buildings and patrician palaces. In Naples, the Palazzo Santangelo has preserved its embossed facade, while the Palazzo San Severino (later transformed into a church!) has kept its astonishing diamond-shaped facade, typically Gothic decorative elements. But it is in Sorrento that you can see one of the most amazing civil buildings in the region: the Sedile Dominova, a Florentine-style loggia decorated with frescoes and a majolica dome where the nobility used to meet. Many towns and villages have kept intact the picturesque atmosphere of medieval cities where a maze of alleys, alleys, vaulted passages and stairways lead to the central square, as in Salerno or Cava de' Tirreni, with its streets lined with porticoes. The Middle Ages are also inseparable from a powerful military architecture. The first witnesses of this architecture are the watchtowers lining the coast, especially around Amalfi. The torre are imposing stone structures with a square or circular plan and few or no openings. Naples is also home to beautiful fortresses such as the Castel Nuovo, entirely rebuilt by the Aragonese, with its beautiful Sala dei Baroni with its superb ribbed vault, and its triumphal arch combining white marble and volcanic stone, whose harmonious geometric forms inspired by ancient Rome announce... the Renaissance.
From the Spaniards to the Bourbons
The Renaissance was rather sober and discreet, like the Cappella Pontano, with its elegant and harmonious lines reminiscent of ancient temples, and the Church of Santa Anna dei Lombardii, whose Tolosa Chapel was entirely built according to the codes established by Brunelleschi, the great Renaissance theorist. In 1588, in order to slow down the galloping growth of the city, the Spanish viceroy decided to prohibit the entry of building stones into the city. Cleverly, the Neapolitans decided to dig in the ground to take the tuff to build their palaces, even above the excavations they had created. Daring! The Spaniards then redesigned the city, piercing the Via Toledo lined with sumptuous palaces, and creating a new district on the hillside according to a compact checkerboard plan: the well-named Spanish Quarter! In terms of architecture, it was the Baroque style that was favoured at the time. Its two great masters were Cosimo Fanzago and Ferdinando Sanfelice. To the first, we owe the very elegant churches of Santa Maria Egiziaca a Pizzofalcone and Santa Maria degli Angeli alle Croci, as well as the guglie di San Gennaro and di San Domenico. The guglie are votive spires, usually placed in the centre of large squares, and are the object of much decorative attention. Those of Fanzago are masterpieces of sculpted marble. The second master is credited with popularizing the monumental double-flight staircases that spread out like the wings of a bird on the façades of palaces. As a creator of scenes and scenery, Sanfelice gave his architecture the same theatrical dimension. Among his most beautiful creations, do not miss the Palazzi Spinelli di Laurino and Serra di Cassano. Succeeding the Spaniards, the Bourbons oscillated between baroque exuberance and classical harmony, offering themselves the services of talented architects, such as Luigi Vanvitelli. The latter worked on the spectacular Royal Palace of Caserta, imagined as a second Versailles. In the 18th century, nature also took centre stage with its sublime play on perspective. Another palace not to be missed: the Capodimonte Palace with its three arcaded courtyards communicating with the outside world through majestic sculpted porches. The 18th century was also a great period of effervescence on the coast. It was the advent of the sumptuous Vesuvian villas, such as Villa Campolieto in Ercolano, whose monumental staircase and superb curved portico, the work of Vanvitelli, can be admired. The church of San Giovanni Battista in Vietri, whose dome and bell tower are decorated with local majolica, dates from this period, as does the entire town. A superb polychromy that can be found in the coloured houses of Positano, whose church of Santa Maria dell'Assunta also has a beautiful dome decorated with majolica.
From neoclassicism to the first modern impulses
The beginning of the 19th century was neoclassical. The Piazza del Plebiscito, begun during the French presence and completed on the return of the Bourbons, is impressive for its hemicyclic Doric arcades and the symmetry of the buildings that line it. The Royal Church of San Francesco di Paola is another neoclassical masterpiece with its circular plan and its vast dome inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. Then the neoclassical style gave way to a much more eclectic style. In Naples, the Stock Exchange, which looks like a 16th-century Venetian palace, is a good example of this use of past styles. The villas of Posillipo tend towards a more exotic eclecticism, such as the pagoda style of Villa Roccaromana. Following the cholera epidemic of 1884, the authorities decided to clean up the working-class districts around the port and to create new districts. The most emblematic achievement of the time is Corso Umberto I, nicknamed Rettifolo, literally "straight, rectilinear". This great artery lined with beautiful eclectic houses is the symbol of this new proud and bourgeois Naples. It was also during this period that metal architecture was developed, combining engineering prowess and decorative richness. The Umberto I Gallery, the most famous in Naples, is the most beautiful example of this. Admire its 57 m high dome at the crossroads of four alleys lined with shops decorated with sculpted arcades and balconies with beautifully crafted ironwork. This artistic use of iron is also one of the characteristics of Art Nouveau, known as Liberty in Italy, which can be found in many buildings in the Chiaia district. The 1930s, on the other hand, were marked by Fascist architecture, where pompous tributes to the codes of Antiquity were mixed with real formal modernity. This is clearly seen in the Palazzo delle Poste e Telegrafi with its curvilinear façade and monumental staircase, or in the Mostra delle Terre d'Oltremare, a gigantic leisure and exhibition park. Mussolini also wanted to make Naples the great metropolis of his "African empire". He had dozens of buildings erected everywhere, including in areas that had been preserved until then..
Post-war
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Naples was deeply wounded. It had to be rebuilt. But the corrupt politicians of the 1950s and 1960s allowed developers to fall back on the Duce's project and continue to build in an anarchic fashion, especially in the Bagnoli area. However, a few buildings, borrowing the pure volumes of glass and concrete of the modernist style, managed to survive, especially on the seafront. This duality continued in the 1970s. On the one hand, the city multiplied laws aimed at protecting its historical heritage, and on the other, it inaugurated its ring road on the very edge of the old town. It was also in the 1970s that the architect Francesco di Salvo embarked on the crazy project of the Vele di Scampia, seven buildings with structures that spread out like large waves, connected to each other by footbridges, and around which many common spaces were built. But this project turned into a nightmare after the terrible earthquake of 1980. Despite the creation of earthquake-proof mega-neighborhoods to rehouse the population, most of the city's inhabitants were left homeless. It was decided to move them to the Scampia district... only Di Falco's project was not yet complete. In order to house as many people as possible, the common spaces were abandoned, and in order to build more quickly and cheaply, all other materials were abandoned in favour of concrete alone. The neighbourhood became bunkerised and impoverished and became one of the headquarters of the Neapolitan mafia. The Centro Direzionale, on the other hand, is an urban success story. The famous Japanese architect Kenzo Tange designed the layout with underground traffic lanes to separate pedestrians and cars. This is where the Neapolitan skyscrapers are concentrated. Today, the "art stations" invite the greatest architects and designers to rethink the Neapolitan metro... and the city at the same time! Dominique Perrault has redesigned Garibaldi Square, integrating a planted square and new pedestrian spaces. As for the metro station itself, he imagined it as a vast shaft of light. Another fine achievement is Gae Aulenti's Dante station, which blends harmoniously into Piazza Dante, to which the architect has restored its original design using lava stones from Mount Etna. Alvaro Siza and Edouardo Souto de Moura have reinvented the Municipio station, creating an astonishing dialogue with the archaeological treasures revealed by the work. On the coast, contemporary architecture establishes a harmonious dialogue with nature. See how the Ravello auditorium, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, blends perfectly with the topography of the place, its tiers following the terraced relief and its grey concrete structure recalling the surrounding mineral landscape. See how the undulating lines of Salerno's new ferry terminal, designed by Zaha Hadid, respond to the ripples of the waves. Finally, let yourself be charmed by the Hotel Miramare in Sant'Angelo on the island of Ischia. With its various spaces reminiscent of fishermen's houses and its curves underlined by ceramic tiles in natural colours, this hotel, the work of Neapolitan Giuliano Andrea dell'Uva, is an ode to Mediterranean culture!
