The church of San Francesco di Paola is a neoclassical style building flanking the west side of the Piazza del Plebiscito, the largest square in Naples. It lies directly opposite the royal palace.
The church of San Francesco di Paola was commissioned by Joachim Murat, King of Naples as a monument to Napoleon Bonaparte, his brother in law. It was expanded by Ferdinand I and converted into a church when he recovered the throne of Naples after the defeat of Napoleon. The building was designed by Leopoldo Lapera and was completed by the architect, Pietro Bianchi in 1846. The church was dedicated to St. Francis of Paola who lived in an abbey on the site of the square in the 16th century.
The church of San Francesco di Paola has a 58 meter high dome resembling the pantheon of Rome. It is located above the altar and is supported by 34 thick columns that have a height of eleven meters each. The main portico is supported by a semicircular row of white Doric columns. There is another front portico with six Ionic columns supporting the roof. It is a basilica and an active place of worship today and a popular venue for weddings.

The Royal Palace is located opposite the Basilica of San Francesco di Paola on the Piazza Plebiscito. It was used as a residence by the Bourbon kings who ruled Naples between 1730 and 1860.
The Royal Palace was commissioned by the Spanish viceroy in Naples, Fernando Ruiz de Castro in 1600 to host Philip III of Spain on a planned visit to Naples. The king, however, never made the visit. The present palace was designed by architect, Domenico Fontana for the Bourbon kings in the 17th century. It was greatly expanded and embellished during the reign of King Ferdinand II. The most recent refurbishment was after the damage caused to the structure during World War II.
The Royal Palace houses the National Library of Naples, several city offices including the tourist office and a small museum today. A magnificent double staircase takes visitors up to the former royal apartments with their lavish furniture and furnishings. The Royal Chapel has a large 18th century Nativity scene that is regarded as the building’s art treasure. The National Library of Naples has an impressive collection of papyrus scrolls found during excavations at Herculaneum and a 5th century Coptic Bible. The western façade of the palace that faces the Piazza Plebiscito has statues of many of the kings from different dynasties that ruled Naples from the twelfth century.

The Teatro di San Carlo is the main opera house of the city of Naples. It has been the venue of major productions by well known composers throughout its history.
The Teatro di San Carlo was commissioned by the Bourbon King Charles VII of Naples and designed by the architect, Antonio Medrano. The building had a neoclassical style with gilded interiors and blue upholstered seats. The theater opened in 1737 with the performance of Domenico Sarro's, ‘Achille in Sciro’, based on a play by the poet and playwright, Metastasio. The original structure was damaged by a fire in 1816 and rebuilt within ten months by the architect, Antonio Niccolini under the orders of another Bourbon monarch, King Ferdinand IV.
The Teatro di San Carlo remains the oldest continuously active opera house in Europe. The theater’s museum has exhibits tracing the history of the building and the many great productions that it has hosted. It can seat an audience of 1,470 and its acoustics are regarded as one of the best among opera houses in Italy. It has hosted productions of internationally famous composers like Giuseppe Verdi, Donizetti and Rossini. A guided tour is available in English that takes visitors around the theater and backstage.

The Galleria Umberto is a public shopping arcade in Naples located opposite the San Carlo opera house. It was named after King Umberto I, who was the King of Italy at the time of its construction.
The Galleria Umberto was designed by architect, Emanuele Rocco and built between 1887 and 1891. It was meant to be a residence cum commercial complex and has one of the largest glass roofs in the world. It was the most famous structures constructed during the ten year Risanamento or rebuilding of Naples that ended with the beginning of World War I.
The Galleria Umberto has three floors topped by a 184 feet tall arched dome. The dome is supported by 16 metal ribs. The arcade is designed in the shape of a cross with a beautiful mosaic depicting the signs of the Zodiac at the center of the floor. Shops, cafes and offices occupy the first and second floors and the third floor has residential apartments. It consists of four glass roofed wings. One wing opens to the main thoroughfare of the city, the Via Toledo and another opens to the San Carlo Opera House. The Galleria Umberto is the setting of the book, ‘The Gallery’, by John Horne Burns about life in allied occupied Naples in 1944 after World War II.

The Castel Nuovo is a large medieval castle in Naples that houses two museums. It is a major tourist attraction and a venue of many events in the city.
The Castel Nuovo was commissioned by Charles I of Anjou and built between 1279 and 1282 as the royal residence after the capital of the Kingdom shifted from Palermo to Naples. It became the venue for all important events during the rule of the Angevin dynasty. The Spanish Aragon dynasty that ruled Naples after the Angevins improved the structure and used it both as a royal residence and a military fortress. The marble entrance arch was created by sculptors from Catalonia in Spain to celebrate the beginning of the Aragonese rule of Naples. The Castel Nuovo is open for public viewing today and managed by the Naples Ministry of Culture.
The Castel Nuovo has housed the Neapolitan Society of National History from 1875 and the Civic Museum that contains works of art from churches around Naples. There is also a display of weapons in the armory hall. The Palatine or Saint Barbara chapel is located within the castle. Cultural events and exhibitions are held at the two levels of the southern courtyard and at the Charles V hall and the Salla della loggia inside the Castel Nuovo.

The Santa Chiara Church is part of a complex that includes a monastery, tombs and an archeological museum. It was severely damaged by the World War II allied bombings and restored in 1953.
The Santa Chiara Church was commissioned by Robert the Wise, King of Naples and his second wife, Queen Sancha of Majorca in 1310. It was built between 1313 and 1340. The church and the convent had an austere Gothic style. The interiors were redesigned in Baroque style between 1742 and 1757. The original structure was completely destroyed and only a shell remained after World War II.
The Santa Chiara Church has a simple façade with only one rose window at the center. The west porch is the only surviving part of the 14th century structure. The interior consists of the largest church hall in Naples. The nave is surrounded by ten chapels that contain important gothic monuments. The tomb of King Robert is behind the main altar. Other tombs are those of King Francis II and his consort, Maria Sophie of Bavaria and their daughter, Princess Cristina. The tomb of Salvo D'Acquisto, a national hero is also located here. The cloister houses a museum dedicated to the history of the convent where remains of the church interiors that survived war damage and other collections are on display.

The Excavations of San Lorenzo Maggiore show a complete Roman forum and earlier Greek Agora. They are located under the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore. The site was opened to the public after 25 years of painstaking work by archeologists.
The excavations of San Lorenzo Maggiore have revealed a wealth of details about the city of Naples in classical times. The site of Piazza San Gaetano near the church was once a Greek Agora or marketplace. Later, it became a Forum or Roman marketplace. Excavations have also revealed the great hall and three naves of a sixth century paleo-Christian church. Under the Sala Capitolare of the San Lorenzo Maggiore church are the medieval city halls. The excavated area has been opened to the public since 1992.
The excavations of San Lorenzo Maggiore are the only complete excavations around Naples. They show life in the city through the ages. Only half of the original Roman forum has been excavated and visitors can view it by entering the marked gate near the entrance of the church. One can see a whole ancient street from the 4th century BC complete with workshops, laundries and the public treasury. Most of the objects from the archeological finds are at a nearby museum, housed in a converted four story Palazzo.

The Naples National Archeological Museum has one of the best collections of classical Greek and Roman art in the world. Most of the exhibits are from excavations around Naples, Pompeii and Herculaneum.
The Naples National Archeological Museum occupies a building that was constructed to house the cavalry barracks of the Spanish army. Between 1616 and 1777, it was the seat of the University of Naples. The building became the Royal Bourbon Museum in 1816. It housed exhibits and artwork collected by the Royal family, a library and archeological objects. The library and art gallery were relocated to other buildings in 1957. The present museum is solely dedicated to exhibiting objects from archeological excavations.
Collections at the Naples National Archeological Museum include mosaics from portions of walls and floors of buildings in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae, frescoes from Pompeii some of which are the finest examples of classical Roman art, a collection of 200,000 coins and medals, paintings from the temple of Isis in Pompeii and the third largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in Italy. The Secret Cabinet within the museum is a room created to display Roman erotic art that is open only to visitors above the age of eleven years.

The San Gaudioso Catacombs are a maze of Paleo-Christian burial chambers located beneath the Church of Santa Maria della Sanità in Naples. The graves of bishops and common people are found here.
Tunnels were dug into the Capodimonte hillside by the ancient Romans to serve as water cisterns. They later became burial chambers for ancient Christians from the 5th century. St Gaudiosus, a North African bishop and hermit, was enshrined here in 452 and it became an important place of pilgrimage.
The San Gaudioso Catacombs have many 5th and 6th century frescoes and mosaics. They also present a range of burial techniques. A unique technique, used between 1620 and 1650, was to wall a corpse in a standing position in a niche with the head cemented to the wall. The body was punctured to drain its fluids. After all the fluids drained away, the headless body was buried and a frescoed portrait of the deceased was painted below the skull of illustrious men and women. Several bodies of poorer families were drained away in the same niche without a fresco to preserve their memory. A tour takes visitors past the crypt of the Church of Santa Maria della Sanità in Naples to view the rows of stone niches in the catacombs today.

This museum, located on top of the Capodimonte Hill in Naples, has valuable pieces of classical art and sculpture and a separate section devoted to contemporary art. It is housed in an 18th century Bourbon Palace, the Palazzo Reale di Capodimonte.
The Palazzo Reale di Capodimonte was constructed by the Bourbon King, Charles VII of Naples and Sicily. It was completed in 1738 and the grand palace overlooked both the city and the bay of Naples. It served as the king’s residence and repository of the fabulous Farnese collection of art and sculpture that he inherited from his mother, Elisabetta Farnese, who was the last in the line of the Dukes and Duchesses of Parma. Successive Bourbon rulers and those from the house of Savoy also added to the collections. The present museum was opened for public viewing in 1957.
The National Museum of Capodimonte covers three floors of the palace. The first and second floors have major works from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Some of the finest works of the Neapolitan School and contemporary works are found here. The ground floor has the Farnese collection of Roman sculpture on display. Visitors can also view the Royal apartments at the palace, including some exquisite pieces of 18th century antique furniture and porcelain, as well as majolica glazed pottery brought here from other royal residences.